Deformed Vegetables, Fruit Reportedly Pop Up Around Japan Nuclear Plant

Deformed Vegetables, Fruit Reportedly Pop Up Around Japan Nuclear Plant

You might not want to eat your vegetables for an entirely new reason after seeing some strange fruit and veggies that reportedly have turned up in villages surrounding Japan's stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Images of the bizarrely deformed flora - which range from tomatoes with tumor-like growths to monstrous cabbage and conjoined peaches - turned up on the website Imgur this week, with the title, "Effects from the Fukushima radiation disaster?"

ABC News examined the inner workings of Japan's Fukushima Daiichi plant. Find out more here.

It was unclear exactly where the images came from, but the title of the image set suggested that the deformed fruits and veggies were a result of the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant meltdown.

Deformed Fruit

The disaster occurred after an 8.9 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami struck Japan's coast, leading to more than 15,000 deaths. The incident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant was the worst nuclear incident since the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.

The fruit and vegetable images began to tear across the Web after they were posted as a slideshow and trending topic by MSN.com on Tuesday.

Timothy Mousseau, a biology professor at the University of South Carolina who is currently studying fauna in Fukushima, told ABCNews.com that there is some evidence for increased mutations in the area, but that the images that have emerged online would need follow-up studies to be confirmed as legitimate.

"We have seen some evidence of increased mutation rates in plants and barn swallows in Fukushima, but we have not had the funding to do the sort if rigorous science that is necessary to examine such questions in a convincing manner," he said. "The vegetable photos are suggestive but, at present, are only anecdotal. Follow-up studies need to be conducted by qualified researchers to verify the validity of these observations."

Deformed Fruit

Last year, Japanese scientists said that "abnormalities" detected in the country's butterflies may be a result of radioactive fallout from the Fukushima disaster. Researchers said that "artificial radionuclides" from the stricken power plant caused "physiological and genetic damage" to pale grass blue butterflies.

Five months after the disaster, cesium 137 and 134 were detected in more than a dozen bluefin tuna caught near San Diego. The levels were 10 times higher than tuna found in previous years.

The World Health Organization released a report in February saying that "for the general population inside and outside of Japan, the predicted risks are low and no observable increases in cancer rates above baseline rates are anticipated."

ABC News' Akiko Fujita contributed to this report.

Intelligent Knife

A member of ‘intelligent knife’ development team uses the knife on a piece of animal muscle during a demonstration at St Mary’s Hospital in London, Wednesday, July 17, 2013. Surgeons may have a new way to smoke out cancer.An experimental surgical knife can help surgeons make sure they’ve removed all the cancerous tissue, doctors reported Wednesday. Surgeons typically use knives that vaporize tumors as they cut, producing a sharp-smelling smoke. The new knife analyzes the smoke and can instantly signal whether the tissue is cancerous or healthy. AP/Sang Tan

WASHINGTON – A new kind of surgical knife can tell cancerous from healthy tissue in seconds and may help improve tumor removal in the operating room, according to research published Wednesday.

Known as the iKnife, the tool analyzes the vapor given off as surgeons use electrical current to cut away tissue — and it reports in real time whether the tissue is cancerous or not.

Tests in 91 human patients have shown the “tool’s diagnoses were extremely accurate,” and may be “reliable enough to begin widespread use in operating rooms,” said the study in the US journal Science Translational Medicine.

The iKnife uses mass spectrometry to examine the surgical smoke given off by evaporating tissue, alerting the surgeon in three seconds as to what it contains.

Other current techniques — which include sending removed tissue to a pathology lab for analysis — are “costly…frequently inadequate,” and take about 20-30 minutes, said the researchers from Hungary and Britain.

“Remarkably, there are almost no technologies in routine clinical practice to assist the surgeon in improving the accuracy of cancer tissue clearance,” said the study.

For patients, this uncertainty can lead to repeat surgeries or worse, since returning to the operating table is not always an option for soft tissue tumors, the researchers said.

The iKnife “can augment current tumor diagnostics, and it has the potential to influence ‘on-table’ decision-making and ultimately to improve oncological outcomes,” said the study.

In Britain alone, there are 300,000 new cases of cancer each year and 1.8 million surgical procedures performed in treatment, according to background information in the article.

The iKnife was tested on tissue samples from 302 patients, including those with tumors of the stomach, colon, liver, lung, breast and brain, and later in the operating room during 91 procedures to cut tumor tissue away.

