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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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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)…

  • Patent Awarded for Bacterial Phosphorus Removal Process

    Bion Environmental Technologies Inc. in Crestone, Colorado says it has been granted a U.S. patent for its treatment process for organic wastes, particularly livestock wastes. The company’s patent for “Micro-Electron Acceptor Phosphorus Accumulating Organisms” uses bacteria to remove phosphorus from livestock and other animal wastes. Phosphorus is a chemical found in animal waste, which can…

  • 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…

  • 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…