University of Wisconsin cold storage solution keeps organs at right temperature prior to transplantation

Posted on November 15, 2016 by

Viaspan was the trademark under which the University of Wisconsin cold storage solution was sold. Currently, UW solution is sold under the ViaSpan trademark and several other trademarks. UW solution was the first solution thoughtfully designed for use in organ. Currently in the U.S. there are over 100,000 patients awaiting kidney or liver transplants with transplant rates of only 20% for kidney and 38% for liver. There is clearly a need to improve both preservation of the organs and to expand...

Northwestern Medicine scientists find new path in brain to ease depression

Posted on November 15, 2016 by

Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered a new pathway in the brain that can be manipulated to alleviate depression. The pathway offers a promising new target for developing a drug that could be effective in individuals for whom other antidepressants have failed. New antidepressant options are important because a significant number of patients don’t adequately improve with currently available antidepressant drugs. The lifetime prevalence of major depressive disorder is between 10 to 2...

California Institute Of Technology researchers have genetically altered bacteria that release medicines to tumors

Posted on November 15, 2016 by

A new helper in the fight against cancer and other diseases of the gut may be genetically altered bacteria that release medicines to tumors or the gut. Now, a new study performed using mice demonstrates how doctors might one day better regulate those therapeutic microbes by engineering them to respond to temperature. For instance, if engineered bacteria were administered to a patient with a disease, doctors could, in theory, instruct the bacteria to release medicine to just the site of intere...

Turn your smartphone into a gold-standard DNA analysis tool

Posted on November 14, 2016 by

Turn your smartphone into a gold-standard DNA analysis tool. No lab necessary. Biomeme's platform transforms your smartphone into a mobile lab for advanced DNA diagnostics and real-time disease surveillance. The system includes a docking station for real-time PCR, a mobile app to control the system and analyze results, and targeted test kits for preparing samples and identifying pathogens or diseases by their specific DNA or RNA signatures. The cutting edge platform performs to the gold stand...

Dario – pocket-sized smartphone based all-in-one glucose meter

Posted on November 14, 2016 by

Dario is a personalized, pocket-sized, all-in-one glucose meter coupled with a robust real time mobile app to manage diabetes quickly, efficiently and accurately. The Dario Smart Meter lets you test blood glucose levels in seconds, directly on your smartphone. Once connected to your mobile device, easily track, monitor and manage diabetes with a simple to use mobile app – when you need it, where you need it! The Dario mobile app delivers accurate results in real-time and actionab...

Research suggests the brain uses color to help us choose what to eat

Posted on November 14, 2016 by

Red means "Green light, go for it!" Green means: "hmm, better not!" Like an upside down traffic light in our brain, color helps us decide whether or not to eat something. This, according to a study at the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) in Trieste and recently published in the journal Scientific Reports stating that vision is the main sense we use to guide us in food choices. To evaluate calorie intake, we rely on a "color code." Non-human primates evaluate food quality base...

Vegetables, fruits, and disease

Posted on November 14, 2016 by

Vegetables and fruits are an important part of a healthy diet, and variety is as important as quantity. No single fruit or vegetable provides all of the nutrients you need to be healthy. Eat plenty everyday. A diet rich in vegetables and fruits can lower blood pressure, reduce risk of heart disease and stroke, prevent some types of cancer, lower risk of eye and digestive problems, and have a positive effect upon blood sugar which can help keep appetite in check. Eat a variety of types and c...

University of Nebraska-Lincoln research shows that Predators can drive increase in virus populations.

Posted on November 13, 2016 by

The transparent belly of a tiny beast has revealed how algae-infecting chloroviruses bloom in freshwater around the world, says a new study from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Millimeter-sized crustacean known as a copepod excretes partially digested paramecia and the green algae living inside those paramecia. A new study has shown that this partial digestion exposes the otherwise-protected algae to chloroviruses, allowing the viruses to replicate and bloom in their freshwater habitats. ...

‘Digi Honeycomb’ – Real-time food monitoring for freshness

Posted on November 13, 2016 by

Digi Honeycomb is a subscription-based food temperature monitoring solution that requires no capital expense. All that's required is placing wireless sensors wherever you want to monitor food temperature and plugging in our communications gateway. Launch our easy-to-configure application to instantly access your temperature records 24/7 on your cell phone or tablet anywhere in the world. https://youtu.be/dqwbOno4Ge0 Digi Honeycomb™ is a subscription-based service comprised of hand-held probe...

Researchers at ORNL uncover the chemical reaction that helps break down biomass for biofuel

Posted on November 13, 2016 by

Lignocellulosic biomass—plant matter such as cornstalks, straw, and woody plants—is a sustainable source for production of bio-based fuels and chemicals. However, the deconstruction of biomass is one of the most complex processes in bioenergy technologies. Although researchers at the US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) had already uncovered information about how woody plants and waste biomass can be converted into biofuel more easily, they have now discovered t...

