and function after a heart attack Though sufferers of heart attacks may survive the initial event, they cause permanent damage to the organ in the form of scar tissue,
which affects its ability to pump blood. Scientists around the world are working on this problem, with hydrogels,
The team's work was guided by earlier research indicating that the outside layer of the heart
The effort was led by Professor Pilar Ruiz-Lozano at Stanford university and involved scientists from the University of California,
they then went on to develop a therapeutic patch made from collagen that incorporated this compound.
It was applied to the surface of mouse and pig hearts that had suffered from attacks and was found to drive tissue regeneration.
In pigs that had suffered from a heart attack, blood pumped out of the left ventricle was reduced from the normal 50 percent to 30 percent.
But surgically applying the patch on the surface of the heart a week after the event saw this restored to 40 percent,
The patch was also found to considerably reduce scarring of the pig's heart tissue.
#3d printed guide aids in complex nerve regeneration Complex nerve injuries are a challenging problem for the medical fraternity,
however, would mean that a cure for debilitating conditions like paraplegia, quadriplegia and other forms of paralysis may one day be found.
In this vein, US researchers have created the first-ever 3d printed guide specifically designed to assist in the regrowth of the sensory and motor functions of complex nerves.
Hundreds of thousands of people each year are afflicted with a crippling nerve injury or disease that leaves them partially or wholly paralyzed.
To help solve these problems, researchers from the University of Minnesota, Virginia Tech, University of Maryland, Princeton university,
and Johns hopkins university collaborated on a ground-breaking procedure to produce a 3d printed silicone support structure that is implanted into living tissue to guide
Replete with a range of biochemical"cues"designed to enhance and nurture nerve cell formation, these devices have been tested successfully in the bodies of living rats in a laboratory.
Following this, the researchers fed the information into the software used to control a custom-built 3d printer
which then produced the silicone nerve guide. The sciatic nerve in the rat was severed then, and the guide was implanted surgically into the rat by grafting it to the sliced ends of the nerve.
"This represents an important proof of concept of the 3d printing of custom nerve guides for the regeneration of complex nerve injuries,
"said the study lead researcher, University of Minnesota mechanical engineering professor Michael Mcalpine.""Someday we hope that we could have a 3d scanner
and printer right at the hospital to create custom nerve guides right on site to restore nerve function."
Professor Mcalpine points to preceding research of a similar nature and time to regrow direct lines of nerves in the laboratory,
"said Professor Mcalpine. In circumstances where a nerve is severed already or otherwise missing, as would be most cases in nerve damage patients,
or cadavers could be used as proxies to create 3d printed guides for patients suffering from nerve injury.
The short video below shows the 3d printing process used for the production of the silicone guides u
#BAE Systems'Battleview 360 is made to raise situational awareness in tank crews BAE Systems is looking to solve one of the most restrictive elements with tank warfare through its Battleview 360 digital mapping system.
The versatile technology will allow the crew of an armored vehicle to see through the metal confines of their war machine,
allowing for unprecedented levels of combat awareness for the crews of combat vehicles. Maintaining a high level of situational awareness from the confines of a tank can't be an easy task.
Operators have to contend with excessive noise, and the limited visibility that comes with being wrapped in a mobile fortress of ceramic and steel.
Simply overcoming one of these impediments could give a force a significant advantage on the battlefield."
"Battleview 360 builds on years of work across BAE Systems to improve situational awareness and integrate information
so that crew workload is reduced and they can make fast, yet effective, decisions,"states Peder Sjölund, technology manager at BAE Systems Hägglunds, Sweden."
"The result is increased battlefield effectiveness and survivability. The technology, which stems from a system developed for use in advanced fighter planes,
uses a touchscreen and helmet-mounted interface to visualize data collected from a host of sensors on the hull of the vehicle,
as well as information fed by other assets in the field. The head-worn element of the interface syncs with external cameras,
allowing operators to view the surrounding environment in standard and infrared conditions, while the touchscreen provides a wider view of the unfolding tactical situation,
allowing the user to switch perspectives to the viewpoint of other crew members. The Battleview 360 system has the potential to significantly raise combat awareness
allowing users to determine an enemy's predicted field of view, and if direct line of sight is broken with an enemy,
displaying the hostile's predicted field of movement. The system will also display the position of friendly units,
hopefully creating an extra safety measure in terms of friendly fire, and allow for the plotting of efficient vehicle and UAV routes.
