Science and Enterprise

Tag: mathematics

  • Personal Genetic Information Vulnerabilty Exposed

    Researchers from the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts were able to identify some 50 people who submitted samples as part of genetic studies with publicly accessible online resources. The team led by Yaniv Erlich of the Whitehead Institute, with colleagues from MIT, Harvard, Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, International…

  • Semiconductor Research Corp, DARPA, Launch University Nets

    Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Virginia unveiled their support for six U.S. university research centers. STARnet, as the program is called, will devote $194 million microelectronics research over five years. SRC is university-company research consortium for semiconductors and related technologies…

  • Generic HIV Drugs Save Money, But Could Impair Effectiveness

    Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and Yale University in New Haven calculate that switching generic for branded HIV drugs would provide substantial financial savings, but could impede the treatments’ effectiveness. The team’s findings appear in today in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine (paid subscription required).…

  • Simulation Seeks Clues to Motivations for Vaccination

    Researchers at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina used an online computer game to simulate an infectious disease epidemic and better understand the motivations behind getting or avoiding preventive actions. The work of Wake Forest economists Frederick Chen, Amanda Griffith, Allin Cottrell, and computer scientist Yue-Ling Wong appear this week in the online journal…

  • Signaling, Movement Properties Found in Synthetic Gels

    Chemical engineers at University of Pittsburgh developed a computational model to track the ability of certain synthetic gels to sense a chemical signal and reconfigure themselves in response. The team led by Pittsburgh professor Anna Balazs describes its findings this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (paid subscription required). Balazs…

  • Addition of Lightning Data Increases Tornado Warning Times

    Engineers at Earth Networks in Germantown, Maryland developed a system for analyzing lightning occurrences during severe weather they say can increase lead times in predicting most tornados by 50 percent. Chonglin (Charlie) Liu of Earth Networks will discuss the company’s dangerous thunderstorm alert system in a presentation this week at a meeting of the American…

  • Genetic Tech Company to Acquire Prenatal Test Developer

    Illumina Inc., a developer of genetic diagnostics systems in San Diego, will acquire Verinata Health Inc. in Redwood City, California, a provider of non-invasive prenatal tests for high-risk pregnancies. The deal will pay Verinata Health $350 million, with up to $100 million in additional milestone payments through 2015. Illumnia offers technology for research and diagnostics,…

  • Battery Life Extended for Working Electric Locomotive

    Engineers at Pennsylvania State University in University Park wrote a new energy-reviving algorithm for lead-acid batteries that power an electric locomotive hauling freight for Norfolk Southern Railway. The team led by Penn State mechanical engineering professor Christopher Rahn describe their research, funded by Department of Energy, in this month’s issue of Journal of Power Sources…

  • Statistical Tools Sought for Smaller Placebo Group Sizes

    A new challenge on InnoCentive seeks a technique for reducing sizes of placebo group samples in clinical trials — patients who do not receive the test treatments, to whom the patients getting the treatments are compared — without compromising the ability to interpret the results. Proposals describing the solution to this challenge are due by…

  • Economic Growth Affected by Parasitic, Insect-Spread Disease

    Researchers in the U.S. and France built a mathematical model to estimate the impact of health on economic data that indicates infectious diseases spread by insects, called vector-borne diseases, and parasites found in tropical regions affect economic development in those countries. Their analysis is published online in the journal PLoS Biology. The team led by…