Disasters such as floods, tsunamis, and earthquakes often result in the spread of diseases like gastroenteritis, giardiasis and even cholera because of an immediate shortage of clean drinking water. Now, chemistry researchers at McGill Universi…
Tag Archives | paper
Producing clean water in an emergency
Beyond tender loving care: ‘TLCs’ promise health and happiness
WASHINGTON — Lifestyle changes — such as getting more exercise, time in nature, or helping others — can be as effective as drugs or counseling to treat an array of mental illnesses, according to a new paper published by the American Psychologica…
Paper archives reveal pollution’s history
Some of the history preserved in old tomes and newspapers may be hiding in between the lines of print. A Weizmann Institute scientist has found that the paper in such collections contains a record of atmospheric conditions at the time the trees that…
Explosive- and drug-sniffing dog performance is affected by their handlers’ beliefs
Drug- and explosives-sniffing dog/handler teams’ performance is affected by human handlers’ beliefs, possibly in response to subtle, unintentional handler cues, a study by researchers at UC Davis has found.
The study, published in the January issu…
Dating sheds new light on dawn of the dinosaurs
Careful dating of new dinosaur fossils and volcanic ash around them by researchers from UC Davis and UC Berkeley casts doubt on the idea that dinosaurs appeared and opportunistically replaced other animals. Instead — at least in one South American …
Newly discovered group of algae live in both fresh water and ocean
A team of biologists has discovered an entirely new group of algae living in a variety of marine and freshwater environments. This group of algae, which the researchers dubbed “rappemonads,” have DNA that is distinctly different from that of ot…
Globally sustainable fisheries possible with co-management
The bulk of the world’s fisheries–including the kind of small-scale, often non-industrialized fisheries that millions of people depend on for food–could be sustained using community-based co-management. This is the conclusion of a study report…
Paper mulches evaluated for commercial vegetable production
LEXINGTON, KY — Polyethylene mulches, used widely in commercial vegetable production to improve crop yields and produce quality, have distinct disadvantages. Disposal options are limited, and plastic mulches often end up in landfills, being …
UCSF team develops ‘logic gates’ to program bacteria as computers
A team of UCSF researchers has engineered E. coli with the key molecular circuitry that will enable genetic engineers to program cells to communicate and perform computations.
The work builds into cells the same logic gates found in electronic…
Fleshing out the life histories of dead whales
Dead whales that sink down to the seafloor provide a feast for deep-sea animals that can last for years. Previous research suggested that such “whale falls” were homes for unique animals that lived nowhere else. However, after sinking five whale…
UF expert: Biodiversity loss correlates with increases in infectious disease
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Habitat destruction and species extinction may lead to an increase in diseases that infect humans and other species, according to a paper in the journal Nature co-authored by a University of Florida ecologist.
In the paper t…
A ‘USB’ for medical diagnosis?
Biomedical engineers at UC Davis have developed a plug-in interface for the microfluidic chips that will form the basis of the next generation of compact medical devices. They hope that the “fit to flow” interface will become as ubiquitous as …
Giants among us: Paper explores evolution of the worlds largest mammals
Athens, Ga. — The largest mammal that ever walked the earth¬ — Indricotherium transouralicum, a hornless rhinoceros-like herbivore that weighed approximately seventeen tons and stood about eighteen feet high at the shoulder — lived in Eurasia a…
UC breakthrough may lead to disposable e-Readers
A breakthrough in a University of Cincinnati engineering lab that could clear the way for a low-cost, even disposable, e-reader is gaining considerable attention.
Electrical Engineering Professor Andrew Steckl’s research into an affordable, yet hi…
Reading the signs: Plants and animals found common ground in response to microbial threats
Though it’s been at least a billion years since plants and animals shared a common ancestor, they have through the eons shared a common threat in the form of microbes, including bacteria, eukaryotes and viruses. This has resulted in remarkably sim…
Economists reveal factors that help poor people lift themselves out of poverty
What factors contribute to poor people in developing countries lifting themselves out of poverty?
A paper by economists Anan Pawasutipaisit of Thammasat University and Robert M. Townsend of MIT provides important insights into what kinds of househ…
UC doctoral student presents research at international conference
Clement Loo, a University of Cincinnati doctoral student in the philosophy program, was one of the featured researchers at the biennial meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association Nov. 4-6 in Montreal, Quebec. The association promotes research,…
Dracula orchids and goblin spiders
Dracula orchids tempt flies by masquerading as mushrooms. Goblin spiders lurk unseen in the world’s leaf litter. The natural world is often just as haunting as the macabre costumes worn on city streets, as highlighted by two studies published this…
Notre Dame researcher helps discover ‘walking’ properties of bacteria
Talk about a walk on the wild side: University of Notre Dame researcher Joshua Shrout is co-author of a new paper that shows that bacteria are capable of “standing up” and moving while vertical.
Shrout, assistant professor of civil engineering an…
Microfluidic devices advance 3-D tissue engineering at Stevens
A research team, co-headed by Dr. Woo Lee and Dr. Hongjun Wang of Stevens Institute of Technology, has published a paper describing a new method that generates three-dimensional (3D) tissue models for studying bacterial infection of orthopedic impla…
Death knell ringing for paper coupons
Representing a relatively new phenomenon in shopping, digital coupons show great promise for revolutionizing couponing. In studying the marketing and usability of a specific type of electronic coupon – digital coupons – one University of [...]
Research Lays Foundation For Building On The Moon – Or Anywhere Else
The key to the stability of any building is its foundation, but it is difficult to test some building sites in advance – such as those on the moon. New research from North Carolina State [...]
Study: Privacy key obstacle to adopting electronic health records
The United States could achieve significant health care savings if it achieved widespread adoption of electronic health records (EHRs), but insufficient privacy protections are hindering public acceptance of the EHR concept, according to a new paper…
Cancer deaths fall, but prevention still lags behind
Although overall mortality from cancer is decreasing in the European Union, its incidence increased by almost 20%, from 2.1 million new cases in 2002 to 2.5 million in 2008, says a special issue [1] of the European Journal of Cancer (the official jo…
Engineers make artificial skin out of nanowires
Berkeley — Engineers at the University of California, Berkeley, have developed a pressure-sensitive electronic material from semiconductor nanowires that could one day give new meaning to the term “thin-skinned.”
“The idea is to have a materi…
Mapping new paths for a stressed-out Internet
The San Diego Supercomputer Center and Cooperative Association for Internet Data Analysis (CAIDA) at the University of California, San Diego, in a collaboration with researchers from Universitat de Barcelona in Spain and the University of Cyprus, ha…
The cost of over-triage on our nation’s health system
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified “secondary over-triage” as a potential area of cost savings for our nation’s health care. The phenomenon of over-triage occurs when patients are transferred tw…
ACP explores ethical issues for use of incentives to promote personal responsibility for health
PHILADELPHIA, September 8, 2010 — The American College of Physicians (ACP) today released a new position paper that provides ethical guidance for using incentives to promote personal responsibility for health.
In “Ethical Considerations for the U…