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Post by Interesting Things.

What happens when you ask international architects to redesign the bus stop?

Consult the English-language branch of Wikipedia as to the whats and whereabouts of Krumbach, and you will discover that it is a small Austrian market town nestled in a region of some archaeological interest, that it was beset by plague and cholera in the 16- and 1700s, and that its first fire station was founded in 1884 (disclaimer: citations needed). What you won't learn, though surely it is only now a matter of time, is that the town has been the focus of seven architectural practices who were invited to submit bold new takes on the humble bus stop.

Local association kultur kumbrach invited architects from Belgium, Chile, China, Japan, Norway, Russia and Spain, all of whom responded within four weeks, Der Spiegel reports. The resulting designs, curated by Austrian architect Dietmar Steiner under the banner Bus:Stop vary from practical shelters to avant-garde sculptures. One, a design nearer the useful end of the spectrum from Chilean architect Smiljan Radic, has been built already. His enclosed design is more like a minimalist take on a railway station waiting room, though with a birdhouse on the roof.

It's unclear whether the remaining designs, depicted in both visualizations and 1:7.5 models, will be built. Health and safety advisors may have something to say about the submission from Japan's Sou Fujimoto, which appears to comprise an exposed stairway to nowhere surrounded by a thicket of narrow vertical uprights.

The remaining submissions, from Belgium's dvvt, Russia's Alexander Brodsky, Spain's Ensamble Studio, Norway's Rintala Eggertsson, and China's Wang Shu, can be seen in the gallery.

via: gizmag

Imperial College develops cancer-sniffing Intelligent Knife

Dr. Zoltan Takats of the Imperial College London has developed one very sharp knife – and we're not referring to its keen edge. The Intelligent Knife (iKnife) is equipped with a nose and a brain that can sniff out cancer as it cuts. Using a mass spectrometer to detect chemical profiles associated with tumors, it enables instant identification of cancerous tissue and helps surgeons to make sure that all of a tumor has been removed.

Cancer is obviously something you want to catch early and get rid of completely at the first opportunity. Removing tumors is the simplest and often the least harmful way, but surgeons need to ensure they've removed all of the cancerous tissue to prevent the disease from reestablishing itself.

Unfortunately, cancerous tissue isn't always obvious by sight and laboratory tests are needed. During an operation, this means leaving the patient waiting under anesthetic while the tests are run. Even then, the results aren't always reliable. According to Imperial College, one in five breast cancer patients must undergo surgery a second time.

The iKnife uses electrosurgery; a common technique developed in the 1920s designed to reduce bleeding in particularly bloody operations, such as liver resectioning. The knife is subjected to an electric current, which heats tissue so fast and at such a temperature that the knife cuts through and cauterizes the tissue to prevent bleeding. Not surprisingly, this produces a cloud of unpleasant smoke, which is sucked away.

However, this cloud also contains all sorts of useful information about the tissue being burned through, so Takats hit on the idea of hooking an electrosurgical knife to a mass spectrometer, which would analyze the smoke and produce a profile of the chemicals that make it up. Some of these chemicals or their combinations are indicative of cancerous tissue.

Once the prototype iKnife was constructed, the next step was to teach it what to look for. This involved using the device to burn tissue samples collected from 302 surgery patients and building up a library of profiles of thousands of cancerous and noncancerous tissues from various organs of the body. As the iKnife cuts through tissue, it matches what it “smells” against this library and alerts the surgeon as to what it finds in about three seconds. This is a considerable improvement over the half hour needed for conventional laboratory tests.

The iKnife has been used in tests in 91 operations, where it showed 100 percent accuracy when compared to conventional tests. According to Imperial College, the next step will be clinical trials where the surgeons will be allowed to see the results in real time instead of after the operation, as was the case in the tests.

“These results provide compelling evidence that the iKnife can be applied in a wide range of cancer surgery procedures,” Dr Takats says. “It provides a result almost instantly, allowing surgeons to carry out procedures with a level of accuracy that hasn't been possible before. We believe it has the potential to reduce tumor recurrence rates and enable more patients to survive.”

Takats sees the iKnife as having broader applications beyond cancer surgery. Mass spectrometry is a rather general tool and Takat says that it could be used to identify tissues with inadequate blood supply, the presence of certain bacteria, and might even be of use to the local butcher in telling beef from horsemeat.

