By Gregory Blachier MONTE CARLO, April 21 (Reuters) - Current anti-doping measures in tennis are a "disaster" and the introduction of biological passports can only improve matters, world number six Tomas Berdych said. "The system right now... I don't know how it works with the others but with me, it does not work at all," the Czech told Reuters in an interview at the Monte Carlo Masters this week. "You have to say every single day... where you are. I've done this for three or four years already and I had only two tests out of the tournaments," Berdych said. ...
Screening detects ovarian cancer using neighboring cellsPublic release date: 22-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Megan Fellman fellman@northwestern.edu 847-491-3115 Northwestern University
Study results could translate into a minimally invasive early detection method
Pioneering biophotonics technology developed at Northwestern University is the first screening method to detect the early presence of ovarian cancer in humans by examining cells easily brushed from the neighboring cervix or uterus, not the ovaries themselves.
A research team from Northwestern and NorthShore University HealthSystem (NorthShore) conducted an ovarian cancer clinical study at NorthShore. Using partial wave spectroscopic (PWS) microscopy, they saw diagnostic changes in cells taken from the cervix or uterus of patients with ovarian cancer even though the cells looked normal under a microscope.
The results have the potential to translate into a minimally invasive early detection method using cells collected by a swab, exactly like a Pap smear. No reliable early detection method for ovarian cancer currently exists.
In previous Northwestern-NorthShore studies, the PWS technique has shown promising results in the early detection of colon, pancreatic and lung cancers using cells from neighboring organs. If commercialized, PWS could be in clinical use for one or more cancers in approximately five years.
The ovarian cancer study was published this month by the International Journal of Cancer.
PWS uses light scattering to examine the architecture of cells at the nanoscale and can detect profound changes that are the earliest known signs of carcinogenesis. These changes can be seen in cells far from the tumor site or even before a tumor forms.
"We were surprised to discover we could see diagnostic changes in cells taken from the endocervix in patients who had ovarian cancer," said Vadim Backman, who developed PWS at Northwestern. "The advantage of nanocytology -- and why we are so excited about it -- is we don't need to wait for a tumor to develop to detect cancer."
Backman is a professor of biomedical engineering at the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science. He and his longtime collaborator, Hemant K. Roy, M.D., formerly of NorthShore, have been working together for more than a decade and conducting clinical trials of PWS at NorthShore for four years. Backman and Roy both are authors of the paper.
"The changes we have seen in cells have been identical, no matter which organ we are studying," Backman said. "We have stumbled upon a universal cell physiology that can help us detect difficult cancers early. If the changes are so universal, they must be very important."
Ovarian cancer, which ranks fifth in cancer fatalities among American women, usually goes undetected until it has spread elsewhere. The cancer is difficult to treat at this late stage and often is fatal.
"This intriguing finding may represent a breakthrough that would allow personalization of screening strategies for ovarian cancer via a minimally intrusive test that could be coupled to the Pap smear," Roy said.
At the time of the ovarian cancer study, Roy was director of gastroenterology research at NorthShore and worked with Jean A. Hurteau, M.D., a gynecological oncologist at NorthShore. (Hurteau is an author of the paper.) Roy is now chief of the section of gastroenterology at Boston University School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center.
The study included a total of 26 individuals. For cells taken from the endometrium (part of the uterus), there were 26 patients (11 with ovarian cancer and 15 controls); for cells taken from the endocervix, there were 23 patients (10 with ovarian cancer and 13 controls). The small size of the study reflects the difficulty in recruiting ovarian cancer patients.
Cells were placed on slides and then examined using PWS. The results showed a significant increase in the disorder of the nanoarchitecture of epithelial cells obtained from cancer patients compared to controls for both the endometrium and endocervix studies.
The cells for the ovarian cancer study were taken from the cervix and uterus. For the earlier lung cancer study, cells were brushed from the cheek. For the colon, cells came from the rectum, and for the pancreas, cells came from the duodenum. Cells from these neighboring organs showed changes at the nanoscale when cancer was present.
PWS can detect cell features as small as 20 nanometers, uncovering differences in cells that appear normal using standard microscopy techniques. PWS measures the disorder strength of the nanoscale organization of the cell, which is a strong marker for the presence of cancer in the organ or in a nearby organ.
The PWS-based test makes use of the "field effect," a biological phenomenon in which cells located some distance from the malignant or pre-malignant tumor undergo molecular and other changes.
###
The paper is titled "Insights into the field carcinogenesis of ovarian cancer based on
the nanocytology of endocervical and endometrial epithelial cells." The paper is available at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ijc.28122/abstract.
