First Patients Receive Lab-Grown Blood Vessels from Donor Cells

First Patients Receive Lab-Grown Blood Vessels from Donor Cells

  8:07:00 PM    Science Lover

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For the first time, blood vessels created in the lab from donor skin cells were successfully implanted in patients. Functioning blood vessels that aren't rejected by the immune system could be used to make durable shunts for kidney dialysis, and potentially to improve treatment for children with heart defects and adults needing coronary or other bypass graft surgery.

Artist's rendering of blood vessels. Researchers report 
that for the first time, blood vessels created in the lab from 
donor skin cells were successfully implanted in patients. 
(Credit: © Dario Bajurin / Fotolia)

For the first time, human blood vessels grown in a laboratory from donor skin cells have been successfully implanted into patients, according to new research presented in the American Heart Association's Emerging Science Series webinar.

While more testing is needed, such "off-the-shelf" blood vessels could soon be used to improve the process and affordability of kidney dialysis.

"Our approach could allow hundreds of thousands of patients to be treated from one master cell line," said study lead author Todd N. McAllister, Ph.D., co-founder and chief executive officer of Cytograft Tissue Engineering Inc., of Novato, Calif.

The grafts also have the potential to be used in lower limb bypass to route blood around diseased arteries, to repair congenital heart defects in pediatric patients and to fix damaged arteries in soldiers, who might otherwise lose a limb, said McAllister.



The tissue-engineered blood vessels, produced from sheets of cultured skin cells rolled around temporary support structures, were used to create access shunts between arteries and veins in the arm for kidney dialysis in three patients. These shunts, which connect an artery to a vein, provide access to the blood for dialysis. The engineered vessels were about a foot long with a diameter of 4.8 millimeters.

At follow-up exams up to eight months after implantation, none of the patients had developed an immune reaction to the implants, and the vessels withstood the high pressure and frequent needle punctures required for dialysis. Shunts created from patients' own vessels or synthetic materials are notoriously prone to failure.

Investigators previously showed that using vessels individually created from a patient's own skin cells reduced the rate of shunt complications 2.4-fold over a 3-year period. The availability of off-the-shelf vessels could avoid the expense and months-long process involved in creating custom vessels for each patient, making the technique feasible for widespread use.

Besides addressing a costly and vexing problem in kidney dialysis, off-the-shelf blood vessels might someday be used instead of harvesting patients' own vessels for bypass surgery. A larger, randomized trial of the grafts is under way for kidney dialysis, and human trials have been initiated to assess the safety and effectiveness of these grafts for lower-limb bypass.

The study will be presented in the American Heart Association's Emerging Science Series, which will be held at 1 p.m. EDT/ 12 p.m. CDT. The series is a free online webinar presentation of cutting-edge science. The Emerging Science Series provides a new venue for presenting the latest cardiovascular scientific breakthroughs several times a year, when the discoveries are ready to be presented rather than waiting for a regularly scheduled meeting. Each study is handled in a peer-reviewed process similar to late-breaking clinical trials presented at AHA's annual Scientific Sessions.

The series will include the first presentation of data from clinical trials, basic science, key updates of previously presented trials and major bench-to-bedside breakthroughs.

Co-authors are Wojciech Wystrychowski, M.D.; Lech Cierpka, M.D.; Krzysztof Zagalski, M.D.; Sergio A. Garrido, M.D.; Samuel Radochonski, B.S.; Nathalie Dusserre, Ph.D.; and Nicholas L'Heureux, Ph.D.

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Facebook May Mobilize on Web Apps

Facebook May Mobilize on Web Apps

  10:14:00 AM    Science Lover

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Developers are abuzz with a rumored project that could provide a new platform for mobile apps.

Rumor has it that Facebook is trying to sidestep Apple's App Store and Google's Android Market with a neat technical trick: a Web-based platform for apps.

Facebook has yet to confirm the existence of the effort, allegedly code-named "Project Spartan." But if the rumor is true, the effort could threaten Apple and Google's dominance in mobile software, and give a boost to Web applications over native apps, by appealing to Facebook's huge and captive user base and by leveraging the social connections between users.

