Engineers have developed a neuroinspired hardware-software co-design approach that could make neural network training more energy-efficient and faster. Their work could one day make it possible to train neural networks on low-power devices such as smartphones, laptops and embedded devices.
The new study, covering the largest study area on this animal group in peninsular territory, is now published in the journal Biodiversity Data Journal. Other participants in the study are the experts from the Experimental Station of Arid Zones (EEZA-CSIC) and the University of Helsinki (Finland).
In Nature Biotechnology, as more and more researchers continue to assemble new genome sequences of uncultivated viruses, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI) led a community effort to develop guidelines and best practices for defining virus data quality.
Gene trees, much like family trees, trace the lineage of a particular gene from its deep ancestral roots to its still-growing stems. By comparing gene trees to species trees, which map the evolutionary history of species, scientists can learn which species have which genes, what new functions those genes gained over time, and which functions they may have lost. Now, scientists at the Okinawa Institute for Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) have unveiled a new tool to perform these analyses quickly and without computational headaches.
Oregon State University College of Engineering researchers are developing novel lab-on-a-chip biosensors for testing food quality and safety as well as illicit drug use.
NIBIB-funded researchers have created a novel, low-cost biosensor to detect HER-2, a breast cancer biomarker in the blood, allowing for a far less invasive diagnostic test than the current practice, a needle biopsy. Scientists at the Universities of Hartford and Connecticut and funded in part by NIBIB, combined microfluidic technology with diagnostics, including electrochemical sensors and biomarkers, into a powerful package that can give results in about 15 minutes.
Composite materials made from agricultural waste could be used to produce sustainable, lightweight and low-cost applications in the automotive and marine industries.
On 3 December 2018, the laboratory of Professor Axel Meyer, University of Konstanz published new findings of an experimental evolutionary project that ran for 30 years on the genomic mechanisms of sex determination in swordtail fish in the journal "Nature Communications". Dr Paolo Franchini, evolutionary biologist and Junior Research Group Leader at the University of Konstanz is the lead author of this collaboration with the laboratory of Professor Manfred Schartl of the University of Würzburg
By enabling super-fast remote control of specific cells, light-activated proteins allow researchers to study the function of individual neurons within a large network - even an entire brain. Now one of the pioneers of 'optogenetics' and colleagues have created two new tools - protein pores which when illuminated allow Ca2+ into cells or K+ out - for switching neurons on or off using light. Published in Frontiers in Neuroscience, their study shows that these synthetic 'ion channels' can be used to control specific neurons, even in live animals.
Can turning seawater into drinking water be a cost-effective way to provide clean, fresh water for the growing numbers of people facing water scarcity? Bahman Abbasi, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, is taking up that challenge with a mobile, modular, solar-powered, desalination system.
A glucose-powered biofuel cell that uses electrodes made from cotton fiber could someday help power implantable medical devices such as pacemakers and sensors. The new fuel cell, which provides twice as much power as conventional biofuel cells, could be paired with batteries or supercapacitors to provide a hybrid power source for the medical devices.
An unprecedented comparison of hundreds of species of yeasts has helped geneticists brew up an expansive picture of their evolution over the last hundreds of millions of years, including an analysis of the way they evolved individual appetites for particular food sources that may be a boon to biofuels research.
How can we remove toxic contaminants like TNT from groundwater? Jack Istok and Mandy Michalsen are using pioneering bioremediation and bioaugmentation methods developed here at Oregon State to restore the groundwater at the Umatilla Chemical Depot.
After eight years of study, a team of researchers from the University of California San Diego and Johns Hopkins University published new findings about how to read the body’s histone code in the Nov. 7 issue of Science Advances. The findings answer a key question in the dynamic research area of epigenetics—adding chemical tags to DNA and histone proteins to alter cell functions without changing DNA sequence. Understanding the fundamental principles of how epigenetic information is transduced in the cell eventually could lead to developing new drugs for fighting diseases like cancer.
The American Physical Society’s Division of Fluid Dynamics 71st Annual Meeting will take place Nov. 18-20 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia. It will be one of the largest conferences in fluid dynamics this year, with more than 3,000 attendees expected from around the world. Journalists are invited to attend the meeting for free. Press registration may be obtained by emailing the American Institute of Physics' Media Line at [email protected].
Evolutionary theory predicts that the fitness of an individual is maximized when the genetic differences between its parents are neither too small nor too large but some ideal amount known as the optimal mating distance.
An eco-friendly technology for greener cosmetics and cleaner engine lubricants, made from approximately 50 percent biomass (grasses, corn husks, wood chips, etc.) and 50 percent common cooking oil.
With the updated technology, a laser shoots infra-red energy pulses at citrus tree leaves. That energy cracks the cuticles on the leaves and increases the penetration of agrochemicals – including bactericides -- into the leaves by more than 4,000 percent.
Scientists at Scripps Research and their collaborators have created microorganisms that may recapitulate key features of organisms thought to have lived billions of years ago, allowing them to explore questions about how life evolved.
Aspergillus fungi play roles in fields including bioenergy, health, and biotechnology. In Nature Genetics, a team led by scientists at the Technical University of Denmark, the DOE Joint Genome Institute, and the Joint Bioenergy Institute, present the first large analysis of an Aspergillus fungal subgroup, section Nigri.
