Announcement-International Conference on Materials for Advanced Technologies
Science ICMAT 2007 will be a multidisciplinary forum providing over 2,000 research scientists and engineers a first-hand learning platform, as well as the opportunity to share and exchange ideas with some of the best minds in the field. Encouraged by the successes of ICMAT 2001, ICMAT 2003 and ICMAT 2005 at which more than 2,000 members of the international scientific and materials research community representing over 40 countries attended, the Materials Research Society of Singapore will host the 4th ICMAT from 1 to 6 July 2007 at the Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre (SICEC).In conjunction with this bi-annual conference, the Global Enterprise for Micro-Mechanics and Molecular Medicine (GEM4), a new paradigm in global interactions among leading institutions to work together seamlessly across the boundaries of science, engineering, technology, medicine and public health, will also hold its first Conference on Cancer.There will be 18 Symposia covering contemporary topics of importance for the science, engineering and technology of materials. The technical program includes Plenary, Keynote, Invited, Oral and Poster presentations. More than 50 international exhibitors from all sectors of materials science and engineering communities will also be showcasing their products and equipment during the conference.In keeping with the previous ICMAT conferences, a few Nobel Laureates will speak at the conference. Some of the Nobel Laureates who are invited to give plenary lectures at the conference will also be giving public lectures at the University Cultural Centre of the National University of Singapore. These lectures will be opened to conference participants and to the general public including students from local Junior Colleges, Polytechnics and Universities.Thus, ICMAT 2007 will be a multidisciplinary forum providing over 2,000 research scientists and engineers a first-hand learning platform, as well as the opportunity to share and exchange ideas with some of the best minds in the field. The organization of the GEM4 Conference on Cancer provides further possibility for interaction with the medical researchers.
Schedule & Important DeadlinesReceipt of Abstracts - 31 January 2007Acceptance of Abstracts - 15 March 2007Receipt of Manuscripts * - 01 May 2007Registration at Reduced Rates - 01 April 2007Registration at Standard Rates - 02 April to 15 June 2007Online Registration Closes - 16 June 2007Registration at Onsite Rates - from 16 June 2007
Contact DetailsICMAT 2007 SecretariatMaterials Research Society of Singaporec/o Institute of Materials Research & Engineering3 Research Link, Singapore 117602Tel: (65) 6874 1975, (65) 6778 1036Fax: (65) 6777 2393Email: icmat@mrs.org.sg

New genetic cause of an immunodeficiency syndrome found
A gene called HAX1 is mutated in some individuals with an immunodeficiency syndrome known as severe congenital neutropenia (SCN), according to a study to be published in the January issue of Nature Genetics. The identification of mutations in HAX1 ends a 50-year search for the genetic basis of one form of this disease.SCN comprises a group of disorders characterized by low levels of neutrophils in peripheral blood and bone marrow. As neutrophils are part of the body’s defense against bacteria, affected individuals can develop life-threatening infections without treatment. The recessive form of SCN is also called Kostmann disease, after its discoverer, who identified it in 1956.Christoph Klein and colleagues have now identified mutations in HAX1 in three Kurdish families and 19 other unrelated individuals with recessive SCN. The HAX1 protein is found in mitochondria, the energy-producing compartments of the cell, and the authors show that it is required to maintain viable neutrophils. Although recessive SCN is rare, the authors suggest that individuals with this or other forms of SCN may have mutations in other genes that normally promote the survival of neutrophils.
Author contact:Christoph Klein (Hannover Medical School, Germany)Tel: +49 511 532 6718; E-mail: klein.christoph@mh-hannover.de mailto: klein.christoph@mh-hannover.de

Activating drug discovery for Gaucher disease
Scientists have identified a new structural form of the protein that is mutated in Gaucher disease, providing important information on how the disease may be treated, according to a paper to be published in the February issue of Nature Chemical Biology.Gaucher disease arises from the inability of cells to hydrolyze a particular lipid, leading to liver dysfunction among other serious problems. One emerging treatment for this disease is enzyme enhancement therapy, in which helper small molecules assist a disabled protein in performing its normal function. The success in identifying the appropriate helper molecules, however, depends on knowing what the enzyme looks like.Petsko and colleagues have discovered that the enzyme acid-beta-glucosidase, mutations of which directly cause Gaucher disease, can exist in two different states. The ‘inactive’ structure had already been seen, but was not useful in designing new treatments. The authors now report the ‘active’ structure of the enzyme, which is needed for cells to function normally. Gaucher disease is a serious disorder that needs improved treatments. By knowing what the active form of the enzyme looks like, scientists will be able to design molecules that help this protein more effectively.
Author contact:Gregory A. Petsko (Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, USA)Tel: +1 781 736 4903; E-mail: petsko@brandeis.edu mailto:petsko@brandeis.edu

