Tag Archives: Mexico

Detecting Cancer with Lasers Has Limited Use, Say Mu Researchers

By Guest PostAugust 1, 2012Healthamerican cancer society, cancerous cells, carbon nanotube, cellular tissue, enhancers, gerardo gutierrez juarez, gold, luis polo parada, malaria, markers, melanoma skin cancer, Mexico, nanoparticle, photoacoustics, pigmentation, united states, university of guanajuato, university of missouri, xrays

COLUMBIA, Mo. — One person dies every hour from melanoma skin cancer in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society. A technique known as photoacoustics can find some forms of melanoma even if only a few cancerous cells exist, but a recent study by University of Missouri researchers found that the technique was limited in its ability to identify other types of cancer. Attaching markers, called enhancers, to cancer cells could improve the ability of photoacoustics to find other types of cancer and could save lives thanks to faster diagnoses, but the technique is in its early stages.

“Eventually, a photoacoustic scan could become a routine part of a medical exam,” said Luis Polo-Parada, assistant professor of pharmacology and physiology and resident investigator at the MU Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center. “The technique doesn’t use X-rays like current methods of looking for cancer. It could also allow for much earlier detection of cancer. Now, a cancerous growth is undetectable until it reaches approximately one cubic centimeter in size. Photoacoustics could potentially find cancerous growths of only a few cells. Unfortunately, our research shows that, besides some cases of melanoma, the diagnostic use of photoacoustics still has major limitations. To overcome this problem, the use of photoacoustic enhancers like gold, carbon nanotubes or dyed nanoparticles is needed.” (more…)

First Satellite Tag Study for Manta Rays Reveals Habits And Hidden Journeys of Ocean Giants

By Guest PostMay 15, 2012Naturebaleen whales, brenden j godley, caribbean sharks, chinese medicinal trade, dan w castellanos, devilfish, ecological needs, fish eggs, francisco remolina, gill rakers, government of mexico, howard rosenbaum, iucn, lucy a hawkes, manta ray, matthew witt, Mexico, mysterious ocean giant, mythic fish, plankton, rachel graham, sara maxwell, satellite telemetry, satellite tracking technology, university of exeter, whale sharks, Wildlife Conservation Society, yucatan peninsula, zooplankton

Using the latest satellite tracking technology, conservationists from the Wildlife Conservation Society, the University of Exeter and the Government of Mexico have completed a ground-breaking study on a mysterious ocean giant: the manta ray.

The research team has produced the first published study on the use of satellite telemetry to track the open-ocean journeys of the world’s largest ray, which can grow up to 25 feet in width.

Researchers say the manta ray—listed as ‘Vulnerable’ by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)—has become increasingly threatened by fishing and accidental capture and now needs more protection. (more…)

Homeland Security Chief Speaks About Challenges Facing U.S., Global Cooperation

By Guest PostApril 18, 2012Politicsagency, canada, central american border, costa rica, criminal law, cyber criminal, deportation, dream act, drug, education, globalized world, guatemala, homeland security, honduras, human smuggling, immigration reform, intellectual property, janet napolitano, korn hall, Mexico, panama, secretary, ucla, united states

The United States is stronger and more secure than it was prior to 9/11, but threats from overseas remain and must be proactively managed, said Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, who visited campus April 16 for a public talk sponsored by the UCLA Burkle Center for International Relations.

In a globalized world, international cooperation is the key to identifying those who intend to do harm, she said, adding that threats to the global supply chain, the activities of drug and human smuggling organizations, and the prevalence of cyber-criminals who attempt to steal information and intellectual property and disrupt critical networks are among the major challenges facing the Department of Homeland Security. (more…)

Milkweed Loss Hurts Monarchs

By Guest PostMarch 21, 2012Environment, Natureagricultural field, glyphosate herbicides, herbicide, john pleasants, karen oberhauser, Mexico, midwestern farm, milkweed, minnesota, monarch butterfly, monarchs, plant, university of minnesota, wildlife

*Loss of milkweed in Midwestern farm fields harms butterflies, a study shows*

If you’re a gardener, milkweed may not be at the top of your list.

But if you love Minnesota’s state insect—the monarch butterfly—maybe it should be.

Monarchs lay their eggs on milkweed, but the plant is disappearing from what used to be a prime reservoir: Midwestern farm fields. A new study by University of Minnesota monarch expert Karen Oberhauser and her Iowa State colleague John Pleasants ties a decade-long decline in monarch populations to the loss of milkweed from the corn and soybean fields that blanket the region. (more…)

Ancient Popcorn Discovered in Peru

By Guest PostJanuary 26, 2012Scienceacademia nacional de la historia, andean region, ceramic pottery, coast of peru, corn microfossils, corncobs, dolores piperno, duccio bonavia, grains, huaca prieta, human welfare, husks, kernels, maize, male flowers, Mexico, panama, panama city, paredones, phytoliths, popcorn, smithsonian tropical research institute, south america, stalks, tassels, teosinte, tom dillehay, tropical ecosystem, tropical forests, tropical nature, vanderbilt university, wild grass

People living along the coast of Peru were eating popcorn 2,000 years earlier than previously reported and before ceramic pottery was used there, according to a new paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences co-authored by Dolores Piperno, curator of New World archaeology at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and emeritus staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.

