NRC/CRF laser-based technique for measuring “real world”emissions seen as key to validating federal vehicle compliance procedures
Using a unique laser-based, soot heating technique, a team led by researchers at Sandia National Laboratories’ Combustion Research Facility (CRF) has demonstrated the ability to measure “real world” particulate emissions from a vehicle under actual driving conditions.
While on-board measurements of gaseous emissions are routine, real-time par
Scientists at The Hospital for Sick Children (Sick Kids), the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and the University of Toronto (U of T) have identified an alternate form of the disease gene and protein for the neurodevelopmental condition Rett syndrome. This discovery is being incorporated into a new molecular test that will aid not only in the diagnosis of Rett syndrome, but also for other developmental disabilities. This research is reported in the April issue of the scientific journal N
Don’t hit the snooze alarm too many times: Too many hours in bed can cause as many sleep problems as too few, according to a new study.
“Long” sleepers who slumber more than eight hours a night and “short” sleepers who get fewer than seven hours of shuteye both report more sleep complaints than people who sleep in the “just right” zone of seven to eight hours, say Michael A. Grandner, B.A., and Daniel F. Kripke, M.D., of the University of California, San Diego. Their study appears in the jo
A protein released from the lungs of a developing mouse fetus initiates a cascade of chemical events leading to the mother’s initiation of labor, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas have found.
The research, which has implications for humans, marks the first time a link between a specific fetal lung protein and labor has been identified, said Dr. Carole Mendelson, professor of biochemistry and obstetrics and gynecology and senior author of the study. The paper appear
The culprit behind mad cow disease, a.k.a. bovine spongiform encephalopathy, is the most infamous mammalian form of prions. Prions are misfolded proteins that are capable of growing, replicating, and being passed on to daughter cells – that is, they are by themselves heritable. Beyond their disease manifestation, prions also occur naturally in some organisms (such as yeast) and may play important roles in their growth and development. Now, Osherovich and colleagues have identified the amino acid seq
Training for machine tool process is often limited by cost and safety concerns, but a new computer-supported learning environment known as VIRTOOL utilises interactive 3D graphics and virtual reality techniques to provide valuable experience to trainees.
Targeting machine tool manufacturers, industrial end-users, and education entities, VIRTOOL makes it possible to simulate the preparation, use and first level maintenance operations of any machine working by means of movement and interactio
Institute of Physics Condensed Matter and Materials Physics Conference
University of Warwick, 4-7 April, 2004
Developments in predicting snow formation, snap-shot MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), organic semiconductor technology, high temperature superconductivity, and progress towards quantum computers are some of the topics being presented at a major conference organised by the Institute of Physics next month. The four-day conference, CMMP 2004, will take place from Sunday 4th
Institute of Physics Condensed Matter and Materials Physics Conference
University of Warwick, 4-7 April, 2004
Developments in snap-shot MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), organic semiconductor technology, high temperature superconductivity, and progress towards quantum computers are some of the topics being presented at a major conference organised by the Institute of Physics next month. The four-day conference, CMMP 2004, will take place from Sunday 4th to Wednesday 7th April 200
While condom use remains the most effective protection against sexual transmission of HIV, it is clear that in many parts of the world women are not empowered to insist on it.
The urgent need for novel strategies to block HIV-1 transmission is being recognised by an Europe-wide consortium, the European Microbicides Project (EMPRO) led by King’s College London and funded by the European Commission.
The project aims to develop new products, called microbicides, containing molecules
Air travel, increasing urbanization and modern farming practices are all helping to spread deadly virus diseases carried by blood-sucking mosquitoes and ticks, according to scientists from the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology at Oxford, speaking on Thursday, 01 April 2004, at the Society for General Microbiology’s meeting in Bath.
The Oxford scientists describe how West Nile virus probably arrived in New York in 1999, and how it rapidly spread across North America killing people and tho
Current measures which fail to significantly predict whether sexual offenders will repeat their crime could be improved by taking into account psychological and lifestyle factors. These factors could also enhance risk assessment for violent offenders.
This is the conclusion of Leam Craig, of Forensic Psychology Practice Ltd and Anthony Beech and Kevin Browne of the Psychology Department at Birmingham University, who will present their research today, Monday 22 March 2004, at the British Psy
Masses of large ocean-going squid have inundated the shores of Southern Chile, alarming local fishermen who fear these carnivorous invaders could threaten fish stocks. Envisat has helped account for their otherwise mysterious arrival.
These jumbo flying squid – Dosidicus gigas is their Latin name – are some of the largest known squids on the planet: the ones here measure between 70 to 150 centimetres in length, although specimens have been known to reach more than three metres. Making their
This 3D image shows a portion of the southern flank of Ascraeus Mons, the northernmost volcano of the Tharsis volcano group.
The peculiar depressions which can be observed here, and on several Martian volcanoes, are so-called ’lava tubes’. The anaglyph image has been calculated from the nadir and stereo channels and it was taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on Mars Express, from an altitude of 271 kilometres. North is at the right. The 3D image requires stereoscopic (red/gree
Researchers suggest today that we should increase our vitamin D intake, as they reveal the results of a breast cancer study.
Results from a new study show for the first time how improved vitamin D levels in women could prevent breast cancer. Previously it was thought that the active form of the vitamin, calcitriol, which is a potent anti-cancer agent, was only made in the kidney. These researchers have discovered that breast tissue also contains the enzyme that activates vitamin D, and leve
Patients who are taking statins, the cholesterol-lowering drugs, before they suffer a stroke leave hospital in a better state, according to research published in BMC Medicine this week. As statin use is on the increase, perhaps suffering a stroke may no longer have such serious consequences for many people. Taking statins protects people against heart disease and stroke. This has prompted physicians to prescribe statins to people at high risk of these conditions. The researchers found that “
Debris from gobbled-up galaxy could be ’smoking gun’ for dark matter
WIMPs speeding at 670,000 mph on a “highway” in space may be raining onto Earth – a phenomenon that might prove the existence of “dark matter” that makes up most our galaxy and one-fourth of the universe, says a study co-authored by a University of Utah physicist.
Many researchers have long suspected that dark matter may be made of WIMPS or Weakly Interacting Massive Particles, which are theorized subatomic
Feedback