Follow the light
Mapping the orientation of light fields on a microscopic scale is shown to be possible for the first time in the first issue of Nature Photonics. Light is made up of fields with a direction as well as an intensity. Most optical probes measure only the strength of the field. But Kwang Geol Lee and colleagues have built a microscope that allows the direction of the electric field to be captured down to a nanometre scale.Their device contains a nano-sized gold particle attached to the tip of a glass fibre. By scanning the tip along the surface of an object and capturing light that is scattered off the nanoparticle, they can create an image of the sample and uncover features smaller than the wavelength of the light. Lee and co-workers insert a polarizer just in front of the imaging camera that allows them to identify the components of the electric field.This new way of ‘seeing’ light tells us how light behaves near very tiny objects. It could help in the design of miniature optical components, or lead to new biosensors, where light interacts with biological molecules in different ways depending on the orientation of the electric field.
Author contact:DaiSik Kim (Seoul National University, Korea)Tel: +82 2880 8174; E-mail: dsk@phya.snu.ac.kr

Optical devices lose their sensitive side
Truly useful optical devices built onto microchips are a step closer to becoming a reality, thanks to the work of Tymon Barwicz and colleagues. In the inaugural issue of Nature Photonics, the team describes a way of producing tiny optical devices that process incoming light correctly even if it has a randomly-oriented electric field. They achieve this despite the fact that the individual components making up the device are very picky about the field orientation.Most devices that control light inside microscopic spaces are, unfortunately, extremely sensitive to the orientation of the light. This limits the usefulness of the technology. Barwicz and co-workers overcome this sensitivity with the aid of a clever miniature photonic circuit. Their circuit splits a light beam into its two constituent perpendicular orientations, rotates one orientation, and recombines the beams after forcing them to pass through identical optical devices. Essentially by aligning the orientation of both beams within the circuit, the initial direction of the field becomes irrelevant and the sensitivity no longer matters.For the trick to work, Barwicz and co-workers had to design intricate splitters and rotator components and make use of advance manufacturing techniques. By overcoming this barrier, they move us along the path to optical devices that can be integrated onto tiny chips in a big way.
Author contact:Tymon Barwicz (IBM Thomas J Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, NY, USA)Tel: +1 914 945 3454; E-mail: tymon@alum.mit.edu

Blue microdisk lasers hit room temperature
Very small and efficient sources of blue laser light could now be on the horizon thanks to the demonstration of the first gallium nitride (GaN) microdisk laser to offer continuous operation at room temperature. In the January issue of Nature Photonics Adele Tamboli and colleagues reveal how they attain the lasing with blue (428nm) light at a threshold of 300 Watts per square centimetre – several orders of magnitude lower than previously reported devices. Until now, GaN microdisks have been limited to pulsed operation or have required cooling to low temperatures.Microdisk lasers are attractive future sources of light because they are potentially very efficient, small and emit from their top surface rather than the side. With their knowledge that small, smooth microdisks should offer ultra low thresholds, the researchers fabricated microdisks with a diameter of 1.2 micrometres using photoelectrochemical etching, and used electron beam lithography to create very smooth sidewalls.The development is a step towards the realization of tiny, efficient sources of blue light that could perhaps one day act as an alternative to the conventional edge-emitting semiconductor lasers found in CD and DVD players. But before this can happen, a scheme for directly electrically powering the lasers needs to be found as they currently need another laser as a pump source to power themselves.
Author contact:Adele Tamboli (University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA)Tel: +1 805 448 7560 or +1 805 893 4875; E-mail: atamboli@umail.ucsb.eduAdditional contact for comment on paper:Shuji Nakamura (University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA)Tel: +1 805 893 5552; E-mail: shuji@engineering.ucsb.edu

Optical buffer on a silicon
By exploiting state of the art semiconductor manufacturing technology, scientists have created an optical buffer memory on a miniature silicon chip. The device – a kind of temporary storage area for light signals that works by slowing them down – is described in the January issue of Nature Photonics. Once optimized, it could help future optical networks to synchronize different data streams without needing to convert the signals into the electronic domain.The optical buffer is made by connecting together a string of up to 100 tiny silicon ring waveguides – tiny oval racetracks with a perimeter of just 55 micrometres. By experimenting with various designs, Yurii Vlasov and colleagues have shown that it is possible to create a buffer with a total footprint of less than 0.1mm squared that is able store up to 10 bits of information at data-rates of up to 20Gbit per second.Although silicon ring waveguides have been reported before, Vlasov’s team is the first to show that it is possible to make a device from such a large number of rings, and to test its compatibility with real data at gigabit speeds. Although further work is needed to reduce the losses and increase the delay/storage time of the buffer, the work is an important demonstration of the future potential of nanophotonics.
Author contact:Yurii Vlasov (IBM Thomas J Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, NY, USA)Tel: +1 914 945 2028; E-mail: yvlasov@us.ibm.com

Caged Light
Light likes to keep on moving no matter what. But researchers have built an optical cage that can temporarily catch light and release it again, they report in the January issue of Nature Photonics. The development is an important step towards solid-state optical memory devices that may ultimately play a crucial role in ultra-fast optical communication networks or optical computers.Takasumi Tanabe and colleagues use a photonic crystal – a piece of silicon riddled with tiny holes – to create an optical cavity that can store light particles for more than a billionth of a second. This may not seem very long, but the beauty of these structures is in their size. Photonic crystals are man-made structures that can control the flow of light on the very smallest length scale possible – down to the wavelength of the waves. The team’s cavity is less than ten millionths of a metre long and made from silicon, which means that it could be integrated into miniature optical chips that can process light in the way microelectronics processes electrons.The temporary storage effect means that light travelling through the cage is effectively slowed down to a speed of just 5.8 km per second, 50,000 times slower than in a vacuum. This is the slowest speed ever measured in an insulator material.
Author contact:Takasumi Tanabe (NTT Basic Research Laboratories, Kanagawa, Japan)Tel: +81 46 240 4825; E-mail: takasumi@nttbrl.jp

