2008: June 29th Good News (Accidental Fungus Leads to Promising Cancer Drug; Heroic Neighbors Save Children from Burning Apartment; more...)

Good Evening all,

I have to update this later. It's been a busy day. Here's what I have so far. Hope you enjoy! :)

Today's Top 5:
1. Accidental Fungus Leads to Promising Cancer Drug (Yahoo News)
2. Cloths Absorb Mercury from Broken Fluorescent Bulbs (Inventorspot.com)
3. Public Invited to See 500 Year Old Artifacts ( The News Herald)
4. "First" in Solar Heater Mandate is Reason for Pride in Hawaii (Honolulu Star Bulletin)
5. The Baby Docs Said was Dead After Ultrasound Blunder (Daily Mirror UK)


Honorable Mentions:
1. Heroic Neighbors Save Children from Burning Apartment (KHQ-Q6 News)
2. Algae From the Ocean May Offer a Sustainable Energy Source of the Future (Science Daily)



Today's Top 5:

1. Accidental Fungus Leads to Promising Cancer Drug
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080629/ts_nm/cancer_nanoparticles_dc
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor
8 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A drug developed using nanotechnology and a fungus that contaminated a lab experiment may be broadly effective against a range of cancers, U.S. researchers reported on Sunday.

The drug, called lodamin, was improved in one of the last experiments overseen by Dr. Judah Folkman, a cancer researcher who died in January. Folkman pioneered the idea of angiogenesis therapy -- starving tumors by preventing them from growing blood supplies.

Lodamin is an angiogenesis inhibitor that Folkman's team has been working to perfect for 20 years. Writing in the journal Nature Biotechnology, his colleagues say they developed a formulation that works as a pill, without side-effects.

They have licensed it to SynDevRx, Inc, a privately held Cambridge, Massachusetts biotechnology company that has recruited several prominent cancer experts to its board.

Tests in mice showed it worked against a range of tumors, including breast cancer, neuroblastoma, ovarian cancer, prostate cancer, brain tumors known as glioblastomas and uterine tumors.

It helped stop so-called primary tumors and also prevented their spread, Ofra Benny of Children's Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School and colleagues reported.

"Using the oral route of administration, it first reaches the liver, making it especially efficient in preventing the development of liver metastasis in mice," they wrote in their report. "Liver metastasis is very common in many tumor types and is often associated with a poor prognosis and survival rate," they added.

'ALMOST CLEAN' LIVERS

"When I looked at the livers of the mice, the treated group was almost clean," Benny said in a statement. "In the control group you couldn't recognize the livers -- they were a mass of tumors."

The drug was known experimentally as TNP-470, and was originally isolated from a fungus called Aspergillus fumigatus fresenius.

Harvards's Donald Ingber discovered the fungus by accident while trying to grow endothelial cells -- the cells that line blood vessels. The mold affected the cells in a way known to prevent the growth of tiny blood vessels known as capillaries.

Ingber and Folkman developed TNP-470 with the help of Takeda Chemical Industries in Japan in 1990.

But the drug affected the brain, causing depression, dizziness and other side-effects. It also did not stay in the body long and required constant infusions. The lab dropped it.

Efforts to improve it did not work well. Then Benny and colleagues tried nanotechnology, attaching two "pom-pom"-shaped polymers to TNP-470, protecting it from stomach acid.

In mice, the altered drug, now named lodamin, went straight to tumor cells and helped suppress melanoma and lung cancer, with no apparent side effects, Benny said.

All untreated mice had fluid in the abdominal cavity, and enlarged livers covered with tumors. Mice treated with lodamin had normal-looking livers and spleens, the researchers said.

Twenty days after being injected with cancer cells, four out of seven untreated mice had died, while all treated mice were still alive, Benny's team reported.

"I had never expected such a strong effect on these aggressive tumor models," she said. The researchers believe lodamin may also be useful in other diseases marked by abnormal blood vessel growth, such as age-related macular degeneration.

