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Here is your customized PHYSorg.com Newsletter for April 1, 2012:
Spotlight Stories Headlines
- Epson's 3-D glasses simulate 80-inch screen- Facebook sets engineers to work on grown-up search
- Picky females promote survival and diversity, new research says
- Protective gene in fat cells may lead to therapeutic for Type 2 diabetes
- Scientists elucidate molecular mechanism contributing to cardiomyopathy
- Ocean robots help to trace ocean warming to late 19th century
- Researchers uncover clue to preventing, and possibly reversing, ataxia telangiectasia disease
- DNA sequencing lays foundation for personalized cancer treatment
- Commonly used diabetes drug may help to prevent primary liver cancer
- Australian WiFi inventors win US legal battle
- Interview: Budding Google social network sets itself apart
- Britain planning new Internet snooping laws
- Gene variations linked to intestinal blockage in newborns with cystic fibrosis
Space & Earth news
Declining sea ice to lead to cloudier Arctic: study
Arctic sea ice has been declining over the past several decades as global climate has warmed. In fact, sea ice has declined more quickly than many models predicted, indicating that climate models may not be correctly representing some processes controlling sea ice.
Improving plume forecasts using Fukushima data
Forecasting how plumes of particles, such as radioactive particles from a nuclear disaster, will be transported and dispersed in the atmosphere is an important but computationally challenging task. During the Fukushima nuclear disaster, operational plume forecasts were produced each day, but as the emissions continued, previous emissions were not included in the simulations used for forecasts because it became impractical to rerun the simulations each day from the beginning of the accident.
Asia turns off lights for Earth Hour
Australia's Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House were plunged into darkness on Saturday for the annual Earth Hour campaign, leading a global effort to raise awareness about climate change.
Total awaits advice on stricken North Sea rig
French energy giant Total was awaiting advice on Sunday from British regulators on whether it is safe to approach a North Sea platform that has been leaking flammable gas for a week.
Space the latest frontier for Earth Hour
Millions of people are expected to switch off their lights for Earth Hour Saturday in a global effort to raise awareness about climate change that will even be monitored from space.
Regional models expect drier, stormier western United States
As American southwestern states struggle against ongoing drought, and the Northwest braces for a projected shift from a snow- to a rain-dominated hydrological system, climate researchers strive to provide precipitation projections that are fine grained enough to be of value to municipal water managers. Estimates derived from large general circulation models show that in a warming world, water availability in the western United States will be increasingly dictated by extreme events.
North American rivers are a sizable source of atmospheric carbon
To fulfill the need for an ever more accurate and complete understanding of the flow of carbon through the Earth system, a flurry of research has taken place in the past decade on previously overlooked aspects of the carbon cycle. Researchers have investigated the roles of rivers, lakes, and streams in transporting carbon, often with mixed, or only broadly constrained, results. Further, many investigations have traditionally focused on a small number of sites. Though such focused measurements are important for pinning down spatial and temporal changes in the local exchange of carbon, they make expanding the results to broader regions difficult.
Reforestation efforts reshape Hawaii's soil hydrology
Starting with the arrival of Polynesian settlers in the fourth century, and peaking in the mid-1800s, the destructive forces of wildfires and pests and the grazing of feral pigs, goats, and cattle reduced the native forests of Maui, Hawaii, to just a tenth of their original extent. Maui's native vegetation was replaced largely by imported or invasive species. Over time, the invasive grasses that took root reshaped the hydrological properties of the soil, reducing the viability of native plant species that had evolved to thrive under Hawaii's previous hydrological dynamics. Maui's ecosystem had been changed for so long that scientists were uncertain whether the region could actually again support the native flora.
Japan experts warn of future risk of giant tsunami
(AP) -- Much of Japan's Pacific coast could be inundated by a tsunami more than 34 meters (112 feet) high if a powerful earthquake hits offshore, according to revised estimates by a government panel.
Lights go off around globe for Earth Hour
New York's Empire State Building, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and the Sydney Opera House were plunged into darkness for the annual Earth Hour campaign, leading a global effort to raise awareness about climate change.
How did the equatorial ridge on Saturn's moon Iapetus form?
Saturn's moon Iapetus is one of the most unusual moons in our solar system.
Ocean robots help to trace ocean warming to late 19th century
A new study contrasting ocean temperature readings of the 1870s with temperatures of the modern seas reveals an upward trend of global ocean warming spanning at least 100 years.
Technology news
China punishes social media, websites on coup talk
(AP) -- China is shuttering more than a dozen websites, penalizing two popular social media sites and detaining six people for circulating rumors of a coup that rattled Beijing in the midst of its worst high-level political crisis in years.
