Hip Arthroscopy Complications Are Higher Than Expected

A case study on hip surgery, particularly hip arthroscopy, reveals that complications arising from the procedure is higher than previously reported.

Hip arthroscopy is a surgical technique used to view the internal structure of the hip joints. It is a minimally invasive procedure and doesn't require opening up the whole area.

The procedure has been around for a few decades and has been gaining popularity in the last ten years. It is used in the treatment of torn floating cartilage, torn surface cartilage, ACL reconstruction, and trimming damaged cartilage.

In hip arthroscopy, a small incision is made and a small camera called an arthroscope is inserted to view the inside of the hip joint. During the procedure the hip can be treated and cleaned up of any unwanted material.

Recovery from hip arthroscopy depends on the type of procedure that is performed. Generally it is an outpatient procedure and the patient can recover and return to close to normal activity within a week. There are cases where recovery takes a couple of months.

Data Paper on Antarctic Macrobenthic Biodiversity Publicly Available

Hydrocorals also known as sea fan in the Antarctic.
Credit: Julian Gutt, Alfred Wegener Institute

A data paper on Antarctic macrobenthic communities from approximately 90 different expeditions in the region published in the open access journal Nature Conservation is now openly available to the public under a Creative Commons By license. Macrobenthic organisms are organisms that live at the bottom of a water column and are can be seen by the naked eye.

Data papers are journal publications that describe a dataset or a group of datasets. It contains facts about the group that the data is representing, much similar to a data table. It does not contain any opinions, hypothesis or arguments.

Data papers are used to provide a citable journal publication that brings scholarly credit to data publishers; to describe the data in a structured human-readable form; and to bring the existence of the data to the attention of the scholarly community.

AAAS News: Letter on Resuming Avian Flu Transmission Research

At the start of 2012, the US National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity recommended restricting the publication of results from research on H5N1 avian influenza virus. This was with regards to previous developments on the H5N1 virus leading to a discovery for the generation of the virus to be made transmissible to mammals.

The experiment involved ferrets who acquired the virus, previously almost exclusive only to birds, through respiratory droplets. There was concern that this discovery may lead to the virus affecting humans.

Based on rare cases of humans contracting H5N1, there is a 59% chance of mortality once the disease is contracted. To put this into perspective, the Spanish Flu in 1918 that killed an estimated 50 to 100 million people the world over, only had a mortality rate of just 2%.

The National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity is a panel of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. It was decided by the panel that the research behind H5N1 poses a significant health and security threat. They recommended restricting the publication of results from research on H5N1 avian influenza virus, leading to the generation of viruses that are more transmissible in mammals.

In January 2012, influenza researchers from around the world announced a voluntary pause on any research involving H5N1 influenza viruses which may lead to it being more transmissible in mammals.

H5N1 Controversy One Year Later

Correspondence signed by 40 influenza virus researchers and jointly published in Science and Nature this week announces that the voluntary pause on certain types of H5N1 avian influenza research should end in countries where the aims of this moratorium have been met and authorities have reached decisions about how best to conduct such work safely.

2012 is the Year of CERN: Highlights, Discoveries and Breakthroughs in Science

Aside from discovering a new particle that possibly could be the Higgs, CERN has had other notable discoveries that are briefly enumerated below.

For science, the year 2012 definitely goes to to the European Organization for Nuclear Research or simply, CERN. 2012 marked its 58th anniversary and more importantly, it is the year that CERN have discovered a new particle they believe to be the Higgs particle.

CERN was originally named Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire (European Council for Nuclear Research) in July 1953. Before it slightly changed its name but still retained its familiar abbreviation.

Aside from the Higgs boson, CERN has been a solid leader in science research contributing to major studies such as the construction of the Large Hadron Collider used in the search for the Higgs-Boson, the creation of the first anti-matter (anti-hydrogen in 1995) and even contributing its technology to solar power panels. These are but a few of the fruits of CERN's research.