Researchers at the University of Minnesota, with support from NIBIB, used a 3-D bioprinting technique to print photordetectors onto a curved surface. Through the combination of design innovation and the use of materials—including synthetic conducting polymers, functional electronics, and biological tissue—the team is creating prototypes of multiple replacement body parts, including skin, ears, spinal cord, and now a bionic eye.
A new derivative of a compound found in the bark of a rare Chinese tree has powerful anticancer properties and a low toxicity profile, according to new research from a Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center published in the Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research.
A briefing featuring key data presented at the 6th International Symposium on Focused Ultrasound. Researchers and clinicians will highlight breakthrough advances in the use of focused ultrasound in cancer immunotherapy and for opening the blood-brain barrier (BBB).
The U.S. Department of Energy is supporting development of a system for producing biobased chemicals that's based on the idea of "bioprivileged molecules." Researchers at the Center for Biorenewable Chemicals based at Iowa State University say such molecules have new and valuable properties.
Northern Arizona University professor Kiisa Nishikawa and her team studied how titin, actin and calcium interact and how those interactions can affect the treatment of diseases like muscular dystrophy.
Dr. Keerti Rathore, a Texas A&M AgriLife Research plant biotechnologist, received word that Texas A&M’s “Petition for Determination of Non-regulated Status for Ultra-Low Gossypol Cottonseed TAM66274” has been approved by the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
Sbarro Health Research Organization, on the occasion of the medical conference “The impact of environment and healthy lifestyles in human health,” honoured Nathalie Dompé, CEO Dompé Holdings, with a special Award for Societal Impact in Business & Biotechnology, for her work and effort in promoting social responsibility.
Researchers have demonstrated an integrated technique for monitoring specific biomolecules – such as growth factors – that could indicate the health of living cell cultures produced for the burgeoning field of cell-based therapeutics.
XLerateHealth, LLC, a Louisville-based healthcare technology accelerator that focuses on startups and commercialization, will join forces with a consortium of 24 academic institutions led by the University of Kentucky (UK), in partnership with the University of Louisville (UofL) and West Virginia University (WVU).
Two summers ago, biomedical engineering students at Rutgers University–New Brunswick immersed themselves at Matheny in Peapack, New Jersey, a nonprofit organization that is home to scores of children and adults with cerebral palsy, spina bifida and other developmental disabilities. The students’ goal: find ways to improve their independence and quality of life. After talking with staffers and students at Matheny, the Rutgers students designed prototypes that were demonstrated there last spring. The reaction was very positive.
Northwestern University and Washington University School of Medicine researchers have developed the first example of a bioelectronic medicine: an implantable, biodegradable wireless device that speeds nerve regeneration and improves healing of a damaged nerve. Their device delivered pulses of electricity to damaged nerves in rats after a surgical repair process, accelerating the regrowth of nerves and enhancing the recovery of muscle strength and control. The device is the size of a dime and the thickness of a sheet of paper.
A new method for sequencing the chemical groups attached to the surface of DNA is paving the way for better detection of cancer and other diseases in the blood.
The medical conference is organized by the Sbarro Health Research Organization (SHRO), in collaboration with Temple University’s College of Science and Technology, the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF), and the Giovan Giacomo Giordano Foundation
UD engineers will be looking at using how a group of bacteria, usually associated with causing stomach troubles, could be used to create sources of sustainable energy.
MSU scientists have a new proof of concept for a biofuel production platform that uses two species of marine algae and soil fungi. It lowers cultivation and harvesting costs and increases productivity, factors that currently hold back biofuels from being widely adopted.
New 3D maps of water distribution during cellular membrane fusion could lead to new treatments for diseases associated with cell fusion. Using neutron diffraction at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, scientists made the first direct observations of water in lipid bilayers modeling cell membrane fusion.
Scientists working to bioengineer the entire human gastrointestinal system in a laboratory now report using pluripotent stem cells to grow human esophageal organoids. The newly published research in the journal Cell Stem Cell is the first time scientists have been able to grow human esophageal tissue entirely from pluripotent stem cells (PSCs), which can form any tissue type in the body.
MyoKardia, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company pioneering precision medicine for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, today announced the launch of the MyoSeeds™ Research Grants Program, a new initiative to support original, independent research in the biology and underlying mechanisms of cardiomyopathies and precision heart disease treatment with the goal of improving the lives of patients.
A three-year, $1.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health will enable researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago to develop portable, easy-to-use sensors that can detect toxic metals in a single drop of blood. The sensors would allow for faster and cheaper research, as well as rapid detection of metals including manganese and lead, both of which are powerful neurotoxins that can affect cognitive development and neuromotor function.
A new wearable ultrasound patch that non-invasively monitors blood pressure in arteries deep beneath the skin could help people detect cardiovascular problems earlier on and with greater precision. In tests, the patch performed as well as some clinical methods to measure blood pressure. Applications include real-time, continuous monitoring of blood pressure changes in patients with heart or lung disease, as well as patients who are critically ill or undergoing surgery.
National Institutes of Health Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., has selected Bruce J. Tromberg, Ph.D., as director of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB). A pioneering leader in the field of biophotonics, Dr. Tromberg is currently a professor at the University of California at Irvine.
Six years in the making, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Knowledgebase (KBase) program offers the most updated system for recording experimental methods
Projects focused on providing simple, low-cost modifications to surgical techniques that could reduce pain or damage from these procedures dominated this year’s Design by Biomedical Undergraduate Teams (DEBUT) challenge.