Tech

LAWRENCE, Kan. — A joint team from the University of Kansas and Northeastern University in China says that it has settled the long-standing question of how bird flight began.

In the Jan. 25 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the KU-China researchers push their research into the origins of bird flight and the early evolution of birds with decisive flight tests of a model of the four-winged gliding raptor, called microraptor.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - It might not look like there's much going on in those roadside corn fields, but a Purdue University researcher has shown that corn plants are in a fierce battle with each other for resources.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Scientists have automated the measurement of a vital part of the knee in images with a computer program that performs much faster and just as reliably as humans who interpret the same images.

Having more precise information about wear and tear on this portion of the knee – a blend of fibrous tissue and cartilage called the meniscus – could lead to its use as a biomarker in predicting who is at risk for developing osteoarthritis, researchers say.

Watch a gecko walk up a wall. It defies gravity as it sticks to the surface no matter how smooth it appears to be.

What's happening isn't magic. The gecko stays put because of the electrical attraction – the van der Waals force – between millions of microscopic hairs on its feet and the surface.

The principle applies to new research at Rice University reported this week in the online version of the journal ACS Nano. But in this case, the hairs figuratively come off the gecko and plant themselves on the wall.

Scientists have found a way to increase fermentable sugar stores in plants which could lead to plant biomass being easier to convert into eco-friendly sustainable biofuels. Their research is highlighted in the latest issue of Business, the quarterly highlights magazine of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).

SAN DIEGO—Results from Cytori Therapeutics' (NASDAQ: CYTX) preclinical fat grafting study have been published in the February issue of the Annals of Plastic Surgery. This article, entitled "Supplementation of Fat Grafts with Adipose-Derived Regenerative Cells (ADRCs) Improves Long-Term Graft Retention," examines the science behind cell-enriched autologous fat grafting and its application to cosmetic and reconstructive surgery. The results demonstrate a doubling in graft retention in cell-enriched grafts and provide insight into the mechanisms behind this improvement.

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Diverse biofuel plantings such as native prairie attract more beneficial insects than do single crops such as corn, Michigan State University scientists find. Therefore, biofuel policies should take such added value into account, they urge, based on their pioneering studies of beneficial insects in biofuel crops.

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — Young women and teenage girls often face efforts by male partners to sabotage birth control or coerce pregnancy — including damaging condoms and destroying contraceptives — and these efforts, defined as "reproductive coercion," frequently are associated with physical or sexual violence, a study by a team of researchers led by UC Davis has found.

Considered a dermatological nuisance that was long gone, skin irritations caused by toilet seats appear to be making a comeback in pediatricians' offices, according to research led by Johns Hopkins Children's Center investigator Bernard Cohen, M.D.

MADISON, WI, January 25, 2010 -- A team of UK scientists led by Dr. Karen Anderson (University of Exeter) has developed a new technique for monitoring the condition of peatlands. The team used a combination of images captured from Earth and space to measure spatial patterning in peatland surfaces as an indicator of their condition. This new method uses a novel coupled approach, using satellite images from space and airborne laser scanning data, and has resulted in improved peatland mapping products.

SALT LAKE CITY, Jan. 24, 2010 – When University of Utah scientists discovered a new kind of laser that was generated by an electrically conducting plastic or polymer, no one could explain how it worked and some doubted it was real. Now, a decade later, the Utah researchers have found these "random lasers" occur because of natural, mirror-like cavities in the polymers, and they say such lasers may prove useful for diagnosing cancer.

(PHILADELPHIA) – People who are in car crashes or suffer serious falls, gunshot or knife wounds and other injuries at nights or on weekends do not appear to be affected by the same medical care disparities as patients who suffer heart attacks, strokes, cardiac arrests and other time-sensitive illnesses during those "off hours," according to new research from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the ten most disabling diseases in the developed world and is set to become more of a financial burden on health services as average life expectancy increases.

OA is the most common form of arthritis, affecting nearly 27 million Americans or 12.1% of the adult population of the United States, according to Laurence et al.¹ A 2001 study showed that the disease costs US health services about $89.1 billion,2 and indirect costs relating to wages and productivity losses and unplanned home care averaged $4603 per person.3

Pediatric hospitals can significantly decrease the number of bloodstream infections from central venous catheters by following some low-tech rules: Insert the catheter correctly and, above all, keep everything squeaky clean after that.

Yearlong research by Marlene Miller, M.D. Ms.C., of the Johns Hopkins Children's Center and colleagues from other hospitals saw a 43-percent drop in the rate of bloodstream infections from catheters in 29 pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) that focused on careful placement and basic daily cleaning of the devices.

BOSTON, Mass. (Jan. 19, 2010) —Thirteen-pound babies may make headlines, but they aren't the norm. In fact, U.S. infants are getting smaller, according to researchers at the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute's Department of Population Medicine, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School. Their findings, published in the February 2010 issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology, suggest that birth weights in this country have declined during the past 15 years.