BAE states that the system will be highly versatile and adaptable to a wide range of military assets.
A demo unit has been installed on a CV90 tracked vehicle, for display at the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) exhibition in London this week
#Self-driving truck hits the highway in world first Daimler Trucks'has shifted gears in its ongoing effort to develop autonomous vehicles.
By fitting its Highway Pilot self-driving system to a Mercedes-benz Actros truck and steering it down a stretch of Autobahn 8 near Stuttgart,
the company has marked the first time an autonomous production semi has been tested out on public roads. Much like the posited advantages of self-driving cars,
accelerating and braking, the system is said to be more efficient, meaning less fuel and carbon emissions as a result.
Daimler's Highway Pilot system first debuted on the open road last year aboard the Mercedes-benz Future Truck 2025 a concept vehicle intended to demonstrate what a future of autonomous trucking might look like.
Then earlier this year another of the company's concept vehicles, the Freightliner Inspiration, received official licensing to roam the public highways in the state of Nevada.
and tested in something other than a concept vehicle for the first time. Onboard the modified Mercedes-benz Actros was Daimler executive Dr Wolfgang Bernhard and Winfried Kretschmann, Minister-President of the state of Baden-Württemberg,
who travelled along the Autobahn 8 between Denkendorf and Stuttgart with the Highway Pilot system helping guide the way.
The system uses a short-range radar that assess the vehicle's surroundings up to 230 ft (70 m) away in a forward-facing 130-degree arc,
These work in conjunction with Active Cruise control and Active Brake Assist along with a stereo camera that identifies road markings and guides steering.
Daimler likens the system to the autopilot used in aviation, in that the driver must be prepared to take control at any time.
and if they don't respond in time the truck is brought to a stop. To conduct this demonstration
allowing the truck to be driven semi-autonomously on highways at speeds of up to 80 km h (50 mph).
While widespread adoption of autonomous trucks still appears some way off, the opportunity to test out the technology in real-world scenarios will help speed up the process."
qubits made from standard silicon transistors In what is likely a major breakthrough for quantum computing, researchers from the University of New south wales (UNSW) in Australia have managed for the first time to build the fundamental blocks of a quantum computer in silicon.
The device was created using standard manufacturing techniques, by modifying current-generation silicon transistors, and the technology could scale up to include thousands, even millions of entangled quantum bits on a single chip.
Gizmag spoke to the lead researchers to find out more. Researchers at UNSW are focusing on the potentially revolutionary approach of building quantum computers out of...
Quantum leap: Lead researchers Menno Veldhorst and Andrew Dzurak The gate is controlled through an external voltage
and microwave radiation The technique could scale up to hold thousands, even millions of qubits on a single chip
What are quantum computers for? Quantum computers are a peculiar beast. Though the machines we've been building
since the 50s have been aiming to be as deterministic and reliable as possible so a certain input will always result in the same output in a quantum computer,
You might think this would lead to much faster number-crunching over a regular computer and you'd be right, to a point.
A quantum computer can perform any operation a classical computer can, but its exponential speedups only take effect
when a quantum algorithm can process data in a massively parallel fashion, such as searching through a very large database,
the results returned by a quantum algorithm are not deterministic. That is, even in the best of cases, a quantum computer is guaranteed never to return the correct result.
This usually means that a quantum algorithm must be run several times in succession to confirm that the solution is correct.
So, in practice, classical computers will probably be faster and more practical than quantum computers for day-to-day operations
Quantum CMOS Most of the prototype quantum computers developed so far feature a limited number of entangled qubits made from exotic and expensive materials like cesium or diamonds and which,
Last year, UNSW scientists were able to create single"CMOS type"qubits that leveraged current transistor technology and silicon-28, a very common isotope of silicon,
what's known as a CNOT quantum logic gate. Together with a single controllable qubit, this is the basic building block of a quantum computer
and paves the way to quantum chips that can perform just about any operation. The scientists built this logic gate by taking two standard transistors, next to each other,
and reconfiguring them so they would only hold a single electron each. The spin of the electron sets a code of 0 or 1,
and an external current and microwave field control the qubits and make them interact as needed."
