Tag: university
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Nanotech Coating Provides Liquid-Repellent Surface
Materials scientists at University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and Air Force Research Lab at Edwards Air Force Base in California developed a new coating material that can repel virtually any liquid from a surface. The team led by Michigan engineering professor Anish Tuteja reported its findings in the current issue of the Journal of…
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Universities, Companies Study Oilseed Camelina as Biofuel
Bioscientists at Kansas State University in Manhattan, with colleagues at two other universities and four companies, are studying the economic potential of the oilseed plant camelina as a commercial biofuel feedstock. The project, led by K-State agricultural engineering professor Xiuzhi Susan Sun (pictured right), is funded by a $5.08 million grant from National Institute of…
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Chemical Treatments Can Reduce Carbon Nanotube Toxicity
Researchers at University College London, with colleagues in the U.K., France, Italy, and Spain found ways to reduce the toxicity of carbon nanotubes, which are structurally similar to asbestos. The findings of the team led by UCL chemical engineer and pharmacy professor Kostas Kostarelos appear online in the journal Angewandte Chemie (paid subscription required). Carbon…
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Generic HIV Drugs Save Money, But Could Impair Effectiveness
Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and Yale University in New Haven calculate that switching generic for branded HIV drugs would provide substantial financial savings, but could impede the treatments’ effectiveness. The team’s findings appear in today in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine (paid subscription required).…
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Light-Activated Hydrogel, Stem Cells Recreate Knee Cartilage
Biomedical engineers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore designed a gel-like biomaterial that in a pilot study showed it could help heal damaged knee cartilage. The team led by Jennifer Elisseeff, director of the university’s Translational Tissue Engineering Center, published its findings in last week’s issue of the journal Science Translational Medicine (paid subscription required).…
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Simulation Seeks Clues to Motivations for Vaccination
Researchers at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina used an online computer game to simulate an infectious disease epidemic and better understand the motivations behind getting or avoiding preventive actions. The work of Wake Forest economists Frederick Chen, Amanda Griffith, Allin Cottrell, and computer scientist Yue-Ling Wong appear this week in the online journal…
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Industrial Process Devised for Carbon Nanotube Fibers
Engineers and materials scientists from the U.S., Netherlands, and Israel developed an industrial-scale process for spinning carbon nanotubes into fibers for a range of commercial products. The team led by chemical engineering professor Matteo Pasquali at Rice University in Houston published its findings in this week’s issue of the journal Science (paid subscription required). Pasquali,…
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Weill Cornell, Tres Cantos Lab to Research TB Chemistry
Weill Cornell Medical College in New York will provide a microbiologist to work at Tres Cantos Open Lab, a facility of GlaxoSmithKline in Spain, to identify the ability of chemical compounds to penetrate the Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria. Financial aspects of the two-year project, funded by the Tres Cantos Open Lab Foundation, were not disclosed. The…
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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…