Tech

Researchers analyzing the assembly of graphene (sheets of carbon only one atom thick) on a surface of iridium have found that the sheets grow by first forming tiny carbon domes. The discovery offers new insight into the growth of graphene layers and points the way to possible methods for assembling components of graphene-based computer circuits.

SALT LAKE CITY, Oct. 12, 2009 – University of Utah engineers showed that a wireless network of radio transmitters can track people moving behind solid walls. The system could help police, firefighters and others nab intruders, and rescue hostages, fire victims and elderly people who fall in their homes. It also might help retail marketing and border control.

A new technique in Magnetic Resonance Imaging dubbed "Hyper-SAGE" has the potential to detect ultra low concentrations of clincal targets, such as lung and other cancers. Development of Hyper-SAGE was led by one of the world's foremost authorities on MRI technology, Alexander Pines, a chemist who holds joint appointments with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California, Berkeley.

SAN FRANCISCO - Locally advanced breast cancer patients who received the same class of neoadjuvant chemotherapy were found to have no evidence of disease at the time of their surgery, or achieved pathological complete response, at the same rate regardless of race, according to researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

CHICAGO (October 9, 2009) – A new study published in the October issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons shows that the establishment of an acute care surgery service can help surgeons at academic medical centers provide more timely care to the growing number of patients who are transferred from the emergency room or smaller hospitals and who require an immediate operation.

A comprehensive study has revealed, for the first time, the impact of swine flu on the health of the general public in Australia and New Zealand.

The lessons learned in Intensive Care Units (ICUs) across the two countries on the impact of the H1N1 (swine flu) virus are being shared with countries in the Northern Hemisphere to help them prepare for their upcoming flu season.

BOSTON – Leptin, a molecule linked with obesity, may play a crucial role in predicting poor prognosis from thyroid cancer, at least in the Middle Eastern region of the world, according to data presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Frontiers in Basic Cancer Research Meeting.

WASHINGTON -- NASA begins a series of flights Oct. 15 to study changes to Antarctica's sea ice, glaciers and ice sheets. The flights are part of Operation Ice Bridge, a six-year campaign that is the largest airborne survey ever made of ice at Earth's polar regions.

New York, NY, October 8, 2009—The cost and quality of health care, as well as access to care and health outcomes, continue to vary widely among states, according to the Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System's second state scorecard report released today. The states that led in the 2007 state scorecard generally continued to lead, often setting new benchmarks and widening the gap between leading and lagging states.

The Philippines can't seem to get rid of what is now a deadly and annoying Tropical Depression Parma, but forecasters are now providing hope.

Parma may have weakened into a tropical depression, but its still causing a lot of trouble for the residents of the Philippines today. Parma is again moving over Luzon and is expected to finally reach the South China Sea on Friday.

People are increasingly using household robots for chores, communication, entertainment and companionship. But safety and privacy risks of information-gathering objects that move around our homes are not yet adequately addressed, according to a new University of Washington study.

It's not a question of evil robots, but of robots that can be misused.

Dr. James Palmer, associate professor of chemical engineering at Louisiana Tech University, is collaborating with fellow professors Dr. Yuri Lvov, Dr. Dale Snow, and Dr. Hisham Hegab to capitalize on the environmental and financial benefits of "biofuels" by using nanotechnology to further improve the cellulosic ethanol processes.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators have discovered how destructive immune cells gain access to insulin-producing cells and help cause diabetes.

The finding points to possible new strategies to halt or prevent type I diabetes.

A team of researchers from the State University of Pennsylvania (USA) and the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM) have developed a technique to replicate biological structures, such as butterfly wings, on a nano scale. The resulting biomaterial could be used to make optically active structures, such as optical diffusers for solar panels.

Clinical researchers at Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) can now answer the question that baffles many clinicians – why do some men with elevated prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels who are carefully monitored and undergo repeated negative biopsies still develop aggressive prostate cancer?