"Health" Supplements Send 23,000 to Emergency Rooms in the U.S Each Year

 

More than 20 percent of these patients are children under the age of five  October 15, 2015 By Gene Emery NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Dietary supplements send 23,000 people, many of them children, to the emergency room in the U.S. each year, according to a new estimate. Just over 9% require hospitalization. Many patients report heart symptoms. The supplements include herbal products, amino acids, vitamins, minerals, and other complementary nutrition products hawked for a wide range of uses, often with little or no testing to back up claims. The new study "illustrates the idea that something that's 'natural' is not necessarily safe, and these products do not come without risk," Dr. Curtis Haas, director of pharmacy for the University of Rochester Medical Center and a past president of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy, told Reuters Health. He was not involved in the research. But a trade association that represents supplement manufacturers, the Council for Responsible Nutrition, reacted with a statement arguing that the results "reinforce that dietary supplements are safe products, particularly when put into the context with the number of people - over 150 million Americans - who take dietary supplements every year." Congress has thwarted attempts to strictly regulate the $14.8 billion industry. The new study, released online October 14 in the New England Journal of Medicine, was based on a federal database of adverse events reported at 63 hospitals over a 10-year period. At these hospitals, the research team identified 3,667 emergency room visits linked to the supplements. That extrapolates to 23,005 adverse events nationwide each year, including an estimated 2,154 hospitalizations. Unsupervised children under age 5 accounted for 21.6% of the visits. Chief author Dr. Andrew Geller of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia told Reuters Health the findings suggest that "all medicines and dietary supplements should be stored up and out of sight of children." Adults ages 20 to 34 made up an even bigger proportion of victims - 28%. Weight-loss products accounted for an estimated 3,339 emergency room visits each year by women, nearly three times the number for men. Among males, an estimated 567 visits were attributed to products designed for sexual enhancement and 368 were for body-building products. Comparable numbers for women were so small the researchers couldn't come up with a reliable estimate. Heart symptoms were the chief complaint in 43% of people taking weight-loss products, 46% of patients taking energy products, 50% taking body-building products, and 37% taking sexual-enhancement products. "What's most concerning is the age of people coming in with cardiovascular complications or symptoms," Dr. Haas said. "They are in their 20s to 30s, which shows there are risks to these products." Among older adults, swallowing problems caused nearly 40% of emergency department visits for supplement-related adverse events, with micronutrients implicated in more than 80% of these visits, the researchers said. "The number of emergency department visits attributed to supplement-related adverse events that we identified is probably an underestimation, since supplement use is underreported by patients, and physicians may not identify adverse events associated with supplements as often as they do those associated with pharmaceuticals," the researchers said. The Department of Health and Human Services supported this research.   http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/health-supplements-send-23-000-to-emergency-rooms-in-the-u-s-each-year/?WT.mc_id=SA_WR_20151021

Nanoparticles could boost effectiveness of allergy shots

 

Wed, 10/21/2015 - 10:49am American Chemical Society Whether triggered by cats, bees, pollen or mites, allergies are on the rise. And the bad news doesn’t stop there. The only current therapy that treats their causes is allergen-specific immunotherapy—or allergy shots—which can cause severe side effects. Now, researchers report in Biomacromolecules the development of a potentially better allergy shot that uses nanocarriers to address these unwanted issues. For many people, allergies are a seasonal annoyance. But for others, exposure to a particular allergen can cause adverse reactions such as itching, breathing problems or even death. Allergy shots can reduce sensitivity by slowly ramping up exposure to the offending substance. But because these shots expose the body to the very thing people are allergic to, the treatment itself can sometimes trigger reactions. In order to develop a safer, more direct, cause-based therapy, researchers have developed nanoparticles that envelop an allergen and deliver it to specific cells. But these carriers degrade too slowly, hampering the effectiveness of the treatment. Holger Frey and colleagues set out to overcome these limitations. The researchers designed a new type of nanocarrier based on the biocompatible molecule poly(ethylene glycol), or PEG, that releases its cargo only in targeted immune cells. The nanocarrier degrades when it encounters the acidic part of these cells, simultaneously releasing the allergen and getting rid of the packaging. The researchers say this approach also could be used for vaccines or immunotherapies for other conditions such as cancer or AIDS. Source: American Chemical Society http://www.rdmag.com/news/2015/10/nanoparticles-could-boost-effectiveness-allergy-shots

