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FDA Approves Implanted Reflux Disease Treatment Device
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the Linx Reflux Management System, a surgical implant device for people diagnosed with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). The Linx system is made by Torax Medical Inc. in St. Paul, Minnesota. GERD is a condition where the stomach contents leak backwards from the stomach into the esophagus, irritating or…
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Study Shows Increased Heat Boosts Biochar as Soil Additive
A research team at Rice University in Houston, Texas has found that heating biochar — charcoal added to topsoil to enhance plant growth — to 450 degrees Celsius increases its ability to deliver water and nutrients to the targeted crops. Their findings appear online this week in the journal Biomass and Bioenergy (paid subscription required).…
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Trial Underway for Non-Addictive ADHD Drug for Adults
Euthymics Bioscience Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts says it has started a phase 1 clinical trial of its drug candidate EB-1020 to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adults. The company says that EB-1020 is notable because it has a low risk of drug abuse liability, a problem with some current drugs for ADHD that…
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Aqueous Solution Tested to Reduce Carbon Nanotube Toxicity
Engineers at University of Florida in Gainesville are investigating ways of reducing the toxicity of carbon nanotubes, a promising technology with applications in semiconductors, energy storage, and displays. The latest findings of environmental engineer Jean-Claude Bonzongo, chemical engineer Kirk Ziegler, and their Florida colleagues appear in the March 2012 issue of the journal Nanotoxicology (paid…
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Grants to Fund Brain-Hand Neural Connections Research
Grants from the National Science Foundation will fund research into sensory and cognitive connections between the brain and the hands that can lead to new prosthetic devices and treatments. The NSF funds totaling $640,000 will support research by Arizona State University biomedical engineering professor Marco Santello and Columbia University kinesiology professor Andrew Gordon. Santello’s research…
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Blood Biomarker Can Help Predict Imminent Heart Attack Risks
Research conducted by Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California discovered a potential biomarker found in a patient’s blood that can help predict if that person is at imminent risk of a heart attack. The findings of Scripps’s Eric Topol and colleagues appear in this week’s issue of the journal Science Translational Medicine (paid subscription…
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Camera Captures Photos of Objects Beyond Line of Sight
Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard, and Rice University have devised a system that can produce recognizable 3-D images of objects outside of a camera’s line of sight. Their findings are described in this week’s issue of the journal Nature Communications (paid subscription required). The interdisciplinary team of engineers, mathematician, and chemist, led by…
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GSK, Johnson & Johnson Join in Life Science Venture Fund
The London-based venture capital company Index Ventures unveiled a new investment fund for early-stage life sciences companies, with pharmaceutical companies GlaxoSmithKline and Janssen, a division of Johnson & Johnson, among the investors. The Index Life VI fund, valued at €150 million ($US230 million), is the first for Index Ventures devoted solely to the life sciences.…
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Grant to Fund Electric Power Market Optimization Research
Iowa State University in Ames says three of its engineering faculty will receive $1.7 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to study new ways of scheduling and pricing electric power. ISU is the lead institution in a $3 million project involving Sandia National Laboratories, University of California at Davis, power grid systems company Alstom…
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Clinical Trial to Test Electronic Tinnitus Treatment
A clinical trial in the U.K. will test a miniature electronic device that aims to reset neurological patterns causing tinnitus, a debilitating hearing disorder. The Acoustic CR Neuroodulation device to be tested was developed by Adaptive Neuromodulation GmbH in Cologne, Germany. Tinnitus is a condition characterized by a constant sound pattern in the ears, like…