Tag: university
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Two-Legged Robot Developed with Running Ability
Engineers at University of Michigan in Ann Arbor have developed a bipedal robot with the ability to run as well as walk. MABEL, as the robot is called, is funded by the National Science Foundation and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. MABEL was first developed in 2008 as a collaboration between Michigan’s Jessy Grizzle, a…
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Evaluation Tool Developed to Predict Death in Obese People
Medical researchers and statisticians from Canada and the U.S. have developed a rating scale to predict mortality of overweight and obese people. The Edmonton obesity staging system, named for the city in Alberta, Canada where the scale was developed, is described in the 15 August issue of CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). The most common…
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Clinical Trial to Test Stroke Treatment for Diabetics
The University of Virginia Health System in Charlottesville has received a $25 million grant to lead a national clinical trial investigating a new treatment that could benefit ischemic stroke patients. The National Institutes of Neurological Diseases and Stroke, part of National Institutes of Health, is funding the study. Ischemic stroke occurs when a blood vessel…
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Algorithm Helps Identify Viral Strains, Mutations
Researchers in Israel and the U.S. have developed computational methods to analyze the composition of proteins that control a virus’s ability to attach to host cells and produce more virus. The unique position of amino acids in those proteins acts as a signature for the virus, and identifying that signature can help pinpoint the virus’s…
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Auto Crash Model Can Simulate Offshore Oil Pipe Breaks
Engineers at MIT have shown how a simulation model that tests automobile components for crashworthiness can be applied to predict the performance of pipes in offshore drilling accidents. The team from MIT’s Impact and Crashworthiness Laboratory presented their findings at the International Offshore and Polar Engineering Conference in June. Tomasz Wierzbicki, professor of applied mechanics…
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USDA, Energy Fund Research to Accelerate Biofuel Crops
The U.S. Departments of Energy and Agriculture have awarded 10 grants totaling $12.2 million for up to three years for research on improving the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of growing biofuel and bioenergy crops. Energy’s Office of Science will provide $10.2 million in funding for eight projects, while USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)…
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University 2010 Start-Ups, Patents Rise; Licensing Stalls
The number of start-up companies and U.S. patents applied for and issued based on research at American universities gained in 2010 compared to 2009, according to the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM), an organization of technology transfer specialists. However, the licensing of those findings and creation of new products leveled off or fell in…
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Ultrathin Electronic Patch Devised for Medical Applications
Engineers in the U.S., Singapore, and China have developed a technology platform that makes possible electronic medical functions such as sensing or diagnostics in an ultrathin patch worn directly on the skin. The team that developed this technology, led by John Rogers of University of Illinois in Champaign, published its findings in this week’s issue…
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New Technology Found to Treat Broad Range of Viruses
Scientists at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington, Massachusetts have designed a class of therapies to identify cells that have been infected by any type of virus — from the common cold to Ebola — then kill those cells to terminate the infection. Their findings appear in the journal PLoS One. The technology targets a type…
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Fewer Drug-Resistant Bacteria in New Organic Poultry Farms
A study of mid-Atlantic poultry farms that switched to organic practices shows significantly lower levels of drug-resistant enterococci bacteria that can spread to humans. The findings by researchers from University of Maryland, Johns Hopkins University, and Pennsylvania State University appear online in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. The research, led by Amy Sapkota with the…