In addition to Backman, Roy and Hurteau, other authors of the paper include Dhwanil Damania, Hariharan Subramanian, Lusik Cherkezyan, all from Northwestern, and Dhananjay Kunte, Nela Krosnjar and Maitri Shah, all from NorthShore University HealthSystem.
Editor's note: Backman, Roy and Subramanian are co-founders and/or shareholders in Nanocytomics LLC.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Screening detects ovarian cancer using neighboring cellsPublic release date: 22-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Megan Fellman fellman@northwestern.edu 847-491-3115 Northwestern University
Study results could translate into a minimally invasive early detection method
Pioneering biophotonics technology developed at Northwestern University is the first screening method to detect the early presence of ovarian cancer in humans by examining cells easily brushed from the neighboring cervix or uterus, not the ovaries themselves.
A research team from Northwestern and NorthShore University HealthSystem (NorthShore) conducted an ovarian cancer clinical study at NorthShore. Using partial wave spectroscopic (PWS) microscopy, they saw diagnostic changes in cells taken from the cervix or uterus of patients with ovarian cancer even though the cells looked normal under a microscope.
The results have the potential to translate into a minimally invasive early detection method using cells collected by a swab, exactly like a Pap smear. No reliable early detection method for ovarian cancer currently exists.
In previous Northwestern-NorthShore studies, the PWS technique has shown promising results in the early detection of colon, pancreatic and lung cancers using cells from neighboring organs. If commercialized, PWS could be in clinical use for one or more cancers in approximately five years.
The ovarian cancer study was published this month by the International Journal of Cancer.
PWS uses light scattering to examine the architecture of cells at the nanoscale and can detect profound changes that are the earliest known signs of carcinogenesis. These changes can be seen in cells far from the tumor site or even before a tumor forms.
"We were surprised to discover we could see diagnostic changes in cells taken from the endocervix in patients who had ovarian cancer," said Vadim Backman, who developed PWS at Northwestern. "The advantage of nanocytology -- and why we are so excited about it -- is we don't need to wait for a tumor to develop to detect cancer."
Backman is a professor of biomedical engineering at the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science. He and his longtime collaborator, Hemant K. Roy, M.D., formerly of NorthShore, have been working together for more than a decade and conducting clinical trials of PWS at NorthShore for four years. Backman and Roy both are authors of the paper.
"The changes we have seen in cells have been identical, no matter which organ we are studying," Backman said. "We have stumbled upon a universal cell physiology that can help us detect difficult cancers early. If the changes are so universal, they must be very important."
Ovarian cancer, which ranks fifth in cancer fatalities among American women, usually goes undetected until it has spread elsewhere. The cancer is difficult to treat at this late stage and often is fatal.
"This intriguing finding may represent a breakthrough that would allow personalization of screening strategies for ovarian cancer via a minimally intrusive test that could be coupled to the Pap smear," Roy said.
At the time of the ovarian cancer study, Roy was director of gastroenterology research at NorthShore and worked with Jean A. Hurteau, M.D., a gynecological oncologist at NorthShore. (Hurteau is an author of the paper.) Roy is now chief of the section of gastroenterology at Boston University School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center.
The study included a total of 26 individuals. For cells taken from the endometrium (part of the uterus), there were 26 patients (11 with ovarian cancer and 15 controls); for cells taken from the endocervix, there were 23 patients (10 with ovarian cancer and 13 controls). The small size of the study reflects the difficulty in recruiting ovarian cancer patients.
Cells were placed on slides and then examined using PWS. The results showed a significant increase in the disorder of the nanoarchitecture of epithelial cells obtained from cancer patients compared to controls for both the endometrium and endocervix studies.
The cells for the ovarian cancer study were taken from the cervix and uterus. For the earlier lung cancer study, cells were brushed from the cheek. For the colon, cells came from the rectum, and for the pancreas, cells came from the duodenum. Cells from these neighboring organs showed changes at the nanoscale when cancer was present.
PWS can detect cell features as small as 20 nanometers, uncovering differences in cells that appear normal using standard microscopy techniques. PWS measures the disorder strength of the nanoscale organization of the cell, which is a strong marker for the presence of cancer in the organ or in a nearby organ.
The PWS-based test makes use of the "field effect," a biological phenomenon in which cells located some distance from the malignant or pre-malignant tumor undergo molecular and other changes.
###
The paper is titled "Insights into the field carcinogenesis of ovarian cancer based on
the nanocytology of endocervical and endometrial epithelial cells." The paper is available at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ijc.28122/abstract.
