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The article discusses research on the relationship between Kinesin-Associated Protein 3 polymorphisms and the rate of survival among patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). It references the study "Reduced Expression of the Kinesin-Associated Protein 3 (KIFAP3) Gene Increases Survival in Sporadic Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis," by John E. Landers et al, published in the 2009 issue of the periodical "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in the United States of America." The study involved patients from the U.S. and Europe.

The article reports that a massive 170 billion m3 of natural gas were burned worldwide in waste flares from oil fields in 2006. The practice is environmentally damaging in addition to being economically wasteful because it produces nearly 400 million tons of CO2 per year. This amount is 13% of the 2012 target for greenhouse gas emission reduction that has been set by the Kyoto Protocol. This global survey of gas flaring was commissioned by World Bank's global gas flaring reduction partnership and was carried out by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The article discusses the issue on the disposal of analog television units around the world. Television signals for the analog system will be cut-off over the next 5 years which raises a concern that the move will cause mass disposal of the obsolete system. However, in the U.S., the Department of Commerce is establishing a platform to promote their citizens to buy converter boxes for cable or satellite subscription so they can still utilize their analog units. Furthermore, the European Commission's Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive has enforced an order to recycle television parts including cathode ray tubes (CRTs), plastic housing, and electronic circuits.

The article reports on a potentially large undersea deposit of frozen methane at the summit of a mud volcano on the northern slope of Santa Monica Basin in California based on a routine core sample. The area lies on an active fault zone and the methane hydrate is buried just under the surface. Geologist James Hein concluded that the aragonite shells, of two bivalve species recovered from the sample, used carbon derived from anaerobically oxidized methane to construct their shells. He said that the hydrate deposit is alarming on an environmental viewpoint because methane and hydrogen sulfide are venting at the seafloor above the hydrate and any change of status of the deposit could destabilize the ocean floor and generate a tsunami or could raise atmospheric temperatures.

The article reports that a new type of satellite has been launched to help study the environment and assist in dealing with natural disasters. Satellite Monitor-E will image the Earth's surface in resolutions ranging from 25 feet in 56 mile-wide swathes to over 65 feet when the width of the image approached 100 miles. The data generated will be used in mapping, resource studies, emergency management, and monitoring agricultural crops and environmental damage. The U.S. National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, which analyzes satellite images for the espionage community and combat troops, has provided scores of images of hard-hit areas before and after Hurricane Katrina. Future satellites will be able to record measurements at finer levels of geographic detail and across portions of the electromagnetic spectrum that will provide us new ways to look at the land, ocean, and atmosphere.

Reports on the controversy surrounding the U.S. naval ships which sailed in the Atlantic toward shipbreaking yards in Great Britain as of November 2003. Toxic substances and pollutants that might be carried by the ships; Number of naval ships that crossed the Atlantic; Comment from Earthjustice lawyer Martin Wagner; Remark from Marietta Harjano.

Reports that gene therapy with neprilysin, an enzyme that naturally degrades Β amyloid in the brain, has shown promising results in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. Injection of a vector expressing human neprilysin directly into the cerebrum of mice with induced amyloidosis, which caused shrinkage of amyloid deposits; Use of gene therapy to reduce Β amyloid successfully.

Reports on the increasing susceptibility to prostate cancer in patients who have the atherosclerosis gene. Implications of the macrophage scavenger receptor 1 gene; Stimulation of macrophages to clear the cellular debris after bacterial infections; Hereditary significance; Identifications of mutations by U.S. scientist William Isaacs.

Focuses on the loss of sight in the aging population, according to the report, 'Vision Problems in the US.' Details of the study by Friedman et al at Johns Hopkins University's Wilmer Eye Institute in Baltimore, Maryland; Indication that the four main causes of eyesight loss are diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, cataract, and glaucoma; Mention of vision loss and research in Great Britain.

Reports on research which indicates that mice of normal weight who were given an intermediate dose of C75, an inhibitor of fatty acid synthase, regain their normal eating patterns after only a day, whereas obese mice continue to eat less and lose weight. Details of research by Daniel Lane et al of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland; How the researchers studied dietary-induced obesity in mice.

