Thursday, January 26, 2006
EPA wants to eliminate Teflon chemical
EPA Wants To Eliminate Teflon Chemical
Agency Asks Chemical Companies To Stop Using Certain Compounds
(AP) The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday invited the DuPont Co. and other chemical companies to join a global effort to eliminate use of a chemical utilized in making Teflon and other nonstick and stain-resistant products that may pose potential health risks to humans. The initiative calls for DuPont and seven other companies that manufacture or use perfluorooctanoic acid, its precursors, and similar compounds to reduce environmental releases and levels of those chemicals in products by 95 percent no later than 2010, using the year 2000 as a baseline. The EPA also wants the industry to work toward the elimination of PFOA and related chemicals from emissions and products by no later than 2015.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/25/tech/main1239795.shtml
Agency Asks Chemical Companies To Stop Using Certain Compounds
(AP) The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday invited the DuPont Co. and other chemical companies to join a global effort to eliminate use of a chemical utilized in making Teflon and other nonstick and stain-resistant products that may pose potential health risks to humans. The initiative calls for DuPont and seven other companies that manufacture or use perfluorooctanoic acid, its precursors, and similar compounds to reduce environmental releases and levels of those chemicals in products by 95 percent no later than 2010, using the year 2000 as a baseline. The EPA also wants the industry to work toward the elimination of PFOA and related chemicals from emissions and products by no later than 2015.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/25/tech/main1239795.shtml
Thursday, January 19, 2006
New Animal Species Found
SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK, Calif. - Twenty-seven previously unknown species of spiders, centipedes, scorpionlike creatures and other animals have been discovered in the dark, damp caves beneath two national parks in the Sierra Nevada, biologists say.
“Not only are these animals new to science, but they’re adapted to very specific environments — some of them, to a single room in one cave,” said Joel Despain, a cave specialist who helped explore 30 of the 238 known caves in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.
The discoveries included a relative of the pill bug so translucent that its internal organs are visible, particularly its long, bright yellow liver. There was also a daddy long legs with jaws bigger than its body, and a tiny fluorescent orange spider.
“Not only are these animals new to science, but they’re adapted to very specific environments — some of them, to a single room in one cave,” said Joel Despain, a cave specialist who helped explore 30 of the 238 known caves in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.
The discoveries included a relative of the pill bug so translucent that its internal organs are visible, particularly its long, bright yellow liver. There was also a daddy long legs with jaws bigger than its body, and a tiny fluorescent orange spider.
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Florescent green pigs
Those crazy scientist in Taiwan have done it again!!! Green Pigs, what next?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10818583/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10818583/
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Stem Cell Scandal
I am a firm believer in the usefulness of stem cells and believe that research should be supported by the US government. As a scientist, I am however appalled at the actions of anyone who fakes data. I have fired people for that very same behavior in the past and if they get a chance to continue in the field, it is usually as a lower level technician that is under scrutiny. Anyone who makes worldwide claims to fame should have the utmost integrity, unlike Hwang. Actions like this makes it harder for the public to accept scientific research. Under the current administration where science is used badly and results are tailored to acceptance of the administration's belief, this is just another blow to science professionals.
Some key dates in the South Korean stem cell scandal:
February 2004 - Hwang Woo-suk, a professor of veterinary science at Seoul National University, and colleagues announce they have cloned a human embryo and recovered stem cells from it.
May 2004 - The journal Nature reports two female scientists in Hwang's lab donated eggs for research. Hwang denies the report.
May 2005 - Hwang's lab reports creating 11 lines of human embryonic stem cells that are genetically matched to patients.
June 2005 - The South Korean government names Hwang the nation's first "top scientist," granting him $3 million in annual funding for five years.
August 2005 - Hwang's lab reports the first cloning of a dog.
October 2005 - Hwang and scientists announce an international consortium on stem cell research. The World Stem Cell Hub opens in Seoul as part of the project, with plans to open the first branches in the United States and Britain.
Nov. 12, 2005 - Gerald Schatten, a University of Pittsburgh researcher, pulls out of a partnership with Hwang, citing questionable ethical practices in obtaining donor eggs for research.
Nov. 24, 2005 - Hwang apologizes for lying about the fact that his research used eggs from workers at his lab and that his lab paid other women for their eggs. Hwang also resigns as head of the World Stem Cell Hub.
December 2005 - Schatten asks Science to remove him as senior author of Hwang's May 2005 report, saying some elements may have been fabricated. A co-author of Hwang's says nine of the 11 cell lines were faked. Hwang's university launches an investigation. Science starts investigating the 2004 embryo-cloning paper. Nature begins an inquiry into the dog-cloning report.
