Led by Mark Mirotznik, the Electromagnetic Materials Laboratory at the University of Delaware is working with the Army Research Office to engineer nanoplasmonic surfaces materials structured at the atomic scale to interact with light in unusual, specific ways. Such structures could, for example, help detect dangerous biochemical compounds by changing color if contaminated.
One of the difficulties faced by teams responding to the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa is identifying individuals and communities residing in remote areas. To help aid the response effort, volunteers are using an open-source online mapping platform called OpenStreetMap (OSM) to create detailed maps and map data of Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and parts of Mali.
Today, at a time when public and private networks are facing an unprecedented threat from rogue hackers as well as organized crime and even state actors, the President is unveiling the next steps in his plan to defend the nations systems.
PositiveID Corporation, developer of biological detection and diagnostics solutions, recently announced that it has completed the design of the second-phase of the Firefly Dx prototype. The Firefly Dx prototype, with expected completion during the first half of 2015, is a real-time, handheld, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) pathogen detection system.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded contracts to three organizations to support early-stage human clinical trials of investigational infectious disease treatments. The new awards expand capacity for conducting early safety testing of novel investigational drugs.
Progress has been made in the effort to eliminate infections that commonly threaten hospital patients, including a 46 percent decrease in central line-associated bloodstream infections between 2008 and 2013, according to a report released recently by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, additional work is needed to continue improving patient safety.
American Military University (AMU), part of American Public University System (APUS), and the Command, Control and Interoperability Center for Advanced Data Analysis (CCICADA) at Rutgers University recently announced their co-sponsorship of the first national conference to address cybersecurity issues for the nations maritime operations.
According to the recently released U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys (EPA) annual Toxics Release Inventory report, most of the toxic chemical waste managed at U.S. industrial facilities in 2013 was not released into the environment, but instead was managed through the use of preferred practices such as recycling.
MRIGlobal announces the launch of CBRNE Tech Index, a comprehensive database of chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive (CBRNE) detection equipment. CBRNE Tech Index allows users to view, compare, and filter products according to dozens of technology categories. It also helps users make informed decisions on which product meets their needs.
First responders have downloaded more than 10,000 copies of a guide to commercially available, hand-portable biodetection technologies created to help determine what they might be up against in the field. Since many first responders do not always have immediate access to a computer, a mobile version of the guide is now available for cellphones and tablets.
