ScienceDaily (Apr. 12, 2010) — Do you carry a cell phone? Today, chances are it’s called a “smartphone” and it came with a three-to-five megapixel lens built-in — not to mention an MP3 player, GPS or even a bar code scanner. This ‘Swiss-Army-knife’ trend represents the natural progression of technology — as chips become smaller/more advanced, cell phones absorb new functions.

What if, in the future, new functions on our cell phones could also protect us from toxic chemicals?

Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate (S&T)’s Cell-All is such an initiative. Cell-All aims to equip cell phones with a sensor capable of detecting deadly chemicals. The technology is ingenious. A chip costing less than a dollar is embedded in a cell phone and programmed to either alert the cell phone carrier to the presence of toxic chemicals in the air, and/or a central station that can monitor how many alerts in an area are being received. One might be a false positive. Hundreds might indicate the need for evacuation.

“Our goal is to create a lightweight, cost-effective, power-efficient solution,” says Stephen Dennis,Cell-All‘s program manager.

How would this wizardry work? Just as antivirus software bides its time in the background and springs to life when it spies suspicious activity, so Cell-All would regularly sniffs the surrounding air for certain volatile chemical compounds.

When a threat is sensed, an alert ensues in one of two ways. For personal safety issues such as a chlorine gas leak, a warning is sounded; the user can choose a vibration, noise, text message or phone call. For catastrophes such as a sarin gas attack, details — including time, location and the compound — are phoned home to an emergency operations center. While the first warning is beamed to individuals, the second warning works best with crowds. And that’s where the genius of Cell-All lies — in crowd sourcing human safety.

Currently, if a person suspects that something is amiss, he might dial 9-1-1, though behavioral science tells us that it’s easier to do nothing. And, as is often the case when someone phones in an emergency, the caller may be difficult to understand, diminishing the quality of information that’s relayed to first responders. An even worse scenario: the person may not even be aware of the danger, like the South Carolina woman who last year drove into a colorless and poisonous ammonia cloud.

In contrast, anywhere a chemical threat breaks out — a mall, a bus, subway or office – Cell-All will alert the authorities automatically. Detection, identification, and notification all take place in less than 60 seconds. Because the data are delivered digitally, Cell-All reduces the chance of human error. And by activating alerts from many people at once, Cell-All cleverly avoids the long-standing problem of false positives. The end result: emergency responders can get to the scene sooner and cover a larger area — essentially anywhere people are, casting a wider net than stationary sensors can.

And the privacy issue? Does this always-on surveillance mean that the government can track your precise whereabouts whenever it wants? To the contrary, Cell-All will operate only on an opt-in basis and will transmit data anonymously.

“Privacy is as important as technology,” says Dennis. “After all, for Cell-All to succeed, people must be comfortable enough to turn it on in the first place.”

For years, the idea of a handheld weapons of mass destruction detector has engaged engineers. In 2007, S&T called upon the private sector to develop concepts of operations. Today, thanks to increasingly successful prototype demonstrations, the Directorate is actively funding the next step in R&D — a proof of principle — to see if the concept is workable.

To this end, three teams from Qualcomm, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and Rhevision Technology are perfecting their specific area of expertise. Qualcomm engineers specialize in miniaturization and know how to shepherd a product to market. Scientists from the Center for Nanotechnology at NASA’s Ames Research Center have experience with chemical sensing on low-powered platforms, such as the International Space Station. And technologists from Rhevision have developed an artificial nose — a piece of porous silicon that changes colors in the presence of certain molecules, which can be read spectrographically.

Similarly, S&T is pursuing what’s known as cooperative research and development agreements with four cell phone manufacturers: Qualcomm, LG, Apple and Samsung. These written agreements, which bring together a private company and a government agency for a specific project, often accelerate the commercialization of technology developed for government purposes. As a result, Dennis hopes to have 40 prototypes in about a year, the first of which will sniff out carbon monoxide and fire.

