Month: December 2015
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Autism App Adapts Facial Analysis Software
31 December 2015. A research team at Duke University is using facial analysis software routines developed for the U.S. Navy in building a smartphone app to screen for autism. The Duke team, led by engineering professor Guillermo Sapiro, adapted algorithms designed for the Office of Naval Research to analyze emotions displayed through facial expressions. Sapiro…
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Trial Underway Testing Preterm Respiratory Treatment
30 December 2015. A clinical trial testing new treatment methods for a common respiratory disorder faced by preterm babies began enrolling patients. The trial is testing an aerosol-delivered surfactant, a wetting agent applied to the lungs of babies born prematurely without natural surfactants to keep open air sacs in lungs, made by Discovery Laboratories a biotechnology…
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Cancer Genome Data Visualization Tool Developed
29 December 2015. A bioinformatics team at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital created a Web-based system that illustrates genetic mutations behind pediatric cancers. The software and database in ProteinPaint, as the system is called, are described in a letter in today’s issue of the journal Nature Genetics (paid subscription required). The team led by Jinghui…
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€50,000 Challenge Seeks New Gas Technologies
28 December 2015. A challenge competition from industrial gas developer Air Liquide asks researchers to devise new solutions for three sustainable applications of gas molecules. Each of the three challenges awards a cash prize of €50,000 ($US 55,000), and an opportunity to earn another €500,000 in funding to develop the proposed solution. The competitions begin receiving entries on 6 January 2016,…
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Human Cornea Cells Derived from Stem Cells
28 December 2015. A biotechnology company designed a process for generating human cornea cells from embryonic stem cells, without a donated cornea, the current replacement therapy. The team from Ocata Therapeutics Inc. led by Robert Lanza, the company’s chief scientist, published its proof-of-concept findings last week in the journal PLoS One. Lanza and colleagues —…
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Christmas 2015
25 December 2015. Today is the Christmas holiday in much of the world, and Science & Enterprise will be off today as well. We’ll continue our regular posts on Monday, 28 December. (Photo: A. Kotok) * * *
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Trial Shows Vaccine Protects Against Stem Cell Complications
24 December 2015. An early-stage clinical trial indicates a vaccine protects against complications from stem cell transplants used to treat blood-related cancers. Results of the trial conducted by City of Hope medical center in Duarte, California that developed the vaccine appear online in the journal The Lancet Haematology (paid subscription required), and were discussed earlier…
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Dust Stop Concentrate
– Sponsored content- 23 December 2015. Dust Stop Liquid Concentrate is a 100% environmentally friendly solution that is very effective for long term dust and erosion control for tailings piles consisting of any material. After application of the emulsion to the tailings, the water evaporates and the polymer particles pack closely together to form a continuous…
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Bioactive Glass Reduces Decay in Tooth Cavity Fillings
23 December 2015. An engineering group at Oregon State University adapted a type of glass material that in lab models slows the decay in teeth with composite cavity fillings. The team led by materials engineering professor Jamie Kruzic published its findings in the January 2016 issue of the journal Dental Materials. Kruzic, with colleagues from…
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Start-Up Licenses Founder’s Research for Resistant Bacteria
22 December 2015. A biotechnology company spun-off from University of California in San Diego is licensing technology from the university to develop treatments for bacterial infections now becoming resistant to conventional antibiotics. Financial terms of the licensing agreement between UC-San Diego and Forge Therapeutics were not disclosed. Forge Therapeutics, also in San Diego, is licensing…