Crumbling Bank Bought for $1 Turned Into a World-Class Arts Center

 

Posted: 19 Oct 2015 12:00 AM PDT La Stony Island Arts Bank est une vieille banque abandonnée, datant des années 20 et fermée depuis 1980, située dans le sud de Chicago, que l’artiste local Theaster Gates a récemment rénovée et transformée en centre d’arts. S’étendant sur une surface de 1800 mètres carré, il a acheté ce bâtiment en ruines pour la modique somme de 1 $, dans le cadre de son association non-lucrative Rebuild Foundation. Concernant le design intérieur, il a préféré conserver la dimension ancienne et brute des murs et du bois, afin de préserver l’aspect authentique et historique de l’immeuble.

Studies point to clinical advantages of proton therapy

 

Penn Medicine studies point to clinical advantages of proton therapy.   Studies demonstrated lower toxicities, positive survival outcomes for lung, pancreatic and spine cancers Credit: Penn Medicine The search for evidence to support the growing use of proton therapy for more cancers at Penn Medicine continues to uncover valuable findings. New data from clinical trials conducted at the Robert Proton Therapy Center demonstrate the technology's potential advantages over conventional radiation, including less side effects and survival in some cases, for several harder-to-treat tumors: pancreatic, late-stage, non-small cell lung and chordoma and chondrosarcoma, two rare cancers found in bone or soft tissue. The research is being presented at the 57th American Society for Radiating Oncology (ASTRO) annual meeting, along with over 20 other abstracts from faculty and researchers in Penn's department of Radiation Oncology. The first study, presented by Pamela J. Boimel, MD, a resident in the department of Radiation Oncology, and co-authored by John P. Plastaras, MD, PhD, an associate professor of Radiation Oncology and James Metz, MD, chair of the department of Radiation Oncology, investigated the use of proton therapy in pancreatic cancer patients whose cancer returned. Local recurrence happens in nearly 25 percent of these patients following other treatments, such as chemotherapy, surgery and radiation, and is associated with a very high morbidity. Researchers looked at 15 patients with locally recurrent pancreatic cancer who were re-irradiated with proton therapy, 10 of whom were also on chemotherapy (5-fluorouracil or capecitabine-based). The median time since the original conventional radiation was 26.7 months. Most of the patients tolerated the radiation well, with minimal side effects. The median survival was 15 months and overall survival at one year was 71.5 percent. The local-regional progression-free survival and distant-metastatic-free survival at one year was 72 and 63.8 percent, respectively. This more than doubles the median survival for reirradiation with stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), which is six to eight months. The median survival in the study also far exceeds the historical survival of patients with unresectable disease treated with chemo alone (about nine months), which is the main treatment modality offered to patients with recurrent pancreatic cancer, the authors report. "Our data suggests that pursuing proton reirradiation may benefit these patients who have no other good treatment choices, and does so with minimal side effects," said Plastaras. "While these results are promising, larger, follow -up studies are needed to establish which people with recurrent pancreatic cancer stand to benefit most from this therapy." Another study, presented by Jill Remick, MD, a resident in the department of Radiation Oncology, and co-authored Charles Simone, MD, an assistant professor of Radiation Oncology, and Abigail Berman, MD, an instructor in the department of Radiation Oncology, provides the first clinical report of proton therapy versus intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) in the post-operative setting for late-stage, non-small cell lung cancer. Radiation is typically given to these patients after surgery to remove a tumor; however, studies have shown that the toxicity of conventional radiation can outweigh its benefits. Proton therapy appears to be well-tolerated, while maintaining the positive clinical outcomes witnessed with IMRT, the authors report. A total of 34 patients were part of the clinical trial: 17 underwent IMRT, while 17 underwent proton. Patients who underwent proton and IMRT had similar, excellent short-term outcomes: One year overall survival and local recurrence-free survival were 85.7 and 94.1 percent for proton and IMRT, respectively. Side effects occurred (two patients had radiation pneumonitis and esophagitis in both sets of patients), but were less severe in the proton group. A team from Penn Medicine also presented results from a prospective clinical of proton therapy for chordoma and chondrosarcoma. Chordoma is part of the sarcoma family, and occurs in the bones of skull and spine, while chondrosarcoma is a type of bone cancer that begins in cartilaginous tissue. Both are rare, difficult cancers to treat. Proton therapy, with its ability to deliver high doses of radiation while sparing healthy organs, has emerged as a preferred treatment for these patients. The standard of care is surgery followed by conventional radiation, but that treatment can fail. For the study, presented by Brian Baumann, MD, a resident in the department of Radiation Oncology, and co-authored by Michelle Alonso-Basanta, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of Radiation Oncology at Penn, the team studied 20 patients with non-metastatic chordoma and chondrosarcoma who underwent proton therapy between 2010 and 2014. Of the patients, 10 had skull base chorodomas, five had sacral chordomas, three has cervical spinal chordomas, and two had skull base chondrosarcomas. The study yielded positive survival outcomes for the patients: local recurrence-free survival, distant metastases-free survival, and disease-free survival at two years were 92 percent, 95 percent and 87 percent, respectively. All patients were alive at last follow up in February 2015. Some toxicities were reported in the patients, including fatigue, epistaxis and gastrointestinal issues. That toxicity data is encouraging compared with historical results using conventional radiotherapy, the authors reported. The researchers also report that further follow-up is warranted to confirm long-term efficacy and morbidity. "When the Roberts Proton Therapy Center opened in late 2009, we called for an increase capacity for harder-to-treat cancers, and to open new clinical trials that help pinpoint the best uses of the technology," Metz said. "These studies are prime examples of that mission, providing the field with more data to help establish the effectiveness and clinical benefits of proton therapy in more cancers." Story Source: The above post is reprinted from materials provided by University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151019191803.htm