The iKnife, known formally as rapid evaporative ionization mass spectrometry (REIMS), matched post-operative analysis by histopathology in all 91 cases, the study said.

The iKnife is not yet commercially available and likely will not be for at least another year, co-author Jeremy Nicholson of Imperial College London told AFP.

“The machines are modified from existing commercial mass spectrometers,” he said in an email.

“The interface between the knife and the mass spectrometer contains some critical modifications that make it work robustly,” he said, adding that the research machines currently “cost a few hundred thousand pounds.”

According to Stephanie Bernik, chief of surgical oncology at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, the study is “impressive.”

“If perfected, this would help surgeons and patients avoid countless trips back to the operating room to try and obtain clear margins,” said Bernik, who was not involved with the research.

“A larger study needs to be carried out, but this preliminary data is very exciting,” she said.

For Richard Fogler, chairman emeritus of the department of surgery at Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, the technique might save some time, and it could be of particular use for plastic surgeons and for removal of head and neck cancers.

However, he said it would take a lot more study to change the standard of care in tumor removal, which calls for a certain margin around cancer tissue to be taken out depending on the severity of the cancer.

“It sounds like ‘we discovered a magic wand,’” said Fogler, who took issue with the paper’s claim that the iKnife had the potential “to improve oncological outcomes.”

“I think it has been pretty well shown over the years you can’t make a statement about oncologic outcome without knowing what the stage of the disease is,” Fogler said.

“It doesn’t matter how you take it out. It doesn’t matter what you use to biopsy it.”

Dear Abby: Conversation

DEAR ABBY: I have been living with my girlfriend, "Robin," for four years. She has children from a previous marriage, and their father is fairly active in their lives. I jumped in and have taken the kids to activities, helped with homework and I pay the majority of the bills. I dearly love the children.

My problem is I no longer love their mother. Robin and I are like roommates who share a bed. There is no passion, no joy together and no partnership. I spend my time with the kids or alone. She's with them at different activities or busy on her computer. When I suggest ways we could bond together, she says, "I'm too tired," or "I don't want to do that," or "This is the way it is!"

I have stayed this long only for the kids, but I'm unhappy to the point of aching. I feel guilty about leaving and the strain it will put on the kids. Is there a way to leave a situation like this? Am I a bad man for wanting out and possibly leaving the children to a tougher life? -- UNHAPPY IN SOUTH CAROLINA

DEAR UNHAPPY: Because the woman you're living with shows no interest in improving the quality of the relationship, wanting to leave does not make you a bad person. You will have to accept that because the children depend upon you for certain things they will be affected by your departure. It's too bad you didn't consider that before moving in with someone who had a family.

Try to make the breakup as civil as possible. Before you go, talk to each of the children individually. Make it clear that they are not the reason the relationship is ending and that you will always care about them. That way, they won't think they did something bad and blame themselves.

---

DEAR ABBY: My only daughter, "Claire," who is 25, has always had a strong work ethic. Her boyfriend "Charles" has never held a job, either during college or in the year and a half he has been out of school. They were living with his parents until Claire accepted a one-year job overseas. Charles followed.

Claire's salary isn't great, so I know she has little money saved, but she wants to start planning her wedding when they return. Should I stick with tradition and pay for it or listen to my head, which is telling me I don't want to see her marry Charles until he has held a full-time job for at least a year? I think she can do better, but I suppose she could also do worse. They do seem to love each other. -- HESITANT MOTHER

DEAR MOTHER: Listen to your head. When Claire returns, let her know that she and her fiance will be paying for the wedding. It will be an introduction to the financial realities she and her husband will encounter after their marriage. Later on, when they're considering buying a home, you can give them the money that might have been spent on the wedding as part of their down payment -- if they are still together.

---

DEAR ABBY: How do I break up with friends who I love but have nothing in common with anymore? I'm married with a child, but as a new business owner, I don't have time to meet their needs. How do you tell people in a loving way that you have appreciated their friendship in the past, but it's over? We have grown apart. -- DON'T HAVE THE TIME

DEAR DON'T: Is it possible that your feelings are temporary, and that you are simply overwhelmed by the demands of your new business? If so, I'd hate to see you end friendships with people you love. Relationships don't always remain at the same level or have the same intensity. Rather than cut the people off entirely, explain that you can't be as available because you have a new business and don't have the time. It would be kinder.

Honeycombs' Surprising Secret Revealed

Honeycombs' Surprising Secret Revealed

The perfect hexagonal shape of honeycomb cells — once thought to be an incredible feat of math-savvy insects — has now been explained by simple mechanics.