Even the World Wide Web was invented in CERN's laboratories by Tim Berners-Lee and a computer created by Steve Jobs. CERN is not only about serious science, they also host an annual film festival showcasing films that deal with science related subjects, the CinéGlobe International Film Festival at CERN.

There even was a zombie movie that was filmed at the CERN complex by PhD students at CERN. The movie, Decay, is not endorsed nor is it authorized by CERN but they did allow the students to film there. (Check out the related links below to watch the whole movie).

The Nopili Rock-Climbing Goby And How It Climbs and Feeds

Gobies (family Gobiidae) have the most members in its family of fish. There are about 2000 species of gobies.

Mudskippers are part of the family. These fish stand out as they can crawl on land using their fins as legs. Despite this, they still have to return to water from time to time to keep their gills and fins moist.

The Nopili rock-climbing goby is also another species of gobies that has a peculiar trait. These fish can climb up rocks (usually up waterfalls). And as researchers have recently studied, using their mouths.

The Nopoli can be found in the islands of Hawaii, these fish live in mountain streams. Although as young juveniles, they start off on saltwater (the eggs are washed off into the sea where they hatch). As they mature, they make their way into freshwater streams. They feed off algae on the surface of rocks and gravel. They are also known as Oopu Nopili and Stimpson's goby.

Averting The Fiscal Cliff May Still Reduce US Scientific Research Funding

An article on the Science website discusses how avoiding the fiscal cliff through a compromise deal may still reduce funding for scientific research.

A week ago, the United States averted what they termed, a fiscal cliff. The premise of the fiscal cliff is that expiring tax cuts and decreased government spending would affect the U.S. economy and lead the country into recession.

A compromise deal was reached by both Republicans and Democrats to extend the tax cuts and delay government spending cuts. The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (H.R. 8) was passed by the United States Congress on January 1, 2013. Some of the tax cuts which were supposed to expire were made permanent while tax rates at upper income levels were increased.

The reduction of the federal budget was delayed without any specifics mentioned. It would be discussed and negotiated in two months time.

The deductions that the fiscal cliff would have brought about would affect the U.S. scientific community as well. U.S. science based funding programs would fall 8.9%. It is estimated that it would have resulted in the loss of 2500 National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants and 1500 National Science Foundation (NSF) grants in 2013 alone.

The Importance of Maintaining an Unbiased and Accurate View In Online Science and Technology Reporting

Two researchers published a paper on how the Internet is a big factor in announcing scientific discoveries but also can mislead the public due to bias and inaccurate reporting.

One thing that is important in reporting discoveries and disseminating information based on science is that it has to be accurate and unbiased. Science is based on experiments that should be both observable, measurable, and repeatable.

When CERN announced the discovery of the possible Higgs particle, they reported it as a 5 sigma discovery. This means that the discovery has a probability of 0.00003% that the result is accidental or due to chance.

Science reporting must be based on facts. Theories, although not yet proven to be science fact, still undergo scrutiny and has a fundamental principle behind it. The Higgs particle was a theory before, and it took the construction of the Large Hadron Collider for it to be discovered.

And even then, the discovery of the Higgs helps establish another theory which is the Standard Model.

There will be dissenting arguments when it comes to scientific research. Some are even on opposite sides such as Loop Quantum Gravity vs. String Theory. But regardless, it will ultimately fall on research being observable, measurable, and repeatable.

Personal beliefs has no room when it comes to science reporting. A recent article touched on how a Wikipedia editor kept deleting references to Global Warming on the Hurricane Sandy page because he personally does not believe in Global Warming.

Even now, there are still clamors on taking out evolution from science books because it clashes with their religious beliefs.

American Heart Association Names Top 10 Advances in Heart Disease and Stroke Research for 2012

Since 1996, the American Heart Association has been compiling a list of the years top 10 major advances in heart disease and stroke research. They recently released the top 10 advances in heart disease and stroke research for 2012.

