Dear Reader ,
Here is your customized Phys.org Newsletter for September 30, 2012:
Spotlight Stories Headlines
- New invasive non-Typhoidal Salmonella epidemic identified in sub-Saharan Africa- Scientists find missing link between players in the epigenetic code
- Open webOS 1.0 is ready to serve
- Research reports climate change could cripple southwestern forests
- Common RNA pathway found in ALS and dementia
- Blocking key protein could halt age-related decline in immune system
- Ocean warming could lead to smaller fish size, study finds
- Key mechanism for controlling body's inflammatory response discovered
- Combination of targeted treatment drugs delays resistance in melanoma patients
- Deafness genetic mutation discovered
- Study examines how to control spatial distribution of cells in microenvironments
- Electric-car Nemesis at top speeds is record-breaker
- Google strips news badges in house cleaning
- US launches effort to ease 'spectrum crunch'
- Mars rover Opportunity working at 'Matijevic Hill' site
Space & Earth news
A mysterious seed fern, Lepidopteris, discovered from the Upper Permian of China
Recently, a mysterious seed fern, Lepidopteris baodensis sp. nov., dating to more than 251 million years ago (Ma), was discovered at the Baijiagou of Baode, Shanxi, China, from the Upper Permian Sunjiagou Formation. This discovery completely changed the understanding of the stratigraphic distribution of the genus Lepidopteris in China and promoted the taxonomic study of late Paleozoic plants.
2 telecom satellites launched from French Guiana
Arianespace has launched two satellites from the South American country of French Guiana that will provide telecommunication services to the Eastern Hemisphere.
NASA sees many things happening in Tropical Storm Ewiniar
There are a number of things happening under the hood of Tropical Storm Ewiniar's clouds that have been deciphered by satellite data today, Sept. 28, 2012, and NASA's TRMM satellite has noticed one area of heavy rainfall remaining.
NASA sees stubborn Nadine intensify into a hurricane again
Infrared data from NASA's Aqua satellite today, Sept. 28, revealed strong convection and thunderstorms have built up again in Tropical Storm Nadine as it moved over warm waters in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean. That convection strengthened Nadine back into a hurricane today. Nadine has lasted over two weeks, but is nowhere near breaking the record for longest-lived tropical cyclone.
NASA sees Tropical Storm Miriam takes final bow, replaced by Norman
The National Hurricane Center issued their last advisory on Miriam on Sept. 27 at 11 p.m. EDT when it became a remnant low pressure area. At that time, the center of post-tropical cyclone Miriam was located near latitude 22.0 north and longitude 116.7 west, just over 400 miles west of the southern tip of Baja California. Miriam had maximum sustained winds near 30 knots (35 mph/55 kmh).
China launches 2nd satellite built for Venezuela
(AP)—China has launched a second satellite built for Venezuela's government.
European cargo craft undocks from space station
The European Space Agency says its cargo craft has successfully undocked from the International Space Station after a failed separation caused by communication problems earlier in the week.
Dallas suburb rattled by 3.4-magnitude quake (Update)
(AP)—Damage from a small earthquake and a subsequent aftershock in a suburb west of Dallas was mostly limited to cracked walls and knocked-down pictures, authorities said.
Ocean warming could lead to smaller fish size, study finds
Changes in ocean and climate systems could lead to smaller fish, according to a new study led by fisheries scientists at the University of British Columbia.
Research reports climate change could cripple southwestern forests
Combine the tree-ring growth record with historical information, climate records, and computer-model projections of future climate trends, and you get a grim picture for the future of trees in the southwestern United States. That's the word from a team of scientists from Los Alamos National Laboratory, the U.S. Geological Survey, the University of Arizona, and other partner organizations.
Mars rover Opportunity working at 'Matijevic Hill' site
(Phys.org)—NASA's Mars rover Opportunity, well into its ninth year on Mars, will work for the next several weeks or months at a site with some of the mission's most intriguing geological features.
Technology news
App-ing the 'pink dollar' in Hong Kong
Paul Ramscar believes his Pink Dollar "app" is a lot more than just another snippet of smartphone software: it is a social game-changer that will help end discrimination against gays and lesbians.
BlackBerry maker RIM's stock rebounds after results
BlackBerry maker Research in Motion's stock rallied sharply Friday a day after reporting a narrower-than-expected loss, as analysts debated whether the smartphone maker is poised for a rebound.
US scholarships aim to close cybersecurity gap
For students seeking to become cyber warriors, the US government has a sweet deal.
New York to get world's biggest Ferris wheel
New York's mayor says the city will wheel out the world's biggest Ferris wheel in 2015, overtaking the current record holder in Singapore and leaving the London Eye in the dust.
