Spine surgeons in the U.S. perform more than 400,000 spinal fusions each year as a way to ease back pain and prevent vertebrae in the spine from wiggling around and doing more damage. However, reports estimate that on average some 30% of these surgeries fail to weld these vertebrae into a single bone, causing continued back pain.
Read moreMedical researchers have demonstrated how estrogen — a natural hormone produced in the body — can be polymerized into a slow-releasing biomaterial and applied to nervous system cells to protect those cells and even promote regeneration.
Read moreWind energy is increasingly seen as a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels, as it contributes to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. However, the rapid expansion of wind farms has raised concerns about the impact of wind turbines on wildlife. A new study provides comprehensive data on how turbines affect bird populations. The study suggests ways to mitigate negative effects through wind turbine design and placement, recommending taller turbines, shorter blades, and placement away from bird habitats.
Read moreA research team paved a way to achieve unexplored III-V semiconductor nanostructures. They grew branched GaAs nanowires with a nontoxic Bi element employing characteristic structural modifications correlated with metallic droplets, as well as crystalline defects and orientations. The finding provides a rational design concept for the creation of semiconductor nanostructures with the concentration of constituents beyond the fundamental limit, making it potentially applicable to novel efficient near-infrared devices and quantum electronics.
Read moreA new study finds that deaf infants exposed to American Sign Language are especially tuned to a parent's eye gaze, itself a social connection between parent and child that is linked to early learning.
Read moreAn international team of researchers has published a new study examining a 430,000-year-old cranium of a human ancestor that was previously described as deaf, representing the oldest case of deafness in human prehistory.
Read moreThe new function of unused cortical regions is not necessarily determined by the function of nearby cortical regions, according to new research in adults born without one hand.
Read moreUsing advanced imaging, researchers have uncovered new information regarding traumatic microbleeds, which appear as small, dark lesions on MRI scans after head injury but are typically too small to be detected on CT scans. The findings published in Brain suggest that traumatic microbleeds are a form of injury to brain blood vessels and may predict worse outcomes. The study was conducted in part by scientists at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), part of the National Institutes of Health.
Read moreBecause pain is a complex condition, treating it efficiently continues to pose challenge for physicians. Past pain research typically has focused upon the spinal cord or the peripheral areas of the nervous system located outside the spinal cord and brain. However, a research team recently investigated how some mechanisms in the brain contribute to pain.
Read moreScientists have developed a novel approach to allow for a small, well-defined risk of constraint violation to overcome the challenges that come with conservative current approaches used in modern power grids.
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