The American Heart Association advocates healthy living to reduce disability and deaths caused by cardiovascular disease and stroke. They publish a standard for providing basic and advanced life support, including standards for proper performance of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

Technological especially medical advances in heart disease and research has grown leaps and bounds. With this, progress in the care, treatment and prevention of cardiovascular disease has also improved.

From 1999 to 2009, the death rate from cardiovascular disease (CVD) went down by 33%. But despite the decline, CVD still takes the lives of more than 2,150 Americans each day, an average of 1 death every 40 seconds.

In the same period, the death rate caused by stroke went down 37% and the actual number of stroke deaths declined by 23%. Stroke is still the 4th leading cause of death in the United States and the 1st leading cause of disability.

The AHA recently released the top 10 advances in heart disease and stroke research for 2012. These are:

1. Extended CPR saves lives
2. Converting “non beating” heart cells into “beating” heart cells
3. Biopsied heart cells improved heart function and reduced scars
4. “Disconnecting” the kidneys might be the key to treating high blood pressure
5. Progress for children in transplant bridging and Kawasaki Disease
6. Why children and adolescents should “just say no” to sugary drinks
7. Global impact: ECHO screening for rheumatic heart disease
8. Devices for stroke
9. Ideal cardiovascular health practices lead to longer life, lower risk
10. Bypass surgery vs. drug-coated stents for diabetes patients

A more detailed overview of the topics are covered below.

CERN Celebrates Its 58th Anniversary Bringing Humanity to the Forefront of Science and the Universe

CERN or the European Organization for Nuclear Research celebrates its 58th anniversary this year. Originally, CERN stood for Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire (European Council for Nuclear Research).

In July 1953, 12 member states established the CERN convention. They envisioned creating a European laboratory focused on atomic physics which would unite European scientists together and also share in the cost of maintaining such a facility.

The 12 founding member states were Belgium, Denmark, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Yugoslavia. On 29 September 1954, CERN was ratified and the facility was renamed to its present name, The European Organization for Nuclear Research. Despite this, the original acronym, CERN, remained.

58 years later, CERN has been in the forefront of science contributing major studies such as the construction of the Large Hadron Collider used in the search for the Higgs-Boson, the creation of the first anti-matter (anti-hydrogen in 1995) and even contributing its technology to solar power panels. These are but a few of the fruits of CERN's research.

Even the World Wide Web was invented in CERN's laboratories by Tim Berners-Lee and a computer created by Steve Jobs. CERN is not only about serious science, they also host an annual film festival showcasing films that deal with science related subjects, the CinéGlobe International Film Festival at CERN.

Simple Beginnings

When the CERN convention was established, the members decided that the lab and research facility will be erected in Geneva. They picked a patch of green fields where, Nobel physicist Felix Bloch laid the first stone of CERN (together with a time capsule) in what then was the largest building site in Europe.

CERN has gone through a lot of changes. It was not the only nuclear and science facilities around. But through it all, it has emerged as the premier nuclear research facility in the 21st century. Until now, they tackle such subjects as faster than light neutrinos, the use of anti-protons for cancer therapy, and even studying the Sun for yet undiscovered particles called axions.

CERN, 58 years later, still delves into Nobel Prize winning research and studies to bring humanity to the forefront of science and the universe.

A Brief History of CERN

At the end of the Second World War, European science was no longer the crème de la crème. Following the example of the now mushrooming international organizations, a handful of visionary scientists imagined creating a European atomic physics laboratory. Raoul Dautry, Pierre Auger and Lew Kowarski in France, Edoardo Amaldi in Italy and Niels Bohr in Denmark were among these pioneers. Such a laboratory would not only unite European scientists but also allow them to share the increasing costs of nuclear physics facilities.

No Evidence Neonicotinoid Pesticides Cause Bees Colony Collapse Disorder

Since 2006, beekeepers have noticed something wrong with the hives of honeybees they maintain. The colonies of bees were slowly disappearing. This phenomenon is called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) and its cause is still a mystery.

