SciPod

Lifestyle factors and behavioural changes, such as diet modifications, are gaining interest as methods

Floods devastate communities across the globe. A single flood disaster can cause the loss of thousands of lives, and the displacement of millions of people. The devastating effect is exacerbated by the difficulty in monitoring floods and evaluating the information to make the best responsive decisions. To help communities and emergency response teams better predict and prepare for flooding events, Dr Guy J-P Schumann and his team at Remote Sensing Solutions in collaboration with the Dartmouth Flood Observatory (DFO) have harnessed remote sensing technology to develop an advanced user-friendly universal flood monitoring and prediction system.

Facilities for recycling metal parts at the locations they are required would be a major milestone in the global struggle towards sustainable industry. Yet for all its advantages, the innovations required to realise such a goal are a daunting prospect. Now, Andrew LaTour and his colleagues at MolyWorks Materials are bringing the idea one step closer to reality, through the development of their ‘Mobile Foundry’. The company’s work could soon provide a new basis for developing a completely closed-loop economy in areas related to metal manufacturing, potentially slashing the industry’s negative environmental impacts.

Amyloids are aggregates of polymerised proteins. The polymerised proteins do not fold as they should and adopt shapes that enable multiple copies to stick together. In humans, these clusters of proteins form fibrils and the presence of these amyloid protein clusters are associated with disease pathologies. In a recent study, Dr Sidharth Mahapatra and colleagues at Stanford University assessed their hypothesis, that, contrary to much of the work in this area, in some cases, amyloids may be beneficial in treating inflammation caused by serious, life-threatening conditions, such as sepsis.

The use of radiation therapy to treat cancer has improved the long-term outcome of thousands of patients but is associated with serious side effects. Photodynamic therapy (PDT), a targeted light-based technique, has been approved as an effective treatment for some forms of cancer with fewer side effects than radiotherapy. However, the effectiveness of this technique depends on fine-tuning its application to the patient. Simphotek, a US-based company founded by world leaders in biophysics and computer modelling, together with its collaborative partners at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, is focused on expanding novel technologies of PDT as a cancer treatment for solid tumours.

Because of growing international trade, increasing numbers of invasive pest insects are being transported throughout the world. If they become established, invasive insects can have enormous impacts on agriculture, human health and natural ecosystems. However, it can be difficult to control them without causing further damage to the surrounding environment. Dr Robert K. Vander Meer of the USDA Agricultural Research Service studies the chemistry of pest ants, as it pertains to their behaviour and biological systems, with the aim of identifying efficient novel methods to monitor and control them.

Global Navigation Satellite Systems such as GPS are the backbone of many global communications, but they are not immune to failure. Progeny Systems Corporation is dedicated to mitigating such disasters if and when satellite-based communications fail, by developing Earth-based systems that work in comparable ways to synchronised satellite networks. As an alternative to GPS, the company’s technology could provide communicating parties with a crucial yet inexpensive safeguard against future failures.

Dogs are renowned for their status as man’s best friend. Based first at the University of Colorado and now at the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities, Dr Jaime Modiano and his team have spent the last 25 years trying to understand how cancer develops at a basic level, aiming to use this knowledge to improve the health and wellbeing of both humans and their companion animals.

In recent years, dramatic advances have been made in brain science and molecular genetics. However, there is currently a shortage of psychiatrists with the scientific training necessary to take this knowledge and apply it in the clinic. Psychiatrist and neuroscience researcher, Dr Susan Voglmaier of the University of California, San Francisco, runs a research training program that supports the next generation of research scientists in the field of psychiatry. Dr Voglmaier believes that by training doctors in scientific techniques and methods, we may come to better understand mental illness and provide more effective treatments for psychiatric diseases in the future.

Both diabetic adults and premature babies are at risk for a similar type of eye disease that involves the growth of abnormal, blood vessels in the retina, the photosensitive layer of the eye. When this eye disease occurs in diabetics, it is called diabetic retinopathy and when it occurs in premature infants, it is called retinopathy of prematurity. The pathologic vessels, seen in both of these diseases, can pull on the retina and cause it to detach, leading to blindness. Dr Tammy Movsas (Executive Director and Principal Investigator) and Dr Arivalagan Muthusamy (Chief Scientist) at the Zietchick Research Institute, USA, are developing new therapeutics to treat these serious retinal diseases that affect both premature baby eyes and mature adult eyes, such as those of diabetic women.