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Here is your customized PHYSorg.com Newsletter for May 31, 2010:
Spotlight Stories Headlines
- Liquid method: pure graphene production- From butterflies' wings to bank notes -- how nature's colors could cut bank fraud
- Faulty gene stops cell 'antennae' from transmitting
- Acupuncture's molecular effects pinned down
- Drinking tea may reduce ovarian cancer risk
- 4G wireless: It's fast, but outstripped by hype
- 'Top kill' fails to stop Gulf oil leak
- Discovery offers promising research for spinal-cord injury treatments
- Cell biologist pinpoints how RNA viruses copy themselves
- Revealing the ancient Chinese secret of sticky rice mortar
- Feds sue 6 websites for offering free comic books
- Sharp unveils 3D televisions in Japan
Space & Earth news
MBARI sends underwater robot to study Deepwater Horizon spill (w/ Video)
MBARI's Division of Marine Operations, under an agreement with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), sent a high-tech robotic submersible to the oily waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The goal is to collect information about the oil plume from the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig accident for NOAA.
Bid to plug oil leak continues amid uncertainty
Engineers pushed forward with efforts to plug a disastrous Gulf of Mexico leak Saturday as locals and officials crossed their fingers that the untested "top kill" process would work.
Sand berms to be built to hold off oil from Louisiana coast
US officials were poised Saturday to begin building massive sand barriers in the Mississippi Delta in a last-ditch bid to keep oil from BP's gushing Deepwater Horizon well from reaching Louisiana's fragile wetlands.
Deepwater mystery: Oil loose in the Gulf
(AP) -- Streaming video of oil pouring from the seafloor and images of dead, crude-soaked birds serve as visual bookends to the natural calamity unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico.
Giant ash cloud threatens flights in Pacific
A giant plume of volcanic ash is disrupting flights in the Pacific and threatening villagers in Vanuatu, echoing similar problems which caused chaos in Europe, scientists and officials said Monday.
'Top kill' fails to stop Gulf oil leak
BP's "top kill" operation to plug the ruptured well in the Gulf of Mexico has failed in a stunning setback to efforts to stem the worst oil spill in US history.
Technology news
Bangladesh blocks Facebook over prophet drawings
(AP) -- Bangladesh has become the second South Asian nation after Pakistan to block the popular social networking website Facebook over a page that urged people to draw images of Islam's Prophet Muhammad.
Pakistan lifts Facebook ban
(AP) -- Pakistan lifted a ban on Facebook on Monday after officials from the social networking site apologized for a page deemed offensive to Muslims and removed its contents, a top information technology official said.
Lawmaker seeks cooperation from Google, Facebook
(AP) -- The head of the House Judiciary Committee is asking Google and Facebook to cooperate with government inquiries into privacy practices at both companies.
Google crowns Facebook king of Internet visits
Google on Friday released Web traffic data indicating that Facebook is king when it comes to online visitors despite criticism about privacy at the social-networking service.
Piracy stifling Asian software industry, say experts
Entrepreneur Binod Hariharan has big plans for his southern Indian firm, which develops astrology-based computer software to help users find a suitable spouse or plot their career paths.
Feds sue 6 websites for offering free comic books
(AP) -- Six websites run by a Florida man violated federal copyright laws by allowing visitors to view Batman and other comic books for free without permission from the publishers or authors, government lawyers charge in a federal lawsuit.
4G wireless: It's fast, but outstripped by hype
(AP) -- Cell phone companies are about to barrage consumers with advertising for the next advance in wireless network technology: "4G" access. The companies are promising faster speeds and the thrill of being the first on the block to use a new acronym.
Medicine & Health news
Researchers find papillary renal cell carcinoma unresponsive to sunitinib
Of the more than 38,000 Americans diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) each year, approximately 20 percent have non-clear cell forms of the disease. New findings shows that a non-clear cell form of kidney cancer known as papillary RCC, which accounts for 12 percent of all RCC, responds differently to sunitinib - a standard frontline treatment for RCC. In a small but decisive Phase II trial, the researchers found that sunitinib was not effective in patients with this form of the disease. The terms clear- and non-clear cell refer to the general appearance of the cancer cells under a microscope.