CCD is different from a colony dying out because the queen bee has expired or is no longer present. With CCD, the queen is still alive and present and the capped brood (bee eggs and larve) are still unhatched. This is peculiar because bees never leave the hive until the brood has hatched.

Colony Collapse Disorder is a global phenomenon. Countries experiencing CCD are Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. Bee hives in Switzerland and Germany also are suffering from CCD in a lesser extent and there are reports that Taiwan is affected as well.

Although crops such as corn, wheat and rice are wind pollinated, fruits and vegetables are dependent on honeybee pollination. 80% of all flowering plants rely on honeybee pollination.

CCD is a very serious matter. Honeybees are responsible for more than 30% of the world's food. Pollination by bees is heavily relied on by agricultural crops and the number of bee colonies has fallen by 45 percent in the last 60 years. The United States has resorted to importing bees from Australia, something not done since the 1920s.

Theories abound on the exact reason for CCD such as malnutrition, pathogens and immunodeficiencies, mites and parasites, fungus, pesticides, beekeeping practices, and even electromagnetic radiation created by power lines along agricultural land. But these remain theories. After six years of extensive research and observation, the mystery still lingers and scientists are still baffled.

Pesticides not yet proven guilty of causing honeybee declines

The impact of crop pesticides on honeybee colonies is unlikely to cause colony collapse, according to a paper in the journal Science today (20 September 2012). More research is now needed to predict the impact of widely-used agricultural insecticides, called neonicotinoids, on honeybee populations.

UK scientists from the University of Exeter and Food and Environment Agency highlight flaws in previous research (published in Science, April 2012) that predicted that neonicotinoids could cause honeybee colony collapse. Neonicotinoids are among the most widely-used agricultural insecticides and honeybees ingest residues of the pesticides as they gather nectar and pollen from treated plants.

The previous research has been cited by scientists, environmentalists and policy-makers as evidence of the future impact of these pesticides on honeybees. It is likely that the research was instrumental in the French government's recent decision to ban the use of thiamethoxam, a neonicotinoid that is the active ingredient of Cruiser OSR, a pesticide produced by the Swiss company Syngenta.

ESO News: Launch of UNESCO–IAU Astronomical Heritage Web Portal

Buildings and monuments relating to astronomy throughout the ages stand as a tribute to the diverse and often complex ways in which people have rationalised the cosmos and framed their actions in accordance with their understanding of it. This includes, but is by no means restricted to, the development of modern science.

The importance of the sky in human heritage was recognised by UNESCO when it established its Astronomy and World Heritage Initiative in 2003, and in 2008 it signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the IAU. Since then, the two organisations have been working together to promote astronomical sites of potential “Outstanding Universal Value”.

The online portal is the latest and potentially most significant deliverable from the accord set up between UNESCO and the IAU four years ago, and results directly from a collaboration between the IAU’s Astronomy and World Heritage Working Group (AWHWG) and the Ancient Skies Project set up through the IYA2009 Astronomy and World Heritage Cornerstone Project. Professor Clive Ruggles, Emeritus Professor of Archaeoastronomy at the University of Leicester, UK, is Chair of the AWHWG. He said: “A lot of our most precious astronomical heritage — both ancient and modern — is under threat. If we don’t act to try to protect and preserve it, we run the risk of losing it. Over the coming months and years this web portal will become ‘the’ vehicle for actively supporting, as well as sustaining, political and public interest in the promotion and protection of astronomical heritage sites, both cultural and natural.”

A previous AWHWG milestone was the Thematic Study on Astronomical Heritage produced in 2010 by the IAU, working together with ICOMOS, UNESCO’s advisory body for cultural sites. Endorsed by UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee in 2010, the Thematic Study provides guidelines for UNESCO member states on the inscription of astronomical properties. Much of its content has been incorporated onto the portal.