Facebook already lets developers build apps to run on top of its platform, and they've created thousands of games, utilities, and even business apps. But these are designed for the desktop, not the mobile or tablet platforms that are growing rapidly in popularity.

Mobile Web apps built on top of Facebook, and that run entirely in the browser, using widely supported technologies like HTML5, JavaScript, and CSS, would free developers from the need to create several version of their software for different mobile platforms. Developers could also use Facebook Credits, which the company is hoping to expand into a universal micropayment system accessible across the Web. Facebook takes the same cut from Credits that Apple does from its App Store: 30 percent.

"If the rumors are true, it means that Facebook is planning to use Web technologies to create a whole new app ecosystem for iOS-based and other mobile devices," says Ron Perry, chief technology officer at Worklight, a company that provides tools for building mobile applications.

Facebook could also increase its influence in the mobile market by creating a platform for apps that Apple would never approve, or giving developers more favorable terms than the current 30 percent cut.

All this might make it seem inevitable that Facebook would undertake something like Project Spartan. But to succeed at creating an alternate Web-only app ecosystem and payment platform that spans many devices, it will need to overcome a number of challenges.



For one thing, Apple is now in the position that Microsoft was in 20 years ago: it controls the software on its devices and has little incentive to make the environment more hospitable to competing models of application delivery. Indeed, in March, some developers accused Apple of crippling native apps that use Web content on the iPhone and iPad by saddling them with a JavaScript engine only half as fast as the Nitro engine that runs in mobile Safari, the default browser on Apple's mobile devices. It's debatable whether or not this bug was intentional.

Apple may ultimately be forced offer better support for applications that reside in the browser. "At the end of the day, for platforms to be successful, they have to give consumers what they want," says David Koretz, CEO of the Web-application security firm Mykonos Software. He argues that consumer demand will push mobile companies to offer the best Web experience possible.

Another, potentially more significant issue hanging over the future of mobile apps is the fact that HTML is poorly suited to the kind of app that has so far made the most money for both Facebook and Apple: games. Long-time Apple observer John Gruber sees HTML's limitations as fundamental to the difference between Apple's App Store and Facebook's rumored effort.

"Don't think of what Facebook is reportedly attempting as a would-be rival to the iOS App Store. Think of it as the mobile equivalent of Flash games for Macs and PCs. Obviously, there would be some competitive overlap, but there's a fundamental difference in scope and quality," Gruber said in an e-mail.

Another truth that Facebook needs to confront is that previous efforts to create Web-based apps have fizzled. Apple, in fact, maintains a directory of Web apps—a holdover from the days before developers were able to create native apps for the iPhone. But it has little incentive to promote these. OpenAppMkt, another repository of mobile Web apps, has failed to make much of a dent in the App Store or Android Market. Google itself sells Web apps, through the Chrome Web Store, but these are primarily for desktops. A significant barrier each one of these efforts has run into is their lack of an easy-to-use payment system. Apple already has 200 million iTunes accounts, allowing its users a level of impulse purchasing unheard of in the history of commerce.

Whatever challenges Facebook faces, if the most-visited website in the United States does start pushing mobile Web apps, this could be huge for the penetration of applications based on open Web-browser standards. "Facebook's reach can definitely bring Web apps to the limelight and make this an attractive option for app publishers," says Worklight's Perry.

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Generating 'Green' Electricity: Waste Heat Converted to Electricity Using New Alloy

Generating 'Green' Electricity: Waste Heat Converted to Electricity Using New Alloy

  11:01:00 PM    Science Lover

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University of Minnesota engineering researchers in the College of Science and Engineering have recently discovered a new alloy material that converts heat directly into electricity. This revolutionary energy conversion method is in the early stages of development, but it could have wide-sweeping impact on creating environmentally friendly electricity from waste heat sources.

During a small-scale demonstration in the lab, 
University of Minnesota researchers showed how 
their new material can spontaneously produce 
electricity when the temperature is raised a small 
amount. Pictured (from left) are aerospace engineering 
and mechanics professor Richard James, Ph.D. student 
Yintao Song and post-doctoral researchers Kanwal 
Bhatti and Vijay Srivastava. (Credit: Image 
courtesy of University of Minnesota)

Researchers say the material could potentially be used to capture waste heat from a car's exhaust that would heat the material and produce electricity for charging the battery in a hybrid car. Other possible future uses include capturing rejected heat from industrial and power plants or temperature differences in the ocean to create electricity. The research team is looking into possible commercialization of the technology.