In addition to Backman, Roy and Hurteau, other authors of the paper include Dhwanil Damania, Hariharan Subramanian, Lusik Cherkezyan, all from Northwestern, and Dhananjay Kunte, Nela Krosnjar and Maitri Shah, all from NorthShore University HealthSystem.
Editor's note: Backman, Roy and Subramanian are co-founders and/or shareholders in Nanocytomics LLC.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors dumped commodities and stocks on Monday in a broad selloff that gave gold its worst two-day loss in 30 years after weak demand figures from China fanned concerns the world economy is stumbling.
Gold dragged other metals lower as its price plunged to a more than two-year low. Brent crude fell towards $100 a barrel, while on Wall Street stocks dropped more than 2 percent for the S&P 500's worst day since November 7.
With the market already vulnerable, U.S. stocks extended losses late in the session after two explosions struck near the Boston Marathon finish line. Boston police said the blasts killed two people and injured 23.
Spot gold dropped as much as 9 percent on Monday alone, falling as low as $1,336.04 an ounce. In the last two sessions gold has fallen over 13 percent, for the worst two days since late February 1983. Gold was recently at $1,346.26.
Strategists have cited various reasons for gold's slump, including plans by Cyprus to sell excess gold reserves and feared selling from other central banks.
The already sharp correction has caused short-term investors to flee the asset. The SPDR Gold Trust hit its highest ever daily volume with 92.44 million shares traded. The ETF lost 8.8 percent.
"The pressure from the proposed sale of Cyprus gold is one of the factors, and once one of them starts, they all run from the hen house," said Robert Richardson, senior account executive and trading officer at Canadian broker-dealer W.D. Latimer Co. Ltd.
China's recovery unexpectedly stumbled in the first three months of 2013, as it reported its annual growth rate eased to 7.7 percent from 7.9 percent in the final quarter of last year. Economists had forecast 8 percent growth.
Industrial output in China in March also undershot expectations and added to investor sensitivity after recent disappointing economic data out of the United States.
A U.S. regional manufacturing report on Monday showed the pace of growth slowed, the latest data to suggest the world's biggest economy lost some steam heading into the second quarter.
"China makes up 40 percent of demand for base metals and all the growth in demand for oil is coming from the developing world, so to see weakness in China is bad for commodities generally," said Nic Brown, head of commodities research at Natixis in London.
Last week Cyprus revealed it would sell around 400 million euros worth of gold to help shore up its ailing finances and the move has sparked suggestions that larger countries in the region could use the move to cash in on some huge jumps gold has seen over the last decade.
Traders also cited concern that the Federal Reserve might reduce U.S. monetary stimulus towards the end of the year.
"If we see this kind of liquidation again, the equity market will follow. Then we'll have a real problem," said Frank Cholly, Jr., senior commodities broker at R.J. O'Brien and Associates in Chicago.
"If we turn into a bear market and this isn't just a correction, sentiment may really sour. There is no one buying and picking a bottom yet."
Brent crude futures dropped more than $2 to $100.39 a barrel as the disappointment stirred already festering global recovery concerns. U.S. crude settled down $2.58 at $88.71.
Copper fell to its lowest in 1-1/2 years. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange fell to $7,085 a tonne in intraday trade, its lowest since October 2011.
Silver lost 12 percent at $22.71 an ounce, having fallen as low as $22.56.
U.S. stocks also fell heavily across the board.
"The adverse feedback loop of all these things ... that's spilling over to stocks and that's something most investors don't want to get in front of. So we've seen selling really dominate the day today," said Bucky Hellwig, senior vice president at BB&T Wealth Management in Birmingham, Alabama.
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 265.86 points, or 1.79 percent, to close at 14,599.20. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 36.49 points, or 2.30 percent, to end at 1,552.36. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 78.46 points, or 2.38 percent, to 3,216.49.
The FTSEurofirst 300 ended down 0.6 percent and MSCI's world share index, which tracks stocks in 45 countries, lost 1.8 percent.
The yen rose as traders sold riskier investments funded by the cheap Japanese currency. The dollar fell 1.2 percent to 96.61 yen. The euro fell 2.2 percent to 125.98 yen.
(Additional reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak, Richard Leong and Manuela Badawy in New York; Editing by James Dalgleish)
Stocks rose on Wall Street Tuesday the day after they had their biggest decline since November. Tuesday's strong housing and earning reports helped stocks recover.
By Steve Rothwell,?AP Markets Writer / April 16, 2013
Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange observe a moment of silence to honor the victims and families of the Boston Marathon bombings. Stocks closed higher Tuesday, a day after the market's worst drop this year.
Richard Drew/AP
Enlarge
Strong housing and earnings reports helped stocks rebound from their worst day of the year.
