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A.
High-Res Satellite Images Now Available to Universities
Narrator: This is Science Today. High-resolution satellite images, which were previously prohibitively expensive – are now available to U.S. universities, thanks to a public-private partnership between the University of California , Santa Barbara and Terra Image USA . David Siegel directs the university's Institute for Computational Earth System Science, which is the lead university institute involved in the partnership.
Siegel: Traditionally, academic users – especially in the U.S. – have had no access to these data. And this is one of these great opportunities that we can change the face of science.
Narrator: High-resolution satellite images can be used by researchers working on earth remote sensing to track all sorts of changes in land use – both natural and man-made, as well as to study plate tectonics and coastal resources.
Siegel: There's hundreds of hundreds of applications. This data set is a constellation of satellites up in space of the SPOT system and the satellites themselves are owned by CNES, which is the French version of NASA.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
B.
A Drug Combo May Boost Survival for Advanced Lung Cancer Patients
Narrator: This is Science Today. A national phase II trial has found that adding the molecularly targeted drug, bortezomib, to a standard chemotherapy regimen can prolong survival in patients with advanced lung cancer by 22 percent. Study leader, Dr. Angela Davies, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of California , Davis Medical Center , says the median survival for patients with advanced lung cancer is about eight to ten months.
Davies: We were all very pleased to see a median survival of eleven months because despite the fact that we've studied many, many drugs in lung cancer, very few of them ultimately have demonstrated survival benefit in patients with lung cancer.
Narrator: Davies says they look forward to further studies in a larger, phase III trial.
Davies: I think this is the first sign that this drug in combination with chemotherapy may make a difference, but we do need to go forward to do that randomized trial and compare it against the standard treatment.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
C.
A Leading Veterinary Genetics Laboratory
Narrator: This is Science Today. The University of California , Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory leads the world in DNA parentage testing for horse registries. Lab director Cecilia Penedo says in addition to their genotyping service for animal identification, they also do diagnostic tests for genetic diseases in horses.
Penedo: Genetic diseases may cause a loss of breedings, if one produces an affected foal. And therefore, it is important in many cases to screen the breeding stock before breeding decisions are made.
Narrator: The UC Davis lab has been doing genotyping for 40 years – that's longer than anyone else.
Penedo: As a non-profit lab associated with a university, the income from our genotyping service goes back to the laboratory and the university to support research programs, to support additional developments that will improve our service.
Narrator: For Science Today, Larissa Branin.
D.
Remote-Controlled MRI Scans Have Training Possibilities
Narrator: This is Science Today. The ability of an imaging technologist to log on to a computer and operate an MRI machine by remote control has the potential to help facilities or regions with limited medical staff and expertise. UCLA and Siemens Medical Solutions have developed such a remote-controlled software program. Dr. Paul Finn, a professor of radiological sciences at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, says remote-controlled MRI scans can also be used for training purposes.
Finn: I think it would be a wonderful tool for training because as implemented, all the processes that the remote operator performs are visible to the technologist at the machine. It's like they're sharing the console, so it's like seeing this done live and if someone sees this a sufficient number of times, then they learn it.
Narrator: A proof-of-concept study was successful, but Finn says more studies need to be done.
Finn: One would hope that within a year or two, it would start to be more disseminated.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
E.
Learning from the British Livestock Outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease
Narrator: This is Science Today. The devastating 2001 outbreak of foot and mouth disease in the United Kingdom caused about five billion dollars in losses to the food and agriculture sector and even greater losses in tourism. Pam Hullinger, a veterinarian at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, was in England during that trying time to help out.
Hullinger: What I saw was not just the farmers and their families being affected, but the tourism industry was actually the most economically devastated industry in the United Kingdom . People didn't want to go to England and spend time there because it wasn't a pleasant place to be. They had to burn many of the carcasses early on.
Narrator: Hullinger recently took part in a federal effort to develop a rapid diagnostic test for foot and mouth disease, as well as six other similar diseases in livestock.
Hullinger: My goal is that if this disease ever occurs in the United States , we're going to be so much better positioned to respond to it. That people – that farmers and animals here – wont' nearly need to suffer to the degree they did in the UK . And I think that's a pretty powerful place to be.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
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