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Here is your customized PHYSorg.com Newsletter for June 5, 2011:
Spotlight Stories Headlines
- CERN physicists trap antihydrogen atoms for more than 16 minutes- New solar system formation models indicate that Jupiter's foray robbed Mars of mass
- New study indicates carbon release to atmosphere ten times faster than in the past
- How muscle develops: A dance of cellular skeletons
- Senators target Internet narcotics
- Researchers make major step in improving forecasts of weather extremes such as floods, droughts
- New target to wipe pain away mapped
- Studies show importance of visual stimulation in wiring up species' brains to see
- Super microscope used to pinpoint body's immunity 'switch'
- Revamped Soyuz spacecraft readied for launch
- Greenhouse gas emissions hitting record highs
- 3,500 evacuate as volcano erupts in southern Chile
- NASA watching 2 areas in the Caribbean, 1 is a rainmaker
- Colorado fossils shed light on ice age mastodons
- 4 in US now linked to German E. coli outbreak
Space & Earth news
Greenpeace activists arrested on Arctic oil rig
Eighteen Greenpeace activists who scaled an oil rig off Greenland to protest oil prospecting in the Arctic were on Saturday arrested by police, the environmental group said.
NASA watching 2 areas in the Caribbean, 1 is a rainmaker
There are two low pressure areas in the Caribbean Sea for future development into tropical cyclones, although the chances are near zero for one, and minimal for the other. The GOES-13 satellite has been following the life of System 93L, which is one of those systems. The second low pressure area may not develop over the weekend, but threatens heavy rain in Hispaniola, Cuba and Jamaica.
Mexico's Popocatepetl volcano blasts tower of ash
(AP) -- The Popocatepetl volcano that towers over Mexico City began rumbling again Friday, shooting a blast of ash about 2 miles (3 kilometers) above its crater at dawn.
Australian PM faces toughest test on carbon tax
(AP) -- Australia's leader faces her toughest political test to date as she tries to sell the nation on a carbon tax that would lead to higher power prices while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
3,500 evacuate as volcano erupts in southern Chile
(AP) -- One of the volcanos in the Caulle Cordon of southern Chile erupted violently Saturday, billowing smoke and ash high into the sky and prompting more than 3,500 people living nearby to evacuate.
Greenhouse gas emissions hitting record highs
(AP) -- Despite 20 years of effort, greenhouse gas emissions are going up instead of down, hitting record highs as climate negotiators gather to debate a new global warming accord.
Revamped Soyuz spacecraft readied for launch
(AP) -- A revamped digital version of the venerable Russian Soyuz spacecraft was winched into place at its launch pad Sunday for its second manned run to the International Space Station.
Researchers make major step in improving forecasts of weather extremes such as floods, droughts
(PhysOrg.com) -- Moisture and heat fluctuations from the land surface to the atmosphere form a critical nexus between surface hydrology and atmospheric processes, especially those relevant to rainfall. While current theory has suggested that soil moisture has had a positive impact on precipitation, there have been very few large-scale observations of this. A team of researchers from Columbia Engineering, Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, and Rutgers University has now demonstrated that evaporation from the land surface is able to modify summertime rainfall east of the Mississippi and in the monsoonal region in the southern U.S. and Mexico. One of their main findings is that evaporation from the land is, however, only able to modify the frequency of summertime rainfall, not its quantity.
New solar system formation models indicate that Jupiter's foray robbed Mars of mass
Planetary scientists have long wondered why Mars is only about half the size and one-tenth the mass of Earth. As next-door neighbors in the inner solar system, probably formed about the same time, why isn't Mars more like Earth and Venus in size and mass? A paper published in the journal Nature this week provides the first cohesive explanation and, by doing so, reveals an unexpected twist in the early lives of Jupiter and Saturn as well.
New study indicates carbon release to atmosphere ten times faster than in the past
The rate of release of carbon into the atmosphere today is nearly 10 times as fast as during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), 55.9 million years ago, the best analog we have for current global warming, according to an international team of geologists. Rate matters and this current rapid change may not allow sufficient time for the biological environment to adjust.
Technology news
S.C. victory reveals Amazon's sway in tax battle
A war among giant retailers that animated South Carolina politics the past few months has tipped in the direction of one of the most aggressive competitors: Amazon.com.
US, Britain urge cooperation on cyber threats
The United States and Britain called Saturday for international cooperation against threats to cyber security following a fresh spate of attacks on government and corporate targets.
Nintendo says server breached, no data lost
(AP) -- Nintendo, the Japanese maker of the Wii game console and Super Mario games, says it was targeted in recent online data attacks, but that no personal or company information was lost.
Senators target Internet narcotics
(AP) -- Two U.S. senators said Sunday they will ask federal authorities to crack down on a secretive narcotics market operated on the Internet with anonymous sales and untraceable currency.
