PARTICLE PHYSICS: The Final Tally Leaves LEP a Probable Loser

Physicists at CERN, the European particle physics laboratory near Geneva, are making a last-ditch appeal to postpone demolition of the lab's Large Electron-Positron (LEP) collider. Scheduled to be scrapped in September to make room for a new device, the Large Hadron Collider, LEP was granted a 1-month stay of execution so physicists could continue experiments hinting at evidence for the Higgs boson--a theoretical particle that physicists have coveted for decades. On 8 November, CERN's director-general turned down a further extension, but the executive committee of the lab's staff association blasted the decision, saying that the case against LEP had not been made clearly enough.     

PARTICLE PHYSICS: CERN Gives Higgs Hunters Extra Month to Collect Data

After 11 years of banging electrons and positrons together at higher energies than any other machine in the world, CERN, the European laboratory for particle physics, had decided to shut down the Large Electron-Positron collider (LEP) and install a new machine, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), in its 27-kilometer tunnel. In 2005, the LHC will start bashing protons together at even higher energies. But tantalizing hints of a long-sought fundamental particle have forced CERN managers to grant LEP a month's reprieve.     

Human liposarcomas: tissue cultures containing foci of transformed cells with viral particles

Viral particles occurring in foci of human liposarcoma cells in tissue culture are morphologically similar to the sarcoma viruses of the avian and murine species. Antibodies in the serum of the patient from whom the culture was originated reacted with cytoplasmic antigens in the original liposarcoma and in the cultured liposarcoma cells.     

Cancer regression and autoimmunity in patients after clonal repopulation with antitumor lymphocytes

We report here the adoptive transfer, to patients with metastatic melanoma, of highly selected tumor-reactive T cells directed against overexpressed self-derived differentiation antigens after a nonmyeloablative conditioning regimen. This approach resulted in the persistent clonal repopulation of T cells in those cancer patients, with the transferred cells proliferating in vivo, displaying functional activity, and trafficking to tumor sites. This led to regression of the patients' metastatic melanoma as well as to the onset of autoimmune melanocyte destruction. This approach presents new possibilities for the treatment of patients with cancer as well as patients with human immunodeficiency virus-related acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and other infectious diseases.     

Forecasting fire season severity in South America using sea surface temperature anomalies

Fires in South America cause forest degradation and contribute to carbon emissions associated with land use change. We investigated the relationship between year-to-year changes in fire activity in South America and sea surface temperatures. We found that the Oceanic Ni?o Index was correlated with interannual fire activity in the eastern Amazon, whereas the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation index was more closely linked with fires in the southern and southwestern Amazon. Combining these two climate indices, we developed an empirical model to forecast regional fire season severity with lead times of 3 to 5 months. Our approach may contribute to the development of an early warning system for anticipating the vulnerability of Amazon forests to fires, thus enabling more effective management with benefits for climate and air quality.     

Mapping of the human Blym-1 transforming gene activated in Burkitt lymphomas to chromosome 1

Blym-1, a transforming gene detected by transfection of NIH 3T3 cells with DNA from Burkitt lymphomas, was mapped to the short arm of chromosome 1 (1p32) by chromosomal in situ hybridization. The Blym-1 gene was not physically linked to the cellular myc oncogene or to any of the immunoglobulin gene loci implicated in the characteristic chromosomal translocations in Burkitt lymphoma.     

Particulate metmyoglobin reducing activity and its relationship with meat color

There is controversy about the effect of storage time on metmyoglobin (MetMb) reducing activity in the sarcoplasmic fraction of meat and the role of this reducing activity in maintaining the color of red meat. The presence of metmyoglobin reducing activity in the myofibrillar fraction of muscle extracts was investigated as a possible reason for this controversy. NADH-dependent MetMb reducing activity was found in the particulate fraction of meat following sedimentation of a meat homogenate at 35 000g. There was 5.8 times more MetMb reducing activity in the particulate fraction compared with that of the sarcoplasmic (supernatant) fraction. The presence of metmyoglobin reducing activity in the myofibrils (MMRA), defined as the activity in the sediment after centrifugation of a meat homogenate at 2 000g, was confirmed. The myofibrillar fraction contained 63% of the total MetMb reducing activity available in the meat. The relationship between muscle MetMb reducing activities and meat color parameters was investigated in a beef patties system. The particulate MetMb reducing activity (PMRA) in beef patties was found to be a good indicator of the total metmyoglobin reducing activity in meat and was positively correlated with the color parameters of the patties, suggesting that PMRA may be associated with red meat color of meat patties.     

Tolerance to Formalin by a Fluidized-Bed Biofilter and Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss in a Recirculating Culture System

Formalin tolerances of a fluidized-bed sand biofilter and rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss were tested in a semi-closed freshwater recirculating culture system. Progressively higher formalin levels were tested until fish mortality (±1.9%) occurred. A 1-h exposure to 167 ppm formalin, followed by flushing, was safe for trout (no mortality) at 15.0 C but not at 16.5 C. A 110-ppm indefinite treatment (no flushing) was safe at 17.3 C, but 120 ppm at 17.3 C and 100 ppm at 17.8 C were not. Biofilter nitrification was not impaired by 1-h formdin treatments up to 167 ppm at 16.5 C, and not, usually, by indefinite treatments up to 120 ppm at 17.3 C. However, a find indefinite treatment of 70 ppm was followed by abnormally high nitrite levels for 9 d. Formaldehyde remained detectable in the system for 11 h during indefinite treatment at 120 ppm formalin. Tests on the system's Co₂ stripper did not indicate that it removed formaldehyde.