Dec. 16, 2005 - Hwang admits his lab had only eight cell lines when they submitted the 2005 report and says he has asked Science to withdraw it. He claims some of his embryonic stem cells were switched.
Dec. 22, 2005 - Hwang files a complaint with prosecutors, calling for an investigation into the alleged stem-cell switch.
Dec. 23, 2005 - Seoul National University says that at least nine of the 11 cell lines Hwang reported were bogus. It also says it will investigate Hwang's other two major papers. Hwang says he would resign his professorship.
Dec. 29, 2005 - The university investigation says the remaining two cell lines were also fake.
Jan. 3, 2006 - South Korea's MBC Television network reports that one of Hwang's two researchers who donated eggs may have been coerced by Hwang.
Jan. 10, 2006 - Seoul National University says that Hwang faked the 2004 claim to have cloned human embryonic stem cells. It upholds Hwang's claims last year to have created the world's first cloned dog.
Some key dates in the South Korean stem cell scandal:
February 2004 - Hwang Woo-suk, a professor of veterinary science at Seoul National University, and colleagues announce they have cloned a human embryo and recovered stem cells from it.
May 2004 - The journal Nature reports two female scientists in Hwang's lab donated eggs for research. Hwang denies the report.
May 2005 - Hwang's lab reports creating 11 lines of human embryonic stem cells that are genetically matched to patients.
June 2005 - The South Korean government names Hwang the nation's first "top scientist," granting him $3 million in annual funding for five years.
August 2005 - Hwang's lab reports the first cloning of a dog.
October 2005 - Hwang and scientists announce an international consortium on stem cell research. The World Stem Cell Hub opens in Seoul as part of the project, with plans to open the first branches in the United States and Britain.
Nov. 12, 2005 - Gerald Schatten, a University of Pittsburgh researcher, pulls out of a partnership with Hwang, citing questionable ethical practices in obtaining donor eggs for research.
Nov. 24, 2005 - Hwang apologizes for lying about the fact that his research used eggs from workers at his lab and that his lab paid other women for their eggs. Hwang also resigns as head of the World Stem Cell Hub.
December 2005 - Schatten asks Science to remove him as senior author of Hwang's May 2005 report, saying some elements may have been fabricated. A co-author of Hwang's says nine of the 11 cell lines were faked. Hwang's university launches an investigation. Science starts investigating the 2004 embryo-cloning paper. Nature begins an inquiry into the dog-cloning report.
Dec. 16, 2005 - Hwang admits his lab had only eight cell lines when they submitted the 2005 report and says he has asked Science to withdraw it. He claims some of his embryonic stem cells were switched.
Dec. 22, 2005 - Hwang files a complaint with prosecutors, calling for an investigation into the alleged stem-cell switch.
Dec. 23, 2005 - Seoul National University says that at least nine of the 11 cell lines Hwang reported were bogus. It also says it will investigate Hwang's other two major papers. Hwang says he would resign his professorship.
Dec. 29, 2005 - The university investigation says the remaining two cell lines were also fake.
Jan. 3, 2006 - South Korea's MBC Television network reports that one of Hwang's two researchers who donated eggs may have been coerced by Hwang.
Jan. 10, 2006 - Seoul National University says that Hwang faked the 2004 claim to have cloned human embryonic stem cells. It upholds Hwang's claims last year to have created the world's first cloned dog.
New Helmet Technology
In an attempt to get back to a regular update of this blog, I found something that I thought was very interesting involving a new football helmet. This new design reduces the chance of sustaining a concussion, but it does not reduce the severity of the concussion if one occurs. Here is the article that I read.
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Newer helmet technology could reduce the risk of high school football players getting concussions, but not the severity of the injury, according to new research.
A three-year study by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center found that athletes who wore a helmet with more protection for the temporal area of the head and jaw had fewer concussions than those wearing a standard helmet, said university neuropsychologist Micky Collins, the study's principal investigator.
The study, published in the February edition of the scientific journal, Neurosurgery, looked at 2,141 high school football players from 2002 to 2004. Of those, 1,173 wore the improved helmet and 968 wore standard helmets through both the pre- and regular seasons.
The study, funded in part by helmet maker Riddell and the National Institutes of Health, is the first to look at whether helmet technology can reduce the severity or number of concussions, Collins said.
The study showed the annual concussion rate was 5.3 percent in athletes wearing the new Revolution helmet and 7.6 percent in the older version. Revolution wearers were 31 percent less likely to sustain the an injury, compared with wearers of standard helmets, the study showed. The Revolution helmet was introduced in 2002.
