Will fish scales soon be a powersource for electronics and medical devices?

Researchers at Jadavpur University in Koltata, India have found a way to turn fish remains into biodegradable generators. Fish scales are made of collagen which has piezoelectric properties. In other words, when stress is placed on the collagen fibers an electrical charge is produced. This fish scale generator is now being called a "bio-piezoelectric Nano generator." The research team started by making the fish scales transparent and flexible. Once that was achieved they experimented to find the right hierarchical arrangement of the collagen fibers to maximize the energy output. The resulting generator can harness energy from a wide range of things. Body movements, machine and sound vibrations, and wind flow just to name a few.Not only is this technology biodegradable but it is also very efficient. A finger touching the generator on repetition was able to power 50 blue LEDs. Regardless of this being so unique and interesting this new technology shows major promise for the technology of the future. Implantable medical devices such as pacemakers; as well as technology such as phones could eventually be fueled by something sustainable. Not only is fish consumed in massive quantities throughout the world the resulting remains such as tails and scales aren't used for very much. This will help to keep fish remains out of landfills, is cheap, not to mention it is beneficial to the environment.


https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2016/09/fish-scales-help-develop-biomass-power-generator-in-india/

http://www.treehugger.com/gadgets/fish-scales-made-biodegradable-energy-generator.html

Optomotrists will be in great demand in the years to come, how come?

Technology has many perks. It helps people communicate, learn new skills, and organize more effectively. However, the use of technology also has its drawbacks.  Every time we glance at our phone, tablet, or computer we are damaging our eyesight. Myopia is the medical term for being nearsighted. Meaning you can see things close but lack the ability to see distance. The eyeball becomes too long which causes light rays to fall short from the retinal. By 2050 it is hypostasized that  nearly 5 billion will become blind from technology induced myopia. As more people suffer from poor eyesight the need for optometrists will sharply increase. In the past 5 years myopia cases have increased by nearly 66%. Mostly in children, which isn't surprising as more and more schools are integrating online learning components.

http://www.educationnews.org/technology/is-technology-causing-nearsightedness-in-students/
http://www.allaboutvision.com/cvs/children-computer-vision-syndrome.htm
http://www.nature.com/news/the-myopia-boom-1.17120

A hope for Chrone's Disease

    For years the medical community has been baffled on why Crohn’s Disease actually occurs. Crohn’s Disease affects approximately 565,000 people in the U.S. For years, it has been hypothesized that the body mistakes the digestive tract as an invader, hence the immune system attacks healthy cells. Which causes inflammation, diarrhea, abdominal pain, weight loss and fatigue amongst many other symptoms.

    This week studies have found proof that Crohn’s Disease is in fact the by product of a fungus and two bacteria.  Research conducted by Mahmoud A. Ghannoum, professor and director of the Center for Medical Mycology at Case Western Reserve and University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center discovered Serratia Marcescens, E. Coli, and the fungus Candida Tropicalis  as the main cause for the inflammatory response. When the bacteria and fungus interact they produce a slime which covers organs causing inflammation.

    The experiment tested a variety of strangers and family members. This was important because family members would have similar genetics and dietary habits. ( two things that also effect Chrone's) Compared to family Serratia Marcescens, E. Coli, and the fungus Candida Tropicalis were much higher in the person with Chrone's. The strangers also showed a similar result as the rest of the family having a low percentage of these bacteria or fungus.

    Discovering the root cause of the issue will allow much better treatment of Chrone's Disease in the future. Up to this point treatment has been limited by what little they knew about Chrone's. Surgery was a main option and the medications were often a mix of steroids that brought with it many other issues.  In the years to come the research team hopes to form new medications and probiotics to help patients cope with the unpleasant symptoms of Chrone's Disease.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/crohns-disease-cause_us_57e40374e4b0e28b2b52a67c
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2003/09/13/inflammatory-bowel-disease.aspx
http://www.health.com/crohns-disease/crohns-disease-fungus
http://knowthecause.com/index.php/health-blog/doctors-and-trade-professionals/2393-fungi-may-aggregate-crohn-s-disease

Sucrose for soothing infants in the pediatric feild.