"This research is very promising because it presents an entirely new method for energy conversion that's never been done before," said University of Minnesota aerospace engineering and mechanics professor Richard James, who led the research team."It's also the ultimate 'green' way to create electricity because it uses waste heat to create electricity with no carbon dioxide."

To create the material, the research team combined elements at the atomic level to create a new multiferroic alloy, Ni45Co5Mn40Sn10. Multiferroic materials combine unusual elastic, magnetic and electric properties. The alloy Ni45Co5Mn40Sn10 achieves multiferroism by undergoing a highly reversible phase transformation where one solid turns into another solid. During this phase transformation the alloy undergoes changes in its magnetic properties that are exploited in the energy conversion device.



During a small-scale demonstration in a University of Minnesota lab, the new material created by the researchers begins as a non-magnetic material, then suddenly becomes strongly magnetic when the temperature is raised a small amount. When this happens, the material absorbs heat and spontaneously produces electricity in a surrounding coil. Some of this heat energy is lost in a process called hysteresis. A critical discovery of the team is a systematic way to minimize hysteresis in phase transformations. The team's research was recently published in the first issue of the new scientific journal Advanced Energy Materials.

Watch a short research video of the new material suddenly become magnetic when heated: http://z.umn.edu/conversionvideo.

In addition to Professor James, other members of the research team include University of Minnesota aerospace engineering and mechanics post-doctoral researchers Vijay Srivastava and Kanwal Bhatti, and Ph.D. student Yintao Song. The team is also working with University of Minnesota chemical engineering and materials science professor Christopher Leighton to create a thin film of the material that could be used, for example, to convert some of the waste heat from computers into electricity.

"This research crosses all boundaries of science and engineering," James said. "It includes engineering, physics, materials, chemistry, mathematics and more. It has required all of us within the university's College of Science and Engineering to work together to think in new ways."

Funding for early research on the alloy came from a Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) grant from the U.S. Office of Naval Research (involving other universities including the California Institute of Technology, Rutgers University, University of Washington and University of Maryland), and research grants from the U.S. Air Force and the National Science Foundation. The research is also tentatively funded by a small seed grant from the University of Minnesota's Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment.

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Is Your Child Likely to Commit a Cybercrime? Check Their Friends

Is Your Child Likely to Commit a Cybercrime? Check Their Friends

  6:53:00 PM    Science Lover

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The likelihood that your child will illegally download music or hack into someone's online account may depend on what his or her friends are up to, according to a new study suggesting that peer influence drives juvenile cybercrimes.

Whether a child's friends have committed cybercrimes 
is thebiggest predictor of how likely she or he is to 
engage in illegal online activities.

The study, which consisted of surveying 435 middle- and high-school students from a suburban Kentucky school district, showed that the biggest predictor of how likely a child is to engage in illegal online activities is whether his or her friends have committed cybercrimes. Previous research has primarily focused on college students.

Cybercrimes include digital piracy, such as "stealing" music or movie files by downloading them without paying, or online bullying and harassment, which can consist of sending threatening or sexual messages via email or text message. Computer hacking, also known as cybertrespassing, and viewing online pornography, which is illegal for those under 18, are also cybercrimes.

"It's important to know what your kids are doing when they're online and who they are associating with both online and offline," Thomas Holt, Michigan State University criminologist and study leader, said in a statement.



The study showed that a lack of self-control is also a major predictor of children's cybercrimes. Risk-taking, impulsive kids are more likely than other children to act on an opportunity to commit illegal online activities, according to the researchers.

Holt recommends that parents place parental-control software on their children's computers, but warns that many kids can work around these programs.

"It's not just enough to have a Net Nanny," Holt said. "Parents need to be more proactive with their kids and discuss these ethical dilemmas to using a computer, such as whether it's right or wrong to steal music or to download something without paying for it."

The study is published online in the American Journal of Criminal Justice.