The results of the iKnife project were published in Science Translational Medicine.

Trees benefit from radiant heat and nutrients in urban areas

Many people view urban areas as hostile for plants – concrete stifles root growth, and pollution from vehicles makes it difficult to gain nutrients. A study conducted by The Earth Institute at Columbia University not only discredits those theories, however, but suggests that urban environments have a lot to offer plants to promote growth.

To conduct the research, The Earth Institute researchers planted seedlings in the spring of 2007 and 2008 in three sites around New York. Those locations included an area in northeastern Central Park, near 105th street; in two forest plots in the suburban Hudson Valley; and in more rural surroundings near the Ashokan Reservoir in the Catskill foothills, about 100 miles (161 km) north of Manhattan. Over a five-year period, researchers observed an eight-fold increase in biomass in the urban-grown seedlings.

Researchers attribute the increased growth to high temperatures (particularly at night), carbon dioxide concentrations and atmospheric nitrogen deposition. Saplings planted in Central Park developed a lower root-to-shoot ratio, which reduced below-ground carbon costs to the plant. To compensate for the root development, urban seedlings allocated more growth to leaves than the rural-grown seedlings. This resulted in a ten-fold greater photosynthetic area but the same photosynthetic capacity of foliage as the rural plants.

The findings mark a step toward understanding how nature and urban environments mix. "With human influence spreading across the globe, nature and urban environments are inseparable. The key is that plants can adapt to these changes in their environments, and in this case, really thrive in a human environment," said Stephanie Searle, lead author on a report of the study. Searle is currently a researcher at the International Council on Clean Transportation in Washington DC.

The report's authors weren't surprised by the results. "Our hypothesis was that the oak seedlings would grow faster in the city due to the higher nighttime temperatures," said Searle. Two previous studies on growth of poplar trees in Biosphere 2 conducted by Principle Investigator Kevin Griffin and co-author Matthew Turnbull, plus a previous study on poplar growth in urban environments by Jill Gregg, laid the groundwork.

The research did uncover new findings, however. "We were surprised at the magnitude of difference in growth between trees at the urban versus rural sites," Searle said. "Also, we had hypothesized that the urban seedlings would grow faster specifically because of their higher photosynthetic capacity boosted by higher temperatures, and this turned out not to be true; these plants got a head start by simply investing more resources in the leaves rather than roots compared to the rural plants."

While the findings reinforce the importance and potential of trees and other plantings in urban environments, many cities including New York City already make great efforts to create green spaces. Central park's 843 acres (341 hectares) are landscaped with trees, though many were knocked down in severe lightening storms in the summer of 2009.

"We believe that the 'urban heat island' effect may help trees in the city grow faster and thrive, but most trees in New York City are planted, so the fact that there are so many trees is really thanks to a great job by the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation," Searle commented.

Now it's up to New York City – as well as other urban areas – to capitalize on the advantages of tree growth, and keep cities green.

The paper on the research was recently published in the journal Tree Physiology.

Trees benefit from radiant heat and nutrients in urban areas

Many people view urban areas as hostile for plants – concrete stifles root growth, and pollution from vehicles makes it difficult to gain nutrients. A study conducted by The Earth Institute at Columbia University not only discredits those theories, however, but suggests that urban environments have a lot to offer plants to promote growth.

To conduct the research, The Earth Institute researchers planted seedlings in the spring of 2007 and 2008 in three sites around New York. Those locations included an area in northeastern Central Park, near 105th street; in two forest plots in the suburban Hudson Valley; and in more rural surroundings near the Ashokan Reservoir in the Catskill foothills, about 100 miles (161 km) north of Manhattan. Over a five-year period, researchers observed an eight-fold increase in biomass in the urban-grown seedlings.

Researchers attribute the increased growth to high temperatures (particularly at night), carbon dioxide concentrations and atmospheric nitrogen deposition. Saplings planted in Central Park developed a lower root-to-shoot ratio, which reduced below-ground carbon costs to the plant. To compensate for the root development, urban seedlings allocated more growth to leaves than the rural-grown seedlings. This resulted in a ten-fold greater photosynthetic area but the same photosynthetic capacity of foliage as the rural plants.

