EVANSTON, Ill. --- Geckos are masters at sticking to surfaces of all kinds and easily unsticking themselves, too. Inspired by these lizards, a team of engineers has developed a reversible adhesion method for printing electronics on a variety of tricky surfaces such as clothes, plastic and leather. Researchers from Northwestern University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign designed a clever square polymer stamp that allows them to vary its adhesion strength. The stamp can easily pick up an array of electronic devices from a silicon surface and move and ...

Delays of 12 hours or more before surgery do not appear to adversely affect 30-day outcomes among patients undergoing appendectomies for acute appendicitis, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. "Appendectomy is the most common emergent surgical procedure performed worldwide, with appendicitis accounting for approximately 1 million hospital days annually," the authors write as background information in the article. "Increased time from onset of symptoms to operative intervention is associated with more ...

About half of women who require radiation therapy after they have had a mastectomy and immediate breast reconstruction develop complications that necessitate a return to the operating room, but pre- or post-mastectomy chemotherapy does not appear to be associated with the need for additional procedures, according to two reports in the September issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. An increasing number of women are undergoing mastectomy as a treatment for breast cancer or as a means to prevent cancer if they have a genetic predisposition, according ...

High blood glucose levels after surgery may be an important risk factor for infection at the surgical site in patients having general surgery, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Surgical site infection accounts for 14 percent to 17 percent of hospital-acquired infections, making it the third most common type of infection acquired at health-care facilities and the most common among patients having surgery, according to background information in the article. "Studies have shown that these infections prolong ...

About one in ten U.S. adolescents uses sunless tanning products, and an intervention promoting these products as an alternative to regular tanning may reduce sunbathing and sunburns among adult women, according to two reports in the September issue of Archives of Dermatology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Ultraviolet radiation exposure was recently upgraded to the highest cancer risk category and is the most common avoidable cause of skin cancer, according to background information in the articles. Sunless tanning products offer an alternative method of achieving ...

Botulinum toxin treatment appears to offer a temporary, short-term solution to relieve drooling in children diagnosed with certain neurological disorders, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. "Recent estimates suggest a prevalence of [drooling in] nearly 60 percent in children in special care school, of which 33 percent could be classified as severe," the authors write as background in the article. "Depending on the associated neurological disorder, cognitive abilities and ...

Severe injury to the esophagus can occur after a child swallows a disc battery, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. "A disc battery is an increasingly common foreign body ingested by children," the authors write as background information in the article. The American Association of Poison Control Centers reported a total of 2,063 disc battery ingestions in 1998; the number increased 80 percent during the next eight years. When the battery is lodged in the esophagus, its alkaline ...

Patients who seek a second surgery to revise their rhinoplasty often do so because they are dissatisfied with the symmetry of their nasal tip and because they experience nasal obstructions, according to a report in the September/October issue of Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Surgeons who examine revision rhinoplasty candidates cite slightly different findings than patients, suggesting that communication about nasal aesthetics could be improved. Approximately 5 percent to 15 percent of patients who have rhinoplasty [plastic surgery ...

Analysis of seagull droppings has revealed that one in ten carry 'superbug' bacteria, resistant to the last-resort antibiotic Vancomycin. Researchers writing in BioMed central's open access journal Proteome Science investigated 57 migratory seagull samples recovered from an island off the coast of Portugal. Gilberto Igrejas from the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Portugal, worked with a team of researchers to carry out the study. He said, "We used a novel technique called proteomics to detect the maximum number of bacterial proteins which are thought to ...

Berkeley — When it comes to conducting complex tasks, it turns out that the brain needs rhythm, according to researchers at the University of California, Berkeley. Specifically, cortical rhythms, or oscillations, can effectively rally groups of neurons in widely dispersed regions of the brain to engage in coordinated activity, much like a conductor will summon up various sections of an orchestra in a symphony. Even the simple act of catching a ball necessitates an impressive coordination of multiple groups of neurons to perceive the object, judge its speed and trajectory, ...

SPRINGFIELD, MO—The American elderberry is showing promise as a profitable commercial fruit crop. Traditionally used for making jelly, juice, and wine, elderberry is becoming increasing important in North America's burgeoning "nutraceutical" industry. Historically, elderberries have mostly been harvested from the wild; researchers have made recently made efforts to select or develop improved cultivars. Increased interest and emerging markets are encouraging scientists to develop improved elderberry cultivars that yield consistent, superior production. Scientists from the ...

GRIFFIN, GA—Blueberry aficionados will soon have a tasty, colorful new variety for their backyard gardens. Blueberry experts D. Scott NeSmith and Mark K. Ehlenfeldt introduced 'Blue Suede™' in a recent issue of HortScience. The new southern highbush blueberry (Vaccinium hybrid) was released by the University of Georgia's College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, the University of Georgia Agricultural Experiment Station, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture–Agricultural Research Service. 'Blue Suede™' is targeted for sales to the home gardener market. According ...

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A Purdue University-led research team has uncovered the chemical components of the adhesive produced by oysters, providing information that could be useful for fisheries, boating and medicine. A better understanding of oysters' ability to stick together to form complex reefs would help those trying to boost the dwindling oyster population, aid in the creation of materials to keep boat hulls clean without harming the environment, and bring researchers one step closer to creating wet-setting adhesives for use in medicine and construction. Jonathan ...

