March 29, 2007, 4:44 AM CT

Tequila raw ingredient to treat colon diseases

Compounds derived from the blue agave, a fruit used to make tequila, shows promise in early laboratory studies as a natural, more effective way to deliver drugs to the colon than conventional drug-carriers, as per chemists at the University of Guadalajara in Mexico. The development could lead to improved therapys for ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, cancer, Crohn's disease and other colon diseases, they say.

Drug delivery to the colon is an ongoing challenge to physicians. A number of drugs are destroyed by stomach acids before they've had a chance to reach the intestine, where they commonly are absorbed. Scientists have tried to circumvent this problem by inserting the drugs into carrier molecules that resist breakdown in the stomach but have had difficulty finding a suitable carrier compound.

The tequila compounds, a class of polysaccharides known as fructans, were developed by the researchers in Mexico into tiny microspheres that are capable of carrying existing drugs that are used to treat colon diseases. Because the compounds resist destruction in the stomach, they could allow more of the drugs to reach the colon intact and improve their effectiveness, the scientists say. Their study was presented today at the 233rd national meeting of the American Chemical Society......... Posted by: Sean      Read more         Source

March 28, 2007, 10:00 PM CT

Thinning of West Antarctic Ice

Polar ice experts from Europe and the United States, meeting to pursue greater scientific consensus over the fate of the world's largest fresh water reservoir, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, conclude their three-day meeting at The University of Texas at Austin's Jackson School of Geosciences with the following statement:

Surprisingly rapid changes are occurring in the Amundsen Sea Embayment, a Texas-size region of the Antarctic Ice Sheet facing the southern Pacific Ocean. Experts across a wide range of scientific disciplines from the United States and United Kingdom met in Austin, Texas, to identify barriers to improved predictions of future sea-level rise resulting from these changes.

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported in February that the scientific community could not provide a best estimate or an upper limit on the rate of sea-level rise in coming centuries because of a lack of understanding of the flow of the large ice sheets.

All of the ice on Earth contains enough water to raise sea level over 200 feet, with about 20 feet from Greenland and almost all of the rest from Antarctica. Eventhough complete loss of the Antarctic Ice Sheet is not expected, even a small change would matter to coastal populations......... Posted by: Tyler      Read more         Source

March 28, 2007, 9:54 PM CT

Lightning Is Good Indicator Of Volcanic Activity

Eventhough it's been more than a year since Mount Augustine had its memorable eruption, work continues for University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers. The work of Alaska Volcano Observatory employees from UAF's Geophysical Institute will be appearing in the upcoming issue of the journal Science.

The article, which came out on Feb. 23, documents electrical activity that occurred during the January 2006 eruption of Mount Augustine. While it has long been known that volcanic eruptions can produce vigorous lightning, there are few direct observations of the phenomena, states the article. Following the initial eruptions of Jan. 11 and 13, 2006, two of which produced lightning, two electromagnetic lightning detectors were set up in Homer about 60 miles from Augustine. A couple of days later, the volcano erupted again, with the first of four eruptions producing a "spectacular lightning sequence".

The conclusions, as per Volcano Seismologist Steve McNutt, who is a research professor of geophysics at UAF and co-author of the article, is that in addition to the current means that seismologists employ in determining volcanic eruptions. As a result of this research, plans are under way to install a simple lightning detector on Mount Cleveland this summer......... Posted by: Tyler      Read more         Source

March 28, 2007, 9:52 PM CT

Understanding Extreme Weather

Weather is a hot topic here in Interior Alaska and a quick way to get anyone talking. Not a day goes by in winter months without some observations of temperatures, air inversions, or even a mention that the sun budged another degree above the horizon.

When it comes to predicting weather events, however, especially the extreme events such as harsh winds, impact from massive wildfires or ash resulting from volcanic eruptions those who work in the field face a number of challenges in creating models specific for Alaska's unique environment.