Iran touts domestic Internet as Gmail ban rankles (Update)
(AP)—Iranian officials announced that they would soon introduce local alternatives to Google and its Gmail e-mail service, even as the country's media and even some officials stepped up complaints over Tehran's decision to enact a ban on Gmail in response to an anti-Islam film, newspapers reported on Sunday.
Privacy, technology face off again
The tension between new technology and individual privacy is as old as Silicon Valley. Each advance that allows or impels us to share information or seek windows into others' lives is scary at first. Often the fears blow over as benefits become clear - but there will be limits to the degree that privacy and civil liberties will be given up, and individuals should have a right to make the choice for themselves.
Green tires: Where the rubber meets the road
Most of us don't think about tires much until we either get a flat or they wear out, and then the bite of up to $1,000 or more for all four corners sure gets our attention. Most of all, we don't think of tires as having anything at all to do with fuel economy, when in fact they make a big difference.
Microsoft suggests charging employers for extra worker visas
Faced with 6,000 job openings and a Congress unresponsive to admitting more skilled workers from overseas, Microsoft on Thursday offered what it hopes will be a twofer solution: charging employers hundreds of millions of dollars for the right to hire more foreigners and using the money for educational training to eventually fill those jobs with Americans.
US launches effort to ease 'spectrum crunch'
US regulators voted Friday to begin a process to reallocate some of the broadcast spectrum to meet surging demand from smartphones, tablets and other devices that use the wireless Internet.
Google strips news badges in house cleaning
Google trimmed news "badges" and more as part of year-long house cleaning aimed at sweeping out unpopular, outdated or unneeded features at its online properties.
Electric-car Nemesis at top speeds is record-breaker
(Phys.org)—Fans call it the first "electric super car" for a reason. The UK-built on Thursday smashed the UK electric car land-speed record, topping 151 mph. The Nemesis was at an airfield near York, completing two runs over a one-mile distance. First the driver set a new record-breaking speed of 148 mph and then went on to set the record of 151 mph. The previous record in years past had been 137 mph. The company behind the Nemesis, Ecotricity, noted that the Nemesis is supplied by a network of 53 wind turbines in the UK from this "green-energy" company.
Open webOS 1.0 is ready to serve
(Phys.org)—Open webOS, formerly HP webOS, the mobile operating system that was initially developed by Palm, which HP acquired, was let out the door this week as Open webOS 1.0. The good news is that Open webOS can now be ported to new devices, according to the announcement. An OpenEmbedded build runs inside an OE emulator. Core apps that accompany the 1.0 release include e-mail and web browsing. The team behind the release says that there are 75 different components.
Medicine & Health news
Legal language pivot of Ind. abortion drug fight
(AP)—Indiana could be the latest location in an ongoing national debate over drug-induced abortions.
Studies show advances in gastrointestinal cancer treatments
New trial data showing improvements in the treatment of esophageal and gastrointestinal cancers were released today at the ESMO 2012 Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology in Vienna.
Can exercise during pregnancy reduce the offspring's cancer risk?
If a mother exercises during her pregnancy, will that benefit her children? Researchers at the University of Kentucky have initiated studies to look into the idea: a group from the UK Graduate Center for Nutritional Sciences has received a $100,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to study whether maternal exercise during pregnancy can lead to a reduced risk of cancer in offspring.
Patient selection for bilateral total knee replacement needs improvement
Because there are more risks with having a total knee replacement in both legs at the same time than having a knee replacement in one leg, doctors in recent years have been selecting younger and healthier patients for the bilateral procedure. Now a new study by researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery has revealed that although patients are younger and healthier than those undergoing only one-sided surgery, they are becoming sicker and some complication rates have risen.
Sorafenib does not extend overall survival as third or fourth line therapy in lung cancer
Treatment with the drug sorafenib as a third or fourth line therapy does not result in improved overall survival among patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to findings released at the ESMO 2012 Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology in Vienna. However, a post-hoc biomarker analysis of the trial data that was also presented suggests that patients with EGFR-mutant tumors may benefit.
Researchers develop prostate cancer testing, treatment guidelines
Julio M. Pow-Sang, M.D., chair of Moffitt Cancer Center's Department of Genitourinary Oncology, and colleagues have published two prostate cancer articles in the September issue of JNCCN – The Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. The articles review and clarify recent updates made to the National Comprehensive Cancer Network's (NCCN) guidelines for the screening and treatment of prostate cancer.
Governments failing to address 'global pandemic of untreated cancer pain'
Governments around the world are leaving hundreds of millions of cancer patients to suffer needlessly because of their failure to ensure adequate access to pain-relieving drugs, an unprecedented new international survey reveals.