Autonomous delivery robots have started delivering parcel, grocery and food

Posted on November 13, 2016 by

Millions of people will have a chance to encounter autonomous delivery robots on the pavements of the United Kingdom, Germany and Switzerland as part of the testing program announced today by Starship Technologies and major industry partners. A similar program will be announced for the United States shortly. The largest European food delivery company Just Eat, leading German parcel delivery company Hermes, leading German retailer Metro Group, and innovative London food delivery startup Pronto...

German Max Planck Institute for Meteorology has quantified relationship between individual CO2 emissions and the Arctic’s shrinking summer sea ice

Posted on November 12, 2016November 12, 2016 by

For each tonne of carbon dioxide (CO2) that any person on our planet emits, three square metres of Arctic summer sea ice disappear. This is the finding of a study that has been published in the journal Science this week by Dirk Notz, leader of a Max Planck Research Group at the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology and Julienne Stroeve from the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre. These figures enable us for the first time to grasp the individual contribution to global climate change. The study ...

New Drug Clears Atopic Dermatitis in Clinical Trials

Posted on November 12, 2016 by

Atopic dermatitis (AD), also known as atopic eczema, is a type of inflammation of the skin (dermatitis). It results in itchy, red, swollen, and cracked skin. Clear fluid may come from the affected areas, which often thicken over time. The condition typically starts in childhood with changing severity over the years.In children under one year of age much of the body may be affected. As people get older, the back of the knees and front of the elbows are the most common areas affected. In adults th...

Gene Signature Predicts Response to Radiation Therapy

Posted on November 12, 2016 by

Using clinical and genomic databases, a team of scientists including a Northwestern Medicine investigator developed and validated the first molecular signature that can predict responses to radiotherapy for patients with prostate cancer, according to a recently published paper in Lancet Oncology. “This work is an exciting step toward the integration of genomic data into the real life, decision-making process for our patients,” said Edward Schaeffer, MD, PhD, chair of Urology. Schaeffer is als...

The future of photographic display

Posted on November 12, 2016 by

Fracture will change the way you think about photo printing. Watch our introduction video to learn more!. The future of photographic display Fractures are different from traditional pictures and frames. Instead of printing on paper, we print directly on glass. Instead of separating the picture, frame, and mount, a Fracture combines all three into a beautiful, lasting, final product. Taking pictures is great. Printing pictures can be time consuming, overwhelming, and not all that fun. Fr...

Aera smart home fragrance system powered by the Internet of Things

Posted on November 11, 2016 by

Smart fragrance system Aera is looking to tackle outdated home perfuming methods through an activation powered by the Internet of Things. The Aera smart home fragrance system was developed by Prolitec, a brand known for its commercial perfuming systems found in retail and hospitality settings. Citing a lapse in market offerings, Prolitec’s Aera is the brand’s first venture into the consumer space, bringing with it expertise, knowledge and understanding of fragrance distribution and scent deve...

National University of Singapore, and the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) have developed self driving scooter

Posted on November 11, 2016 by

MIT’s 2016 Open House last spring, more than 100 visitors took rides on an autonomous mobility scooter in a trial of software designed by researchers from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), the National University of Singapore, and the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART). The researchers had previously used the same sensor configuration and software in trials of autonomous cars and golf carts, so the new trial completes the demonstratio...

Wireless Brain and Spine Implant allows primates with spinal cord injurie to walk

Posted on November 11, 2016 by

The research is a step toward the development of a system that might help in rehabilitating people who have suffered spinal cord injuries. An international team of scientists has used a wireless “brain-spinal interface” to bypass spinal cord injuries in a pair of rhesus macaques, restoring intentional walking movement to a temporarily paralyzed leg. The researchers, who describe their work in the journal Nature, say this is the first time a neural prosthetic has been used to restore walking m...

Berkeley Lab approach to boost solar cell could lead to more stable, efficient artificial photosystems

Posted on November 11, 2016 by

Solar Cells Get Boost with Integration of Water-Splitting Catalyst onto Semiconductor Scientists have found a way to engineer the atomic-scale chemical properties of a water-splitting catalyst for integration with a solar cell, and the result is a big boost to the stability and efficiency of artificial photosynthesis. Led by researchers at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), the project is described in a paper published this week in the jour...

Enhancing the Superconducting Properties of an Iron-Based Material

Posted on November 10, 2016 by

Scientists pioneer method that enables material to carry more electrical current without resistance at a higher temperature Brookhaven physicist Qiang Li (right) and materials scientist Lijun Wu in an electron microscopy lab in the Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science Department at Brookhaven Lab. Li and his team used electron microscopes to examine the microstructural defects that appeared in an iron-based superconducting material after the material was bombarded with low-energy pr...