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The Dow Jones industrial average rose 157.58 points, or 1.1 percent, on Tuesday, to 14,756.78, winning back more than half of the 265 points it lost a day earlier. The Standard & Poor's 500 index logged its second-best day of the year.
Home construction topped 1 million last month, the highest level since June 2008. Robust earnings from companies including Coca-Cola also propelled the market higher.
A recovery in housing and a pickup in hiring were major catalysts driving the stock market's surge early this year. The Dow and the S&P 500 jumped 11.3 percent and 10.3 percent, respectively, in the first three months of 2013.
That run-up was interrupted Monday when stocks had their biggest decline since November. Worries about an economic slowdown in China led to a drop in prices for oil, copper, and other commodities, causing mining and energy stocks to fall. The rally had already slowed earlier this month after reports of weak hiring and retail sales suggested that the economy was cooling off.
"This is the first time in a while that we've had pretty positive numbers," said JJ Kinahan, chief derivatives strategist for TD Ameritrade. "We had one bad day yesterday. You can't say because of that one bad day that all bets are off."
While Chinese growth fell short of expectations, Monday's sell-off may have been disproportionate to the slight slowdown in China's growth.
The world's biggest economy still expanded at a rate of 7.7 percent in the first three months of the year, slowing from 7.9 percent the previous quarter and missing analysts' expectations by just 0.3 percentage points. China is watched especially closely because it is a major market for foreign goods from iron ore to smartphones and is relatively healthy. Investors hope demand from China can help offset weakness in the U.S., Europe and Japan.
Mining companies rose Tuesday as commodities markets stabilized and materials stocks gained the most of the 10 industry groups in the S&P 500 after leading the market lower the day before. Home builders advanced following the housing report. PulteGroup rose 75 cents, or 4.2 percent, to $18.60 and Lennar climbed 92 cents, or 2.4 percent, to $38.70.
The S&P 500 climbed 22.2 points, or 1.4 percent, to 1,574.57. It was the biggest gain since Jan. 2, when stocks rallied after lawmakers reached a last-minute deal to stop a series sweeping tax hikes and spending cuts from taking effect.
Gold, which was at the epicenter of Monday's sell-off, rose $26.30 to $1,387.40 an ounce, a gain of 1.9 percent.
The precious metal logged its steepest fall in 30 years Monday, plunging $140 an ounce, or 9 percent. Gold had been drifting lower since the start of the year and the decline accelerated Friday after the government reported a drop in inflation. People often buy gold when they're fearful of rising prices and sell it when they see inflation ebbing.
Gold is down 27 percent since it climbed to a record in August 2011, when lawmakers wrangled over raising the debt ceiling and threatened to push the U.S. into default.
Investors should expect a more volatile stock market until there is more confirmation that the economy is strengthening and the outlook for companies is improving, said Jeff Morris, head of U.S. equities at Standard Life Investment.
"Until we get evidence of more robust conditions in the second half we're going to be in more of a sideways market," said Morris. "You saw a fairly dramatic move yesterday; that's indicative of a market that's not quite sure of which direction to go."
While the Dow is up this month, the pace of gains is slowing and the index is on track to log its weakest month of the year. The Dow has risen 1.2 percent in the first two weeks of April, compared to an average monthly gain of 3.6 percent in the first quarter.
Small company stocks rose more than the broader market Tuesday, a sign that investors are moving money into riskier assets. The Russell 2000 index climbed or 1.8 percent to 922.30. That's a reversal from the day before, when the index plunged 3.8 percent.
In other trading, the Nasdaq composite rose 48.14 points, or 1.5 percent, to 3,264.63.
Yields on U.S. government bonds rose as investors moved money out of safe-haven investments. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note climbed to 1.72 percent from 1.68 percent.
Among stocks that made big moves:
Coca-Cola gained $2.28, or 5.7 percent, to $42.37 after its first-quarter results came in above Wall Street's forecasts. Coke said it struck a deal to start refranchising its business in the U.S., which will lower costs.
W.W. Grainger Inc., which sells power tools and other industrial equipment, rose $16.18, or 16.2 percent, to $241.88 after the company said its first-quarter net income climbed 13 percent.
U.S. Bancorp logged the biggest decline in the S&P 500. The lender dropped 59 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $32.72 after it reported first-quarter earnings that fell short of analysts' expectations. The Minneapolis bank's net income rose 7 percent to $1.43 billion as it set aside less cash to cover soured loans.
Whirlpool Corp. jumped $3.66 to $116.78 after the appliance maker raised its quarterly dividend 25 percent to 62.5 cents.
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Public release date: 22-Apr-2013
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