In this edition, sponsored by TAL Technologies and Boker's:
* 'Green' Catalysts Promise Cheaper Drug Production * Wanted: Lower pH and Natural Preservation of Food * Dark Flow Suggests Existence of Multiverse * Non-toxic, Injectable Local Anesthetic * Volcano Monitor: Autonomous Triggering of In-Situ Sensors * Interference-Detection Module in a Digital Radar Receiver
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GREEN CATALYSTS A University of Toronto Department of Chemistry research team has discovered useful "green" catalysts made from iron that might replace the much more expensive and toxic platinum metals typically used in industrial chemical processes to produce drugs, fragrances, and flavors. The catalyst is used in small amounts to convert a large amount of inexpensive ketone to a large amount of the valuable alcohol product.
The synthesis of drugs usually relies on the use of catalysts and the expense of the catalysts influences the ultimate cost of the drug. If the catalyst is toxic - as it usually is when platinum-metals such as ruthenium, rhodium, and palladium are used - then it must be removed completely from the synthesized product using costly purification techniques.
Iron has been considered to be a base metal of low catalytic activity, but the researchers' successful trick was to prepare a complex of iron with a structure similar to the most active ruthenium catalyst. An organic molecule containing carbon, hydrogen, phosphorus, and nitrogen was attached to iron in its ferrous state to create the catalyst.
TECH NEEDS A global company is seeking to lower the pH of their food products without affecting the taste. pH can be lowered in food by adding food acids which act as natural preservatives, enhance thermal treatments (pasteurization and sterilization), and control spore germination. The solution must assure shelf stability of the food at ambient temperatures. The solution could be new food acids, combinations of food acids, taste maskers, or natural preservatives. http://link.abpi.net/l.php?20090416A3
A company is seeking innovative technology that will provide a method for extending shelf life, and preventing food deterioration and the growth of pathogenic micro-organisms. The solution could be a new natural preservative such as plant extract or food grade cultures, a natural process/additive for enhancing the activity of known natural preservatives, or antimicrobial films and coatings. Additionally, new production processes or application techniques would be of interest. http://link.abpi.net/l.php?20090416A4
The Technology Needs of the Week are anonymous requests for technology, distributed through the yet2.com marketplace, that you and your organization may be able to fulfill. Responding to a Tech Need is the first step to gaining an introduction with a prospective "buyer" for your technology solution.
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WHO'S WHO At the Goddard Space Flight Center, Dr. Alexander Kashlinsky is a principal investigator on several NASA and NSF grants studying topics related to cosmological bulk flows, cosmic microwave and infrared background radiation, and early stellar populations. Using the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe, Kashlinsky recently discovered a phenomenon called "dark flow," which are clusters of galaxies moving at a constant velocity toward a 20-degree patch of sky between the constellations of Centaurus and Vella.
Kashlinksy says these dark flow measurements may imply that our universe is just one of many, that other universes may be very different from ours, and that there is an underlying multiverse in which these universes exist. Kashlinksy is currently working on a project at NASA called "Studying Fluctuations in the Far IR Cosmic Infrared Background with COBE FIRAS Maps," which is designed to measure the structure of the cosmic infrared background radiation at far infrared bands. Read the "Who's Who at NASA" interview with Dr. Alexander Kashlinsky on page 10 of the April issue, or visit http://link.abpi.net/l.php?20090416A6 .
SLOW-RELEASE ANESTHETIC Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston have developed a slow-release anesthetic drug-delivery system that could potentially revolutionize treatment of pain during and after surgery, and may also have a large impact on chronic pain management. In NIH-funded work, they used specially designed fat-based particles called liposomes to package saxitoxin, a potent anesthetic, and produced long-lasting local anesthesia in rats without apparent toxicity to nerve or muscle cells.
In lab experiments, the researchers evaluated various formulations - various types of liposomes containing saxitoxin with or without dexamethasone, a potent steroid known to augment the action of encapsulated anesthetics. The best liposomes produced nerve blocks lasting two days if they contained saxitoxin alone, and seven days if combined with dexamethasone.
Previous attempts to develop slow-release anesthetics have not been successful due to the tendency for conventional anesthetics to cause toxicity to surrounding tissue. Even drug packaging materials have been shown to cause tissue damage. The hospital's slow-release technology may also have broader applications in drug delivery for the treatment of a variety of diseases.
TECH BRIEFS NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is developing a sulfur-dioxide-sensing volcano monitor that will be able to transmit its readings through an Iridium modem. A potential scenario might involve an Earth-based sensor near the volcano, such as a tilt meter or a seismometer, encountering a critical reading. This sensor could alert the Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) craft, which could then look for other sensors in the area. An alert message sent down to the Volcano Monitoring Box would increase the frequency of its readings from once an hour to once a minute. By using the speed and ease with which EO-1 transmits data, information about volcanic activity can be collected quickly and autonomously. http://link.abpi.net/l.php?20090416A7
John H. Glenn Research Center's Hybrid Diesel Vehicle Project focused on a parallel hybrid configuration suitable for diesel-powered, medium- sized, commercial vehicles commonly used for parcel delivery and shuttle buses, as the missions of these types of vehicles require frequent stops. During these stops, electric hybridization can effectively recover the vehicle's kinetic energy during the deceleration, store it onboard, and then use that energy to assist in the subsequent acceleration. Test data are available that show the implementation of the invention during operation of two prototype hybrid electric vehicles. http://link.abpi.net/l.php?20090416A9
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