New molecule promises early detection of Alzheimer's: study
Chicago, Dec 21 - US researchers has said they haveidentified people at risk for developing Alzheimer's diseaseusing imaging technology and a new molecule that can bind tothe abnormal proteins that are the hallmark of the devastatingbrain disease.The University of California researchers yesterady, saidthe new imaging technology offers a "real-time window into thebrain," identifying both of the major markers for the illnessin living people who may not develop Alzheimer's for years.They hope the new diagnostic tool will speed the searchfor Alzheimer's drugs and ultimately allow for early diagnosisand treatment of people at risk for the condition, saving themfrom the worst ravages of the memory-sapping illness."The study suggests that we may now have a new diagnostictool for detecting pre-Alzheimer's conditions to help usidentify those at risk, perhaps years before symptoms becomeobvious," said Dr Gary Small, director of the Centre on Agingat University of California, Los Angeles and lead author ofthe study.There is no test for Alzheimer's, a progressive brain
condition that degrades a person's memory and cognitivefunction, and the most common form of dementia. It can only bedefinitively confirmed with an autopsy.Doctors are obliged to piece together a diagnosis bymeans of a clinical history, cognitive testing and process ofelimination, but the hunt is on for better tools andscientists are in the early stages of identifying biomarkersin the blood and spinal fluid that could help with thatendeavour.

New blood tests are not enough to predict heart attacks
Trenton (US)-New blood tests that doctorshoped would more accurately predict which patients areheaded for a heart attack or stroke are no better thancholesterol levels, blood pressure and other conventionalmeasurements, a study found.The study was published in today's New England Journal ofMedicine. Doctors in recent years had become excited oversubstances in the blood that appeared to be powerful newpredictors of a heart attack. These substances includedC-reactive protein, or CRP; homocysteine; and BNP, or B-typenatriuretic peptide.An increasing number of family doctors have been orderingexpensive tests for these substances, and some patients havestarted requesting them, in hopes of identifying people who donot have the standard risk factors but are still likely tosuffer a heart attack or stroke.But the new research, by scientists at the highlyregarded Framingham Heart Study, found that tests of CRP, BNP,homocysteine and seven other substances are only a couple ofpercentage points better at predicting outcomes than thestandard, commonsense risk factors that doctors have known fordecades.The difference in accuracy was considered so small as tobe negligible."It's a little bit disappointing," said lead author DrThomas J Wang, a Harvard Medical School assistantprofessor.

A virgin birth for Christmas?
As you raise a glass of Christmas cheer, spare a thought for Flora the Komodo dragon. The anxious mother-to-be is waiting for eight offspring to hatch, each and every one a virgin conception.Parthenogenesis, the production of offspring without fertilization by a male, is rare in vertebrate species. Now Phillip C. Watts and colleagues have used genetic fingerprinting to identify parthenogenetic offspring produced by two female Komodo dragons (Varanus komodoensis) that had been kept at separate institutions away from males. Their findings are reported in Nature this week, as the Brief Communications bow out with a Christmas theme.Flora, who lives at Chester Zoo in the UK, produced a clutch of eleven viable eggs earlier this year. Three collapsed early during incubation, providing embryonic material for DNA tests. The remaining eight eggs are developing normally and are expected to hatch in January 2007.Another captive-bred female, London Zoo's Sungai, managed to produce four viable offspring more than two years after her last contact with a male, and subsequently has produced additional offspring sexually. This reproductive plasticity suggests that female Komodo dragons can switch between asexual and sexual reproduction, depending on the availability of a mate - a finding that has implications for breeding this threatened species in captivity. Most zoos keep only females, and males are moved between zoos for mating, but perhaps they should be kept together to avoid triggering parthenogenesis and decreasing genetic diversity.
CONTACTPhillip C. Watts (University of Liverpool, UK)Please note that this author is unavailable, please contact:Richard Gibson (Zoological Society of London, UK) Co-authorPlease contact through Emma Kenly (Press Office, Zoological Society of London, UK)Tel: +44 20 7449 6280; E-mail: emma.kenly@zsl.org Kevin">mailto:emma.kenly@zsl.org>Kevin R. Buley (Chester Zoo, Upton-by-Chester, UK) Co-authorPlease contact through Rachael Ashton (PR and Media Manager, Chester Zoo, UK)Tel: +44 1244 389460 or 07958 103515; E-mail: R.Ashton@chesterzoo.org mailto:R.Ashton@chesterzoo.org

