Scientists create a flexible 'memristor'
GAITHERSBURG, Md., June 4 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists have found a way to build a flexible memory component that might lead to electronic memory chips that can bend and twist.
National Institute of Standards and Technology researchers led by Nadine Gergel-Hackett said the device is promising, not only because of its potential applications in medicine and other fields, but because it also appears to possess the characteristics of a memristor -- a component theorized in 1971 as a fourth fundamental circuit element along with the capacitor, resistor and inductor.
The scientists said such a component could lead to small medical sensors that can be worn on the skin to monitor vital signs such as heart rate or blood sugar. Although some flexible components exist, creating flexible memory had been a technical barrier. The device created by the NIST team operates on less than 10 volts, maintains memory when power is lost and still functions after being flexed more than 4,000 times.
The research is to appear in next week's online edition of the journal IEEE Electron Device Letters and in the journal's July print issue. Another paper on the research appeared in the May 1 issue of the journal Nature.
Mice created to exhibit infantile spasms
PHILADELPHIA, June 4 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists have created a line of genetically engineered mice that experience seizures similar to infantile spasms so that new treatments can be tested.
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia researchers said approximately 1 of 100 infants experience the difficult-to-treat form of childhood epilepsy called infantile spasms. Many of them go on to develop epilepsy.
Dr. Jeffrey Golden, who led the study, said one obstacle to developing better therapies for children has been the lack of a good animal model.
"This is the first genetic model of a developmental epilepsy, and even more importantly, it was generated by mutating the same gene that can be found mutated in humans with infantile spasms," Golden said, noting the new animal model provides an opportunity to begin testing drugs in the mice to identify potential treatments for children.
The research was described in the May 12 online edition of the journal Brain.
New robotic marine vehicle dives 6.8 miles
WOODS HOLE, Mass., June 4 (UPI) -- A new deep-sea U.S. robotic vehicle called Nereus has become the world's deepest-diving vehicle and the first to explore the Mariana Trench since 1998.
The remotely-controlled vehicle developed at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute dived 6.8 miles May 31 in the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific Ocean.
"The Mariana Trench is the deepest known part of the ocean. Reaching such extreme depths represents the pinnacle of technical challenges and the team is very pleased Nereus has been successful in reaching the very bottom to return imagery and samples from such a hostile world," said Andy Bowen, the vehicle's principle developer.
WHOI Director Susan Avery said: "With this engineering trial successfully behind us, we're eager for Nereus to become widely used to explore the most inaccessible reaches of the ocean. With no part of the deep seafloor beyond our reach, it's exciting to think of the discoveries that await."
Funding for the project was provided by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Office of Naval Research, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Russell Family Foundation and WHOI.
Selenium study may lead to new antibiotics
ORLANDO, Fla., June 4 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists have found new attributes of the trace mineral selenium that may lead to new antibiotics for conditions such as diarrhea and tooth decay.
University of Central Florida Associate Professor William Self said selenium is found in a number of proteins in both bacterial cells and human cells called selenoproteins. Self said his research shows interrupting the way selenoproteins are made can halt the growth of the super bug Clostridium difficile, which leads to a spectrum of illnesses ranging from severe diarrhea to colitis, which can cause death, as well as Treponema denticola, a major contributor to gum disease.
The key discovery occurred when Self's team found the drug Auranofin, used to treat arthritis, changed the manner in which the body uses selenium. That chemical reaction, they said, prevents bacteria from using selenium to grow.
"It's the proof of principle that we are excited about," Self said. "No one has ever tried this approach, and it could potentially be a source for new narrow spectrum antibiotics that block bacteria that require selenium to grow."
The findings appear in the May issue of the Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry and the June issue of the Journal of Bacteriology.
