October 2, 2006, 9:06 PM CT

How To Make A Wood-plastic Composite?

Wood science researchers in the College of Forestry at Oregon State University have developed new wood-plastic composites that are stronger and less expensive than any similar products now available a major breakthrough for this growing industry.

Wood-plastic composites, often used for such things as outdoor decking, are one of the fastest growing components of the wood composites industry. Some projections have suggested that these products, which were used for less than 1 percent of decking in the mid-1990s, may capture 20 percent of that market by 2010.

"Composite products made from wood and plastic are highly desirable for their low maintenance and ability to resist rot," said Kaichang Li, an associate professor in the OSU Department of Wood Science and Engineering. "But their use has been limited because of high cost and low strength, a result of inadequate adhesion between the wood fibers and plastic".

Fundamentally, Li said, this is because wood and plastic are like oil and water, and do not mix well. Wood is hydrophilic it absorbs water and plastic is hydrophobic, repelling it. A "compatibilizer," typically a polymer that bridges the interface between the wood and plastic in these products, improves stress transfer and increases their strength and stiffness.........

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October 1, 2006, 8:59 PM CT

Big Welcome For A Big Cat

A feline ambassador from Pakistan made his debut in the Himalayan Highlands of the Bronx Zoo on September 25, following an historic ceremony that united the Pakistani and U.S. governments. Endangered snow leopard cub Leo was transferred to the Bronx Zoo this past summer after he was discovered orphaned in the wild, unable to fend for himself.

Click here to read more about the expedition and diplomatic collaboration that led to Leo's relocation.

First lady of Pakistan Sebha Musharraf was among the honored guests to officially welcome Leo. "Wildlife is among our greatest resources," she said. "It provides both beauty and a discovery of the natural world around us. Leo is a most fitting wildlife ambassador, representing both Pakistan and his species. It is our hope that he will inspire others to care".

Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans, Environment and Science Claudia A. McMurray also attended the welcome ceremony. She commented, "Today we celebrate the arrival of this beautiful snow leopard cub as a symbol of hope for the global effort to save endangered wildlife. I am particularly pleased that diplomacy between the United States and Pakistan played a key role in making this accomplishment possible".

The 14-month-old male cub will remain at the Bronx Zoo until an appropriate facility can be constructed in Pakistan. As a world leader in snow leopard care-and the first zoo in the Western Hemisphere to exhibit these big cats, in 1903-the Bronx Zoo will provide a secure refuge for the growing cub.........

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October 1, 2006, 8:20 PM CT

Compulsive Buying In Women And Men

Do you think women are more prone to compulsory buying? Then you are wrong!

Contrary to popular opinion, nearly as many men as women experience compulsive buying disorder, a condition marked by binge buying and subsequent financial hardship, according to new research from the Stanford University School of Medicine.

"The widespread opinion that most compulsive buyers are women may be wrong," the researchers wrote in their paper, which would be published in the recent issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Senior author Lorrin Koran, MD, emeritus professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, said the study is the first large, nationwide effort to assess the prevalence of the disorder. The study found that more than one in 20 adults in the United States suffers from the condition.

People who have compulsive buying disorder - sometimes called compulsive shopping disorder - are often struck with an irresistible, intrusive and often senseless impulse to buy. It is common for sufferers to go on frequent shopping binges and to accumulate large quantities of unnecessary, unwanted items. Sufferers often rack up thousands of dollars in debt and lie to their loved ones about their purchases. The consequences can be bankruptcy, divorce, embezzlement and even suicide attempts.........

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October 1, 2006, 7:56 PM CT

Helping Children To Sleep Better

The refusal of young children to go to bed at night can cause unnecessary stress for members of their family. However, parents and guardians can take comfort in knowing that behavioral therapys are an effective means for resolving a child's bedtime problems and night wakings.

The study, conducted by Jodi A. Mindell, PhD, of St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia, is based on a review of 52 therapy studies, participated by 2,500 infants and toddlers, by a task force appointed by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM).

"The results indicate hat behavioral therapies produce reliable and durable changes in bedtime problems and night wakings in infants and children," wrote Mindell. "Across all studies, 94 percent report that behavioral interventions produced clinically significant improvements in bedtime problems and/or night wakings. Approximately 82 percent of children benefit from therapy and the majority maintain these results for three to six months".

Mindell noted that additional research is needed to examine the delivery methods of therapy, longer term efficacy and the role of pharmacological agents.

As per Mindell, studies have shown that 20 to 30 percent of young children have significant bedtime problems and/or night wakings. In addition, night wakings are among the most common sleep problems in infants and toddlers, with 25 to 50 percent of children over the age of six months waking during the night, added Mindell.........

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October 1, 2006, 7:04 PM CT

Free Drug Samples InfluencePhysician Practice

Do you think that your doctor is prescribing for a particular brand, because he or she is getting free samples and may be some incentives?

A recent researh suggest that one in three doctors agree that free drug samples influence prescribing, finds a small but representative US survey published in the Journal of Medical Ethics.

But they also think that other doctors are more likely to be influenced by incentives than they are, the data show.

In March 2003, the research team surveyed 397 members of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists about their relationships with the pharmaceutical industry.

The members were part of a collaborative research network, representing each of the 10 districts covered by the College.

Just over half of those surveyed responded (217).

More than 90% of the respondents thought it was ethical to accept free samples of a new drug from a pharmaceutical company rep.

Similarly, just over half thought it was ethical to accept a lucrative consultancy with a company if they were a "high volume" prescriber of one of that company's drugs.

One in three agreed that their decision to prescribe a drug would probably be influenced by accepting the samples.

But respondents felt that other doctors would be significantly more likely to accept the offer of a free lunch, an anatomical model emblazoned with a drug's name, or a consultancy than they would, even if offered without free samples.........

