Chinese doctors replace man's missing finger with his toe

Chinese doctors have used a 22-year-old student's toe to create a new finger after he lost his digit as a child. Ha Yuan lost his ring finger on his left hand as a child, and said his handicap stopped him from getting well-paid jobs. Surgeons at Changsha, capital of southern China's Hunan Province, amputated the second toe on his left foot and grafted it onto the affected hand. Doctors said it is not easy to tell the difference with the new appendage, and medics even believe it could be fully functioning within three months, 'Sina English' reported. "It's not easy to tell the difference if people are not looking at it closely. The only difference is the size of the nail," said Doctor Lu, who helped with the pioneering operation. Lu added that it would take three months for the new 'finger' to resume functions. "I feel my new life is about to start," said Ha. Source: Hindustan Time...

Read More........→January 23, 2014

Fruit flies offer DNA clue to why women live longer

Scientists believe they have discovered a clue to why women tend to live longer than men - by studying fruit flies. Writing in Current Biology, they focus on mutations in mitochondrial DNA - the power source of cells. Mitochondria are inherited only from mothers, never from fathers, so there is no way to weed out mutations that damage a male's prospects. But one ageing expert said there were many factors that explained the gender difference in life expectancy. By the age of 85, there are approximately six women for every four men in the UK, and by 100 the ratio is more than two to one. And females outlive males in many other species. 'No effect' on females In the research, experts from Australia's Monash University and the UK's Lancaster University analysed the mitochondria of 13 different groups of male and female fruit flies. Mitochondria, which exist in almost all animal cells, convert food into the energy that powers the body. Dr Damian Dowling, of Monash University who was one of the researchers, said the results point to numerous mutations within mitochondrial DNA that affect how long males live, and the speed at which they age. "Intriguingly, these same mutations have no effects on patterns of ageing in females," he said. "All animals possess mitochondria, and the tendency...

Read More........→August 04, 2012

What’s the difference between a tantrum and a meltdown?

Shawna Mastro Campbell, Bond University and Susan Rowe, Bond UniversityIf you live with young children, there’s a good chance you’ve been on the receiving end of a child yelling, screaming, crying, throwing or hitting things. But how do parents know what is typical and age-related boundary pushing, what is a tantrum and what is a meltdown? What’s the difference anyway? What’s a tantrum? In general, a tantrum is considered behavioural. The child has learned that the behaviour (like screaming or crying in defiant protest) can help them get what they want. The behaviour may be a natural reaction for a child who is still learning how to regulate their emotions. Sometimes, the outcome a child wants is a parent’s attention. So if a parent yells and negotiates with their child, this can reinforce tantrums and make them more likely in the future. Once a child has obtained the desired outcome, the behaviour can decrease in the short term. But as the child has learned a tantrum is an effective way to get what they want, this may contribute to further tantrums in the long term. What’s a meltdown? A meltdown relates to having difficulty in regulating (usually distressing) emotions. We may still see the same types of behaviours and emotional outbursts as those in a tantrum. But a dysregulated child in a meltdown typically cannot de-escalate...

Read More........→June 07, 2023