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What she found was striking: The rats' immune response weakened the barrier sheathing blood vessels and changed the way white blood cells adhered to the inner walls of cells – in essence, interfering with normal cell processes internally while also prying open the tiny gaps between individual cells. Through these new, wider gaps might pass pathogens such as the HIV virus, Chang theorizes.

Due to the importance of this work, the National Institutes of Health began funding Chang’s research in 1992; her current project is funded for the next 15 years.

"It's a rocky object a little smaller than our moon, and it’s covered with a layer of water 100 miles deep," which is more water than on Earth. Europa has the two other basic ingredients of life -- organic chemistry and a source of energy. NASA’s Galileo mission surveyed Europa in the 1990s and found surface ice mixed with organic minerals that came up from its solid rocky part or were deposited by meteorite and comet impacts at the surface.

"We know Europa’s surface is frozen," Greeley says. "But we don’t know if it’s frozen all the way down, or if there’s an ocean under an ice shell." A high-resolution image of Europa's surface, with caption material and credits, is available at http://www.asu.edu/news/forthemedia/20070214_Europa.htm

Since all ten carbon-based molecules achieved prominence in the 20th century, the exhibition will present them chronologically, one molecule to a decade: from aspirin (1900) through isooctane, penicillin G, polyethylene, nylon, DNA, progestin, DDT, Prozac, and Buckminsterfullerene (1990). Large, scientifically accurate models of each molecule will be clustered with related contemporary artworks and cultural artifacts that serve as time capsules of the 20th century.

With the Chemical Heritage Foundation as exhibition partner, the Tang Museum will bring organic chemistry out of the lab and into the museum—and aim to shed new light on both science and art.

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After years of research, with the backing of Sandia National Laboratories, Hobart and William Smith Colleges Professor Thomas Drennen believes that no single alternative source will do. Using computer-generated models, Drennen analyzes the economic and environmental trade-offs of moving toward an economy dependent on combined alternative energy sources.

An economist with a passion for the environment, Drennen has been called upon to assess the United States' role in the Kyoto Protocol and met with world leaders. A book based on his research, Pathways to a Hydrogen Future, will be published by Elsevier Press this summer.
http://www.hws.edu/news/experts/displayexpert.asp?expertid=21

And so universities and colleges are preparing for a worldwide flu pandemic. Universities are particularly vulnerable to high infection rates because of regular close contact between students in classrooms and residence halls and the high rate of international travel by faculty, administrators, and students.

Most colleges will practice "community mitigation strategies" designed to reduce infection rates. Classes will be canceled and students sent home. Vacated dorms may be used to isolate health care providers and emergency services workers. Some employees would work from home; some classes taught via "distance education." Sports events, concerts, and other public events would be canceled.

Dr. James Turner, director of student health and chair of the pandemic planning committee at the University of Virginia, points out that pandemic planning is also useful for other disasters. "The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina could have been better managed if there had been a pandemic plan in place," he said. "Everything from severe weather to the 9-11 and anthrax attacks require planning, so we can learn from those events to prepare for future disasters, such as a flu pandemic." 

Dornbush expanded on an idea for a smart MP3 player developed by his mentor, UMBC Computer Science Professor Zary Segall. The "XPod" is equipped with sensors that detect the user's physical environment or social situation, along with one's health and mood.

The device learns the type of music its owner likes best, based on which tracks they skip in different situations. Once it has gotten to know its owner, the XPod then automatically plays the perfect song for studying in the library, working out in the gym, or chilling out at home.

The project was the source of a widely-cited research paper, "XPod: A Human Activity and Emotion Aware Mobile Music Player" published in the Proceedings of the International Conference on Mobile Technology, Applications and Systems. It has made Dornbush a prize winner in his department's student research awards and a top finisher in a campuswide business plan contest. Another Dornbush idea, "Street Smart Traffic," placed third overall in the Greater Baltimore Technology Council's "Mosh Pit" business plan competition. The idea uses peer-to-peer wireless communication to boost a standard GPS driving aid.

Macrophages often scavenge thin plaques within arteries near the heart. Those thin plaques are most likely to rupture and initiate a heart attack.

Dr. Thomas Milner demonstrated that he could identify macrophages in the liver of mice using iron-based nanoparticles ingested by the cells. An external magnetic field applied to the macrophages caused the orientation of the iron-based nanoparticles to shift, as detected by ultrasound. Milner has since begun visualizing nanoparticles trapped inside macrophages in arteries.

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