Groupon says 4th-quarter was weaker than reported
(AP) -- Groupon Inc. said Friday that its fourth-quarter loss was wider than initially reported because it needed to increase the amount of money it sets aside for refunds.
Facebook sets engineers to work on grown-up search
(PhysOrg.com) -- Facebook is planning to get serious about its search engine. Sources tipped off reporters this week about Facebook plans to upgrade its search engine and run toward the money that can be gained from optimized search. Tongues are wagging about how, not when, and story headlines are pairing the Facebook plan with thoughts about Google, namely what the search surge can mean as a challenge to Google. Numerous sites that watch both Google and Facebook marvel at the two companies’ opposite moves; of Google moving toward social while Facebook moving toward search.
Britain planning new Internet snooping laws
The British government wants to expand its powers to monitor email exchanges and website visits, The Sunday Times newspaper reported.
Interview: Budding Google social network sets itself apart
Like the strong-willed youth it is, Google's budding social network is confidently going its own way.
Australian WiFi inventors win US legal battle
Australian government science body CSIRO said Sunday it had won a multi-million-dollar legal settlement in the United States to license its patented technology that underpins the WiFi platform worldwide.
Medicine & Health news
Vietnam battles lingering bird flu threat
Vietnam may have contained the fatal bird flu outbreak that raged in the late 2000s but it is still struggling with new cases of the disease that have puzzled experts in the communist country.
Dutch pensioner's decision: when to die with dignity
With a deadly dose of barbiturates stashed in his home in a small eastern Dutch town, pensioner Hans Hillebrand is a "self-determinist": he alone wants to decide when it's time to die with dignity.
Early clinical data show galeterone safe, effective against prostate cancer
Patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer had limited side effects and in many cases a drop in prostate-specific antigen expression with galeterone (TOK-001), a small-molecule oral drug, according to phase I data presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 - April 4.
Towards TB elimination: ECDC and ERS introduce new guidelines on tuberculosis care in Europe
Today, the European Respiratory Society (ERS) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) publish their jointly developed European Union Standards for Tuberculosis Care (ESTC). The 21 patient-centred standards aim to guide clinicians and public health workers to ensure optimal diagnosis, treatment and prevention of tuberculosis (TB) in Europe – with nearly 74,000 reported TB cases in the EU/EEA in 2010 clearly showing that TB remains a public health challenge across the region.
Laughter clubs catch on in stressed-out Hong Kong
Hypnotherapist Dick Yu has a mission that seems unthinkable to some Hong Kong people: he wants to make the Asian financial hub's seven million residents laugh.
Epigenetic changes in twins of dieting mothers increases risk of obesity and diabetes
If you're expecting, this might make you feel a little better about reaching for that pint of ice cream: New research published online in the FASEB Journal suggests that twins, and babies of mothers who diet around the time of conception and in early pregnancy, may have an increased risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes throughout their lives. This study provides exciting insights into how behavior can lead to epigenetic changes in offspring related to obesity and disease.
Oxygen in tumors predicts prostate cancer recurrence
Low oxygen levels in tumors can be used to predict cancer recurrence in men with intermediate-risk prostate cancer even before they receive radiation therapy.
Metformin appeared to slow prostate cancer growth
The use of metformin in men with prostate cancer before prostatectomy helped to reduce certain metabolic parameters and slow the growth rate of the cancer, according to the results of a phase II study.
Biomarker identified in relation to drug response in refractory urothelial cancer
The antiangiogenic drug pazopanib has demonstrated clinically meaningful activity in patients with refractory urothelial cancer, according to results presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 - April 4. The results also revealed that increases in interleukin-8 levels early after treatment with pazopanib may predict a lack of tumor response to the therapy.
Two targeted therapies act against Ewing's sarcoma tumors
A pair of targeted therapies shrank tumors in some patients with treatment-resistant Ewing's sarcoma or desmoplastic small-round-cell tumors, according to research led by investigators from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reported at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012.
New discovery may lead to effective prevention and treatment of graft-versus-host disease
A new discovery in mice may lead to new treatments that could make bone marrow transplants more likely to succeed and to be significantly less dangerous. According to new research findings published in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology Brazilian scientists may have found a way to prevent the immune system from attacking transplant grafts and damaging the host's own cells after a bone marrow transplant.
Mechanism found connecting metastatic breast cancer and arthritis
Working with mouse models, researchers have found a strong connection between autoimmune arthritis and increased aggressiveness in metastatic breast cancer. The connection appears to involve the tendency of autoimmune arthritis to increase production of mast cells, an immune cell type that increases inflammation and that is prevalent in metastatic tumors. By blocking a key receptor, the researchers were able to affect the interaction between the cancer and mast cells and lessen metastasis.