Genetics: Progeria mutation sheds light on ageing
The discovery of a new mutation that causes an unusually severe form of a disease that results in accelerated ageing (progeria), may help to reconcile two seemingly disparate theories of ageing.Some think that ageing is genetically regulated; others, that it is due to a gradual build up of DNA damage. In this week’s Nature, Jan H. J. Hoeijmakers and colleagues suggest that both theories are correct.The team discovered a new mutation in the XPF gene of a human patient that causes a dramatic form of progeria. Young mice that have been genetically engineered to model this syndrome show many features of normal old mice. These include reduced insulin signalling; increased cell death, anti-oxidant and DNA repair pathways; and a shift towards anabolism - the building up of new tissues. The results suggest that an accumulation of DNA damage induces metabollic changes aimed at extending life rather than maintaining growth.They conclude that DNA damage drives the functional decline associated with ageing. But genetics, and in particular the insulin signalling pathway, influence how rapidly damage accumulates and function is lost.
CONTACTJan H. J. Hoeijmakers (Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands)Tel: +31 10 408 7199; E-mail: j.hoeijmakers@erasmusmc.nl mailto: j.hoeijmakers@erasmusmc.nl Tom Kirkwood (Newcastle University, UK) N&V authorTel: +44 191 256 3319; E-mail: tom.kirkwood@ncl.ac.uk mailto: tom.kirkwood@ncl.ac.uk

Infectious disease: Parasite conundrum solved?
When it infects humans, some strains of the parasite Toxoplasma gondii go largely unnoticed, whereas others can kill. Researchers now think they know why.One strain of the parasite injects an enzyme into the host cell, which travels to the cell’s nucleus and dramatically alters the host’s gene expression. This can then alter the expression of proteins that are involved in the host’s response to infection. Some other strains of Toxoplasma do not possess this enzyme, which may explain why infections manifest disease in different ways, say Jeroen Saeij and colleagues in this week's Nature.The findings provide a new mechanism for the interaction between an intracellular eukaryotic pathogen and its host, and reveal major differences in how Toxoplasma lineages have evolved to exploit this interaction.
CONTACTJeroen Saeij (Stanford University, CA, USA)Tel: +1 650 723 7296; E-mail: jsaeij@stanford.edu mailto: jsaeij@stanford.edu

Cancer: Starve the tumour, sabotage the blood supply
A new drug that shrinks tumours by sabotaging their blood supply may work against cancers that have become resistant to standard anti-angiogenic therapies.Inhibitors of the molecule Delta-like ligand 4 (Dll4) can shrink tumours in a variety of models, two papers in this week’s Nature report. The drug causes an increase in vascularity, but the newly formed blood vessels do not function properly and the tumours become starved of oxygen.Other anti-angiogenic drugs that target a different protein called vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), or its receptor, are already in the clinic but they are not effective against all tumours. Dll4 blockers may work against these anti-VEGF-resistant cancers, say Gavin Thurston and Minhong Yan; they may also work well in combination with anti-VEGF therapies.
CONTACT Gavin Thurston (Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Tarrytown, NY, USA) Author paper [4]Tel: +1 914 345 7575; E-mail: gavin.thurston@regeneron.com gavin.thurston@regeneron.com >Minhong Yan (Genentech, South San Francisco, CA, USA) Author paper [5]Tel: +1 650 225 5691; E-mail: minhong@gene.com minhong@gene.com

Obesity: Microbial component to obesity
The microbes living in our guts may influence how prone we are to obesity, a finding that may have implications for the treatment of this worldwide epidemic.Our gastrointestinal tracts house two dominant groups of beneficial bacteria, the Bacteroidetes and the Firmicutes, which help us to break down otherwise indigestible foods. The relative proportion of Bacteroidetes is decreased in obese compared with lean people, Jeffrey I. Gordon and colleagues report in a Brief Communication in this week's Nature. And the proportion increases as weight is lost on low calorie diets.The finding suggests that obesity has a microbial component, and an accompanying paper by the collaborating authors suggests a possible explanation. This shows that gut microbes in obese mice are better at harvesting calories from food than those found in their lean littermates. And the effect is transmissible - when 'obese microbes' are transplanted into germ-free mice their total body fat increases more than when 'lean microbes' are transplanted.
CONTACTJeffrey I. Gordon (Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO, USA)Tel: +1 314 362 7243; E-mail: jgordon@wustl.edu Randy">mail to:jgordon@wustl.edu>Randy J. Seeley (University of Cincinnati, OH, USA) N&V authorTel: +1 513 558 6664; E-mail: seeleyrj@ucmail.uc.edu mailto: seeleyrj@ucmail.uc.edu