(Editing by Todd Eastham)






2. Cloths Absorb Mercury from Broken Fluorescent Bulbs
http://inventorspot.com/articles/researchers_discover_material_absorbs_mercury_broken_fluorescent_15116
Posted June 29th, 2008
By Lisa Zyga

As more households are turning to fluorescent light bulbs for energy-efficient lighting, some people have been worried about the dangers of the mercury that is released into the air when a bulb breaks.

The 3-5 milligrams of mercury vapor inside the bulbs can pose minor health risks to small children and other susceptible individuals, and the area with the broken bulb needs to be carefully and thoroughly cleaned.

Recently, researchers at Brown University have discovered that a material called nanoselenium absorbs about 99% of mercury vapor. Based on this finding, the team has been creating prototypes of mercury-absorbent cloths and packaging that would make it much easier and safer to clean up broken bulbs.

As Engineering Professor Robert Hurt explains, when the selenium atoms bond with the mercury atoms, they form mercury selenide, which is a stable, benign nanoparticle compound. The mercury selenide could be safely discarded and recycled, without contamination or other environmental consequences.

One of the prototypes the researchers developed is a nanoselenium-coated cloth, encompassed by two exterior layers, that would hold the light bulbs in the box, and fully absorb the mercury if one should break during shipping and handling.

An extra cloth could also be included in the packaging, so that if a bulb should break when being screwed in, for example, people could simply lay the cloth on the spot where the bulb broke. The nanoselenium can absorb mercury on carpets, wood floors, and other surfaces.

Because the material is so effective, only a small amount is needed to capture the mercury vapor, making the researchers hope that the cloths could be relatively inexpensive.

"More work is needed," Hurt said, "but this appears to be an inexpensive solution that can remove most of the safety concerns associated with CFL (compact fluorescent lamp) bulbs."

via: Brown University




3. Public Invited to See 500-year-old Artifacts
http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=9039897047310103297&postID=5379989638942367583
BY SHARON McBRAYER
smcbrayer@morganton.com
Sunday, June 29, 2008

MORGANTON - People gathered around a woman and shouts of "hey, hey, hey" went up at the Berry archeological site on Thursday.
David Moore, lead archeologist at the site, was standing about 75 yards away. When he heard the shouts, he made his way over to the group.

What got the crowd excited was a find by Jeane Jones, of Dalton, Ga., of a tiny blue Spanish glass bead believed left behind from the first European settlement in the interior of what is now the United States.

It was the second glass bead found last week. One man found a piece of metal believed to be from the same era.

On July 12, the public will get a chance to take a look at the glass beads and other artifacts found at the site, as well as observe archaeologists at work. Archaeologists will be on hand to discuss the site and lead tours. Primitive skills experts also will demonstrate how native people crafted their weapons and tools.

Warren Wilson College and Western Piedmont Community College Archaeology Field School is sponsoring the open house.

The site will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on July 12. Admission is free.

Archaeologists believe the Berry site to be the location of the native town of Joara, at which the Spaniard Juan Pardo built Fort San Juan in 1567, 20 years before the "Lost Colony," according to information from field school.

The site is also believed to represent an ancestral Catawba Indian town.

The archaeology field school has concentrated on a one-acre area where 16th century Spanish artifacts and the remains of five burned buildings have been located. Archaeologists believe these burned structures may represent the remains of the Spanish compound, Fort San Juan.

For Jones, working at the Berry site and finding an artifact was thrilling. She and her husband, Walter, signed up to work for a week on the site. The couple has a summer home at Montreat in Black Mountain and kept hearing about the dig. She was screening dirt from an area where a compound structure once stood when she found the bead.

Moore said the Spanish used beads to trade with the natives. But Juan Pardo's group wasn't on a trade mission. They were on a work mission, Moore said.

The mission, Moore said, was to go from the east coast of the U.S. to Mexico, pacifying natives along the route, in order to build a road so silver could be transported from Mexico.

The fort in what is now Burke County was sacked and its buildings burned after relations between the Spaniards and natives soured, according to information from the school.

The site is located on Henderson Mill Road. To get there from downtown Morganton, take Green Street, which turns into N.C. 181. From the Kmart plaza, continue north on N.C. 181 4.1 miles to Goodman Lake Road on the right. Take Goodman Lake Road to the end (1.6 miles) and turn right on Henderson Mill Road. Follow Henderson Mill Road 1.9 miles to the Berry site. Turn right and follow parking signs.