"A CNOT gate is a...two-qubit gate that flips the state of the target qubit depending on the state of the control qubit,
provides what is called a universal gate set. This means that any gate set can be constructed out of it."
"Although their quantum computers wouldn't work at room temperature, this approach lets the researchers operate their device at approximately 1 Kelvin(-272°C,
but in the fact that these basic building blocks of quantum computers were built by doing simple modifications to current-generation silicon transistors.
"Our team is looking for industrial partners to construct a chip that would contain between tens and hundreds of qubits,
and which uses the silicon-CMOS technology used today for most computer processor chips, "lead researcher Andrew Dzurak told us."
provided we have the right level of investment and the right industry partners. Our main aim is to develop a prototype that can demonstrate that it is possible to go all the way with'Quantum CMOS
'and make a full-scale quantum processor. That final stage is likely to take 10-20 years."
"Such a powerful quantum computer would have major implications for the finance, data security, and health industry.
Qubits made from standard silicon transistors In what is likely a major breakthrough for quantum computing, researchers from the University of New south wales (UNSW) in Australia have managed for the first time to build the fundamental blocks of a quantum computer in silicon.
The device was created using standard manufacturing techniques, by modifying current-generation silicon transistors, and the technology could scale up to include thousands, even millions of entangled quantum bits on a single chip.
Gizmag spoke to the lead researchers to find out more. Quantum computers are a peculiar beast. Though the machines we've been building
since the 50s have been aiming to be as deterministic and reliable as possible so a certain input will always result in the same output in a quantum computer,
this dynamic is turned on its head, and predictability is sacrificed for (sometimes) incredible speedups. A quantum bit,
You might think this would lead to much faster number-crunching over a regular computer and you'd be right, to a point.
A quantum computer can perform any operation a classical computer can, but its exponential speedups only take effect
when a quantum algorithm can process data in a massively parallel fashion, such as searching through a very large database,
the results returned by a quantum algorithm are not deterministic. That is, even in the best of cases, a quantum computer is guaranteed never to return the correct result.
This usually means that a quantum algorithm must be run several times in succession to confirm that the solution is correct.
So, in practice, classical computers will probably be faster and more practical than quantum computers for day-to-day operations
Most of the prototype quantum computers developed so far feature a limited number of entangled qubits made from exotic and expensive materials like cesium or diamonds and which,
Last year, UNSW scientists were able to create single"CMOS type"qubits that leveraged current transistor technology and silicon-28, a very common isotope of silicon,
what's known as a CNOT quantum logic gate. Together with a single controllable qubit, this is the basic building block of a quantum computer
and paves the way to quantum chips that can perform just about any operation. The scientists built this logic gate by taking two standard transistors, next to each other,
and reconfiguring them so they would only hold a single electron each. The spin of the electron sets a code of 0 or 1,
and an external current and microwave field control the qubits and make them interact as needed."
"A CNOT gate is a...two-qubit gate that flips the state of the target qubit depending on the state of the control qubit,
provides what is called a universal gate set. This means that any gate set can be constructed out of it."
"Although their quantum computers wouldn't work at room temperature, this approach lets the researchers operate their device at approximately 1 Kelvin(-272°C,
but in the fact that these basic building blocks of quantum computers were built by doing simple modifications to current-generation silicon transistors.
"Our team is looking for industrial partners to construct a chip that would contain between tens and hundreds of qubits,
and which uses the silicon-CMOS technology used today for most computer processor chips, "lead researcher Andrew Dzurak told us."
provided we have the right level of investment and the right industry partners. Our main aim is to develop a prototype that can demonstrate that it is possible to go all the way with'Quantum CMOS
'and make a full-scale quantum processor. That final stage is likely to take 10-20 years."
"Such a powerful quantum computer would have major implications for the finance, data security, and health industry.
#Biodegradable implant could simplify bone replacement surgery Combining cornstarch with volcanic ash clay to create a plastic for bone grafts could make the surgical process of bone replacement much simpler in the future.
The preclinical findings come from researchers at Beaumont Hospital-Royal oak and will be published in the journal Nanomedicine.