Fears over Myanmar deep-sea port plan
Mechanical diggers on the pristine beaches near the sleepy fishing town of Dawei are a sign that change is coming to the remote corner of Myanmar -- but not necessarily for the better.
Medicine & Health news
Combination antibody therapy shows promise in metastatic melanoma
(Medical Xpress) -- A duo of drugs, each targeting a prime survival strategy of tumors, can be safely administered and are potentially more effective than either drug alone for advanced, inoperable melanomas, according to a phase 1 clinical trial led by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute investigators.
Cancer survivors can't shake pain, fatigue, insomnia, foggy brain
When people finish treatment for cancer, they want to bounce back to their former vital selves as quickly as possible. But a new Northwestern Medicine study -- one of the largest survivor studies ever conducted – shows many survivors still suffer moderate to severe problems with pain, fatigue, sleep, memory and concentration three to five years after treatment has ended.
Study points to health disparities in physical fitness
An Indiana University study examining disparities in physical fitness levels between older adults who are patients of safety net community health centers (CHC) and those who are members of a medically affiliated fitness center is producing stunning results.
Yoga helped older stroke victims improve balance, endurance
An Indiana University study that exposed older veterans with stroke to yoga produced "exciting" results as researchers explore whether this popular mind-body practice can help stroke victims cope with their increased risk for painful and even deadly falls.
Breast cancer surgery patients benefit from adding radiation therapy
Additional radiation treatment improves disease free survival lessening the chance of cancer recurring in women with early breast cancer who have had breast conserving surgery (lumpectomy), interim results of a new study found. The results will be presented Monday, June 6, 2011 at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
UB played major role in study on drug that reduces breast cancer in high-risk women
Today's major announcement at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting that the drug exemestane significantly reduces the risk of breast cancer in high-risk, postmenopausal women is the result of an international, randomized double-blind phase III clinical trial in which University at Buffalo researchers and hundreds of Western New York women played a critical role.
Hormone-blocking drug reduces breast cancer risk
(AP) -- Millions of women at higher-than-usual risk of breast cancer have a new option for preventing the disease. Pfizer Inc.'s Aromasin cut the risk of developing breast cancer by more than half, without the side effects that have curbed enthusiasm for other prevention drugs, a major study found.
Surgery-related weight loss in men reverses testosterone deficiency
Low testosterone levels and symptoms of male sexual dysfunction due to obesity may be reversible with weight loss after bariatric surgery, a new study finds.
Hormone deprivation therapy for prostate cancer may raise diabetes risk
Men with prostate cancer are at higher risk of developing diabetes or diabetes risk factors if they receive androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) to block the production or action of male hormones that can fuel the growth of this cancer.
Obesity raises breast cancer survivors' risk of dying of the cancer
Women with a healthy body weight before and after diagnosis of breast cancer are more likely to survive the disease long term, a new study finds.
Pioneering stem cell bandage receives approval for clinical trial
Millions of people with knee injuries could benefit from a new type of stem cell bandage treatment if clinical trials are successful. The world's first clinical trial for the treatment of patients with torn meniscal cartilage has received approval from the UK regulatory agency, the MHRA1, to commence.
Study identifies genetic mutations associated with cancer risk for hereditary cancer syndrome
(Medical Xpress) -- Among various genetic mutations for individuals with Lynch syndrome, a hereditary cancer syndrome that carries a high risk of colon cancer and an above-normal risk of other cancers, researchers have identified mutations associated with a lower cancer risk and mutations associated with an increased risk for ovarian and endometrial cancer, according to a study in the June 8 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on cancer.
India health costs a crisis impoverishing millions
(AP) -- When Nasir Khan cried out at night from the searing pain of kidney stones, the entire slum could hear him.
Following colorectal cancer surgery, longer delay before chemotherapy associated with worse survival
An analysis of data from previously published studies indicates that longer time to beginning adjuvant chemotherapy after surgery for colorectal cancer is associated with worse survival, according to a study in the June 8 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on cancer.
Ovarian cancer screening does not appear to reduce risk of ovarian cancer death
In a clinical trial that included nearly 80,000 women, those who received ovarian cancer screening did not have a reduced risk of death from ovarian cancer compared to women who received usual care, but did have an increase in invasive medical procedures and associated harms as a result of being screened, according to a study in the June 8 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on cancer.
Anorexic girls have increased bone density after physiological estrogen treatment
Estrogen therapy improves low bone density due to anorexia nervosa in teenage girls with the disease when given as a patch or as a low oral dose that is physiological (close to the form or amount of estrogen the body makes naturally). These results of a new study are being presented Monday at The Endocrine Society's 93rd Annual Meeting in Boston.
