Tech

PASADENA, Calif.—Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have developed a way to make some notoriously brittle materials ductile—yet stronger than ever—simply by reducing their size.

Quebec City, February 9, 2010--A new, more efficient low-cost microring resonator for high speed telecommunications systems has been developed and tested by Professor Roberto Morandotti's INRS team in collaboration with Canadian, American, and Australian researchers. This technological advance capitalizes on the benefits of optical fibers to transmit large quantities of data at ultra-fast speeds.

"Despite improvements in the LCA, it has a methodological weakness, which is a lack of environmental impact categories to measure the effect of human activities such as cultivation or grazing on the soil", Montserrat Núñez, lead author and a researcher at the Institute of Agro Food Research and Technology (IRTA), tells SINC.

There are plenty of shiny new automobiles to see at the auto trade show. Over there stands a Porsche covered in gold leaf, and on the other side a Bordeaux-red Mercedes is presented. But behind all the glitz and glamour, the process involved in producing these luxury cars is long and arduous. The properties of the materials used are complex and a number of complications can arise during manufacture. The steel fabricators at the front end of the production chain have to negotiate the first hurdle.

Despite being of questionable benefit for patients with advanced dementia, new research finds that hospitals with certain characteristics, such as those that are larger or for-profit, are more likely to have a higher rate of feeding tube placement, according to a study in the February 10 issue of JAMA.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Researchers from Brown University and Harvard Medical School are calling for improved decision-making in the use of feeding tubes for hospitalized nursing home residents with advanced dementia.

Their position follows an eight-year study, which found that the use of feeding tubes varies widely. Among their major findings: At 25 percent of the nation's acute-care hospitals, this vulnerable population had a one in 10 chance of having a feeding tube inserted. Twelve percent of acute-care hospitals did not insert a feeding tube at all.

But in results published Feb. 5 in the journal Science, a Princeton-led team of scientists has observed electrons in a semiconductor on the brink of the metal-insulator transition for the first time. Caught in the act, the electrons formed complex patterns resembling those seen in turbulent fluids, confirming some long-held predictions and providing new insights into how semiconductors can be turned into magnets. The work also could lead to the production of smaller and more energy-efficient computers.

Online social networking sites could solve many problems plaguing information dissemination and communications when disaster strikes, according to a report from US researchers in a recent issue of the International Journal of Emergency Management.

Researchers at the Ireland Cancer Center of University Hospitals (UH) Case Medical Center, have published new findings that may lead to a new standard of care for patients with locally advanced cervical cancer.

Published in the February issue of Clinical Cancer Research, the phase one study found that a new chemotherapy medicine, Triapine, was well tolerated in combination with standard-of-care cisplatin chemotherapy and radiation treatment in women with cervical cancer. This regimen provided both significant reduction in cancer disease and cancer control.

BOSTON--Although the idea of pay-for-performance (P4P) is popular among healthcare policy makers and private insurers, the results do not necessarily translate to the patient.

A new study from the RAND Journal of Economics analyzes performance reports from medical groups who worked with a large network HMO which has been compiling quality data since 1993, pre-P4P. Lead researcher Kathleen J. Mullen says, "In the end, we failed to find evidence that a large P4P initiative either resulted in major improvement in quality or notable disruption in care.".

Rockville, MD -- The first results from a large-scale study of key antimalarial medicines in ten Sub-Saharan African countries reveal that a high percentage of medicines circulating on national markets are of substandard quality and thus may contribute to the growth of drug-resistant strains of Plasmodium falciparum, the most virulent form of malaria.

The most comprehensive study to date of secondhand smoke exposure among children in England is published today in the journal Addiction. The study, carried out by researchers from the University of Bath's School for Health, reveals that exposure to household secondhand smoke among children aged 4-15 has declined steadily since 1996.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.-- A 9 cubic millimeter solar-powered sensor system developed at the University of Michigan is the smallest that can harvest energy from its surroundings to operate nearly perpetually.

The U-M system's processor, solar cells, and battery are all contained in its tiny frame, which measures 2.5 by 3.5 by 1 millimeters. It is 1,000 times smaller than comparable commercial counterparts.

ATLANTA-Feb. 8, 2009-Increased Medicare payments to physicians for outpatient surgeries for bladder cancer have led to a dramatic rise in the number of these procedures being performed and an overall increase in cost to the healthcare system. That is the conclusion of a new study published early online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. The findings indicate that some Medicare policies aimed at decreasing costs may instead be contributing to an increase in healthcare expenditures.

A new analysis has found that women with medium or low levels of income are particularly susceptible to anxiety and depression after being diagnosed with the precancerous breast condition, ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). Published early online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study suggests that women with financial hardship may benefit from psychosocial interventions that are designed to accommodate their unique needs.