Tech

Parent education programs delivered through pediatric primary care offices appeared to increase parent-child interactions during infancy in at-risk families, according to a report in the January issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. A second report in the same issue finds one of the programs also appeared to be associated with reduced exposure to TV and other media in infants.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The rapid growth in use of medical diagnostic imaging, such as CT scans, has led to widespread concern about radiation exposure in adults and the potential for future cancer risk in patients undergoing these tests.

A new study led by University of Michigan researchers now shows that kids also frequently receive these types of imaging procedures during their routine clinical care, and highlights the importance of initiatives to ensure that those tests being performed are necessary and use the lowest possible doses of radiation.

MAYWOOD, Ill. – In the last 15 years the U.S has seen a sharp increase in the number of babies born as late-preterm infants, between 34 and 37 weeks' gestation. This is approximately 400,000 children each year, comprising over 70 percent of all preterm births. Often, late-preterm infants are treated the same as full-term infants since they are commonly a similar size and weight. Growing research is showing that this can be detrimental to a late-preterm infant's health and frequently results in readmission to the hospital within the first month of life.

Impregnating plastics with carbon dioxide

CO2 is more than just a waste product. In fact, it has a variety of uses: the chemical industry makes use of this colorless gas to produce urea, methanol and salicylic acid. Urea is a fertilizer, methanol is a fuel additive, and salicylic acid is an ingredient in aspirin.

GOES satellites watch 2011 approach, look back at 2010

The GOES series of satellites keep an eye on the weather happening over the continental U.S. and eastern Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and had a busy time with wild weather in 2010. Today, GOES-13 captured one of the last images of North and South America in 2010 as the world continues to turn toward 2011.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Members of the engineering faculty at Oregon State University have invented a new type of radiation detection and measurement device that will be particularly useful for cleanup of sites with radioactive contamination, making the process faster, more accurate and less expensive.

ITALY – Most agricultural crops require large quantities of nitrate-rich fertilizer to realize optimal yields. The dilemma for growers is finding ways to balance the amount of nitrogen needed for production while minimizing potentially harmful nitrates that can leach into ground and surface waters. Increased interest in environmentally beneficial "low-input" approaches is challenging researchers to identify genotypes that have a characteristic called "high nutrient use efficiency", or NUE.

SEATTLE—Many people in the U.S. have multiple common chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease, which complicates health care needs. When depression coexists with diabetes, heart disease, or both, health outcomes are often less favorable.

CORVALLIS, OR – Diseases caused by a species of fungus called Phytophthora syringae are responsible for significant economic losses on a wide range of plants, including pear. In the Pacific Northwest region of the United States, disease occurs during the winter in nursery stock, especially on trees that are harvested and stored in coolers or in outdoor sawdust beds.

QUEBEC, CANADA – A study in HortTechnology featured a new technology that improved greenhouse climates by reducing solar heat radiation and temperatures during the hot summer season. The study, published by a team of Canadian researchers, was the first investigation into the effects of application of the liquid foam technology as a shading method. Results showed that the technology improved greenhouse and plant microclimates and decreased air temperature more than conventional shading curtains traditionally used by greenhouse growers.

Broken glass yields clues to climate change

Clues to future climate may be found in the way an ordinary drinking glass shatters.

Results of a study published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences find that microscopic particles of dust can break apart in patterns that are similar to the fragment patterns of broken glass and other brittle objects.

ST. PAUL, Minn. –Epilepsy, a common and serious neurologic disorder that affects millions of people, is not getting the public attention and funding for research it deserves, according to an editorial on a study published in the January 4, 2011, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Broken glass yields clues to climate change

BOULDER--Clues to future climate may be found in the way that an ordinary drinking glass shatters.