Halth Issue: Brain Injury

Injury's not the end, human brain can rewire itself Melbourne:  Australian scientists have claimed that the human brain has the ability to "rewire itself" and the findings could revolutionize the way brain injuries are treated in the future.         The Hobart-based Menzies Research Institute has been investigating how the brain  responds to trauma, particualarly what occusrs within the cerebral cortex or the outer layer of grey matter.         "The most unique finding that we've found is that another group of thiese nerve cells are actually able to remodel their processes and change their shape in order to respond to the injury," Tracey Dickson, a senior researcher at the institute, said.           It appears the cerebral cortex was capable of significant remodelling following injury, she said, Dickson said that the changes happen in healthy parts of the brain.           "Previously a lot of people have thought that once you've had an injury to your brain, there's not much that can happen," ABC news quoted her assaying. The research is now focused on trying to identify ways in which the healing response could be boosted, creating a new therapy to treat brain injury.

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HEalth Issue: Teenagers stay away from bing-drinking Why?

Teenage binge drinking hits genes, caused osteoporoses Chicago: In one more reason why teenagers should stay away from bing-drinking, a new study has claimed the habit may increase their risk of developing osteoporosis besides other long-lasting health hazards.        The study on rats by researchers at Loyola University Health System in Chicago found that heavy drinking disrupts hundreds of genes involved in bone formation, which may lead to future osteoporosis and bone fractures.        "Lifestyle-related damage done to the skeleton during young adulthood may have repercussions lasting decades," the researchers wrote in the journal Alcohol and Alcohlism. Lead researcher John Callaci said although data from animals don't directly traslate to people," the findings certainly suggest that this could be a problem with humans".         Bone mass is lost throughout adult life as part of the ageing process. Thus, anything that inhibits the build up of bone mass during the critical years of adolescence and young adulthood could increase the risk of osteoporosis and fractures in later life, the scientists said.        binge drinking is defined as a woman having at least four drinks or a man having at least five drinks on one occasion. Heavy binge drinkers can consume 10 to 15 drinks. The habit typically begins around age 13 and peaks between 18 and 22, before gradually decreasing.

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News: The Cloth That Listens to you

Now, a cloth that listens to you MIT Scientists Fabric That Can Hear As Well As Emit Sound  New York: Thsi could give a whole new meaning to the pharase power dressing. Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have created a cloth that can hear and emit noise.           The team, led by MIT professor Yoel Fink, has reached "a new milestone on the path to functional fibers: fibers that can detect and produce sound", MIT said in a statement, The development, described in the August issue of Nature Materials, transforms the usual passive nture of textiles into a virtually all singing, all-dancing version.           According to MIT, "applications could include clothes that are themselves sensitive microphones, for capturing speech or monitoring bodily functions, and tiny filaments that could measure blood flow in capilaries or pressure in the brain."          The less-than-one-micrometer-wide fibers could be inserted into organs or the cardiovascular system to monitor for biomarkers or blood flow, whild their ultrasound-like ability to preform acoustic sensing and carry infrared light essentially maked them tiny ultrasound imagers.         The decade old research project aims to "develop fibers with ever more sophisticated properties, to enable fabrics that can interact with their environment" MIT said.         The new space-age cloth, it said, can not only listen, but make sound, "You can actually hear them, these fibers," Noemie Chocat, part of the lab team, said.          "If you connected them to a power supply and applied a sinusoidal current, then it would vibrate. And if you make it vibrate at audible requencies and put it cloe toyour ear, you could actually hear different notes or sounds coming out of it," Chocat added.          When stretched, these strands could be used to make clothes that act as a microphone or generate electricity. The new fibers are based on a similar plastic to that used in microphones. However, the MIT researchers manipulated the fluorine content to ensure its molecules stayed lopside. That imbalance maked the plastic piezoelectric, meaning it changes shape when an electric field is applied.          "In addition to wearable microphones and biological sensors, applications of the fibers could include loose nets that monitor the flow of water in the ocean and large-area sonar imaging systems with muc higher resolutions,"MIT said. The fibers aren't easy to make. They're produced from much larger cylinders that are "drawan" through a small aperture at higher temperatures. MIT experts manged the task using a number of techniques, including the use of an electically conducting graphite-based plastic and a strong electric field to align necessary molecules.

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