Two Queen's researchers have contributed to a significant breakthrough in solar technology. Their research has led to a new solar photovoltaic thermal (PVT) system that generates both electricity and heat. Solar PVTs are normally made with crystal silicon cells which generate electricity, but little heat. Stephen Harrison and Joshua Pearce (Mechanical and Materials Engineering) designed and tested amorphous silicon cells in a PVT system. Their research shows increased heat generation because of higher operating temperatures and 10 per cent more solar electric output. "These ...

EAST LANSING, Mich. — A new biofuel production process created by Michigan State University researchers produces energy more than 20 times higher than existing methods. The results, published in the current issue of Environmental Science and Technology, showcase a novel way to use microbes to produce biofuel and hydrogen, all while consuming agricultural wastes. Gemma Reguera, MSU microbiologist, has developed bioelectrochemical systems known as microbial electrolysis cells, or MECs, using bacteria to breakdown and ferment agricultural waste into ethanol. Reguera's ...

Modern-day computers are based on logic circuits using semiconductor transistors. To increase computing power, smaller transistors are required. Moore's Law states that the number of transistors that can fit on an integrated circuit should double every two years due to scaling. But as transistors reach atomic dimensions, achieving this feat is becoming increasingly difficult. Among the most significant challenges is heat dissipation from circuits created using today's standard semiconductor technology, complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS), which give off more ...

New Rochelle, NY, July 10, 2012—Improving access to health care for minority women of childbearing age could improve pregnancy outcomes and reduce racial differences in infant mortality, according to an article in Journal of Women's Health, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Journal of Women's Health website at http://www.liebertpub.com/jwh. Infant mortality rates for non-Hispanic blacks and other minorities are much higher than for non-Hispanic whites. Better preconception heath care for women is ...

Some of the planet's tiniest inhabitants may help address two of society's biggest environmental challenges: how to deal with the vast quantities of organic waste produced and where to find clean, renewable energy. According to César Torres and Sudeep Popat, researchers at Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute, certain kinds of bacteria are adept at converting waste into useful energy. These microorganisms are presently being applied to the task, through an innovative technology known as a microbial fuel cell or MFC. As Torres explains, "the great advantage ...

New Rochelle, NY, July 9, 2012—Genetic tests exist to identify risk for the rare inherited form of early-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) and to predict susceptibility to the more common, late-onset form of AD, but do people want to know, and how do they react? The answers can be found in the article published in Genetic Testing and Molecular Biomarkers, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. The article is available free on the Genetic Testing and Molecular Biomarkers website. "This article addresses a major disease of tremendous impact on increasing numbers ...

AMHERST, Mass. – A group of diseases that kill millions of people each year can't be touched by antibiotics, and some treatment is so harsh the patient can't survive it. They're caused by parasites, and for decades researchers have searched for a "magic bullet" to kill them without harming the patient. Now, a team of microbiologists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has made an advance that could one day lead to a new weapon for fighting parasitic diseases such as African sleeping sickness, chagas disease and leishmaniasis. In the cover article of the current ...

New Rochelle, NY, June 3, 2012— Remote presence robots are used in intensive care units (ICUs) to help critical care physicians supplement on-site patient visits and maintain more frequent patient interactions. Physicians who employ this technology to supplement day-to-day patient care strongly support the positive clinical and social impact of using robots, according to a report published in Telemedicine and e-Health, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. The article is available free on the Telemedicine and e-Health website. "The integration of robotics ...

New Rochelle, NY, July 9, 2012—More than half (52%) of the companies comprising the tissue engineering (TE) and stem cell industries are revenue-generating, compared to about 21% four years ago, reports Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN). Of those companies, 31% have commercial products and 21% are service-based; another 30% have products in clinical trials, according to the current issue of GEN. The GEN article is based on interviews with leading tissue engineering researchers and on the findings of a landmark paper ("Progress in the Tissue Engineering and ...

Epidemiologists have determined that levels of hepatitis C virus (HCV) found among injection drug users (IDUs) were higher in individuals who are male or African American even after differences in other factors were considered. The study, which was funded by the National Cancer Institute and performed with collaborators from the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center and the University of California - San Francisco, was the first to simultaneously examine the association of demographic, viral and human genetic factors on HCV RNA levels. Results of the study published ...

Researchers from Spain established that liver stiffness, measured by transient elastography (TE), is an independent predictor of liver failure, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and mortality in cirrhotic patients coinfected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), and hepatitis C virus (HCV). Findings available in the July issue of Hepatology, a journal published by Wiley on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, also show that measurement of liver stiffness predicts potential recovery and survival ...

WASHINGTON — Educational and business leaders want today's students both to master school subjects and to excel in areas such as problem solving, critical thinking, and communication -- abilities often referred to by such labels as "deeper learning" and "21st-century skills." In contrast to the view that these are general skills that can be applied across a range of tasks in academic, workplace, or family settings, a new report from the National Research Council found that 21st-century skills are specific to content knowledge and performance within a particular subject ...

President Barack Obama has one. Comedian Stephen Colbert has one. Elvis Presley has one. Even computer software magnate Bill Gates has one. And now, Bob Marley--the late popular Jamaican singer and guitarist--also has one. So what is it that each of these luminaries have? The answer: they each have a biological species that has been named after them. Paul Sikkel, an assistant professor of marine ecology and a field marine biologist at Arkansas State University, discovered and just named after Marley a "gnathiid isopod"--a small parasitic crustacean blood feeder that infests ...

