Novel 'medical home' program for pediatric patients, families cuts ER visits in half

For parents of children with multiple medical problems, keeping up with countless doctor's appointments, ongoing tests and a variety of medications can be overwhelming, especially for those in challenging socioeconomic situations.

As a result, families often wind up using the emergency room, the country's most expensive form of care delivery, to get help for their kids.

Solomon Islands under warnings for Category 4 Cyclone Ului

There are two powerful cyclones in the Southern Pacific Ocean this week, Tomas and Ului. Ului is a Category Four Cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson Scale and is affecting the Solomon Islands where warnings and watches have been posted today, March 15. NASA satellite data has confirmed that Ului is a strong cyclone with a wide reach.

UV exposure has increased over the last 30 years, but stabilized since the mid-1990s

NASA scientists analyzing 30 years of satellite data have found that the amount of ultraviolet (UV) radiation reaching Earth's surface has increased markedly over the last three decades. Most of the increase has occurred in the mid-and-high latitudes, and there's been little or no increase in tropical regions.

Frogs, foam and fuel: University of Cincinnati researchers convert solar energy to sugars

For decades, farmers have been trying to find ways to get more energy out of the sun.

In natural photosynthesis, plants take in solar energy and carbon dioxide and then convert it to oxygen and sugars. The oxygen is released to the air and the sugars are dispersed throughout the plant — like that sweet corn we look for in the summer. Unfortunately, the allocation of light energy into products we use is not as efficient as we would like. Now engineering researchers at the University of Cincinnati are doing something about that.

The effect of landscape position on biomass crop yield

MADISON, WI, March 15, 2010-The emergence of biofuels into agricultural systems presents new opportunities for farmers to improve economic return while providing critical ecosystem services. Integrating perennial crops can help meet food, fuel and fiber needs, but will require an understanding of biomass productivity on specific landscape positions and environments. To diversify their farms, farmers will need to know where their crops will give them the best yield.

OFC/NFOEC 2010 to feature research breakthroughs on the future of broadband Internet

WASHINGTON, March 15—The world's largest international conference on optical communication and networking convenes this month from March 21-25 at the San Diego Convention Center. Nearly 10,000 attendees are expected at the Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exposition/National Fiber Optic Engineers Conference (OFC/NFOEC), and journalists are invited to attend the meeting for free.

Ultra-powerful laser makes silicon pump liquid uphill with no added energy

Researchers at the University of Rochester's Institute of Optics have discovered a way to make liquid flow vertically upward along a silicon surface, overcoming the pull of gravity, without pumps or other mechanical devices.

In a paper in the journal Optics Express, professor Chunlei Guo and his assistant Anatoliy Vorobyev demonstrate that by carving intricate patterns in silicon with extremely short, high-powered laser bursts, they can get liquid to climb to the top of a silicon chip like it was being sucked through a straw.

Colon cancer treatment frequently is less aggressive than recommended, RAND-UCLA study finds

New results from a major initiative on the quality of cancer care in the United States show that patients with a common type of colon cancer -- especially older patients -- often are not treated as aggressively with chemotherapy as research shows is necessary to improve survival.

Older patients with colon cancer less likely to receive chemotherapy after surgery

Even though older patients with colon cancer are less likely to receive chemotherapy following surgery because of concerns of adverse events, new research indicates that when they do receive this treatment, it is less toxic and of shorter duration than therapy younger patients receive, and older patients experience fewer adverse events, according to a study in the March 17 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on cancer.

Study co-author Robert H. Fletcher, M.D., M.Sc., of Harvard Medical School, Boston, presented the findings of the study at a JAMA media briefing.

Although most cancer centers have palliative care programs, scope of services varies widely

Palliative care services are available at most U.S. cancer centers, although the scope of services offered and the degree of integration between palliative care and oncology care varies widely among centers, according to a study in the March 17 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on cancer.

David Hui, M.D., M.Sc., of the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, presented the findings of the study at a JAMA media briefing.