Tech

Doctors have a clearer picture than ever before of how much radiation reaches sensitive tissues during routine X-rays and similar imaging, thanks to sophisticated models of the human body being developed at the University of Florida.

"We're building a rich library of computer simulation tools and 3-D patient models that will make dose estimates much more accurate and patient-specific," said Wesley E. Bolch, Ph.D., a professor in the UF departments of nuclear and radiological engineering and biomedical engineering, and a member of the UF Shands Cancer Center.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Tropical cyclone warnings in the Solomon Islands are in effect for Rennell and Bellona, A tropical cyclone watch is in effect for the provinces of Guadalcanal, Makira, Central, Western, Malaita, Isabel and Choiseul, in addition to the Shortland Islands.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

TAMPA, Fla. (March 16, 2010)—Pancreatic cancer—known as the most fatal cancer with no known effective treatment—requires a radical new therapy. A promising approach may come in the form of tiny gold nanoparticles—loaded with a therapeutic agent to kill cancer—in a novel procedure called "nanoembolization," said researchers at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 35th Annual Scientific Meeting in Tampa, Fla.

TAMPA, Fla. (March 16, 2010)—Bone marrow stem cells suspended in X-ray-visible microbubbles dramatically improve the body's ability to build new blood vessels in the upper leg—providing a potential future treatment for those with peripheral arterial disease or PAD, say researchers at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 35th Annual Scientific Meeting in Tampa, Fla.

Tomas grew into a monster Category 4 cyclone and thrashed the northern Fiji Islands with heavy rains and maximum sustained winds of up to 170 mph (275 km). The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer instrument on NASA's Aqua satellite captured a visible image of most of Cyclone Tomas on Mar. 14 10:21 p.m. ET and noticed the storm's eye is cloud-filled.

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.

Tropical cyclone warnings in the Solomon Islands are in effect for Rennell and Bellona, A tropical cyclone watch is in effect for the provinces of Guadalcanal, Makira, Central, Western, Malaita, Isabel and Choiseul, in addition to the Shortland Islands.