Material Matters

Material Matters 6.4

Global energy consumption is on the rise and is projected to double by 2050, compared with worldwide energy consumption rates in 2001.1 Sustainable energy production based on the direct conversion of energy radiated from the sun into heat or electricity is expected to gain importance, as it may be the only renewable source capable of generating sufficient energy to meet the long-term worldwide ...

Material Matters 6.3

The ability for synthetic polymers to degrade in a controlled manner was developed for environmental reasons in the late 1960s. Interest in utilizing biodegradable polymers for biomedical applications rapidly followed and research focused on designing novel materials has continued to grow. Biodegradable polymers can be tailored for controlled degradation through numerous functional groups inclu...

Winter 2015 Material Matters Final.indd

Philosophy matters in brain matters

PURPOSE Although most neuroscientists and physicians would argue against Cartesian dualism, Descartes's version of the psyche/soma divide, which has been controversial since he proposed it in the seventeenth century, continues to haunt contemporary neurological diagnoses through terms such as functional, organic, and psychogenic. Drawing on my own experiences as a person with medically unexplai...

Matters of sex: sex matters.

Despite the popular concept that heart disease preferentially affects the male population, in every year for the past 16 years, cardiovascular disease has killed more women than men.1 Unfortunately, a disparity still exists between men and women in the diagnosis and aggressive treatment of heart disease. The perception that women are relatively protected is reflected by the fact that women are ...