Month: September 2013
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Near-Infrared Light Tests Paintings’ Ability to Travel
A collaboration of British, Spanish, and Slovenian chemistry researchers and fine art conservation specialists devised a technique adapted from the life sciences to test the ability of paintings to withstand the rigors of travel without damaging the works of art. The team led by Matija Strlic of the Centre for Sustainable Heritage at University College London…
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System Measures Ball-Head Impact to Simulate Sports Injuries
Engineers at Washington State University in Pullman built a system that lets sports scientists measure the impact of a softball hitting a player’s head to simulate potential injuries based on the properties of the ball. Washington State engineering professor Lloyd Smith and project engineer Derek Nevins will report their findings next week at the Asia-Pacific…
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Safer, Cheaper Ultraviolet PCB Disposal Process Developed
A team of engineers and chemists at University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada devised a new process for cleaning soil contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs, cancer-causing chemicals banned in the U.S. since 1979, but with residues still in the environment. The new methods, say Calgary engineering professor Gopal Achari and chemistry professor Cooper Langford,…
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Copper and Copper Alloys Found to Destroy Norovirus
Biologists at University of Southampton in the U.K. found surfaces made of copper and copper alloys can quickly destroy norovirus, the pathogen causing acute gastroenteritis. Researcher Sarah Warnes and Bill Keevil, director of the university’s Environmental Healthcare Unit, published their findings earlier this week in the online journal PLoS One. Norovirus is a highly contagious…
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Quality Incentives Found Effective for Health Care Outcomes
A test of financial incentives for delivering high quality health care shows patients of medical providers receiving those pay-for-performance incentives have better outcomes for a number of common conditions than patients receiving care through the traditional fee-for-service model. The research team from University of California in San Francisco and New York City Department of Health…
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Nanodiamonds Improve Chemotherapy Targeting for Brain Tumors
Researchers at University of California in Los Angeles, with colleagues from Northwestern University and Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, developed a more precise delivery method for chemotherapy drugs using nanoscale diamonds to treat brain tumors. The team that included participants from the lab of UCLA biomedical engineering professor Dean Ho published their findings online in…
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Wireless Sensor System Detects Occurrence of Elderly Falls
Engineers at University of Utah in Salt Lake City developed a system combining wireless radio-wave sensors and a control algorithm to detect a person falling, without the individual wearing a separate device. Graduate student Brad Mager, representing the Utah team, presents the findings of a proof-of-concept test of the system today at the IEEE Personal,…
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Clinical Trial Tests Implantable Melanoma Vaccine
Engineering and medical researchers at Harvard University, with colleagues from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, started an early-stage clinical trial testing an implanted vaccine to treat melanoma, an aggressive form of skin cancer.The trial is designed primarily to test the safety of the proposed treatments with patients having advanced melanoma that has spread in the body,…
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Stanford University Adds Funds for Start-Up Accelerator
Stanford University and its hospital system, with the business accelerator program StartX, unveiled a three-year, $3.6 million fund to support early-stage enterprises started by Stanford-affiliated entrepreneurs. StartX is a training and mentoring program for founders of new companies with a connection to Stanford including students, faculty, postdocs, and alumni. StartX, a not-for-profit organization, connects new…
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Shanah Tovah 5774
The Jewish new year starts tonight and extends through tomorrow night, so Science and Enterprise will not be published tomorrow, 5 September. We wish everyone a wonderful and peaceful new year. Science and Enterprise will be back on Friday 6 September. * * *