(University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) Oxidants found within living organisms are byproducts of metabolism and are essential to wound-healing and immunity. However, when their concentrations become too high, inflammation and tissue damage can occur. University of Illinois engineers have developed and tested a new drug-delivery system that senses high oxidant levels and responds by administering just the right amount of antioxidant to restore this delicate balance.
Physics
(University of Texas at San Antonio) Four University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) researchers have each been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award, totaling $2 million in new research funding for San Antonio's largest public research university. CAREER Awards, one of the NSF's most prestigious programs, helps UTSA advance closer to National Research University Fund (NRUF) eligibility.
(Rockefeller University) Using new imaging technology, researchers can now record the activity of large populations of brain cells with unprecedented speed, and at new depths.
(Portland State University) Portland State University researcher Nirupama Bulusu wants to prevent counterfeit pharmaceuticals from flooding the market. Bulusu recently published a blockchain protocol that could do just that.
(Santa Fe Institute) Physicists at the Santa Fe Institute and MIT have shown that Markov processes, widely used to model complex systems, must unfold over a larger space than previously assumed.
(American Physical Society) After watching YouTube videos of people supercooling water in a bottle and then triggering it to freeze by banging it, something about this concept solidified for Matthew M. Szydagis, especially when he saw it again during the Disney movie 'Frozen.' During the 2019 American Physical Society April Meeting in Denver, Szydagis will describe how this inspired him to explore whether a subatomic particle like dark matter can trigger the freezing of supercooled water.
(Ehime University) The composition of mixed brominated/chlorinated dibenzofurans (PXDFs) and diphenyl ethers in soils from an e-waste site in Ghana suggests a formation of PXDFs through condensation of the flame retardant PBDEs and subsequent bromine-to-chlorine exchange. PXDFs were substantial contributors of toxic equivalents among dioxins from e-waste burning.
(Duke University) Biomedical engineers at Duke University have developed an automated process that can track and map active neurons as accurately as a human can, but in a fraction of the time. This new technique, based on a deep learning algorithm, addresses a critical roadblock in neuron analysis, allowing researchers to rapidly gather and process neuronal signals for real-time behavioral studies.
(Cornell University) Tapping into the unique nature of DNA, Cornell engineers have created simple machines constructed of biomaterials with properties of living things.
(Penn State) New organic materials for creating advanced, flexible, light-weight solar cells and electronics for military and civilian use in remote areas away from power grids will be the focus of a new research center directed by Enrique Gomez, professor of chemical engineering and materials science and engineering at Penn State.
(Chinese Academy of Sciences Headquarters) Scientists from the Institute of Process Engineering, City University of Hong Kong and their collaborators synthesized highly crystalline ternary In0.28Ga0.72Sb nanowires to demonstrate high carrier mobility and fast IR response. The new nanowire could help to improve high-speed communication.
(Michigan Technological University) Plastic pulled from the waste stream can find new use with the Gigabot X, an open source industrial 3D printer. A team from Michigan Tech shows how three Gigabot-printed sporting goods -- skateboard decks, kayak paddles and snowshoes -- can help burgeoning makerspaces and fab labs economically sustain their 3D printing centers.
(University of Western Ontario) By transforming a conventional ultrasound probe, already found in most clinics, the technology can provide a 360-degree, three-dimensional view of surgical tools and surrounding tissue and organs. It provides a clearer and more accurate picture in the operating room for clinicians who need to precisely insert needles into the tumour for a procedure called interstitial brachytherapy, a type of targeted radiation therapy that uses intense energy to kill cancer cells in the tumour from the inside out.
(University of Surrey) Mother Nature could have the answer to treating several causes of blindness, according to a ground-breaking study involving scientists from the University of Surrey and the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Eye Institute at Indiana University School of Medicine in the USA.
(University of Washington) A UW team tested how well current water and wastewater disinfecting methods affect antibiotic resistance genes in bacterial DNA. While these methods work well to deter bacterial growth, they had varied success in either degrading or deactivating a representative antibiotic resistance gene.
(University of Edinburgh) Scientists at the University of Edinburgh have developed a new imaging technology to visualize what cells eat, which could aid the diagnosis and treatment of diseases such as cancer.