Science Illustrated

The ability to imagine helps refine and develop our existing knowledge to prove or invent things according to that imagination. This is why Einstein once said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” And this imagination is what we always try to offer to our readers.

MEDICINE

Is it effective to coat the skin of cesarean babies with vaginal bacteria?

A report published in the International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology states that more than 90% of Danish obstetricians report having been asked to coat a baby’s skin with vaginal fluid.

The method is to take the fluid from the vagina and apply it to the baby’s face, skin, and eyes. The purpose of coating the baby’s skin is to allow bacteria to help improve the baby’s immune system and reduce the risk of allergies such as asthma because the cesarean section has a part in putting the baby at a higher risk of certain immune-related diseases.

But doctors in Denmark and the UK say there is little evidence to suggest that coating newborns’ skin after surgery with bacteria that live in the vagina to simulate a natural birth is beneficial.

The report also said there was no evidence that this type of skin coating on babies was beneficial, with only one study of the technique involving four babies.

The report also warns that this method also carries the risk of easily infecting the baby with various infections, such as Streptococcus group B, E. coli, and many other sexually transmitted infections, because the fluids from the vagina applied to the baby may not be the same bacteria that were transmitted to the baby during birth, or the bacteria may have been diluted from the blood or amino substances in the vagina during childbirth. Therefore, this technique is not recommended until there is research that concludes that it is not harmful and can develop the baby’s immune system or digestive system.

The medical team therefore recommends that women who are about to give birth avoid unnecessary cesarean sections, try to have contact between mother and child as soon as possible, and aim to breastfeed for at least half a year because these things will help create beneficial effects on the baby’s microflora naturally.

TECHNOLOGY

Did you know? There is an app to help diagnose brain concussions in sports stadiums.

A traumatic brain injury is caused by a severe blow to the head that causes damage to the brain. Several studies have shown that repeated trauma, such as in some athletes, can have long-term effects on the body, cognitive abilities, and even mental and emotional problems.

However diagnosing brain injuries is difficult, and even brain surgeons admit this.

However, at present, there is no reliable way to diagnose concussion, even in hospitals, because the diagnosis mostly depends on the best judgment of the diagnosing physician, by screening for symptoms indicating severe brain damage.

That’s why a team of doctors from the University of Washington has developed a mobile phone app to help take the guesswork out of diagnosing a concussion.

The medical leader said the app can examine the entire brain to diagnose brain injuries, and can also use the pupillary reflex measurement to light with a mobile phone to differentiate between brain injuries and normal patients, allowing the team to make a diagnosis with 100 percent accuracy.

Previously, doctors thought there might not be any physical symptoms indicating brain damage, but that was because our eyes could not detect these symptoms.

The medical leader said the human eye can only detect changes to a certain extent and cannot detect physical changes that indicate brain injury.

But when this brain injury diagnosis application is used, it can examine the pupils, see what doctors can’t see, and reliably tell whether a patient should be examined in a hospital by a doctor for brain injury or whether the patient is physically responsive. This is the ultimate goal of treatment because accurate diagnosis in the field after a severe head injury has a high potential to help prevent death.

CULTURE

Can the Maasai jump higher than the average human?

The Maasai tribe lives in Kenya and Tanzania, Africa. When a young Maasai boy reaches the age of becoming a warrior, he must participate in a jumping dance ritual. In this dance, the Maasai warriors stand on tiptoes in a circle and take turns jumping while singing. The average jumping height of the Maasai is about 50 centimeters, which is not much different from the average jumping height of healthy men in other countries. The difference is that the Maasai jump up straight, their arms are always close to their bodies, and their hands are firmly gripped by their staffs. They do not swing or spread their arms as we usually do when jumping.

Danish scientists from the University of Copenhagen measured the height of the jumps, but the study was hampered by the fact that the Maasai are reluctant to cooperate in individual jumps, making it difficult to control experimental variables. Instead, the scientists negotiated a ritual dance performed by the Maasai in a laboratory setting and measured the height of their jumps in a simulated ritual. Therefore, The results may be lower than the heights the Maasai jump in their dances.