Welcome to Science Saturday, where the Overnight News Digest crew, consisting of founder Magnifico, regular editors ScottyUrb, Bentliberal, wader, Oke, rfall, and JML9999, alumni editors palantir and jlms qkw, guest editors maggiejean and annetteboardman, and current editor-in-chief Neon Vincent, along with anyone else who reads and comments, informs and entertains you with this week's news about science, space, and the environment.
Between now and the end of the primary/caucus season, Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday will highlight the research stories from the public universities in each of the states having elections and caucuses during the week (or in the upcoming weeks if there is no primary or caucus that week). Tonight's edition features the science, space, environment, and energy stories from universities in Arizona and Michigan, as will next week's. After that, it's Super Tuesday!
This week's featured story comes from Crain's Detroit Business.
Pipeline to progress
University Research Corridor boasts growing number of tech startups
By Gabriella Burman
With a sharp eye on the success stories of Southeast Michigan startups, a group of universities has a goal to harness current research and create a new round of business success stories.
Those involved with the University Research Corridor are looking at history for an idea of the kind of companies and products that can be formed.
...
Two of the best known are Southfield-based Lumigen Inc. -- founded in 1987 by Paul Schaap, a chemistry professor at Wayne State University -- which was acquired by Brea, Calif.-based Beckman Coulter for $185 million in 2006; and Ann Arbor-based HandyLab Inc., founded by University of Michigan graduates and acquired by New Jersey-based Becton, Dickinson and Co. for $275 million in 2009.
These companies represent the diversification of Michigan's economy and heed the universities' mandate to seek a way for society to benefit from their work and inventions.
That idea is at the core of the University Research Corridor, established by university presidents in 2006 to accelerate business ideas at the state's three top research institutions: Wayne State, Michigan State University and UM. The URC connects the universities to outside businesses and leverages their assets, including equipment and laboratories, to bring businesses into the university system.
This is one of many articles in the
Medical Magnet special supplement to Crain's Detroit Business.
More stories after the jump.
Recent Science Diaries and Stories
This week in science: The dumb and the shameless
by DarkSyde
Morning Open Thread
by eeff
Slideshows/Videos
University of Michigan: U-M architecture student builds a tent for the ultimate test: survival
Written by William Foreman
Published on Feb 15, 2012
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Andrew McCarthy didn't know how to sew five weeks ago. But that didn't stop the University of Michigan graduate student in architecture from stitching up his own tent for a thesis project.
Now, McCarthy is planning to put the tent to the ultimate test. He's going to sleep in it as he climbs Aconcagua–the highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere.
His tent project won't just be about getting a good grade. It will be about survival. Violent winds could rip the shelter to shreds in the middle of the night if it's not made right. Climbers die on the mountain every year.
But McCarthy is confident about his creation: "I think it has a good shot. It's a strong tent."
The video shows the tent in a wind tunnel test. It survived wind speeds of up to 80 miles per hour before beginning to fail and didn't collapse until the wind reached 122 mph.
University of Michigan: New Papyrus exhibit gives access to large U-M collection
University of Michigan Papyrus collection is the largest in the United States. Archivist Arthur Verhoogt explains how students and general public use the collection in their daily lives.
Also read the accompanying story,
Paper trail.
University of Michigan: U-M human embryonic stem cell line placed on national registry
The University of Michigan's first human embryonic stem cell line will be placed on the U.S. National Institutes of Health's registry, making the cells available for federally-funded research. It is the first of the stem cell lines derived at the University of Michigan to be placed on the registry.
The line, known as UM4-6, is a genetically normal line, derived in October 2010 from a cluster of about 30 cells removed from a donated five-day-old embryo roughly the size of the period at the end of this sentence. That embryo was created for reproduction but was no longer needed for that purpose and was therefore about to be discarded.
Also see the story accompanying this video under Science Policy.
University of Michigan: Autoinjectors offer way to treat prolonged seizures
Drug delivery into muscle using an autoinjector, akin to the EpiPen used to treat serious allergic reactions, is faster and may be a more effective way to stop status epilepticus, a prolonged seizure lasting longer than five minutes, according to a study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.
Also see the story accompanying this video under Health and Biotechnology.
University of Michigan: Museum of Zoology moves 5 million specimens
Over the next eight months, about 5 million specimens from the U-M Museum of Zoology's "wet" collection -- animals preserved in alcohol inside various containers -- will be moved from the Ruthven Museums Building on central campus to a new off-campus storage facility. The new facility has been designed and built to safely store and protect the collection. The budget for the project, which includes building the new storage facility, moving the collection and other selected renovations, is $20 million.
