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Stem Cells
Stem cells are found in most multi-cellular organisms. Stem cells are capable of splitting under the process of mitosis. This allows the cells to reinvigorate and can go from a non specialized cell type to a specialized cell. Stem cells were first researched by Canadian Scientist Ernest McCulloch and James Till in the 1960s. The two main types of stem cells are embryonic cells which are developed in the early embryogenesis, and adult stem cells found in adult tissues. Embryonic stem cells are able to differentiate into all specialized cells for the body. Adult stem cells on the other hand are only able to act as a repair system for already specialized cells. Using the process of cell culture scientists are able to grow stem cells for medical use. Muscles and nerves are able to be repaired or grown using the techniques involving stem cells. In the medical field advancements using umbilical cord blood or bone marrow may show to be promising applicants for further testing. Stem cells must include two main properties to be declared an actual stem cell. The cell must be able to self-renew. Several cycles of cell division must be able to be completed and the cell must maintain its undifferentiated state. The second property deals with its potency. This involves the cells ability to differentiate into specialized cell types. The use of stem cells in conjunction with other medical practices may prove to be potential gainful in the treatment for some human diseases. One of the most known stem cell treatments is used to treat Leukemia. Bone marrow transplants allow this to be possible. Scientists soon hope to be able to broaden the realm of diseases able to be treated by stem cells. Such diseases as cancer, Parkinson’s disease, and spinal cord injuries are just a few diseases that are being researches on in regards to using stem cells for treatment. Adult human stem cells have been used to test new drugs. New medications can be tested for safety on differentiated cells. Although many advances have been made in the usage of stem cells many much more research still needs to be done. Scientists still are studying exactly how undifferentiated stem cells turn into differentiated cells. Studies have shown that new technology allows doctors to turn genes on and off. But scientists still are not completely sure what factors make these genes turn off and on. Another use for stem cells is the generation of cells that could be used for cell–based therapies. This treatment introduces stem cells to differentiated cells that will either damaged or destroyed cells or tissues. More advancements are still to come as technology advances. We can only imagine what can happen as we grow to further the quest for the best procedures to cure human ailments.

Prostate Cancer Prevention

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer exhibited in adult males. It is said to be the most commonly occurring cancers for men. When diagnosed with the cancer. Doctors have found that the cancer affects the prostate and forces it to develop pre maturely. The prostate affects the male reproductive system which could stop you from having children, among with causing other problems. Signs of the type of cancer would include, cell mutation, cancer spreading to bones or other parts of the body, lymph nodes can be affected as well. This particular cancer can also cause pain while peeing as well as erectile dysfunction. This cancer is more prevalent in the United States than any other country in the world. African Americans statistically have the greatest chance of getting prostate cancer, and Asian men have the least chance of getting the cancer. Rates at which prostate cancer spread vary between all subjects that might have it. Doctors are still not sure exactly at what rate it spreads, or what factors help it spread more rapidly. This cancer develops mainly in men over fifty and is only seen in men since the prostate is the main male reproductive organ. The prostate is in charge of making and storing seminal fluid. Detectable mainly by the use of physical examination or screening blood test called PSA (prostate specific antigen). Some doctors question how accurate and useful the test is. Today man positive confirmations of the cancer are made by operating and removing a small piece of the prostate to test the cells. The discovery of prostate cancer has brought also new methods in treatment. Surgery, radiation therapy, hormonal therapy, chemotherapy, and proton therapy are all methods of treatment that have been tried and have shown success. Early on in its development there may not be symptoms that will let you know that you are suffering from prostate cancer. In some situations however, you may see symptoms that resemble benign prostatic hypertrophy. With is disease you may encounter frequent urination, increased urination, or the inability to produce a steady stream, blood in urine or pain during urination. Advanced prostate cancer can produce other problems as well. The spread of cancerous cells to other parts of the body is also a high risk. Bone pain can be felt if cancerous cells spread to such places as the pelvis or spine. To avoid or lessen your chances of getting this disease there are precautions that you can take to help your chances in the fight against prostate cancer. There have been medications and vitamins that have shown to have preventative properties that look like they could help against the fight of this particular cancer. Vitamin E as well as selenium may help fight cancer if taken daily. The estrogens in the popular soybean may also prevent this from taken its hold of so many men in the United States. New drugs are also being developed that man made to affect a particular part of the body. One of these drugs, toremifene, has shown great results in the blocking of converting testosterone into dihydrotestoterone, finasteride, and dutasteride. Many of the drugs and methods used to prevent or treat prostate cancer are still in their test phase. Some studies show that the repeat consumption of green tea may provide a way to prevent prostate cancer as well. Green tea has high polyphenol content. These substances contain many chemical substances found in plants. On study made by an Australian research team concluded that frequent masturbation by male’s shows to help avert the advancement of prostate cancer. Frequent use of multivitamins more than 7 days a week has shown to help prevent prostate cancer as well. Changes in what you eat can also make a significant impact on the development of prostate tissue. Studies show that a well balanced diet, along with foods enriched with vitamin A, E and beta-carotene may help. Also reducing the amount of meat consumed and eating meals high in fiber are said to be key factors. Another study is looking into the cruciferious vegetables. These include broccoli and cauliflower. These studies have said that men eating these types of vegetables more than once a week were 40% less likely to develop prostate cancer. The reason for this lies in the plant chemical makeup. These types of plants contain a phytochemical called Diindolylmethane. These substances have antiandrogen properties that are able to prevent biological effects of male sex hormones. These chemicals fight for the space that the cancer is trying to take over, preventing the cancer from being able survive.

