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Database Tracks Toxic Side Effects of Pharmaceuticals

By Guest PostDecember 22, 2013Environment, Healthahmed enayetallah, allan peter davis, chemical toxicity, comparative toxicogenomics database, ctd, daniela sciaky, database, environmental science, gene testing patients, hypertension, jean lay, kelley lennon hopkins, kidney failure, liver disease, north Carolina, novel prediction, pfizer, pharmaceuticals, phenotype module, prediction, project, seizures, state university, thomas wiegers, toxic endpoints, toxic side effects

Sometimes the cure can be worse than the disease. Pharmaceutical drugs are known for their potential side effects, and an important aspect of personalized medicine is to tailor therapies to individuals to reduce the chances of adverse events. Now researchers from North Carolina State University have updated an extensive toxicology database so that it can be used to track information about therapeutic drugs and their unintentional toxic effects.

“Environmental science actually shares a common goal with drug makers: to improve the prediction of chemical toxicity,” says Dr. Allan Peter Davis, lead author of a paper on the work and the biocuration project manager of the Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD) in NC State’s Department of Biological Sciences. (more…)

Photojournalists discuss their project on a ‘sacrificial city’

By Guest PostDecember 18, 2013Mediaamerican public, brett carlsen, city in america, juan madrid, kickstarter campaign, life in flint, michigan, photojournalists, poynter fellowship, project, rit, sacrificial city, third world country

There’s a city in America that looks like a third-world country, according to photojournalists Brett Carlsen and Juan Madrid, who in a recent campus talk shared their hope that a project they have undertaken will inspire the American public to start talking about it.

In a Poynter Fellowship-sponsored classroom lecture at the School of Art, Carlsen and Madrid discussed their ongoing collaboration documenting life in Flint, Michigan. (more…)

Nourishing people—and an economy

By Guest PostSeptember 2, 2013Economyamericans, children of magomero, dairy farm, dairy industry, dairy value chain, deepa thiagarajan, Economy, farmers in malawi, genetics, holsteins, India, john kaneene, magomero woman, malawi, malawi farmers, milk for malawi, msu, native cows, nourishing people, nutritional milk, project, puliyur mohankumar, reproduction, tamil nadu university, usaid, village of magomero

Milk has a reputation for strengthening bones. In Malawi, the growing dairy industry is strengthening the livelihoods of small dairy farmers and the health of the country’s inhabitants.

In an effort to double the capacity of Malawi’s dairy value chain, MSU researchers led by Puliyur MohanKumar, professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine, are applying successful outcomes from a similar MSU partnership project that helped transform India’s dairy industry. India, now the world’s top milk producer, shares similar environmental and cultural traits with Malawi. (more…)

Powerful Animal Tracking System Helps Research Take Flight

By Guest PostJuly 21, 2013Naturealaska, animal tracking system, big data approach, birds eye view, east coast, env data, galapagos albatross, Germany, gil bohrer, gps tracking, gps tracking data, individual birds, lafayette college, max planck institute, migration, migration patterns, north Carolina, ohio state university, ornithology, project, roland kays, satellite, scientific users, state university, U.S. Geological Survey, university of Illinois, university of konstanz, urbana-champaign, youtube video

Call it a bird’s eye view of migration. Scientists are taking a fresh look at animal movement with a big data approach that combines GPS tracking data with satellite weather and terrain information.

The new Environmental-Data Automated Track Annotation (Env-DATA) system, featured in the journal Movement Ecology, can handle millions of data points and serve a hundred scientists simultaneously, said co-founder Dr. Roland Kays, a zoologist with North Carolina State University and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. (more…)

Monitoring concrete

By Guest PostMay 4, 2013Sciencealkali silica reaction, asr, asr affected concrete, asr damage, chemical, concrete, construction material, cracking, deldot, DNA, dry environments, Environment, environmental engineering, environmental stressors, harsh environment, internal chemical reactions, julie maresca, kinds of microbes, microbiology, monitoring concrete, non destructive methodology, nutrient requirements, ph, physical stresses, potassium, project, salt concentrations, silica minerals, sodium, temperature fluctuations, thomas schumacher, university of delaware

UD professors study microbes as potential biomarkers for damaged concrete

Concrete is the most widely used construction material in the world. However, many concrete roadways and bridges crack due to internal chemical reactions, temperature fluctuations or external chemical and physical stresses.

One internal chemical reaction is the Alkali-Silica Reaction (ASR) that destroys the concrete from within. (more…)

IBM Taps Big Data to Help Solve Water Challenges Across South Africa

By Guest PostMarch 22, 2013Technologyandroid, big data challenge, california, city of tshwane, creekwatch, Facebook, ibm, kgosientso ramokgopa, leak hot spot, map, project, roadmap, san josé, smarter public safety, sms, South Africa, south african households, tshwane executive mayor, Twitter, water distribution system, waterwatchers, world water day

“WaterWatchers,” a new mobile app, harnesses the power of crowdsourcing

Johannesburg, South Africa – 22 Mar 2013: IBM marks World Water Day with the launch of a crowdsoucing project to help capture, share and analyze information about the water distribution system in South Africa. The project, called “WaterWatchers,” is driven by a new mobile phone application and SMS capability that will enable South African citizens to report water leaks, faulty water pipes and general conditions of water canals. Every update will provide vital data points to an aggregated “WaterWatchers” report to create a single view of the issues challenging South Africa’s water distribution system.

The free app, which is currently available for Android and available for download at www.ibmwaterwatchers.co.za, and the SMS capability* together provide an easy way for anyone to collect and report issues on local waterways and pipes to a centralized portal. After taking a photo and answering three simple questions about the particular water canal or pipe, the data is uploaded in real-time to a central database. After 30 days, the data will be analyzed and aggregated into a meaningful “leak hot spot” map for South Africa. (more…)

‘Costs of War’ Project: Iraq War: 190,000 lives, $2.2 trillion

By Guest PostMarch 16, 2013Politicsafghanistan, boston university, brown university, catherine lutz, costs of war, democratic governance, international studies, Iraq, iraq reconstruction, iraq refugee crisis, iraq war, iraqi women, neta c crawford, Pakistan, political science, president eisenhower, project, security, trillion, united nations, us invasion, us military, violence, war in iraq, watson institute

More than 190,000 people have been killed in the 10 years since the war in Iraq began. The war will cost the U.S. $2.2 trillion, including substantial costs for veterans care through 2053, far exceeding the initial government estimate of $50 to $60 billion, according to a new report by scholars with the “Costs of War” project at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International Studies. The 10th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq is March 19, 2013.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Ten years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq on March 19, 2003, researchers have released the first comprehensive analysis of direct and indirect human and economic costs of the war that followed. According to the report, the war has killed at least 190,000 people, including men and women in uniform, contractors, and civilians and will cost the United States $2.2 trillion — a figure that far exceeds the initial 2002 estimates by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget of $50 to $60 billion. (more…)

A Better Walk to a Brighter Future for Tanzania’s Youngest

By Guest PostMarch 15, 2013Education, Generalaga khan foundation, brighter future, dar es salaam, diane ruonavaara, gabrielle kleber, jeff riedinger, michigan state university, milola, milola children, new york, ngwenya, own vision, project, sub village, tag philanthropic foundation, Tanzania, tanzanian children, university

In January, 60 young Tanzanian children began attending school for the first time, thanks to a project led by Michigan State University.

MSU and its partners in the Tanzanian Partnership Program built a new school on 100 acres donated by two village elders in a sub-village of Milola known as Ngwenya. Construction funds were provided by the TAG Philanthropic Foundation, based in New York. (more…)

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