Islet transplantation for diabetes: failing to deliver?
Has the promise of islet transplantation to treat diabetes been fully realised? Not yet, according to a Viewpoint article to be published in the diabetes-themed January issue of Nature Clinical Practice Endocrinology & Metabolism, in which Piotr Witkowski and Kevan Herold discuss current practice and conclude that the procedure remains far from perfect. They highlight several areas of research that could yield beneficial results for patients.Type 1 – or insulin-dependent – diabetes mellitus occurs when the insulin-producing islet cells of the pancreas are destroyed by the patient's own immune system. The condition often occurs at a young age and requires life-long treatment with insulin. Islet transplantation aims to replace the damaged cells with healthy donor tissue, allowing recipients to live without daily insulin injections. But as Witkowski and Herold point out, the beneficial effects of islet transplantation are rarely sustained. The procedure is also associated with harmful effects, such as kidney failure, and is not suitable for all patients.Intensive efforts are underway to improve the outcome for transplant recipients. Shortage of donor tissue is a major hurdle and researchers are seeking alternative sources, such as islet cells grown in the laboratory. Although the long-term benefits of islet transplantation have fallen short of initial expectations of a cure, Witkowski and Herold conclude that the prospects look good as the National Institutes of Health are committed to establishing dedicated islet isolation and resource centres.Author contact:Kevan C Herold (Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA)Email: kevan.herold@yale.eduEditor contact:Vicky Heath (Associate Editor, Nature Clinical Practice Endocrinology & Metabolism)Tel: +44 20 7843 4701; Email: v.heath@nature.com

"Standing on the shoulders of giants"
Los Banos, Philippines – It’s a long way from the small Texas town of Alvin to the lush green rice fields of Tamil Nadu in southern India. Despite this, the two places have played interesting roles in one of the most remarkable success stories in the history of efforts to ease human hunger and suffering.
This largely unknown link was highlighted earlier this month by the death of Henry “Hank” Beachell, one of the plant breeding pioneers behind the “miracle rice” IR8, which launched the Green Revolution in Asia 40 years ago. Dr. Beachell passed away at his home in Alvin, Texas, on 13 December 2006.Less than 3 months previously, Dr. Beachell had celebrated his 100th birthday on 21 September. Friends and family gathered in Alvin to celebrate the event and reminisce about his remarkable life and the huge impact it had on millions of rice farmers and consumers across Asia.Dr. Beachell played a leading role in the development of IR8 at the Philippine-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the 1960s. The short, sturdy cultivar was the first high-yielding modern rice variety. At a time of rapidly increasing populations in Asia, IR8—which resisted lodging (falling over) and allowed farmers to harvest more than one crop per year—helped avert widespread famine.Born and raised on a wheat farm in western Nebraska, Dr. Beachell originally planned to work on wheat. Following university, though, the only position he could find, at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), dealt with rice. It was a twist of fate that would prove fortunate for rice farmers and consumers across the world.After 32 years at the USDA, Dr. Beachell came to IRRI, where he started work on IR8. In 1996, he and former IRRI principal plant breeder Gurdev Khush received the World Food Prize, known informally as the “Nobel Prize for Food and Agriculture.”“Hank’s achievements in rice research–especially his role in the development of IR8–were extraordinary and absolutely deserving of the international acclaim and recognition that they received,” the director general of IRRI, Robert S. Zeigler said. “If we have achieved anything at IRRI since Hank and his colleagues retired from IRRI in the 1970s, it is very much in the context of Isaac Newton’s famous quote: If we have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."Perhaps, one of the most famous stories of the success of IR8 comes from Tamil Nadu in southern India. After a bumper rice crop in his first season growing IR8, a local farmer K.N. Ganesan was so impressed that he named his second son in honor of the variety, telling researchers later that it provided the rice he needed to feed his young family. Now in his 40s, Mr. IR8 continues to farm rice in Tamil Nadu–living proof of the impact and achievements of a rice breeder from Texas.For photos of Dr. Beachell, please click here: http://www.irri.org/Download/beachell/For a story on the development of IR8, please click here:http://www.irri.org/publications/today/pdfs/5-4/34-38.pdf***The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is the world’s leading rice research and training center. Based in the Philippines and with offices in 10 other Asian countries, it is an autonomous, nonprofit institution focused on improving the well-being of present and future generations of rice farmers and consumers, particularly those with low incomes, while preserving natural resources. IRRI is one of 15 centers funded through the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), an association of public and private donor agencies. Please visit the CGIAR website (www.cgiar.org) for more information. For information, please contact: Duncan Macintosh, IRRI, DAPO Box 7777, Metro Manila, Philippines; tel +63-2-580-5600; fax: +63-2-580-5699; email d.macintosh@cgiar.org .Web sites: IRRI Home (www.irri.org), IRRI Library (http://ricelib.irri.org), Rice Knowledge Bank (www.knowledgebank.irri.org).

OVCRD-funded research uncovers little known history of radio in the country

Radio broadcasting in the Philippines was probably the first in Asia. According to Dr. Elizabeth L. Enriquez, “It began during the third decade of the American colonial period when American investments dominated commerce and business.”