Freezing Light

New studies at a University in Australia are devising new techniques to harness the fastest substance in the universe. The head of this research is Matt Sellars, a physicist at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia. He and his researchers are designing new ways to hopefully apply to other applications in hopes to make things more power and faster. At the laser physics center scientists are able to slow down a beam of light and capture it into a crystal. With testing now they are able to take a ray of light traveling at speeds of 670 million miles an hour and slow it down to about the speed of a bullet firing out of a gun. This is a target speed which they are planning new applications to run around the fact that light is able to be slowed to 670 miles an hour. With further tuning and testing they are hoping to be able to reach much slower speeds. In the computer field we may see this technology sooner than we think. The ability to hold light for a second or two allows this technology to be used in a computer. Functioning like a regular computer the light pulses will be able to hold digital information as quantum bits, instead of bits of electric signals. The processing power of a quantum computer grows exponentially faster than a typical bit driven computer. This technology will aid in the field of quantum mechanics which will allow mathematical operations at a much higher speed. If research continues and they are able to hold pulses for a long time then we may see this technology integrated into memory applications. By using two laser beams physicist are able to store information on the atoms or rare material called praseodymium. This material is a metal discovered in 1885, it was first used in the manufacturing of aircraft engines. This is a great candidate that is able to absorb the light beams from the laser light beams. This is a new technique used because older attempts used atoms in a vapor. The use of crystals allows a fixed structure for the information to be stored to instead of traditionally uses vapors. With the process called nuclear spin, researchers can transfer information on light beams of the photons in the laser beam. This allows the particles to be oriented both up as well as down in some cases if needed. The arrangement is known as quantum superposition, a larger array of this information structure creates a qubit. This qubit can hold more information than a traditional electric or digital bit. We hope that in the near future that quantum computers will be soon in every home.

Invented by John R. Adler, the cyberknife has proven to be very helpful in the medical field. Cyberknife utilizes linear particle acceleration partnered with pinpoint accurate robotics. The use of these two main components allows doctors to treat tumors and other medical conditions. Accuray, located in Sunnyvale, California manufactures this frameless robotic radiosurgery system. This system is also known as stereotactic radiotherapy. It works by beaming directed paths of ionized radiation to a specific part of the body. Cyberknife has shown great advancements in the operation on patients who have many neurological disorders. The most common diseases include Alzheimer’s and autism. Surgery that was once dangerous and very complicated in the past is made simpler by the use of the cyberknife. This protects against the destruction or damage of essential structures in the body. With the use of such imaging software a trained oncologist can plan a precise procedure to fix the ailment. Cyberknife techniques cut down hospital stay times. The use of a robotic docking station allows complete freedom around a patient. The robotic arm is able to position itself anywhere spherically around a patient, allowing radiation to be emitted in any many different directions. The help of imaging software as mention before is aided by the install x-ray cameras that are aimed at the patient. This constant feed of information in conjunction other software allows the cyberknife to operate with great accuracy. Even with the added movement of patients they are able to obtain a radiation delivery accuracy of 0.5mm. This is achieved with out the use clamps to hold the skull. Xsight is an additional program constructed to work with the use of the cyber knife to help in the fight against spinal tumors. It is also able to be adapted to operate on tumors that reside in the lungs. With the use of advanced algorithms, the program is able to take the x-ray images of the spine and adjust the images because the spine moves independently of one another. This is different from the skull which is a rigid structure and does not have many moving parts. There have been more advances in this technology on parts of the body that move such as the pancreas, lungs and spine. The use of the cyberknife instead of open surgery procedures has many advantages to patients and can be done for the same cost. The use of this is pain free and has no recovery time. In Georgia, Wellstar has purchased the first and only cyberknife system.

Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography

Extreme ultraviolet lithography also known as EUV or EUVL is a newly discovered technology utilizing the 13.5 nm wavelength. This technology is seen greatly in the integrated circuit manufacturing. This technology is placed in the NGL group or the Next Generation Lithography field. This type of technology requires many advanced tools. Since all matter can absorb EUV radiation, special enclosure has to be produced to simulate a vacuum atmosphere. This allows them to only apply the technique to a specific area. All the components of the system have to be coated with a defect free Mo/Si layer which helps to reflect light by means of interlayer interference. EUV radiation is considered a device damager. Because of the use of radiation, damage is occurred in some cases. The process produces a trapped charge that may cause the material to oxidize and cause it to ionize. The greatest achievement for this process would be in the manufacturing of microprocessors. This new technology will allow manufactures to produce processors that are a hundred times more powerful than ones of today. There is a partnership between Intel, AMD, and Motorola in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Energy, to develop a microchip with circuit lines less than 0.1 micron in width. Chips of today have line of at least .18 microns or greater. This type of advancement would also make its way into the memory part of manufacturing as well. This new lithography would allow memory chip to hold more that 1,000 times more information than they currently do today. This is a major advancement since the previously used optical lithography methods. This technology is able to produce a replica image of a circuit design on a silicon wafer. With the use of the ultraviolet light more accuracy is achieved and a much more detailed image can be produced. This technology still has a long time before it will be readily used in the production of materials. Many studies are still being done on the process to come up with better materials to make the mirrors used out of. The materials are extremely expensive. The optics used are created at an atomic layer and coated with 50 bilayers of molybdenum-silicon these mirrors are nearly one millions dollars each. To utilize a complete lithography system six mirrors are needed in most cases. This technology is still developing in the world. As the fight for the fastest computer or the most information you can store continues new advances in technology and the ways we use materials will ensure that technology will continue to change how we interact with everyone.