Scientists have marveled at the angular perfection of honeycomb for centuries, but none have been able to clearly describe how it forms. Engineers in the U.K. and China have taken a step forward by showing that the cells actually start off as circles — molded by the shape of a bee's body — and then flow into a hexagonal pattern seconds later. The researchers reported their findings yesterday (July 16) in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface.

"People have always speculated how bees have formed these honeycombs," said Bhushan Karihaloo, an engineer at Cardiff University in the U.K. and co-author of the study, citing Galileo Galilei and Johannes Kepler as two of the luminaries mystified by the problem. "There have been some incredible, esoteric, even bizarre explanations; [some people] believed the bees had an uncanny ability to measure angles. But it's actually much more mundane." [10 Amazing Things You Didn't Know About Animals

Honeycomb up close

Using a honeycomb grown at a research facility in Beijing, the researchers were able to carefully ward off the bees and photograph the bare honeycomb seconds after formation, providing the first clear evidence that cells naturally start as circles. They then observed honeybees heating the wax after the initial cell formation — a phenomenon identified in previous studies, but never analyzed in close detail — and found this to be the key step in hexagon-formation.

By heating the cells, the bees cause the wax to become molten and flow like lava. Once the wax starts flowing, the cell walls naturally fall flat and take on the shape of a hexagon, like adjoining bubbles in a bath. This is physically the simplest and most stable way for cylinders to merge, Karihaloo said.

The team still does not know exactly how the bees go about heating each cell, and explored the mechanics of two plausible scenarios: One in which the bees focus their heat only at points where neighboring cells touch (a total of six points per cell), and another in which the bees heat the entire cell all at once.

"My own feeling is that nature tries to minimize energy spent, and from that point of view, I would think that scenario one is most probable," Karihaloo told LiveScience. "But, on the other hand, from the perspective of the bees, they might just want to warm the whole thing and get away with it. That remains to be shown."

Building like bees

The team calculated the amount of time each scenario should take, and found that circular cells should morph into hexagons within six seconds if they are warmed entirely, and within 36 seconds if only partially warmed. In their future work, the researchers hope these time constraints will help them assess which mechanism the bees use.

Juergen Tautz, a bee biologist in Germany who was not involved in the study, does not believe that bees can direct their heat to specific points in a cell, but still finds this study valuable.

"This paper is very important in my perspective because it not only gives us a deep insight into the mechanisms that honeybees manage to build very precise cells, but technology can also [take] from it," Tautz told LiveScience.

The team hopes their findings will eventually allow them to create an artificial honeycomb as strong as the natural material, which would be useful in strengthening a variety of building and structural materials.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct where the hives were grown. The hives were grown at the Agricultural Research Academy, Beijing, and were not grown specifically for this study.

Follow Laura Poppick on Twitter. Follow LiveScience on Twitter, Facebook and Google+. Original article onLiveScience.

Observational Strategy

THE OBSERVATIONAL STRATEGY

A.     Definition
Observation:

Is a process of systematically viewing and recording students behavior for the purpose of making programming decisions;

Permeates the entire teaching process by assisting the teacher in making the decisions required in effective teaching

B.     Purpose
Observation :

·         Provides systematic, ongoing information about students in relationship to areas of strengths and weakness, preferred learning styles, uniqueinterests, learningneeds, skills, attitudes, behavior, and performances related expectations.

C.    Characteristics
Observation:

·         can be used every day to assess students of different ages, across subject  areas, and in different settings (alone, in partners, small groups or whole class);

·         is stricter with a clear purpose and focus;

·         Includes a written record which should be as close to the time of the event as possible. The record should be objective.

D. Teacher’s Roles
the Teachers:

·         watches students respond to questions, study, complete assigned tasks:

·         listens to students as they speak and discuss with others ;

·         observes nonverbal forms of communication (e.g., attentiveness to lessons, signs of frustration);

·         Outlines the purposed of the observation by using the following questions as guidelines:
Who will make the observations?
Who and what is observed?

Why will the observation takes place?

When will the observation takes place?
When will the observation occur?

How will the observation be recorded (notes, audio/videotapes)?

·         Observes the students in a variety of situations/settings;

·         Draws inferences on the basis of  the observation gathered;

·         Observes the student’s performances, and then records observations on recording devices (checklist, rating scale, anecdotal record) which outline the framework and criteria for observation.