World Heart Day: New European statistics released on heart disease and stroke
The statistics show that efforts to reduce heart disease deaths are successful, with mortality now falling in most of the continent. At the same time, the report shows the huge burden CVD presents to Europe's health, and suggests that underlying factors may cause CVD to increase in the near future.
Studies show drug combinations effective for melanoma
Promising new data on drug combinations to treat metastatic melanoma are presented at the ESMO 2012 Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology in Vienna.
Phase III trial shows crizotinib superior to single-agent chemotherapy for ALK-positive lung cancer
The results of a new phase III trial show that crizotinib, a targeted therapy, is a more effective treatment than standard chemotherapy for patients with advanced, ALK-positive lung cancer, researchers said at the ESMO 2012 Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology in Vienna.
Are too few women being offered breast-conserving treatment?
Two new studies presented at the ESMO 2012 Congress in Vienna, Austria show how improvements in breast cancer treatments are making it possible for more women to conserve their breasts following therapy, but raise concerns about whether enough women are being offered these approaches.
Lack of sleep leads to insulin resistance in teens
A new study suggests that increasing the amount of sleep that teenagers get could improve their insulin resistance and prevent the future onset of diabetes.
US approves less-invasive heart defibrillator
(AP)—The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it has approved a first-of-a-kind heart-zapping implant from Boston Scientific that that does not directly touch the heart.
Vomiting virus hits thousands of German children
(AP)—German health authorities say the number of children that have fallen ill with vomiting and diarrhea after eating food from school cafeterias and daycare centers has risen from about 4,500 to 8,400.
Myths and misunderstandings hamper efforts to prevent cancer
New insights on the global fight to prevent cancers were presented during the ESMO 2012 Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology in Vienna. The studies highlight the challenges of overcoming misunderstandings about how important lifestyle factors are in reducing cancer risk.
Medicare fines over hospitals' readmitted patients
(AP)—Medicare is changing the way it does business with hospitals and the result could be fewer patients going back into the hospital after they were discharged.
Combination of targeted treatment drugs delays resistance in melanoma patients
Combined treatment with two drugs targeting different points in the same growth-factor pathway delayed the development of treatment resistance in patients with BRAF-positive metastatic malignant melanoma. The results of a phase I/II study of treatment with the kinase inhibitors dabrafenib and trametinib will be published in the New England Journal of Medicine and are being released online to coincide with a presentation at the European Society for Medical Oncology meeting in Vienna.
Deafness genetic mutation discovered
Researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center have found a new genetic mutation responsible for deafness and hearing loss associated with Usher syndrome type 1.
Key mechanism for controlling body's inflammatory response discovered
Researchers at Queen Mary, University of London have discovered how a key molecule controls the body's inflammatory responses. The molecule, known as p110delta, fine-tunes inflammation to avoid excessive reactions that can damage the organism. The findings, published in Nature Immunology today, could be exploited in vaccine development and new cancer therapies.
Blocking key protein could halt age-related decline in immune system
The older we get, the weaker our immune systems tend to become, leaving us vulnerable to infectious diseases and cancer and eroding our ability to benefit from vaccination. Now Stanford University School of Medicine scientists have found that blocking the action of a single protein whose levels in our immune cells creep steadily upward with age can restore those cells' response to a vaccine.
Common RNA pathway found in ALS and dementia
Two proteins previously found to contribute to ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, have divergent roles. But a new study, led by researchers at the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, shows that a common pathway links them.
New invasive non-Typhoidal Salmonella epidemic identified in sub-Saharan Africa
A new study out today reveals that the emergence and spread of a rapidly evolving invasive intestinal disease, that has a significant mortality rate (up to 45%) in infected people in sub-Saharan Africa, seems to have been potentiated by the HIV epidemic in Africa.
Biology news
Two rare Indian rhinos die after poaching attack
Two rare rhinos brutally attacked by poachers this week in northeast India have died, veterinarians said on Saturday, triggering protests at local authorities' failure to protect the animals.
Study examines how to control spatial distribution of cells in microenvironments
Living systems are made of complex architectural organization of various cell types in defined microenvironments. The intricate interactions between different cell types control the specific functions of the associated tissues, such as the functions of native liver and cardiac tissues, metastasis and invasion of tumors, and embryonic development.
Scientists find missing link between players in the epigenetic code
Over the last two decades, scientists have come to understand that the genetic code held within DNA represents only part of the blueprint of life. The rest comes from specific patterns of chemical tags that overlay the DNA structure, determining how tightly the DNA is packaged and how accessible certain genes are to be switched on or off.
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