Smithsonian's National Zoo researchers use electronic eggs to help save threatened species
... The telemetric egg, placed in the nest after the mother has laid her eggs, contains sensors that record temperatures on four quadrants of the eggs surface as well as in the eggs interior. Motion detectors record how freque...CTRC enrolls first patients in novel phase II study for sarcoma -- living virus destroys cancer cell
SAN ANTONIO -- The Cancer Therapy & Research Center Institute for Drug Development, in collaboration with Oncolytics Biotech Inc., a biotechnology company, has enrolled the first two patients in a new Phase II clinical study for patients with various types of sarcomas that have metastasized to the lung. CTRC is one of only three sites in the United States, and the only in Texas, enrolling patie...World's first X-ray free electron laser is on course to completion
... LCLS will be the world's first X-ray free electron laser when it becomes operational at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) in 2009. It will be the first X-ray laser to combine the brilliance of laser sources with the penetrating power and atomic sensitivity of X-rays. Argonne is a partner laboratory on the project and is responsible for the 130-meter undulator system, including m...Electric fish conduct electric duets in aquatic courtship
... The study is the first to compare electrical and behavioral displays in breeding and nonbreeding Brienomyrus brachyistius, a type of mormyrid electric fish, which emit weak electric fields from a batterylike organ in their tails to sense their surroundings and communicate their species, sex and social status with other fish. It is also the first study to successfully sort signals...New enhancements upgrade NIST Mass Spectra Library
After three years of development, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released a major upgrade of the widely used NIST/EPA/NIH Mass Spectral Library. ... ...The library is an encyclopedic database of "fingerprints" used to identify chemical compounds with a technique called mass spectrometry. The method uses the unique masses of molecules to identify unknown chemicals. S...Stem cells' electric abilities might help their safe clinical use
Researchers from Johns Hopkins have discovered the presence of functional ion channels in human embryonic stem cells (ESCs). These ion channels act like electrical wires and permit ESCs, versatile cells that possess the unique ability to become all cell types of the body, to conduct and pass along electric currents....... If researchers could selectively block some of these channels in implanted...The 'driving' force behind electric vehicles
Cultural differences between countries run right to the heart of government, thereby influencing technological innovation. This is reported in a comparative study by David Calef and Robert Goble published recently in the journal Policy Sciences(1). The authors outline efforts taken throughout the 1990s by both the US and French governments to adopt legislation fostering technological innovation...Study finds regions of DNA that appear linked to autistic spectrum disorders
... Autism a disorder that involves social deficits, language problems and repetitive, stereotyped behaviors affects around one in 1,000 children. And the combined incidence of autism spectrum disorders, which include Asperger syndrome and pe...UC engineering researchers uncover factors that control ion motion in solid electrolytes
... ... "We find that when networks become flexible their electrical conductivity increases precipitously," says Dea...An electroacoustic path to custom-made gene chips
... ... Usually, these chips are made to order by specialty companies, using extremely expensive equipment. But the directional soundwave technique invented by the research group of Eun...Deflecting damage: Flexible electronics aid brain injury research
... Developed by a team of engineers at Princeton University, Columbia University and the University of Cambridge, the membranes feature microelectrodes that are able to withstand the sudden stretching that is used to simulate severe head trauma. The systems could allow far more nuanced studies of brain injury than previously possible and may lead to better treatme...Research on microfluidics widens the possibilities for electronic devices
... ... As recently published in Applied Physics Letters and featured on the cover of the journal, Andrew Steckls research on liquid-state-field-effect transistors (LiquiFETs) promise...Flexible electronics could find applications as sensors, artificial muscles
... ... These structures were...'Juiced-up' battery fueled by sugar could power small portable electronics
... For consumers, that could mean significantly longer time to talk and play music between charges. The new battery, which is also biodegradable, could eventually replace lithium ion batteries in many...Super small nanoelectrodes can probe microscale environments
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Investigating the composition and behavior of microscale environments, including those within living cells, could become easier and more precise with nanoelectrodes being developed at the University of Illinois.... "The individual nanotube-based probes can be used for electrochemical and biochemical sensing," said Min-Feng Yu, a U. of I. professor of mechanical science and eng.................. Researchers at the Stuttgart-based Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research and the University of Manchester have created the thinnest membranes possible: They consist of only a single layer of carbon atoms, called graphene. Despite the thinness of the membranes, they are extremely stability. The reason for this is that the graphene membranes are not perfectly flat, but sl...First direct electric link between neurons and light-sensitive nanoparticle films created
... Nanoparticles are artificially created bits of matter not much bigger than individual atoms. Their behavior is controlled...Eye movement tasks can be used to assess fetal alcohol spectrum disorders
... ... "Whereas oculomotor tasks have been used to assess brain f...Reversal of symptoms in an autism spectrum disorder
The Rett Syndrome Research Foundation (RSRF) announces results of a landmark study reversing the symptoms of Rett Syndrome (RTT) in a genetic mouse model. The findings, by Adrian Bird, Ph.D., of the University of Edinburgh and Chairman of the RSRF Scientific Advisory Board, appear online in Science Express on February 8, 2007. Rett Syndrome is a severe childhood neurological disease that is t...'Electric' fish shed light on ways the brain directs movement
... Their findings, published in the January 31 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, shed new light on the communication that takes place between the brain and body. The fish research may contribute to import...Marshfield Clinic's electronic health record first to receive CCHIT certification
... ... "This certification acknowledges the comprehensiveness of Marshfield Clinic's...Lead with a poisonous electron shield