Researchers report no difference in breast cancer characteristics after oophorectomy
More than half a million women in the United States undergo a hysterectomy each year and approximately half of those surgeries include removal of the ovaries. Researchers know that removing a woman's ovaries is associated with a reduction in the risk of developing breast cancer, but it has not been clear whether those cancers that do arise in these women differ from breast cancers in the general population. Now, investigators at Fox Chase Cancer Center report that women who have had a bilateral oophorectomy tend to have smaller tumors and to have their tumors detected by mammography rather than by physical exam. The use of hormone therapy after surgery, however, wipes out any difference in tumor size or detection method.
Circulating tumor cells correlate with poorer survival in pancreatic cancer patients
Fox Chase Cancer Center investigators find that pancreatic cancer patients who have circulating tumor cells tend to have worse outcomes than patients without circulating tumor cells. Additionally, the team has uncovered evidence that not all circulating tumor cells are the same, and some may predict worse outcomes than others.
Research finds surgery outperforms drug therapy in treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia
A 17-year-long community study looking at symptoms of enlarged prostate in over 2,000 men age 40 to 79 years suggests that surgery for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) offers more relief from incontinence and obstruction symptoms than treatment from drug-based therapy, according to a new study by researchers at Mayo Clinic. The researchers presented their results today at the annual meeting of the American Urological Association.
Comparision of overall survival for non-small cell lung cancer patients
There's debate about the best treatment approach for patients with certain stages of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), which accounts for about 80 percent of all lung cancers. Patients with early stages of NSCLC are typically treated with surgery, but those with stage IIIA present more of a challenge because they are such a diverse group. However, research from Fox Chase Cancer Center shows that patient's with stage IIIA NSCLC who receive surgery, lobectomy in particular, have increased overall survival compared to those who received chemoradiation alone--those receiving lobectomy plus chemoradation had survival rates that were higher than previously reported as well.
Response to preoperative therapy may predict survival in pancreatic cancer patients
Cancer of the pancreas--a glandular organ that lies behind the stomach and secretes vital enzymes and hormones--seldom is detected in early stages, making treatment difficult and survival statistics particularly grim. However, new research from Fox Chase Cancer Center finds that patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma whose tumors respond most to preoperative chemotherapy and radiation survive four times as long, on average, as those whose tumors respond least.
New source of stem cells form heart muscle cells, repair damage
A new and non-controversial source of stem cells can form heart muscle cells and help repair heart damage, according to results of preliminary lab tests reported in Circulation Research: Journal of the American Heart Association.
Scientists find genes associated with throat cancer
Scientists from Singapore, China and USA have identified three new susceptibility genes in a genome-wide association study of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). The study, led by the Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS), a biomedical research institute of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), and the Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Centre, identified genetic risk factors of NPC that advance the understanding of the important role played by host genetic variation in influencing the susceptibility to this cancer.
Discovery offers promising research for spinal-cord injury treatments
Researchers in the University of Alberta's Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine have made an important discovery that could lead to more effective treatments for spinal-cord injuries. Karim Fouad and David Bennett have identified one of the body's natural self-repair mechanisms that kick in after injury.
Drinking tea may reduce ovarian cancer risk
(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) have found that drinking tea may decrease your risk of developing ovarian cancer.
Faulty gene stops cell 'antennae' from transmitting
An international group of researchers has identified the genetic cause of an inherited condition that causes severe fetal abnormalities.
Acupuncture's molecular effects pinned down
Scientists have taken another important step toward understanding just how sticking needles into the body can ease pain.
Biology news
Alaska sues feds over predator control
(AP) -- The state of Alaska sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Friday, seeking a court order allowing it to go ahead with a controversial predator control program.
No more eating shark fin in Hawaii after new law
(AP) -- The $48-a-plate shark fin has been a favorite dish to celebrate 80th birthdays and fete out of town VIPs since Vienna Hou's Chinese restaurant opened 25 years ago.
Cell biologist pinpoints how RNA viruses copy themselves
Nihal Altan-Bonnet, assistant professor of cell biology, Rutgers University in Newark, and her research team have made a significant new discovery about RNA (Ribonucleic acid) viruses and how they replicate themselves.
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