Heavens

Some stars are lonely behemoths, with no surrounding planets or asteroids, while others sport a skirt of attendant planetary bodies. New research published this week in The Astrophysical Journal Letters explains why the composition of the stars often indicates whether their light shines into deep space, or whether a small fraction shines onto orbiting planets. When a star forms, collapsing from a dense cloud into a luminous ball, it and the disk of dust and gas orbiting it reflect the composition of that original cloud and the elements within it.

Radio frequency identification (RFID) systems are widely used for applications that include inventory management, package tracking, toll collection, passport identification and airport luggage security. More recently, these systems have found their way into medical environments to track patients, equipment assets and staff members.

However, there is currently no published standardized, repeatable methodology by which manufacturers of RFID equipment or medical devices can assess potential issues with electromagnetic interference and evaluate means to mitigate them.

Sinuous, meandering streams produce diverse and wildlife-rich habitats and are the aim of many river restoration efforts, but until now, the bank, water flow and sediment conditions required to form and maintain meanders have been largely a matter of speculation.

No one has been able to experimentally create self-sustaining meanders in the lab, and numerous restored meanders have straightened out or turned into multi-channel "braided" rivers after the first flood.

NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites flew over Super Typhoon Melor early today, October 5 and captured some impressive images of the storm's clouds on a track toward Japan. The Western Pacific Ocean has the edge on super typhoons, and Melor's maximum sustained winds near 161 mph are more proof.

The latest tropical storm in the Atlantic Ocean may have escaped the notice of most when it formed just before midnight last night so far north and east in the Atlantic, away from where forecasters usually look for forming storms. However, NASA's Aqua satellite and forecasters in the Azores Islands, Portugal and Ireland are watching it closely.

Two instruments on NASA's Aqua satellite captured views of Tropical Storm Parma early today, October 5, while it was almost stationary in the Luzon Strait and it appears that it will sit there for several days.

In the early morning hours (EDT) today, October 5, the Moderate Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on NASA's Aqua satellite captured an image of Typhoon Parma in the Luzon Strait and heading into the South China Sea. Taiwan is located north of the Luzon Strait, and the Philippines are located to its south.

Tropical Storm Olaf wasn't given much of a chance when he was born, and he never did make it to hurricane strength before fizzling out late Saturday night. NASA's Aqua satellite captured infrared imagery that clearly showed Olaf's clouds stretched eastward out over mainland Mexico, away from its center of circulation near Baja California.

At 11 p.m. EDT on Saturday, October 3, the National Hurricane Center issued its last advisory on Olaf. By that time, he was just classified as a remnant low pressure area.

Saranac Lake, NY – A new study from the Trudeau Institute in Saranac Lake, New York, demonstrates that immune system cells important for both pathogen resistance and vaccine efficacy live longer in older animals but because of this longevity acquire functional defects. The work may provide new targets for boosting immune system function in older individuals.

PITTSBURGH, Oct. 5 – Data from the largest single-center experience of adult and pediatric intestinal and multivisceral transplantation show that survival rates have improved with the advent of innovative surgical techniques, novel immunosuppressive protocols and better post-operative management, said researchers at the Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute in a study published in the October issue of Annals of Surgery.

San Diego, CA – Patients who suffer from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) also tend to have additional gastrointestinal (GI) tract conditions, such as gastric reflux and hiatal hernia, which form at the opening in your diaphragm where your food pipe (esophagus) joins your stomach.

San Diego, CA – Hoarseness, a common and widespread vocal health issue, is the chief complaint of patients in an inner city pediatric voice clinic.

In a paper presented at the 2009 American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF) Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO in San Diego, researchers evaluated a database of voice patients from August 2003 to June 2008 in a tertiary care children's hospital voice clinic. Data were reviewed for demographics, medical history, voice analysis, treatment, and prevalence of vocal pathologies.

San Diego, CA – Patients who suffer from chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) also tend to suffer from other chronic illnesses, like asthma, hypertension, and arthritis.

The devastation of the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic is well known, but a new article suggests a surprising factor in the high death toll: the misuse of aspirin. Appearing in the November 1 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases and available online now, the article sounds a cautionary note as present day concerns about the novel H1N1 virus run high.

Typhoon Parma is a huge storm and NASA's TRMM satellite sees it is already bringing more unwanted rains and gusty winds to the typhoon-weary and devastated Philippines. Parma, also called "Pepeng" in the Philippines, will bring heavy rains there today and tomorrow before moving back to sea.

Quite a few distant galaxies turn out to be cosmic delivery rooms. Large numbers of massive stars are born in the hearts of these starburst galaxies, and later explode as supernovae. In the remnants they leave behind, particles are accelerated to very high energies. Astrophysicists have now used the H.E.S.S. telescopes to make detailed measurements of the gamma rays from the NGC 253 galaxy. As predicted, these high-energy rays originate from the region of maximum supernova activity close to the centre. (Science Express, September 2009)