When I was working on my Ph.D. at the University of Michigan, my office was in the Museum of Zoology. The 5 million specimen number is no exaggeration!
Arizona State University: Davies on time travel: Can it really be done?
Paul Davies, author of the popular best-seller “How to Build a Time Machine,” discussed time travel when he presented the annual Sci-fi Meets Sci-Fact lecture on Jan. 31, at Arizona State University.
Time travel is a favorite science fiction theme, but can it really be done? “Well, maybe,” says Davies, the internationally acclaimed cosmologist, astrobiologist and theoretical physicist at Arizona State University, where he is a Regents’ Professor in the Department of Physics.
Astronomy/Space
University of Michigan: Warped space lens provides zoomed-in image of faraway galaxy
Written by Nicole Casal Moore
Published on Feb 14, 2012
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—A natural zoom lens in space has enabled astronomers to build new high-resolution images of one of the brightest distant galaxies magnified through a phenomenon called “gravitational lensing.”
“I was always fascinated by beautiful images of space, but what makes an image like this so much more exciting is that you can actually see physics in action,” said Keren Sharon, a visiting scholar at the University of Michigan. Sharon is the first author of a paper on the findings published online in Astrophysical Journal.
...
The astronomers used the Hubble Space Telescope to image the lensed galaxy RCSGA 032727-132609, which appears as a nearly 90-degree arc of light, parts of which are magnified several hundred times by a foreground cluster of galaxies.
University of Arizona: Echoes From an Exploding Star
Astronomers watch a delayed broadcast of a powerful stellar eruption.
By University Communications
February 15, 2012
Astronomers are watching the astronomical equivalent of streaming live video of a spectacular outburst from the unstable, behemoth double-star system Eta Carinae, which initially was seen on Earth nearly 170 years ago.
Dubbed the “Great Eruption,” the outburst lasted from 1837 to 1858 and caught the attention of sky-watchers at the time, including the British astronomer Sir John Herschel. He did not have the benefit of the imaging cameras and spectrographs that modern astronomers use to learn about stars, so we only have a historical record of the star’s visual brightness.
But luckily for today’s astronomers, some of the light from the eruption took an indirect path to Earth and is just arriving now.
NPR: New Telescope To Make 10-Year Time Lapse Of Sky
by Joe Palca
February 15, 2012
Every 10 years, about two dozen of this country's top astronomers and astrophysicists get together under the auspices of the National Research Council and make a wish list. The list has on it the new telescopes these astronomers would most like to see built. At the last gathering, they said, in essence, "We most want the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope."
Here's why. A synoptic survey is a comprehensive map of every square inch of the night sky. The Large Synoptic Survey — LSST — will do that multiple times.
"We want to scan the entire sky over and over again for 10 years," says Sidney Wolff, president of the LSST Corp., who is in charge of building the new telescope. "And we will get over 800 images of every patch of the sky."
...
The telescope will ultimately be built on a mountain in Chile. But two of the telescope's main mirrors are being built at the Steward Observatory Mirror Lab on the University of Arizona campus in Tucson.
In an odd but delightful juxtaposition, the lab is located under the university's football stadium.
Evolution/Paleontology
Arizona State University: Professor shares opinion on where life began
February 17, 2012
Although conventional wisdom has it that hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor offered an ideal chemical environment for the earliest life, Paul Knauth, a geologist in ASU's School of Earth and Space Exploration, thinks life may not have begun in the sea. "The early ocean was a deathtrap of hot salty water," he says. "I like the idea of a non-marine origin."
Biodiversity
NPR: Deconstructing Dengue: How Old Is That Mosquito?
By Joe Palca
Michael Riehle at the University of Arizona is trying to solve a curious puzzle about dengue: why there have been dozens of cases in nearby Texas and none, or virtually none, in Arizona. Riehle thinks the answer has to do with Arizona's geography.
"It's right on the edge of the range where these dengue mosquitoes are found," he says. "It's a fairly harsh environment, and we think that they might not be surviving long enough to efficiently transfer the disease to other people."
So to test his hypothesis, Riehle wants to be able to compare the life spans of mosquitoes in Arizona with those in Texas.
Northern Arizona University: Study of feeding behaviors points to challenges for native fish
February 2, 2012
A study detailing the feeding behaviors of four species of fish found in the Colorado River and its tributaries uncovered a few surprises and opened new insights to the challenges faced by native fish species in the Southwest.
