University of Southampton researchers have developed new nano-structured glass optical elements, which have applications in optical manipulation and will significantly reduce the cost of medical imaging.
Diamonds aren’t forever
Associate Professor Richard Mildren and his colleagues from the Macquarie University Photonics Research Centre discovered that diamonds evaporate under exposure to light.
Presentations from US-EU nanoEHS workshop now available online
On March 10-11, 2011 The US and EU jointly held a workshop to engage in an active discussion about environmental, health, and safety questions for nano-enabled products; encourage joint programs of work that would leverage resources; establish communities of practice, including identificaiton of key points of contact /interest groups/themes between key US and EU researchers and key US and EU funding sources. The presentations from this workshop are now available online.
RUSNANO and VNIINM Launch Project to Produce High-Strength and High-Conductivity Wires
RUSNANO and VNIINM (a subsidiary of TVEL which, in turn, is a member company of State Atomic Energy Corporation ROSATOM) have signed an investment agreement that provides for commercial production of high-strengh nanostructured wires with high electrical conductivity.
Exotic quantum crystal discovered – a novel state of crystal matter
Nature knows two opposite types of solids: one that emerges upon compression from a liquid and a second that appears if the pressure on a liquid is reduced. While the former is typical for substances in our everyday life the latter occurs for example in a dense quantum liquid of electrons (such as in metals) or ions (in exotic white dwarf or neutron stars). Now it has been shown that there exists yet a third form of matter that inherits both of these properties.
Diamond’s quantum memory
Two completely different quantum systems were successfully joined at Vienna University of Technology. This should pave the way to feasible quantum-computer microchips.
Congressman announces science grants for nanotechnology research at Penn, Drexel
Congressman Chaka Fattah (D-PA), the leading Democratic appropriator for scientific research, today announced the award of $978,242 from the National Science Foundation for three research grants - including two dealing with nanotechnology - for projects at the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University
Stick-on tattoos go electric
Micro-electronics, elegant design and existing tattoo tech combine to create a complex device that is far more than a novelty.
Researchers observe nanoscale charge transport in bulk heterojunction solar cells
Researchers in the CNST have used photoconductive atomic force microscopy (PCAFM) to characterize the nanoscale structure of organic photovoltaic materials, and have performed a careful assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of this technique.
Bilayer graphene is another step toward graphene electronics
The Nobel Prize winning scientists Professor Andre Geim and Professor Kostya Novoselov have taken a huge step forward in studying the wonder material graphene and revealing its exciting electronic properties for future electronic applications.
Where electrons get stuck in traffic
The thinnest wire in the world, made from pure gold, is being examined by physicists from the universities of Wuerzburg and Kassel. Its exceptional electrical conductivity is causing quite a stir: the electrons do not move freely through the wire, but like cars in stop-and-go traffic.
ConfoMap Surface Analysis Software for ZEISS Microscopes
Detailed surface metrology reports in accordance with latest standards and methods.
Structural consequences of nanolithography
Users from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Center for Nanophase Materials Science, working with the X-Ray Microscopy Group, have discovered structural effects accompanying the nanoscale lithography of ferroelectric polarization domains.
New tool may yield smaller, faster optoelectronics
Steering a beam of 'virtual particles' enables team of scientists to manipulate ultra-small-scale particles in real time.
From solar paint to instantly charged batteries, IEEE experts say the future looks big for nanotechnology
IEEE NANO 2011 conference illustrates IEEE leadership in advancing nanotechnology in healthcare, electronics, energy, and other fields.
Interview With Dr. Bruce Ames – An Anti Aging Specialist
Life Extension Magazine recently did an interview with Dr.Bruce Ames, an anti aging specialist and research scientist who was the first to realize the potential of using lipoic acid and Acetly L Carnitine together to help reverse the aging process.
You may remember I originally wrote about this combination in this article: Anti Aging for the Brain and Body .
Dr. Ames has recently developed the Triage Theory of Aging, which found that moderate deficiencies of one of the 40 essential nutrients may lead to DNA damage - which in turn, leads to disease and aging.
Interview With Dr. Bruce Ames – An Anti Aging Specialist is a post from: Anti Aging Nutrition News
DICOM Standard 2011 Edition now available
Blood Test For Baby’s Gender Accurate, Potentially Controversial
On its front page, the New York Times (8/10, A1, Belluck, Subscription Publication) reports that according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, "a simple blood test that can determine a baby's sex as early as seven weeks into pregnancy is highly accurate if used correctly." Experts predict that "parents concerned about gender-linked diseases, those who are merely curious, and people considering the more ethically controversial step of selecting the sex of their children" are all likely to utilize this technology. The Times says similar tests have previously been commercially available but were often inaccurate. In response to concerns of gender selection, some companies require waivers from customers saying they will not use the test for that purpose.
USA Today (8/10, Szabo) reports, "The technology works by detecting 'cell-free fetal DNA,' or DNA from the fetus, which floats freely in a pregnant woman's blood." USA Today also notes specific concerns about possible misuse of the technology, citing a study in The Lancet estimating that "between 4.2 million and 12.1 million female fetuses were 'selectively' aborted in India from 1980 to 2010, a practice that is noticeably skewing the ratio of boys and girls in that country."
The AP (8/10, Tanner) specifies that the procedure tested in this study uses a PCR test for Y chromosome DNA to tell whether the fetus is biologically male or female. AP notes that testing was performed in research settings, while "tests that companies sell directly to consumers were not examined in the analysis." Researchers stated that "blood tests like those studied could be a breakthrough for women at risk of having babies with certain diseases, who could avoid invasive procedures if they learned their fetus was a gender not affected by those illnesses."
