Tech

This use of a leading-edge vortex to increase lift is remarkably similar to the trick employed by insects, bats, and hummingbirds when they sweep their wings back and forth to hover. The finding means that plants and animals have converged evolutionarily on an identical aerodynamic solution for improving their flight performance.

A modest reduction in the amount of carbohydrates eaten, without calorie restriction and weight loss, appears to increase a sense of fullness, which may help people eat less, a preliminary study found. The results were presented at The Endocrine Society's 91st Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.

CHICAGO (June 11, 2009) – New research published in the June issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons shows that a method used by air traffic controllers tracks patient data more effectively and with fewer errors compared with current hospital methods, primarily the use of clipboards.

CHICAGO (June 11, 2009) – New research published in the June issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons shows that a risk calculator developed by the American College of Surgeons (ACS) can help surgeons provide patients with more detailed and accurate preoperative information about the risk of death and complications following colorectal surgery. The tool will also allow surgeons to adjust risk probabilities for patients based on their hospital's performance during prior years.

CHICAGO (June 11, 2009) – New research published in the June issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons reveals that in counties with the highest levels of segregation, an increase in the African-American or Hispanic population was associated with a decrease in the availability and use of surgical services and an increase in the number of emergency room visits.

HOUSTON - Four suspects often found at the scene of the crime in cancer are guilty of the initiation and progression of breast cancer in mice that are resistant to the disease, a team led by scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reports in the June edition of Cancer Cell.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – The Nintendo Wii may help treat symptoms of Parkinson's disease, including depression, a Medical College of Georgia researcher says.

Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disease that impairs motor skills. Dr. Herz theorized that the popular computer game console, which simulates various sports and activities, could improve coordination, reflexes and other movement-related skills, but he found additional benefits as well.

Fear plays a major role in whether women decide to go for cancer screening or not, but healthcare providers underestimate how much women need to know and wrongly assume that they will ask for information if they want it.

Those are the two key findings from a study published in the June issue of the UK-based Journal of Advanced Nursing.

Bioremediation of industrial sites and petrochemical spillages often involves finding microbes that can gorge themselves on the toxic chemicals. This leaves behind a non-toxic residue or mineralized material. Writing in the International Journal of Environment and Pollution, researchers in China describe studies of a new microbe that can digest hydrocarbons.

CHICAGO --- If you are pregnant and your mate complains your frequent snoring is rattling the bedroom windows, you may have bigger problems than an annoyed, sleep-deprived partner.

A new study from researchers at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine has found that women who reported frequent snoring during their pregnancy were more likely to develop gestational diabetes -- a condition than can cause health problems for the mother and baby. The study also found pregnancy increases the likelihood that a woman will snore.

WESTCHESTER, Ill. – Body Mass Index (BMI) varies as a function of habitual sleep duration, according to a research abstract that will be presented on Thursday, June 11, at SLEEP 2009, the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.

Results indicate that twins who slept between 7 and 8.9 hours each night had a lower mean BMI (25.0 kg/m2) compared to those who regularly slept either more (25.2 kg/m2) or less (26.4 kg/m2) per night. The relationship between sleep duration and BMI remained after controlling for genetics and shared environment.

PHILADELPHIA –- Engineers from the University of Pennsylvania, Sandia National Laboratories and Rice University have demonstrated the formation of interconnected carbon nanostructures on graphene substrate in a simple assembly process that involves heating few-layer graphene sheets to sublimation using electric current that may eventually lead to a new paradigm for building integrated carbon-based devices.

BERKELEY, CA – Graphene is the two-dimensional crystalline form of carbon, whose extraordinary electron mobility and other unique features hold great promise for nanoscale electronics and photonics. But there's a catch: graphene has no bandgap.

Berkeley -- Today's transistors and light emitting diodes (LED) are based on silicon and gallium arsenide semiconductors, which have fixed electronic and optical properties.

Now, University of California, Berkeley, researchers have shown that a form of carbon called graphene has an electronic structure that can be controlled by an electrical field, an effect that can be exploited to make tunable electronic and photonic devices.

HOUSTON - Four suspects often found at the scene of the crime in cancer are guilty of the initiation and progression of breast cancer in mice that are resistant to the disease, a team led by scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reports in the June edition of Cancer Cell.