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Engineers Developing Human Driving Model to Reduce Crashes
Researchers at University of Michigan and MIT are devising an algorithm that models human driving behavior to help cars avoid accidents on the road. Early results of the model are expected to be published in the journal IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine. Mechanical engineers Domitilla Del Vecchio of MIT and Rajeev Verma at University of…
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Water Cooled Cap Helps Relieve Primary Insomnia
Researchers at University of Pittsburgh have developed and tested a cap that cools the brain during sleep, and appears to help people with primary insomnia — sleeplessness not caused by some other condition — find relief. Eric Nofzinger and Daniel Buysse presented their findings on 13 June at a meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep…
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Premature Infant Respiratory Support Guidelines Tested
Medical researchers at Children’s Hospital Boston tested a gentle form of respiratory support for premature infants instead of a mechanical ventilator and found more favorable outcomes, as well as lower treatment costs. Their results appear in the online issue of the journal Pediatrics (paid subscription required). A team led by Bernadette Levesque of Children’s Hospital…
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Oak Ridge Lab Develops Web 2.0 System for HazMat Tracking
Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee is developing a system for tracking hazardous materials that lets stakeholders use their own technology and protocols for keeping track of these shipments. The Tracking 2.0 system, that employs a Web-based social media approach to HazMat tracking, was funded by the Office of Science in the Department of Energy…
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Researchers to Study Blood Transfusion Risk in the U.K.
Researchers in the U.K. will examine the risks and benefits of receiving blood or blood products, including the need for patients to give informed consent before receiving blood. The study will be a collaboration between Helen Busby at the University of Leicester, Julie Kent at University of the West of England in Bristol, and Anne-Maree…
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New Analytical Tools Reveal Cancer DNA Properties
Researchers from the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital – Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project developed a computerized algorithm to better identify genomic properties of cancer cells. Their findings appear in the advance online issue of the journal Nature Methods (paid subscription required). The analytical methods are contained in a software package called Clipping Reveals…
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International Consortium Sequences Wheat Pathogen Genome
A group of agricultural scientists has sequenced the genome of a pathogen that causes the wheat disease septoria tritici blotch, responsible for severe crop losses. Their findings appeared 9 June 2011 in the journal PLoS Genetics. The consortium, led by USDA plant pathologist Steven Goodwin included researchers from the U.S., Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Iran,…
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New Process Integrates Cancer Lab Studies, Clinical Trials
A joint project of National Cancer Institute (NCI), Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine, and University of California at Davis plans to develop a more consistent model for integrating the results of preclinical cancer research with human clinical trials. The new process comes under NCI’s Advanced Technology Partnerships Initiative and its Center for Advanced Preclinical…
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Company, University Partner on Steel Manufacturing Process
A materials science lab at Ohio State University in Columbus is working with a manufacturer in Detroit to better understand the science behind the small company’s high-performance steel product. The researchers and the company’s president reported their findings last month in the journal Materials Science and Technology (paid subscription required). Gary Cola, founder of the…
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Court Backs “Clear and Convincing Evidence” Patent Standard
The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 8-0 vote, upheld a lower court ruling that Microsoft Corporation infringed on the patent of a small Canadian software developer, and affirmed the current high bar challengers must clear before overturning a patent. The unanimous decision — Chief Justice John Roberts did not vote because he owns Microsoft stock…