The findings mark a step toward understanding how nature and urban environments mix. "With human influence spreading across the globe, nature and urban environments are inseparable. The key is that plants can adapt to these changes in their environments, and in this case, really thrive in a human environment," said Stephanie Searle, lead author on a report of the study. Searle is currently a researcher at the International Council on Clean Transportation in Washington DC.

The report's authors weren't surprised by the results. "Our hypothesis was that the oak seedlings would grow faster in the city due to the higher nighttime temperatures," said Searle. Two previous studies on growth of poplar trees in Biosphere 2 conducted by Principle Investigator Kevin Griffin and co-author Matthew Turnbull, plus a previous study on poplar growth in urban environments by Jill Gregg, laid the groundwork.

The research did uncover new findings, however. "We were surprised at the magnitude of difference in growth between trees at the urban versus rural sites," Searle said. "Also, we had hypothesized that the urban seedlings would grow faster specifically because of their higher photosynthetic capacity boosted by higher temperatures, and this turned out not to be true; these plants got a head start by simply investing more resources in the leaves rather than roots compared to the rural plants."

While the findings reinforce the importance and potential of trees and other plantings in urban environments, many cities including New York City already make great efforts to create green spaces. Central park's 843 acres (341 hectares) are landscaped with trees, though many were knocked down in severe lightening storms in the summer of 2009.

"We believe that the 'urban heat island' effect may help trees in the city grow faster and thrive, but most trees in New York City are planted, so the fact that there are so many trees is really thanks to a great job by the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation," Searle commented.

Now it's up to New York City – as well as other urban areas – to capitalize on the advantages of tree growth, and keep cities green.

The paper on the research was recently published in the journal Tree Physiology.

Trees benefit from radiant heat and nutrients in urban areas

Many people view urban areas as hostile for plants – concrete stifles root growth, and pollution from vehicles makes it difficult to gain nutrients. A study conducted by The Earth Institute at Columbia University not only discredits those theories, however, but suggests that urban environments have a lot to offer plants to promote growth.

To conduct the research, The Earth Institute researchers planted seedlings in the spring of 2007 and 2008 in three sites around New York. Those locations included an area in northeastern Central Park, near 105th street; in two forest plots in the suburban Hudson Valley; and in more rural surroundings near the Ashokan Reservoir in the Catskill foothills, about 100 miles (161 km) north of Manhattan. Over a five-year period, researchers observed an eight-fold increase in biomass in the urban-grown seedlings.

Researchers attribute the increased growth to high temperatures (particularly at night), carbon dioxide concentrations and atmospheric nitrogen deposition. Saplings planted in Central Park developed a lower root-to-shoot ratio, which reduced below-ground carbon costs to the plant. To compensate for the root development, urban seedlings allocated more growth to leaves than the rural-grown seedlings. This resulted in a ten-fold greater photosynthetic area but the same photosynthetic capacity of foliage as the rural plants.

The findings mark a step toward understanding how nature and urban environments mix. "With human influence spreading across the globe, nature and urban environments are inseparable. The key is that plants can adapt to these changes in their environments, and in this case, really thrive in a human environment," said Stephanie Searle, lead author on a report of the study. Searle is currently a researcher at the International Council on Clean Transportation in Washington DC.

The report's authors weren't surprised by the results. "Our hypothesis was that the oak seedlings would grow faster in the city due to the higher nighttime temperatures," said Searle. Two previous studies on growth of poplar trees in Biosphere 2 conducted by Principle Investigator Kevin Griffin and co-author Matthew Turnbull, plus a previous study on poplar growth in urban environments by Jill Gregg, laid the groundwork.

The research did uncover new findings, however. "We were surprised at the magnitude of difference in growth between trees at the urban versus rural sites," Searle said. "Also, we had hypothesized that the urban seedlings would grow faster specifically because of their higher photosynthetic capacity boosted by higher temperatures, and this turned out not to be true; these plants got a head start by simply investing more resources in the leaves rather than roots compared to the rural plants."

While the findings reinforce the importance and potential of trees and other plantings in urban environments, many cities including New York City already make great efforts to create green spaces. Central park's 843 acres (341 hectares) are landscaped with trees, though many were knocked down in severe lightening storms in the summer of 2009.

"We believe that the 'urban heat island' effect may help trees in the city grow faster and thrive, but most trees in New York City are planted, so the fact that there are so many trees is really thanks to a great job by the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation," Searle commented.

