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Small Business Robotics Research Grants Available
Five U.S. federal departments and agencies announced a joint solicitation for small business research on Robotics Technology Development and Deployment (RTD2). Under this program, small businesses can apply for research funding on a wide range of topics, including robot-assisted rehabilitation, robotics for drug discovery, and robots that can disarm explosive devices. The White House Office…
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Kauffman Awards $500K Grant for More Women-Owned Startups
The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City, Missouri announced today a $500,000 grant to Astia, a business accelerator in San Francisco, California that works with women-led startups, to encourage the formation of more high-growth entrepreneurial companies owned by women. The organizations note that data show women start more than 50 percent of all businesses,…
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Robotic Catheter to Treat Cardiac Condition in Development
Researchers from North Carolina State University (NC State) in Raleigh are developing a computerized catheter designed to make the surgical treatment of atrial fibrillation faster, cheaper, and more effective. The device can also decrease a patient’s radiation exposure related to the treatment. Atrial fibrillation occurs when random electrical activity occurs in the upper chambers of…
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Government-Industry-Academic Team Sequences Cacao Genome
Researchers from government, industry, and academia announced early results of a project that sequenced the genome of the cacao tree, which grows in the tropics and produces crops that are processed into cocoa. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that released the findings, says they will help sustain the supply of high-quality cocoa to the…
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Clinical Trial Completed for Psoriasis Antibody
Biotie Therapies, a drug discovery and development company in Finland, completed a phase 1 clinical trial of its vascular adhesion protein 1 (VAP-1) monoclonal antibody BTT-1023 in patients with plaque psoriasis, the most prevalent type of this disease. Plaque psoriasis affects some 8 in 10 psoriasis sufferers. The clinical trial tested the safety, tolerability, and…
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Patent Awarded for One-Step Diesel Fuel Process
Joule Unlimited Inc., a biotech company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, said today it received a U.S. patent covering its process for converting sunlight and waste carbon dioxide (CO2) directly into liquid hydrocarbons that are fungible with conventional diesel fuel. Joule says it is the first to achieve and patent a direct, single-step, continuous process for the…
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Intel Invests in Four U.S. Technology Companies
Intel Capital, the investment arm of Intel Corporation in Santa Clara, California, today revealed four investments totaling more than $30 million to growing technology companies in the U.S. The four companies represent the clean technology, cloud computing, and semiconductor manufacturing sectors. – Adaptive Computing in Provo, Utah provides intelligent automation software for high- performance computing,…
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Sanofi Aventis to Close Pennsylvania R&D Center
The Pottstown Mercury reports today that pharmaceutical company Sanofi Aventis, based in France, will close its Great Valley, Pennsylvania research and development site by July 2011. The Mercury says Sanofi Aventis will keep clinical supply and related support activities at the Great Valley site. Elizabeth Baxter, a spokesperson for Sanofi Aventis, told the Mercury that…
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iPhone App Reports Drug Safety, Adverse Events Info
Researchers at Children’s Hospital Boston in Massachusetts and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have developed MedWatcher, a new iPhone application that tracks the latest drug safety updates and alerts from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the news media. It also lets users report information about drug side effects and view reports…
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Marine Current Meter Helps Fishing Industry, Oceanographers
A University of Rhode Island (URI) oceanographer in Narrangansett has developed an inexpensive meter for measuring currents near the bottom of bays, rivers and other shallow waters that is helping lobster and oyster producers, as well as other oceanographers, do their work. Vitalii Sheremet, associate marine research scientist at URI, used his expertise about currents,…