Insulator

Leukodystrophy

...ite matter of the brain. The leukodystrophies are caused by imperfect growth or development of the myelin sheath, the fatty covering that acts as an insulator around nerve... leukodystrophy ( ′lükə′distrəfē ) ( medicine ) A condition thought to result from an inborn error of metabolism and characteri...

Insulator in Biological News

Multiple sclerosis research charges ahead with new mouse model of disease

...aracteristic of multiple sclerosis and other related neurological illness. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is one of several diseases in which myelin the insulator for electrical signaling in the nervous system breaks down and causes severe deficits in brain and nerve function. Much like the rubber insulation o...

Remote technology sees through ice, snow and hot air to monitor power plants

...blocked from view. A small melt hole is the only observable clue for scientists to study. "The research on this project is about how ice acts as an insulator and to determine how much energy is kept inside the lake because there's an ice layer over it," Salvaggio says. "The size of the melted hole is our on...

AGU Journal Highlights -- March 19, 2008

...d, oceanographers began using the steadily increasing atmospheric concentrations of anthropogenic sulfur hexafluoride (SF 6 ) gas, which is used as an insulator in the electric power industry, to trace ocean circulation in a similar manner. However, SF 6 is also injected into the ocean to study short-term mix...

Restoring sight, advances in fertility treatments and better visibility for pilots at FIO

...rs and other applications. In a recent experiment, femtosecond laser pulses falling on an organic salt target momentarily changed the material from an insulator (a bad reflector of light) to a semi-metal (a good reflector of light). The change in reflectivity this large V more than 100% V has never been achiev...

'Insulator' helps silence genes in dormant herpes virus

...trands of the DNA ladder. "By establishing an insulator in early latency, the Herpes virus can protect thi...of the Journal of Virology, mark the first time an insulator has been identified in a virus and may lead to way...pression of its neighbors. About a dozen different insulator elements have been identified in organisms as vari...

New University of Toronto research a 'pore' excuse for engineering

...ined the thin film that remained, they discovered that it made an excellent insulator that could be used to separate tiny wires inside microelectronics. "It d... with each other. But the PMO film described in this study acts as a better insulator and would take up far less room, allowing components to shrink even further...

Successful Test Of Single Molecule Switch Opens The Door To Biomolecular Electronics

...rough it as electrons were removed by another electrode, turning it from an insulator to a strong conductor and then back into an insulator again. Given the measured electrical properties of the oligoaniline, Lin...

New component of the 'brakes' on nerve regeneration found

...ifically, these molecules prevent the growth of the cablelike axons of injured neurons. Myelin is the fatty sheath that encases neurons and acts as an insulator and aid to the transmission of nerve impulses. Researchers knew that CNS neurons had receptors on their surface that accepted the inhibitory molecu...

Insulator in Biological Technology

Domain walls that conduct electricity

...ed the local conductivity of the sample across the domains and across domain walls. The domains were indeed nonconducting since bismuth ferrite is an insulator but surprisingly, certain domain walls exhibited electrical conductivity. Their conductivity depended on the angular difference in the direction of t...

ASM International N.V. and SAFC Hitech(TM) Sign Certified Manufacturer and Partnership Agreement

... 100. By comparison, the Zirconium and Hafnium based High-k insulators that are in production today have dielectric constants less than 30 to 40. An insulator with a higher dielectric constant is expected to allow device manufacturers to produce much smaller capacitors for DRAM memory chips, and microprocess...

Discovery by UC Riverside physicists could enable development of faster computers

...cture is sandwich-like in appearance, with the ferromagnet and semiconductor serving as microscopically thin slices between which lies a thinner still insulator made of a few atomic layers of magnesium oxide (MgO). The researchers found that by simply altering the thickness of the MgO interface they were ab...

Making a good impression: Nanoimprint lithography tests at NIST

...a combination of techniques to measure the distribution of nanopores in the insulator material, they found that the NIL embossing process actually has a benefici...papers suggest that nanoimprint lithography can produce superior nanoporous insulator layers in advanced semiconductor devices with significantly fewerand easier...

NIST micro sensor and micro fridge make cool pair

...m that identifies X-ray signatures far more precisely than any other device, with a solid-state refrigerator based on a sandwich of a normal metal, an insulator and a superconductor. The combo chip, a square about a quarter inch on a side, achieved the first cooling of a fully functional detector (or any usefu...

Physicists discover gold can be magnetic on the nanoscale

... first-principles quantum mechanical computer simulations of a 20-atom gold nanocluster adsorbed on the surface of a film of magnesium oxide (MgO), an insulator which itself is supported by an underlying metallic silver substrate. The optimal configuration of the adsorbed gold nanocluster depends on the thickn...

New property found in ancient mineral lodestone

... at temperatures colder than minus 250 degrees Fahrenheit to revert from an insulator to a conductor. The research was published online Dec. 16 and will be inclu...egrees Fahrenheit, it changes from an electrical conductor to an electrical insulator -- a electrical transformation that's akin to the physical change water und...

Collaboration yields 'the right glasses' for observing mystery behavior in electrons

...o a conducting material, when subjected to relatively small changes in pressure or temperature. Vanadium dioxide begins to transform itself from an insulator to a conductor when heated above 341 degrees Kelvin (about 154 degrees Fahrenheit or 68 degrees Celsius). For decades scientists have puzzled over ...

Two nanostructures are better than one

...ve their own unique characteristics. Once attached to CNTs, they can transfer their abilities to the tube. Nanoparticles could potentially give an insulator like silicon the ability to conduct electricity. A happy union of the two structures offers a chance to brainstorm new applications, says Chen. For...

Insulator in Biological Dictionary

Myelin sheath

...pare prices. Free shipping on all items. Myelin sheath . Synonym(s) medullary sheath . Definition(s) ... The myelin sheath is an electrical insulator and allows faster and more ... Compare Cheap Prices for Myelin Sheath at NexTag.com. Find Great Bargains on Sporting Goods, Toys, Collectibles,...