It has been speculated that lead poisoning may have played a role in the fall of the Roman Empire: it is thought to have been caused by the concentration of grape juice in lead containers. Though the introduction of lead-free gasoline has reduced damage to the environment, the annual production of lead continues to increase worldwide because lead is still used in batteries, glass, and electronic...Electrical activity alters language used by nerve cells
... In the study, published this week in the early on-line edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the biologists showed that, contrary to the prevailing viewpoint, neurotransmitters--the chemical language of nerve cells--and recept...Electronic chip, interacting with the brain, modifies pathways for controlling movement
... The authors of study, titled "Long-Term Motor Cortex Plasticity Induced by an El...Magnetic components that can be controlled by the application of an external electric field are useful in many different applications. They can serve as microfluidic pumps, mixers, or valves in miniature lab-on-chip systems, or they can help in sorting and arranging magnetic particles. Biochemistry and cellular biology in particular benefit from many possible uses: for example, antibodies or oth...Cassini's Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer detects vast polar ethane cloud on Titan
... ... Before the Cassini-Huygens mission began visiting Titan in 2004, "We expected to see lots...High-throughput oncogene mutation detection in human cancers by mass spectrometry-based genotyping
... ... The technique, developed at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute of Harvard...UC Davis researchers move biotechnology closer to replacing electronic pacemakers
... The UC Davis study, which was co-authored by an international team that included scientists from the University of Hong Kong and Johns Hopkins University, is published in the curre...Solitons could power molecular electronics, artificial muscles
... ... ... Li explained that each soliton is made up...Microchannels, electricity aid drug discovery, early diagnosis
West Lafayette, Ind. - A tiny fluid-filled channel on a microchip that allows single cells to be treated and analyzed could lead to advances in drug and gene screening and early disease diagnosis....... The tool breaks down cell membranes to allow drug and gene delivery and permits examination of intracellular materials by establishing an electrical current across a microscale channel, said Chang...Engineering electrically conducting tissue for the heart
Patients with complete heart block, or disrupted electrical conduction in their hearts, are at risk for life-threatening rhythm disturbances and heart failure. The condition is currently treated by implanting a pacemaker in the patient's chest or abdomen, but these devices often fail over time, particularly in infants and small children who must undergo many re-operations. Researchers at Children...Electric fish in Africa could be example of evolution in action
Avoiding quicksand along the banks of the Ivindo River in Gabon, Cornell neurobiologists armed with oscilloscopes search for shapes and patterns of electricity created by fish in the water. ... They know from their previous research that the various groups of local electric fish have different DNA, different communication patterns and won't mate with each other. However, they now have found a cas...Researchers use mass spectrometry to detect norovirus particles
Scientists have used mass spectrometry for decades to determine the chemical composition of samples but rarely has it been used to identify viruses, and never in complex environmental samples. Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health recently demonstrated that proteomic mass spectrometry has the potential to be applied for this purpose. Using a two-step process, research...4th International Congress on Electron Tomography
The FOURTH INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON ELECTRON TOMOGRAPHY, (4ICET), will be held Nov. 5 - 8, 2006 at Paradise Point Resort and Convention Center in San Diego. This conference series has been held every two to three years since 1997. It brings together biologists, biophysicists, computer scientists, mathematicians, materials scientists and electron optical instrumentation specialists for an interdi...Electrical stimulation boosts stroke recovery
Sending tiny electric pulses to a part of the brain controlling motor function helps ischemic stroke survivors regain partial use of a weakened hand, new Oregon Health & Science University research shows....... But coupling the technique known as cortical stimulation with aggressive rehabilitation is key to reversing the impairment, doctors say....... "It's the coolest thing in stroke I've seen i...Cancer cells lose drug resistance following electrical stimulation in vitro
Drug-resistant tumour cells lose their drug resistance when exposed to low intensity, low frequency electric pulses for three days. A study published today in the open access journal BMC Cancer reveals that treating drug-resistant tumour cells with electric pulses in vitro restores the cells' ability to take up the anti-cancer drug doxorubicin. ...... The research group led by Luca Cucullo and Da...Chemists report progress in quest to use hydrogen as fuel for cars and electronic devices
Chemists at UCLA and the University of Michigan report an advance toward the goal of cars that run on hydrogen rather than gasoline. While the U.S. Department of Energy estimates that practical hydrogen fuel will require concentrations of at least 6.5 percent, the chemists have achieved concentrations of 7.5 percent -- nearly three times as much as has been reported previously -- but at a very lo...Convergent evolution of molecules in electric fish
Having a set of extra genes gave fish on separate continents the ability to evolve electric organs, report researchers from The University of Texas at Austin....... Dr. Harold Zakon and colleagues, in a paper recently published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, show that African and South American groups of fish independently evolved electric organs by modifying sodium channel p...Mechanism for memory revealed in neurons of electric fish
Researchers from The University of Texas at Austin studying electric fish have gained new insight into how memory is stored at the level of neurons. ...... Their finding, published in the Feb. 16 issue of Neuron, could help researchers better understand memory formation and neural disorders like epilepsy in humans....... Dr. Harold Zakon, Dr. Jrg Oestreich and colleagues show that when electric f...Georgia Tech develops technology for more compact, inexpensive spectrometers
ATLANTA (February 8, 2006) -- Being the delicate optical instruments that they are, spectrometers are pretty picky about light.... ...But Georgia Tech researchers have developed a technology to help spectrometers -- instruments that can be used as the main parts of sensors that can detect substances present in even ultra-small concentrations -- analyze substances using fewer parts in a wider vari...