Radio broadcasting in the Philippines was probably the first in Asia. According to Dr. Elizabeth L. Enriquez, “It began during the third decade of the American colonial period when American investments dominated commerce and business.”
“There is very little written about Philippine radio, very little about the history of broadcasting in the Philippines, because during the Second World War, most of our records were destroyed,” she added. Her study, entitled “Appropriation of Colonial Broadcasting: a History of Early Radio in the Philippines 1922-1946,” meticulously uses hard-to-find archival materials, oral histories, extant music and sound recordings, newspaper and magazines published during the period under study. She did a lot of research in the United States of America where she looked into the collections of the National Archives of the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., Maryland.
The Enriquez study further reveals that Filipinos at first imitated, or mimicked, American broadcasting, then subverted it through appropriation of its resources. Filipinos did not merely adapt to the foreign technology, language and culture, but made them their own to serve their needs.
Included in the project are sound clips of the first songs aired in Philippine radio from famed artists such as Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, and Judy Garland. Rare sound clips from local talents such as Jovita Fuentes, Bimbo Danao, Vicente Ocampo, Conchita Velez and Atang dela Rama are likewise included. A special feature is the poetry reading clips read by Jose Corazon de Jesus (a.k.a. Huseng Batute) himself.
Dr. Elizabeth L. Enriquez is currently the Vice-Chancellor for Student Affairs of the University of the Philippines at Diliman and an Associate Professor at the College of Mass Communication. Before joining UP Diliman, she worked for different broadcast stations such as DZBU, DZRP, Channel 4 and DZFX in various capacities such as announcer, scriptwriter, editor, producer, and most notably as broadcast journalist.

UP researcher brings audio streaming to wireless level
The Avestro experiment has discovered that a wireless client can still successfully receive and play audio clips such as music, interviews and dialogues sent by the RTP server. There is no significant difference in audio quality among the wireless and the wired connections.
In this time of modern technology, where the links of the modern world have been intensified, the Internet has become a powerful tool in acquiring information. One of the most recent trends in cyberspace is broadcasting audio and video clips. Thus, certain websites like myspace.com, where unsigned bands promote their music, and youtube.com, where people all over the world publicize homemade videos, have become familiar names for many.As media streaming via the Internet becomes more and more popular, cellular phones have also become more powerful and wireless connections increase by the minute. There emerges a need to bring together the available technologies to make life better and fulfill the promise of development. The study entitled “Adaptive RTP-Compatible Audio Streaming for Handheld Clients (ARCASH)” makes an audio streaming application based on cellular technology interoperate with Real-Time Transport Protocol (RTP), the standard in real-time audio streaming on the wired level.“Interoperability is the keyword,” says Ms. Joyce Avestro, the author of the study. She stresses that interoperability is an important issue to consider especially when sharing data from different implementations. Interoperability, by definition, is the ability of software and hardware on different machines from different vendors to share electronic files. The whole scheme of ARCASH can be seen in the figure below.The Avestro experiment has discovered that a wireless client can still successfully receive and play audio clips such as music, interviews and dialogues sent by the RTP server. There is no significant difference in audio quality among the wireless and the wired connections.Ms. Joyce Avestro is currently an Instructor of the Department of Computer Science in UP Diliman. She is a Sun Certified Java Programmer and her research interests include database systems, wireless technologies and mobile computing, information systems and software engineering, and computer systems and networking.
If you wish to know more about Ms. Avestro’s innovation, you may contact her at joyce@up.edu.ph

Planetary science: Martian plains as old as the hills

A series of buried impact craters has been discovered in the northern hemisphere of Mars, supporting the notion that this area of crust is a lot older than initially thought. The craters, detected by the MARSIS radar instrument aboard the European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft, are analysed by Thomas Watters and colleagues in this week's Nature.The martian crust is characterized by a topographic difference between the northern and southern hemispheres. The northern hemisphere is mainly lowland and sparsely cratered, whereas the southern hemisphere consists of heavily cratered ancient highlands. This hemispheric dichotomy remains one of the most intriguing features on Mars, and determining the age of the crust in the northern plains is a key factor in understanding the origin of the dichotomy and the evolution of the planet's interior. Various theories have been proposed as to why the northern crust appears so different from the southern highlands, including giant impacts and plate tectonics having operated on Mars, but only in the north.The authors have imaged 14 per cent of the northern lowlands, and their radar measurements reveal 11 buried impact basins ranging in diameter from about 130 to 470 kilometres. The basins show the same profile as other well known impact craters; parabolic shaped echoes reveal features such as rim walls, the peak ring and basin floor. The number of detected buried basins larger than 200 kilometres in diameter and the corresponding crater density of the regions studied suggest that the lowland crust is probably ancient - some 4,000 million years old - and therefore close in age to the highland crust, supporting estimates made from topographic data. The authors conclude that the crustal dichotomy formed during the early geological evolution of Mars.CONTACTThomas R. Watters (National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA) Tel: +1 202 633 2483; Email: watterst@si.edu

