Two more reports of general interest from my SpectroscopyNOW column. The first is on a new informatics approach to understanding cervical vaginal fluids and the second on a new study of boron nitride the technological wonder material of the future
Screening for premature problems
The application of multiple protein identification algorithms to an analysis of cervical vaginal fluid (CVF) can provide a detailed map of biological markers to help researchers understand the course of human pregnancy and the problems that can arise. Preliminary tests suggest it could be used to determine the likelihood of a premature birth.
Inelastic boron nitride
The results of inelastic X-ray scattering and other techniques have been combined with ab initio calculations to characterise and explain the behaviour of the superficially simple binary material boron nitride. Insights from the research could lead to new ways to exploit the electronic and mechanical properties of hexagonal boron nitride.