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UC Davis smartphone application to allow instant polling for presidential debate Wednesday

When President Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney square off in their first debate Wednesday, college students across the country will pilot test a new smartphone application that promises to make live polling possible for the first time on a large scale.

So far more than 175 political science professors nationwide have registered some 12,000 students to field test the real-time polling app, developed by researchers at the University of California, Davis, the University of Maryland, and the University of Arkansas, Little Rock.

The Asian-American vote in California

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Asian Americans — who account for 10 percent of registered voters in California — support a tax measure proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown, are closely divided on the death penalty ballot measure, overwhelmingly support affirmative action, and support tax increases on high earners to close the federal budget deficit, according to two new reports from the National Asian American Survey.

Innovative new defibrillator offers alternative for regulating heart beat

OTTAWA, October 3, 2012 – A new ground-breaking technology was recently used at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute (UOHI) where two cardiologists, Dr. David Birnie and Dr. Pablo Nery, implanted a new innovative leadless defibrillator, the subcutaneous implantable cardioverter defibrillator (S-ICD), to a 18 year-old patient. Under Health Canada's special access program, this was only the third time this new type of ICD had been implanted in Canada.

Psychologists say new definition of autism in DSM-5 will not exclude most children diagnosed

Parents and psychologists have worried that a modern set of criteria for autism, to replace the subjective standard of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), would make some children ineligible for psychiatric and medical care, but that is not the case, says a team of psychologists.

Chloroquine makes comeback to combat malaria

Malaria-drug monitoring over the past 30 years has shown that malaria parasites develop resistance to medicine, and the first signs of resistance to the newest drugs have just been observed. At the same time, resistance monitoring at the University of Copenhagen shows that the previously efficacious drug chloroquine is once again beginning to work against malaria. In time that will ensure cheaper treatment for the world's poor.

Serious complications in people with type 1 diabetes and ongoing poor blood sugar control

Strategies implemented in high-income countries to improve blood glucose control in people with type 1 diabetes and so reduce complications, such as heart attacks, strokes, and early death, are working, but there is much need for further improvement, according to a study from Scotland published in this week's PLOS Medicine.

Beta-blocker use not associated with lower risk of cardiovascular events

CHICAGO – Among patients with either coronary artery disease (CAD) risk factors only, known prior heart attack, or known CAD without heart attack, the use of beta-blockers was not associated with a lower risk of a composite of cardiovascular events that included cardiovascular death, nonfatal heart attack or nonfatal stroke, according to a study in the October 3 issue of JAMA.

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis appear to be at increased risk for blood clots

CHICAGO – A study that included more than 45,000 residents of Sweden with rheumatoid arthritis finds that individuals with this disease had an associated higher risk of venous thromboembolism (a blood clot that forms within a vein), and that this elevated risk was stable for 10 years after the time of diagnosis, according to a study in the October 3 issue of JAMA.

Cardiac medication may help reduce stiffness caused by certain muscle diseases

CHICAGO – Preliminary research finds that for patients with nondystrophic myotonias (NDMs), rare diseases that affect the skeletal muscle and cause functionally limiting stiffness and pain, use of the anti-arrhythmic medication mexiletine resulted in improvement in patient-reported stiffness, according to a preliminary study in the October 3 issue of JAMA.

Data on treatment of NDMs are largely anecdotal, consisting of case series and a single-blind, controlled trials of several medications including mexiletine, according to background information in the article.

State-mandated planning, higher resident wealth linked to more sustainable city transportation

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Transportation practices tend to be more environmentally friendly in wealthier metropolitan areas located within states that mandate comprehensive planning, new research suggests.

The study involved an examination of 225 U.S. metropolitan areas between 1980 and 2008 to gauge how sustainable their transportation practices were and determine what kinds of socioeconomic factors appeared to influence those practices.

University of Alberta claims $12.3 billion impact on Alberta economy (and apparently no costs)

In the 'liabilities are really assets' file, we have a claim from the University of Alberta that their impact on the Alberta economy is estimated to be $12.3 billion, which is five per cent of the province's gross domestic product—or the equivalent of having 135 Edmonton Oilers NHL teams in Alberta, according to a new estimate.

New research measures the cost of getting cleaner air

Extensive environmental regulations have brought cleaner air and health improvements to the United States, but they also have increased the cost of manufacturing and reduced industrial productivity, according to a study by economists at the University of Chicago and MIT.

Among voters lacking strong party preferences, Obama faces 20% handicap due to race bias

An online study of eligible voters around the country revealed that the preference for whites over blacks is the strongest in the least politically-partisan voters. Among these voters, race biases against Barack Obama could produce as much as a 20 percent gap in the popular vote in a contest that would otherwise be equal.

Hopkins study suggests treatments for 'wet' AMD keep elderly drivers behind the wheel

The advanced neovascular, or "wet," form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), left untreated, is the most common cause of vision loss among the elderly and a leading reason for their loss of driving privileges. But results of a new study, published in the online version of the journal Ophthalmology, suggest that monthly injections of ranibizumab improve eye chart test results required for a driver's license, build driver confidence and keep those with AMD driving longer.

Superman-strength bacteria produce gold

EAST LANSING, Mich. — At a time when the value of gold has reached an all-time high, Michigan State University researchers have discovered a bacterium's ability to withstand incredible amounts of toxicity is key to creating 24-karat gold.

"Microbial alchemy is what we're doing – transforming gold from something that has no value into a solid, precious metal that's valuable," said Kazem Kashefi, assistant professor of microbiology and molecular genetics.