Genetics: Mutation prevents pain

A mutation in one key gene can rob people of their ability to experience pain, a study in this week’s Nature suggests. It’s thought the discovery could lead to the development of whole-body analgesics that do not cause side effects. Although they are rare, people with the inability to feel pain do exist. Their peripheral and central nervous systems are apparently normal, and they usually enjoy good health aside from the risk of accidents and undetected illnesses. But the cause of this remarkable condition has been an enigma.C Geoffrey Woods and colleagues studied individuals from three related families from Northern Pakistan who had never experienced pain. Each carried a mutation in the SCN9A gene, which encodes a protein called a voltage-gated sodium channel. The protein is commonly found on pain-responsive neurons, and tissue culture studies reveal that the mutations stop the channel from functioning. This in turn seems to prevent the individuals from experiencing pain. Pain is an essential sense that has evolved in all complex organisms to minimize tissue and cellular damage, and hence prolong life. The first person with pain-insensitivity that Woods’ team investigated for the present study was a boy who was well known to the medical service because he regularly performed ‘street theatre’. He could place knives through his arms and walk on burning coals, without experiencing any pain. He died on his fourteenth birthday, after jumping off a house roof. Woods and his team studied six related members from the boy’s clan.
CONTACTC Geoffrey Woods (University of Cambridge, UK)Tel: +44 1223 767 811; E-mail: cw347@cam.ac.uk Stephen G. Waxman (Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA) N&V authorTel: +1 203 785 6351; E-mail: stephen.waxman@yale.edu

Immunology: Key influenza virus molecule visualised

Researchers have visualised the structure of the influenza A virus nucleoprotein, a compound that plays an essential role binding viral nucleic acid and protein during virus infection.

Influenza A viruses, which include the avian H5N1 subtype, pose a threat to public health around the globe. The structure of the viral nucleoprotein has proved a tough nut to crack, but in this week’s Nature, Yizhi Jane Tao and colleagues do just that.

The molecule contains connected head and body regions with a groove in between where the viral RNA sits. Now that scientists can ‘see’ the contacts made by this protein with other parts of the virus particle, they may be more effectively able to develop antiviral therapeutics for influenza.

CONTACT

Yizhi Jane Tao (Rice University, Houston, TX, USA)
Tel: +1 713 348 4910; E-mail: ytao@rice.edu

Cancer: Protein blocks brain tumour growth
A protein that blocks the growth of aggressive human brain tumours in a mouse model has been identified. It’s hoped the research will yield new treatments for glioblastomas, one of the most frequent and lethal of brain tumours, for which there is currently no cure.

It’s thought that glioblastomas are maintained by so-called cancer stem cells - a small population of tumour cells that can generate copies of themselves and of all the other cell types that make up a tumour. In this week’s Nature, Angelo L. Vescovi and colleagues now show that when mice, injected with human glioblastoma cells enriched for such cancer stem cells, are treated with a protein called bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4), tumour growth is reduced.

The protein activates BMP receptors, which are also involved in normal development. But rather than killing the cancer stem cells, it seems that BMP4 pushes them to differentiate into benign, non-cancerous cells.

CONTACT

Angelo L. Vescovi (University of Milan Bicocca, Italy)
Tel: +39 02 6448 3351; E-mail: vescovi@tin.it

Peter B. Dirks (The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada)
Tel: +1 416 813 6426; E-mail: peter.dirks@sickkids.ca

New evidence in Libya death penalty case
New molecular evidence, published online by Nature this week, sheds significant doubt on the charges against six medical workers facing the death penalty in Libya. They are charged with deliberately contaminating more than 400 children with HIV in 1998.
An international team has used the genetic sequences of the viruses isolated from the patients to reconstruct the exact history, or "family tree" of the outbreak. Analysing mutations that accumulate over time has allowed the researchers to work out when different events occurred. The Brief Communication shows that the subtype of HIV involved began infecting patients well before the medical workers arrived in Libya in 1998.The trial of the six ended in Tripoli on 4 November, and a verdict is expected on 19 December. A body of scientific evidence already indicates that the outbreak was caused not by deliberate transmission, but by poor hospital hygiene. These results, by Oliver G. Pybus and colleagues, provide the first independent molecular confirmation.An accompanying news article from Nature discusses the case and how important this new evidence could be. Phylogenetic HIV analyses have been used in court cases worldwide involving allegations of accidental or deliberate HIV infection. Thomas Leitner of Los Alamos National Laboratory has provided forensic HIV evidence in more than 30 such cases over the past 15 years. He describes the Nature paper as "compelling evidence that the outbreak had started before the accused could have started it."
CONTACT Oliver G. Pybus (Oxford University, UK)Tel: +44 1865 271 274; E-mail: oliver.pybus@zoo.ox.ac.uk Vittorio Colizzi (University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Italy)Tel: +39 34 7831 2155; E-mail: colizzi@uniroma2.it

