European Hot 100 Singles for the 4/3/2010 issue

Now Last Weeks Peak

1 2 7 Alors On Danse – Stromae (/Vertigo/Mosaert)

2 3 8 Rude Boy – Rihanna (/SRP/Def Jam)

3 1 20 Tik Tok – Ke$ha (/Kemosabe/RCA)

4 4 4 Baby – Justin Bieber ft. Ludacris (/Schoolboy/Raymond Braun/Island)

5 31 6 Telephone – Lady Gaga ft. Beyonce (/Streamline/Konlive/Cherrytree/Interscope)

6 6 7 Memories – David Guetta ft. Kid Cudi (/Gum/Virgin)

7 5 21 Bad Romance – Lady Gaga (/Streamline/Konlive/Cherrytree/Interscope)

8 9 16 Fireflies – Owl City (/Universal Republic/Island)

9 0 Satellite – Lena Meyer-Landrut/USF (/USFO)

10 7 3 Pass Out – Tinie Tempah (/Parlophone)

Fireflies, jellyfish genes shedding light on causes of infertility, autoimmune diseases

Washington, March 28 (ANI): Studies on fireflies and jellyfish’s genes are providing significant insights into the possible causes of infertility and autoimmune diseases in humans, says a report.

The article states that with the aid of the luminescent and florescent genes, scientists illuminate cells that produce a hormone linked to conditions, which include rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.

It further says that the technique may be prove useful for tracking the production of the hormone prolactin, which is crucial in ensuring supplies of breast milk in nursing mothers, but can be overproduced by some pituitary tumours, causing infertility.

Prolactin has been linked to more than 300 biological functions, and is believed to play a role in autoimmune diseases like lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, besides the inflammation of cells and tissues.

According to the write-up, scientists from the Universities of Edinburgh, Manchester and Liverpool have been successful in using genes from fireflies and jellyfish to create a chemical reaction to light up cells expressing prolactin in rats.

The technique means that scientists can identify when and where prolactin is expressed to look at how the hormone works in real time.

Sabrina Semprini, whose study is published in the journal Molecular Endocrinology, said: “The lighting up of cells expressing this hormone will help us to understand its role within the body and could help research looking for treatments for conditions in which prolactin is involved.”

The research, funded by the Wellcome Trust, identified cells producing prolactin throughout the body, which included the pituitary gland, the thymus – an organ in the chest which helps protect against autoimmunity – the spleen and inflammatory cells in the abdominal cavity. (ANI)

Caravaggio used ‘photography’ to create art 200 years before invention of camera

London, March 11 (ANI): Italian researchers have found that the 16th century renaissance artist Caravaggio used an early form of photography to project images of his subjects onto a canvas, more than 200 years before the invention of the camera.

According to a report in the Telegraph, the 16th century master used modern darkroom techniques to create his masterpieces, using a noxious concoction of crushed fireflies and white lead.

Italian researchers claim the technique explained why many of his subjects were left-handed – the image projected onto the canvas had been reversed.

Art historian Roberta Lapucci said that Caravaggio’s dramatic ‘chiaroscuro’ style of light and shadow was based on “a whole set of techniques that are the basis of photography”.

Art history scholars have long known that Caravaggio worked in a sort of darkroom, illuminating his subjects through a hole in the ceiling and projecting the image onto a canvas using a lens and a mirror.

But, Lapucci is the first researcher to suggest that he treated the canvas with light-sensitive substances, including a luminescent powder made from crushed fireflies, in order to “fix” the image as 19th century photographers later would.

He then used white lead mixed with chemicals such as mercury, to outline the image in greater clarity, believes Lapucci.

Lapucci, who teaches at an arts institute in Florence, based her hypothesis on research by British artist David Hockney, who wrote in his 2001 book “Secret Knowledge” that many old masters used optical instruments to compose their paintings.

“There is lots of proof, notably the fact that Caravaggio never made preliminary sketches,” said Lapucci.

An “abnormal number” of Caravaggio’s subjects are left-handed. “That could be explained by the fact that the image projected on the canvas was backwards,” she said.

According to Dr John Spike, a Caravaggio expert based in Florence, to prove the thesis that the Baroque master used chemicals to “fix” projected images, the paint in the pictures would have to be subjected to laboratory testing.

“We know that he worked in a dark room and that he was fascinated by mirrors, and he was living in Rome at a time when it was a hotbed of scientific inquiry,” he said.
“Might he have used this technique? It’s possible – his protector, Cardinal Del Monte, was also the protector of Galileo, and they were all fascinated by optics and the new physics,” he added. (ANI)

Julia Roberts ‘turns producer for Jesus Henry Christ remake’

Washington, March 10 (ANI): Julia Roberts is reportedly set to turn producer for the remake of Jesus Henry Christ.

The Oscar-winning actress will allegedly produce the forthcoming independent comedy to be directed by its original filmmaker Dennis Lee.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the film tells the story of a boy conceived in a petri dish and his subsequent track down of his biological father, reports Contactmusic.

There has been no word as yet if the ‘Pretty Woman’ star would appear in the movie.

Roberts has previously worked with Lee in his feature directorial debut on “Fireflies in the Garden” starring Ryan Reynolds, Willem Dafoe, Emily Watson and Carrie-Anne Moss. (ANI)

New technique to make bacteria glow under light may help fight against breast cancer

Washington, March 8 (ANI): Michigan Technological University scientists have come up with a way to make a strain of E. coli glow under fluorescent light, a technique that may one day help track down all sorts of pathogens, and even prove beneficial in fight against breast cancer.

Associate Professor of Chemistry Haiying Liu, who led the research project, points out that E. coli bacteria are naturally found in animal intestines and are usually harmless, but when virulent strains contaminate food, they can cause serious illness and even death.

Liu’s trick takes advantage of E. coli’s affinity for the sugar mannose.

During the study, the research team attached mannose molecules to specially engineered fluorescent polymers, and stirred them into a container of water swimming with E. coli.

The researchers said that microscopic hairs on the bacteria, called pili, hooked onto the mannose molecules like Velcro, effectively coating the bacteria with the polymers.

They later shined white light onto E. coli colonies growing in the solution, and the bugs lit up like blue fireflies.

“They became very colorful and easy to see under a microscope,” said Liu.

The researcher says that this approach may help identify a wide array of pathogens by mixing and matching from a library of different sugars and polymers, which fluoresce different colours under different frequencies of light.

If blue means E. coli, they add, fuchsia may one day mean influenza.

Liu is adapting the technique to combat breast cancer also. In place of mannose, he plans to link the fluorescent polymers to a peptide that homes in on cancer cells.

He says that upon introduction to the vascular system, the polymers would travel through the body, stick to tumour cells, and then illuminated by a type of infrared light that shines through human tissue.

The researcher says that the glowing polymers would provide a beacon to pinpoint the location of the malignant cells, and allow surgeons to easily identify and remove malignant cells while minimizing damage to healthy tissue.

An article on the team’s work on E. coli has been published in the journal Chemistry. (ANI)