Even as we spend more on healthcare every year, the number of people with chronic health problems continues to rise in developed countries like the United States. Most of these chronic health problems – such as obesity, Type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease – can be addressed through lifestyle changes. But knowing that we should make a lifestyle change to improve our health and actually making that lifestyle change are two very different things. In a new article published in the July 2012 issue of Perspectives on Psychological Science, a journal of the Association ...

If you're a male born to a father who's a strong and enduring community leader, you're far more likely than your less fortunate peers to become a leader yourself, due to the wide range of social advantages accruing from your dad's position. And even if your old man isn't a leader, other men in your community are more likely to take you under their wing than your sisters, lavishing attention on you and showing you the ropes. Sound like the basic description of an old boys' network? Maybe so, but this is also the social structure that prevails among white-faced ...

ARLINGTON, Va.—A new sensor and software suite sponsored by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) recently returned from West Africa after helping partner nations track and identify target vessels of interest as part of an international maritime security operation, officials announced July 10. Researchers deployed the system, called "Rough Rhino," aboard U.S. aircraft, ships and partner nation ships operating in waters off the coast of Senegal and Cape Verde. Sailors and Coast Guardsmen could access and control the sensors both afloat and ashore, as well as share information ...

COLLEGE STATION, July 10, 2012 – The common barnyard chicken could provide some very un-common clues for fighting off diseases and might even offer new ways to attack cancer, according to a team of international researchers that includes a Texas A&M University professor. James Womack, Distinguished Professor of Veterinary Pathobiology in the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, is co-author of a paper detailing the team's work that appears in the current issue of PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences). Womack was a leader in the international ...

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — Most people killed or wounded in stray-bullet shootings were unaware of events leading to the gunfire that caused their injuries, and nearly one-third of the victims were children and nearly half were female, according to a new nationwide study examining an often-overlooked form of gun violence. The study by Garen Wintemute, professor of emergency medicine and director of the Violence Prevention Research Program at UC Davis School of Medicine and Medical Center, examines mortality rates and other epidemiological aspects of stray-bullet shootings ...

URBANA – A new strategy to manage invasive species and achieve broader conservation goals is being tested in the Grand River Grasslands, an area within the North American tallgrass prairie ecoregion. A University of Illinois researcher along with his colleagues at Iowa State and Oklahoma State Universities enlisted private landowners in a grassroots community-building effort to establish a more diverse landscape for native wildlife. The Grand River Grasslands has three main problems that pose challenges to conservation efforts: invasive juniper trees, tall fescue, and ...

Researchers have discovered a previously unknown mechanism that promotes the growth and spread of cancer. The mechanism involves a new role for small regulatory molecules called microRNA. The findings suggest a new strategy for treating cancer and perhaps diseases of the immune system. COLUMBUS, Ohio – Tiny vesicles released by tumors cells are taken up by healthy immune cells, causing the immune cells to discharge chemicals that foster cancer-cell growth and spread, according to a study by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur ...

Astronomers have puzzled over why some puny, extremely faint dwarf galaxies spotted in our Milky Way galaxy's back yard contain so few stars. These ghost-like galaxies are thought to be some of the tiniest, oldest, and most pristine galaxies in the universe. They have been discovered over the past decade by astronomers using automated computer techniques to search through the images of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. But astronomers needed NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to help solve the mystery of these star-starved galaxies. Hubble views of three of the small-fry galaxies ...

NASA's Aqua satellite got a cold stare from Emilia. Infrared satellite data revealed that cloud top temperatures around Hurricane Emilia's eye were bitter cold. The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument that flies onboard NASA's Aqua satellite measured cloud top temperatures in the powerful thunderstorms surrounding Emilia's eye to be colder than -94 Fahrenheit (-70 Celsius). That indicates that they're very high in the troposphere, and very powerful (which would coincide with Emilia being a major hurricane). NASA's Terra satellite captured a visible image ...

A panoramic satellite image shows an active eastern Pacific Ocean with three tropical systems that appear to be chasing each other. Tropical Storm Daniel approaching the central Pacific Ocean, with major Hurricane Emilia further east, and a developing low pressure area east of Emilia. In an image captured by NOAA's GOES-15 satellite, all three tropical cyclones were seen spinning in the eastern Pacific Ocean on July 10, 2012 at 1200 UTC (8 a.m. EDT).Daniel has weakened from a hurricane to a tropical storm and appears smaller than Hurricane Emilia. Daniel is about 180 ...

Promising news for those who relish the prospects of a one-inch chip storing multiple terabytes of data, some clarity has been brought to the here-to-fore confusing physics of ferroelectric nanomaterials. A multi-institutional team of researchers, led by scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has provided the first atomic-scale insights into the ferroelectric properties of nanocrystals. This information will be critical for development of the next generation of nonvolatile data storage devices. Working ...

Until now, scientists who study air pollution using satellite imagery have been limited by weather. Clouds, in particular, provide much less information than a sunny day. However, University of Iowa scientists have created a technique to help satellites "see" through the clouds and better estimate the concentration of pollutants, such as soot. The finding is important, because, like GPS systems, clouds block remote-sensing satellites' ability to detect, and thus calculate, the concentration of pollution nearer to the ground. This includes particles (commonly known as ...