Some of the biggest challenges are relatively recent ones. In a diverse region known for its markers of geologic time, a combination of dam building and the introduction of nonnative species have dramatically reduced the survival chances of native fish, said Northern Arizona University researcher Alice Gibb.
...
That native fish in the Southwest are on the decline is not in dispute, but the research provides more evidence as to why.
“We altered the habitat native fish evolved for and put in fish that are better-adapted to the new conditions,” Gibb said, calling the changes a “one-two punch” for native fish.
Biotechnology/Health
University of Michigan: U-M Life Sciences Institute lab identifies potential antibiotic alternative to treat infection without resistance
Written by Laura Williams
Published on Feb 17, 2012
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Researchers at the University of Michigan have found a potential alternative to conventional antibiotics that could fight infection with a reduced risk of antibiotic resistance.
By using high-throughput screening of a library of small molecules from the Center for Chemical Genomics at the U-M Life Sciences Institute, the team identified a class of compounds that significantly reduced the spread and severity of group A Streptococcus (GAS) bacteria in mice. Their work suggests that the compounds might have therapeutic value in the treatment of strep and similar infections in humans.
"The widespread occurrence of antibiotic resistance among human pathogens is a major public health problem," said David Ginsburg, a faculty member at LSI, a professor of internal medicine, human genetics, and pediatrics at the U-M Medical School and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator.
University of Michigan: Public interest in pandemic flu vaccine faded over time
Written by Wendy Wendland-Bowyer
Published on Feb 16, 2012
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—When a new strain of influenza began to sicken even healthy younger adults three years ago, public interest in getting the newly developed H1N1 vaccine started strong but declined over time even as more people were getting sick, a new study shows.
Researchers at RAND Corp. and the University of Michigan found that the more the public learned about this new type of influenza and the longer they had to wait for the vaccine, the less interested they were in getting it.
"Our results provide further evidence of how important it is to develop technology to speed vaccine production," said the study's co-author, Brian Zikmund-Fisher, an assistant professor in the U-M School of Public Health. "Many more people would have been interested in vaccination had the vaccine been available even three months earlier."
University of Michigan: Autoinjectors offer way to treat prolonged seizures
NIH study finds method safe and effective for paramedics
February 15, 2012
Drug delivery into muscle using an autoinjector, akin to the EpiPen used to treat serious allergic reactions, is faster and may be a more effective way to stop status epilepticus, a prolonged seizure lasting longer than five minutes, according to a study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.
The University of Michigan Health System was the clinical coordinating center for the multi-center study.
“The implications for paramedic practice are pretty significant,” said lead study author Robert Silbergleit, M.D., associate professor of emergency medicine at the U-M Medical School. “This is clearly an evolution in the treatment of seizures by paramedics. It’s not revolutionary, but it’s a newer, better way of doing things that I think will be adopted widespread across the country."
Two other universities covered in tonight's OND participated in this study. Wayne State University's press release is
Wayne State research reveals improved method for paramedics to stop prolonged seizures and the University of Arizona's is
Better, Safer Treatment for Seizure Victims Discovered.
University of Michigan: Zebrafish may hold key to repairing serious eye conditions
U-M researchers take an important step in understanding retina regeneration, suggesting new possibilities for developing treatments in humans
February 14, 2012
University of Michigan Health System research into the mechanisms by which zebrafish are able to regenerate damaged retinas after injury suggests new strategies for one day being able to do the same in humans – potentially allowing doctors to slow or reverse conditions like macular degeneration and glaucoma.
Building on previous studies, Daniel Goldman, Ph.D., a professor at U-M’s Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Institute and in the Department of Biological Chemistry, along with postdoctoral fellows Jin Wan and Rajesh Ramachandran, discovered that heparin-binding epidermal-like growth factor (HB-EGF) plays a critical role during retina regeneration. Their findings were published today in Developmental Cell.
Arizona State University: Following a trail of blood: New diagnostic tool comes of age
February 14, 2012
Blood tests have been a mainstay of diagnostic medicine since the late 19th century, offering a wealth of information concerning health and disease. Nevertheless, blood derived from the human umbilical cord has yet to be fully mined for its vital health information, according to Rolf Halden, a researcher at Arizona State University’s Biodesign Institute.
In a new study appearing in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, Halden’s team performs detailed analyses of umbilical cord blood (UCB), identifying a total of 1,210 proteins using mass spectroscopy. The findings represent a 6-fold increase in the number UCB proteins thus far described – a significant advance: “Mapping of the full spectrum of proteins detectable in cord blood is the first, crititcal step in the discovery of biomarkers to improve human health,” Halden says.
