Tag Archives: researcher

Researchers Create Semiconductor ‘Nano-Shish-Kebabs’ With Potential for 3-D Technologies

By Guest PostMarch 1, 2013Science3 d devices, 3 d structure, chun li, crystalline layers, crystalline structure, crystals, electric charges, germanium sulfide, ges, ges nanowire, heterostructure, large surface area, linyou cao, miaofang chi, molybdenum sulfide, mos2, nano shish kebab, nanoscale structure, next generation sensors, next generation supercapacitors, north Carolina, one dimensional nanowire, photodetectors, photonic properties, researcher, semiconductor, solar cells, state university, three dimensional technologies, two dimensional nanosheets, weak oxidation, yifei yu

Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a new type of nanoscale structure that resembles a “nano-shish-kebab,” consisting of multiple two-dimensional nanosheets that appear to be impaled upon a one-dimensional nanowire. However, the nanowire and nanosheets are actually a single, three-dimensional structure consisting of a seamless series of germanium sulfide (GeS) crystals. The structure holds promise for use in the creation of new, three-dimensional (3-D) technologies.

The researchers believe this is the first engineered nanomaterial to combine one-dimensional and two-dimensional structures in which all of the components have a shared crystalline structure. (more…)

Genomic Detectives Crack the Case of the Missing Heritability

By Guest PostFebruary 23, 2013Scienceantibiotics, bert vogelstein, caffeine, case, caused by mutation, common dna spelling, crohns disease, dna code, dna variation, drugs, environmental factors, eye color, family traits, genetic causes, genetic code, genetic factors, genomic detectives, gwas, ian ehrenreich, joshua bloom, leonid kruglyak, metal compounds, missing heritability, missing heritability problem, model organism, patterns of inheritance, physical characteristic, princeton university, regions of dna, researcher, risk, risk of diseases, schizophrenia, southern california, thuy lan lite, type 2 diabetes, university, variation, wesley loo, yeast cell

Despite years of research, the genetic factors behind many human diseases and characteristics remain unknown. The inability to find the complete genetic causes of family traits such as height or the risk of type 2 diabetes has been called the “missing heritability” problem.

A new study by Princeton University researchers, however, suggests that missing heritability may not be missing after all — at least not in yeast cells, which the researchers used as a model for studying the problem. Published in the journal Nature, the results suggest that heritability in humans may be hidden due only to the limitations of modern research tools, but could be discovered if scientists know where (and how) to look. (more…)

Violent Video Games Intensify anti-Arab Stereotypes

By Guest PostJanuary 19, 2013Cultureanti arab attitudes, arab men, arab terrorists, arabs, caucasian man, counter strike, craig anderson, effect, emotion, harmful impact, iowa state university, muniba saleem, negative belief, negative stereotypes, nonviolent golf game, prejudice, psychology of violence, researcher, russian terrorists, stereotypical appearance, terrorism, typical arab, united states, university of michigan, violent video games, weapon, woman

ANN ARBOR — Playing violent video games about terrorism strengthens negative stereotypes about Arabs, even when Arabs are not portrayed in the games.

That is one of the findings of an innovative new study in the January issue of Psychology of Violence, a peer-reviewed journal published by the American Psychological Association. (more…)

Breakthrough Technique Images Breast Tumors in 3-D with Great Clarity, Reduced Radiation

By Guest PostOctober 23, 2012Health, Science3d picture, alberto mittone, aniko sztrokay, blind evaluation, bone, breakthrough, breast cancer, breast tissue, computing algorithm, ct scanner, digital, dual view, equally sloped tomography, est, european, european colleague, france, Germany, image, jianwei miao, ludwig maximilians university, mammogram, mammography, maximilian reiser, oscillation, paola coan, patient, paul claude diemoz, radiation, radiation facility, researcher, scientist, screening, sergei gasilov, susanne liebhardt, synchrotron, technique, three-dimensional, tomography, tumor, ucla, united states, xray, yunzhe zhao, zhifeng huang

Like cleaning the lenses of a foggy pair of glasses, scientists are now able to use a technique developed by UCLA researchers and their European colleagues to produce three-dimensional images of breast tissue that are two to three times sharper than those made using current CT scanners at hospitals. The technique also uses a lower dose of X-ray radiation than a mammogram.

These higher-quality images could allow breast tumors to be detected earlier and with much greater accuracy. One in eight women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer during her lifetime.