Early detection presents new opportunities to slow or perhaps even halt Alzheimer’s disease progression

 

Researchers from the Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine are nearing development of a blood test that can accurately detect the presence of Alzheimer's disease, which would give physicians an opportunity to intervene at the earliest, most treatable stage. Robert Nagele, PhD, presented his team's most recent findings October 18 at OMED 15 in Orlando. Dr. Nagele's work focuses on utilizing autoantibodies as blood-based biomarkers to accurately detect the presence of myriad diseases and pinpoint the stage to which a disease has progressed. By detecting Alzheimer's disease long before symptoms emerge, Dr. Nagele hopes those with disease-related autoantibody biomarkers will be encouraged to make beneficial lifestyle changes that may help to slow development of the disease. "There are significant benefits to early disease detection because we now know that many of the same conditions that lead to vascular disease are also significant risk factors for Alzheimer's. People found to have preclinical disease can take steps to improve their vascular health, including watching their diet, exercising and managing any weight and blood pressure issues to help stave off or slow disease progression," Nagele said. While the cause of Alzheimer's remains elusive, it is clear that maintaining a healthy blood-brain barrier is a critical preventative measure. Diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, stroke and being overweight jeopardize vascular health. As blood vessels in the brain weaken or become brittle with age, they begin to leak, which allows plasma components including brain-reactive autoantibodies into the brain. There, the autoantibodies can bind to neurons and accelerate the accumulation of beta amyloid deposits, a hallmark of Alzheimer's pathology. The blood test developed by Dr. Nagele has also shown promise in detecting other diseases, including Parkinsons's, multiple sclerosis and breast cancer. His team's research on the role of autoantibodies explains that: All humans possess thousands of autoantibodies in their blood; These autoantibodies specifically bind to blood-borne cellular debris generated by organs and tissues all over the body; An individual's autoantibody profile is strongly influenced by age, gender and the presence of specific diseases or injuries; and Diseases cause characteristic changes in autoantibody profiles that, when detected, can serve as biomarkers that reveal the presence of the disease. In Alzheimer's, the brain begins to change years before symptoms emerge. Detecting Alzheimer's antibodies at the preclinical stage would give patients an opportunity to work with their physician to make lifestyle changes or receive available treatments before they become symptomatic. Potentially, this early intervention could help those with preclinical Alzheimer's avoid or delay the most devastating symptoms. "As osteopathic physicians, we constantly tell patients that a healthy lifestyle is the best medicine for preventing disease. We also know that many people tune out messages about nutrition and exercise until a health crisis gets their attention," said Jennifer Caudle, DO, assistant professor of family medicine at Rowan University. "I can't think of a single patient who wouldn't take steps to prevent the progression of Alzheimer's if they could directly affect their prognosis." Dr. Nagele's research has been supported by grants from the Michael J. Fox Foundation and the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation.   http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151018075617.htm