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In Search of the Memory Molecule, Researchers Discover Key Protein Complex

In Search of the Memory Molecule, Researchers Discover Key Protein Complex

  9:40:00 AM    Science Lover

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Have a tough time remembering where you put your keys, learning a new language or recalling names at a cocktail party? New research from the Lisman Laboratory at Brandeis University points to a molecule that is central to the process by which memories are stored in the brain.

The CaMKII molecule has 12 lobes (6 are shown here), 
each of which has enzymatic activity. This molecule can 
bind to the NMDA receptor, forming a complex. The 
number of such complexes at the synapse may increase 
the amount of memory that can be stored. 
(Credit: Neal Waxham)

A paper published in the June 22 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience describes the new findings.

The brain is composed of neurons that communicate with each other through structures called synapses, the contact point between neurons. Synapses convey electrical signals from the "sender" neuron to the "receiver" neuron. Importantly, a synapse can vary in strength; a strong synapse has a large effect on its target cell, a weak synapse has little effect.

New research by John Lisman, professor of biology and the Zalman Abraham Kekst chair in neuroscience, helps explain how memories are stored at synapses. His work builds on previous studies showing that changes in the strength of these synapses are critical in the process of learning and memory.

"It is now quite clear that memory is encoded not by the change in the number of cells in the brain, but rather by changes in the strength of synapses," Lisman says. "You can actually now see that when learning occurs, some synapses become stronger and others become weaker."

But what is it that controls the strength of a synapse?

Lisman and others have previously shown that a particular molecule called Ca/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) is required for synapses to change their strength. Lisman's team is now showing that synaptic strength is controlled by the complex of CaMKII with another molecule called the NMDAR-type glutamate receptor (NMDAR). His lab has discovered that the amount of this molecular complex (called the CaMKII/NMDAR complex) actually determines how strong a synapse is, and, most likely, how well a memory is stored.

"We're claiming that if you looked at a weak synapse you'd find a small number of these complexes, maybe one," says Lisman. "But at a strong synapse you might find many of these complexes."

A key finding in their experiment used a procedure that reduced the amount of this complex. When the complex was reduced, the synapse became weaker. This weakening was persistent, indicating that the memory stored at that synapse was erased.



The experiments were done using small slices of rat hippocampus, the part of the brain crucial for memory storage.

"We can artificially induce learning-like changes in the strength of synapses because we know the firing pattern that occurs during actual learning in an animal," Lisman says.

To prove their hypothesis, he explained, his team first strengthened the synapse, eventually saturating it to the point where no more learning or memory could take place. They then added a chemical called CN-19 to the synapse, which they suspected would dissolve the CaMKII/NMDAR complex. As predicted, it did in fact make the synapse weaker, suggesting the loss of memory.

A final experiment, says Lisman, was the most exciting: They started out by making the synapse so strong that it was "saturated," as indicated by the fact that no further strengthening could be induced. They then "erased" the memory with the chemical CN-19. If the "memory" was really erased, the synapse should no longer be saturated. To test this hypothesis, Lisman's team again stimulated the synapse and found that it could once again "learn." Taken together, these results demonstrated the ability of CN19 to erase the memory of a synapse -- a critical criterion for establishing that the CaMKII/NMDAR complex is the long sought memory storage molecule in the brain.

Lisman's team used CN19 due to previous studies, which indicate that the chemical could affect the CaMKII/NMDAR complex. Lisman's team wanted to show that CN19 would decrease the complex in living cells. Several key control experiments proved this to be the case.

"Most people accept that the change in the synapses that you can see under the microscope is the mechanism that actually occurs during learning," says Lisman. "So this paper will have a lot of impact -- but in science you still have to prove things, so the next step would be to try this in an actual animal and see if we can make it forget something it has previously learned."

Lisman says that if memory is understood at the biochemical level, the impact will be enormous.

"You have to understand how memory works before you can understand the diseases of memory."

Lisman assembled a large team to undertake this complex research. A key collaborator was Magdalena Sanhueza, who once worked with Dr. Lisman at Brandeis, and her student, German Fernandez-Villalobos, both now of the University of Chile, Department of Biology and Ulli Bayer of the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology, who developed CN19, a particular form that could actually enter neurons.

