A new Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) measuring system offers the possibility of measuring the absorbed dose in the direct environment of the irradiated tumour (brachytherapy)

Berlin, Germany -- During radiation therapy, physicians try to keep the dose in the tumour as high as possible to destroy as many cancer cells as possible.

To avoid the damaging of healthy tissue, it is becoming more and more important to check the exact amount of the dose.

For this purpose, the PTB has developed a measuring system in the case of which the amino acid "alanine", whose radiation transport properties resemble those of human tissue, is used as indicator.


Read full article: 'Dose measurement during prostate cancer treatment'

{This photo shows about 1 million ytterbium atoms illuminated by a blue laser in an experimental atomic clock that holds the atoms in a lattice made of intersecting laser beams. The photo was taken with a digital camera through the window of a vacuum chamber. NIST is studying the possible use of ytterbium atoms in next-generation atomic clocks based on optical frequencies, which could be more stable and accurate than today's best time standards, which are based on microwave frequencies. Credit: Barber, NIST}
Gaithersburg MD, USA -- An experimental atomic clock based on ytterbium atoms is about four times more accurate than it was several years ago, giving it a precision comparable to that of the NIST-F1 cesium fountain clock, the nation’s civilian time standard, scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) report in Physical Review Letters.*

NIST scientists evaluated the clock by measuring the natural frequency of ytterbium, carefully accounting for all possible deviations such as those caused by collisions between the atoms, and by using NIST-F1 as a “ruler” for comparison.


Read full article: 'Ytterbium Gains Ground in Quest for Next-Generation Atomic Clocks'

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by NASA & JAXA on GPM

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) -- President Keiji Tachikawa of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Administrator Charles Bolden of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) signed a MOU on development and operation activities for the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) project to measure precipitation (such as rain and snow) using a multiple number of satellites at the John F Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S.A. on July 31, 2009 (Japan Standard Time).

With this MOU, the two organizations will further deepen the cooperative relationship and exercise comprehensive leadership utilizing the research and development ability and personnel of the two parties.

To date, JAXA and NASA have cooperatively developed the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission “TRMM,” and have been observing tropical rainfall by the TRMM.

In the GPM project, we will acquire and analyze data from onboard sensors of multiple satellites in order to contribute to the development of technology to measure precipitation not only in tropical regions but also on a global scale.


Read full article: 'NASA/JAXA cooperation in Global Precipitation Measurement Project'

Wind energy production to benefit from increased predictability

Helsinki, Finland & Colorado, USA -- Vaisala, together with electricity and natural gas energy company, Xcel Energy, and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) have joined forces on a pioneering pilot project in the USA that will take observing and forecasting for wind energy production to the next level.

The goal of the pilot is to explore the use of a new wind observing and forecasting system in Xcel Energy's wind power generation.

The system will provide critical decision-making support for balancing wind power with traditional fossil fuel generation while minimizing costs and improving reliability. A primary focus of the effort is to develop technologies that will better anticipate changes in wind energy output from wind farms.


Read full article: 'Pioneering wind observing system to be installed in the USA'

How to Stack the Deck for Organic Solar Power

[n this cross-section of an organic photovoltaic cell, light passes through the upper layers (from top down, glass, indium tin dioxide, and thermoplastic) and generates a photocurrent in the polymer-fullerene layer. Channels formed by polymers (tan) and fullerenes (dark blue) allow electric current to flow into the electrode at bottom. NIST research has revealed new information about how the channels form, potentially improving cell performance.
Credit: NIST - View hi-resolution image]
Gaithersburg MD, USA -- A new class of economically viable solar power cells—cheap, flexible and easy to make—has come a step closer to reality as a result of recent work* at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), where scientists have deepened their understanding of the complex organic films at the heart of the devices.

Organic photovoltaics, which rely on organic molecules to capture sunlight and convert it into electricity, are a hot research area because in principle they have significant advantages over traditional rigid silicon cells.


Read full article: 'NIST Scientists Study Solar Power'

It's like stirring your coffee--in reverse!