However, helmet type made no difference in the recovery time of athletes suffering from concussions, Collins said. Investigators used a test developed by UPMC to check the athletes' reaction and memory skills before and after concussions. Collins said 50 percent of the athletes who had concussions did not recover within one week, 30 percent did not recover within two weeks and 15 percent did not recover within three weeks.
This is crucial because reduced cognitive skills also hurt the athletes in the classroom, Collins said.
"There's no such thing as a concussion-proof helmet," Collins warned. "The biggest mistake anyone can make is saying, 'This kid has a concussion. Put him in this helmet and send him out there.' ... Any athlete who has a concussion and goes back to play too soon, that's when the risk levels are high."
Experts studying sports-related brain injuries welcomed the study.
"(It) supports what we have anecdotally been discovering over the past few years," said Kevin Guskiewicz, chairman of the Department of Exercise and Sport Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Fewer concussions were reported among UNC players wearing Revolution helmets, he said.
Stefan Duma, director of the Center for Injury Biomechanics at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, called the UPMC study "a critical aspect in improving player health."
Duma and Guskiewicz are involved in separate studies to measure the acceleration of football players' heads in real time by installing wireless transmitters in their players' helmets, both Revolution and standard.
Guskiewicz said he hopes studies like his and UPMC's help researchers to better protect the brain from sports related injuries.
"The exciting part is it indicates there are design factors that can be modified to reduce your risk of concussion," Duma said. "Just showing they have shown a reduced risk with design change, maybe they can change the design more and keep improving."
---
On the Net:
UPMC Sports Medicine Concussion Program:
http://sportsmedicine.upmc.com/ConcussionProgram.htm
ImPACT: http://www.impacttest.com
Riddell Inc.: http://www.riddell.com
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Newer helmet technology could reduce the risk of high school football players getting concussions, but not the severity of the injury, according to new research.
A three-year study by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center found that athletes who wore a helmet with more protection for the temporal area of the head and jaw had fewer concussions than those wearing a standard helmet, said university neuropsychologist Micky Collins, the study's principal investigator.
The study, published in the February edition of the scientific journal, Neurosurgery, looked at 2,141 high school football players from 2002 to 2004. Of those, 1,173 wore the improved helmet and 968 wore standard helmets through both the pre- and regular seasons.
The study, funded in part by helmet maker Riddell and the National Institutes of Health, is the first to look at whether helmet technology can reduce the severity or number of concussions, Collins said.
The study showed the annual concussion rate was 5.3 percent in athletes wearing the new Revolution helmet and 7.6 percent in the older version. Revolution wearers were 31 percent less likely to sustain the an injury, compared with wearers of standard helmets, the study showed. The Revolution helmet was introduced in 2002.
However, helmet type made no difference in the recovery time of athletes suffering from concussions, Collins said. Investigators used a test developed by UPMC to check the athletes' reaction and memory skills before and after concussions. Collins said 50 percent of the athletes who had concussions did not recover within one week, 30 percent did not recover within two weeks and 15 percent did not recover within three weeks.
This is crucial because reduced cognitive skills also hurt the athletes in the classroom, Collins said.
"There's no such thing as a concussion-proof helmet," Collins warned. "The biggest mistake anyone can make is saying, 'This kid has a concussion. Put him in this helmet and send him out there.' ... Any athlete who has a concussion and goes back to play too soon, that's when the risk levels are high."
Experts studying sports-related brain injuries welcomed the study.
"(It) supports what we have anecdotally been discovering over the past few years," said Kevin Guskiewicz, chairman of the Department of Exercise and Sport Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Fewer concussions were reported among UNC players wearing Revolution helmets, he said.
Stefan Duma, director of the Center for Injury Biomechanics at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, called the UPMC study "a critical aspect in improving player health."
Duma and Guskiewicz are involved in separate studies to measure the acceleration of football players' heads in real time by installing wireless transmitters in their players' helmets, both Revolution and standard.
Guskiewicz said he hopes studies like his and UPMC's help researchers to better protect the brain from sports related injuries.
"The exciting part is it indicates there are design factors that can be modified to reduce your risk of concussion," Duma said. "Just showing they have shown a reduced risk with design change, maybe they can change the design more and keep improving."
---
On the Net:
UPMC Sports Medicine Concussion Program:
http://sportsmedicine.upmc.com/ConcussionProgram.htm
ImPACT: http://www.impacttest.com
Riddell Inc.: http://www.riddell.com