Others involved include Nikolai Otmakhov and Peng Zhang from Brandeis and Gyulnara Kasumova, who worked in the Lisman laboratory for several years as an undergraduate. An additional group contributing to the work was that of Johannes Hell, Professor of Pharmacology at the UC Davis School of Medicine. He and his student, Ivar S. Stein, used immunoprecipitation methods to actually show that the CN19 had dissolved the CaMKII/NMDAR complex.

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Hackers school next generation at DEFCON Kids

Hackers school next generation at DEFCON Kids

  8:23:00 PM    Science Lover

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DEFCON hackers will share their skills with the next generation at a first-ever children's version of the infamous gathering of software renegades, lock pickers and social engineers.

This file illustration photo shows hackers visiting the
anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks. DEFCON hackers will
share their skills with the next generation at a first-ever
children's version of the infamous gathering of software
renegades, lock pickers and social engineers.

DEFCON Kids will take place in Las Vegas on August 6-7 during the 19th annual DEFCON started by hackers such as "Dark Tangent" when they were young computer coding or hardware cracking rebels.

"Hackers are getting older and having kids," said Joe Grand, a DEFCON veteran known as 'Kingpin' who has wowed attendees with event badges made of circuit boards that could be hacked to serve as radios or other gadgets.

"It is interesting to follow the process of other people's backup units; how they are coming along."

Grand, 35, recalling teen years in which his electronics skills got him benefits such as free telephone calls and trouble like an arrest for "computer-related stuff" he didn't detail.

"I was scared straight and there was nobody there to guide me straight," said Grand, who will teach hardware hacking at DEFCON Kids, which is open to children ages eight to 16.



"It feels nice to have an opportunity to be a mentor for kids who might be outcasts at school for having skills that aren't cool; that other kids don't understand."

Grand's two-and-a-half-year-old son has his own work space in dad's lab where he excitedly looks forward to being old enough to solder circuits.

A hacker conference for children is controversial even in the DEFCON community.

Prime targets for criticism include lock picking and social engineering, the art of manipulating people into revealing sensitive information.

"Everyone is up in arms that we are going to teach kids to be evil, but that is not the case," said Chris Hadnagy, who trains companies to guard against slick-talking hackers and runs the website social-engineer.org.

"Think critically, think objectively -- that is what this industry teaches people," continued Hadnagy, a DEFCON Kids mentor.

"The Internet is a breeding ground of predators, and not falling for those things is a skill I want my kids to have when someone is trying to manipulate them into something; whether it is peer pressure or a malicious adult."

Hadnagy and others behind DEFCON Kids were adamant that in a world where children are surrounded by technology it is smart to provide guidance and a place where they can safely, and legally, test hacker skills.

Hadnagy, whose book Social Engineering: The Art of Human Hacking came out this year, tailored a "Capture the Flag" game for the event.

The game will include deciphering clues, picking locks, and reading body language and subtle facial expressions.

"Kids are great at it," said Hadnagy. "This gives them a chance to grow into what we are now, the ones who keep companies secure."

Since DEFCON debuted in 1993, many once-nefarious attendees have become computer security good guys bent on defending companies and homes against cyberattacks.

Government agents once flushed out in a game called "Spot the Fed" at the world's largest hacker gathering are now welcomed on panels such as "Meet the Fed." National police agencies recruit talent at DEFCON.

DEFCON founder Jeff Moss, whose hacker handle is Dark Tangent, is on a White House homeland defense council and heads security for the agency in charge of Internet addresses.

The US National Security Agency is to bring a museum-quality cryptography exhibit this year.

"While DEFCON has a bit of edgy counter-culture to it, there is a need to harness, direct and encourage children," said Christofer Hoff, a hacker dad and a lock picking tutor at DEFCON Kids. "It is a natural complement."

Hoff has taught his daughters to pick locks and launched HacKids camps in the United States about a year ago after peers in the security industry wondered how to hook children on science and math skills.

"I got to learn about computers and do fun stuff like trebuchets and marshmallow gun fights," said his 10-year-old daughter and hackid.org camp attendee Chloe. "It was really cool to figure out how things work."

Hoff's girls will be volunteer "goons" helping at DEFCON Kids, where his session was renamed "The physics of locks."

"When we talk about teaching kids hacking it is about the creative, sometimes interesting out-of-the-box embracing of science, math, computers...to get their creative juices flowing," Hoff said.