The Great Alaska Weather Symposium aims to identify shortcomings in existing models and observations that deal with Alaska's changing weather patterns. Some of the topics also address research correlation to the International Polar Year. Sponsored by Alaska Region of the NOAA National Weather Service (NWS ) and University of Alaska Fairbanks' Arctic Region Supercomputing Center (ARSC ), College of Natural Science & Mathematics (CNSM), Geophysical Institute (GI), and International Arctic Research Center (IARC), the weather conference features presenters and attendees from UAF and other universities and research centers in the Lower 48, including the National Weather Service.

Alaska weather modeling can be used for various application purposes, said Nicole Mlders, a member of the GI's Atmospheric Sciences Research Group and one of the symposium organizers. For example, a session on wind prediction is important for small aircrafts, ship traffic, oil spill spread in coastal waters and coastal erosion. "These are themes of great financial relevance for Alaska's economies," Mlders said......... Posted by: Tyler      Read more         Source

March 27, 2007, 10:05 PM CT

Physicists shine a light, produce startling liquid jet

It is possible to manipulate small quantities of liquid using only the force of light, report University of Chicago and French researchers in the March 30 issue of Physical Review Letters.

"In prior work, people figured out that you can move individual particles with lasers," said Robert Schroll, graduate student in physics at the University of Chicago and lead author of the PRL article. Now it appears that lasers can also be used to generate bulk flow in fluids. "As far as we know, we're the first to show this particular effect," Schroll said.

Schroll and Wendy Zhang, Assistant Professor in Physics at the University of Chicago, carried out the project with Rgis Wunenburger, Alexis Casner and Jean-Pierre Delville of the University of Bordeaux I. The technique might offer a new way to control the flow of fluids through extremely narrow channels for biomedical and biotechnological applications.

In their experiment, the Bordeaux researchers shined a laser beam through a soapy liquid. The laser produced a long jet of liquid that broke up into droplets after traversing a surprisingly long distance.

"I thought this was just so weird because I know when liquid is supposed to break up, and this one isn't doing it," Zhang said.

Physicists know that lasers can set liquid in motion through heating effects, but heat was not a factor in this case. The liquid used in the Bordeaux experiment is a type that absorbs very little light. Heating the liquid would require more light absorption. In this case, the Chicago team's theoretical calculations matched the Bordeaux team's experimental results: the mild force of the light itself drives the liquid motion......... Posted by: Kevin      Read more         Source

March 27, 2007, 9:47 PM CT

Coronary Procedure Adds No Benefit

Percutaneous coronary intervention plus optimal medical therapy does not improve outcomes in patients with coronary artery disease, compared with optimal medical therapy alone, according to study results presented yesterday at the 56th Annual Scientific Session of the American College of Cardiology in New Orleans, and published online in the New England Journal (NEJM).

The Clinical Outcomes Utilizing Revascularization and Aggressive Drug Evaluation (COURAGE) Trial, conducted by the Cooperative Studies Program of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), was a randomized, controlled study involving 2,287 patients with stable coronary artery disease treated at 15 VA medical centers, as well as 35 other U.S. and Canadian medical centers. The study, conducted between 1999 and 2004, was also supported by several pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies that contributed funding, drugs and medical devices or supplies.

COURAGE participantsmost of them Caucasian males, with an average age of 62had at least one coronary artery that was more than 70-percent blocked. They experienced regular chest pain (angina) at least several times per week. About 38 percent had a history of heart attack, 33 percent had diabetes, 71 percent had high cholesterol and 67 percent had high blood pressure......... Posted by: Sean      Read more         Source

March 27, 2007, 8:19 PM CT

A Mathematical Solution for Another Dimension

Ever since 1887, when Norwegian mathematician Sophus Lie discovered the mathematical group called E8, researchers have been trying to understand the extraordinarily complex object described by a numerical matrix of more than 400,000 rows and columns.

Now, an international team of experts using powerful computers and programming techniques has mapped E8--a feat numerically akin to the mapping of the human genome--allowing for breakthroughs in a wide range of problems in geometry, number theory and the physics of string theory.

