A new study recently published in Journal of Vision, an online, free access publication of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), shows that gold beads injected into eye tissue can be used to obtain images of important structures in the orbit that cannot be seen with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) or other imaging methods.
Researchers from the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute in San Francisco, Calif., injected tiny gold beads into various areas in the
Physicists at JILA have performed the first-ever precision measurements using ultracold molecules, in work that may help solve a long-standing scientific mystery–whether so-called constants of nature have changed since the dawn of the universe.
The research, reported in the April 14 issue of Physical Review Letters,* involved measuring two phenomena simultaneously–electron motion, and rotating and vibrating nuclei–in highly reactive molecules containing one oxygen atom
Three-dimensional imaging devices are becoming important measuring tools in the manufacturing, construction and transportation sectors. Numerous models of the imaging devices, capable of digitally capturing the existing conditions of objects from as small as pipe fittings to as large as an entire bridge, are on the market. A lack of standard tests to verify manufacturers’ performance specifications is inhibiting wider market acceptance of these devices.
In response, researchers a
Separated in history by 100 years, the seafaring Minoans of Crete and the mercantile Canaanites of northern Egypt and the Levant (a large area of the Middle East) at the eastern end of the Mediterranean were never considered trading partners at the start of the Late Bronze Age. Until now.
Cultural links between the Aegean and Near Eastern civilizations will have to be reconsidered: A new Cornell University radiocarbon study of tree rings and seeds shows that the Santorini (or
Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have used lasers to cool and trap erbium atoms, a “rare earth” heavy metal with unusual optical, electronic and magnetic properties. The element has such a complex energy structure that it was previously considered too wild to trap. The demonstration, reported in the April 14 issue of Physical Review Letters,* might lead to the development of novel nanoscale devices for telecommunications, quantum computing or fine-tuning the
Aston University’s Bio-Energy Research Group (BERG) and Biffa, one of the UK’s largest waste companies, have teamed up to find new ways to recover energy from a changing mix of domestic, commercial and industrial landfill waste.
The Government’s pledge to cut the amount of biodegradable waste going to landfill by 50% from 1995 levels by 2013 means UK landfill operators face a very different pile of rubbish than in the past.
Biffa operates over 30 landfill sites across t
A group of researchers led by Dr. José López Barneo, of the University of Seville and Virgen del Rocío hospital, are taking part in European project PULMOTENSION. The aim of this research project is to fight pulmonary hypertension (PH), a serious illness. PH describes a group of chronic vascular diseases that cause lengthy disability with a fatal ending. It also causes heart failure due to high blood pressure in the lung’s blood vessels, brings shortage of breath, and decreases physical capacity in
More stem cells are better – expanding hematopoietic stem cells with HOXB4
Transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs, the cells that can give rise to all blood and most immune cell types) can save patients whose own hematopoietic system is defective or has been destroyed (often through radiation or chemotherapy of cancer). HSCs are very rare, and it is often hard to obtain enough of them for a successful transplant.
To overcome this limitation, Hans-Peter Kiem and
The next flu pandemic: when it happens, restricting air travel won’t help
Restricting air travel from countries where there is a serious influenza outbreak will do little to hold back the spread of the infection, according to the findings of a study conducted at the UK Health Protection Agency and published in the journal PLoS Medicine.
Sometimes a new type of influeza virus appears that causes an illness that is more serious than is usually the case for flu. This ha
Screening for prostate cancer in older men has been problematic. While this form of cancer can be fatal, it often progresses so slowly that men are more likely to die from some other disease. Aggressive treatments such as radical prostatectomy or radiation therapy may eradicate the cancer but have negative effects on quality of life. More conservative treatments may preserve quality of life, but may not be appropriate for those cases where the disease is progressing more quickly. In the face o
A new technique devised by MIT engineers may one day help physicians detect cancerous tumors during early stages of growth.
The technique allows nanoparticles to group together inside cancerous tumors, creating masses with enough of a magnetic signal to be detectable by a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine.
The work appears as the cover feature in the May issue of Angewandte Chemie International Edition, one of the world’s leading chemistry journals.
For some microbes, the transformation from a benign lifestyle in the soil to that of a potentially deadly human pathogen is just a breath away.
Inhaled into the lungs of a mammal, spores from a class of six related soil molds found around the world encounter a new, warmer environment. And as soon as they do, they rapidly shift gears and assume the guise of pathogenic yeast, causing such serious and sometimes deadly afflictions as blastomycosis and histoplasmosis.
But
A new study recently published in Journal of Vision, an online, free access publication of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), shows that an individual’s navigation skills can be measured by using an immersive virtual “forest” in which peripheral visual field losses are simulated.
The study, conducted by researchers from the Lions Vision Center, Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., involved varying the study participants’ visual
Excessive moisture can typically wreak havoc on electronic devices, but now researchers have demonstrated that a little water can help create ultra-dense storage systems for computers and electronics.
A team of experimentalists and theorists at the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University and Harvard University has proposed a new and surprisingly effective means of stabilizing and controlling ferroelectricity in nanostructures: terminating their surfaces with fragments
It is a marvel of nature that a creature such as a caterpillar changes into something quite different, a butterfly. Contrast that with a grasshopper, which looks largely the same from the time it hatches through its adult stage.
New University of Washington research shows that a regulatory gene named broad, known to be necessary for development of insects that undergo complete metamorphosis, also is key for the maturation of insects that have incomplete metamorphosis. The work ap
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health measured levels of an antibacterial hand soap ingredient, triclocarban, as it passed through a wastewater treatment facility. They determined that approximately 75 percent of the ingredient washed down the drain by consumers persists during wastewater treatment and accumulates in municipal sludge, which later is used as fertilizer for crops. Their findings are presented in a study appearing in the online and print editions of the
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