I help out in the NICU on the weekends and something that has always intrigued me is the use of sucrose to sooth infants. Over 150 studies have been conducted on this subject. The first mention of using sweets to sooth an infant was back in 632AD; when a prophet named Mohammed suggested to give a child a pre-chewed date. Most studies have concluded that sucrose or other sweet substances are effective to sooth a baby up to 12 months of age. The reason being that there is a natural connection between a humans taste buds and opid receptors in the brain. A comprehensive review of 44 RCT's showed that sucrose did reduce signs of physical pain such as cry duration and facial expression. Heart rate also seemed to stay lower then if no sucrose was given to the babies tested in the majority of studies. The normal dosage for a pediatric patient is to administer 25% sucrose solution 2 minutes prior to procedure/ movement on top of the tongue . The effect is short lasting only 4-6 minutes and works best if it is something not overly painful. In newborns it has showed to cut crying time by a little over 2 hours a day when given twice a day. Such procedures include venipuncture and diaper change. It is sometimes also administered to sooth a fussy baby in hopes that they will relax enough to fall asleep. No studies have been conducted  on whether or not this method sets a child up to crave sweets when they become anxious as they get older. This is something that I feel is important to discover in the years to come.
http://apps.who.int/rhl/newborn/cd001069_murkis_com/en/
http://www.med.umich.edu/1libr/PedPainGroup/OralSucrose.pdf
https://www.nichd.nih.gov/cochrane_data/yamadaj_01/yamadaj_01.html
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/130/5/918
http://www.medscape.org/viewarticle/588971

What happens to the body in space?

 

Have you ever wondered what happens to the human body if no protective clothing was worn in space; or the space suit fails? We all have that one simple assumption that you would die from lack of oxygen or it would be cold and we would freeze to death. Which certainly is the case however there is much more too it. At first you would be freezing since the further up you go the colder the temperature is. During this time as the atmospheric pressure drops and vapor pressure goes up your blood would start to boil. You also would not be able to breathe which most likely would kill you before the rest does. Now what would happen if you held your breath? The lack of atmospheric pressure outside of your body would cause the existing air in your lungs to expand. Which ultimately would cause your lungs to explode. Radiation from the sun would also leave you quite sunburned. You might even suffer from decompression sickness like scuba divers can. I find that it is probably wise to add just for ones own knowledge that your corpse would not decompose. In order for decomposition to occur oxygen would be necessary. So if you were near a heat source say close by the sun then you would be instantly mummified. However if you weren't then you would be frozen in suspension for millions of years just drifting through space. Talk about a terrifying way to die!

http://www.medicaldaily.com/men-space-outer-space-human-body-space-travel-389565?utm_source=FBPAGE&utm_medium=Social&utm_term=Health%20&%20Wellness&utm_content=494846234&utm_campaign=Medical%20Daily%20-%20MedicalDaily&linkId=25579491
https://www.cnet.com/news/what-happens-to-the-unprotected-human-body-in-space/

The common cold originated from camels, new study claims

A study was conducted by DZIF Professor Christian Drosten (Institute of Virology at the University Hospital of Bonn) and his crew.  In this study they found that one of the four coronaviruses responsible for the human cold might actually have originated from camels. Researchers  tested about 1,000 camels. They believe that the HCoV-229E coronavirus at one point in history jumped over to infect humans. To test this they isolated the common cold virus from live camels and to there suprise the virus entered the same receptors as the HCoV-229E virus. They also disovered that the common cold virus mutated to allow it to spread among humans.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160818093438.htm
http://www.sciencealert.com/one-of-the-common-cold-viruses-originated-in-camels-study-finds

Hydra Oligactis

Hydra Oligactis

Attaches to substrate by its stalk. It can have up to 12 tentacles that can reach up to a an inch long.  They reproduce in several ways. One is through budding which happens every 3 days, they will occasionally reproduce by transverse and longitudinal fission. They move by basal gliding to places of high oxygen as needed. They are carnivorous creatures that eat small metazoans, including annelids, copepods, cladocerans, and insects. They start off by using a special cell called nematocysts to paralyze their prey. After, a response triggered by glutathione makes the tentacles pull in toward the mouth. Each time the hydra eats it takes the mouth with it and grows a new one. Males outnumber females and they can live for over a year . They also have the ability to regenerate.

