November 30th, 2010 by Medgadget in Better Health Network, News, Research
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E. coli is a Gram negative rod-shaped bacterium that is a regular inhabitant of the human gastrointestinal tract and certain strains can cause a lot of trouble. A team from the University of Tokyo in Japan, however, have manipulated the bacterium to perform a more noble task: Solving Sudoku.
The bacterium managed to solve 4×4 grid Sudoku puzzles, and in theory the more common 9×9 grid puzzles should be solvable as well. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*
September 5th, 2010 by Medgadget in Better Health Network, News, Research
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Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan have developed a solar-powered toothbrush that doesn’t require toothpaste.
At the base of the brush is a solar panel, which transmits electrons to the top of the toothbrush through a lead wire. These electrons react with acid in the mouth, breaking down plaque without the help of toothpaste. It’s an advancement of a model described 15 years ago using a titanium dioxide rod which released electrons when illuminated.
The researchers are currently recruiting 120 teens to test the brush. The model is named Soladey-J3X and is manufactured by the Shiken company of Japan.
More from Saskatoon StarPhoenix: Solar toothbrush could make toothpaste obsolete…
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*
August 24th, 2010 by Medgadget in Better Health Network, News, Research
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Antioxidants are important substances that prevent free radicals from damaging cells, and potatoes contain substantial amounts of them.
However, researchers from Obihiro University in Japan thought that more would be better and have developed some innovative methods of boosting the potato’s antioxidant content. By immersing the potatoes in water or salt and subsequently applying ultrasound or electricity for 5 to 30 minutes, they increased the amounts of antioxidants by as much as 50 percent. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*
May 6th, 2010 by RamonaBatesMD in Better Health Network, Opinion, Research
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Facial transplants, hand replants, and free flaps are only possible in large part due to microsurgery.
I finally got around to reading the “History of Microsurgery.” The article is good reading for anyone interested in the history of microsurgery.
The article, written by Susumu Tamai, M.D., Ph.D., (Japan) was received for publication in Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery on June 14, 2007.
Microsurgery is relatively young, and Dr. Tamai breaks down the history into four periods. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Suture for a Living*
May 2nd, 2010 by Shadowfax in Better Health Network, Humor, True Stories
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An orthopedic doctor in Japan wanted to see what made the iPad tick, so he threw it under an X-ray machine and posted the images to his blog.
We guess the good doctor (whose name is Dr. Ambition, according to his blog) wasn’t happy with all of the teardown photos and videos of the iPad. Or maybe he just wanted to see what happens when you pump it full of radiation.
Appropriately enough, the iPad’s X-ray was processed with OsiriX DICOM medical imaging software for Mac.
The good news for the iPad is that nothing was broken and, as long as the stool samples come back negative, it seems it can look forward to a long life.
*This blog post was originally published at Movin' Meat*