"If you teach a kid how to light a match, does it mean he will turn into an arsonist?" he asked rhetorically. "Probably not, but he will learn how not to burn himself."

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Artificial Pancreas to Ease Diabetes Burden

Artificial Pancreas to Ease Diabetes Burden

  7:09:00 PM    Science Lover

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The 25.8 million Americans who have diabetes may soon be free of finger pricks and daily insulin dosing. Mayo Clinic endocrinologists Yogish Kudva, M.B.B.S., and Ananda Basu, M.B.B.S., M.D., are developing an artificial pancreas that will deliver insulin automatically and with an individualized precision never before possible.

Glucose level blood test. Researchers are 
developing an artificial pancreas that will 
deliver insulin automatically and with an 
individualized precision never before possible. 
(Credit: © evgenyb/ Fotolia)

As part of this effort, Drs. Kudva and Basu will present their latest findings on how the mundane movements of everyday life affect blood sugar to the American Diabetes Association meeting this month in San Diego.

"The effects of low-intensity physical activity, mimicking activities of daily living, measured with precise accelerometers on glucose variability in type 1 diabetes had not been examined," says Dr. Kudva.

Among his newest findings is that even basic physical activity after meals has a profound impact on blood sugar levels for people with type 1 diabetes. "You would expect this result, but we wanted to know to what extent this phenomena would happen in people with type 1 diabetes," Dr. Kudva says.

Diabetics who engaged in low-grade physical activity after eating had blood sugar levels close to those of people with fully functioning pancreases. Those who remained sedentary after their meal, however, had elevated blood sugars.

The researchers plan to incorporate these findings into an artificial pancreas being developed at Mayo Clinic. The "Closed Loop System" under development includes a blood sugar monitor, an automatic insulin pump, a set of activity monitors that attach to the body and a central processing unit.

Clinical trials of the artificial pancreases are likely to begin in November with a handful of inpatient volunteers. Study participants will follow strict diet, exercise and insulin-delivery regimens in Mayo's Clinical Research Unit. Data will then be fed into an insulin-delivery algorithm, which mimics the body's natural process of monitoring and responding to glucose levels in the bloodstream.

"Physical activity enhances insulin action, hence lowering blood glucose concentration," Dr. Kudva says. "Real-time detection of physical activity -- and modeling of its effect on glucose dynamics -- is vital to design an automatic insulin delivery system."

Dr. Kudva and other Mayo researchers have spent nearly 15 years working on various aspects of diabetes and obesity. They are collaborating on the artificial pancreas and developing an algorithm that will afford patients the peace of mind to eliminate their daily routine of diabetes maintenance.

Dr. Basu will present findings that blood sugar levels decrease faster in the mornings in healthy adults than at dinner time, suggesting a diurnal pattern to natural insulin action. He proposes further study of this phenomenon and possible incorporation into the algorithm that drives the Closed Loop System.

The research has been funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health.

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A revolutionary wingless aircraft by Austrian company

A revolutionary wingless aircraft by Austrian company

  9:32:00 PM    Science Lover

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A firm from Austria, Austrian Innovative Aeronautical Technology (IAT21) has unveiled a new type of aircraft that flies without wings or rotors, at the Paris Air Show. Though not actually flown at the show, spokesmen for the new aircraft, named D-Dalus (no doubt after the tragic Greek figure Daedalus, who lost his son Icarus when his wings melted as he flew too close to the sun) claim the aircraft is capable of both hovering and flying forward as fast as a jet, all with very little noise.

The new technology is actually based on old technology; it flies by means of rotating discs surrounded by blades whose angle of attack can be altered in flight. The discs are spun by means of a conventional airplane engine. What’s new is the computer and software that controls the blades, allowing for very precise flying. The company says D-Dalus can hover next to a wall, maneuver though buildings or even lay still atop a moving bobbing ship in bad weather by pushing itself down against the deck.

The power comes from its four 2200-rpm turbines and can be thrust in any of 360 degrees, allowing the D-Dalus to launch vertically, hover, dart around and to remain stable even in turbulent conditions. The company also says the craft requires very little maintenance and would be cheaper than current vertical takeoff aircraft and because of its new “friction free bearing at the points of high G force” the craft should be, according to the company, as quiet as a whisper.