PI3K/mTOR pathway proteins tied to poor prognosis in breast cancer
Four proteins involved in translation, the final step of general protein production, are associated with poor prognosis in hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer when they are dysregulated, researchers reported at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012.
Transforming scar tissue into beating hearts: The next instalment
The latest research developments to reprogram scar tissue resulting from myocardial infarction (MI) into viable heart muscle cells, were presented at the Frontiers in CardioVascular Biology (FCVB) 2012 meeting, held 30 March to 1 April at the South Kensington Campus of Imperial College in London.
Study: Long use of any hormones poses cancer risk
New research suggests that long-term use of any type of hormones to ease menopause symptoms can raise a woman's risk of breast cancer.
Blacks have trouble clearing cervical cancer virus
Provocative new research might help explain why black women are so much more likely than whites to develop and die from cervical cancer: They seem to have more trouble clearing HPV, the virus that causes the disease.
Second mutation in BRAF-mutated melanoma doesn't contribute to resistance
A second mutation found in the tumors of patients with BRAF-mutated metastatic melanoma does not contribute to resistance to BRAF inhibitor drugs, a finding that runs counter to what scientists expected to be true.
Scientists identify key protein players in hard-to-treat breast cancers
At the time of diagnosis, the majority of breast cancers are categorized as estrogen-receptor positive, or hormone sensitive, which means their cancerous cells may need estrogen to grow. Patients with this type of cancer often respond favorably to treatments called aromatase inhibitors, like tamoxifen, which cause cell death by preventing estrogen from reaching the cancerous cells. Over time, however, the disease often becomes resistant to estrogen deprivation from the drugs—making treatment options more limited.
Protein Aurora-A is found to be associated with survival in head and neck cancer
Researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia have found that a protein associated with other cancers appears to also be important in head and neck cancer, and may consequently serve as a good target for new treatments. The findings will be reported at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 on Sunday, April 1.
The protein survivin could be a useful biomarker for pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer kills more than 40,000 people every year, and among cancers it's particularly insidious. For 80 percent of patients, the disease is already so advanced at the time of diagnosis that treatment is unlikely to provide significantly life-extending benefits. For patients diagnosed with localized pancreatic cancer, the five-year survival rate remains barely above 20 percent, according to the National Cancer Institute. New research from scientists at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, which will be presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 on Sunday, April 1, shows that a protein called survivin could be a useful tool in understanding pancreatic cancer—particularly for identifying which subsets of patients will most likely respond to treatment.
Commonly used diabetes drug may help to prevent primary liver cancer
Metformin, a drug widely used to treat Type II diabetes, may help to prevent primary liver cancer, researchers at the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center report in the April 2012 issue of Cancer Prevention Research. Primary liver cancer, or hepatocellular carcinoma, is an often-deadly form of cancer that is on the rise worldwide and is the fastest-growing cause of cancer-related deaths among American men.
Protective gene in fat cells may lead to therapeutic for Type 2 diabetes
In a finding that may challenge popular notions of body fat and health, researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) have shown how fat cells can protect the body against diabetes. The results may lead to a new therapeutic strategy for preventing and treating type 2 diabetes and obesity-related metabolic diseases, the authors say.
Researchers uncover clue to preventing, and possibly reversing, ataxia telangiectasia disease
Rutgers scientists think they have found a way to prevent and possibly reverse the most debilitating symptoms of a rare, progressive childhood degenerative disease that leaves children with slurred speech, unable to walk, and in a wheelchair before they reach adolescence.
Scientists elucidate molecular mechanism contributing to cardiomyopathy
Cardiomyopathy comprises a deterioration of the heart muscle that affects the organ's ability to efficiently pump blood through the body. Previously researchers have tied forms of the disease to the alternative splicing of titin, a giant protein that determines the structure and biomechanical properties of the heart, but the molecular mechanism remained unknown.
DNA sequencing lays foundation for personalized cancer treatment
Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are using powerful DNA sequencing technology not only to identify mutations at the root of a patient's tumor – considered key to personalizing cancer treatment – but to map the genetic evolution of disease and monitor response to treatment.
Gene variations linked to intestinal blockage in newborns with cystic fibrosis
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers working as part of the International Cystic Fibrosis Consortium have discovered several regions of the genome that may predispose cystic fibrosis (CF) patients to develop an intestinal blockage while still in the uterus.
Biology news
Picky females promote survival and diversity, new research says
Picky females play a critical role in the survival and diversity of species, according to a Nature study by researchers from the University of British Columbia and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Austria.
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