Science and Enterprise

Month: March 2011

  • Improved Methods Match Suspect Sketches to Mugshots

    A computer science/engineering team at Michigan State University in East Lansing has developed a set of algorithms and created software that automatically match hand-drawn facial sketches to mug shots stored in law enforcement databases. Their findings appear in the March 2011 issue of the journal IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence (paid subscription…

  • Trial Tests New Radiation Treatment for Head, Neck Cancer

    Clinical trials of boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) at Helsinki University Central Hospital in Finland indicate the therapy has potential to treat patients with advanced head and neck cancer who have not responded to previous treatments. The results of the trial were published online in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics (paid subscription…

  • iPhone App to Test Brain Training in Older Adults

    Researchers at Queen’s University Belfast, in Northern Ireland, U.K.  are studying the value of brain training exercises for older adults with a prototype iPhone application to collect data and test the concept on live users. The Brain Jog app for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch is available as a free download from Apple’s iTunes…

  • New Process Being Developed to Keep Berries Fresh Longer

    A new way of improving the shelf life of soft fruit like strawberries and raspberries is being developed by researchers at universities and industry in the U.K. Food scientists at University of Nottingham are teaming with engineers at Loughborough University and British fruit grower Berryworld to test an anti-bacterial process called cold plasma as a…

  • Federal, Corporate Grants to Fund Manufacturing Technology

    A new public-private partnership will deliver $4.5 million in grant funding to help small- and medium-sized manufacturers in the U.S. Midwest make better use of advanced digital technology. The grants include $2 million from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) and $2.5 million from private-sector, state, and institutional partners. The partners providing the $2.5 million…

  • Lycera Corp., Merck to Partner on Autoimmune Drugs

    Lycera Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company in Plymouth, Michigan, says it has a collaboration agreement with the global drug maker company Merck to develop drug candidates that treat major autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, inflammatory bowel disease, and multiple sclerosis. Under the agreement, Lycera can receive up to $307 million, as well as later…

  • Dow to Release Control System for Herbicide-Adaptive Weeds

    Dow AgroSciences in Indianapolis, Indiana unveiled a new weed control system designed to counter the ability of weeds to adapt to common herbicides such as 2,4-D and glyphosates. The company says the new Enlist system builds on its previous work in chemistry and biotechnology. The product was designed to help farmers reduce weeds that have…

  • NIST Offers Updated Materials Stress-Simulation Software

    Computer scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Maryland have improved its software for materials engineers to calculate the impact of stress on the internal structure of materials. The Object-Oriented Finite (OOF) element analysis software is available as a free download that runs on Unix systems or derivatives, such as…

  • Computer Model Forecasts Stem Cell Longevity

    Researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute in La Jolla, California have developed a mathematical model that computes the length of time a bone marrow graft made of stem cells will last. The study, led by Christa Muller-Sieburg, appears online this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (paid subscription required). When…

  • Contracts Awarded for New Flu Vaccine Technologies

    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded contracts to two companies to help make flu vaccines available quickly for seasonal outbreaks and pandemics. The contracts total $215 million from HHS’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority. HHS awarded one contract to Novavax Inc., of Rockville, Maryland, for $97 million over the first…