EAST LANSING, MI—When consumers visit garden centers in spring they will most likely buy flowering ornamental plants that are ready for their home gardens. Studies have shown that consumers favor plants that are already in flower rather than those that are "vegetative"—a preference that can present multiple challenges for commercial growers. To satisfy consumers' wishes, producers of ready-to-flower ornamentals like bedding plants and perennials start growing crops far in advance of the spring buying season, often during the dark and short days of winter. When the days ...

Dust has been blowing into the Eastern Atlantic Ocean from Africa's Saharan Desert, and a NASA satellite captured some of that dust east of Tropical Storm Julia. NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on the Terra satellite captured a visible image of Tropical Storm Julia on Sept. 18 at 13:50 UTC (9:50 a.m. EDT) and noticed a large area of Saharan dust over the Atlantic Ocean, to Julia's east. On Sept. 20 at 5 a.m. EDT, Julia was still holding on to tropical storm status with maximum sustained winds near 45 mph. Julia was located about ...

Hurricane Karl made landfall near Veracruz, Mexico on Friday, Sept. 17 and moved inland over Mexico's rugged terrain, which took the punch out of the storm. As Karl was moving into Mexico, NASA aircraft and NASA satellites were gathering data from this storm that jumped from a tropical storm to a Category 3 hurricane the day before. Karl had maximum sustained winds of 115 mph when it made landfall on Friday afternoon, Sept. 17. That made Karl a Category three hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale, and a major hurricane to boot. On that day, NASA's Genesis and Rapid ...

LAKE ALFRED, FL—Successful mechanical harvesting of perennial fruit crops requires efficient, economical harvesting systems that do not reduce trees' production life or diminish fruit quality. Most of the world's citrus is now harvested manually, but the use of efficient and lower-cost mechanical harvesting techniques is expected to increase in the next few years, especially in the large citrus plantations in Florida and Brazil. The citrus industry is ramping up efforts to extend the harvest season past June, when the following year's crop becomes large enough to be susceptible ...

Taiwan experienced a landfall and a soaking from Typhoon Fanapi, and NASA and JAXA's TRMM satellite noted a large area of very heavy rain in the system before it made landfall this weekend. NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites also captured impressive visible images of Fanapi just before the Taiwan landfall, and as it was making landfall in eastern China very early today. The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite known as TRMM captured an image of Typhoon Fanapi's rainfall on Sept. 18 at 0653 UTC (2:53 a.m. EDT) after the typhoon had intensified to 105 knots (~121 ...

BATON ROUGE, LA—The ancient fig tree, first imported to the United States during the 16th century, thrives in areas of California and the South Atlantic and Gulf Coast areas of the U.S. One of the most popular trees grown in Southern backyards, fig is favored for its versatile fruit and low-maintenance production. Charles E. Johnson, Ed O'Rourke, and James E. Boudreaux, from the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center in Baton Rouge, introduced a new fig they named "Champagne" in a recent issue of HortScience. According to the report, the new fig performed well ...

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS, is an instrument that flies on NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites and provides incredible views of tropical cyclones like Hurricane Igor, from its vantage point in space. Imagery from the MODIS instruments on these two satellites captured from Sept. 18 to 20 showed that powerful Hurricane Igor in the Atlantic Ocean is morphing from a rounded storm to more of a comma-shaped storm. The MODIS instrument on NASA's Terra satellite captured a visible image of Igor at 11:30 am on Sept. 18, while MODIS in the Aqua satellite ...

Ever wonder why it's such an effort to forget about work while on vacation or to silence that annoying song that's playing over and over in your head? Mathematicians at Case Western Reserve University may have part of the answer. They've found that just as thinking burns energy, stopping a thought burns energy - like stopping a truck on a downhill slope. "Maybe this explains why it is so tiring to relax and think about nothing," said Daniela Calvetti, professor of mathematics, and one of the authors of a new brain study. Their work is published in an advanced online ...

When it comes to estimating calorie counts, Americans aren't really on the ball. According to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, this may be because of the order in which we encounter the food. "The sequence in which items are considered often influences our evaluations of these items," writes author Alexander Chernev (Northwestern University). "The focus on sequential estimation is important because many meals are ordered and consumed sequentially rather than at once. Moreover, to control their daily calorie intake, people often estimate not only the amount ...

LAS CRUCES, NM—While municipalities may mandate communitywide water conservation measures, individuals—particularly homeowners—can make significant contributions to water conservation in urban environments. Hoping to provide urban planners with more information about how residents' landscape preferences affect municipal water supplies, a team from New Mexico State University surveyed homeowners in Santa Fe about their attitudes toward high desert plants. Rolston St. Hilaire, Dawn M. VanLeeuwen, and Patrick Torres reported on their study of residents' preferences for urban ...

INDIANAPOLIS — The parasite responsible for toxoplasmosis requires a stress response system that helps it survive the move to infect new cells, Indiana University School of Medicine scientists have reported, a discovery that could lead to new treatments to control the disease. Parasites such as Toxoplasma gondii invade host cells, replicate and then must exit to find new host cells to invade. Traveling outside their host cell exposes the parasites to environmental stresses that limit how long they can remain viable while searching for new host cells. The researchers ...

Suggesting to consumers that they will use a product frequently can actually reduce their interest in purchasing the product, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. "When consumers estimate the value of a durable product, they consider not only the absolute number of times they think they will use the product, but also the number of time they will use the product relative to other consumers," write authors Rebecca W. Hamilton, Rebecca K. Ratner (both University of Maryland, College Park), and Debora Viana Thompson (Georgetown University). The ...