Purdue University
Tiny "nanotubes" that assemble themselves using the same chemistry as DNA could be ideal for creating better artificial joints and other body implants. Researchers at Purdue University, the University of Alberta and Canada's National Institute for Nanotechnology have discovered that bone cells called osteoblasts attach better to nanotube-coated titanium than they do to conventional titanium used to make artificial joints.
Researchers have crafted miniature cooling systems similar in concept to the silent fans now available to filter and circulate the air in homes, but the miniscule "fans" are only microns (millionths of a meter) across. Using minute voltages, the devices generate ions that discharge to create small breezes -- perfect for cooling cell phones, laptop computers, and the tiniest devices.
An international team of researchers say that they have replicated and extended previous experimental results that indicated the occurrence of nuclear fusion using a novel approach for plasma confinement. In this approach, called bubble fusion, the research team used a standing ultrasonic wave to help form and then implode the cavitation bubbles of deuterated acetone vapor. The oscillating sound waves caused the bubbles to expand and then violently collapse, creating strong compression shock waves around and inside the bubbles. Moving at about the speed of sound, the internal shock waves impacted at the center of the bubbles causing very high compression and accompanying temperatures of about 100 million Kelvin.
A researcher has successfully engineered plants that may not only lead to the production of anti-carcinogenic nutritional supplements, but also may be used to remove excess selenium from agricultural fields. By introducing a gene that makes plants tolerate selenium, he has developed plants capable of building up in their tissues unusually high levels of a selenium compound. His interest in selenium stems in part from recent research sponsored by the National Institutes of Health showing that selenium can reduce the risk of developing prostate cancer by 60 percent.
Researchers have discovered that iron in seawater is the key binding agent in the super-strong glues of the common blue mussel, Mytilus edulis. This is the first time researchers have determined that a metal such as iron is critical to forming an amorphous, biological material.
Researchers have shown that extremely thin carbon fibers called "nanotubes" might be used to create brain probes and implants to study and treat neurological damage and disorders. Probes made of silicon currently are used to study brain function and disease but may one day be used to apply electrical signals that restore damaged areas of the brain. A major drawback to these probes, however, is that they cause the body to produce scar tissue that eventually accumulates and prevents the devices from making good electrical contact with brain cells called neurons.
Scientists have peered inside a virus and visualized for the first time how it produces and exports genetic materials into a host cell, an advance in fundamental research that also could have implications for the development of antiviral agents.
Using improved microscope technology, a team including Purdue?s Timothy S. Baker and a colleague at Harvard has determined the structure of a reovirus (short for "respiratory enteric orphan" virus) down to the 7.6-angstrom scale, better than twice the 18-angstrom resolution previously available. The newly obtained structure shows not only the molecular composition of the virus but even the position and orientation of those molecules.
Recent nanotechnology research at Purdue University could pave the way toward faster computer memories and higher density magnetic data storage, all with an affordable price tag.
Just like the electronics industry, the data storage industry is on the move toward nanoscale. By shrinking components to below 1/10,000th the width of a human hair, manufacturers could make faster computer chips with more firepower per square inch. However, the technology for making devices in that size range is still being developed, and the smaller the components get, the more expensive they are to produce.
Biomedical engineers at Purdue University have proven that bone cells attach better to metals with nanometer-scale surface features, offering hope for improved prosthetic hips, knees and other implants.
Sscientists are developing an instrument that can fabricate custom-made biochips for protein analysis, offering a potentially powerful new tool for drug development and basic medical research. The instrument makes use of a new method to remove and isolate the tangle of proteins found within cells, a process necessary to reveal protein function within an organism. In contrast to other, more labor-intensive separation methods, the Purdue team's technique allows proteins with similar chemical properties to be separated in the gas phase based on their mass so that analysis can be accomplished in far fewer steps than previously required.
Adding peanuts to that apple a day that keeps the doctor away is a good way to stay heart-healthy and trim, says a Purdue University professor. Research by Richard Mattes, professor of foods and nutrition, and his doctoral student, Corinna Alper, proves regular peanut consumption helps reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease without weight gain. "Peanuts are the most widely consumed nut in this country," Mattes said. "They are a rich source of monosaturated fatty acids, magnesium and folate, vitamin E, copper, arginine and fiber, all of which have cardiovascular disease risk-reducing properties."
A pickle-shaped root is revealing how plants develop from embryos to adults and also may hold answers about cancer cell growth. Purdue University researchers have uncovered nine specific genes that are shut off before plants make the developmental transition from the embryonic stage to adulthood. Results of the latest study are published in the July issue of The Plant Journal.
In a finding that could shed light on the earliest origins of mankind, fossil remains found in South Africa of an ancestral human species have proven far older than expected when evaluated by a Purdue University research team. Purdue's Darryl Granger and Marc Caffee have determined the age of a fossilized skeleton thought to be an Australopithecus ? a genus of African hominids from which humanity is thought to have developed ? by measuring the radioactivity of the cave sediments in which the skeleton was buried millions of years ago. Their measurement technique, generally used to estimate the age of geological formations such as glaciated valleys and river terraces, has never before been used to date biological fossils.
Researchers have made a discovery that may lead to the development of an innovative liquid-cooling system for future computer chips, which are expected to generate four times more heat than today's chips. Researchers had thought that bubbles might block the circulation of liquid forced to flow through "microchannels" only three times the width of a human hair. Engineers also thought that small electric pumps might be needed to push liquid through the narrow channels, increasing the cost and complexity while decreasing the reliability of new cooling systems for computers. Purdue researchers, however, have solved both of these potential engineering hurdles, developing a "pumpless" liquid-cooling system that removes nearly six times more heat than existing miniature pumpless liquid-cooling systems, said Issam Mudawar, a professor of mechanical engineering.
A compound developed by British scientists early in World War II as a treatment against chemical weapons has value against today's threat of bioterrorism, according to Indiana University School of Medicine researchers at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne. Researchers studying British Anti-Lewisite provide an overview of its historical uses, development and clinical implications today of the heavy metal chelating agent, detailed in the March issue of the Annals of Emergency Medicine. BAL is a medical therapy to remove metal poisonings from the body.
