Don’t Overlook Airway Health

patient actually stops breathing. With UARS, an obstruction causes an arousal, and then the individual begins breathing again. Other issues include tongue ties, deviated septum in the nose and nasal valve issues.

There is not a good diagnostic tool for proper diagnosis for UARS, as current sleep tests either diagnose a patient with apnea or no apnea. Individuals with UARS are then misdiagnosed as just snoring or idiopathic hypersomnia (excessive daytime sleepiness). In adults, UARS can be successfully treated a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device and even orthodontic expansion.

sleep lab and get hooked up with wires while someone watches them sleep, or they can take a home sleep test wearing a watch with a sensor on the chest that monitors breathing, snoring, oxygen levels, sleep cycle and body position.

Many airway issues originate in the mouth. The most common are sleep breathing disorders (SBD) that encompass snoring, upper airway resistance (UARS) and sleep apnea. Most people think that snoring is normal, but there should never be any noise with sleep. UARS is like a patient is breathing through a thin straw at night, which leads to sleep fragmentation and multiple arousals. The difference between UARS and sleep apnea is that the

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) occurs when the tongue falls back in the throat at night and causes a patient to stop breathing or take a partial breath. Left untreated, it can result in heart attacks, strokes or even death. It way cause a patient’s sleep cycle to be disrupted multiple times during the night, which leads to fatigue and daytime sleepiness. OSA is also linked to heartburn, high blood pressure and diabetes. Patients can get tested one of two ways; they can go to a

The most common cause of SBD is not having enough room for the tongue in the mouth. Think of a patient’s airway as the driveway, their mouth as the garage and their tongue as the car. The car needs enough room in the garage so that it isn’t falling back into the driveway. Our tongue needs enough room in our mouth so that it doesn’t fall back in our airway at night, causing snoring and possible sleep apnea.

Dr. Ashley Coerver practices at Crosspointe Dental, Orthodontics and Sleep Solutions, located at 2041 Hwy. 287 N., Ste. 105, in Mansfield. For more information, call 682-302-3283 or visit CrossPointeDental.com.

Insect-Inspired Drones Build Structures

Two London-based roboticists, Mirko Kovac and Robert Stuart-Smith, have developed new technology that mimics the way bees work together to build a structure. They used two free-flying drones to build a human-sized tower. The “build drone” carried expanding foam and sprayed it in slow, steady circles to form layers, while the “scan drone” surveyed the structure and identified spots where the last layer was either too thin or too thick, and it then created a plan for the build drone to even things out on the next pass to keep the structure straight and sturdy.

In a second demonstration of the technology, the drones made a cylinder the size of a large round cake using a cement-like material. The duo exhibited a great deal of precision in stacking the material to within millimeters.

The team plans to take the drones outdoors to deal with the elements and add to the complexity of the objectives and number of drones involved. If the technology can be perfected, these collaborative construction drones could be used in places where it is difficult for humans and heavy machinery to reach, like the tops of buildings, remote pipelines and disaster areas.

Lowering the Carbon Footprint of Batteries

A Swedish battery manufacturer, Northvolt, in partnership with Stora Enso, one of the largest private forest owners in the world, has developed a battery for electric vehicles (EV) with an anode made of sustainably raised and harvested wood instead of graphite, paving the way for battery production from a renewable source.

The partners figured out a way to extract lignin, a carbon-rich natural binder that comprises up to 30 percent of many trees, and turn it into a material they call Lignode. According to Stora Enso, by replacing graphite or copper anodes with Lignode, lithium-ion batteries will offer faster charging and discharging, higher cycling stability and more efficient performance in low temperature.

More than 50 percent of the EV’s carbon footprint comes from the manufacture of its battery—both in sourcing raw materials and producing the component. Mining graphite is an expensive and labor-intensive process that requires considerable resources that come from parts of the world where workers’ rights are inadequately protected. While Northvolt’s battery is not on the market yet, this development, along with others like solid-state

Invasive Wild Hogs Pose Numerous Threats

There are approximately 6 million non-native, feral pigs in the United States. They destroy an estimated $2.5 billion in crops, pastures, forests and livestock each year across 35 states and jeopardize endangered species, including the Florida panther, green sea turtles and red-cheeked salamanders. But their greatest threat may be the potential to carry disease to humans, domesticated hogs and other animals.

The pigs were brought to the Americas from Europe as early as the 1500s. They reproduce quickly, with up to two litters of four to 12 piglets every 12 to 15 months, and can grow to be five feet long and weigh more than 500 pounds. Feral swine can carry a long list of pathogens, including leptospirosis, brucellosis, swine influenza, salmonella, hepatitis and pathogenic E. coli. The U.S. Department of Agriculture describes swine as a “mixing vessel species”, meaning that they are susceptible to human viruses and have the ability to create novel forms of those diseases. Human risk to known and new pathogens is greater from feral swine than other wildlife due to our proximity to them and their large numbers. Hunters and farmers are at greatest risk. Anyone that handles feral swine should wear rubber gloves and avoid fluid exchanges.

Gas Stove Pollution Goes Unnoticed

A new study published in Environmental Science & Technology finds that gas stoves frequently leak dangerous pollutants into the kitchen. A team from PSE Health Energy collected samples from 159 gas stoves across California and sent them to a laboratory for analysis.

The researchers found 12 pollutants in total, and four of these gases—benzene, toluene, hexane and m- or p-xylene—were present in 98 percent of the samples. Most of the stoves leaked at least a little, even when they were turned off.

The natural gas used in stoves is comprised mostly of methane and other hydrocarbons and gases. Before it is delivered into homes and business, most of the non-methane gases are removed and a strong-scented chemical is added to alert people to possible leaks. The leaks studied by the California researchers were not substantial enough for people to notice this rotten-egg smell, but they could still expose users to harmful and potentially cancer-causing pollutants. Those with gas stoves are encouraged to turn on their exhaust fans whenever they are in use.

Rebuilding Coral Reefs With Sound

Rapid ocean warming and other effects caused by climate change have stressed and degraded corals around the globe, and scientists have been studying ways to rebuild, manage and conserve these vital ecosystems. A new Australian study published in Journal of Applied Ecology tested whether playing certain sounds underwater at reef restoration sites could boost the recruitment of oysters and enhance their habitat-building activities. Australia’s flat oyster is a key reef-building organism targeted for restoration efforts.

Previous studies had shown that the sound of healthy reefs differs from that of damaged reefs. Using inexpensive marine speakers, the researchers reproduced the sound of a healthy reef at four sites across two of the largest oyster reef restorations in Australia and compared the results to areas that did not receive this soundscape enrichment. The sonically enhanced areas resulted in the presence of more and larger oysters that formed more three-dimensional habitats atop the reef restorations. The scientists propose that the use of marine soundscapes during early stages of new reef restoration projects could reduce the cost of habitat recovery.