Now it's up to New York City – as well as other urban areas – to capitalize on the advantages of tree growth, and keep cities green.

The paper on the research was recently published in the journal Tree Physiology.

Study finds electronic cigarettes can cause health problems too

Researchers from the University of California, Riverside, have some bad news for smokers looking to put a halt to the filthy habit by using electronic quitting aids. After examining various aspects of a handful of commercially-available electronic nicotine delivery systems, the team concluded that so-called e-cigarettes are unsafe and pose a health risk. They are now calling for such devices to be withdrawn from sale pending a rigid safety evaluation.

Electronic cigarettes give users a dose of nicotine without burning tobacco. They're made up of a battery, an atomizer, and a cartridge containing nicotine and propylene glycol. When someone takes a draw, a sensor activates the battery which changes the tip of the device red to simulate smoking and also heats the atomizer. This vaporizes the chemicals and the e-cigarette then delivers a dose of nicotine into the user's lungs.

Such devices are readily available in shopping malls throughout the U.S. but there's been "virtually no scientific studies on e-cigarettes and their safety," according to Prue Talbot, professor of cell biology and neuroscience. The research team from University of California, Riverside decided to find out exactly how safe so-called e-cigarettes are and purchased products from five companies.

They examined the design, accuracy and clarity of labeling, nicotine content, whether the devices or cartridges leaked and looked for defective parts. How the devices and components were disposed of at the end of their useful lives, whether any errors were made in filling orders, and the quality of the instruction manual and what claims were made while advertising, were also scrutinized.

The team found numerous issues including lack of essential warnings, poor or confusing usage instructions and a lack of information about what exactly is contained in the e-cigarettes. Kamlesh Asotra of the University of California Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program - which part-funded the study - confirmed that "virtually nothing is known about the toxicity of the vapors generated by these e-cigarettes."

They discovered various documents which made claims that could not be scientifically substantiated and, although the researchers found specific design differences between the brands, most of the cartridges were found to leak, which could lead to exposure to a dangerous and addictive chemical. Manufacture was unregulated and environmentally-sensitive disposal methods lacking.

The study concluded with the researchers stating that e-cigarettes pose a health risk to users and are urging regulators to consider their removal from the market pending a rigid safety evaluation.

The results from the study have now been published online at Tobacco Control.

Chocolate lovers rejoice: More chocolate means less body fat

In what may be the best news for chocoholics since scientists at the University of Cambridge found that higher chocolate consumption was associated with a significant reduction in cardiovascular disease, diabetes and stroke, researchers at the University of Granada are reporting that it's also associated with lower levels of total fat deposits – in the bodies of adolescents at least.

The researchers from the Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Physical Activity and Sports Sciences at the University of Granada conducted a study comprising 1,458 European adolescents aged between 12 and 17 years old and found that not only did higher chocolate consumption not lead to an increase in fat deposits in the participants, but it was actually associated with lower levels of total fat – fat deposits all over the body and central-abdominal fat – regardless of physical activity and diet.

The study estimated total fat deposits through body mass index, waist circumference and body fat percentage, which was measured by skinfolds and bioelectrical impedance analysis. Lower levels of total and central fat deposits were witnessed in participants with higher chocolate intake, regardless of age, sex, sexual maturation, total energy intake, physical activity and intake of saturated fats, fruits, vegetables, tea and coffee.

The researchers suggest the results could be partly due to catechins, a type of flavonoid that chocolate is especially rich in that boasts multiple health benefits and influences cortisol production and insulin sensitivity in the body. “They have important antioxidant, antithrombotic, anti-inflammatory and antihypertensive effects and can help prevent ischemic heart disease," explains Magdalena Cuenca-García who was the principle author of the study.

“The most recent epidemiologic research focuses on studying the relation between specific foods – both for their calorie content and for their components – and the risk factors for developing chronic illnesses, including overweight and obesity,” the researchers say in their study.

But before you go out and gorge yourself on chocolate bars, the researchers warn that, as with most things, chocolate should be consumed in moderation.

“In moderate quantities, chocolate can be good for you, as our study has shown. But, undoubtedly, excessive consumption is prejudicial. As they say: you can have too much of a good thing."

The team's study is published in the journal Nutrition.

Source: University of Granada

Medical

• Imperial College develops cancer-sniffing Intelligent Knife