PATENT LAWSUIT SETTLED. The University of Texas System Board of Regents has reached a settlement in a patent infringement lawsuit against Research in Motion Limited and Research in Motion Corp. (RIM), maker of the Blackberry wireless device. RIM paid the board $1.8 million and in return obtained license rights to the patent Character Pattern Recognition and Communications Apparatus. The software automatically completes a frequently used word after the first letters have been typed using a limited keypad, such as on a cellphone. The lawsuit claims patent infringement by more than 40 companies for using technology patented in 1987 by George Kondraske, a UT Arlington professor of electrical engineering and bioengineering. The inventors share net proceeds from settlements equally with the University.

LONG ARM OF THE LAW GETS LONGER. Computer science and engineering researchers have received a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to develop a wireless communications system for the Arlington Police Department. The system is expected to include wearable multimedia devices for officers to transmit live video and audio while on patrol. The system calls for video cameras in police cars to send a range of visual information back to central command. "Our intent is to provide real-time, anywhere and everywhere communications to serve police," said CSE Professor Ishfaq Ahmad, lead investigator on the project. "We want to go one generation ahead of Star Trek and provide not just audio but live video to create a fully pervasive communications system."

VIRTUAL EDUCATION. Beginning next year, nursing students will treat "patients" with trauma, cardiac arrest and even severe cases of the flu in the School of Nursing’s virtual emergency department. Computerized mannequins that replicate physiological functions will simulate real-life emergency room scenarios. A triage area, a primary care area, a cardiac room and a trauma room will be part of the school’s Smart Hospital, a virtual, multispecialty health care setting.

HANDLING THE PAIN. Recent clinical studies suggest that single working mothers may differ from other patients in their response to health treatment and outcomes. But a study by Psychology Department Chairman Robert Gatchel and colleagues refutes that. The study, reported in Biotech Week, explored the differences in chronic pain rehabilitation among single working mothers compared to other groups. Investigators looked at 1,679 chronically disabled, work-related spinal-disorder patients placed in groups by gender, marital status and parenthood. Contrary to expectations, the groups did not differ significantly in program completion rate, work retention, health utilization, recurrent injury or case settlements at a one-year follow-up. The results were published in the Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, 2005.

CIVIC MINDED. Asian immigrants, whose numbers have grown dramatically in the area since the 1990s, are increasingly becoming involved in American civic life. The Russell Sage Foundation has awarded a $150,000 grant to UT Arlington anthropology Professor Deborah Reed-Danahay and Southern Methodist University’s Caroline Brettell to explore the trend. They will focus on Vietnamese and Asian Indian immigrants, the second and third largest foreign-born populations in North Texas. The study will examine how immigrants express citizenship; it will look beyond conventional means of political participation like voting, to more informal ways of engaging with American public and civic spheres. The researchers want to determine how children and adults become active members of their communities through participation in educational, religious, civic and other voluntary associations.

DIAGNOSTIC VIDEOS. Computer science and engineering Assistant Professor JungHwan Oh is the lead investigator on a $579,000 grant funded by the National Science Foundation to develop hardware and software to produce advanced endoscopy videos. The project involves collaborative research with the Mayo Clinic and Iowa State University to develop an Endoscopic Multimedia Information System. The grant provides $203,000 for research at UT Arlington.