3D Printed Building Powered by a 3D Printing Car

 

Posted: 17 Oct 2015 11:00 AM PDT

AMIE est un bâtiment conçu grâce à une impression 3D menée par une voiture, pour assurer flexibilité et mobilité durant la construction. La voiture possède un générateur qui n’a pas besoin d’être connecté à une source d’énergie, elle fonctionne grâce à un système magnétique sans fil (un peu comme un chargeur géant de téléphone portable). La firme Skidmore, Owings and Merrill a travaillé en collaboration avec le U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory pour imaginer cette incroyable maison, dans le cadre du projet Additive Manufacturing Integrated Energy.

5 Ways to Improve Your Skin Through Food

 

Getty Images   Yes, you are welcome to use food on your skin As anyone who’s broken out after a late-night drinking and pizza binge can attest, diet is clearly linked to skin condition. But there’s so much conflicting information about how to manage your diet for the most beautiful skin possible, as well all kinds of wacky DIY recipes (we’ll pass on the mayonnaise face mask, thank you very much). To get some clarity, FWx spoke to nutrition expert and esthetician Britta Plug, who helps clients overhaul their diets and skincare routines at Brooklyn’s Treatment by Lanshin. Here, she debunks beauty myths and calls out natural health trends to look for in 2015. 1. Eat Less Inflammatory Foods The biggest culprit are inflammatory foods like dairy, gluten and sugar. If you’re having issues with your skin, those are foods to experiment with eliminating. Try taking them out for two weeks and see if that has any effect. Also, when you bring those foods back in your body will have a more heightened reaction, so you can see how they affect you—gas, bloating, headaches, whatever the symptoms are for you. If you’re eating them all the time, your body has more of a low-grade reaction. We all have varying tolerance levels, but those foods are the general culprits. 2. Only Eat High Quality Dark Chocolate I used to think the advice about chocolate [making you break out] was a myth, but since I’ve started working with an acupuncturist, I’ve been incorporating a lot of Chinese medicine into my practice, and there is something behind the idea that chocolate can be inflammatory. But we’ve also been exploring the benefits of high quality dark chocolate for cystic acne. It depends on the person. 3. Invest in a Good Probiotic Gut health and skin health are really tightly linked. Probiotics are huge. High quality probiotics, in capsule form, are great, as are fermented foods like kimchi. People often say to me, “Well I eat a lot of yogurt.” But you have to be eating whole milk, low sugar yogurt to get the benefits, and you first want to make sure you’re not sensitive to dairy. That’s why I really recommend sauerkraut and kimchi. If you start taking a high quality probiotic, you’ll usually notice a pretty big difference—you will go to the bathroom more often! You want to start with just once a day, and then work up to the recommended dosage. All probiotics are labeled by what they contain, but it can be tricky to make sure you’re getting quality ones, even from a health food store. It’s best if you can pay a visit to a functional medicine practitioner. I don’t officially endorse them, but I use Dr. Mercola probiotics often in my practice. 4. Use Food on Your Face While eating yogurt can by iffy if you’re sensitive to dairy, it’s great for using as a mask. It’s a little acidic and it’s nourishing, plus strengthens the flora of the skin. I am a huge fan of using honey on the skin. It’s an amazing cure-all. Any honey is great, but Manuka honey in particular just works miracles for any skin type. It’s full of vitamins so it’s great for acne and anti-aging. I especially love it for after sun-care. To make a mask, mix about half a teaspoon of honey and mix it with half a teaspoon of warm water, and just spread it onto your skin and leave on for as long as you can before rinsing off. I’ve definitely fallen asleep with honey mask on and woken up stuck to my pillowcase. Manuka honeys are all labeled with a UMF rating, the Unique Manuka Factor. The higher the UMF, the better. I think 16+ is the highest I’ve seen. 5. Experiment with Charcoal and Sandalwood Charcoal has always been big for the skin, but I’ve been seeing a lot of charcoal drinks coming out, like charcoal lemonades. It can be helpful if you need a detox. For example, if you’re gluten intolerant and accidentally ingest gluten, you can take a charcoal capsule to rebalance your gut. Sandalwood is also something we’re going to be seeing a lot more of, in things like skincare oils. All essential oils are healing, and sandalwood is especially helpful for getting circulation going for healing. In Chinese medicine it’s referred to as a “blood mover,” so it can be great for congested or acne prone skin. One Important General Tip: Don’t Strip Your Skin I think one of the biggest mistakes I see people making is overwashing and scrubbing their skin. I recommend just cleansing once a day, at night, to remove any makeup and pollution from your skin. Then, just rinse with water in the morning. And keep your routine fairly simple. This article originally appeared on FWx.com. QUIZ: Should You Eat This or That? Getty Images (4)   http://time.com/3678726/use-food-improve-skin/