4. ‘First’ in Solar-heater Mandate is Reason for Pride in Hawaii
http://starbulletin.com/2008/06/29/editorial/editorial01.html
29 June, 2008

THE ISSUE
The governor has signed into law a bill requiring developers to install solar water heaters in new homes.

The 50th state is the first in the nation to require solar water heaters to be installed on new single-family homes, which certainly would seem logical to the rest of the country.
In fact, residents of the other 49 would have reason to ask why the state with such plentiful sunshine took so long to adopt the renewable resource for a basic advantage.

It's not for lack of trying. Lawmakers have entertained the idea for five years since Kauai Sen. Gary Hooser first introduced legislation. Environmental organizations, principally the Sierra Club of Hawaii, have been lobbying long and hard at the state Capitol to get enough support, tweaking and amending the measure to win acceptance.

But at least some of the success of the bill, which Gov. Linda Lingle signed into law this week, is due to the economics of oil. When Hooser proposed the bill, oil was selling at $40 a barrel. On Friday afternoon, a barrel traded at an incredible $142.

With Hawaii owning the dubious national distinction of paying the most for electricity -- with the ever-soaring fuel surcharges making up nearly half of the tab -- using the sun to heat water makes sense. Solar devices will cut an estimated $40 to $60 in power costs for a family of four or about 30 percent of a homeowner's monthly bill.

Not everyone is pleased, however. The Building Industry Association of Hawaii, representing developers and contractors, complained the law will increase home prices, but buyers will recoup the difference within a few years and save in the long run because electricity costs will continue to go up. Some smart homebuilders, recognizing consumers' desire for renewable energy systems, already include solar water heaters on their residential units.

Gov. Lingle believes the new law will eliminate state tax credits for older homes, but the bill clearly states that homes that were issued building permits -- which were necessary to put up the houses -- before January 2010, when the law takes effect, can still claim the credit.

Solar water heaters make sense for the island and for the environment. Hawaii should be proud of leading the way.




5. The Baby Docs Said was Dead After Ultrasound Blunder
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/2008/06/28/exclusive-the-baby-docs-said-was-dead-after-ultrasound-blunder-89520-20623898/
By Jeremy Armstrong 28/06/2008

Little Leona-Lee Gray has defied all the odds - after her parents were told she had died following a hospital ultrasound blunder.

And yesterday proud mum Catherine Kent and dad Kevin Gray cuddled her and admitted: "She is our little miracle."

Seven weeks into her pregnancy Catherine, 27, who had suffered a miscarriage two years earlier, was told her baby was dead.

She was offered drugs or surgery to remove the foetus, but chose to wait for a miscarriage to happen naturally - a decision that saved Leona-Lee's life. She said: "My instincts were telling me something was wrong - I had the morning sickness and felt pregnant.

"I went back to Sunderland General Hospital and told them my concerns.

"I had another ultrasound. When I looked at the screen, I could make out a shape swimming about in the black and white lines. My baby was alive."

Six months on, Leona-Lee Gray was born weighing a healthy 6 lbs 9 oz and is now settling in at the family home in Houghton-le-Spring, Co Durham.

Her parents say she is the "spitting image" of big sister Chanelle, seven, and brother Kane, four, is "very excited".

Kevin, 28, said: "The baby is just champion. She is healthy as anything. But because we thought she had died it made the pregnancy a hundred times worse because of the stress."

Catherine shudders to think what might have been. "What if I had taken the tablets they offered me?," she said.

"They could have left my baby severely disabled, or it could have died. They could have aborted my baby while it was alive."

City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Trust has launched an inquiry.






Honorable Mentions:
1.Heroic Neighbors Save Children from Burning Apartment
http://www.khq.com/Global/story.asp?S=8550979
Posted: June 24, 2008 07:03 PM
Updated: June 27, 2008 01:16 PM

SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. - A Marine Reservist, a 17-year old teenager and his father are being called heroes after they saved two toddlers from a burning apartment building Tuesday night.

