Tech

Recent increasing police activities focused on people who inject drugs in Thailand have involved reported injustices that may lead to riskier behaviors in people who inject drugs (PWID), according to a study published this week in PLOS Medicine. The results of the study, by Thomas Kerr and colleagues, from the University of British Columbia, Canada, found that urine drug testing, which has become widely available since around 2000, was identified as a key tool used by the police, with some police requesting PWID to provide urine samples in public places.

By relentlessly miniaturizing a pre-World War II computer technology, and combining this with a new and durable material, researchers at Case Western Reserve University have built nanoscale switches and logic gates that operate more energy-efficiently than those now used by the billions in computers, tablets and smart phones.

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) — Like tiny construction workers, cells sculpt embryonic tissues and organs in 3D space. This task is complicated and requires constant communication between cells to coordinate their actions and generate the forces that will shape their environment into complex tissue morphologies.

EVANSTON, Ill. --- A friend posts a picture on Facebook that shows you picking food out of your teeth. Awkward!

Such Facebook faux pas are common. But depending on who you are and to whom you allow access to your Facebook page, such embarrassments can cause greater anguish, according to a new Northwestern University study.

NONPROLIFERATION – Tell-tale seals . . .

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — About 65 million years ago, an asteroid or comet crashed into a shallow sea near what is now the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico. The resulting firestorm and global dust cloud caused the extinction of many land plants and large animals, including most of the dinosaurs. At this week's meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in San Francisco, MBARI researchers will present evidence that remnants from this devastating impact are exposed along the Campeche Escarpment—an immense underwater cliff in the southern Gulf of Mexico.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Since World War II, US nautical charts have shown seven "chemical munitions dumping areas" along the Pacific Coast between San Francisco and the Mexican border. However, little or no information is available about the amount, location, or nature of the materials that were dumped at most of these sites. At this week's meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco, researchers from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) describe a survey of one supposed deep‐water dump site off Southern California.

Converting sunshine into electricity is not difficult, but doing so efficiently and on a large scale is one of the reasons why people still rely on the electric grid and not a national solar cell network.

This news release is available in German.

Millions of previously hidden US stock trades will be revealed for the first time on Monday December 9 thanks to research from a team of academics.

Previously odd lots, which are trades of less than 100 shares, have not been revealed on the publicly available 'consolidated tape', with only big investment banks and sophisticated computer-powered high-frequency traders paying to see them from individual exchanges. It was thought they were used only by small retail investors and so were not important.

BOSTON – As embryonic tissue develops, cells push and pull on each other, and they must do so correctly for the tissue to develop properly. Now scientists at Harvard University have devised the first method to measure these forces in three-dimensional (3D) tissues and living embryos.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed prototype calibration tools for an experimental medical imaging technique that offers new advantages in diagnosing and monitoring of certain cancers and possibly other medical conditions.*

Today, smartphones are central to college students' lives, keeping them constantly connected with friends, family and the Internet. Students' cell phones are rarely out of reach whether the setting is a college classroom, library, recreational center, cafeteria or dorm room. As cell phone use continues to increase, it is worth considering whether use of the device is related to measurable outcomes important for student success, such as academic performance, anxiety and happiness.

HOUSTON – (Dec. 6, 2013) – The prospect of turning coal into fluorescent particles may sound too good to be true, but the possibility exists, thanks to scientists at Rice University.

The Rice lab of chemist James Tour found simple methods to reduce three kinds of coal into graphene quantum dots (GQDs), microscopic discs of atom-thick graphene oxide that could be used in medical imaging as well as sensing, electronic and photovoltaic applications.

The find was reported today in the journal Nature Communications.

WASHINGTON, December 6, 2013 – Corn oil significantly reduces cholesterol with more favorable changes in total cholesterol (TC) and LDL-C than extra virgin olive oil, new research shows. The findings were presented today at the American Society for Nutrition's Advances & Controversies in Clinical Nutrition Conference by lead researcher, Dr. Kevin C Maki, PhD, of Biofortis, the clinical research arm of Mérieux NutriSciences.