UPI NewsTrack Health and Science News

3-D mapping helps in brain tumor's removal

CINCINNATI, July 16 (UPI) -- University of Cincinnati neurosurgeons say they used a new technology involving the creation of a 3-D map to remove a large tumor from a patient's brain.

The surgeons used multiple brain scans that were fused and installed into a surgical guidance computer, whose function is similar to that of a global positioning system. By revealing the fist-sized tumor's relationship to all the functional centers, electrical pathways, arteries and veins in the patient's brain, the surgeons were able to chart a safe pathway to the tumor.

The surgery was performed at Cincinnati's University Hospital by an eight-member team from the Brain Tumor Center at the university's Neuroscience Institute.

"This marks the culmination of one of the most important developments in brain tumor surgery in the last 100 years," said Dr. John Tew, a neurosurgeon, professor and clinical director of the Neuroscience Institute.

Dr. James Leach, an associate professor of neuroradiology, performed the processing and fusion of images.

"The ability to completely map the brain and to understand before we operate where the tumor lies in relation to important structures is a milestone in our use of digital computer technology to heighten patient safety during complex brain tumor surgery," Tew said.

New fruit fly pheromone is discovered

BOSTON, July 16 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists using a new form of high-resolution laser mass spectrometry say they have discovered a new fruit fly pheromone.

Scientists led by Professor Edward Kravitz at the Harvard Medical School said they were scanning the surface of fruit flies when they discovered the previously unidentified pheromone -- CH503 -- that contributes to the anti-aphrodisiac effects observed in female fruit flies after copulation.

The researchers said the anti-aphrodisiac effect of copulation had been observed to last for more than a week in female Drosophila melanogaster, although the only previously identified fruit fly pheromone, cVA, remains active on the female for only 24 hours.

The researchers said their identification of CH503, and the discovery that it remains active on the female for up to 10 days, might help solve that behavioral mystery.

The research that included Joanne Yew, as well as Edward Kravitz and Klaus Dreisewerd at the University of Munster in Germany, appears in the early online edition of the journal Current Biology and will be published in the journal's Aug. 11 print edition.

CDC: U.S. blacks most obese, whites least

ATLANTA, July 16 (UPI) -- Non-Hispanic blacks have the highest rate of obesity, followed by Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites, federal health officials said.

Federal researchers analyzed the 2006-08 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data to identify racial and ethnic differences in obesity prevalence in U.S. adults, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Weekly Report said Thursday.

Among non-Hispanic blacks, 40 states had an obesity prevalence of 30 percent or more, including five states with a prevalence of 40 percent or more, the report said.

Among Hispanics, 11 states had an obesity prevalence of 30 percent or more, but among non-Hispanic whites, one state had a prevalence of 30 percent or more.

Greater prevalences of obesity for non-Hispanic blacks and whites were found in the Midwest and South. Among Hispanics lower prevalence was observed in the Northeast compared with other regions.

Effective policy and environmental intervention strategies that promote healthy eating and active living are needed for all populations, especially those disproportionally impacted by obesity, the report said.

Bolden becomes NASA's 12th administrator

WASHINGTON, July 16 (UPI) -- The U.S. Senate has confirmed former astronaut Charles Frank Bolden Jr. as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's 12th leader.

Lori Beth Garver was confirmed as the space agency's deputy administrator.

NASA said Bolden's confirmation marks the beginning of his second stint with NASA. His 34-year career with the U.S. Marine Corps included 14 years as a member of NASA's Astronaut Office. After joining NASA in 1980, he traveled into orbit four times aboard the space shuttle between 1986 and 1994, commanding two of the missions. His flights included deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope and the first joint U.S.-Russian shuttle mission, which featured a cosmonaut as a member of his crew.

The 62-year-old South Carolina native earned a bachelor of science degree in electrical science from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1968. He completed flight training in 1970 and became a naval aviator, serving as a combat pilot in Southeast Asia and later, as a test pilot. Bolden retired from the Marine Corps in 2003 with the rank of major general.

Garver worked for NASA from 1996 to 2001, serving as a special assistant to the NASA administrator and senior policy analyst for the Office of Policy and Plans, before becoming the associate administrator for the Office of Policy and Plans. As deputy administrator, Garver, a 48-year-old Michigan native, will be responsible for providing overall leadership, planning, and policy direction for the agency.

Bolden's biography is available at http://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/bolden_bio.html.

Garver's biography can be found at http://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/garver_bio.html.