"Although mapping the human genome was of fundamental importance in biology, it doesn't instantly give you a miracle drug or a cure for cancer" said mathematician Jeffrey Adams, project leader and mathematics professor at the University of Maryland. "This research is similar: it is critical basic research, but its implications may not become known for many years".

Team member David Vogan, a professor of mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), presented the findings today at MIT.

The effort to map E8 is part of a larger project to map out all of the Lie groups--mathematical descriptions of symmetry for continuous objects like cones, spheres and their higher-dimensional counterparts. Many of the groups are well understood; E8 is the most complex......... Posted by: Jaison      Read more         Source

March 27, 2007, 7:09 PM CT

Black Carbon Transported from Asia

More than three-quarters of the particulate pollution known as black carbon and transported at high altitudes over the West Coast during spring comes from Asia, as per a research team led by scientist V. Ramanathan of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) in La Jolla, Calif. The material not only affects climate in Asia, it also carries consequences for the Pacific Ocean region that drives much of the climate around the world.

Climate researchers Ramanathan and Odelle Hadley are lead authors of a research paper appearing in the March 14 issue of the Journal of Geophysical Research. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the California Energy Commission (CEC).

"This study demonstrates that aerosols from all sources in East Asia significantly affect not only regional climate, but also affect climate across the 8,000 kilometers of the north Pacific Ocean," said Jay Fein, NSF program director for climate dynamics.

Transport of Asian black carbon, which is generated by automobile exhaust, agricultural burning and other sources, is heaviest in spring when cold Arctic fronts dip to lower latitudes and loft warmer air to higher altitudes. Worldwide transport of the aerosols keeps them at high altitudes for up to two weeks......... Posted by: Tyler      Read more         Source

March 25, 2007, 9:33 PM CT

Striking Gold With New Gold Catalysts

A University of California, Berkeley, chemist has found a mother lode of new and unique gold-catalyzed reactions by applying Einstein's theory of relativity to the rare and precious metal.

Catalysts are metals that speed up chemical reactions, such as when the platinum in a car's catalytic converter instantly converts polluting engine exhaust to oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide and water.

Dean Toste, a UC Berkeley associate professor of chemistry, was one of the first chemists to experiment with gold as a catalyst. He opened the door for others interested in gold's versatility and in the potential to generate chemicals of interest for the chemical and pharmaceutical industry more efficiently and using less toxic precursors.

"This is a really hot area," Toste said. "If you look at the most-cited articles in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, a number of are about gold catalysis.

"With this class of gold catalysts, you can develop many unprecedented reactions that have never been seen before".

In a review article appearing in today's (March 22) issue of Nature, Toste discusses the new field and proposes a new theory for why gold has such unusual, and practical, catalytic properties. So far, the hypothesis has successfully predicted the behavior of gold catalysts in new chemical reactions......... Posted by: Sarah      Read more         Source

March 25, 2007, 9:29 PM CT

Faulted Modeling

Factoring in crustal strength changes along the San Andreas Fault would improve the predictive models that scientists use to understand the likelihood and intensity of earthquakes there. That's the conclusion from a study reported in the recent issue of Geology titled, "Diffuse interseismic deformation across the Pacific-North America plate boundary."

Currently, it is standard practice for universities and government agencies to measure crustal movement that occurs within Southern California using precise Global Positioning System (GPS) and other highly accurate tools that project movements in millimeters per year. In this study, Dr. Shimon Wdowinski, research associate professor at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science, and researchers from Scripps Institution of Oceanography used 840 very precise measurements of crustal movements collected in the past 25 years. These measurements were conducted mainly in southern California, to study the nature of steady crustal movements occurring in between large earthquakes within this same zone. By using a geometrical technique, they found a disparity between the observations and a mechanical model in a narrow band along the San Andreas Fault and in the Mojave Block.

"This suggests that crustal changes and fault segments that haven't yet been included in models really should be considered in future ones," Wdowinski said. "By adding in this information to the models, researchers will improve their assessments of potential earthquake hazards."........ Posted by: Tyler      Read more         Source