[The solar wind, shown here in a plot of data from the Ulysses spacecraft, flows away from the sun at a million miles per hour and is heated by a "turbulent cascade." - Click for larger image- Credit: NASA]
Greenbelt MD, USA -- The solar wind is hotter than it should be, and for decades researchers have puzzled over the unknown source of energy that heats it. In a paper published in the June 12 issue of Physical Review Letters, NASA scientists say they may have found the answer.

"The energy source is turbulence," says co-author Melvyn Goldstein, chief of the Geospace Physics Laboratory at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. "The sun heats the solar wind by stirring it up."

It's a bit like stirring your coffee--in reverse. When you stir your morning cup of Joe, the coffee cools off. But when the sun stirs the solar wind, the solar wind heats up.


Read full article: 'Mystery Source of Solar Wind Heating Identified'

A new class 10,000 clean room facility

Optical Surfaces Ltd. - a recognised leader in high precision optical solutions for high power laser research, astronomy, space, defence, test and measurement, and scientific applications has announced investment in a new class 10,000 clean room facility.

Today a growing proportion of high precision optical applications pose increased cleaning requirements on the production environment - be they individual components with particularly demanding surfaces or assembly of high performance optical systems.

Dr Aris Kouris - Sales Manager at Optical Surfaces Ltd commented, "Customer desire to push the limits of optical performance has been a key driver in this investment. The new clean room facility will allow us to eliminate airborne contaminants from our final assembly and inspection area - thereby guaranteeing the highest quality product is delivered to our customers."


Read full article: 'Contamination-free high precision optics'

York, UK -- Paraytec Ltd. has announced that its multi-award winning ActiPix D-100 system has been selected by Cambridge University to enable pioneering research into high-throughput micro channel separations of recombinant proteins within microcapillary films.

Professor Nigel Slater, Dr Nick Darton and Dr Nuno Reis at the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology at Cambridge University (www.ceb.cam.ac.uk) are developing high-throughput micro channel separations for recombinant proteins within MicroCapillary Films (MCF's).

MCFs contain any number of uniform, parallel capillaries within a flat polymer film and they can be fabricated from a range of low-cost polymers using a cheap extrusion process.

Professor Nigel Slater commented, "Our team chose the ActiPix system from Paraytec to study this process because it is uniquely designed to simultaneously image up to eight different capillaries at the same time - providing spatial, temporal and concentration data of adsorbed and eluted proteins."


Read full article: 'High throughput monitoring of protein adsorption...'

Amsterdam, Netherlands & So. San Francisco CA, USA -- A technical poster is available from Fluidigm Europe that demonstrates a new approach, which when used in combination with Fluidigm's BioMark™ real-time PCR system, provides a simple, inexpensive and reproducible solution to single cell gene expression.

The authors of the poster demonstrate the use of the Fluidigm 48.48 Dynamic Array™ integrated fluidic circuit (IFC), as well as a technique known as specific target amplification (STA).

Each 48.48 Dynamic Array is shown to systematically combine samples and assays into 2,304 real-time qPCR reactions, of final reaction volumes of 6.75 nanolitres. Experimental results are shown using FACS-sorted single cells from a human colorectal carcinoma cell line (HCT 116).


Read full article: 'Single Cell Gene Expression Analysis Using A Nanofluidic Platform...'

Abingdon, UK -- amsbio has announced a new kit for the extraction of high quality RNA from FFPE (Formalin-Fixed and Paraffin-Embedded) tissues that can be applied not only to PCR but also microarray applications.

Traditional methods of formalin-fixation of tissues often result in severe RNA fragmentation, as well as in RNA-RNA, RNA-DNA and RNA-protein cross-linking, which impairs RNA solubilisation and template activity in reverse transcription and subsequent downstream assays.

The new ExpressArt® FFPE RNA-ready kit is optimised for isolation of total RNA from archival, formaldehyde or FFPE tissues and results in a concentrated RNA product that is ready-to-use.


Read full article: 'Improved extraction of high quality RNA from tissue samples'