Green City Solutions has engineered a street installation that uses biotech moss to combat pollution in urban cities

Posted on November 10, 2016November 10, 2016 by

University of Dresden is supporting the City Tree developers Victor Splittberger and Peter Sänger by using a special programme to research how pollution could be most effectively filtered from the air. The programme can be employed to numerous locations worldwide. The CityTree structure is an amalgamation of sorts: a green, free-standing contraption that’s seemingly part tree sculpture, part park bench and part skate ramp. Its verdant wall stands about 13 feet high, and its square face st...

OvRcharge wireless charger makes your phone levitate

Posted on November 10, 2016 by

By Combining the Induction Charging and Magnetic Levitation we got OvRcharge. A Wireless Levitational Charger, that is not only suspend the device in the mid air and holds its altitude, but also charge and rotate it as well. OvRcharge stops charging the phone when battery is full. https://youtu.be/lkhpMpurpSI Equally fascinating is a newly surfaced wireless phone charger that causes your smartphone to levitate above the charging base: OvRcharge. The device is being funded on the crowdfundi...

Smarter Self-assembly Opens New Pathways for Nanotechnology

Posted on November 10, 2016 by

Brookhaven Lab scientists discover a way to create billionth-of-a-meter structures that snap together in complex patterns with unprecedented efficiency To continue advancing, next-generation electronic devices must fully exploit the nanoscale, where materials span just billionths of a meter. But balancing complexity, precision, and manufacturing scalability on such fantastically small scales is inevitably difficult. Fortunately, some nanomaterials can be coaxed into snapping themselves into des...

3D-printed permanent magnets outperform conventional versions, conserve rare materials

Posted on November 9, 2016 by

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have demonstrated that permanent magnets produced by additive manufacturing can outperform bonded magnets made using traditional techniques while conserving critical materials. This isotropic, neodymium-iron-boron bonded permanent magnet was 3D-printed at DOE’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Scientists fabricated isotropic, near-net-shape, neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) bonded magnets ...

Vacuum-Operated Auto Retractable Safety Syringe that retract the used needle into the barrel of the syringe

Posted on November 9, 2016 by

Vacuum-Operated Auto Retractable Safety Syringe - 2010 Award Winner The purpose of this safety syringe is to prevent needle stick injuries. The Vacuumed Auto Retractable Safety Syringe is a patented disposable syringe that is designed for one-handed operation and incorporates vacuum-operated automatic retractable technology. It is the ONLY Syringe that uses vacuum force (instead of spring) to retract the used needle into the barrel of the syringe after an injection is administered. Th...

Northwestern Longitudinal Study Links Air Pollution With Cardiovascular Disease Risk

Posted on November 9, 2016 by

An increased concentration of air pollution within metropolitan areas is associated with progression in coronary calcification and with acceleration of atherosclerosis, according to a study published in The Lancet. In the prospective, 10-year cohort study, Northwestern Medicine scientists and collaborators at other institutions repeatedly measured coronary artery calcium by CT scan in 6,795 participants aged 45 to 84 years, who were enrolled in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis and Ai...

PIEZO1 Sensor for blood flow discovered in blood vessels

Posted on November 9, 2016 by

Physical forces like blood pressure and the shear stress of flowing blood are important parameters for the tension of blood vessels. Scientists have been looking for a measurement sensor for many years that enables the translation of mechanical stimuli into a molecular response, which then regulates the tension in blood vessels. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research in Bad Nauheim have now discovered just such a sensor in the inner layer of the blood vessel wall: t...

NASA Smart Metal Research

Posted on November 8, 2016 by

Shape-memory alloy (SMA, smart metal, memory metal, memory alloy, muscle wire, smart alloy) is an alloy that "remembers" its original shape and that when deformed returns to its pre-deformed shape when heated. This material is a lightweight, solid-state alternative to conventional actuators such as hydraulic, pneumatic, and motor-based systems. Shape-memory alloys have applications in robotics and automotive, aerospace and biomedical industries https://youtu.be/nK-hjDdXYyU NASA G...

BioTrace Medical has received FDA clearance for Tempo cardiac pacing lead

Posted on November 8, 2016 by

BioTrace Medical, Inc. today announced U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance for the company’s Tempo® Lead, an innovative temporary pacing lead designed for use in procedures in which temporary pacing is indicated, including transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) and electrophysiology (EP) procedures. BioTrace Medical’s Tempo® Lead incorporates innovations designed for secure and stable cardiac pacing with the goal of reducing complications and allowing patients to a...

Mouse experiments with Zika antibody suggest protection for fetuses

Posted on November 8, 2016November 8, 2016 by

In early studies on mice, a research team has found a Zika virus antibody that when given to pregnant animals protected their fetuses, and also protected adult mice from the disease. The findings raise hope for a potential treatment to prevent maternal-fetal transmission of the virus to prevent microcephaly and other devastating birth defects until a vaccine is available and also may help guide vaccine development. The team, based at Washington University School of Medicine and Vanderbilt Uni...