Tech

OAK BROOK, Ill. – October 26, 2009 – Researchers from Taiwan report in a new study that unsedated colonoscopy for primary colorectal cancer screening is well accepted in a majority of patients. Sedation is typically used for colonoscopy to make the patient feel comfortable during the procedure. In Taiwan, colonoscopy is performed less frequently than sigmoidoscopy for colorectal cancer screening due to concerns over cost and availability.

San Diego, CA (October 26, 2009) – A study of patients with implantable cardiac devices such as pacemakers, implantable defibrillators or left ventricular assist devices found that performing capsule endoscopy in these patients is safe and that the devices in general do not interfere with images captured by the capsule. Capsule endoscopy is a diagnostic study of the small intestine by a miniature wireless camera swallowed by the patient. As the capsule travels through the digestive tract, images are transmitted to a recorder worn by the patient around the waist.

JERSEY CITY, NJ (October 26, 2009): An experimental drug, LX211 (LUVENIQ™; oral voclosporin), may become the first approved oral treatment capable of modifying the course of uveitis, a group of serious eye conditions inevitably associated with either severe vision loss or substantial morbidity from steroid use.

Sperm, and not just the fluid it bathes in, can transmit HIV to macrophages, T cells, and dendritic cells (DCs), report a team led by Ana Ceballos at the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina. By infecting DCs, which carry the virus and potently pass it to T cells, sperm may play a leading role in spreading HIV. The article appears in the November 23, 2009 issue of the Journal of Experimental Medicine (online October 26).

PASADENA, Calif.—Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have created a nanoscale crystal device that, for the first time, allows scientists to confine both light and sound vibrations in the same tiny space.

Technology developed by the University of Warwick that can identify partial, distorted, scratched, smudged, or otherwise warped fingerprints in just a few seconds has just scored top marks in the world's two toughest technical fingerprint tests. The technology is also being rapidly taken up by the UK building trade who are delighted to have fingerprint technology which can cope with the often worn and ravaged builders' thumbprints.

JERSEY CITY, NJ (October 26, 2009): An experimental drug, LX211 (LUVENIQ™; oral voclosporin), may become the first approved oral treatment capable of modifying the course of uveitis, a group of serious eye conditions inevitably associated with either severe vision loss or substantial morbidity from steroid use.

BERKELEY, CA – Ultrasound and underwater sonar devices could "see" a big improvement thanks to development of the world's first acoustic hyperlens. Created by researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), the acoustic hyperlens provides an eightfold boost in the magnification power of sound-based imaging technologies.

PHILADELPHIA –- A team of engineers from the University of Pennsylvania has transformed simple nanowires into reconfigurable materials and circuits, demonstrating a novel, self-assembling method for chemically creating nanoscale structures that are not possible to grow or obtain otherwise.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is often caused by abdominal obesity, which is also one of the main causes of insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. The latter, in turn, is an important cardiovascular risk factor, and has been found to be associated with the presence of carotid atherosclerotic lesions. It is therefore understandable that an association may exist between NAFLD and carotid lesions. Although the association between NAFLD and carotid lesions is plausible and demonstrated, its practical implications have not been fully understood.

Patients who die in the hospital in the United States are almost five times as likely to have spent part of their last hospital stay in the ICU than patients in England. What's more, over the age of 85, ICU usage among terminal patients is eight times higher in the U.S. than in England, according to new research from Columbia University that compared the two countries' use of intensive care services during final hospitalizations.

Thirty million years ago, before Ethiopia's mountainous highlands split and the Great Rift Valley formed, the tropical zone had warmer soil temperatures, higher rainfall and different atmospheric circulation patterns than it does today, according to new research of fossil soils found in the central African nation.

The American Thoracic Society has released new clinical guidelines for the treatment of exacerbations in cystic fibrosis based on a review of the literature on current clinical practices.

Typhoon Lupit (called Ramil in the Philippines) is already raining over the northern Luzon today, October 22. The storm has unfortunately slowed to 8 mph as it creeps westward, and that's bad news for flood-weary residents, as it means more rainfall for that region.

Tropical cyclones Ketsana and Parma caused flooding, devastation and death in the Philippines over the last 30 days, leaving dams overflowing and drenched soils unable to soak up any more rain. Those storms combined were responsible for more than 1,000 deaths in Manila and other parts of Luzon.

One small step for mankind is now a leap for averting natural and man-made disasters on earth.

New Tel Aviv University technology combines sophisticated sensors in orbit with sensors on the ground and in the air to create a "Hyperspectral Remote Sensor" (HRS). It can give advance warnings about water contamination after a forest fire, alert authorities of a pollution spill long before a red flag is raised on earth, or tell people in China where a monsoon will strike.