The portal contains:

• a range of general information pages;
• thematic essays and case studies, searchable geographically and temporally using a specially developed “heritage finder” tool; and
• a discussion forum permitting authorised users to discuss current entries, propose additions and changes, propose new heritage entities (case studies), and discuss general issues.

The portal will not only feature sites and monuments, but also other types of astronomical heritage such as portable instruments and intangible cultural practices, as well as dark-sky places.

Blood Type May Be A Factor In Coronary Heart Disease

Blood Type is the classification of blood based on the presence or absence of two antigens on the surface of the Red Blood Cell (RBC). An antigen is any substance that causes the immune system to produce antibodies against it.

The blood type of a person is genetic. It is inherited from the blood type of the parents.

Blood is grouped according to the ABO blood typing system. This is based on the A antigen and the B antigen.

There are four major blood types:

• Type A – has only the A antigen on red cells (and B antibody in the plasma)
• Type B – has only the B antigen on red cells (and A antibody in the plasma)
• Type AB – has both A and B antigens on red cells (but neither A nor B antibody in the plasma)
• Type O – has neither A nor B antigens on red cells (but both A and B antibody are in the plasma)

• The universal red cell donor has Type O negative blood type.
• The universal plasma donor has Type AB positive blood type.

There is also a third antigen which is the Rh factor. It also can be present or absent from the blood. If it is present, the blood type is positive (+). If the Rh factor is absent, the blood type is negative (-) Rh negative blood is given to Rh-negative patients, and Rh positive blood or Rh negative blood may be given to Rh positive patients.

Blood type may influence heart disease risk

People with blood type A, B, or AB had a higher risk for coronary heart disease when compared to those with blood type O, according to new research published in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, an American Heart Association journal.

People in this study with the rarest blood type — AB, found in about 7 percent of the U.S. population — had the highest increased heart disease risk at 23 percent. Those with type B had an 11 percent increased risk, and those with type A had a 5 percent increased risk. About 43 percent of Americans have type O blood.

"While people cannot change their blood type, our findings may help physicians better understand who is at risk for developing heart disease," said Lu Qi, M.D., Ph.D., the study's senior author and an assistant professor in the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.

Knowing your blood type can be an important part of staying healthy and avoiding heart disease, Qi said. "It's good to know your blood type the same way you should know your cholesterol or blood pressure numbers," he said. "If you know you're at higher risk, you can reduce the risk by adopting a healthier lifestyle, such as eating right, exercising and not smoking."

Observational Study On Link Between Daily Aspirin Use And Reduced Cancer Mortality

Aspirin is a drug that is used as a pain killer (analgesic) and a fever reducer (antipyretic). It also has anti-inflammatory properties. Aspirin is also known as acetylsalicylic acid.

It is a salicylate drug that was first isolated by Felix Hoffmann, a chemist with the German company Bayer, under the direction of Arthur Eichengrün. It works by stopping the production of certain natural substances that cause fever, pain, swelling, and blood clots.

Nonprescription aspirin is used to reduce fever and to relieve mild to moderate pain from headaches, menstrual periods, arthritis, colds, toothaches, and muscle aches. Nonprescription aspirin is also used to prevent heart attacks in people who have had a heart attack in the past or who have angina (chest pain that occurs when the heart does not get enough oxygen).

Daily aspirin usage associated with lower cancer mortality

Daily aspirin usage is associated with lower overall cancer mortality, but the association may be smaller than what was previously believed, according to a study published August 10 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

A recent pooled analysis of randomized trials looking at the effects of daily aspirin use as a preventive measure for vascular events found a significant decrease in overall cancer mortality, of 37%, during a 5-year follow-up analysis, and 15% during a ten-year follow-up. Despite this finding, the effects of long-term daily aspirin use on cancer mortality remain largely unknown.