The proteins identified are associated with 138 different metabolic and disease pathways and provide invaluable information for the identification of biomarkers – early warning indices of disease, toxic exposure or disruptions in cellular processes. In addition to presenting intriguing candidates for new biomarkers in UCB, the study also identified 38 proteins corresponding to existing FDA-approved biomarkers for adult blood.
Arizona State University: Sensing self and non-self: new research into immune tolerance
February 13, 2012
At the most basic level, the immune system must distinguish self from non-self, that is, it must discriminate between the molecular signatures of invading pathogens (non-self antigens) and cellular constituents that usually pose no risk to health (self-antigens).
The system is far from foolproof. Cancer cells can undergo unchecked proliferation, producing self-antigens that are tolerated by the immune system, rather than being targeted for destruction. At the opposite extreme, a range of so-called autoimmune disorders can result when healthy cells in the body are misidentified as hazards. The immune system has developed a further line of protection against such autoimmune responses in order to limit the pathology that can result. Essentially, the immune system is programmed to ‘turn itself off’ after prolonged recognition of an antigen.
In a new study appearing in the current issue of the journal Science, Joseph Blattman, a researcher at ASU’s Biodesign Institute, examines how CD8 T cells – critical weapons in the body’s defensive arsenal – are regulated when they transition from this tolerant state to an activated state and back.
Climate/Environment
Michigan State University: Thinking outside sustainability’s box with art and science
Published: Feb. 17, 2012
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Science is about facts, but the science of sustainability also involves questions underpinned by values.
With this in mind, a Michigan State University environmental sociologist will ask scientists to consider how art can provoke people to consider their perceptions of sustainability at this year's annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Feb. 16-20 in Vancouver, British Columbia.
“Good decisions about the complex issues of sustainability have to be grounded in science, but science alone isn’t sufficient to make decisions that also involve our values and ethical concerns,” said Thomas Dietz, MSU assistant vice president for environmental research. “We have to think about things that aren’t usually part of our everyday routines, and challenging routine thinking has been one of the roles of art in our society.”
University of Arizona: UA Tests Consumer Water Filters for Contaminant Removal
By Steve Delgado, College of Engineering
February 15, 2012
A UA study of pour-through and refrigerator water filtration devices and the chemicals they removed is scheduled for publication in the March issue of Good Housekeeping.
The Good Housekeeping Research Institute, or GHRI, has partnered with the University of Arizona to perform extensive testing on everyday filters found in water pitchers and refrigerators to see if the consumer products are able to remove chemicals considered an emerging concern for public safety.
The investigation found that refrigerator filters worked the best, and some pitcher-style filters worked to some degree to remove contaminants. This is the first such removal analyses performed on these products, according to the magazine.
Arizona State University: Scientific advances promise better ways to engineer water-safety systems
ASU researchers are seeking better ways to remove health-threatening contaminants from water sources and to develop technologies to help the country's smaller and more remote communities maintain water-safety standards.February 13, 2012
Some of most recent advances in technology, chemistry, physics and materials science will be applied to new methods for ensuring water safety being developed by Arizona State University engineers.
In a project supported by a $500,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Paul Westerhoff will lead exploration of ways to improve the effectiveness of water treatment systems in the nation’s small communities. He will also head a project supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to optimize the use of new technology for reducing a prevalent contaminant in groundwater.
Westerhoff is the associate dean for research in ASU’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, and a professor in the university’s School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment.
Geology
Arizona State University: New insights: how soil production processes respond to erosion
February 7, 2012
In many ways, soil is fundamental to life. Flora and fauna depend on its presence for their survival as much as they depend on water and air. In order to sustain its soil content, an ecosystem needs to maintain a balance between rates of soil erosion and soil production. Factors such as tectonic plate movement or climate change can tip this balance, and learning how such changes affect soil cover is crucial to our understanding of how the Earth’s surface works.
In a series of studies appearing in the journals Nature Geoscience, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, and Earth and Planetary Science Letters, researchers at Arizona State University are providing new insights into how soil production processes respond to erosion in mountainous regions.
The studies utilized an ideal natural laboratory in the San Gabriel Mountains, a region in southern California, where previous work quantified a large range of erosion rates.
Psychology/Behavior
University of Michigan: Psychiatric diagnoses: Why no one is satisfied
Written by Diane Swanbrow
Published on Feb 15, 2012
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders cover graphicANN ARBOR, Mich.—As the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is revised for the first time since 1994, controversy about psychiatric diagnosis is reaching a fever pitch.
