Category Biology/Biotechnology

‘Sticky and Strain-Gradient Artificial Epineurium’ can Heal Severed Nerves in only One Minute, Study Claims

Revolutionary 'sticky and strain-gradient artificial epineurium' heals severed nerves in only one minute instead of traditional suturing
Human skin-inspired design of sticky and strain-gradient artificial epineurium (SSGAE) and its tissue-adhesion characteristics. Credit: Korea University College of Medicine

A novel medical advancement termed the “sticky and strain-gradient artificial epineurium” (SSGAE) has been developed, demonstrating remarkable efficacy in rapidly healing severed nerves without traditional microsurgical suturing techniques.

This innovation, spearheaded by a collaborative effort between Professor Jong Woong Park from Orthopedic Surgery, Korea University College of Medicine, Professor Donghee Son from Sungkyunkwan University Department of Superintelligence Engineering, and Professor Mikyung Shin from the Department of Biomedical Engineering, presents a significant breakthrough in nerve repair surge...

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Eating More Fruits and Vegetables may Lead to Optimal Sleep Duration

fruits and vegetables
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Good health depends on a healthy diet and sufficient exercise and sleep. There are clear associations among these components; for example, good nutrition provides energy for exercise, and many people report that getting enough exercise is important to their ability to get enough sleep. So how might nutrition affect sleep?

A new study looks at the connection between fruit and vegetable intake and sleep duration. The research, by a team from Finland’s University of Helsinki, National Institute for Health and Welfare, and Turku University of Applied Sciences, is published in Frontiers in Nutrition.

Why sleep is important and how it works
Sleep gives our bodies the chance to rest and recover from wakeful activity...

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Neuroscientists use AI to Simulate how the Brain makes Sense of the Visual World

brain ai
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

A research team at Stanford’s Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute has made a major stride in using AI to replicate how the brain organizes sensory information to make sense of the world, opening up new frontiers for virtual neuroscience.

Watch the seconds tick by on a clock and, in visual regions of your brain, neighboring groups of angle-selective neurons will fire in sequence as the second hand sweeps around the clock face. These cells form beautiful “pinwheel” maps, with each segment representing a visual perception of a different angle. Other visual areas of the brain contain maps of more complex and abstract visual features, such as the distinction between images of familiar faces vs. places, which activate distinct neural “neighborhoods.”

Such ...

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Brain Damage Study Reveals Part of the Brain Necessary for Helping Others

Colourful model of a brain encased in clear plastic model of skull installed on a stand, with blurred background
The discovery of the region associated with altruistic behaviour will help to better understand both social decision making, and also give further insights into brain injury.

Our willingness to help others is governed by a specific brain region pinpointed by researchers in a study of patients with brain damage to that region.

Learning about where in the brain “helping” decisions are made is important for understanding how people might be motivated to tackle large global challenges, such as climate change, infectious disease and international conflict. It is also essential for finding new approaches to treating disorders of social interactions.

The study, published in Nature Human Behaviour, was carried out by researchers at the University of Birmingham and the University of Oxfor...

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