Tech

Johns Hopkins researchers have developed a novel way to monitor in real time the behavior of the TB bacterium in mouse lungs, noninvasively pinpointing the exact location of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The new monitoring system is expected to speed up what is currently a slow and cumbersome process to test the safety and efficacy of various TB drug regimens and vaccines in animals. A report on the system appears in the July 16 issue of the online journal Public Library of Science (PLoS One).

By miniaturizing a device that monitors the delivery of healthy cells, researchers at Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory are developing a powerful instrument for physicians to use in treating patients with Parkinson's syndrome, brain tumors, and other diseases.

While cell replacement therapies can be effective, the challenge is to deliver a sufficient quantity of healthy cells, said Boyd Evans III of the lab's Measurement Science and Systems Engineering Division.

PASADENA, Calif.—Using devices millionths of a meter in size, physicists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have developed a technique to determine the mass of a single molecule, in real time.

A team of physicists from Innsbruck, Austria, led by Christian Roos and Rainer Blatt, have proven in a comprehensive experiment that it is not possible to explain quantum phenomena in non-contextual terms. The scientists report on their findings in the current issue of Nature.

Two papers by a University of Oregon biophysicist and colleagues suggest that putting lipids and other cell membrane components on manufactured surfaces could lead to new classes of self-assembling materials for use in precision optics, nanotechnology, electronics and pharmaceuticals.

In a new system developed at the University of Michigan, music, not electromechanical valves, could drive experimental samples through a lab-on-a-chip method. This development could significantly simplify the process of conducting experiments in microfluidic devices. A paper on the research will be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

URBANA – Nothing could be easier than walking out the door, right? According to a new University of Illinois journal article, an abused woman actually goes through a five-step process of leaving that can be complicated at every stage by boundary ambiguity.

"When a woman is disengaging from a relationship, she is often unclear about her family's boundaries. Is her partner in or out of her life? A woman's spouse may be physically in the home but psychologically unavailable. He's not caring for the kids or being a loving partner.

Fingerprints move over. Scientists are reporting evidence that people have another defining trait that may distinguish each of the 6.7 billion humans on Earth from one another almost as surely as the arches, loops, and whorls on their fingertips. In a study scheduled for the Aug. 7 issue of ACS' monthly publication the Journal of Proteome Research, they report evidence from studies in humans for the existence of unique patterns in metabolism.

Scientists in Nevada are reporting development of a new and environmentally friendly process for producing biodiesel fuel from "chicken feather meal," made from the 11 billion pounds of poultry industry waste that accumulate annually in the United States alone. Their study is scheduled for the July 22 issue of ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a bi-weekly publication.

Consumers usually find out pretty quickly if the meat they're planning to throw on the grill has been recalled.

What consumers may not be finding out about recalls and the inspection process, however, could make them doubt the effectiveness of what is actually a pretty good system to keep food safe, according to Kansas State University researchers.

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — Even with the demands of surgical careers, most surgeons would still choose their profession again. Women surgeons, however, are far more likely to postpone having children or to not have children at all and would prefer more flexibility in their work schedules, a national survey conducted by UC Davis researchers has found. The survey findings are reported today in the Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Berkeley - Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, are proving that a camera phone can capture far more than photos of people or pets at play. They have now developed a cell phone microscope, or CellScope, that not only takes color images of malaria parasites, but of tuberculosis bacteria labeled with fluorescent markers.

The prototype CellScope, described in the July 22 issue of the online journal PLoS ONE, moves a major step forward in taking clinical microscopy out of specialized laboratories and into field settings for disease screening and diagnoses.

Berkeley Lab researchers have produced non-toxic magnesium oxide nanocrystals that efficiently emit blue light and could also play a role in long-term storage of carbon dioxide, a potential means of tempering the effects of global warming.

Purdue University researchers have created magnetically responsive gold nanostars that may offer a new approach to biomedical imaging. The nanostars gyrate when exposed to a rotating magnetic field and can scatter light to produce a pulsating or "twinkling" effect. This twinkling allows them to stand out more clearly from noisy backgrounds like those found in biological tissue.

Alexander Wei, a professor of chemistry, and Kenneth Ritchie, an associate professor of physics, led the team that created the new gyromagnetic imaging method.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Automobile owners around the world may some day soon be driving on tires that are partly made out of trees – which could cost less, perform better and save on fuel and energy.

Wood science researchers at Oregon State University have made some surprising findings about the potential of microcrystalline cellulose – a product that can be made easily from almost any type of plant fibers – to partially replace silica as a reinforcing filler in the manufacture of rubber tires.