of the Optoelectronics Industry Development Association will discuss the convergence of traditional industry segments --communications, computers and consumer electronics -- and how it may lead to new optoelectronics markets. Shuji Nakamura of the University of California at Santa Barbara will discuss future prospects for solid-state lighting, which promises a much more energy-efficient form of illumination. At the Wednesday, May 25 8 a.m. session, Deborah Jin of JILA/University of Colorado will talk about fermionic condensates, ultracold gases of matter that are enabling researchers to explore some fundamental physics phenomena such as superconductivity. Additionally, Chris Contag of Stanford will show how optical imaging can reveal the factors that cause stem cells either to self-renew (replicate themselves) or differentiate (develop into more specialized cells).

HIGHLIGHTS
Following are a few of the many highlights to be discussed at the conference.

SHEDDING LIGHT ON BRAIN TUMORS AND CLOGGED ARTERIES
Using a practical laser-based fiber-optics system, researchers have developed a minimally invasive technique that can tell the difference between dangerous and less harmful forms of atherosclerotic plaque in 34 human patients. In addition, the same technique distinguished brain tumors from normal tissue in 18 patients. Developed by a team of engineers and surgeons at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and the University of Southern California, the system makes use of a technique called "time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy" (TR-LIFS). Using this process, surgeons take a fiber optic probe connected to a laser to access the desired location in the body. There, the probe shines the laser light on tissue, and researchers or physicians record the spectrum of light that the tissue radiates (or "fluoresces") in response. As team member Laura Marcu
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Contact: Colleen Morrison
cmorri@osa.org
202-416-1437
American Institute of Physics
2-May-2005

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