In order to determine the effects that long-term daily aspirin use has on overall cancer mortality, Eric J. Jacobs, Ph.D., of the Epidemiology Research Program at the American Cancer Society in Atlanta and colleagues looked at data on 100,139 men and women from the Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort who had no prior history of cancer and had been taking a daily dose of aspirin. They used follow-up questionnaires to investigate peoples' aspirin intake.

Color of Eyes May Affect Risk of Skin Conditions Like Melanoma and Vitiligo

A study shows that melanoma and vitiligo, both skin conditions, may be affected by what color eyes a person has.

Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer and is the leading cause of death from skin disease. 75% of deaths from skin cancers is caused by Melanoma.

Melanoma is caused by changes in melanocytes, turning to malignant tumors. Melanocytes are skin cells that produces melanin, a skin pigment. The melanin in the cells is responsible for the color of the skin and hair.

Although very dangerous, melanoma is not as common as other skin cancers.

Vitiligo

Vitiligo is a skin condition that results in depigmentation. Depigmentation are irregular coloration or white patches in some areas of skin. This is caused by a loss of brown color or pigment from areas of skin affected.

It is the complete loss of melanin in the skin.

This occurs when the immune starts to destroys melanocytes which are responsible for the coloration of the skin. This condition is believed to be an autoimmune problem but some studies suggest it is also an acquired condition. The cause of vitiligo is still unknown.

Vitiligo occues in the same areas of the face or it may appear in patches. With vitiligo, the skin maintains the same texture but appears flat and depigmented.

Eye color may indicate risk for serious skin conditions

Eye color may be an indicator of whether a person is high-risk for certain serious skin conditions. A study, led by the University of Colorado School of Medicine, shows people with blue eyes are less likely to have vitiligo. It then follows, according to scientists, that people with brown eyes may be less likely to have melanoma. Vitiligo is an autoimmune skin disease in which pigment loss results in irregular white patches of skin and hair. Melanoma is the most dangerous kind of skin cancer.

New Teaching Technique Provides Higher Reading Skills Among Preschoolers

Before learning to read, preschoolers have to develop skills necessary to engage in the activity.

From learning the alphabet, identifying letters in words, and learning how to pronounce basic words, children aged 3 years old to 4 years old slowly transition from just sounding out words to understanding simple basic sentences. Reading is a skill that is a result of smaller skills that just builds up on top of the other.

Encouraging youngsters to start reading is very helpful. It helps reinforce those skills and helps the child further progress. Once the child enters preschool, he or she is exposed to a more structured form of learning. Although, there is play time scheduled within the classes, the curriculum pushes forwards the necessary skills (such as reading) the child needs to learn to advance to the next level.

Preschoolers' reading skills benefit from one modest change by teachers

A small change in how teachers and parents read aloud to preschoolers may provide a big boost to their reading skills later on, a new study found.

That small change involves making specific references to print in books while reading to children – such as pointing out letters and words on the pages, showing capital letters, and showing how you read from left to right and top to bottom on the page.

Preschool children whose teachers used print references during storybook reading showed more advanced reading skills one and even two years later when compared to children whose teachers did not use such references. This is the first study to show causal links between referencing print and later literacy achievement.

AstraZeneca and Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) To Develop Drugs For NTDs Such As Leishmaniasis, Chagas Disease, and Sleeping Sickness.

Tropical diseases are diseases that occur and are unique to tropical and subtropical regions. These kinds of diseases are not found or less likely to surface in temperate climates.

Insects and mosquitoes are the most common carrier for a topical disease. These insects may carry a parasite, bacterium or virus that is infectious to humans and animals which may cause the disease. It is transmitted by an insect bite, which causes the infectious agent to transfer to the host through subcutaneous blood exchange.

Some are spread through livestock, contaminated drinking water and even through the soil. Vaccines are not available for some of the diseases, and many do not have cures.

AstraZeneca and DNDi to collaborate on drug screening for neglected tropical diseases

AstraZeneca and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) today announce an agreement to collaborate on drug-compound screening for leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, and sleeping sickness, three neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) which together affect nearly 10 million people worldwide. Novel drug candidates to emerge from this collaboration will bolster the drug development pipeline for new medicines urgently needed by millions of patients.