Suggested changes to the definitions of autism spectrum disorders and depression, among others, are eliciting great concerns. However, there are larger concerns about the DSM as a whole.
“Almost no one likes the DSM, but no one knows what to do about it,” said University of Michigan psychiatrist Randolph Nesse.
The current round of revisions is the fifth since the DSM was originally published by the American Psychiatric Association in 1952.
University of Arizona psychiatrist Charles Raison has a column about the revisions to the DSM on CNN:
Should grief be treated like depression?
An editorial published Wednesday in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet takes the American Psychiatric Association to task for changes proposed in the next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, which is the guiding document of psychiatry in the United States.
Until now, bereavement has always been excluded in the diagnosis of major depression. Not anymore. The current draft of the fifth version, known as DSM-V, will allow major depression to be diagnosed two weeks after the death of a loved one.
Major depression is a serious illness that profoundly impairs function, disrupts relationships and is a significant cause for early death. So it would follow that anyone who is upset most of the day, nearly every day, for at least two weeks after the death of a loved one is sick and needs treatment.
Yet the editors of The Lancet write: "Medicalizing grief, so that treatment is legitimized routinely with antidepressants, is not only dangerously simplistic, but also flawed. ... Building a life without the loved person who died cannot be expected to be quick, easy or straightforward. Life cannot, nor should not, continue as normal. ... Grief is not an illness; it is more usefully thought of as a part of being human and a normal response to death of a loved one. Putting a time frame on grief is inappropriate -- DSM-V ... please take note."
University of Michigan: Low hormone response may contribute to women avoiding intimacy
"Our findings demonstrate that, for some people, viewing emotionally intimate stimuli can increase estradiol levels, but this was not the case for women who are more detached from close relationships."
Written by Jared Wadley
Published on Feb 13, 2012
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—University of Michigan researchers have found that women who avoid close relationships and intimacy have smaller hormone responses to emotionally intimate stimuli.
The effects of avoidance were not observed in men or among women exposed to neutral or positive situations, said Robin Edelstein, U-M assistant professor of psychology and the study’s lead author.
Edelstein and colleagues assessed changes in estradiol, a steroid hormone associated with attachment and care giving. Estradiol plays important roles in parent-infant bonding, as well as romantic relationships involving adults.
Archeology/Anthropology
University of Michigan: How social media help save an endangered language
Written by Diane Swanbrow
Published on Feb 17, 2012
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—There was a time when everyone living in Michigan grew up speaking the native language of the area's indigenous people. Now less than 10 people born in the state are fluent, yet more than 2,700 people "like" the language on Facebook.
Howard Kimewon, who teaches in the University of Michigan's Ojibwe Language program, part of the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts Program in American Culture, was born in Ontario and grew up speaking the language there. His colleague Margaret Noori learned the language later in life in Minnesota, where she grew up. And now she is combining her background in linguistics and marketing with a facility for social media and technology to leverage interest in the language she has come to love.
"I want to use every available platform to its utmost," said Noori, director of the U-M Comprehensive Studies Program and a lecturer in the Ojibwe language and literature.
annetteboardman is taking a well-deserved night off.
Physics
Arizona State University: New nano-material combinations produce leap in infrared technology
February 13, 2012
Arizona State University researchers are finding ways to improve infrared photodetector technology that is critical to national defense and security systems, as well as used increasingly in medical diagnostics, commercial applications and consumer products.
A significant advance is reported in a recent article in the journal Applied Physics Letters. It details discovery of how infrared photodetection can be done more effectively by using certain materials arranged in specific patterns in atomic-scale structures.
It’s being accomplished by using multiple ultrathin layers of the materials that are only several nanometers thick. Crystals are formed in each layer. These layered structures are then combined to form what are termed “superlattices.”
Chemistry
Wired: Researchers Fight Toxic Waste With Google PageRank
By Caleb Garling
February 16, 2012
Researchers at Washington State University and the University of Arizona have shown that Google’s famous PageRank algorithm applies to more than just webpages. It also works with water molecules.
According to a paper published in the Journal of Computational Chemistry, the same math used to determine the relevance of webpages on Google’s search engine can also be used to determine crucial information about a water molecule’s position in a solution containing other ionized molecules — particularly toxic chemicals. For chemists, the finding is more than just a curiosity. It’s a crucial step in determining the best ways to remove nuclear waste and other toxic chemicals from the world’s water supply.
