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New Technique Targets C Code to Spot, Contain Malware Attacks

By Guest PostMarch 7, 2014Technologyandroid application, android devices, c code, c programming language, daniel dean, false positives, google play, helen gu, malware attacks, new technique, north Carolina, prec, security tool, smartphone, state university, tsung hsuan ho, will enck, written in java

Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a new tool to detect and contain malware that attempts root exploits in Android devices. The tool improves on previous techniques by targeting code written in the C programming language – which is often used to create root exploit malware, whereas the bulk of Android applications are written in Java.

Root exploits take over the system administration functions of an operating system, such as Android. A successful Android root exploit effectively gives hackers unfettered control of a user’s smartphone. (more…)

Silver Nanowire Sensors Hold Promise for Prosthetics, Robotics

By Guest PostJanuary 23, 2014Sciencecapacitance, curvilinear surface, elastic conductor, monitor thumb movement, north Carolina, physical deformation, prosthetics, prototype application, robotics, shanshan yao, silver nanowire sensors, smartphone touch screen, state university, Technology, variety, yong zhu

North Carolina State University researchers have used silver nanowires to develop wearable, multifunctional sensors that could be used in biomedical, military or athletic applications, including new prosthetics, robotic systems and flexible touch panels. The sensors can measure strain, pressure, human touch and bioelectronic signals such as electrocardiograms.

“The technology is based on either physical deformation or “fringing” electric field changes. The latter is very similar to the mechanism used in smartphone touch screens, but the sensors we’ve developed are stretchable and can be mounted on a variety of curvilinear surfaces such as human skin,” says Shanshan Yao, a Ph.D. student at NC State and lead author of a paper on the work. (more…)

New, Simple Technique May Drive Down Biofuel Production Costs

By Guest PostJanuary 12, 2014Environmentacetic acid, acid, amines, biofuel, biofuel production costs, biomass, black powder, energy rich cellulose, ezinne achinivu, lignin, liquid salts, non edible, north Carolina, pils, plant cell walls, plant material, protic ionic liquids, reagan howard, state university, technique, vinegar, wesley henderson

Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a simple, effective and relatively inexpensive technique for removing lignin from the plant material used to make biofuels, which may drive down the cost of biofuel production.

Lignin, nature’s way of protecting plant cell walls, is difficult to break down or remove from plant materials called “biomass,” such as the non-edible parts of the corn plant. However, that lignin needs to be extracted in order to reach the energy-rich cellulose that is used to make biofuels. (more…)

New Technique Targets Specific Areas of Cancer Cells with Different Drugs

By Guest PostJanuary 8, 2014Healthadriano bellotti, cancer cell, chapel hill, conventional treatment techniques, dox, doxorubicin, drugs, enzymes, jianping zhou, large scale manufacturing, nanoparticle, new technique, north Carolina, nucleus, programmed strategy, ran mo, specific area, state university, target, tianyue jiang, zhen gu

Researchers have developed a technique for creating nanoparticles that carry two different cancer-killing drugs into the body and deliver those drugs to separate parts of the cancer cell where they will be most effective. The technique was developed by researchers at North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

“In testing on laboratory mice, our technique resulted in significant improvement in breast cancer tumor reduction as compared to conventional treatment techniques,” says Dr. Zhen Gu, senior author of a paper on the research and an assistant professor in the joint biomedical engineering program at NC State and UNC-Chapel Hill. (more…)

Researchers Find Simple, Cheap Way to Increase Solar Cell Efficiency

By Guest PostJanuary 3, 2014Sciencechinese academy, donor:acceptor morphology, electron acceptor, electron donor, electronic structure, energy particles, energy source, fabrication costs, harald ade, highest, homo, jianhui hou, light, lijun huo, lowest, lumo, maojie zhang, molecular structure, north Carolina, occupied molecular orbit, pbt op, polymer, researcher, sciences, solar cells, state university, unoccupied molecular orbit, xray analysis

Researchers from North Carolina State University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences have found an easy way to modify the molecular structure of a polymer commonly used in solar cells. Their modification can increase solar cell efficiency by more than 30 percent.

Polymer-based solar cells have two domains, consisting of an electron acceptor and an electron donor material. Excitons are the energy particles created by solar cells when light is absorbed. In order to be harnessed effectively as an energy source, excitons must be able to travel quickly to the interface of the donor and acceptor domains and retain as much of the light’s energy as possible. (more…)

Study Raises Questions about Longstanding Forensic Identification Technique

By Guest PostDecember 27, 2013Scienceann ross, ashley maxwell, cranial vault outline, forensic experts, forensic identification technique, north Carolina, positive id, postmortem xrays, questions, skull, state university

Forensic experts have long used the shape of a person’s skull to make positive identifications of human remains. But those findings may now be called into question, since a new study from North Carolina State University shows that there is not enough variation in skull shapes to make a positive ID.

“In a lot of cases, murder victims or the victims of disasters are from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and don’t have extensive dental records we can use to make a match,” says Dr. Ann Ross, a forensic expert and professor of anthropology at NC State who is senior author of a paper on the new study. “But those people may have been in car accidents or other incidents that led them to have their skulls X-rayed in emergency rooms or elsewhere. And those skull X-rays have often been used to make IDs. I’ve done it myself. (more…)

Researchers Develop System for Assessing How Effective Species Are at Pollinating Crops

By Guest PostDecember 25, 2013Scienceblueberry growers, david tarpy, efficiency rates, entomology, hannah burrack, north Carolina, pollination by bees, pollination efficiency, pollinator species, pumpkins, specific metrics, state university, tomatoes

From tomatoes to pumpkins, most fruit and vegetable crops rely on pollination by bees and other insect species – and the future of many of those species is uncertain. Now researchers from North Carolina State University are proposing a set of guidelines for assessing the performance of pollinator species in order to determine which species are most important and should be prioritized for protection.

“Widespread concerns over the fate of honey bees and other pollinators have led to increased efforts to understand which species are the most effective pollinators, since this has huge ramifications for the agriculture industry,” says Dr. Hannah Burrack, an associate professor of entomology at NC State and co-author of a paper on the new guidelines and related research. “However, various research efforts have taken a wide variety of approaches, making it difficult to compare results in a meaningful way. (more…)

Walking the Walk: What Sharks, Honeybees and Humans Have in Common

By Guest PostDecember 25, 2013Nature, Scienceadam gordon, brian wood, common, david raichlen, east africa, evolutionary history, fundamental pattern, gps data, hadza people, hadza tribe, herman pontzer, honeybees, human movement patterns, humans, hunter college, hunters in africa, levy walk, levy walk pattern, mathematical pattern, new york, sharks, state university, Tanzania, ua anthropologist, university at albany, urban areas, walking the walk

A research team led by UA anthropologist David Raichlen has found that the Hadza tribe’s movements while foraging can be described by a mathematical pattern called a Lévy walk – a pattern that also is found in the movements of many other animals.

A mathematical pattern of movement called a Lévy walk describes the foraging behavior of animals from sharks to honey bees, and now for the first time has been shown to describe human hunter-gatherer movement as well. The study, led by University of Arizona anthropologist David Raichlen, was published on December 23, 2013 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The Lévy walk pattern appears to be ubiquitous in animals, similar to the golden ratio, phi, a mathematical ratio that has been found to describe proportions in plants and animals throughout nature. (more…)

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