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September 28, 2006, 10:13 PM CT

Maps For Fighting Poverty

To increase awareness and promote usage of geographic information system applications in development strategies, the Center for International Earth Science Information Network and the World Bank have produced "Where the Poor Are: An Atlas of Poverty," a series of maps detailing spatially referenced data on hunger, child mortality, income poverty and other related indicators at the global, regional, national and local scales.

The maps included in "Where the Poor Are" show how advances in data collection and technology can be used to put poverty-related indicators into meaningful visual context. The book includes maps on the global and continental distribution of infant mortality and hunger, the distribution of resource inequality in five sub-Saharan countries, and poverty rates in Viet Nam, Nicaragua and Bolivia, to name just a few. According to Marc Levy, Associate Director for Science Applications at CIESIN, these maps and data sets help broaden the understanding of the relationship between poverty and geography--beyond the more common urban-rural framework. "The revolutionary advances in poverty mapping have made it possible to be precise about things we used to only generalize about," says Levy. "Connections between poverty and climatic conditions, soil fertility, exposure to natural disasters, access to transportation networks, and other important drivers, are beginning to come into sharp relief."........

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September 28, 2006, 10:12 PM CT

Internet To Be Resilient Against Terror Attack

Scientists have simulated what would happen to Internet reliability in the United States if terrorists were able to knock out various physical components of the network.

The good news is that it would be very difficult to cause major disruptions across the country, eventhough destruction of some key parts could seriously degrade Internet quality. "When it comes to the Internet, there is strength in numbers," said Morton O'Kelly, co-author of the study and professor of geography at Ohio State University.

"There are so a number of interconnections within the network that it would be difficult to find enough targets, and the right targets, to do serious damage to Internet reliability nationwide".

O'Kelly conducted the study with Hyun Kim, a graduate student at Ohio State, and Changjoo Kim, assistant professor of geography at Minnesota State University. Their results were published in a recent issue of the journal Environment and Planning B.

This study continues research O'Kelly and several colleagues conducted in 2003. In that study, the scientists tested Internet reliability using the assumption that selected city network nodes were rendered completely inoperable, because of accidents or attacks. (Network nodes are places that house the equipment where Internet traffic is collected and distributed.).........

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September 28, 2006, 9:49 PM CT

Pecan Way To Health

A new research study from Loma Linda University (LLU) shows that adding just a handful of pecans to your diet each day may inhibit unwanted oxidation of blood lipids, thus helping reduce the risk of heart disease. Researchers suggest that this positive effect was in part due to the pecan's significant content of vitamin E.

"Plant foods, including pecans, are rich sources of phytochemicals that can have a unique effect on the body," says LLU researcher Ella Haddad, DrPH, associate professor, department of nutrition, School of Public Health.

Pecans contain different forms of vitamin E known as tocopherols which protects fats from oxidation. Pecans are especially rich in one form of vitamin E gamma tocopherol.

"We found that eating pecans increased levels of gamma tocopherol concentrations in the blood and subsequently reduced a marker of lipid oxidation," adds Dr. Haddad.

Oxidation of fats in the blood a process akin to rusting is detrimental to health. When the "bad" cholesterol becomes oxidized, it is more likely to build up and result in arteriosclerosis.

These latest research findings on pecan's healthfulness were published in the latest issue of Nutrition Research, just released this week. They are from the second phase of a research project designed to evaluate the health benefits of pecans, according to Dr. Haddad. She analyzed blood samples from study participants (a total of 23 men and women between the ages of 25 and 55) who ate two diets: one that contained pecans and one that did not. Participants were randomly placed on either the American Heart Association's Step I diet or a pecan-enriched version of the Step I diet. (The pecan-enriched diet was similar to the Step I diet but replaced 20 percent of calories with pecans). After four weeks on one diet, they then switched to the other diet.........

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September 28, 2006, 5:10 AM CT

End To Destructive High Seas Bottom Trawling

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) will debate as of next week various proposals to protect the deep sea environment and prohibit bottom trawling in the high seas until effective conservation and management measures are in place. This ban has been supported by many organizations, including the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and several states for the last few years to halt the highly destructive exploitation of our oceans.

"A recent report from the UN Secretary General to the UNGA detailing the actions of states and Regional Fisheries Management Organizations to protect deep sea ecosystems shows a distressing lack of action outside areas of national jurisdiction", notes Kristina Gjerde , High Seas Policy Advisor to IUCN's Global Marine Programme. The scientific community has also added its voice to the debate, calling for a moratorium on high seas bottom trawling.

Scientists' Statement on Protecting the World's Deep-sea Coral and Sponge Ecosystems : http://www.mcbi.org/DSC_statement/sign.htm.

Halting bottom trawling in the high seas would not have a major negative impact on the global economy or food security in developing countries since bottom trawling only accounts for 0.5% of global marine fish take. Moreover, most industries are owned by developed states and supply the European, Japanese and North American markets.........

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September 28, 2006, 4:47 AM CT

Mel Gibson Screens and Talks About Apocalypto

Anything new from Mel Gibson is news. Lately he has been very silent. Read this blog post the movie blog.

We haven't heard much from Mel Gibson over the last little while (for obvious reasons). As far as I'm concerned the guy should be in jail for risking killing people and himself for driving drunk. but oh well. the laws in North America are totally screwed when it comes to stuff like that. But now Mel is out and about again screening his new film Apocalypto, which I'm dying to see by the way.

Love or hate Mel Gibson, you have to admire a guy who puts his own neck and money on the line with his projects. He seems to do films these days that people love telling him won't work and that people will avoid seeing in the theaters. It's neat seeing a guy make his own movie, with his own money and have no one to answer to.........

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