|
Nanophotonics Research Links UCSD, Sun Microsystems and the Future of Computing
“We are working on CMOS
compatible nanophotonic devices that are manufactured with
standard lithographic tools,” said Fainman, who was
recently named the Cymer Inc. Endowed Chair in Advanced Optical
Technologies. The work chronicled in the
Physical Review Letters
paper is tied to Sun Microsystem’s vision for a “macrochip”
system in which ultranarrow silicon channels called waveguides
shuttle beams of light from chip to chip – thus bypassing
the wires that currently act as a major bottleneck for today’s
computer designers. Image Caption: Shaya Fainman, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering Image Credit: University of California, San Diego / Jacobs School of Engineering Source: University of California, San Diego / Jacobs School of Engineering Permalink: http://www.sflorg.com/comm_center/unv_funding/p348_28.html Time Stamp: 3/27/2008 at 8:13:48 PM CST |
Scientific
Frontline®
RSS
Feeds
Scientific
Frontline®
The
Comm Center
The
E.A.R.®
World
News Report
SFL
Gallery
Cassini
Gallery
Mars
Gallery
Missions
Gallery
ISS
Gallery
Shuttle
Gallery
Space
Weather Alerts
Stellar
Nights®
Directors
Chair
Scientific Frontline® Is supported in part by “Readers Like You” |
|
Grant Focuses on Link Between Chemical Exposure and Prostate Cancer
Shuk-mei Ho, PhD, chair of UC’s environmental health department, and her University of Chicago colleague have received nearly $2.6 million to study the mechanism by which Bisphenol A (BPA) exposure in the womb or in infancy may affect prostate cancer later in life. Ho and co-principal investigator Gail Prins, PhD, reported the first evidence of a direct link between chemical exposure while in the womb and prostate cancer development later in life in the June 2006 issue of the journal Cancer Research. In that laboratory study, the duo found that animals exposed to low doses of the natural human estrogen estradiol or the environmental estrogen BPA during fetal development were more likely to develop an early form of prostate cancer in humans (prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia) than those who were not exposed. Their findings suggested that exposure to environmental and natural estrogens during fetal development could affect the way prostate genes behave, leading to higher rates of prostate disease during aging. BPA is a chemical regularly used in the manufacture of plastics that can leach out when heated. It is one of many man-made chemicals known as “endocrine disruptors,” which permanently alter the function of the endocrine system by mimicking the role of the body’s natural hormones. Hormones are secreted through endocrine glands and dispersed to serve different functions throughout the body. Ho and Prins will use this new five-year grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to assess whether genes that are epigenetically regulated by estrogen exposures during fetal development play a direct role in prostate cancer development later in life. The researchers believe that this increased sensitization to prostate cancer is an “epigenetic” effect of exposure to estrogen earlier in life. Epigenetics is an emerging field targeting heritable changes in gene expression that do not cause mutations in DNA. “We know developmental exposure to natural or environmental estrogens may predispose an individual to prostate cancer with age, but the molecular underpinnings of this phenomenon are unclear,” explains Ho. To explore their hypothesis, Ho and Prins will use two laboratory models designed to reflect the characteristics of a developing male: one in an animal and the other using human prostate-like structures. Their goal is to identify genes that undergo changes when exposed to low-dose environmental and natural estrogens and establish a dose-response relationship between prostatic BPA and the developmental window of susceptibility. “We need to understand how these neonatal estrogens imprint or transform the prostate gland,” says Ho. “We know now that they are regulated, in part, by epigenetic mechanisms. Now we must determine if those epigenetic factors play a direct role in predisposing an individual to cancer later.” According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 95 percent of Americans age 6 or older have measurable BPA in their blood—and higher concentrations of the chemical have been found in amniotic fluid, placenta and fetal tissues. Image Caption: Shuk-mei Ho, PhD Image Credit: University of Cincinnati Source: University of Cincinnati Permalink: http://www.sflorg.com/comm_center/unv_funding/p346_27.html Time Stamp: 3/26/2008 at 10:24:50 AM CST |
|
|
Honeybee Researcher To Unravel Properties Governing Lifespan With Support From Norway Gro Amdam, associate professor in the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University, has been awarded two grants totaling the U.S. equivalent of about $1.4 million from the Norwegian Research Council to investigate biochemical factors and social life history properties that can influence aging and longevity in honeybees. Amdam also is with the Department of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Food Science at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences in Norway. The first study will focus on the molecular properties of honeybee vitellogenin, a protein which, Amdam says, acts at the intersection between social behavior and aging. The second project, to be headed by Amdam’s postdoctoral fellow Siri-Christine Seehuus in Norway, will examine the genetic and endocrine factors, which may determine longevity in diutinus workers, a specialized sub-caste of honeybees. In a series of previous studies, Amdam has shown that vitellogenin protein affects aging rate and endocrine signaling in honeybees. In addition, separate studies conducted with Robert Page, director of ASU’s School of Life Sciences in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, demonstrated that the protein also influences social behavior, longevity and sensory responsiveness. “Generally, vitellogenin is described as a conserved yolk protein found across a broad range of egg-laying