In the new partnership, AstraZeneca will provide to DNDi 15,000 compounds that have the potential for activity against leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, and sleeping sickness. The screening activities, coordinated by DNDi, will be performed at Institut Pasteur Korea (IPK). If active compounds against any of the three diseases are identified as 'hits', DNDi and AstraZeneca will jointly assess their potential as starting points for future medicines.

Neptune Grass (Posidonia Oceanica) in the island of Formentera is World's Oldest Living Organism Estimated At 200,000 Years Old

Posidonia Oceanica is a seagrass that is commonly known as Neptune Grass or Mediterranean Tapeweed.

The seagrass forms large underwater meadows that form an important part of the ocean's ecosystem. Presence of the plant is a sign that the waters around it are clean and pollution free.

Posidonia can only be found in the Mediterranean Sea where it is slowly disappearing, occupying an area of only about 3% of the basin. This corresponds to a surface area of about 38,000 square kilometres (15,000 sq mi).

Posidonia Oceanica thrives in clean waters, and its presence is a marker for lack of pollution. The fruit is free floating and known in Italy as 'the olive of the sea' (l'oliva di mare). Balls of fibrous material from its foliage, known as egagropili, wash up to nearby shorelines. It is a flowering plant which lives in dense meadows or along channels in the sands of the Mediterranean.

It is found at depths from 1 to 35 meters (3.3 to 115 feet), depending on the water clarity. Subsurface rhizomes (stems) and roots stabilize the plant while standing and erect rhizomes and its leaves reduce silt accumulation.

Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia (CCLE) Available Free To Public As Resource Material

Cancer genome data are genome analysis of genetic mutations responsible for cancer. A genome analysis gives a better understanding of the molecular basis of cancer. It also improves the ability to diagnose, treat, and prevent this deadly disease.

In 2006 the National Cancer Institute and the National Human Genome Research Institute launched a project, The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) to catalogue the cancer genome. The goal of the project was to provide systematic, comprehensive genomic characterization and sequence analysis of three types of human cancers: glioblastoma multiforme, lung, and ovarian cancer. The ongoing project aims to better understand the disease. Over the next 5 years TCGA will provide genomic characterization and sequence analysis on 20-25 different tumor types.

The Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia (CCLE)

The goal of cancer treatment is to match the right drug to the right target in the right patient. But before such "personalized" drugs can be developed, more knowledge is needed about specific genomic alterations in cancers and their sensitivity to potential therapeutic agents.

Now an academic-industry collaboration is releasing the first results from a new and freely available resource that marries deeply detailed cancer genome data with predictors of drug response, information that could lead to refinements in cancer clinical trials and future treatments. The Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia (CCLE), authored by scientists at the Broad Institute, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Foundation, and the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, is described in the journal Nature. In a proof of principle, the researchers also report that genomic predictors of drug sensitivity revealed three novel candidate biomarkers of response.

"We hope that the Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia will be a preclinical resource that could guide clinical trials," said Levi A. Garraway, a senior associate member of the Broad Institute, an associate professor at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, and a co-corresponding author of the paper.

"The CCLE is a public resource that we think will catalyze discoveries throughout the cancer research community," said Todd Golub, director of the Broad's Cancer Program, Charles A. Dana Investigator in Human Cancer Genetics at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and a co-author of the paper. "With this initial effort, we have taken some critical first steps. The challenge now is to greatly expand the number of compounds tested across the panel of cell lines."

The CCLE integrates gene expression, chromosomal copy number, and massively parallel sequencing data from almost 1,000 human cancer cell lines together with pharmacological profiles for 24 anticancer drugs across roughly half of these cell lines. The scale of the project allows greater depth of genetic characterization and pharmacological annotation than previously possible with fewer cell lines. A separate effort by scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Sanger Institute appears in the same issue of Nature.