Trichocerca Capucina

Trichocerca Capucina
Is a rotifer whose body is approximately  180 - 200 µm. It has a long tail referred to as a toe  that is 90 - 100 µm long.  Like the others this trichocerca uses pedal glands to produce mucous secretions. This allows them to attach to substrates and to keep upright. Unfortunately not much information is known about the Trichocerca genus. A few scientists have tried to understand them but haven't gotten too far.

Stauroneis Anceps

Stauroneis Anceps
Is an unicellular diatom. It's name translates to “little cross” . Like all other diatoms it is hidden in a shell made of silica called a frustule. It is capable of photosynthesis and reproduces asexually

Vorticella Convallaria /Eupoltes

Vorticella Convallaria
Is different from the previously seen Vorticella Nebulifera  because it doesn't have retractile granules in the endoplasm. It also has a tendency of being commutative. The zooid (body) is 30–40 μm in diameter and has a  100–200 μm tail that can tightly coil in 1/60th of a second.  An organelle called a spasmoneme (myoneme ) is responsible for the rapid coiling. The spasmoneme contains calcium that binds with spasmin forming an electrical pulse. It returns to a non excited state when the calcium and spasmin are unattached and the stalk uncoils. Much like the other they eat bacteria and small protozoans. Reproduction is also the same.
Eupoltes
Is a clear hypotrich that is 80-200µm in size. It also has a C shaped macronucleus. Euplotes is considered the most evolved and complex protozoa. They are both sexual and asexual (binary fission ) creatures. It has two types of nucleus.  One macronucleus and one or more smaller ones.  It moves by using its cirri which is essentially cilia that is fused together.

Daphnia Magna

 

Daphnia Magna
Is a  crustacean females are 5 mm in size while  males are about 2 mm. They are considered the largest of the daphnias'. The body is protected by a carapace made of chitin. The intestine is shaped like a hook and includes two digestive cecae. On the head is  two antennae and a compound eye. Other then it's massive size daphnia Magna is different from the other Daphnia Pulex because of the way the abdominal claw is seen. In a female it has a gap and then continues. They can survive in fresh and brackish water up to 20% salinity. It eats mostly algae but also detritus and bacteria. It filter feeds by a current that's created in its carapace. They reproduce by cyclic pathogenesis meaning it cycles between sexual and asexual reproduction .
You can see the daphnia breathing and it's heart beating .

Lepidodermella Squamata

Lepidodermella Squamata
Is part of the gastrotrich phylum (often referred to as the hairy back group)and feeds on algae,bacteria, and detritus. It can grow up to 190 μm and moves by means of cilia on its ventral body. The cilia on its head however is for sensory reasons instead. They grow rapidly and are asexual creatures. They lay approximately four eggs which can survive freezing temperatures and even dissection.

Parenema

Parenema
First seen in the 1700’s is a flagellated protist that lives solitary from others. They are hunters and feed on bacteria, and flagellates by a rod - organ which stabs and cuts the pray multiple times like a knife. Once the cells are opened they use their flagulum to mix up the cells parts for easy eating. They contain the protein rhodopsin which makes them curl when exposed to light. Even though they lack eyes they can still see from pores in the skin. It is very difficult to find parenema in general. On a compound light microscope it is even harder to get an idea of the insides of the organism hence why many scientists have argued over how it carries out its eating habits until more recent years with the addition of electron microscopy.

Eastern Black Swallowtail

Eastern Black Swallowtail
One of my many hobbies is raising butterflies so when my 3rd instar caterpillar shed its skin my curiosity got the better of me. Eastern Black swallowtails hatch from tiny yellow eggs. The eggs are often on the front or back of the host plant. They eat parsley, Queen Anne's Lace,cilantro,fennel and dill. It takes about 2 weeks for them to enclose and another 2 weeks to actually be able to fly.  This can take up to 18 months however. Males are black and yellow and females are black and blue. The males also have claspers that they use to hold onto the female during mating. They have a special organ called an osmeterium to scare predators. They also produce poison to kill birds that try to eat them.

Penicillium Italicum

 

Penicillium Italicum
Is considered a plant pathogen that is infamous for infecting citrus fruits. Once damage occurs to the skin the conidia gains access and starts to germinate. At first the fruit will develop a wet area. Soon after it will turn white and then blue/green. This signifies sexual maturity the spores are called conidia. This fungus prefers cooler temperatures which is why it is often found in the refrigerator.