Reports the finding of two G-protein coupled receptors, LGR7 and LGR8, that mediate the action of the reproductive hormone, relaxin, through a cAMP dependent pathway. Details of the research by Aaron Hsueh et al of Stanford University School of Medicine in California; Role of relaxin in preparing the endometrium for blastocyst invasion and in wound healing.

Reports that researchers in the United States have discovered a class of wildtype HIV-1 that has the potential to become resistant to zidovudine. Identification of a group of viruses while screening for mutations associated with drug-resistance in a number of treatment-naive patients who had been diagnosed with HIV-1; How the mutations increase the ability of the virus to give rise to a zidovudine-resistant strain.

Focuses on a study that indicates patients with implanted cardiac devices need careful attention if they develop a systemic bacterial infection. Details of the research of cases of Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia in patients with implanted devices at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina; Comment of lead author Anna Lisa Chamis about the incidence of 'silent' device involvement.

Focuses on the development of an HIV-based viral vector EboZ, that carries envelope proteins from the Zaire strain of Ebola virus. Role of James Wilson, who is the director of the Institute of Gene Therapy at the University of Pennsylvania, and is connected to the death of Jesse Gelsinger; Purpose of the vector for the treatment of cystic fibrosis; Success of the treatment in causing the transduction of tracheal epithelial cells; Warnings regarding the safety of the treatment.

Reports research revealing the genetic susceptibility of the adult population to diabetes. Identification of the cysteine protease, calpain-10, a gene associated with type-2 diabetes; Details of the use of positional cloning by Yukio Horikawa et al at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the University of Chicago in Illinois; Implications for the identification of calpain-10 as a pathway in glucose metabolism.

Discusses tumor-necrosis-factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL), a possible anticancer drug developed by Genetech and Immunex. Indication that the compound can cause liver damage as found in a study published in `Nature Medicine'; Safety profile of TRAIL; Details of the study by Stephen Strom and colleagues at the University of Pittsburg in Pennsylvania; Implications of Strom's findings.

Focuses on a study revealing that the outcome for people with diabetes and multivessel coronary-artery disease is better after myocardial infarction. Advantage they have if they have previously undergone coronary-artery bypass grafting (CABG) rather than percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA); Details of the research of Katherine Detre and colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania; Speculation on the difference in mortality; Assertion that CABG should be the treatment of choice.

Reports on the findings of Craig Venter and his team at The Institute for Genomic Research in Rockville, Maryland that they might be able to create a species of bacterium from its building blocks. Results of the study; Ethical issues brought up by the findings; Prediction that genome-sequencing information from different organisms will resolve many issues; Speculation of a nucleic acid which preceded RNA and DNA.

Reports on studies by Francois Jean et al of Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland. Indication that a protein designed to block a host-cell protein that many viruses use to process their envelope glycoproteins might limit the replication of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV); Details of the research on furin-blocking protein alpha1-PDX.

Reports on the deterioration seen in the rates of detecting and controlling hypertension in the United States during the 1990s. Details of a study conducted; How hypertension can lead to coronary heart disease and stroke; Improvements seen in Great Britain in terms of hypertension detection and treatment.

States that Ronald Turner of Medical University of South Carolina has conducted experiments showing that tremacamra might be an antiviral treatment for the common cold. Definition of tremacamra; Procedure of experiments; Results.

Focuses on the key changes in many of the phases of treatment given to severely burned patients. Changes such as rapid and effective physiological resuscitation, improved methods for closing wounds, greater emphasis on early physiotherapy, and introduction of comprehensive rehabilitation programs, which are ascribed to the success of the treatment; Views of Robert Sheridan of the Shriner's Burns Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.

Reports results of a study revealing a 44 percent discrepancy between diagnosis of cancer malignancies and necropsy findings in the United States. Brief statistics from the study of Elizabeth Burton and colleagues; Decline of necropsy rates in Great Britain; Reason for a higher rate of discrepancy between diagnosis and necropsy findings in the Burton study.