So far, the D-Dalus is still just a prototype, and has been flown only in a laboratory near Salzburg as a pilotless drone. In its current configuration, it has five foot (about a meter and a half) long turbines and is capable of carrying 150 pounds (70kg) of cargo. Information on the company website indicates that the initial primary use for such a vehicle would be to assist in search and rescue operations at sea or after disasters, or possibly for surveillance; though it leaves open the door to the possibility of scaling the aircraft up enough in size to accommodate passengers. IAT21 has formed a partnership with Cranfield University in the UK to work through flight certification. If all goes according to plan, the D-Dalus should be ready for viewing by others very soon.

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Optical circuit enables new approach to quantum technologies

Optical circuit enables new approach to quantum technologies

  1:29:00 AM    Science Lover

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An international research group led by scientists from the University of Bristol, UK, and the Universities of Osaka and Hokkaido, Japan, has demonstrated a fundamental building block for quantum computing that could soon be employed in a range of quantum technologies.

Professor Jeremy O’Brien, Director of the University of Bristol’s Centre for Quantum Photonics, and his Japanese colleagues have demonstrated a quantum logic gate acting on four particles of light – photons. The researchers believe their device could provide important routes to new quantum technologies, including secure communication, precision measurement, and ultimately a quantum computer—a powerful type of computer that uses quantum bits (qubits) rather than the conventional bits used in today’s computers.

Unlike conventional bits or transistors, which can be in one of only two states at any one time (1 or 0), a qubit can be in several states at the same time and can therefore be used to hold and process a much larger amount of information at a greater rate.

“We have realised a fundamental element for processing quantum information—a controlled-NOT or CNOT gate—based on a recipe that was theoretically proposed 10 years ago,” said Professor O’Brien. “The reason it has taken so long to achieve this milestone is that even for such a relatively simple circuit we require complete control over four single photons whizzing around at the speed of light!”

The approach taken by Professor O’Brien and his colleagues combined several methods for making optical circuits that must be stable to within a fraction of the wavelength of light, that is, nanometres. In 2001 optical quantum computing became possible when a theoretical recipe for realising this CNOT gate, as well as the other necessary components, was developed. However, the technological challenges associated with making the optical circuits have prevented its realisation until now. The implications for this new approach are far-reaching.

“The ability to implement such a logic gate on photons is critical for building up larger scale circuits and even algorithms,” said Professor O’Brien. “Using an integrated optics on a chip approach that we have pioneered here at Bristol over the last several years will enable this to proceed far more rapidly, paving the way to quantum technologies that will help us understand the most complex scientific problems.”



In the short term, the team expect to apply their new results immediately for developing new approaches to quantum communication and measurement and then for simulation tools in their lab. In the longer term, a small-scale quantum simulator based on a multi-photon optical circuit could be used to simulate processes which themselves are governed by quantum mechanics, such as superconductivity and photosynthesis. “Our technique could improve our understanding of such important processes and help, for example, in the development of more efficient solar cells,” said Professor O’Brien. Other applications include the development of ultra-fast and efficient search engines, designing high-tech materials and new pharmaceuticals.

The leap from using one photon to two photons is not trivial because the two particles need to be identical in every way and because of the way these particles interfere, or interact, with each other. There is no direct analogue of this interaction outside of quantum physics.

“Now that we can implement the fundamental building blocks for quantum circuits, the move to a larger scale devices will become our focus. Because of the increasingly complexity the results will be just as exciting” said Professor O’Brien. “Each time we add a photon, the complexity of the problem we are able to investigate increases exponentially, so if a one-photon quantum circuit has 10 outcomes, a two-photon system can give 100 outcomes and a three-photon system 1000 solutions and so on.”

The Centre for Quantum Photonics now plans to use their chip-based approach to increase the complexity of their experiment not only by adding more photons but also by using larger circuits.

The research is published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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Heart Valve Replacement without Opening the Chest Gives New Option for Patients with Untreatable, Non-Operative Condition

Heart Valve Replacement without Opening the Chest Gives New Option for Patients with Untreatable, Non-Operative Condition

  11:09:00 PM    Science Lover

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An innovative approach for implanting a new aortic heart valve without open-heart surgery is being offered at Rush University Medical Center to patients with severe aortic stenosis who are at high-risk or not suitable candidates for open heart valve replacement surgery.