species. The functions of proteins homologous to honeybee vitellogenin therefore have been studied primarily in the context of female reproduction,” Amdam says. “New data from my laboratory suggests, however, that the protein can be active in signal transduction” Amdam hopes to understand more about the structural and binding properties for the honeybee vitellogenin protein through examination of synthesized protein fragments, combined with crystallography and spectroscopy. Her intention is to unlock how the protein can have pleiotropic effects on honey bee social organization which also may open a window onto mechanisms that enabled honey bee social life to emerge. Amdam and Seehuus will both exploit the plasticity found in honeybee social life history in their work examining the causal basis of the extreme longevity of honeybee diutinus workers (up to 1 year, in contrast to the normal lifespan of about 2 months). While Seehuus will focus on endocrine regulation, Amdam will study the role of a key social factor, the presence versus the absence of young brood. “Since sister honeybees can be both short-lived and extremely long-lived, it is clear that diutinus development within a colony is not determined by genetic predisposition,” Amdam notes. “Rather, diutinus bees develop as a function of social change when the young brood (honeybee larvae) is removed from the nest. Preliminary results from my lab in Norway point to a major effect on lifespan of pheromones released by the brood.” Amdam graduate students have found that exposing the workers to brood phermones alone (using synthetics in the absence of actual brood) prompt the diutinus workers to build up particularly large body reserves of proteins and fats which likely have positive effects on survival. Next, Amdam will study how the dual effects of brood, that is the physiological load of nursing the larvae and exposure to brood pheromones, translate into levels of individual gene- and protein expression, storage dynamics of tissues, and at the level of behavior, food intake and feeding. Amdam expects that together the planned studies will unravel patterns of interplay, from molecular- to social mechanisms that can govern lifespan in social species. Amdam has made key discoveries in the genetic, physiological and behavioral mechanisms underlying division of labor, caste development, and advanced understanding around the evolution of social life strategies, including aging, in social insects. Since 2006, her work, primarily using the honeybee as a model organism, has been published in professional journals as varied as Nature, Science, Experimental Gerontology, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS), Behavioural Brain Research, Public Library of Science (PLoS), American Naturalist and Advances in Cancer Research. In 2007, Pew Charitable Trusts selected Amdam to be a Pew Scholar in biomedical sciences and she had the distinction of being named “Outstanding Young Investigator” by the Research Council of Norway. Source: Arizona State University Permalink: http://www.sflorg.com/comm_center/unv_funding/p343_26.html Time Stamp: 3/24/2008 at 6:31:03 PM CST |
|
|
Fund For Late Professor Lifts Engineers Without Borders Into The Black
Nearly all of the former officers were graduating seniors soon to be leaving the campus, the organization was nearly $50,000 in debt to the university and the civil engineering professor who had been the lifeline for the organization since its 2004 inception had scaled back his hours helping the group due to illness. She soon learned that the professor, Peter Bosscher, was suffering from kidney cancer, and would not be able to be as involved in the group as he had been for the past three years. "Professor Bosscher was the group," she says. "It was hard to get used to at first because whenever we had a problem, it was just like, we'll ask Peter - he always knows the answer. Some of the members nicknamed him 'The Magic Man' because if anything happened, he would magically fix it." Even after losing his life from the cancer on Nov. 18, 2007, Bosscher's dedication to the group remained evident: of the two funds for memorial visitors to donate to in lieu of flowers, one was to his church, of which he was a very active member, and the other was to EWB. In a way, it was another case of Bosscher serving as The Magic Man for the group. In January 2008, the UW Foundation transferred $41,425 from the Peter J. Bosscher Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Fund into the EWB account. Approximately $9,000 was transferred from a different source at the same time, and for the first time in two years, Engineers Without Borders was out of debt. "One of Peter's biggest goals was to get us out of debt," Simon says. "Just the fact that it happened and it was all because of him, I can just see him smiling down on this whole situation right now." Despite Bosscher's dedication to the group, unforeseen adversity had resulted in the bulk of the group's debt in the summer of 2005. In July 2004, the fledgling group had taken an assessment trip to the east African country of Rwanda and begun planning for a five to six kilometer pipeline to bring fresh water to a village of Muramba. A return trip to build the pipeline was set to take place the following year, which would cost more than $20,000 for airfare and travel expenses alone, and $35,000 for the pipeline materials. The group typically applies for grants to fund its trips, says UW-Madison graduate and original EWB member Timothy Miller. For this trip, it found a local company to pay for the pipeline materials. A few weeks before the trip, however, the company told the group it would be unable to donate the funds as planned. "We were all locked in for the trip," he says. "We were all set to go, there were maybe two sets of five students going, and we had confirmed dates with our host in Rwanda. It was really a big blow to us to lose that funding, but Peter said he'd be able to get money in other places, so we decided to go and do the project anyway." The group returned in July 2005 after completing the majority of the pipeline and leaving local Rwandans