To be sure, Cell-All‘s commercialization may take several years. Yet the goal seems eminently achievable: Just as Gates once envisioned a computer on every desk in every home, so Dennis envisions a chemical sensor in every cell phone in every pocket, purse or belt holster.

And if it’s not already the case, says Dennis, “Our smartphones may soon be smarter than we are.”

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 14th April 2010

ScienceDaily (Mar. 26, 2010) — Scientists have presented a design strategy to produce the long-sought artificial leaf, which could harness Mother Nature’s ability to produce energy from sunlight and water in the process called photosynthesis. The new recipe, based on the chemistry and biology of natural leaves, could lead to working prototypes of an artificial leaf that capture solar energy and use it efficiently to change water into hydrogen fuel, they stated.

Their report was scheduled for the 239th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in San Francisco. It was among more than 12,000 scientific reports scheduled for presentation at the meeting, one of the largest scientific gatherings of 2010.

“This concept may provide a new vista for the design of artificial photosynthetic systems based on biological paradigms and build a working prototype to exploit sustainable energy resources,” Tongxiang Fan, Ph.D. and colleagues Di Zhang, Ph.D. and Han Zhou, Ph.D., reported, They are with the State Key Lab of Matrix Composites at Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China.

Fan pointed out that using sunlight to split water into its components, hydrogen and oxygen, is one of the most promising and sustainable tactics to escape current dependence on coal, oil, and other traditional fuels. When burned, those fuels release carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas. Combustion of hydrogen, in contrast, forms just water vapor. That appeal is central to the much-discussed “Hydrogen Economy,” and some auto companies, such as Toyota, have developed hydrogen-fueled cars. Lacking, however, is a cost-effective sustainable way to produce hydrogen.

With that in mind, Fan and co-workers decided to take a closer look at the leaf, nature’s photosynthetic system, with plans to use its structure as a blueprint for their next generation of artificial systems. Not too surprisingly, the structure of green leaves provides them an extremely high light-harvesting efficiency. Within their architecture are structures responsible focusing and guiding of solar energy into the light-harvesting sections of the leaf, and other functions.

The scientists decided to mimic that natural design in the development of a blueprint for artificial leaf-like structures. It led them to report their recipe for the “Artificial Inorganic Leaf” (AIL), based on the natural leaf and titanium dioxide (TiO2) — a chemical already recognized as a photocatalyst for hydrogen production.

The scientists first infiltrated the leaves of Anemone vitifolia — a plant native to China — with titanium dioxide in a two-step process. Using advanced spectroscopic techniques, the scientists were then able to confirm that the structural features in the leaf favorable for light harvesting were replicated in the new TiO2 structure. Excitingly, the AIL are eight times more active for hydrogen production than TiO2 that has not been “biotemplated” in that fashion. AILs also are more than three times as active as commercial photo-catalysts. Next, the scientists embedded nanoparticles of platinum into the leaf surface. Platinum, along with the nitrogen found naturally in the leaf, helps increase the activity of the artificial leaves by an additional factor of ten.

In his ACS presentation, Fan reported on various aspects of Artificial Inorganic Leaf production, their spectroscopic work to better understand the macro- and microstructure of the photocatalysts, and their comparison to previously reported systems. The activity of these new “leaves,” are significantly higher than those prepared with classic routes. Fan attributes these results to the hierarchical structures derived from natural leaves:

“Our results may represent an important first step towards the design of novel artificial solar energy transduction systems based on natural paradigms, particularly based on exploring and mimicking the structural design. Nature still has much to teach us, and human ingenuity can modify the principles of natural systems for enhanced utility.”

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 9th April 2010

January 1, 2009 — Cyber forensic researchers designed a device to extract the memory of a mobile phone for crime scene evidence. The phone’s memory card is placed in the device where computer software extracts and decodes the information–revealing call history, text messages, emails, images, video and the calendar. This information is then used by police as evidence in crimes.

A good fingerprint at a crime scene isn’t always the smoking gun for solving crimes. Thanks to new technology, crime solving is going digital.

