New capsule can orally deliver drugs that usually have to be injected Many drugs, especially those made of proteins, cannot be taken orally because they are broken down in the gastrointestinal tract before they can take effect. One example is insulin, which patients with diabetes have to inject daily or even more frequently. In hopes of coming up with an alternative to those injections, MIT engineers, working with scientists from Novo Nordisk, have designed a new drug capsule that can carry insulin or other protein drugs and protect them from the harsh environment of the gastrointestinal tract. When the capsule reaches the small intestine, it breaks down to reveal dissolvable microneedles that attach to the intestinal wall and release drug for uptake into the bloodstream. "We are really pleased with the latest results of the new oral delivery device our lab members have developed with our collaborators, and we look forward to hopefully seeing it help people with diabete...

image credit: success-resources.com.au Very often, people who had a rich upbringing and come from a good family — let’s  call them high-class  — seem to be able to convince other people that they’re more competent than they actually are. Whether it’s some politicians or the head of marketing at your company, examples of this effect are abundant. And according to a new study performed by psychologists at the University of Virginia, this effect can be explained by overconfidence, which stranger misinterpret as competence. Yet another advantage of higher social class     “Drawing on a collection of findings suggesting that different social class contexts have powerful effects on people’s sense of self, we propose that social class shapes the beliefs that people hold about their abilities, and that this, in turn, has important implications for how status hierarchies perpetuate,” the authors wrote in their study published in the Journal of Personality and Socia...