Clark Science Center Intranet

Research on 3D scaffolds sets new bar in lung regeneration
For the estimated 12.7 million people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, the third leading cause of death in the US, innovative research efforts in the field of tissue regeneration hold promise. In end-stage lung disease, transplantation is sometimes the only viable therapeutic option, but...

New class of antibiotics discovered by chemists
A new class of antibiotics to fight bacteria such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and other drug-resistant bacteria that threaten public health has been discovered by a team of chemists. The new class, called oxadiazoles, was discovered in silico (by computer) screening and has shown ...

Personalized treatment prolongs the life of lung cancer patients
Mexican scientists have increased survival rates for patients diagnosed with lunch cancer in metastatic stage (when the disease has spread to different parts of the body) from a rate of nine months of survival to 30 with personalized treatments. Tumor tissue samples were used to extract DNA in order...

Over demanding market affects fisheries more than climate change
Fisheries that rely on short life species, such as shrimp or sardine, have been more affected by climate change, because this phenomenon affects chlorophyll production, which is vital for phytoplankton, the main food for both species.

NASA's WISE survey finds thousands of new stars, but no 'Planet X'
After searching hundreds of millions of objects across our sky, NASA's Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) has turned up no evidence of the hypothesized celestial body in our solar system commonly dubbed "Planet X."

Anti-Psychotic Meds Offer Hope Against Brain Cancer
FDA-approved anti-psychotic drugs possess tumor-killing activity against the most aggressive form of primary brain cancer, glioblastoma, new research indicates. "The anti-glioblastoma effects of these drugs are completely unexpected and were only uncovered because we carried out an unbiased genetic ...

Promising news for producing fuels through artificial photosynthesis
There's promising news from the front on efforts to produce fuels through artificial photosynthesis. A new study shows that nearly 90 percent of the electrons generated by a hybrid material designed to store solar energy in hydrogen are being stored in the target hydrogen molecules.

New theory on cause of endometriosis
Changes to two previously unstudied genes are the centerpiece of a new theory regarding the cause and development of endometriosis, a chronic and painful disease affecting one in 10 women. The discovery suggests epigenetic modification, a process that enhances or disrupts how DNA is read, is an inte...

Majority of Latinas are unaware of their risk of diabetes, study finds
The majority of Latinas are unaware of their risk of diabetes, a new study finds, which points to the urgent need for alternate sites of opportunity for diabetes screenings. There is also a need for effective and culturally sensitive follow-up care and case management, the authors note. Latina women...

That sinking feeling: NASA radar demonstrates ability to foresee sinkholes
New analyses of NASA airborne radar data collected in 2012 reveal the radar detected indications of a huge sinkhole before it collapsed and forced evacuations near Bayou Corne, La., that year. The findings suggest such radar data, if collected routinely from airborne systems or satellites, could at ...

Mystery of planet-forming disks explained by magnetism
Astronomers say that magnetic storms in the gas orbiting young stars may explain a mystery that has persisted since before 2006. Researchers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope to study developing stars have had a hard time figuring out why the stars give off more infrared light than expected. The ...

Volume of notifiable disease reporting may double with required electronic la...
Public health departments nationwide are already feeling the strain from budget cuts. But their case report volumes are forecasted to double when federal requirements for automated electronic laboratory reporting of notifiable diseases go into effect next year, according to a new study.

Cells appearing normal may actually be harbingers of lung cancer
Airways near lung tumors provide clues to the genetics of cancer that suggest that seemingly healthy cells may in fact hide clues that lung cancer will later develop, according to a study. Examination of gene expression in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) showed these areas can be ri...

Emerging multi-drug resistant infections lack standard definition, treatment
Infection control practices for detecting and treating patients infected with emerging multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacteria vary significantly between hospitals. A study including a consortium of more than 200 hospitals found this inconsistency could be contributing to the increase in multidru...

Hospital food safety measures reduce risk of contaminated hospital food
A new study found more than 80 percent of raw chicken used in hospitals in food for patients and staff was contaminated with a form of antibiotic resistant bacteria called extended-spectrum beta-lactamase producing E. coli. While sufficient preparation eliminated the presence of bacteria, poultry me...

Pre-term birth leads to increased risk of asthma, wheezing disorders
Researchers have published findings strongly suggesting that preterm birth -- prior to 37 weeks gestation -- increases the risk of asthma and wheezing disorders during childhood, and that the risk of developing these conditions increases as the degree of prematurity increases. The findings are based...

Smartphones become 'eye-phones' with low-cost devices
Researchers have developed two inexpensive adapters that enable a smartphone to capture high-quality images of the front and back of the eye. The adapters make it easy for anyone with minimal training to take a picture of the eye and share it securely with other health practitioners or store it in t...

Self-acceptance could be the key to a happier life, yet it's the happy habit ...
Happiness is more than just a feeling; it is something we can all practice on a daily basis. But people are better at some 'happy habits' than others. In fact, the one habit that corresponds most closely with us being satisfied with our lives overall -- self-acceptance -- is often the one we practic...

Magnetically stimulated flow patterns offer strategy for heat transfer problems
Researchers have discovered how to harness magnetic fields to create vigorous, organized fluid flows in particle suspensions.

Cassini nears 100th Titan flyby with a look back
Ten years ago, we knew Titan as a fuzzy orange ball about the size of Mercury. We knew it had a nitrogen atmosphere -- the only known world with a thick nitrogen atmosphere besides Earth. But what might lie beneath the hazy air was still just a guess.