The research is published the week of Oct. 22 in the early edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (more…)

Shark Social Networking

By Guest PostOctober 17, 2012Natureacoustic tags, acoustic transmitter, apex predator, battery recharge, behavior, biotelemetry, coast, coastal water, concern, conventional, danielle haulsee, delaware, delaware bay, delmarva peninsula, device, dewayne fox, east coast, eastern seaboard, ecological balance, georgia aquarium, habitat, identification sensor, indian river, inlet, maryland, matthew oliver, migration pattern, mobile transceiver, network, ocean, ocean observation, oceanographic, otis, real-time, remote controlled, researcher, shark migration, species, telemetry, tiger shark, tracking technique, transmitter, underwater robot, university, vemco, vmt

Shark migrations studied with underwater robot along Delmarva Peninsula

University of Delaware researchers are using an underwater robot to find and follow sand tiger sharks that they previously tagged with transmitters. The innovative project is part of a multi-year partnership with Delaware State University to better understand the behavior and migration patterns of the sharks in real time.

“In the past week our new, specially equipped glider OTIS – which stands for Oceanographic Telemetry Identification Sensor – detected multiple sand tiger sharks off the coast of Maryland that were tagged over the past several years,” said Matthew Oliver, assistant professor of oceanography in UD’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment. “This is the first time that a glider has found tagged sharks and reported their location in real time.” (more…)

Interstellar Travelers of the Future May be Helped by MU Physicist’s Calculations

By Guest PostOctober 12, 2012Scienceastrophysicists, bill clinton, expansion, future, gravity, heat, human expansion, interstellar travel, light, mechanical explanation, missouri, movement, newtonian law, photon, physics, pioneer spacecraft, puzzle, radio wave, research project, researcher, sergei kopeikin, Space, spaceship symposium, star system, theory, time, universe, university

University of Missouri’s Sergei Kopeikin may have solved the Pioneer anomaly

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Former President Bill Clinton recently expressed his support for interstellar travel at the 100 Year Spaceship Symposium, an international event advocating for human expansion into other star systems. Interstellar travel will depend upon extremely precise measurements of every factor involved in the mission. The knowledge of those factors may be improved by the solution a University of Missouri researcher found to a puzzle that has stumped astrophysicists for decades.

“The Pioneer spacecraft, two probes launched into space in the early 70s, seemed to violate the Newtonian law of gravity by decelerating anomalously as they traveled, but there was nothing in physics to explain why this happened,” said Sergei Kopeikin, professor of physics and astronomy in MU’s College of Arts and Science. “My study suggests that this so-called Pioneer anomaly was not anything strange. The confusion can be explained by the effect of the expansion of the universe on the movement of photons that make up light and radio waves.” (more…)

Immune Systems of ‘Bubble Babies’ Restored by Gene Therapy, UCLA Researchers Find

By Guest PostSeptember 14, 2012Healthada deficient, adenosine deaminase, bone marrow, bubble boy, chemotherapy, chronic diarrhea, denise carbonaro sarracino, disease, donald kohn, ear infections, enzyme, gene therapy, immune system, immunology, microbiology, molecular genetics, oral candidiasis, recurrent pneumonia, researcher, scid, stem cell, sterile environment, treatment, ucla, virus

UCLA stem cell researchers have found that a gene therapy regimen can safely restore immune systems to children with so-called “bubble boy” disease, a life-threatening condition that if left untreated can be fatal within one to two years.

In the 11-year study, researchers were able to test two therapy regimens for 10 children with ADA-deficient severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), which has come to be known as “bubble boy” disease because some of its victims have been forced to live in sterile environments. (more…)

UCLA Scientists Discover ‘Missing Link’ Between Blood Stem Cells, Immune System

By Guest PostSeptember 5, 2012Health, Scienceblood, blood lineage, bone marrow, cell, diseases, gay crooks, gene, haystack, human, immune deficiency, immune function, immune system, infection, leukemia, lisa kohn, lymphocytes, missing link, needle, platelets, post natal life, progenitors, red blood cell, researcher, set, stem cell, type, ucla

UCLA researchers have discovered a type of cell that is the “missing link” between bone marrow stem cells and all the cells of the human immune system, a finding that will lead to a greater understanding of how a healthy immune system is produced and how disease can lead to poor immune function.

The research was done using human bone marrow, which contains all the stem cells that produce blood during post-natal life. (more…)