“Now, you can control the chemistry and force certain reactions to occur,” WSU associate professor Aurora Clark, the paper’s primary author, tells Wired. She gives the example of a waste cleanup team knowing how to force a radioactive chemical like uranium to stick to a mineral substrate — a common cleanup technique. “This gives you the map of where toxic chemicals want to go in the water.”
Energy
University of Michigan: Gas mileage of new vehicles at all-time high
Written by Bernie DeGroat
Published on Feb 13, 2012
ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Fuel economy of all new vehicles sold in the United States last month was at its highest mark ever, say researchers at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute.
Average fuel economy of cars, light trucks, minivans and SUVs purchased in January was 23.0 miles per gallon, which ties the all-time monthly record set in March 2011. It is also up 4 percent (0.8 mpg) from December—the highest monthly increase since UMTRI researchers began tracking fuel economy in late 2007.
According to Michael Sivak, research professor and head of UMTRI's Human Factors Group, average fuel economy of all new vehicles bought last month was up 0.5 mpg from a year ago and is now 2.5 mpg higher than four years ago in January 2008.
Michigan State University: MSU research looks to improve logistics of biofuel raw materials
Published: Feb. 17, 2012
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — If the increased use of biomass to produce alternative fuels is to become a reality, more attention needs to be paid to logistics – how, for example, biomass raw materials are shipped from farm to refinery, as well as the development of better ways of preparing the products for shipping.
This is a subject being tackled by Michigan State University’s Bruce Dale, a professor of chemical engineering and materials science, and is the topic of a symposium at this year’s annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Feb. 16-20 in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Dale is suggesting a new model for getting the plant material to the biofuel production facility, or the biorefinery. The new model uses something called regional biomass processing depots – strategically located facilities that will process the biofuel feedstocks before they are shipped to a refinery.
“The question has become how are we going to get together thousands of tons of plant material to convert to fuels,” he said. “That’s a logistical issue which is increasingly being recognized as a key barrier.”
Science, Space, Environment, and Energy Policy
Crain's Detroit Business: Dividing the funding pie
Biomed researchers face keen competition
By Jay Greene
February 12, 2012
Biomedical research in Southeast Michigan is alive and well, although expected to grow more slowly and become more competitive over the next few years as funding from the National Institutes of Health flattens.
Biomedical research organizations include universities, teaching hospitals, biotech startup companies, physician offices, private labs and contract research groups. They range in size from the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor, with its dozens of scientists and physicians who generate $490.5 million annually in funding, to Bingham Farms-based Quest Research Institute, with its 15 physicians and some $1.5 million in research dollars in 2011.
"More than 80 percent of our funding is federally supported dollars. We anticipate it to be increasingly difficult to maintain that robust amount," said Thomas Shanley, M.D., director of the Michigan Institute for Clinical & Health Research at the University of Michigan.
University of Michigan: U-M human embryonic stem cell line placed on national registry
Line is first from U-M accepted to the U.S. National Institutes of Health registry, now available for federally-funded research
Written by Mary Masson, Phone: (734) 764-2220, E-mail: mfmasson@umich.edu
Published on Feb 14, 2012
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—The University of Michigan’s first human embryonic stem cell line will be placed on the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s registry, making the cells available for federally-funded research. It is the first of the stem cell lines derived at the University of Michigan to be placed on the registry.
he line, known as UM4-6, is a genetically normal line, derived in October 2010 from a cluster of about 30 cells removed from a donated five-day-old embryo roughly the size of the period at the end of this sentence. That embryo was created for reproduction but was no longer needed for that purpose and was therefore about to be discarded.
“This is significant, because acceptance of these cells on the registry demonstrates our attention to details of proper oversight, consenting, and following of NIH guidelines established in 2009,” says Gary Smith, Ph.D., who derived the line and also is co-director of the U-M Consortium for Stem Cell Therapies, part of the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute.
“It now makes the line available to researchers who can apply for federal funding to use it in their work; this is an important step."
University of Michigan: Payment to healthcare providers should be based on the value of their service, U-M doctors argue
Paying physicians and hospitals the same amount regardless of clinical benefits is a flawed model contributing to soaring healthcare costs, say U-M physicians in JAMA commentary
February 15, 2012
Should your doctor’s bill be based on how much you actually benefited from his or her care?
It’s the type of radical reform that would help control the cost crisis in health care, two University of Michigan Health System doctors argue in the Feb. 15 issue of Journal of the American Medical Association.
