New Dental Fillings Repair Tooth Decay

Researchers claimed on 2 October to have developed new dental fillings that can repair tooth decay, prolong the life of composite fillings and reduce the need for mercury-based amalgams. The new bioactive glass composites release fluoride as well as significant quantities of calcium and phosphate that are needed to form tooth mineral. Researcher noted that while current dental fillings include inert materials, the bioactive glass composite interacts with the body providing minerals that replace those lost to tooth decay. The new bioactive glass also creates an alkaline environment that discourages the bacteria that caused the initial decay. Researcher said this will prolong the life of fillings and slow secondary tooth decay.

You Can See, Hear And Feel Quakes Now

You can now eavesdrop on some of the world’s largest earthquakes from deep inside the Earth, thanks to a new project that lets you seem hear and feel seismic waves created by massive temblors. A group of scientists and sound artists at US’s Columbia University, who leads the Seismic Sound Lab, have turned seismic waves into sound and images for an educational performance about earthquakes. The SeismoDome project coupled the sound of seismic waves to visualizations that researcher’s team created using computer code written by an astrophysicist to visualize models of formation of stars. The team sped up both the sound and visuals by a factor of several thousand. They also filtered the sound and visualized data to illuminate different types of waves in the Earth.

A Robotic Surgeon With A Sense Of Touch

Researchers, including one of Indian origin, claimed to have developed the world’s first robotic surgical system that can give surgeons the sense of touch while they conduct keyhole surgery using a computer. The HeroSurg robot is a major breakthrough to current technology, which now limits robotic surgery to the sense of sight. This means laparoscopic or keyhole/micro surgery will be safer and more accurate than ever before by reducing trauma and lowering risk of blood loss and infection. HeroSurg was developed by engineers from Deakin University in Australia and Harvard University in the US. The HeroSurg’s sense of touch, provided through technology known as haptic feedback, would lead to better patient outcomes.

The major drawback of the current system in the lack of tactile feedback. Tactile feedback allows a surgeon to differentiate between tissues and to ‘feel’ delicate tissues weakened by infection or inflammation and dissect them more carefully. Tactile feedback will allow them to use finer and more delicate sutures in microsurgery. The haptics technology would also improve the ability to distinguish between tissues involved with cancer from normal tissue. HeroSurg’s Unique features include collision avoidance capability, modularity and automatic patient/bed adjustment.

New Drug May Help Treat Alcohol Addiction

A new medicine that targets parts of the brain’s stress system may help in curing people with alcohol use disorder (AUD). Researchers conducted a clinical trial of a new compound, called ABT-436, designed to block the effects of vasopressin, a neuropeptide produced in the brain’s hypothalamus. Vasopressin helps to regulate the pituitary adrenal axis and other brain circuits involved in emotion. As such, it plays a role in regulation stress, anxiety and their interaction with AUD. Researchers recruited 144 alcohol dependent adult men and women for the 12 week study. During a 28 day baseline period, female participants consumed at least 28 drinks per week, while male participants consumed at least 35 drinks per week. Participants were then randomized to receive either placebo tablets or ones containing ABT-436 compound. Researchers found that participants who received ABT-436 abstained from alcohol for more days than those who were given the placebo. Participants who reported high levels of stress appeared to respond better to ABT-436 abstained from alcohol for more days than those who were given the placebo. Participants who reported high levels of stress appeared to respond better to ABT-436. Smokers also benefitted from ABT-436. Experts suspect that ABT-436 targeted the same areas in the brain that related to withdrawal and stress, and, in the process, influenced both tobacco and alcohol use disorders.