China Details Next-Gen Nuclear Reactor Program

 

China, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy, says it will deploy advanced nuclear reactors commercially by 2030. By Richard Martin on October 16, 2015 Why It Matters The development of molten-salt reactors could produce an essentially limitless source of safe, zero-carbon energy. Chinese and American scientists meet at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, scene of the historic molten-salt reactor experiment in the 1960s, to mark their collaboration on next-generation nuclear power. A group of nuclear scientists and entrepreneurs gathered this week at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in Tennessee, to observe the 50th anniversary of the molten-salt reactor experiment—a program carried out at Oak Ridge in the 1960s to build a novel nuclear reactor. Molten-salt reactors use liquid, rather than solid fuel rods, as the fuel to produce the nuclear reactions that heat water to make steam and, in turn, electricity. They have several advantages over conventional light-water reactors in terms of safety, anti-proliferation, and economics, and are enjoying a renaissance as the world searches for sources of low-cost, low-carbon energy. The 50th anniversary workshop, which included presentations from reactor developers including TerraPower, Flibe Energy, Moltex Energy, and Terrestrial Energy, as well as the large utility Southern Power, marked the largest and most significant gathering to date of the people working to bring this innovative yet decades-old technology to commercialization. Among the presenters was Xu Hongjie, the director of the molten-salt reactor program at the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics. Under the auspices of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, SINAP is collaborating with Oak Ridge to advance research on both salt-cooled reactors (which use molten salts to transfer heat and to cool the reactor) and salt-fueled reactors (in which the fuel, where the energy-producing nuclear reactions occur, is dissolved within the salt coolant). Signed in December 2011, the Shanghai-Oak Ridge effort has been the subject of controversy and speculation among the nuclear power community, particularly those promoting advanced technologies such as molten-salt reactors and the use of thorium, an alternative nuclear fuel that is cleaner, safer, and more abundant than uranium. At Oak Ridge this week, Xu outlined a roadmap that shows that China is further along than any other advanced reactor R&D program in the world. China, which still gets nearly three-quarters of its electricity from burning coal, is racing to develop low-carbon energy sources, including both conventional nuclear plants and advanced systems such as molten-salt reactors. The largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, China aims to more than double its nuclear capacity by 2020, according to the World Nuclear Association. Xu detailed a multi-stage plan to build demonstration reactors in the next five years and deploy them commercially beginning around 2030. The institute plans to build a 10-megawatt prototype reactor, using solid fuel, by 2020, along with a two-megawatt liquid-fuel machine that will demonstrate the thorium-uranium fuel cycle. (Thorium, which is not fissile, is converted inside a reactor into a fissile isotope of uranium that produces energy and sustains the nuclear reaction.) In all, there are 700 nuclear engineers working on the molten-salt reactor at SINAP, Xu said, a number that dwarfs other advanced-reactor research programs around the world. The team has a preliminary design for a 10-megawatt thorium-based molten-salt reactor, and has mastered some of the technical challenges involved in building and running such reactors, such as the preparation of high-purity molten salts and the control of tritium, a dangerous isotope of hydrogen that can be used in the making of nuclear weapons. Limiting the production of tritium is a key research goal for the development of molten-salt reactors. While most of the audience at Oak Ridge was familiar with the outlines of the Chinese program, the level of sophistication and the progress to date were startling to many listeners. “It’s very surprising how far they’ve come in four years,” said John Kutsch, the vice president for business development at Terrestrial Energy, which is developing its own version of a molten-salt reactor. “That shows you what throwing hundreds of researchers at a project will do to speed progress.” The Chinese program alarms some American researchers, who view China as a rival in the nuclear arena and are opposed to the sharing of technology that was originally developed in the United States. China is seeking not only to build reactors to supply domestic power but also to become a major supplier of nuclear technology to the world market. When the U.S.-China agreement was first announced, some commentators described the collaboration as a dangerous, even treacherous, form of technology transfer. Viewed from a broader perspective, the development of safe, economical nuclear power technology that can be commercialized and deployed rapidly would be a huge achievement in the struggle to limit global climate change, regardless of which country gets there first. Faced with a long path to funding and licensing their technology in the United States, many developers of next-generation nuclear reactors have said they will likely test their machines in other countries, including China. Under the collaboration agreement, says David Holcomb, the principal investigator from Oak Ridge on the program, “both institutions are seeking to more rapidly advance salt-cooled reactors. As such, the coӧperative work is jointly approved by both governments.” Like scientists everywhere, Xu is also faced with securing funding for the next phases of the program. SINAP’s molten-salt reactor research is funded through 2017, he says; beyond that the institute is seeking new funding from the central government, the Shanghai government, and the private sector. SINAP also recently signed an agreement with Fangda Group, a major Chinese conglomerate that produces carbon products, iron and steel, and chemicals, to help develop molten-salt coolants for the reactors. “I’m very confident” that SINAP will be able to carry its molten-salt reactor program to commercialization, Xu says. “Because, you see, in general the Chinese government intends to support the development of future technologies for nuclear energy. And the China market is very big for nuclear energy technologies.”   http://www.technologyreview.com/news/542526/china-details-next-gen-nuclear-reactor-program/

