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Surgery :: Advanced technology to revolutionize surgical care

A new Surgical Simulation and Technology Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center, one of only a few hospital-based centers of its kind in the United States, will open on December 6, 2006. The center brings together a diverse group of experts to solve important challenges in surgery, such as how to improve and expand minimally invasive surgical procedures that enhance patient care, how to advance the design of surgical instruments and how to redesign operating rooms to prevent surgeons from suffering from shoulder and neck injuries.

DNA :: First molecular simulation of a long DNA strand shows unexpected flexibility

Virginia Tech researchers used novel methodology and the university’s System X supercomputer to carry out what is probably the first simulation that explores full range of motions of a DNA strand of 147 base pairs, the length that is required to form the fundamental unit of DNA packing in the living cells — the nucleosome. Contrary to a long-held belief that DNA is hard to bend, the simulation shows in crisp atomic detail that DNA is considerably more flexible than commonly thought.

Consumer :: Caring sentiments can affect business sense

Imagine you are selling a used car on eBay. You will demand a higher price for the car if your toddler is sitting on your lap, says surprising new research from the December issue of the Journal of Consumer Research. Researchers from the University of Toronto found that simply thinking about a personal relationship causes sellers to set a higher price, even if the relationship is not directly related to the transaction.

Auction :: Carnegie Mellon researchers uncover online auction fraud

Computer scientists at Carnegie Mellon University are using data mining techniques to identify perpetrators of fraud among online auction users as well as their otherwise unknown accomplices.The new method analyzes publicly available histories of transactions posted by online auction sites such as eBay and identifies suspicious online behaviors and dubious associations among users.

Gene :: Tearing down the fungal cell wall

Scientists at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute and Duke University Medical Center have pinpointed a fungal gene that appears to play an important role in the development and virulence of Alternaria brassicicola, a destructive fungal pathogen that results in considerable leaf loss in many economically important crops worldwide, including canola, cabbage and broccoli.

Gene :: New clues to how sex evolves

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California at Berkeley have found clues to part of the complex question of how sex evolves, through ongoing studies of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. They have identified a key family of genes that code for closely related zinc-finger proteins that help bring C. elegans chromosomes together during meiosis, the specialized cell division that produces gametes, or sex cells.

Autoimmune Disease :: Molecule linked to autoimmune disease relapses identified at Stanford

The ebb and flow of such autoimmune diseases as multiple sclerosis, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis has long been a perplexing mystery to scientists. But new findings from the Stanford University School of Medicine bring scientists closer to solving the puzzle, identifying a molecule that appears to play a central role in these relapses.

Vaccine :: Super enzyme may lead way to better tumor vaccines

A “super” form of the enzyme Akt1 could provide the key to boosting the effect of tumor vaccines by extending the lives of dendritic cells, the immune-system master switches that promote the response of T-cells, which attack tumors, said researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in a report that appears in the “advance online publication” section of the current issue of the journal Nature Biotechnology.

Eating Disorders :: New info on eating disorders in two Stanford, Packard children’s studies

One study, to be published in the December issue of Pediatrics, is the first to confirm that pro-eating disorder Web sites may promote dangerous behaviors in adolescents with eating disorders.

Workout :: Nike+iPod Sport Kit raises privacy concerns

This holiday season, gift-givers may unwittingly give their favorite athlete a workout accessory that can double as a tracking device. Computer scientists at the University of Washington show potential breaches of privacy related to the Nike+iPod Sport Kit.