Tag: economics
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Integrated Exploration Methods Urged for Oil and Gas
Researchers at Tel Aviv University in Israel have combined several surveying methods to develop an integrated prospecting technology for oil and gas. The methods proposed by geophysicist Lev Eppelbaum and zoologist Youri Katz appeared earlier this year in the journal Positioning. Eppelbaum and Katz created detailed structural-tectonic maps of Israel and surrounding areas from an…
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Insomnia Costs U.S. Employers Billions in Lost Productivity
Researchers from universities, hospitals, and companies in the U.S. and Europe calculated the lost productivity of Americans suffering from insomnia at an annual cost of $63.2 billion to employers. Their findings from the study, funded by the pharmaceutical company Merck, appear in the 1 September issue of the journal Sleep (paid subscription required). The team…
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More Planning Needed for Water Use in Biofuel Crops
An overlooked factor in planning for prairie grasses as biofuel feedstocks is their use of water, according to a new study by researchers in the U.S. and Germany. Their findings appear this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (paid subscription required). Engineers Praveen Kumar and Phong Le at University of…
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University of Utah Spins-Off 23 Companies in 2010-2011
The University of Utah in Salt Lake City, named the top institution for creating start-up companies, says the school spun-off 23 new companies in its 2010-2011 fiscal year, most of which are based on scientific or engineering discoveries. The new figures were released in the annual report of the university’s Technology Venture Development office. In…
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People Without Jobs and Insurance Skip Medicine, Health Care
A report from the Commonwealth Fund in New York says the vast majority of people who lost both their jobs and health insurance in the past two years skipped needed health care or did not fill prescriptions because of the cost. The data for the study come from the Commonwealth Fund’s 2010 Biennial Health Insurance…
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Roche to Build Canadian Pharmaceutical Development Center
Roche Canada, a division of the global drug company based in Switzerland, says it will build a new pharmaceutical development center at its current site in Mississauga, Ontario near Toronto. The new center, says Roche, involves an investment of $190 million over the next five years, and will add 200 skilled staff. The new center…
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FDA Issues Draft Clinical Trial, Benefit-Risk Guidelines
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued separate draft guidelines involving medical devices, one for designing better clinical trials, and the other for benefit-risk determinations. Both documents are open for public comment for 90 days. FDA’s guidance documents generally do not establish legal responsibilities, but instead describe FDA’s current thinking and recommendations. The clinical…
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Environmental Issues Changing Atlantic Mackerel Distribution
Scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have found warming temperatures of the U.S. continental shelf have changed distribution patterns of Atlantic mackerel, a species found in waters from Cape Hatteras to Newfoundland. The team from NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center published its findings in the journal Marine and Coastal Fisheries: Dynamics, Management…
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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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Top European Corporate R&D to Increase 5 Pct a Year
Leading R&D investing companies based in the EU expect their global research and development investments to grow by five percent annually from 2011 to 2013, according to a survey released today by the European Commission in Brussels. The findings by the EC’s Joint Research Centre are based on survey responses from 205 mainly larger companies…