New and Cheaper Way To Produce Graphene Nanosheets Discovered In South Korea

Known as the "Wonder Material", Graphene are one atom thick sheets of graphite. It is one of the thinnest and strongest material ever measured. It's structure when viewed on the atomic scale would resemble chicken wire. Graphene was discovered by Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov at the University of Manchester who shared the 2010 the Nobel Prize for Physics for the discovery.

In the publication, Nature Materials, the two scientists in the March 2007 issue defined graphene as "a flat monolayer of carbon atoms tightly packed into a two-dimensional (2D) honeycomb lattice, and is a basic building block for graphitic materials of all other dimensionalities. It can be wrapped up into 0D fullerenes, rolled into 1D nanotubes or stacked into 3D graphite."

Graphene's history can be traced back as early as 1859 when D.C. Brodie was aware of the highly lamellar structure of thermally reduced graphite oxide and in 1948 when G. Ruess and F. Vogt published The earliest TEM images of few-layer graphene. It was only in 2004 that Geim and Novoselov isolated graphene using adhesive tape.

Research into graphene are moving in different directions. Similar to plastics with varied uses, graphene show promise in a lot of applications such as:

• High speed microchips at 1000+ GHZ
• Solar Cells
• Enhanced Plastics
• Super Rapid DNA Sequencing
• Spintronic Computer Applications
• Ultracapacitors
• Replacement For Silicon Transistors
• Sensing and Detecting Molecules
• Next-Gen Displays

Now, researchers in South Korea and Case Western Reserve University have found a cheap process to mass produce high-quality graphene nanosheets using dry ice and a simple industrial process. A graphene nanosheet is a flexible material that can be rolled or molded into objects or devices used for electronic and other applications.

Graphene, which is made from graphite, the same stuff as "lead" in pencils, has been hailed as the most important synthetic material in a century. Sheets conduct electricity better than copper, heat better than any material known, are harder than diamonds yet stretch.

Scientists worldwide speculate graphene will revolutionize computing, electronics and medicine but the inability to mass-produce sheets has blocked widespread use.

A description of the new research will be published online in the Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

New Development on Drugs to Treat Liver Disease Through Cell Production

Liver disease applies to many diseases and disorders that can cause the liver to function improperly or stop functioning. Symptoms indicative of liver disease are abdominal pain, yellowing of the skin or eyes (jaundice), or abnormal results of liver function tests. The two most common liver diseases are Hepatitis and Cirrhosis.

Hepatitis happens when cells of the liver become inflamed (irritated and swelling) and stops functioning. It is caused by the hepatitis virus. The common hepatitis virus infections include hepatitis B and hepatitis C. Hepatitis A is the least serious and mildest of these diseases. The other hepatitis infections may become chronic illnesses, but hepatitis A does not become chronic. Hepatitis B can be prevented through the hepatitis B vaccine.

Cirrhosis is a chronic liver disease which causes damage to liver tissue, scarring of the liver (fibrosis; nodular regeneration), progressive decrease in liver function, excessive fluid in the abdomen (ascites), bleeding disorders (coagulopathy), increased pressure in the blood vessels (portal hypertension), and brain function disorders (hepatic encephalopathy). Excessive alcohol use is the leading cause of cirrhosis

Scientists have shed light on how the liver repairs itself with research that could help develop drugs to treat liver disease.

Researchers at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Centre for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Edinburgh have discovered how to enhance the production of key cells needed to repair damaged liver tissue. The study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, could help heal livers affected by diseases such as cirrhosis or chronic hepatitis.

Scientists were able to unpick the process of how different cells in the liver are formed. When the liver is damaged it produces too many bile duct cells and not enough cells called hepatocytes, which the liver needs to repair damaged tissue.

They found they could increase the number of hepatocyte cells – which detoxify the liver – by encouraging these cells to be produced instead of bile duct cells.