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News Archive - Liezel Labios

Engineers Receive SunShot Grant to Develop Less Costly, More Efficient Solar Collectors

July 28, 2016

University of California San Diego electrical and computer engineering professor Boubacar Kante will lead a three-year, $2.5 million project funded by the U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative aimed at making solar energy systems cost-competitive with traditional energy sources.

Researchers Improve Performance of Cathode Material by Controlling Oxygen Activity

July 7, 2016

An international team of researchers has demonstrated a new way to increase the robustness and energy storage capability of a particular class of “lithium-rich” cathode materials—by using a carbon dioxide-based gas mixture to create oxygen vacancies at the material’s surface. Researchers said the treatment improved the energy density—the amount of energy stored per unit mass—of the cathode material by up to 30 to 40 percent.

Human Brain Houses Diverse Populations of Neurons, New Research Shows

June 24, 2016

A team of researchers has developed the first scalable method to identify different subtypes of neurons in the human brain. The research lays the groundwork for “mapping” the gene activity in the human brain and could help provide a better understanding of brain functions and disorders, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, schizophrenia and depression.

Engineers Develop a New Biosensor Chip for Detecting DNA Mutations

June 14, 2016

Bioengineers at the University of California, San Diego have developed an electrical graphene chip capable of detecting mutations in DNA. Researchers say the technology could one day be used in various medical applications such as blood-based tests for early cancer screening, monitoring disease biomarkers and real-time detection of viral and microbial sequences.

Engineers 3D-print a New Lifelike Liver Tissue for Drug Screening

February 8, 2016

A team led by engineers at the University of California, San Diego has 3D-printed a tissue that closely mimics the human liver’s sophisticated structure and function. The new model could be used for patient-specific drug screening and disease modeling. Researchers said the advance could help pharmaceutical companies save time and money when developing new drugs.

Seeing Where Energy Goes May Bring Scientists Closer to Realizing Nuclear Fusion

January 14, 2016

An international team of researchers has taken a step toward achieving controlled nuclear fusion—a process that powers the Sun and other stars, and has the potential to supply the world with limitless, clean energy. The team, led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego and General Atomics, developed a new technique to “see” where energy is delivered during fast ignition experiments and improve energy delivery to the fuel target.

Noise Can’t Hide Weak Signals From This New Receiver

December 11, 2015

Electrical engineers at the University of California, San Diego developed a receiver that can detect a weak, fast, randomly occurring signal. The study lays the groundwork for a new class of highly sensitive communication receivers and scientific instruments that can extract faint, non-repetitive signals from noise. The advance has applications in secure communication, electronic warfare, signal intelligence, remote sensing, astronomy and spectroscopy.

Electric Fields Remove Nanoparticles From Blood With Ease

November 20, 2015

Engineers at the University of California, San Diego developed a new technology that uses an oscillating electric field to easily and quickly isolate drug-delivery nanoparticles from blood. The technology could serve as a general tool to separate and recover nanoparticles from other complex fluids for medical, environmental, and industrial applications.

New Findings on Fat Cell Metabolism Could Lead to New Approaches for Treating Diabetes and Obesity

November 16, 2015

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego report new insights into what nutrients fat cells metabolize to make fatty acids. The findings pave the way for understanding potential irregularities in fat cell metabolism that occur in patients with diabetes and obesity and could lead to new treatments for these conditions.

Researchers are on Their Way to Predicting What Side Effects You’ll Experience From a Drug

November 2, 2015

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego have developed a model that could be used to predict a drug’s side effects on different patients. The proof of concept study is aimed at determining how different individuals will respond to a drug treatment and could help assess whether a drug is suitable for a particular patient based on measurements taken from the patient’s blood.
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