U-M Division of General Medicine Chief Laurence F. McMahon Jr., M.D., M.P.H and U-M assistant professor of Internal Medicine Vineet Chopra, M.D., F.A.C.P., F.H.M. propose a new model based on simple Economics 101: The more valuable the treatment is to patients, the more physicians and hospitals would get paid.
They argue that payment for tests and procedures should directly be linked to clinical value.
Rather than focusing on co-pays and deductibles that affect patients, payment reform would shift to the providers, they say.
Michigan State University: Ethanol mandate not the best option
Published: Feb. 13, 2012
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Many people are willing to pay a premium for ethanol, but not enough to justify the government mandate for the corn-based fuel, a Michigan State University economist argues.
Soren Anderson studied the demand for ethanol, or E85, in the United States. He found that when ethanol prices rose 10 cents per gallon, demand for ethanol fell only 12 percent to 16 percent on average.
“I was a bit surprised,” said Anderson, assistant professor of economics. “I was looking for this sharp decline in ethanol sales the moment the price got higher than the price of gas.”
His research, scheduled to appear in the March issue of the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, is one of the first economics studies to examine how consumers value ethanol.
The PDF of the study itself is
here.
Science Education
University of Arizona: UA Part of Nationwide STEM Movement
By La Monica Everett-Haynes, University Communications
February 17, 2012
UA faculty members have joined a nationwide movement to train and retain 100,000 science, technology, engineering and math teachers over the next 10 years.
In his State of the Union address last month, U.S. President Barack Obama called for an increased effort to prepare 100,000 science, technology, engineering and math teachers.
The University of Arizona has joined more than 100 partner organizations and businesses across the nation to work on this exact effort.
...
"We simply do not have enough math and science teachers," said William McCallum, who heads the UA's mathematics department and is interim co-director of the UA center.
University of Michigan: U-M honors six faculty Thurnau professors
Written by Jillian Bogater, Editor, The University Record
Republished Feb 16, 2012
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Six faculty members at the University of Michigan have been honored for outstanding contributions to undergraduate education as this year's recipients of Arthur F. Thurnau professorships.
Those honored include one professor who helped develop the undergraduate program in biomedical engineering, another who initiated an overhaul of the physics honors program, and one who co-developed the undergraduate program in sustainable engineering. Others selected are a music professor who takes his students to perform in venues across the globe, one who has been praised for his use of technology in the classroom, and another considered a pioneer in creating courses in partnership with community organizations to bring art to those who might not otherwise experience it.
The appointments, approved today by the U-M Board of Regents, are titles the six will retain throughout their careers at the university.
This year's recipients are Joseph Bull, Michael Haithcock, Sadashi Inuzuka, Bradford Orr, Brian Porter-Szucs and Steven Skerlos.
University of Michigan: Two U-M early-career scientists win 2012 Sloan research fellowships
Written by Jim Erickson
Published on Feb 16, 2012
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Two University of Michigan professors are among 126 researchers from across the United States and Canada selected as 2012 Alfred P. Sloan research fellows.
According to the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the fellowships are awarded annually to "early-career scientists and scholars whose achievements and potential identify them as rising stars, the next generation of scientific leaders."
This year's U-M winners are Mi Hee Lim and Sarah Veatch. Lim is an assistant professor of chemistry in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts and a research assistant professor at the Life Sciences Institute. Veatch is an assistant professor of biophysics and an assistant professor of physics in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts.
Michigan State University: Chemistry professor receives research fellowship
Published: Feb. 16, 2012
Tom Hamann, assistant professor of chemistry, has been awarded a Sloan Research Fellowship. The two-year fellowships are awarded yearly by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to 118 early-career scientists in recognition of distinguished performance and a unique potential to make substantial contributions to their field.
Hamann's research interests are in inorganic materials and electrochemistry of energy conversion and storage — specifically revolving around the theme of developing and characterizing nano-structured materials, coupled with detailed investigations of interfacial electron-transfer processes for solar energy conversion applications.
University of Michigan: U-M laser innovator elected to NAE
Published on Feb 13, 2012
Written by Nicole Casal Moore
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—The developer of an ‘Art to Part’ 3-D metal printing process that lets manufacturers make parts straight from drawings has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering.
Jyoti Mazumder, the Robert H. Lurie Professor of Mechanical Engineering and a professor in materials science and engineering, is one of 66 new members and 10 foreign associates, the NAE announced Friday.
Election to the National Academy of Engineering—among the highest professional distinctions an engineer can achieve—honors pioneering new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing innovative approaches to engineering education.
“I am humbled by this recognition from my peers,” said Mazumder, who is also director of the Center for Laser-Aided Intelligent Manufacturing.
