Month: November 2010
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Machine Learning Helps Decipher Consumer Medical Searches
Many consumers turn to Web sites like WebMD for comprehensive health and medical information, but they cannot help as much if visitors searching the sites use unclear or unorthodox language to describe their conditions. A group of Georgia Tech researchers in Atlanta have created a machine-learning model that enables the sites to learn visitors’ dialect…
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Univ. Nanotech Center Opens Collaborations in Japan
The College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) of the University at Albany in New York has established partnerships with three educational and technological institutions in Japan. These collaborations in nanoscale education and research and development are the first for CNSE in the Pacific Rim. Joint programs are underway between CNSE and Japan’s National Institute…
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Engineers Test Fire’s Effects on Structural Steel
Researchers in engineering at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana are studying the effects of fire on steel structures, such as buildings and bridges. The research uses a unique heating system and a specialized laboratory for testing large beams and other components. Building fires may reach temperatures of 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,800 degrees Fahrenheit), say…
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Foundation, Company Partner on Diabetes Clinical Study
The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) in New York, N.Y. and Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. in San Diego, California said today they entered into an agreement to provide financial support for a clinical proof-of-concept study to investigate the effects of Amylin’s metreleptin, an analog of the human hormone leptin, in patients with type 1 diabetes. Researchers…
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Intermittent posting today
I will be attending meetings of the Public Diplomacy Alumni Association today, so further posting of items will continue this afternoon.
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Pfizer and UCSF Sign R&D Collaboration, More Planned
Pfizer Inc., the New York, N.Y. pharmaceutical manufacturer, said today it will establish a network of partnerships with academic medical centers to access the talents of university researchers. Called the Global Centers for Therapeutic Innovation, the University of California, San Francisco is the first university in Pfizer’s network. Pfizer plans to establish a presence at…
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Lighting Technology Helps Combat Hospital Superbugs
A lighting system that can kill hospital bacteria resistant to antibiotics called superbugs has been developed by researchers at University of Strathclyde in Glascow, Scotland. The superbug bacteria killed by this technology include methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Clostridium difficile (c. diff). A team of professors from the university’s engineering, physics, and biology departments discovered…
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New iPhone App Offers HIV Drug Info
University of Liverpool in the U.K. has released an iPhone application (app), — HIV iChart — that provides access to information about drug interactions for both health care professionals and HIV patients. The HIV iChart app is based on the university’s HIV drug Web site that offers a comprehensive resource on potential drug interactions between…
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Sensor Gives Faster Soil Erosion Test on Structures
Researchers from North Carolina State University in Raleigh have developed a sensor that allows engineers to assess the scour potential of soils at various depths and on-site. This technology, for the first time, can help evaluate the safety of civil infrastructure before and after storm events. Called the “in situ scour evaluation probe,” the sensor…
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Baking Soda Improves Oil Output from Algae
Sodium bicarbonate, the familiar baking soda found in households worldwide, can increase the production of oil precursors from algae, according to researchers at Montana State University (MSU) in Bozeman. However, for baking soda to work with algae, it must be added a precisely the right time, and pinning down that time was a big part…