"This breakthrough technology could save the lives of thousands of patients with heart valve disease who have no other therapeutic options," says Dr. Ziyad Hijazi, director of the Rush Center for Congenital and Structural Heart Disease and interventional cardiologist of the Rush Valve Clinic. The treatment is offered through a multi-center, phase IIb cohort study called the PARTNER II (Placement of AoRTic traNscathetER valves) trial.

Aortic valve stenosis (AS) is a type of valvular heart disease characterized by an abnormal narrowing of the aortic valve opening. It is a condition that affects nearly 1.5 million Americans. It causes hardening or thickening of the aortic valve leaflets, which limits leaflet motion and obstructs oxygen-rich blood flow from the heart to the rest of the body. Patients with severe AS may have symptoms of chest pain, fatigue, shortness of breath, lightheadedness or fainting. Although AS typically progresses slowly without symptoms, once symptoms occur, treatment is required. Fifty percent of patients may not survive beyond one to three years.

Traditionally, patients with symptomatic AS undergo aortic valve replacement during an open-heart surgery to alleviate symptoms, improve survival and improve quality of life. However, many patients who are at very high risk for surgery, such as elderly, frail individuals with multiple health concerns, are considered inoperable.

The PARTNER II trial will compare a pioneering technology called the Edwards SAPIEN XT valve, which is made of bovine pericardial tissue leaflets hand-sewn onto a metal frame, and a new catheter delivery system called the Edwards NovaFlex delivery system, which navigates the heart from a small incision to the femoral artery in a patient’s leg or through a small incision between the ribs and snaked up into the left ventricle. The Edwards NovaFlex delivery system positions the catheter inside the patient's original, collapsed valve, using a balloon to deploy the frame, which holds the artificial valve in place in order to restore normal blood flow. Both procedures are performed on a beating heart, without the need for open, cardiopulmonary bypass and its associated risks.



Annually, some 200,000 people in the U.S. need a new heart valve, but nearly half of them do not receive a new valve for a variety of reasons.

"Past study results show conclusively that transcatheter valve replacement is a safe and effective alternative to open surgery, which remains the 'gold standard' for most patients," says Hijazi.

Results from the first phase of the PARTNER trial showed that the rate of death from any cause at one year was 50.7 percent in the patients who received standard therapy, as compared to 30.7 percent of patients treated with transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR).

The transcatheter valve procedures take about 90 minutes, compared with four to six hours for open-heart surgery. In open-heart surgery, the surgeon cuts through the breastbone, stops the heart, removes the valve and replaces it. Open-heart surgery can require a two- to three-month recovery period, compared to only a few days for the transcatheter approach.

The next generation Edwards SAPIEN XT valve in The PARTNER II trial was engineered to provide a better valve patterned after surgical heart valves and potentially decrease treatment complications.

The PARTNER trial is the world's first randomized, controlled trial of a transcatheter aortic heart valve. In this clinical phase IIb cohort, patients are randomized to receive either the new Edwards Sapien XT valve using the NovaFlex delivery system or the Edwards SAPIEN Transcatheter Heart Valve.

“The primary objective of the trial is to reduce death, major stroke and repeat hospitalization in these patients,” says Hijazi. “Additionally, we hope to improve quality-of-life indicators."

The PARTNER II trial is one of the three latest, nationwide clinical trials for minimally invasive heart valve replacement being offered through the Rush Valve Clinic, where a team of cardiac surgical and interventional experts address diseases of the aortic, mitral and pulmonary valves.

The three clinical trials include:

• PARTNER II trial for patients with aortic stenosis
• COMPASSION trial for patients with a dysfunctional conduit – A phase II clinical trial using the SAPIEN Transcatheter Heart Valve in patients who have a dysfunctional conduit between the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery
• EVEREST II trial for patients with mitral regurgitation – A continued access trial using the eValve MitraClip to treat a mitral valve leak.

For more information about the PARTNER trial or any of the other clinical trials at the Rush Valve Clinic, call 312-942-6800.

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