Category: New products
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Bioengineered Microbe to Convert, Recycle Biofuel Waste
Plant biologists at Texas A&M AgriLife Research in College Station are creating a bioengineered microbe to convert the waste from biofuel production into more biofuel. The project led by plant pathologist Joshua Yuan is funded by a $2.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. Yuan and colleagues at AgriLife are developing a genetically…
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Signaling, Movement Properties Found in Synthetic Gels
Chemical engineers at University of Pittsburgh developed a computational model to track the ability of certain synthetic gels to sense a chemical signal and reconfigure themselves in response. The team led by Pittsburgh professor Anna Balazs describes its findings this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (paid subscription required). Balazs…
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Synthetic Stool Found to Stop C. Difficile Infections
Bioscientists at University of Guelph and University of Western Ontario in Canada created synthetic fecal matter for transplants that in early human trials stopped C. difficile infections. The findings of the team led by Guelph’s Emma Allen-Vercoe (pictured right) appear online in the inaugural issue of the journal Microbiome. Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) is a…
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Graphene Oxide Absorbs Radioactive Material in Wastewater
Researchers at Rice University in Houston and Lomonosov Moscow State University in Russia developed a lab process with graphene oxide to remove radioactive materials from contaminated water. The team from the labs of Rice chemistry professor James Tour and Moscow chemist Stepan Kalmykov published their findings in a recent issue of the journal Physical Chemistry…
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Color X-Ray System Devised for Health, Security, Industry
Materials scientists at University of Manchester in the U.K. developed a faster and more feasible 3D color X-ray system with potential uses in health care, security inspections, and industrial quality assurance. The researchers, led by Manchester’s Robert Cernik, describe their invention in the current issue of the journal Analyst (free registration required). Cernik’s team, which…
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Addition of Lightning Data Increases Tornado Warning Times
Engineers at Earth Networks in Germantown, Maryland developed a system for analyzing lightning occurrences during severe weather they say can increase lead times in predicting most tornados by 50 percent. Chonglin (Charlie) Liu of Earth Networks will discuss the company’s dangerous thunderstorm alert system in a presentation this week at a meeting of the American…
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Battery Life Extended for Working Electric Locomotive
Engineers at Pennsylvania State University in University Park wrote a new energy-reviving algorithm for lead-acid batteries that power an electric locomotive hauling freight for Norfolk Southern Railway. The team led by Penn State mechanical engineering professor Christopher Rahn describe their research, funded by Department of Energy, in this month’s issue of Journal of Power Sources…
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Robotic Device Reduces Drug-Resistant Hospital Infections
Medical researchers from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and two other institutions found a commercial remote-controlled spraying device can reduce the rate of infections to some multidrug-resistant organisms found in hospitals. The team led by Johns Hopkins epidemiologist Trish Perl published its findings in the 1 January 2013 issue of the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases…
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Collaboration to Build Three New Pediatric Medical Devices
A partnership between Cincinnati Children’s Hospital in Ohio and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel will develop three new medical devices designed to meet children’s medical needs. The collaboration that combines Cincinnati Children’s Hospital’s clinical staff with engineers from Ben-Gurion was first announced last May to help address unmet needs for pediatric medical devices,…
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MRI Helps Screen Alzheimer’s, Brain Degeneration Dementia
Medical researchers at University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia developed an algorithm based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to differentiate cases of Alzheimer’s disease from front temporal lobe degeneration, which has similar dementia symptoms. The findings from the research team led by postdoctoral fellow and first author Corey McMillan appear online today in the journal Neurology…