Ernest Brice had plans to rent out his house, but it became a target for burglars instead. Thieves stole almost everything inside.

“I feel victimized,” said Brice.

Brice’s crime was never solved, but police say digital evidence left behind from cell phones, computers or PDAs can be found at nearly every crime scene.

“A lot of times, it’s evidence that will take you to your next step in the investigative lead, so it will tell us who this person has been in touch with or who they’ve been emailing or texting,” said Richard Mislan, Ph.D., a cyber-forensic researcher at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind.

To help dig up digital evidence and catch criminals, cyber-forensic researchers use a device called a flasher box. It finds clues hiding in cell phones.

“A flasher box is used for extracting a full memory from a mobile phone,” Dr. Mislan said.

A phone’s memory card is removed and plugged into a flasher box. Computer software extracts the phone’s coded information and decodes the information to reveal the phone’s call history, text messages, e-mails, calendar, images and videos. This information is then used by cops as clues to solve crimes.

“It’s an inside look into that person, much more than just a fingerprint,” Dr. Mislan said.

The technology also helps victims of serious crimes by finding clues from computers to show who last contacted the victim and last visited Web sites or e-mails.

“It’s a way of helping us find the perpetrator or the suspect and taking us to that next step,” Dr. Mislan said. Solving crimes isn’t easy. Just ask Brice — but now, technology may help cops get one step ahead of the bad guys. Researchers are now developing a first-responder digital evidence collection kit to gather evidence immediately at the scene of a crime.

December 1, 2006 — Investigators on a crime scene can now use a new tool for collecting chemical or biological samples. The sampler gun collects samples on a cotton pad — eliminating direct contact with anything harmful, as well as risk of contaminating evidence — a GPS system to record the samples’ location, a camera that snaps pictures for evidence, and a digital voice recorder and writing pad for taking notes.

Whether it’s a murder, a break-in, or an anthrax scare, investigators trying to solve a crime are burdened with collecting delicate, sometimes toxic evidence.

Mention white powder and mail, and who can forget the deadly anthrax scare that swept America? Jennifer Greenamoyer remembers it well. “This is the building where they sort the mail, and this building was contaminated and was the first building to be closed,” she says.

Greenamoyer was a congressional staffer during anthrax scare. “Even though I didn’t necessarily feel like I was exposed or I was kind-of at risk — you knew that other people in the building had been.”

She was safe, but there’s still danger to investigators going back inside to collect samples for analysis. A new device, called the Hands-Off Sampler Gun, eliminates the risk of collecting toxic materials.

“You don’t get exposed yourself to the potential agent, anthrax, and you’re also not contaminating the sample media,” computer scientist Torsten Staab, of the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, tells DBIS.

Traditional ways of gathering harmful chemicals use many gadgets. This device puts several technologies into one, easy-to-use gun.

Developed by computer scientists, the Hands-Off Sampler Gun has a cotton pad that grabs chemicals to eliminate direct contact with anything harmful. A GPS system tracks the location of a chemical and the investigator. It also includes a camera that snaps pictures for evidence and a voice recorder and writing pad to take digital notes. The all-in-one device is important to identify a chemical and its risk factor and make sure everything is safe for everyone.

The Sampler Gun could also be made useful for collecting evidence, like bloodstains at crimes scenes. “We have all the information at the end, electronically. It could be wirelessly transmitted from the field to the laboratory,” Staab says.

The FBI plans on field testing the device with its Hazardous Response Unit early next year.

The prototyped all-solid lithium polymer storage battery

It is pliable.

