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    Category Biology/Biotechnology

    At least 60 genetic diseases called Neurocutaneous disorders affect Skin, Nervous system, neurologists report

    January 22, 2016, Categories  Biology/Biotechnology, Health/Medical

    The extent and severity of manifestations of NF vary greatly from person to person and varies within the same family. Although isolated café-au-lait spots can be found in many people without NF, individuals with more than 5 of these have a good chance of also having NF1, particularly if they appear on the skin within the first 5 years of life. More than 5 café-au-lait spots are found in 1.8% of newborns, 25-40% of children and 14% of adults with NF1. Freckling under the armpits is a clear sign of NF1. After puberty, Lisch nodules are present in 97-100% of patients with NF1. Clinically, they do not cause any problems but help to confirm diagnosis. There are basically 4 types of neurofibromas found in NF1: Cutaneous: superficial, soft button-like tumours with no malignant potential Subcutaneous: tumours in the dermis that may cause localised pain or tenderness Nodular plexiform: large network of tumours involving the dorsal nerve roots Diffuse plexiform: invasive tumours that may involve all layers of skin, muscle, bone and blood vessels

    The extent and severity of manifestations of NF vary greatly from person to person and varies within the same family.
    Although isolated café-au-lait spots can be found in many people without NF, individuals with more than 5 of these have a good chance of also having NF1, particularly if they appear on the skin within the first 5 years of life. More than 5 café-au-lait spots are found in 1.8% of newborns, 25-40% of children and 14% of adults with NF1. Freckling under the armpits is a clear sign of NF1.
    After puberty, Lisch nodules are present in 97-100% of patients with NF1. Clinically, they do not cause any problems but help to confirm diagnosis.
    There are basically 4 types of neurofibromas found in NF1:
    Cutaneous: superficial, soft button-like tumours with no malignant potential
    Subcutaneous...

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    Memory Capacity of Brain is 10X more than Previously thought

    January 21, 2016, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Salk scientists computationally reconstructed brain tissue in the hippocampus to study the sizes of connections (synapses). The larger the synapse, the more likely the neuron will send a signal to a neighboring neuron. The team found that there are actually 26 discrete sizes that can change over a span of a few minutes, meaning that the brain has a far great capacity at storing information than previously thought. Pictured here is a synapse between an axon (green) and dendrite (yellow). Credit: Salk Institute

    Salk scientists computationally reconstructed brain tissue in the hippocampus to study the sizes of connections (synapses). The larger the synapse, the more likely the neuron will send a signal to a neighboring neuron. The team found that there are actually 26 discrete sizes that can change over a span of a few minutes, meaning that the brain has a far great capacity at storing information than previously thought. Pictured here is a synapse between an axon (green) and dendrite (yellow). Credit: Salk Institute

    The brain’s memory capacity is in the petabyte range, as much as entire Web. The new work answers a longstanding question as to how the brain is so energy efficient and could help engineers build computers that are incredibly powerful but also conserve energy.

    “This is a real bombshel...

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    Cells from Cow Knee Joints used to Grow New Cartilage Tissue in Lab

    January 21, 2016, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Production of neocartilage tissues using primary chondrocytes

    Production of neocartilage tissues using primary chondrocytes

    In an effort to develop a method for cartilage tissue engineering, Umeå Uni Sweden researchers have successfully used cartilage cells from cow knee joints. By creating a successful method with conditions conducive to growing healthy cartilage tissue, the findings could help lead to a new cure for osteoarthritis using stem cell-based tissue engineering.

    Articular cartilage is tissue that is found on all the joint surfaces in the body. Since the tissue is not supplied with any blood vessels, it has a low self-repair capacity. Joint injuries and wear often damage cartilage tissue, leading to a condition called osteoarthritis. In 2012 in Sweden, 26.6% of all people aged 45 yrs or older were diagnosed with OA.

    “There is currently no...

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    Like Air Traffic, Information flows through Neuron ‘Hubs’ in the brain

    January 20, 2016, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Non-gray circles and their connections represent 80, 70 and 60 percent (from top to bottom) of all outgoing traffic within the sampled section of a cortical region. Credit: Indiana University

    Non-gray circles and their connections represent 80, 70 and 60 percent (from top to bottom) of all outgoing traffic within the sampled section of a cortical region. Credit: Indiana University

    70% of all info within cortical regions in the brain passes through only 20% of its regions’ neurons. These high-traffic “hub neurons” could play a role in understanding brain health since this sort of highly efficient network – in which a small number of neurons are more essential to brain function – is also more vulnerable to disruption. That’s because relatively small breakages can cause the whole system to “go down”...

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