More effective hydrogel for healing wounds

Researchers at the University of New Hampshire have created an easy-to-make, low-cost injectable hydrogel that could help wounds heal faster, especially for patients with compromised health issues. Wound healing can be complex and challenging, especially when a patient has other health obstacles that seriously impede the process. Often injectable hydrogels are applied to irregular shaped wounds, like diabetic ulcers, to help form a temporary matrix, or structure, to keep the wound stable while cells rejuvenate. The caveat is that current hydrogels are not porous enough and do not allow neighboring…

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Madonna’s Daughter Lourdes Leon, 22, Rocks Leg Hair and Shows Off Her Nipple on the Red Carpet

Lourdes Leon knows how to make a statement. On Monday, Madonna‘s daughter, 22, walked the red carpet at the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund event in a gauzy white dress that bared her right breast under a sheer panel and showed off her unshaven legs. She paired the structured look with chunky earrings, matching heels and a snakeskin purse and pulled her hair into a sleek ponytail. Leon, who dated 22-year-old actor Timothée Chalamet when they were high schoolers, is no stranger to proudly rocking her natural body. In September, she strutted down the Gypsy Sport runway at New York Fashion Week with her…

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Taking the brain apart to put it all together again

The human brain, with its 100 billion neurons that control every thought, word, and action, is the most complex and delicate organ in the body. Because it needs extra protection from toxins and other harmful substances, the blood vessels that supply the brain with oxygen and nutrients are highly selective about which molecules can cross from the blood into the brain and vice versa. These blood vessels and their unique network of supporting pericyte and astrocyte cells comprise the blood-brain barrier (BBB). When the BBB is disrupted, as happens with…

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Mediterranean diet boosts endurance exercise within days, study finds

Researchers at Saint Louis University have found that eating a Mediterranean diet can improve athletes’ endurance exercise performance after just four days. In a small study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, investigators found that participants ran a 5K six percent faster after eating a Mediterranean diet than after eating a Western diet. Researchers found no difference between the two diets in performance in anaerobic exercise tests. The Mediterranean diet includes whole fruits and vegetables, nuts, olive oil and whole grains, and avoids red and processed meats,…

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