WASHINGTON, May 29, 2014—A new twist on 3-D imaging technology could one day enable your self-driving car to spot a child in the street half a block away, let you answer your Smartphone from across the room with a wave of your hand, or play "virtual tennis" on your driveway. The new system, developed by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, can remotely sense objects across distances as long as 30 feet, 10 times farther than what could be done with comparable current low-power laser systems. With further development, the technology could be used to make ...

Female insects have one goal in life: to find the best place to lay their eggs. For fig wasps, that is the developing fruit of the luscious fig plant. However, when one particular parasitic fig wasp (Apocryta westwoodi grandi) descends onto a recently fertilised fruit, she has to bore her way through the tough unripe fig to find the larvae of other insects that are already developing within, which she will then parasitize to give her own eggs the best start. Fortunately, the insect's immensely long (7–8mm) and slender (~15 μm) ovipositor – which injects eggs into the ...

Boulder, Colo., USA - Two articles recently published online for the journal LITHOSPHERE investigate the influence of climate, erosion, and tectonics on the lay of the land in the Bolivian Andes. Nicole Gasparini of Tulane University and Kelin Whipple of Arizona State University tackle rainfall patterns, rock uplift, and the distribution of crustal deformation caused by tectonics. In both studies, they conclude that tectonics win out over rainfall when it comes to shaping Earth' surface in the area. Other new articles cover (1) isotopic dating of volcanic rocks in the ...

As a nursing professor assigned to one of UT Arlington's first online master's degree courses, Ronda Mintz-Binder had a stake in learning to motivate students online. Now, she's building on her experience with a research project that will help other professors. Mintz-Binder, who holds a master's degree in psychiatric/mental health nursing and a doctorate in nursing educational leadership, received two grants from the Dallas-based education company Academic Partnerships to initiate a multi-year study comparing the experiences of on-campus and online master's degree students. ...

The Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development, Neiker-Tecnalia, the public body that reports to the Sub-Ministry for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Policy of the Government of the Basque Autonomous Community, has confirmed the capacity of Chlamydomonas acidophila microalgae to absorb ammoniacal nitrogen present in the effluent generated in the digestion of organic waste coming from the agri-food sector. These algae can grow in these liquids and assimilate the ammonium, which prevents this gas from being volatilised in the form of ammonia (NH3) and contaminating ...

What: A survey of dentists in Massachusetts suggests that their confidence in treating patients with scleroderma may be related to their familiarity with the autoimmune disease. Dentists who reported feeling knowledgeable about scleroderma felt more prepared to provide care to patients with scleroderma, when compared to peers who did not feel as knowledgeable. Providing education to dentists may improve patient satisfaction and access to care, while simultaneously increasing dentists' knowledge and comfort. Background: Scleroderma, derived from the Greek words for "hard ...

Female mice deprived of dietary zinc for a relatively short time before conception experienced fertility and pregnancy problems and had smaller, less-developed fetuses than mice that ingested zinc during the same times, according to researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences. The findings have implications for human reproduction, scientists suggest. Going without zinc prior to ovulation had marked effects on the mice's reproductive functions. Zinc deficiency caused a high incidence of pregnancy loss, and embryos from the zinc-deficient diet group were ...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass-- Celebrated portrait photographers like Richard Avedon, Diane Arbus, and Martin Schoeller made their reputations with distinctive visual styles that sometimes required the careful control of lighting possible only in the studio. Now MIT researchers, and their colleagues at Adobe Systems and the University of Virginia, have developed an algorithm that could allow you to transfer those distinctive styles to your own cellphone photos. They'll present their findings in August at Siggraph, the premier graphics conference. "Style transfer" is a thriving area ...

WASHINGTON, DC, May 22, 2014 — A new study suggests that having children is contagious among female high school friends during early adulthood. "The study shows the contagion is particularly strong within a short window of time: it increases immediately after a high school friend gives birth, reaches a peak about two years later, and then decreases, becoming negligible in the long-run," said co-author Nicoletta Balbo, a postdoctoral fellow at the Carlo F. Dondena Centre for Research on Social Dynamics at Bocconi University in Italy. "Overall, this research demonstrates ...

WASHINGTON, DC, May 27, 2014 — A new study suggests that how one compares weight-wise with others in his or her community plays a key role in determining how satisfied the person is with his or her life. "The most interesting finding for us was that, in U.S. counties where obesity is particularly prevalent, being obese has very little negative effect on one's life satisfaction," said study co-author Philip M. Pendergast, a doctoral student in sociology at the University of Colorado-Boulder. "In addition, we found that being 'normal weight' has little benefit in counties ...

Circumcision is performed for various reasons, including those that are based on religion, aesthetics, or health. New research indicates that the procedure may help prevent prostate cancer in some men. The findings, which are published in BJU International, add to a growing list of advantages to circumcision. Besides advanced age, African ancestry, and family history of prostate cancer, no other risk factors for prostate cancer have been definitively established. This has fuelled the search for modifiable risk factors. Marie-Élise Parent, PhD and Andrea Spence, PhD, ...

There is substantial geographic variation in access to kidney transplantation among the more than 4000 US dialysis facilities that treat patients with kidney failure, with a disproportionate lack of access to those in the Southeast. Certain factors, which are described in several papers published in the American Journal of Transplantation, seem to explain these differences, and they underscore the need for political, financial, and health systems changes to reduce transplant inequities across the country. Researchers have noticed variability in transplant rates between ...