The Los Angeles Times (8/9, Khan) "Booster Shots" blog reported, "The researchers found that tests...are about 95% to 99% accurate, depending on several factors. They can be used well before ultrasound...and aren't invasive, unlike amniocentesis, which carries a small but real risk of miscarriage." However, science writer Karen Kaplan warns that "There's a whole industry of questionable genetic tests put out by 'entrepreneurs' that promise to tell parents-to-be practically anything about their future children, from ethnic heritage to most viable future sports activities."
The Wall Street Journal (8/9, Hobson, Subscription Publication) "Health Blog" noted that some diseases, such as congenital adrenal hyperplasia, require corticosteroid treatment of the mother throughout her pregnancy if the fetus is female. Therefore, the test would find that a woman carrying a female child with this condition should be treated, while a woman carrying a male child with the condition could avoid such treatment.
According to the Boston Globe (8/9, Kotz) "Daily Dose" blog, currently available tests in the US are unregulated by the US Food and Drug Administration. Notably, "Several years ago, Lowell-based Acu-Gen Laboratories promised that its Baby Gender Mentor blood test was '99.9 percent accurate' in detecting a fetus's sex at five weeks and offered refunds to anyone who received wrong results. The company was forced into bankruptcy in 2009 after hundreds of women with false results filed class action lawsuits after they said they weren't given any refunds." The researchers who published this study said the Acu-Gen test detected the "Y chromosome only 41 percent of the time."
In a commentary for MSNBC (8/9), University of Pennsylvania Center for Bioethics director Arthur Caplan wrote that outside of testing for sex-linked genetic diseases, "everything about the early testing of fetal genes for sex identification spells ethical trouble." Caplan predicted these tests will soon be used for gender-selective abortion, paternity testing, and whether "your 7-week-old fetus is prone to early onset breast, colon or ovarian cancer, Down syndrome, cystic fibrosis, sickle cell disease, dwarfism, deafness, Alzheimer's." Caplan argued this test "promises to soon be a very morally contentious technology."
MedPage Today (8/9, Fiore) reported, "In a review and meta-analysis, detection of Y-chromosome sequences had a sensitivity of about 95% and a specificity of nearly 99%, Stephanie Devaney, PhD, of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., and colleagues reported." Researchers stated "that a disadvantage of fetal DNA blood testing is the need to validate female sex, because the test looks for male, or Y-chromosome, DNA." MedPage Today also noted that the National Human Genome Research Institute funded the study.
Killer App Discovered for Digital Pathology
10 August 2011 -- Fenway, MA. After many years of anticipation, a killer application has finally been discovered for digital pathology, by researchers at the Fenway University in Boston, Massachussetts. "One would think that simply being able to work from anywhere, share anything, with a full audit trail of what was viewed, and the ability for the computer to assist in scoring would be enough to drive digital pathology adoption," said Dr. Mark Lowell, Professor at Fenway University. "However, the industry has been waiting for a killer application to drive adoption, and we believe we have finally found it."
"We studied pathologist patterns while at the microscope and while traveling to peer reviews, conferences, and tumor boards, and we were struck by an amazing pattern. Pathologists that regularly flew through Newark Airport, were far more likely to go digital in their work than those that did not fly through this airport. Basically, we modified an advanced pattern recognition software that was previously only used in over-training results in gene expression datasets, and applied this to pathologist commuting patterns. The trend was consistent everywhere in the United States, the more a pathologist has to travel through Newark Airport, the more likely he or she will stay home and read slides digitally."
"These results fit well with other evidence we examined in our algorithm," said Dr. Karlton Phisk, a co-author in the study. "First, a ranking of airports has Newark rated first for the most delays. Second, we noticed that pharmaceutical pathologists seem to be adopting digital slides faster than clinical anatomic pathologists, and we can attribute this directly to them having to fly more frequently through Newark for corporate pharma meetings. Third, the Cambridge area of Boston is adopting digital pathology faster than other parts of the United States. Clearly Boston pathologists hate having to travel through the New York area more than other pathologists would, given the historic rivalry between these two cities."
"Saving even one trip through Newark is well worth the purchase of multiple scanners," said Dr. Karl Yastemsky, a third author on the study. "Actually, avoiding New York City for any reason is worth spending a few additional seconds to view the images digitally versus with glass."
The results are not without controversy, on both sides of the Atlantic. In the United States, Professor R. Ruffen of Yanqui University in New York City strongly disagreed with the study's conclusions. "First, scientists in Cambridge will buy anything, and second, Newark is a beautiful airport. You can see all of New York City multiple times while circling the airport on most flights. If we applied the logic used in this study, we would expect to see British pathologists also adopting whole slide imaging faster than their peers, because Heathrow Airport is one of the worst to fly through."
The study's original authors disagreed with Dr. Ruffen's logic challenge comparing Heathrow to Newark. "Everyone knows that British pathologists will take every chance they can get to travel, in hopes of escaping bad food and bad weather, so the effect of Heathrow is a net neutral effect," said Mr. Jon Riddeck, a up and coming star and graduate student at Fenway University, and the fourth author on the study. "Although to be fair, the British breakfasts are quite good, but probably not enough to keep pathologists from traveling abroad" he added.
At a recent pathology meeting, several English pathologists first apologized for their Heathrow Airport as well as their weather and their food, but then asked why they were included in this controversy, that seemed entirely American in nature and had nothing to do with them.
Submitted anonymously to avoid reprisals from anyone and everyone
Animal shapes in pathology
One of the characteristic features of a chronic colitis is abnormal glandular branching. Often times the glands take on peculiar shapes that resemble other things, in this case, an animal. Is it me or does this resemble a bear?
