Tech

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.

STANFORD, Calif. — Like a magician who says, "Pick a card, any card," Stanford University computer scientist Debashis Sahoo, PhD, seemed to be offering some kind of trick when he asked researchers at the Stanford Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine to pick any two genes already known to be involved in stem cell development.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania…A team of researchers from Carnegie Museum of Natural History has described a new genus and species of carnivorous amphibian from western Pennsylvania. The fossil skull, found in 2004 near Pittsburgh International Airport, was recovered from rocks deposited approximately 300 million years ago during the Late Pennsylvanian Period. Named Fedexia striegeli, it is one of only a very few relatively large amphibian fossils to display evidence of a predominantly terrestrial (land-based) life history so early in geologic time.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Be true to yourself, and better romantic relationships will follow, research suggests.

A new study examined how dating relationships were affected by the ability of people to see themselves clearly and objectively, act in ways consistent with their beliefs, and interact honestly and truthfully with others.

In other words, the ability to follow the words of William Shakespeare: "to thine own self be true," said Amy Brunell, lead author of the study and assistant professor of psychology at Ohio State University's Newark campus.

ATLANTA - A team of Mayo Clinic researchers have found that cardiac rehabilitation is associated with significantly reduced mortality rates for patients who have had stents placed to treat blockages in their coronary arteries.

INDIANAPOLIS – An Indiana University School of Medicine study provides a better understanding of why sexually experienced girls resume sexual activity after periods of abstinence, information key to dealing with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and pregnancy in high school girls and beyond.

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- In a study published in the March issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, researchers report that they have found a link between mild to moderate hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and mortality in critically ill patients.

Studies in the United States have long shown that rich people tend to be healthier than poor people, and that this "health gap" between the haves and have-nots gets worse as people get older. But is that because the U.S. is a capitalist society? Apparently not. A new study from North Carolina State University shows that the same is true in China. However, there is one key difference. In China, the overall health gap across generations is getting narrower – and it's getting wider in the U.S.

ATLANTA -- Treatment with the anti-hypertensive drug valsartan (Diovan) led to a modest reduction in the development of type 2 diabetes but did not significantly reduce cardiovascular events in patients with impaired glucose tolerance, according to researchers at Duke University Medical Center and the University of Oxford. They jointly reported results at the American College of Cardiology meeting today from the world's first study designed to find ways to control the progression to diabetes and cardiovascular disease in people at risk.

A new high-performance anode structure based on silicon-carbon nanocomposite materials could significantly improve the performance of lithium-ion batteries used in a wide range of applications from hybrid vehicles to portable electronics.

TAMPA, Fla. (March 15, 2010)—Uterine fibroid embolization, a minimally invasive interventional radiology procedure that blocks blood supply to treat painful uterine fibroids, has a comparable fertility rate to myomectomy, the surgical removal of uterine fibroids, for women who want to conceive, according to the first study on the subject released at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 35th Annual Scientific Meeting in Tampa, Fla.

TAMPA, Fla. (March 15, 2010)—There's a new interventional radiology tool showing promise in the treatment of uterine fibroids: magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS), a minimally invasive treatment that uses high-energy ultrasound waves to generate heat at a specific point to destroy uterine fibroid tissue and relieve symptoms.

Australian and US scientists have discovered how changes in winds blowing on the Southern Ocean drive variations in the depth of the surface layer of sea water responsible for regulating exchanges of heat and carbon dioxide between the ocean and the atmosphere.

The researchers' findings – published on-line today in Nature Geoscience – provide new insights into natural processes which have a major influence on the rate of climate change.

BOSTON ––– Improving on traditional screening tests for potential anti-cancer drugs, scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have developed a laboratory technique that more closely simulates the real-world conditions in which tumor cells mingle with the body's normal cells.

In the largest study of its kind to date using cardiac computed tomography angiography, people with a family history of early signs of coronary artery disease are at higher risk of developing obstructive coronary artery disease and plaque in their arteries, Henry Ford Hospital researchers say.