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- An increasing number of cities around the world now include preparations for climate change in their basic urban planning — but only a small portion of them have been able to make such plans part of their economic development priorities, according to a unique global survey of cities released today. The Urban Climate Change Governance Survey (UCGS), based on responses from 350 cities worldwide, underscores the extent to which city leaders recognize climate change as a major challenge — even as they are trying to figure out how their responses can create ...

(NEW YORK, NY, May 29, 2014) – As a profession, nurse anesthesia is at a tipping point. While recent federal legislation and changes to the U.S. Medicare program have expanded opportunities for certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) to provide care to more patients and receive reimbursement for their services, many states still restrict their scope of practice and limit their pay. A special section in the current issue of Clinical Scholars Review, the journal of advanced practice nursing published by Columbia Nursing, explores how the Affordable Care Act (ACA) ...

SEATTLE—Today, 2.1 billion people—nearly 30% of the world's population—are either obese or overweight, according to a new, first-of-its kind analysis of trend data from 188 countries. The rise in global obesity rates over the last three decades has been substantial and widespread, presenting a major public health epidemic in both the developed and the developing world. The study, "Global, regional, and national prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adults during 1980-2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013," conducted by ...

A trip down to the local DVD store has slowly become a thing of the past thanks to the rise of video streaming services, which allow viewers to indulge in back-to-back episodes of hit TV series like House of Cards and Breaking Bad at the click of a button. Now, a new study has shown that streaming can be much better for the environment, requiring less energy and emitting less carbon dioxide (CO2), than some traditional methods of DVD renting, buying and viewing. The researchers, who have published their study today, 29 May, in IOP Publishing's journal Environmental ...

Female insects have one goal in life: to find the best place to lay their eggs. For fig wasps, that is the developing fruit of the luscious fig plant. However, when one particular parasitic fig wasp (Apocryta westwoodi grandi) descends onto a recently fertilised fruit, she has to bore her way through the tough unripe fig to find the larvae of other insects that are already developing within, which she will then parasitize to give her own eggs the best start. Fortunately, the insect's immensely long (7–8mm) and slender (~15 μm) ovipositor – which injects eggs into the ...

Worldwide, there has been a startling increase in rates of obesity and overweight in both adults (28% increase) and children (up by 47%) in the past 33 years, with the number of overweight and obese people rising from 857 million in 1980 to 2.1 billion in 2013, according to a major new analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013, published in The Lancet. However, the rates vary widely throughout the world with more than half of the world's 671 million obese individuals living in just ten countries—the USA (more than 13%), China and India (15% combined), Russia, ...

The lunar cycle may synchronize with feeding activity, luring large muskies to take angler bait, according to results published May 28, 2014, in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Mark Vinson from U.S. Geological Survey and Ted Angradi from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Previous studies have suggested a relationship between the moon and fish behavior. To investigate this further, scientists analyzed angler catch records for evidence of an effect due to the lunar cycle and explored sources of its variation on fishermen's catch. They analyzed angling catch records ...

Threatened female bark scorpions sting quicker than males, likely to compensate for reduced ability to flee the threat, according to results published May 28, 2014, in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Bradley Carlson from Pennsylvania State University and colleagues. Differences between male and female scorpion bodies and behavior may result from sexual or environmental pressures. For example, female bark scorpions are pregnant 80% of the year, and as a result, may deal with threats differently than males. To investigate this further, scientists tested the effects ...

STANFORD, Calif. — Most physicians would choose a do-not-resuscitate or "no code" status for themselves when they are terminally ill, yet they tend to pursue aggressive, life-prolonging treatment for patients facing the same prognosis, according to a study from the Stanford University School of Medicine to be published May 28 in PLOS ONE. It's a disconnect that needs to be better understood, said VJ Periyakoil, MD, clinical associate professor of medicine and lead author of the study. "Why do we physicians choose to pursue such aggressive treatment for our patients ...

A form of speech known as vocal fry that is low in pitch and creaky sounding is increasingly common among young American women. Although previous research has suggested that this manner of speaking is associated with education and upward mobility, a new study indicates that vocal fry is actually perceived negatively, particularly in a labor market context. The study, published online in the open-access journal PLOS ONE (The Public Library of Science ONE), indicates that women who speak in vocal fry are perceived as less attractive, less competent, less educated, less ...

A multi-institutional team of researchers has pinpointed exactly what goes wrong when chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients develop resistance to ibrutinib, a highly effective, precisely targeted anti-cancer drug. In a correspondence published online May 28 in the New England Journal of Medicine, they show how the mutation triggers resistance. Their finding could guide development of new agents to treat drug-resistant disease. Ibrutinib received accelerated approval from the Food and Drug Administration for use in chronic lymphocytic leukemia in February. It has ...

MINNEAPOLIS – People with high levels of cynical distrust may be more likely to develop dementia, according to a study published in the May 28, 2014, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Cynical distrust, which is defined as the belief that others are mainly motivated by selfish concerns, has been associated with other health problems, such as heart disease. This is the first study to look at the relationship between cynicism and dementia. "These results add to the evidence that people's view on life and personality ...

Screening for lung cancer leads to early detection and treatment, but can it also make people stop smoking before they get cancer? The answer is that it depends on the seriousness of the results, according to a study published May 28 in the JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute. To determine if there is an association between type of screening result and smoking cessation, Martin C. Tammemagi of the Department of Health Sciences, Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, and colleagues used data from the Lung Screening Study component of the US ...