Red mushroom a cure for ailments
Chennai, Dec 6 Red mushroom, the ancient Chinesesecret of health and longevity, is emerging as an elixir oflife for many in India suffering from various ailments,
including cancer, claim doctors in Tamil Nadu and Kerala."It is not disease-specific or organ-specific. It is a
dietary supplement which corrects the disorders of the bodymainly by enhancing immunity and rebuilding lost or damagedcells", says Dr S Ranjan, a leading cardiologist here.Dr N K Venugopal, a medical practitioner at Muvattupuzhain Kerala's Ernakulam district, says he has been prescribingproducts made out of ganoderma for over six years and claimedto have found total cure in about 1,000 patients sufferingfrom various ailments."The regular intake of ganoderma along with medicationhas proven that cancer can be cured in early stages," he says,adding, the polysaccharide fractions in ganoderma are mainlyresponsible in developing immunity against tumours.Prof K K Janardhanan of the Department of Microbiology,Amala Cancer Research Institute, Thrissur, says he wasimpressed by anti-cancer properties of ganoderma duringvarious studies."Our investigations have shown that methanolic extractof ganoderma lucidium, the variety commonly found in SouthIndia, possesses significant anti-tumour and anti-oxidantactivities," he says.
"When mice were administered a dose of 500mg of ganodermaper kg of body weight after implanting a tumour, it was foundthat the tumour load was reduced by 97.7 per cent within 10days," he says.Venugopal says he has noticed that even in patients intheir final stages of cancer, ganodema increaseslife-expectancy, reduces pain substantially, improved qualityof life and reduces the side-effects of chemotherapy andradiation.Dr Ranjan also says it was the anti-cancer effect ofganoderma on a person with myelomonocytic leukemia thatexposed him to the virtues of the mushroom."A friend of mine was having blood cancer in its finalstages in 1999 when he started having ganoderma products.Within days, he showed signs of remission. He had a morecomfortable living for four more years", he says.The effect of mushroom was found to be cent percent in
diabetics, psoriasis, liver and cardiovascular disorders, DrVenugopal says.Prof M T Joseph of Thodupuzha in Kerala's Idukkidistrict, says he was suffering from acute psoriasis eightyears back. "Different systems of treatment, includingallopathy, ayurveda and homeopathy, could not bringany relief.Then, I came across ganoderma through a friend who wascured of acute diabetics. After consulting a few experts, Istarted having ganoderma and, to my surprise, within a fewmonths I was fully recovered", he says."Another remarkable thing I found was that many othersmaller problems like ulcer in the stomach and bleeding of thegum also were cured."Apart from building up immunity of the body, themushroom also has anti-ageing properties, he claimed.
Various products of ganoderma are being consumed bypeople in around 60 countries, says Dr Vengugopal adding thethese have been certified by United States Food and DrugAuthority and approved by Japan in anti-cancer care.While Indonesia has an approved diploma course inganotherapy, various species of ganoderma have been includedin Chinese pharmocoepia.In China, mushrooms were in use for over 4,000 years forphysicial and mental well being. Known as 'Ling zhi' in localparlance, it was an expensive tonic mostly reserved foremperors and the rich.The medicinal properties of various varieties of redmushroom, especially those found in India, have specialreference in the ancient Ayurvedic texts, adds Dr Venugopal.Agricultural research centres in India, includingNational Research Centre for Mushrooms, in Solan, HimachalPradesh, and Kerala Agricultural University have successfullygrown some species of ganoderma.As much as 6,000 tonnes of ganoderma extracts areproduced yearly across the globe, with China, Japan and thetwo Koreas being the main producers. The total trade touchesUSD four billion, he says.Dr Ranjan says researchers worldwide are trying toisolate molecules to be used in the allopathic systemof medicine. "Though some reaearchers have developed GanomycinA and B, the clinical tests are still not complete", he says.Dr Venugopal wants the Central government to give moreemphasis on research in the field and make the productslocally available at cheaper rates.

Key to relapsing multiple sclerosis
Insights into the pathology of relapsing multiple sclerosis are provided in a study in the January issue of Nature Immunology. This research shows that the molecule osteopontin, an inflammatory mediator, extends the lifetime of auto-aggressive immune cells and thus contributes to disease progression.Larry Steinman and colleagues studied mice lacking osteopontin, in an animal model of relapsing multiple sclerosis, which develop a less severe form of the disease. Auto-aggressive immune cells were less likely to survive in the brains of osteopontin-deficient mice compared to their normal littermates; an observation that correlated with disease remission. In contrast, mice given osteopontin developed severe disease, ultimately leading to their death.Using this information the authors were also able to show that osteopontin increased the lifespan of auto-aggressive immune cells grown in the lab, altering the expression of several genes that regulate cell survival and division. These findings suggest treatments targeting osteopontin might benefit multiple sclerosis patients.
Author contact:Lawrence Steinman (Stanford University, CA, USA)Tel: +1 650 725 6401; E-mail: steinman@stanford.edu

Fast 3D imaging of brain cell networks
A method of fast scanning microscopy that allows in vivo imaging of signalling in neuronal and glial cell networks is reported in the January issue of Nature Methods. This opens the way to studies of the complex cellular networks involved in information processing in the brain.Processing of information in the brain involves complex patterns of communication between neural cells within large interconnected groups. Recent research has also highlighted the possible importance of brain support cells, or glia, in regulating this process. Technological limitations, however, have previously made the study of these complex interconnected signalling networks difficult.Fritjof Helmchen and colleagues describe a method of fast three-dimensional scanning fluorescence microscopy that detects signals from cells in the entire scanned volume over a very short period of time. They were able to achieve such fast scanning by vibrating the microscope lens up and down very quickly while scanning the illumination beam back and forth in a defined pattern at the same time. The authors verified the performance of the method by imaging calcium signals in neuronal and glial cell networks in the brain of anaesthetized rats.
Author contact:Fritjof Helmchen (University of Zurich, Switzerland)Tel: +41 44 635 33 40; E-mail: Helmchen@hifo.unizh.ch