Tech

Diamonds adorning tiaras to anklets are treasures but these gemstones inside the body may prove priceless.

Two Case Western Reserve University researchers are building implants made of diamond and flexible polymer that are designed to identify chemical and electrical changes in the brain of patients suffering from neural disease, or to stimulate nerves and restore movement in the paralyzed.

A balloon angioplasty device that sucks up dangerous plaque debris could trigger a "paradigm shift" in how physicians treat peripheral artery disease, researchers write in the current issue of Endovascular Today.

"We will see a shift in how we treat lesions," write Dr. Robert Dieter of Loyola University Health System and Dr. Aravinda Nanjundappa of West Virginia University.

GRAND RAPIDS, MICH., Oct. 5, 2010 – Only about a third of American women are meeting their fruit and vegetable intake recommendations, which means they are likely missing out on potentially important breast and ovarian health benefits (1). Along with vitamins, minerals and fiber, fruits and vegetables contain a type of phytonutrient called carotenoids, which research suggests help support women's health including breast and ovarian health.

A balloon angioplasty device that sucks up dangerous plaque debris could trigger a "paradign shift" in how physicians treat peripheral artery disease, researchers write in the current issue of Endovascular Today.

"We will see a shift in how we treat lesions," write Dr. Robert Dieter of Loyola University Health System and Dr. Aravinda Nanjundappa of West Virginia University.

Today's Oct. 4 issue of the high-impact journal, Applied Physics Letters, contains a new electrofluidics design from the University of Cincinnati and start-up company Gamma Dynamics that promises to dramatically reshape the image capabilities of electronic devices.

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Fish oil – long encouraged by doctors as a supplement to support heart and joint health, among other benefits – induced severe colitis and colon cancer in mice in research led by Michigan State University and published this month in the journal Cancer Research.

Washington, D.C. (October 5, 2010) -- Carbon nanotubes -- long, hollow cylinders of carbon billionths of a meter in diameter -- have many potential uses in nanotechnology, optics, electronics, and many other fields. The exact properties of nanotubes depend on their structure, and scientists as yet have little control over that structure, which is determined during the initial formation -- or growth -- of the nanotubes. In fact, says chemical engineer and materials scientist Eray Aydil of the University of Minnesota, "we do not know precisely how the nanotubes grow."

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA: For many blind people, computers are inaccessible. It can cost upwards of AUD$1000 to purchase "screen reader" software, but two blind computer programmers from Australia have solved this problem.

Queensland University of Technology (QUT) graduate James Teh and business partner Michael Curran developed a free, open-source program, called NVDA (NonVisual Desktop Access), which provides a synthetic voice to read the words on a computer screen as the cursor moves over them.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- In a warming 21st century, tropical forests will be at risk from a variety of threats, especially the conversion to cropland to sustain a growing population. A new report this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition shows that crop productivity improvements and carbon emission limits together could prevent widespread tropical deforestation over the next 100 years -- but if relying on either one alone, the world is at risk of losing many of its tropical forests.

MADISON — Ambitious plans to expand acreage of bioenergy crops could have a major impact on birds in the Upper Midwest, according to a study published today (Oct. 4) in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Combining data from bird surveys and land usage, two University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers calculated changes in the number of bird species after widespread planting of bioenergy crops.

SEQUIM, Wash. – Most toxic pollution falling onto Puget Sound's waters has decreased – some by as much as 99 percent – below earlier estimates, according to a region-wide study. Despite the overall decline, the study found that industrial areas like Tacoma still have the Puget's Sound's highest air-deposited contamination levels.

HACKENSACK, N.J. (October 4, 2010) — James C. Wittig, M.D. and colleagues will conduct a total of eight research presentations at the upcoming 96th Annual Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons and the 65th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand. Dr. Wittig, an orthopedic oncologist with extensive experience in performing limb-sparing surgeries, is Chief of the Division of Skin and Sarcoma Cancer of the John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center.