UPI NewsTrack Health and Science News

NASA: Ionosphere not where it should be

WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- The U.S. space agency says it has discovered the boundary between the Earth's upper atmosphere and space has moved to extraordinarily low altitudes.

The finding was determined by National Aeronautics and Space Administration instruments aboard an Air Force satellite launched in April. The instruments, including ion and neutral sensors, make measurements of the variations in neutral and ion densities and drifts that can result in disruptions of navigation and communication signals.

But the first discovery was that the ionosphere was not where it had been expected to be. During the first months of the satellite's operations, the transition between the ionosphere and space was found to be at about 260 miles altitude during the nighttime, barely rising above 500 miles during the day. Those altitudes, said NASA, were extraordinarily low compared with the more typical values of 400 miles during the nighttime and 600 miles during the day.

NASA said the discovery by the satellite -- subsequently determined to have been launched during the quietest solar minimum since the space age began -- is providing a unique opportunity to study the connection between the interior dynamics of the sun and the response of the Earth's space environment.

Drug helps acute myeloid leukemia patients

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- A French-led international study suggests acute myeloid leukemia patients treated with Vidaza (azacitidine) have significantly increased overall survival.

Acute myeloid leukemia is a cancer in which abnormal cells accumulate in bone marrow and interfere with normal blood cell production. Patients with AML typically have a poor prognosis and do not respond well to conventional chemotherapy, researchers said, noting approximately 30 percent of patients diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome, formerly known as "preleukemia," will progress to AML.

Dr. Pierre Fenaux of the University of Paris said the results from an international phase III trial that was the first to show an increased overall survival for higher-risk MDS patients. The study showed 50 percent of the AML patients who were treated with Vidaza survived at least two years, compared with only 16 percent of patients treated with conventional regimens.

"The data … are encouraging for both physicians and patients and demonstrate the major advancements that have been made in treating hematologic conditions, like MDS and AML, over the past several years," said Kathy Heptinstall, operating director of the Myelodysplastic Syndromes Foundation, "We are hopeful about the potential of novel therapies, like Vidaza, which are helping patients to live longer with a better quality of life."

The study data were presented last week in San Francisco during the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology.

Semantic technology shopping is created

TOKYO, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- Japanese scientists have created a technology that allows shoppers to record a product's barcode and receive instant buying advice based on Internet reviews.

Researchers at Toshiba's Corporate Research and Development Center, in Japan said shoppers often have only a sales representative's word for whether a particular brand or model has a good reputation. But now Takahiron Kawamura and colleagues have developed the WOM, or Word-of-Mouth, Scouter to allow shoppers to get the latest reviews for a product while they are shopping.

The process involves taking a photo of the item's barcode with a cell phone camera. The Scouter then gathers the item's meta data via the internet, including information from blogs and Web sites that reviewed the product.

The researchers said their device uses natural language processing techniques to analyze what blogs and reviews are saying about the product. The Scouter then provides a straightforward positive or negative opinion on the product's reputation.

The scientists say the device could also be adapted for such purposes as choosing a movie, a restaurant or, potentially, whether to accept a specific job offer.

The system is reported in the International Journal of Metadata, Semantics and Ontologies.

Obesity increases gasoline consumption

CHAMPAIGN, Ill., Dec. 17 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists have come up with another reason for obese people to lose weight -- excess driver and passenger weight results in excess fuel consumption.

In a 2006 study, University of Illinois Professor Sheldon Jacobson and doctoral student Laura McLay estimated the amount of vehicle fuel consumed as a result of overweight and obese passengers.

Now Jacobson and doctoral student Douglas King have updated the estimates of weight-based fuel consumption and compared them with those reported in 2006.

They said the results aren't good news.

"Growing overweight and obesity rates in the United States continue to increase fuel consumption by adding extra passenger weight to vehicles," said Jacobson. "More than 1 billion gallons of fuel consumed each year can be attributed to this excess weight."

In 2006, Jacobson and McLay found cars and light trucks consumed up to 938 million additional gallons of fuel each year as a result of average weight gain that had occurred since the 1960s. In the new study, Jacobson and King found the amount of additional fuel had jumped by nearly 200 million gallons, to 1.137 billion gallons a year, an increase of about 21 percent.

The study has been accepted for publication in the journal Transport and Environment and posted on its Web site.