Some of the oldest known corncobs, husks, stalks and tassels (male flowers), dating from 6,700 to 3,000 years ago were found at Paredones and Huaca Prieta, two mound sites on Peru’s arid northern coast. The research group, led by Tom Dillehay from Vanderbilt University and Duccio Bonavia from Peru’s Academia Nacional de la Historia, also found corn microfossils: starch grains and phytoliths. Characteristics of the cobs—the earliest ever discovered in South America—indicate that the sites’ ancient inhabitants ate corn several ways, including popcorn and flour corn. However, corn was still not an important part of their diet. (more…)

Scientists Prepare to Take First-Ever Picture of a Black Hole

By Guest PostJanuary 16, 2012Scienceabyss of space, albert einstein, alma, arizona, astrophysicists, atacama large millimeter array, atmosphere, black hole, black void, center of milky way, Chile, cosmic traffic jam, dan marrone, daniel stolte, dimitrios psaltis, earth, einstein, event horizon, event horizon telescope, extreme environment, field of gravity, game changer, general relativity, global array, hawaii, haystack observatory, maelstroms, mass, massachusetts institute of technology, mauna kea, mercury, Mexico, MIT, mt graham, nothingness, optical telescopes, plasma, radio telescopes, radio waves, shadow, sheperd doeleman, south pole, space and time, steward observatory, sun, supermassive black hole, theory of general relativity, tucson, ultra precise timing, universe, university of arizona, virtual telescope, water vapor, wavelengths

*The Event Horizon Telescope is an Earth-sized virtual telescope powerful enough to see all the way to the center of our Milky Way, where a supermassive black hole will allow astrophysicists to put Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity to the test.*

Astronomers, physicists and scientists from related fields across the world will convene in Tucson, Ariz. on Jan. 18 to discuss an endeavor that only a few years ago would have been regarded as nothing less than outrageous.

The conference is organized by Dimitrios Psaltis, an associate professor of astrophysics at the University of Arizona’s Steward Observatory, and Dan Marrone, an assistant professor of astronomy at Steward Observatory. (more…)

Some Earthquakes Expected Along Rio Grande Rift in Colorado And New Mexico, New Study Says

By Guest PostJanuary 15, 2012Environmentactive, anne sheehan, anthony lowry, colorado plateau, earth, earthquake hazards, earthquakes, fault bounded basins, fort collins, frederick blume, garden city, geologically alive, geologists, global positioning system, gps, magnitude, mark murray, Mexico, molten rock, nanostrain, new mexico tech, rates of deformation, rio grande rift, rise of magma, spreading motion, steven nerem, surface coloradom rocky mountains, unavco, university of colorado boulder, university of new mexico, western great plains

The Rio Grande Rift, a thinning and stretching of Earth’s surface that extends from Colorado’s central Rocky Mountains to Mexico, is not dead but geologically alive and active, according to a new study involving scientists from the University of Colorado Boulder’s Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences.

“We don’t expect to see a lot of earthquakes, or big ones, but we will have some earthquakes,” said CU-Boulder geological sciences Professor Anne Sheehan, also a fellow at CIRES. The study also involved collaborators from the University of New Mexico, New Mexico Tech, Utah State University and the Boulder-headquartered UNAVCO. The Rio Grande Rift follows the path of the Rio Grande River from central Colorado roughly to El Paso before turning southeast toward the Gulf of Mexico. (more…)

Online Banking Approaches 3 Million Visitors in Mexico

By Guest PostAugust 2, 2011Technologybancomer, banking websites, citigroup, composition index, Comscore, grupo bbva, hsbc, iván marchant, Mexico, online banking market in mexico, online users

*Grupo BBVA and Citigroup Rank as Most-Visited Online Banking Destinations*

Mexico City, Mexico, August 2, 2011 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released the latest results from a study on the online banking market in Mexico. The study found that nearly 3 million online users in the country visited banking websites during June 2011, reaching nearly 15 percent of the entire online population age 15 and older. Grupo BBVA (which includes Bancomer.com.mx) led as the most-visited online banking property with 810,000 visitors, followed closely by Citigroup with 776,000 visitors. The study also found that although Mexico’s online audience skews largely younger, online bankers are predominately older in age with visitors age 55 and older being the most overrepresented banking audience segment. (more…)