They state that the biodegradable material could be used to heal bones in hundreds of thousands of patients requiring bone replacement
including following tumor removal, spinal fusion surgery or fractures. Normally, bone grafts involve using bone from another part of the patient's body,
Kevin Baker, Ph d.,director of the Beaumont Orthopaedic Research Laboratories, worked on the study with Rangaramanujam Kannan, Ph d.,of Johns Hopkins (formerly with Wayne State university.
without having to add any permanent hardware like metal or plastic implants that are used often to support
and strengthen traditional bone grafts.""This improves outcomes for the patient because internal hardware can pose a challenge with respect to being a potential site for infection,
and can complicate MRI and CT imaging tests, "Baker says.""In addition, from the surgeon perspective, not having to worry about a large piece of metal
or hard plastic in the area may make future procedures easier.""The biodegradable polymer is reinforced with montmorillonite clay nanoparticles (we've seen nanoparticles used in other ways to heal bones) for strength,
and injected with carbon dioxide making the implant look like a kind of rigid foam that is porous like real bone.
The researchers says it will dissolve in the body within 18 months as the new bone forms and heals.
The material is still in the earliest phases of research and development, meaning it will likely be several years before it is actually available to be used in patients s
and if new research out of the University of Groningen in The netherlands comes to fruition,
points out that while the teeth could prevent oral infections, such as endocarditis, and preserve dental implants, it could also wipe out helpful bacteria that help protect a person from harmful pathogens.
As of now the material is still a prototype and according to the researchers further testing will be required before human trials can be conducted.
In addition to inhibiting bacterial damage to teeth implants, the researchers believe the material may also be suitable for orthopaedic and non-medical applications
such as water purification, food packaging and children toys s
#Boron-doped graphene to enable ultrasensitive gas sensors As an atom-thick, two-dimensional material with high conductivity,
graphene is set to enable a stream of new electronic devices, including particularly sensitive sensors for the detection of various gases,
such as those produced by explosives. Now an international team of researchers led by Pennsylvania State university (Penn State) has created a graphene-boron amalgam that can detect particular gases down to mere parts per billion,
and may eventually lead to detectors with such sensitivity that they could detect infinitesimally tiny amounts of gas in the order of parts per quadrillion.
By pairing boron atoms with graphene to create what is known as a heteroatom structure (where non-carbon atoms bond with carbon atoms to form part of the molecular ring),
the researchers created sensors that are able to detect gas molecules at exceptionally low concentrations;
parts per billion for nitrogen oxides (NOX) and parts per million for ammonia. According to the scientists, this equates to a NOX sensitivity 27 times greater
"says Mauricio Terrones, professor of physics, chemistry and materials science at Penn State.""We were previously able to dope graphene with atoms of nitrogen,
we collaborated with experts in the United states and around the world to confirm our research and test the properties of our material."
they were transferred then to the Honda Research Institute USA in Columbus OH, where they were compared then with known highly sensitive gas sensors.
At the same time, the Novoselov lab at the University of Manchester, UK (where graphene was synthesized first and from where the first commercial graphene light-bulb was produced),
examined the electron transport function of the sensors, whilst contributing researchers in the US and Belgium established that boron atoms were melded into the graphene lattice
and observed their influence of interaction with ammonia or NOX molecules.""This multidisciplinary research paves a new avenue for further exploration of ultrasensitive gas sensors,
"says Dr. Avetik Harutyunyan, Chief Scientist and project leader of Honda Research Institute USA Inc."Our approach combines novel nanomaterials with continuous UV LIGHT radiation in the sensor designs that have been developed in our laboratory by lead researcher Dr
. Gugang Chen in the last 5 years. We believe that further development of this technology may break the parts per quadrillion (PPQ) level of detection limit,
which is up to six orders of magnitude better sensitivity than current state-of-the-art sensors.""Suggested uses for these new types of sensors include safety alerts for workers in laboratories or commercial enterprises that use ammonia,
where leaks and spills are not only highly-corrosive but hazardous to health, or the detection of NOX leaks in automotive or industrial areas where exhaust fumes from engines containing the gas can prove lethal in confined spaces.
The scientists also believe that their theoretical research points towards using boron-doped graphene to improve such things as lithium-ion batteries by controlling generated gas levels for optimum efficiency y
#High-tech comb uses plasma to kill lice As some parents will already know, head lice infestations can be very difficult to treat.
