Word: construction
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...results allow researchers to construct a better picture of how cigarette smoking affects the body, and how the active agents in cigarettes, including nicotine, alter the normal growth and development of cells in the lung. That could lead to improved and individualized smoking-cessation drugs and programs, which are currently successful only 25% of the time. "It could be that we need to tailor how we get people to quit," says Amos. For some, behavior modification may be sufficient; perhaps others will need targeted nicotine-blocking drugs that can fight any genetic bias toward addiction...
...heard of artificial limbs and artificial hearts but what about artificial immune systems? Add another notch to the test tube: scientists at VaxDesign, a five-year-old biotechnology company based in Orlando, Florida, have created a simulated human immune system, called the Modular Immune In Vitro Construct (MIMIC for short). The dime-sized immune system can predict how humans will respond to new vaccines. The goal? To streamline vaccine research and hasten the eradication of global killers, such as AIDS...
Here's how MIMIC works: Donors fork over a few white blood cells - specifically, peripheral blood mononuclear cells, or PBMCs, which include infection-fighting lymphocytes like T and B cells. The blood cells go into specially designed "tissue constructs," which are forged from collagen and endothelial cells and designed to act just like human skin (think a Barbie Dream House for white blood cells). Each construct is hunkered inside an individual well where the blood cells mingle with the faux tissue. As the blood cells get cozy, they flourish, and a teensy, homegrown, fully functioning human immune system is born...
...coast of New England, tides rise and fall up to 4 m twice a day. How about generating electricity from floating pistons on the ocean? Unlike dams, floating pistons would be friendly to marine life; they would not silt up bays and would be far less expensive to construct. Just north of Maine, in the Bay of Fundy, a moon tide can be 15 m. If intermittent vibrations on a bridge are being used to generate 20 microwatts to 120 microwatts, why not think bigger? Robert F. Bourque, North Port, Florida...
...coast of New England, tides rise and fall 8 ft. to 12 ft. twice a day. How about generating electricity from floating pistons on the ocean? Unlike dams, floating pistons would be friendly to marine life; they would not silt up bays and would be far less expensive to construct. Just north of Maine, in the Bay of Fundy, a moon tide can be 50 ft. If intermittent vibrations on a bridge are being used to generate 20 microwatts to 120 microwatts, why not think bigger...