Tech

New 'finFETS' promising for smaller transistors, more powerful chips

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue University researchers are making progress in developing a new type of transistor that uses a finlike structure instead of the conventional flat design, possibly enabling engineers to create faster and more compact circuits and computer chips.

The fins are made not of silicon, like conventional transistors, but from a material called indium-gallium-arsenide. Called finFETs, for fin field-effect-transistors, researchers from around the world have been working to perfect the devices as potential replacements for conventional transistors.

Discovery in worms by Queen's researchers points to more targeted cancer treatment

Researchers at Queen's University have found a link between two genes involved in cancer formation in humans, by examining the genes in worms. The groundbreaking discovery provides a foundation for how tumor-forming genes interact, and may offer a drug target for cancer treatment.

Routine evaluation of prostate size not as effective in cancer screening, Mayo study finds

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- New Mayo Clinic research studied the association between prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels and prostate size and found that routine annual evaluation of prostate growth is not necessarily a predictor for the development of prostate cancer. However the study suggests that if a man's PSA level is rising quickly, a prostate biopsy is reasonable to determine if he has prostate cancer.

Additive copper-zinc interaction affects toxic response in soybean

MADISON, WI, NOVEMBER 9, 2009 -- Agricultural soils accumulate trace metals, particularly copper and zinc, as a result of their presence in wastes (sewage biosolids and manures) and fungicides that are applied over long periods of time. Regulations and guidelines for tolerable concentrations of these potentially plant-toxic elements in soils are based on the assumption that the toxic effects of the metals are substantially independent and not additive.

Over 2,200 veterans died in 2008 due to lack of health insurance

A research team at Harvard Medical School estimates 2,266 U.S. military veterans under the age of 65 died last year because they lacked health insurance and thus had reduced access to care. That figure is more than 14 times the number of deaths (155) suffered by U.S. troops in Afghanistan in 2008, and more than twice as many as have died (911 as of Oct. 31) since the war began in 2001.

The researchers, who released their analysis today, pointedly say the health reform legislation pending in the House and Senate will not significantly affect this grim picture.

GOES satellite sees bulk of Ida's clouds and rain inland while center making landfall

Tropical Storm Ida made landfall around 6:40 a.m. ET this morning on Dauphin Island, along the Alabama coastline. NASA's GOES Project created the latest image from Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-12) data showed that the bulk of Ida's clouds and rain are now inland, even though Ida's center was just near the Alabama coast.

Improving security with state-of-the-art face recognition technology

CORAL GABLES-(November 10, 2009)-- A number of U.S. states now use facial recognition technology when issuing drivers licenses. Similar methods are also used to grant access to buildings and to verify the identities of international travelers. Historically, obtaining accurate results with this type of technology has been a time intensive activity. Now, a researcher from the University of Miami College of Engineering and his collaborators have developed ways to make the technology more efficient while improving accuracy.

Some chest pain patients wait longer than 10 minutes to see ER physician

ATLANTA – Emory University Rollins School of Public Health researchers will present Nov. 10 on a range of topics at the American Public Health Association's annual meeting in Philadelphia, including a study that examined compliance with national recommendations that a physician screen chest pain patients within 10 minutes of their arrival to the Emergency Department (ED).

Additional public health research findings from Emory scientists are highlighted below.

Disparities in emergency room waiting times for chest pain patients

Special issue of medical journal explores Latino health and health care

October 28, 2009 – Los Angeles, Calif. The Latino population is the nation's largest minority group at an estimated 47 million in 2008 and is predicted to make up 30% of the US population by 2050. At the same time, chronic diseases among Latinos are on the rise and require long-range strategies to prevent and clinically manage. Understanding the healthcare of this fastest growing population is critical to the healthcare debate and reform initiatives.

Study examines quality and duration of primary care visits

Adult primary care visits have increased in quality, duration and frequency between 1997 and 2005, according to a report in the November 9 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Discussing adverse events with patients improves how they rate their hospital care

A survey of patients had who experienced some sort of adverse event during their hospitalization found that, although caregivers discussed the event with patients less than half the time, those patients to whom the adverse event had been disclosed rated the quality of their care higher than did patients whose caregivers did not address the problem. The report from the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Institute for Health Policy appears in the November 9 Archives of Internal Medicine.

New study reveals handwriting is real problem for children with autism

November 9, 2009 (Baltimore, MD) – Handwriting skills are crucial for success in school, communication, and building children's self-esteem. The first study to examine handwriting quality in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has uncovered a relationship between fine motor control and poor quality of handwriting in children with ASD, according to research published in the November 10, 2009, issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

NASA's TRMM Satellite sees most of Ida's heaviest rain stayed off coasts

NASA and the Japanese Space Agency's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite flew over Ida and captured her rainfall when she passed by Nicaragua, Honduras and Belize this weekend. TRMM data revealed that most of the heaviest rainfall totals, as much as 11 inches, were just off the coasts of those countries, even though all of those areas dealt with flooding rains.

Wet ethanol production process gives producers a bigger bang for their buck

URBANA – Using a wet ethanol production method that begins by soaking corn kernels rather than grinding them, results in more gallons of ethanol and more usable co-products, giving ethanol producers a bigger bang for their buck – by about 20 percent.

New transparent insulating film could enable energy-efficient displays

Johns Hopkins materials scientists have found a new use for a chemical compound that has traditionally been viewed as an electrical conductor, a substance that allows electricity to flow through it. By orienting the compound in a different way, the researchers have turned it into a thin film insulator, which instead blocks the flow of electricity, but can induce large electric currents elsewhere. The material, called solution-deposited beta-alumina, could have important applications in transistor technology and in devices such as electronic books.