Arizona State University: Study looks at learning methods that can help students improve in math, science
February 14, 2012
Informed by top performing countries around the world, the Common Core standards in math and the soon-to-be-released next generation science standards raise the bar with national learning expectations for K-12 students. With an emphasis on depth over breadth, the standards are causing math and science educators to rethink current practices by which many students learn only enough to get by on the next test or state assessment.
To help educators turn these skim-the-surface students into deep conceptual learners, Arizona State University’s Technology Based Learning and Research (TBLR) center released a white paper titled, “Deep Conceptual Learning in Science and Mathematics.”
In the paper, co-authors Peter Rillero and Helen Padgett describe “deep conceptual learning methods” and how these methods can help students meet more rigorous standards in math and science. Rillero is an associate professor of science education at Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at ASU. Padgett is the TBLR director of Professional Development and Research at Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at ASU.
Science Writing and Reporting
Wayne State University: Wayne State University professor publishes new book on clinical nutrition
February 15, 2012
DETROIT - Vishwanath Sardesai, Ph.D., professor of surgery in Wayne State University's School of Medicine, has published the third edition of his book "Introduction to Clinical Nutrition."
Published by CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, the 32-chapter book covers the role of nutrition in epigenetics and telomere length - the DNA fragments protecting the ends of chromosomes from deterioration - as well as personalized nutrition and personalized medicine. The book, Sardesai said, is designed to serve as a textbook and reference source in clinical nutrition for medical students, students in osteopathic medicine and dentistry, and practitioners in the fields of medicine, dentistry nutrition, dietetics, nursing, pharmacy and public health.
"The ultimate focus of this edition is to generate interest and enthusiasm in clinical nutrition among students and practitioners in an age that recognizes the growing need for prevention," Sardesai said. "Nutrition is a vitally important component for both individual health and, therefore, community well-being."
Science is Cool
University of Michigan: Budding retrospective
Matthaei Botanical Gardens celebrates 50th anniversary; exhibit opens Feb. 25
By Joseph Mooney
February, 2012
The Matthaei Botanical Gardens is featuring an exhibit in the conservatory and throughout the main building in honor of its 50th anniversary. The exhibit, “Celebrating 50 Years on Dixboro Road,” opens Feb. 25 and runs through April 8. Admission is free.
With photographs and interpretation the display offers views of the construction of the Botanical Gardens’ buildings in the early 1960s; highlights a selection of the special historical plants from those days that still grown in the conservatory; and reveals how the Botanical Gardens has benefited and engaged faculty, students, members, visitors, and volunteers throughout the years for research, teaching, learning, and enjoyment.
University of Michigan: Going green
Art & Environment Gallery opens Feb. 16 at School of Natural Resources and Environment, features art of Leslie Sobel
By Kevin Merrill
February, 2012
To draw more attention to the influence of art in shaping our understanding of science and nature, the School of Natural Resources and Environment is opening an art gallery inside the Dana Building, the greenest building on the campus of the University of Michigan. The inaugural event is 4 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16.
The Art & Environment Gallery will feature work from local and national artists whose work speaks to how people interact and understand the environment. The inaugural exhibition, “Watershed Moment,” features the work of Ann Arbor artist Leslie Sobel and five pieces exploring landscapes in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina (see images right and lower right).
“I have been fascinated with aerial views of landscape for many years. Chaperoning a high school service trip to New Orleans, post-Hurricane Katrina, made the power and the significance of the Mississippi River painfully, viscerally, real,” Sobel said. “These pieces were inspired by that trip and by my recent discovery of a series of beautiful survey maps of the Mississippi River done by Harold Fisk in the 1940s.”
The exhibits will rotate about every eight weeks and be presented in five glass showcases in the Dana Building’s First floor Commons.
University of Michigan: Melodies of science & art
NY ensemble performance inspired by Galileo; March 7 at Hatcher Library
By Mary Morris
February, 2012
Music, narration, and a stunning video create an entertaining window into one of the most exciting periods in the history of western civilization. Galileo’s Daughters, an ensemble based in New York City, is inspired by the lives and works of Galileo Galilei, his daughter, Maria Celeste, and the musicians and scientists of their time.
Their story is told in a multimedia program, with four performers combining storytelling, songs, instruments, and striking visual images. The program, “Perpetual Motion: Revolutions in 17th-Century Science & Music,” is narrated by Dava Sobel, author of the book Galileo’s Daughter. The performance is 7 p.m. March 7 at the Hatcher Library.