Why high-performance glass flows, and how fast

 

Fri, 10/16/2015 - 7:36am Matthew Chin, Univ. of California, Los Angeles Atomic structure of a simulated sodium aluminosilicate glass, representative of Corning Gorilla Glass. Silicon, aluminum, sodium and oxygen atoms are represented in blue, cyan, red and yellow, respectively. Image: Mengyi Wang/UCLADoes glass in cathedral windows flow downward at room temperature—acting essentially as a liquid in super slow-motion? No. It’s a myth. The larger volume observed at the bottom of some windows is due to the manufacturing process, not gravity. But in more complex, high-tech kinds of glass, like Corning Gorilla Glass, a scratch- and damage-resistant glass used on more than one billion smartphones and tablets screens, susceptibility to room-temperature deformations have been known to exist for a few years. Now researchers from the Univ. of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science have discovered why such flowing happens and how fast. Using molecular dynamics simulations of different glasses, the researchers showed that high-performance glass can exhibit some long-term deformations that are proportional to how large the piece of glass is. Glass on your mobile phone’s screen might not flow at all in its short lifetime, but large screens, such as those for giant TV screens can start to flow during the first few months after the glass is manufactured at a tiny but perceptible rate, about 10 micrometers per year for a one-meter-square piece of glass. While rate may seem slow, the effect is enough to limit how large these screens can be, the researchers said. The research, led by Mathieu Bauchy, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, was reported in Physical Review Letters. “We found that this long-term relaxation is due to the coexistence of competitive chemical elements of different sizes in the atomic network of the glass, which is known as the mixed-alkali effect,” Bauchy said. The key is the use of two alkali ions, sodium and potassium, in the high-performance glass formation process. Sodium and potassium ions are typically added into the composition of glasses as their presence lowers the temperature needed to form glass, thereby saving energy. However, this process and combination of ions with different atomic sizes makes glass susceptible to long-term deformations, the researchers found. “Although the origin of the mixed-alkali effect remains debated, there are strong evidences that the size mismatch between the alkali atoms and the surrounding atomic network acts as a driving force to stimulate relaxation,” Bauchy said. “In a sense, any alkali ion that is not satisfied with the size of its local pocket will want to jump to another one that better fits.” This phenomenon is also considered the source of the “thermometer effect.” In the 19th century, most thermometers were made of glass containing equal portions of sodium and potassium, and revealed to gradually become inaccurate because of the deformation of the glass. “The next step will be to prescribe optimal glass compositions that feature little, if any, relaxation, in order to enable the design of large yet stable screens,” he said. Source: Univ. of California, Los Angeles http://www.rdmag.com/news/2015/10/why-high-performance-glass-flows-and-how-fast

Coolimages

 

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