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San Diego, CA (October 26, 2009) – While there is little doubt concerning the effectiveness of colonoscopy procedures to detect colon cancer, a new study presented at the American College of Gastroenterology's 74th Annual Scientific Meeting in San Diego places new emphasis on the importance of adequate bowel preparation prior to procedure. The findings come at a time when clinicians are evaluating new bowel preparation solutions to replace the popular over the counter phosphosoda formulations recently withdrawn from the market.

DETROIT – A Henry Ford Hospital study questions the need for aggressive screening for colonic polyps in patients with diverticulosis.

The study sought to determine if asymptomatic patients with diverticular disease are at higher or lower risk for developing colonic polyps, abnormal growths found in the wall of the colon that sometimes become cancerous.

The remarkable eyes of a marine crustacean could inspire the next generation of DVD and CD players, according to a new study from the University of Bristol published today in Nature Photonics.

The mantis shrimps in the study are found on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and have the most complex vision systems known to science. They can see in twelve colours (humans see in only three) and can distinguish between different forms of polarized light.

Tropical Storm Neki continues moving north and over the weekend it will be in open waters in the Central Atlantic. NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite passed over Neki early on October 23 and noticed some intense areas of rainfall, even though it is not a hurricane anymore.

On Friday afternoon, October 23, a Tropical Storm warning was still effect for The Papahanaumokuakea National Monument from Nihoa Island to French Frigate Shoals to Maro Reef.

As Saturn's rings orbit the planet, a section is typically in the planet's shadow, experiencing a brief night lasting from 6 to 14 hours. However, once approximately every 15 years, night falls over the entire visible ring system for about four days.

Typhoon Lupit is giving residents of Luzon a break from facing the storm head on. The Luzon region of the Philippines still experienced rain and gusty winds, but the storm didn't and won't make landfall there.

Lupit, called "Ramil" in the Philippines, turned north on Friday, October 23, and is forecast to move northeast, while staying at sea and tracking to the east of Taiwan over the weekend. While on its northern track, cooler waters and wind shear will continue weakening the storm.

Duodenal biopsy remains the gold standard for celiac disease (CD) diagnosis. However, it has several pitfalls and requires an invasive procedure in children. In the past few years, a more prominent role for a definitive diagnosis based solely on serology has been proposed. The predictive value of high levels of anti-tissue transglutaminase (tTG) antibodies has also been reported in retrospective CD cohorts. Based on these studies, some authors have proposed to start a gluten-free diet (GFD) for those patients with high tTG antibody levels, without duodenal biopsy.

PHILADELPHIA – October 22, 2009 – Shire plc (LSE: SHP, NASDAQ: SHPGY), the global specialty biopharmaceutical company, announced new data about the pharmacokinetics of its Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) medication, Vyvanse® (lisdexamfetamine dimesylate) Capsules CII, which showed that Vyvanse provided similar concentrations of its active medication in the blood when administered either intranasally or when administered orally.

NASA's Aqua satellite captured Rick's remnant clouds and showers as they charged through Texas and fed moisture into a low pressure system that is migrating across the U.S. By mid-day on October 22, Rick's remnant moisture had folded into a low pressure area centered over Missouri.

A hurricane warning is in force for the Papahanaumokuakea National Monument from Nihoa Island to French Frigate Shoals to Maro Reef. Hurricane conditions likely there by 5 a.m. HST on Friday, October 23.

The Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument is the single largest conservation area under the U.S. flag, and one of the largest marine conservation areas in the world. It encompasses 139,797 square miles of the Pacific Ocean (105,564 square nautical miles) - an area larger than all the country's national parks combined.

The most distant galaxy cluster yet has been discovered by combining data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and optical and infrared telescopes. The cluster is located about 10.2 billion light years away, and is observed as it was when the Universe was only about a quarter of its present age.

Astronomy & Astrophysics is publishing a special issue this week dedicated to the early results of the CoRoT space mission [1]. The CoRoT (Convection, Rotation & planetary Transits) satellite is a 30 centimeter space telescope, launched on 27 December 2006 from Baikonour. Since then, CoRoT has been orbiting at about 900 km from the Earth, monitoring the changes in brightness of a huge amount of stars with unprecedented accuracy. This aims at both detecting exoplanets by the transit method and studying seismology of a wide variety of stars.

Researchers at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) released a new study on the installed costs of solar photovoltaic (PV) power systems in the U.S., showing that the average cost of these systems declined by more than 30 percent from 1998 to 2008. Within the last year of this period, costs fell by more than 4 percent.

NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission, or TRMM satellite has been flying over Tropical Storm Neki in the Central Pacific Ocean and providing scientists with an idea of how much rainfall Johnston Island can expect from it.

A Hurricane Watch is already in effect for Johnston Island. That means hurricane conditions are possible within the next 48 hours. A Hurricane Warning may be issued later today, meaning hurricane conditions are happening.

Typhoon Lupit is closing in on northern Luzon, the Philippines, and is expected to make a brief landfall (of about 24 hours) there October 22 before heading into the South China Sea.

Forecasters at the U.S. Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center noted "As the system moves away from the cooler dry air into a warmer pool of water, it is expected to intensify slightly before making landfall into Luzon." Landfall for the storm's eye is forecast around 8 p.m. local (Asia/Manila) time on October 22, which would be around 8 a.m. EDT.