in charge of finishing the project, and began to brainstorm ways to make up the debt. Miller says the group ran into trouble applying for grants, however, because most of the work had already been completed. "It was kind of a problem because when you write grants, people want to know what you're going to do with the money, not what you've done with it," he says. At the time, he adds, the debt did not affect the group as much because Bosscher took on much of the responsibility for negotiating funds from the university, which had covered the group's Rwanda expenses. By 2007, though, Simon says EWB could no longer use its university account. Work on the group's three international projects was able to continue only because the group had applied for the first time for registered student organization status through the Associated Students of Madison, and began receiving funds through segregated fees. The yearly application process for ASM funding meant that continued funding was not guaranteed, however, and the group continued to brainstorm ways to erase their debt, including selling copies of a documentary made from a Rwanda trip by two filmmakers who joined the students. Now that Bosscher's memorial fund pulled the group out of debt, the group has been able to focus on its international projects in Rwanda, El Salvador and Kenya, as well as domestic projects such as Hurricane Katrina relief. But grant-writing and other fundraising will continue to play a big role in keeping the group's finances in order, Simon says. Jeffrey Russell, chair of the civil engineering department at UW-Madison, adds the fund will be open to receiving donations indefinitely in order to honor Bosscher's legacy. While Bosscher was heavily involved in the organization of the early group, he adds that the most important gift Bosscher gave to the group was inspiration. "I think Engineers Without Borders embodied all the things he thought were important about preparing an educated citizen and engineer in this century," he says. "Peter was able to take this, provide some leadership and guidance, but I think most importantly was to inspire students to get involved in this and make it better, make it beyond what it is." Those interested in donating to the Peter J. Bosscher Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Fund can do so through the UW Foundation. Image Caption: Peter Bosscher, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of civil engineering who died of cancer in November 2007, was long the guiding force behind the campus chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB). Bosscher led student EWB service expeditions to a number of developing countries, where the group applied engineering expertise to improve quality of life. Bosscher's legacy continues to reward the UW-Madison chapter, as a memorial fund established in his honor has enabled the group to become debt-free in 2008 and focus on ongoing initiatives in El Salvador, Rwanda and Kenya. Image Credit: Jeff Miller Source: University of Wisconsin, Madison Permalink: http://www.sflorg.com/comm_center/unv_funding/p316_25.html Time Stamp: 3/10/2008 at 11:16:11 PM CST |
|
|
Houston Receives NEH Grant for Guatemala Dig The National Endowment for the Humanities has awarded Brown University archaeologist Stephen Houston $125,000 to continue study and excavations of the ancient Maya kingdom of El Zotz, Guatemala. Located in northern Guatemala, El Zotz flourished during 500 to 600 A.D. Positioned at the intersection of two major Maya trade routes, the city seems to have arisen suddenly out of political entrepreneurship, when nearby Tikal fell into decline. Though Tikal is a major Maya tourism site, El Zotz, a 40-minute walk to the west, is virtually unexplored, said Houston, the Dupee Family Professor of Social Science. "We're learning what happens when a giant stumbles, what happens on the edges of an empire when the empire goes into a nosedive," Houston said. "The key is the inverse relationship with Tikal. We know from inscriptions that El Zotz had close bonds to Tikal's enemies, and that it was not a good place to farm, earn your keep, hunt. The settlement may have had purely a political motivation." In addition to revealing insights on political dominance and the Maya collapse, El Zotz has architectural significance. At this site, Houston said, the Mayans first experimented with certain forms of pyramid. A wooden lintel survives to this day, engraved with images and decipherable writing. El Zotz also sheds light on the religious beliefs of the day, Houston said. "Inscriptions on pots show new types of cult or emphasis on a supernatural being connected to the dream states of kings: dreams as the essences of the soul. There's a lot of tantalizing material that poses fascinating questions about the role of El Zotz in the development of classic Maya civilization." Houston has already mapped the site. The grant funds enable Houston to travel to El Zotz in May with three Brown graduate students, four or five Guatemalan archaeologists and two dozen laborers for the first of three excavations. The NEH award gives Brown a foothold in Mesoamerican archeology, Houston said, and will provide research opportunities for incoming graduate students. "As we develop Old World archeology at the Joukowsky Institute under Sue Alcock, the NEH award lets us explore the New World as well," said Houston, also director of anthropology graduate studies. "It affirms that Brown is a key place for global archeology." Source: Brown University Permalink: http://www.sflorg.com/comm_center/unv_funding/p314_24.html Time Stamp: 3/10/2008 at 9:32:06 AM CST |
|
With
questions lingering about the estrogen-mimicking chemical
Bisphenol A, a University of Cincinnati (UC) environmental health
expert hopes to shed new light on the relationship between the
man-made chemical and prostate cancer.
Katie
Simon had a lot to be nervous about in March 2007 when she became
the president of the University of Wisconsin-Madison chapter of
Engineers Without Borders (EWB), an organization that applies the
knowledge of engineers to improving the quality of life for
developing communities.