Fire officials say the fire broke out on the second floor of the apartment complex just before 10 p.m. Tuesday, near East 8th Avenue and South Pines.

One mother of two small children, a 2- and 3-year old, was in the shower when she saw smoke coming into the bathroom. She ran to find her kids but the smoke and heat forced her out of the building.

John Higginson, an ex-marine, was across the street at his apartment when he heard a smoke alarm sound and someone screaming, "Someone call 911!" After calling 911 he ran across the street where he heard a woman screaming, "My kids are up there!"

Higginson says he ran to investigate and found 17-year old Alex Suchanek and his father already trying to get into the building.

Suchanek says he'd just finished walking his girlfriend home when he noticed a mass of black smoke outside and heard his neighbor screaming there was a fire, and that her kids were trapped inside. He and his father sprang to action.

The intense heat and smoke inside the building forced the three towards the balcony outside. The marine and the teenager started climbing.

Suchanek broke down an outer door so they could get inside. Then, with a wet towel over his face, using a cell phone as a flashlight, Higginson went into the apartment and found the children by following coughing noises.

Higginson took each child to the balcony where Suchanek was waiting to drop them down to his father below.

Crews say one of the children was not breathing after being rescued, but was resuscitated on-scene and taken to Sacred Heart Medical Center.

One of the children, a girl, is listed in serious condition. The other, a boy, is listed in satisfactory condition. Both are expected to make a full recovery.

When asked what compelled him to risk his life to save the children, Suchanek said, "I was just concerned about the kids. I couldn't live with myself if I didn't do something...at least try to help the kids out."

When asked if he was comfortable being called a hero, Higginson chuckled and told reporters, "I served the last ten years in the Marine Corp Reserve. I just got back from Iraq and I still don't accept the title hero for that...I did what anybody should have done, just like Alex."




2.Algae From the Ocean May Offer a Sustainable Energy Source of the Future
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080626145543.htm
ScienceDaily
June 28, 2008

Research by two Kansas State University scientists could help with the large-scale cultivation and manufacturing of oil-rich algae in oceans for biofuel.

K-State's Zhijian "Z.J." Pei, associate professor of industrial and manufacturing systems engineering, and Wenqiao "Wayne" Yuan, assistant professor of biological and agricultural engineering, have received a $98,560 Small Grant for Exploratory Research from the National Science Foundation to study solid carriers for manufacturing algae biofuels in the ocean.

Algae are a diverse and simple group of organisms that live in or near water. Certain algal species are high in oil content that could be converted into such fuels as biodiesel, according to Pei and Yuan. Algae also have several environmentally-friendly advantages over corn or other plants used for biofuels, including not needing soil or fresh water to grow.

Pei and Yuan plan to identify attributes of algae and properties of materials that enable growth of certain algae species on solid carriers. Solid carriers float on the water surface for algae to attach to and grow on.

"Not all materials are equally suitable to make these carriers," Yuan said. "Some materials are better for algal attachment and growth than others, and we will be identifying what those 'good' materials are."

The project could help with the design of major equipment for manufacturing algae biofuels from the ocean, including solid carriers, in-the-ocean algae harvesting equipment and oil extraction machines, Pei said.

"This research aims to develop a cost-effective process for growing algae on solid carriers in the ocean for biofuel manufacturing," he said. "If successful, it will greatly benefit the energy security of the United States, as well as society in general."

The research will be conducted with a two-step approach.

"Selected algae species will be grown on solid carriers in a simulated ocean environment and will be evaluated for their ability to attach to solid carriers and grow in seawater, their biomass productivity, and their oil content," Pei said. "Top-ranked species in step one will be selected to test the performance of several carrier materials, including natural organic, synthetic organic and inorganic materials, with the same evaluation parameters as in step one."

Pei said the properties of the highly-ranked carriers also will be analyzed.

Yuan, who has studied biodiesel for several years, said the major problem with making the fuel has been finding sustainable oil and fat sources.

"Algae seems to be the only promising sustainable oil source for biodiesel production," he said. "In my lab, we have several different projects involving algae and we have been trying different ways to grow it. We have already obtained some encouraging results."


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Adapted from materials provided by Kansas State University, via Newswise.