Bariatric surgery linked to increased fracture risk
People who have had gastric bypass surgery or other bariatric weight-loss surgery have an even higher increased risk of breaking bones than previously found. These study findings will be presented Tuesday at The Endocrine Society's 93rd Annual Meeting in Boston.
Childhood cancer survivors at increased risk of certain tumors in middle-age
In a study that included nearly 18,000 children who had cancer, with follow-up of about 25 years, the greatest excess risk associated with a subsequent primary neoplasm (a new tumor) at older than age 40 years was for digestive and genitourinary neoplasms (related to the genital or urinary tract organs), according to a study in the June 8 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on cancer.
Survey: ED residents' attitudes favorable to pregnancy during residency
The demands of a medical residency can make balancing a career and family a challenge. But the results of a Henry Ford Hospital survey of Emergency Department (ED) resident physicians' attitudes on pregnancy during residency may offer uplifting news.
Severity of facial wrinkles may predict bone density in early menopause
A news study finds that the worse a woman's skin wrinkles are during the first few years of menopause, the lower her bone density is.
New generation asthma drug could improve metabolism
Formoterol, a new generation asthma medication, shows great promise for improving fat and protein metabolism, say Australian researchers, who have tested this effect in a small sample of men.
PARTNER shows similar 1-year survival for catheter-based AVR and open AVR in high-risk patients
Less invasive catheter-based aortic valve replacement and open valve-replacement surgery have a similar one-year survival for patients at high risk for surgery.
Understanding cancer energetics
(Medical Xpress) -- It's long been known that cancer cells eat a lot of sugar to stay alive. In fact, where normal, noncancerous cells generate energy from using some sugar and a lot of oxygen, cancerous cells use virtually no oxygen and a lot of sugar. Many genes have been implicated in this process and now, reporting in the May 27 issue of Cell, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have discovered that this so-called Warburg effect is controlled.
Could a birth control pill for men be on the horizon?
Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center are honing in on the development of what may be the first non-steroidal, oral contraceptive for men. Tests of low doses of a compound that interferes with retinoic acid receptors (RARs), whose ligands are metabolites of dietary vitamin A, showed that it caused sterility in male mice.
Fighting cancer with cancer: Mayo Clinic finds promising use for thyroid cancer gene
A mutant gene long thought to accelerate tumor growth in thyroid cancer patients actually inhibits the spread of malignant cells, showing promise for novel cancer therapies, a Mayo Clinic study has found.
Fetal programming of disease risk to next generation depends on parental gender
Overexposure to stress hormones in the womb can program the potential for adverse health effects in those children and the next generation, but effects vary depending on whether the mother or father transmits them, a new animal study suggests.
Estrogen blocker cuts breast cancer risk 65%: study
An anti-estrogen drug has shown a "promising" 65-percent reduction of breast cancer risk among post-menopausal women, according to the findings of a study released Saturday.
Study: Flaxseed doesn't reduce women's hot flashes
Women looking for a natural remedy for a common menopause problem have a disappointment: A new study has found that eating flaxseed does not curb hot flashes.
Stem cell treatment may offer option for broken bones that don't heal
Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have shown in an animal study that transplantation of adult stem cells enriched with a bone-regenerating hormone can help mend bone fractures that are not healing properly.
4 in US now linked to German E. coli outbreak
(AP) -- Four people in the U.S. were apparently sickened by the food poisoning outbreak in Europe, health officials said Friday. Three are hospitalized with a serious complication.
Mystery deepens over E. coli poisoning
An outbreak of killer E. coli that has spread to 12 countries and killed 19 people may be linked to a Hamburg festival in May and could have claimed a 20th victim, reports said on Saturday.
Studies show importance of visual stimulation in wiring up species' brains to see
Any parent knows that newborns still have a lot of neurological work to do to attain fully acute vision. In a wide variety of nascent animals, genes provide them with only a rough wiring plan and then leave it to the developing nervous system to do its own finish work. Two studies by Brown University researchers provide new evidence of a role for exposure to light in the environment as mouse pups and tadpoles organize and refine the circuitry of their vision systems.
New target to wipe pain away mapped
Researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine have discovered a peptide that short circuits a pathway for chronic pain. Unlike current treatments this peptide does not exhibit deleterious side effects such as reduced motor coordination, memory loss, or depression, according to an article in Nature Medicine posted online June 5, 2011.
Super microscope used to pinpoint body's immunity 'switch'
Using the only microscope of its kind in Australia, medical scientists have been able for the first time to see the inner workings of T-cells, the front-line troops that alert our immune system to go on the defensive against germs and other invaders in our bloodstream.
Biology news
How muscle develops: A dance of cellular skeletons
Revealing another part of the story of muscle development, Johns Hopkins researchers have shown how the cytoskeleton from one muscle cell builds finger-like projections that invade into another muscle cell's territory, eventually forcing the cells to combine.
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