Ion News and Research

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Seventeen projects granted access to PRACE Research Infrastructure's Tier-0 resources

On this second PRACE regular call, a new system, CURIE funded by GENCI and installed at CEA, Bruyères-Le-Châtel, France and designed by BULL, came into production adding capability to the PRACE Research Infrastructure (RI). CURIE is the second Tier-0 system in the PRACE RI after "JUGENE" (GCS at Jülich). The number of PRACE systems will continue to grow and provide more capacity and services to the European communities.

6 Apr 2011

Ennova Direct offers consumer electronics patent portfolio for sale

Ennova Direct, Inc. announced today that they're offering a patent portfolio for sale that is focused on Retractable USB Flash Drive Devices, Retractable Biometric USB Flash Drive Devices, MP3 Players and Wireless Bluetooth Earbud Headsets. In total the intellectual property includes 6 issued US patents plus two published applications.

5 Apr 2011

BSX presents ION and TAXUS Stent trial data against coronary artery disease at ACC meeting

Boston Scientific Corporation today announced results from a pooled patient-level analysis of its PERSEUS and TAXUS ATLAS clinical trial data, demonstrating differences in safety and efficacy outcomes favoring the next-generation ION Platinum Chromium Paclitaxel-Eluting Stent System compared to the currently available TAXUS Liberte Paclitaxel-Eluting Stent System.

4 Apr 2011

Study: Nanoparticles can prevent nickel-induced dermatitis

Tiny particles only billionths of a meter in diameter-about two thousand would fit across the width of a human hair-could offer big hope in a small package to the many millions of people who are allergic to the nickel in everything from jewelry to coins and cell phones, say scientists at Brigham and Women's Hospital.

4 Apr 2011

Anavex screening volunteers for phase I, first-in-human clinical study in Alzheimer’s

Anavex Life Sciences Corp. today announced screening of the first healthy volunteers for the Phase I clinical study of ANAVEX 2-73, its lead compound for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. ANAVEX 2-73 is the first of a new class of wholly-owned, oral, disease-modifying compounds, which act through sigma-1 receptor agonist as well as muscarinic cholinergic effects and up-regulation of Bcl-2.

31 Mar 2011

New discovery may improve cochlear implants for deafness

University of Utah scientists used invisible infrared light to make rat heart cells contract and toadfish inner-ear cells send signals to the brain.

28 Mar 2011

Molecular Devices signs distribution agreement with ChanTest

Molecular Devices, Inc. and ChanTest Corporation, leading providers of ion channel and GPCR drug discovery tools and solutions, have signed an agreement for Molecular Devices to distribute ChanTest's extensive portfolio of ion channel and GPCR cell lines on a non-exclusive basis.

25 Mar 2011

Linköping doctor invents electroosmotic pump that can be placed in microfluidic chip

Advances in medical diagnostic technology will likely allow individuals to perform preliminary medical diagnoses themselves, in their own home, in the future.

24 Mar 2011

Researchers create hiPS-RPE cells to treat age-related macular degeneration

The notion of transplanting adult stem cells to treat or even cure age-related macular degeneration has taken a significant step toward becoming a reality. In a study published today in Stem Cells, Georgetown University Medical Center researchers have demonstrated, for the first time, the ability to create retinal cells derived from human-induced pluripotent stem cells that mimic the eye cells that die and cause loss of sight.

24 Mar 2011

Contrast agent for tumor diagnostics

X-rays are not the only way: visible and especially infrared light can also be used to image human tissue. The effectiveness of optical imaging processes can be significantly improved with suitable dyes used as contrast agents. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, a team led by Wenbin Lin at the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill, USA) has now introduced a novel contrast agent that marks tumor cells in vitro. The dye is a phosphorescent ruthenium complex incorporated into nanoparticles of a metal–organic coordination polymer, which allows an extraordinarily high level of dye loading.

23 Mar 2011

Biologists decipher molecular code regulating availability of brain channel linked to neuronal excitability

A key question in protein biochemistry is how proteins recognize "correct" interaction partners in a sea of cellular factors. Nowhere is that more critical to know than in the brain, where interactions governing channel protein activity can alter an organism's behavior.

23 Mar 2011

Researcher to look for genes that can suppress epileptic seizures in fruit flies

"Exceptional, Unconventional Research Enabling Knowledge Acceleration" - is the name of a rare and competitive grant that Reenan recently won from the National Institutes of Health. Beginning April 1, Reenan will use the four-year, $1.3-million award to look for genes that can suppress seizures in fruit flies that he has cleverly engineered to mimic human epilepsy.

22 Mar 2011

Biochemical process that lasts a long time causes memory storage

You may remember the color of your loved one's eyes for years. But how?

21 Mar 2011

Insight into hereditary diseases

Hereditary diseases such as epilepsy or various coordination disorders may be caused by changes in nerve cells of the cerebellum, which do not set in until after birth. This is reported by Bochum's neuroscientists in the Journal of Neuroscience.

19 Mar 2011

Study reveals new mechanism underlying reproduction in plants

A team of researchers at the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ci-ncia (IGC), Portugal, discovered that pollen, the organ that contains the plant male gametes, communicate with the pistil, their female counterpart, using a mechanism commonly observed in the nervous system of animals.

18 Mar 2011

pIMAGO nanopolymer can test cancer drug efficacy against biochemical processes

A Purdue University scientist's nanopolymer would make it easier and cheaper for drug developers to test the effectiveness of a widely used class of cancer inhibitors.

17 Mar 2011

Pig model reveals how cystic fibrosis gene mutation causes disease

It's been more than 20 years since scientists first discovered the gene that causes cystic fibrosis (CF), yet questions about how the mutated gene causes disease remain unanswered.

17 Mar 2011

U-M purchases Fluxion's IonFlux system to study nanoscale membrane disruption

Fluxion Biosciences, Inc. announced today that the University of Michigan Department of Chemistry has purchased the IonFlux 16 automated patch clamp instrument.

From Fluxion Biosciences 16 Mar 2011

Anavex to commence phase I clinical trial in Alzheimer’s disease

Anavex Life Sciences Corp. (“Anavex”) (OTCBB: AVXL) has announced that its clinical trial application (CTA) for ANAVEX 2-73, the company’s lead compound for Alzheimer’s disease, has been approved by the German regulatory health authority, BfArM. The Phase I trial of ANAVEX 2-73, which includes testing in healthy human volunteers, will commence immediately. In this Phase I program Anavex will assess the safety, maximally tolerated dose, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of ANAVEX 2-73.

15 Mar 2011

Challenge Problems in mathematical cardiology

Did you know that heart attacks can give you mathematics? That statement appears on the web site of James Keener, who works in the mathematics of cardiology. This area has many problems that are ripe for unified attack by mathematicians, clinicians, and biomedical engineers.

15 Mar 2011