News from the NNI Community - Research Advances Funded by Agencies Participating in the NNI

Researchers North Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and Duke University School of Medicine have developed a new tool for addressing disseminated intravascular coagulation, a blood disorder that proves fatal in many patients. The researchers developed a technique that makes use of nanogel spheres, which are loaded with tissue-type plasminogen activator – a drug that breaks down blood clots. The spheres travel through the bloodstream until they reach a blood clot, at which point they stick to fibrin, the main protein found in blood clots.

Researchers North Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and Duke University School of Medicine have developed a new tool for addressing disseminated intravascular coagulation, a blood disorder that proves fatal in many patients. The researchers developed a technique that makes use of nanogel spheres, which are loaded with tissue-type plasminogen activator – a drug that breaks down blood clots. The spheres travel through the bloodstream until they reach a blood clot, at which point they stick to fibrin, the main protein found in blood clots.

The challenge with rapidly diagnosing sepsis – a potentially life-threatening medical condition triggered by blood-borne pathogens – stems from the fact that measuring only one biomarker often does not allow a clear-cut diagnosis. Now, a multi-disciplinary team at Harvard's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and the University of Bath, United Kingdom, has further developed the Institute's eRapid technology as an affinity-based, low-cost electrochemical diagnostic sensor platform for the detection of multiple clinically relevant biomarkers in whole blood. The device uses a novel graphene nanocomposite-based surface coating and was demonstrated to accurately detect three different sepsis biomarkers simultaneously.

The challenge with rapidly diagnosing sepsis – a potentially life-threatening medical condition triggered by blood-borne pathogens – stems from the fact that measuring only one biomarker often does not allow a clear-cut diagnosis. Now, a multi-disciplinary team at Harvard's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and the University of Bath, United Kingdom, has further developed the Institute's eRapid technology as an affinity-based, low-cost electrochemical diagnostic sensor platform for the detection of multiple clinically relevant biomarkers in whole blood. The device uses a novel graphene nanocomposite-based surface coating and was demonstrated to accurately detect three different sepsis biomarkers simultaneously.

Visible and infrared light can carry more data than radio waves, but has always been confined to a hard-wired, fiber-optic cable. Working with Facebook's Connectivity Lab, a research team at Duke University has now made a major advance toward eliminating the fiber in fiber optics by using silver nanocubes that are 60 nanometers wide and spaced about 200 nanometers apart. While working to create a free-space optical communication system for high-speed wireless internet, the researchers have also shown that speed and efficiency properties previously demonstrated on tiny, single-unit plasmonic antennas can also be achieved on larger, centimeter-scale devices.

Visible and infrared light can carry more data than radio waves, but has always been confined to a hard-wired, fiber-optic cable. Working with Facebook's Connectivity Lab, a research team at Duke University has now made a major advance toward eliminating the fiber in fiber optics by using silver nanocubes that are 60 nanometers wide and spaced about 200 nanometers apart. While working to create a free-space optical communication system for high-speed wireless internet, the researchers have also shown that speed and efficiency properties previously demonstrated on tiny, single-unit plasmonic antennas can also be achieved on larger, centimeter-scale devices.

Oil and water may not mix, but adding the right nanoparticles to the recipe can convert these two immiscible fluids into an exotic gel with uses ranging from batteries to water filters to tint-changing smart windows. Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the University of Delaware have found what appears to be a better way to create these gels, which have been an area of intense research focus for more than a decade.

Oil and water may not mix, but adding the right nanoparticles to the recipe can convert these two immiscible fluids into an exotic gel with uses ranging from batteries to water filters to tint-changing smart windows. Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the University of Delaware have found what appears to be a better way to create these gels, which have been an area of intense research focus for more than a decade.

Superconductors – materials that conduct electricity without resistance – provide a macroscopic glimpse into quantum phenomena, which are usually observable only at the atomic level. Superconductors are also found in medical imaging, quantum computers, and cameras used with telescopes. But superconducting devices are expensive to manufacture and are prone to err, due to environmental noise. That could change, thanks to research from engineers at MIT, who are developing a superconducting nanowire, which could enable more efficient superconducting electronics.

Superconductors – materials that conduct electricity without resistance – provide a macroscopic glimpse into quantum phenomena, which are usually observable only at the atomic level. Superconductors are also found in medical imaging, quantum computers, and cameras used with telescopes. But superconducting devices are expensive to manufacture and are prone to err, due to environmental noise. That could change, thanks to research from engineers at MIT, who are developing a superconducting nanowire, which could enable more efficient superconducting electronics.