A newly designed computational method has proven its usefulness in counting copies of duplicated genome sequences and in doing initial assessments of their contents, according to a study to be published Aug. 30 in Nature Genetics. The number of copies of particular DNA segments can differ from one person to the next.
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IBM scientists have been able to image the 'anatomy', that is chemical structure, inside a molecule with unprecedented resolution, using a complex technique known as noncontact atomic force microscopy.
The results push the exploration of using molecules and atoms at the smallest scale and could greatly impact the field of nanotechnology, which seeks to understand and control some of the smallest objects known to mankind.
Researchers have developed an index scale to help physicians predict a patient's risk of dying from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The ADO index can help physicians assess the severity of a patient's illness to determine the appropriate level of treatment. COPD, which comprises emphysema and chronic bronchitis, is a major public health problem and it is the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S. The study of the ADO index is published in the August 29 edition of the Lancet.
A new congressionally mandated report from the National Research Council, DRIVING AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT: THE EFFECTS OF COMPACT DEVELOPMENT ON MOTORIZED TRAVEL, ENERGY USE, AND CO2 EMISSIONS, examines how suburbanization -- made possible largely due to the prevalence of automobiles and the extensive U.S. highway system -- impacts the number of miles we drive, our reliance on petroleum fuel, and the percent of greenhouse gas emissions from transportation.
Twenty-six million Americans suffer from kidney disease, and for decades nephrologists in academia, practice, and industry have enhanced their quality of care. To ensure that partnerships between the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) and industry continue to improve kidney health, ASN leaders convened the Committee on Corporate Relations in 2008. Publications resulting from this committee's efforts set will help guide medical societies and industry in their efforts to advance patient care, research, and education.
UPTON, NY — A team of U.S. and Japanese scientists has shown for the first time that the spectroscopic "fingerprint" of high-temperature superconductivity remains intact well above the super chilly temperatures at which these materials carry current with no resistance. This confirms that certain conditions necessary for superconductivity exist at the warmer temperatures that would make these materials practical for energy-saving applications — if scientists can figure out how to get the current flowing.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Carbon nanotubes hold many exciting possibilities, some of them in the realm of the human nervous system. Recent research has shown that carbon nanotubes may help regrow nerve tissue or ferry drugs used to repair damaged neurons associated with disorders such as epilepsy, Parkinson's disease and perhaps even paralysis.
Two days ago, Hilda was in prime shape to strengthen further as she tracked westward, far south of the Hawaiian Islands. Today, as a result of winds and cooler waters, she's weakened to a tropical depression, and NASA satellites helped confirm that looking at her waning winds and thunderstorms.
OAK BROOK, Ill. – The Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) reaffirmed its commitment to patient safety today in responding to a study and accompanying perspective on radiation dose from medical imaging procedures in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).
As temperatures soar, scientists have been collecting data amid the ancient ruins that symbolise the birthplace of western culture. These data, combined with measurements from aircraft and satellites, promise to improve 'urban heat island' forecasts to make life in modern-day Athens easier during heat waves.
A team of researchers from the University of Granada (UGR) has created a system with Artificial Intelligence techniques which notifies elderly people or people with special needs of the forgetting of certain everyday tasks. This system uses sensors distributed in the environment in order to detect their actions and mobile devices which remind them, for example, to take their keys before they leave home.
Chemists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have issued a new certified reference material—a standardized sample backed by NIST—for determining the concentrations of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients in infant and adult nutritional formula and similar products. The new Standard Reference Material (SRM 1849) for Infant/Adult Nutritional Formula, represents a significant improvement over the now discontinued SRM 1846, Infant Formula, which had been offered since 1996.
The research team, which includes collaborators from the University of Maryland, has found a simple method of sandwiching organic molecules between silicon and metal, two materials fundamental to electronic components. By doing so, the team may have overcome one of the principal obstacles in creating switches made from individual molecules, which represent perhaps the ultimate in miniaturization for the electronics industry.
To help scientists in fields ranging from forensics to quantum communications, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a new, highly sensitive, low-cost technique for measuring light in the near-infrared range. The technique can measure the spectrum of the specific wavelengths of near infrared light used widely in telecommunications as well as the very weak infrared light at single-photon levels given off by fragile biomaterials and nanomaterials. They described their results in Optics Express.
Acetylene, widely used in decades past for welding and illumination, is now also valuable as a starting point for synthesizing a range of chemicals used in plastics and explosives. In addition, the problem of transporting the volatile chemical may have been solved in principle by a team of scientists working at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). A NIST research team has figured out why a recently discovered material can safely store at low pressure up to 100 times as much acetylene as can be done with conventional methods.