Typically a toxic shampoo or lotion has to first be applied to the sufferer's scalp, after
in the form of a comb that zaps the pests with cold plasma. Already in use in some German pediatric clinics, the comb has conductive teeth that serve as electrodes.
When electrical pulses are sent to those teeth, the air space between them is ionized, generating plasma.
Exposure to that plasma kills both adult lice and their eggs, which are known as nits. Because the pulses are very short,
however, the plasma is no warmer than room temperature. Therefore there's no danger of burns or singeing to the patient.
Just one treatment reportedly kills half of the lice and nits immediately, with the other half dying within a day.
Scientists at the University of Utah previously had success with another form of chemical-free louse treatment, in
#A Smartphone Case That Recharges Your Battery from Thin Air How many times a day do you scramble around looking for a power cord
and outlet to recharge your mobile phone? A new smartphone case promises to top off your battery lifeut of thin air.
The Harvest phone case grabs the power your phone wastes and puts it back into the battery.
About 90%of your phone power is spent pumping out radio waves just trying to keep its wireless connection even
when youe not using it. The case arveststhose stray radio waves and converts them into electric power.
The Harvest case is able to stretch your battery life by nearly a third. Nikola Labswill Zell explains in the video below how the phone case is able to turn radio waves into electricity.
Ohio State university came up with the technology and licensed it to Nikola Labs to build and sell.
The case available only for the iphone initially, is expected to launch later this month on the crowdfunding site Kickstarter.
It will cost $99 and be available four months later r
#Wrong Turn in the Skies Leads to Accidental Antimatter Discovery Antimatter plentiful in science fiction is a rare phenomenon in the real world
and it was only after they cleared the storm clouds that the University of New hampshire physicist was able to check his instruments
#5-yr Study Reveals Why Ovarian Cancer Recurs and How to Stop It Scientists have discovered finally why ovarian cancer frequently comes back after patients receive chemotherapynd theye also found a way to potentially eliminate the recurrence rate for half of patients who have the disease.
A five-year study at the University of California at Los angeles found that coupling chemotherapy with an experimental drug called Birinapant greatly improved survivability in laboratory tissue.
At the core of the problem is the way doctors test for ovarian cancer. One of the things they look for is called a protein CA125.
Chemotherapy targets cells containing the protein and that knocks out the cancer. The UCLA researchers found other cells
without the protein, that grow 700 times faster than the cells chemotherapy targets, allowing ovarian cancer to recur in more than 80%of people treated with chemotherapy alone. e found that these cells were like little time bombs,
hiding from the chemotherapy and then later initiating tumor growth, Dr. Sanaz Memarzadeh, a senior author of the study said.
Birinapant targets the cancer cells that do not contain the protein, and when coupled with chemotherapy,
the combined treatment attacks the cancer on both fronts. Ebola Suit-Liberia-USAID-CC-Morganawingard-adjusted The researchers plan clinical trials on actual patients next.
Not everyone with ovarian cancer would benefit from this particular combination of therapies. The good news is these two types of cells are present in about 50%of ovarian cancer patients who would be candidates for this dual treatment.
Researchers are looking at other biomarkers to see if theye been missing still other hidden cancer ime bombs. og-nose-cancer-Photo-credit-Itsgreg-CC-750px The study was funded by grants from 10 foundations
and government agencies and was published on August 3 in the journal Nature h
#Teenage Girl Turns Plastic Trash Into Million-Dollar Biofuel An Egyptian teenager has discovered an inexpensive way to turn plastic trash into fuel
and it could be worth tens of millions of dollars a year. Azza Faiad ideas attracted the attention of the Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute.
The institute gave the teen access to a lab and its researchers in order to help refine her trash to fuel formula.
Faiad discovered a cheap and plentiful catalyst called aluminisilicate that drastically reduces the cost of converting plastic waste into gases like methane and propane,
which can be turned into ethanol, what some scientists are calling iofuelbecause the organic chemicals from plastic polymers she extracts,
are the same chemicals extracted from vegetation to create ethanol biofuel. The process releases other chemicals that can also be recycled and sold.
The European union Contest for Young Scientists has honored already Faiad with a prize for her work
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