The film used as an electrolyte

The temperature dependence of discharge. DOD: density of discharge

OPTICAL MOLECULAR

IMAGING:

In vivo commercial systems

heighten appeal of molecular

imaging

Last November, the Cleveland Clinic (Cleveland, OH) ranked an optical molecular imaging system as one of the year’s top ten medical innovations. “We believe this technology to be a game changer,” said Jennifer Hunt, the clinic’s head of surgical pathology. “When we’re talking about tumors, we’re talking about what information we can gain about that tumor to guide and direct therapy, prognosis, and diagnostics,” she said, referring to the clinic’s use of the Nuance system by Cambridge Research & Instrumentation, Inc. (CRi; Woburn, MA). “Being able to analyze multiple markers in a single cell to understand the behavior of signaling pathways will significantly aid in disease diagnosis and therapy development.”

While the first big application for in-vivo optical molecular imaging was infectious disease, oncology has been an important next step according to Caliper Life Sciences’ (Hopkinton, MA) Stephen Oldfield PhD. Indeed, Carestream Health Molecular Imaging (Rochester, NY) reports a surge of interest from oncologists just in the past couple of years. William McLaughlin, Director of Research and Advanced Applications for Carestream, says that at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting two years ago, he saw significantly more interest in analytical techniques such as gel documentation and western blotting–but in 2008 noticed that more people were asking about the newer technology. Then at this year’s AACR meeting (April 18-22, Denver, CO), the majority of leads were for in vivo imaging, he said.

“The products have reached a point where they provide a lot of benefit to researchers,” McLaughlin explained, noting that in the past year or so he’s seen a shift in percentages: Previously most of Carestream’s molecular imaging customers were hard core imaging people; now, more customers are in application areas.

State-of-the-art optical molecular imaging systems enable noninvasive visualization of biological processes in vivo, enabling researchers to watch disease progression over time in the same animal. They use multiple fluorochromes to selectively target biological processes, and visualize small groups of cells (usually 50 is sufficient for research needs, though Oldfield says Caliper has followed tumors composed of just five cells–to demonstrate the technology’s capability). They enable testing at intervals to illustrate how tumors develop and respond to drugs, and their output can be co-registered with images produced by other modalities such as computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems.

Moving up for drug discovery

For drug discovery, Oldfield says the technology has been used mainly at the end of the process, but is now being pushed much further upstream, to help determine which cell signaling pathways are affected by a drug. Previously the pathways were studied in vitro and millions of compounds were screened, he explains, but the newer approach lets researchers narrow down their work to perhaps 10 or 20 compounds, look at the pathways, learn what triggers this or that enzyme, and focus on compound optimization and drug efficacy. Oldfield says in vivo systems enable researchers to “fail faster” by getting the compounds into animals sooner so they can learn more quickly and accelerate the whole screening process. Observing disease progression in a live animal can provide all kinds of other information as well, he says.

(Courtesy Caliper Life Sciences)

Pharmaceutical companies don’t publish much (and are typically tight lipped about the technologies that help them get ahead), but Oldfield says he has just begun to see publications from the pharma labs demonstrating correlation between the upstream and downstream ends of the process.

In addition to this, in-vivo imaging is moving closer to clinical trials to enable testing of dosing levels. McLaughlin and Oldfield note that the approach has proven attractive for imaging of inflammation and for stem cell research. Explaining its use for imaging the inflammation that accompanies heart disease, McLaughlin explains that “vulnerable plaques have certain signatures of inflammation that indicate whether they are benign or active.” Oldfield points to observation of inflammation associated with asthma, arthritis, and stroke. A slideshow on Caliper’s website explains that all of the most commonly employed optical reporter labeling strategies have been used to generate light-producing stem cells; Oldfield explains that these can be seen tracking to the heart following cardiovascular damage.

The latest technology progress relates to 3D imaging for more precise pinpointing and quantification. Oldfield says Caliper has done much to improve software to enable this and make it easily accessible. And Carestream is working on a multimodal animal rotation system designed to eventually enable 3D visualization. The idea is to enable change of modalities (optical and x-ray) without moving the animal or focal plane–and register the imagery with precision. McLaughlin says the system will find the optimal angle for the optical signal and keep track of the rotation angle to enable tracking of changes over time.–Barbara G. Goode

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 8th Oct 2009