discovered fossil types that
bear his name.Not many people can boast about a fossil organism that carries their
name. Even fewer have two organisms named after them, but Roger J. Cuffey,
professor of paleontology, has two newly discovered fossil types that
bear his name.
Organisms and fossils are named in recognition of outstanding, sustained research contributions to the scientist's specialty area. A geosciences faculty member, Cuffey is an expert in both fossil and living bryozoans -- small sea-dwelling polyp-type invertebrates that construct colonies resembling miniature corals.
These colonies sometimes build up to form reef mounds that later serve as reservoirs for petroleum and natural gas.
The two fossil types named after Cuffey are Cuffeyella arachnoidea and Diplotrypa cuffeyi. They are found in 450-million-year-old sedimentary rocks, deposited across North America and Europe during the Ordovician geologic time period. The names were chosen and published by scientists from the British Museum of Natural History and the Geological Survey of Canada respectively.
Cuffey studies bryozoans and reefs in Pennsylvania, across the U.S. and Canada, in Europe, Asia, the Pacific and Caribbean. He was president of the International Bryozoology Association. Besides bryozoans, Cuffey also teaches the ever-popular dinosaur courses.
A new catalyst dramatically improves the performance of methanol-air fuel cells, according to a research team including a Penn State faculty member and Penn State students. The team's research could lead to a more practical power source than batteries or the fuel cells powered by hydrogen that are used in space missions.
The new research involves fuel cells that use methyl alcohol, or methanol -- a liquid fuel that can be made cheaply from biomass or from fossil reserves such as coal, oil or natural gas.
"Because it is compatible with existing delivery systems for liquid fuels, methanol is used, for example, by race cars at the Indianapolis 500," said Thomas E. Mallouk, professor of chemistry.
Up to now, a platinum-ruthenium alloy has been the best known catalyst for methanol fuel cells. The new catalyst, an alloy containing platinum, ruthenium, osmium and iridium, is between 40 percent and 100 percent better, depending on the power demand on the cell and is particularly good under high-current/high-power conditions, the researchers said.
Fuel cells, which operate like batteries, are inherently efficient power conversion devices. They derive electrical energy directly from power-packed chemicals, sidestepping a basic thermodynamic limit on the efficiency of engines that burn fuel to make heat, and then use the heat to generate electricity.
Along with Mallouk, the research team includes Penn State graduate student Erik Reddington and undergraduate Anthony Sapienza; Eugene S. Smotkin, associate professor of chemical and environmental engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology and graduate students Bogdan Gurau and Rameshkrishnan Viswanathan; and S. Sarangapani of ICET Inc., Norwood, Mass.
Homeless crack cocaine addicts face early abuse and violence that leads to progressively unstable adult lives, according to a faculty member at Penn State Fayette.
"Most of the homeless crack cocaine users that we interviewed had traumatic, chaotic childhoods, often marked by physical and sexual abuse by parents, guardians, siblings and various relatives," said Eric D. Cohen, assistant professor of sociology at Penn State Fayette.
Cohen is the principal author of an analysis of the life histories of 31 African American crack addicts staying at a public shelter for homeless people in Philadelphia. Gerald J. Stahler, associate professor of geography and urban studies at Temple University, also worked on the project.
Life histories may provide a broad context of understanding in the development of treatments for homeless crack users, Cohen said.
For the complete story, check the Web at http://www.eurekalert.org/
Researchers from the College of Medicine have found that subtle changes occur in the retinas of diabetics much earlier than previously thought. Further study of these changes may lead to novel and early therapeutic intervention to slow or stop the progression of vision loss in people with diabetes.
Diabetic retinopathy refers to a change in the retina, which occurs in about 90 percent of the 8 million people in the United States diagnosed with diabetes. It is one of the major complications of diabetes.
Erich Lieth, assistant professor of neuroscience and anatomy and member of the Penn State Retina Research Group, said that Penn State animal models indicate that retinal cells away from blood vessels begin to change in less than three months. Lieth and his team studied the eyes of rats with experimentally induced diabetes to conduct this research. He said more research is needed before all of this information will be transferable for use in humans.
For more information, point your Web browser to http://www.hmc.psu.edu/psrrg/.
These days, barbecue season extends beyond Labor Day. Although
the grill is usually used to cook steaks, chicken or ribs, a vegetable expert
in the College of Agricultural Sciences said it's just as thrilling to be
grilling food grown in your garden.
"Grilling vegetables is easy and fast, and sometimes people find that vegetables they don't normally like may be acceptable to them if grilled," said Peter Ferretti, professor of vegetable crops.
Ferretti cites The Barbecue Bible by Steven Raichlen as a fine guide to grilling all sorts of vegetables. Ferretti, who has led several workshops on vegetable preparation, said grilling vegetables brings out the flavor more readily than other forms of cooking.
Ferretti said Raichlen's book recommends several tips for first time vegetable grillers:
* Make sure the grill is hot when you put the vegetables on the surface.
* Use a secondary grill or vegetable basket that has smaller holes to prevent vegetables from slipping into the fire.
Ferretti said The Barbecue Bible offers some accurate cooking times for a variety of vegetables. All items should be placed directly on the grill with high heat, except where noted.
* Artichokes: 60-75 minutes directly on the grill using medium to low heat.
* Asparagus: 6-8 minutes.
* Corn: 8-12 minutes.
* Whole eggplant: Asian eggplant should cook for 9-12 minutes; regular eggplant should be grilled for 20-30 minutes.
* Green Beans: 8-10 minutes per side.
* Mushrooms: Portobello mushrooms should cook 4-6 minutes per side; smaller mushrooms should cook 2-3 minutes per side.
* Onions: Quartered onions should cook 10-12 minutes per side. Sliced onions should cook 4-8 minutes per side.
* Whole peppers: 16-20 minutes.
* Sliced yellow or zucchini squash: 4-6 minutes per side.
* Tomatoes: Sliced tomatoes should be cooked 2-4 minutes per side. Whole tomatoes should be cooked 8-24 minutes depending on size and variety.
"The main thing to remember when cooking vegetables is never to walk away from the grill," Ferretti said. "Vegetables cook very quickly, and they can burn if you're not paying attention."