D.    Considerations
Observations:

·         Are made using a checklist, a set of questions, and/or a journal as a guide to ensure focused systematic observation.

·         Are often the only assessment tool used for demonstration (e.g., oral speaking, drawing, playing musical instruments. Applying motor skills in the physical education program, using equipment in design and Technology);

·         Can be collected by audio tape or videotape(allows  the teacher more detailed assessment of the performances after the fact);

·         Can limit students ability to act naturally if audio tape or videotape is used ;

·         Can be influence by bias in the interpretation of an observation;

·         Can be considered subjective, where the meaning of the observation is derived only by the professional judgment of what is observed;

·         Should not interfere with the natural learning environment.
(Source : Teachers Companions Curriculum Unit Planner April 16,2001)

PERSONAL COMMUNICATION STRATEGY

A.           The Conference

·         Is a formal or informal meeting between the teacher and student and parents?

·         Has a clear focus on learning for discussion.

B. Purpose of Conference

·         Exchange information or share ideas between among individuals at the conference.

·         Explore the student's thinking and to suggest next steps.

·         Assess the student's level of understanding of a particular concept or procedure.

·         Enable a student to move ahead more successfully on a particular piece of work.

·         Review, clarify and extend what the student has all ready completed.

·         Help students internalize criteria for good work.

C. Characteristic of Conference

·         Provides a clear focus for discussion.

·         Require that responsibility for the success of conference is shared by all participants.

·         May take place as the learner is exploring a new concept or topic or be a goal setting session or a report on progress.

·         Is brief, informal and occurs routinely.

·         Can be effective for both diagnostic and formative assessment.

D.  Teacher's Role in Conference

·         Comes to the conference prepared with specific questions to be answer.

·         Gives individual feedback and clarifies misconceptions.

·         Puts students at ease and support students progress. In the case of writing conference.

·         Focus on the process of reasoning followed by the student.

·         Records information during or immediately following the communication.

E. Consideration in Conference

·         Can be part of collaborative planning and decision making.

·         Is assisted by prepared questions.

·         Can be an extremely useful formative assessment strategy for students involve in major projects or individual studies.

THE INTERVIEW

A.   Definition

·         Is a form of conversation in which all parties increase their knowledge and understanding?

B. Purpose of Interview

·         Focus on inquiry where the purpose of the meeting is based on investigation.

·         Explore the students thinking.

·         Assess the student’s level of understanding of a particular concept or procedure.

·         Gather information, obtain clarification, determine position and probe for motivations.

·         Help determine student's understanding of qualities of good work.

C. Characteristic of Interview

·         Tends to be a meeting which involves inquiry.

·         Can be adopted to probe any problem or any consideration.

·         Occurs routinely.

·         Is usually guided by planned questions.

D. Teacher's Role in Interview

·         Is responsible for the initial questions that guide the conversation, as well as the flow and movement of the exchange.

·         Generates information during the interview which may lead to decisions, agreement and solutions.

·         Allow student to take the lead in the interview when appropriate.

E. Consideration in Interview

·         Needs time to build in conversations especially when the purpose is an honest and thoughtful exchange.

ORAL STARATEGY

THE QUESTION AND ANSWER

Question

·         Are posed by the teacher to determine if the students understand what is being presented or to extend thinking, generate ideas or problem solve.

Answer

·         Provide opportunities for oral assessment when the student responds to a question by speaking rather than by writing.

Purpose of Question and Answer

·         Provide a mechanism which monitor student’s understanding while assessing student’s progress.

·         Gather information about a student’s learning needs.

Characteristics of Question and Answer

·         Help teachers and students clarify their purpose for learning and link previous information with new understanding.

Teachers Role in Question and Answer

·         Notes how student answer questions during instruction to know if the students understand what is being presented or are able to perform skills.

·         Should ensure that all students participate, not just those individual who typically respond with answers.

Considerations in Question and Answer

·         Can help to ensure that all students are involved if tracking is done to ensure that all students participate.

·         Is used with consideration that some individuals are not comfortable or fluent expressing themselves orally.

THE CLASSROOM PRESENTATION

·         is an assessment requires student to verbalize their knowledge, select and present sample of finished work or organize thoughts, in order to present a summary of learning about a topic.

Purpose of Classroom Presentation

·         Provide summative assessment upon completion of a project or an essay.

·         Assess students when it is inappropriate or difficult to test a student's understanding or knowledge with pencil and paper test.

Characteristic of Classroom Presentation

·         Can provide students with an opportunity to use concrete materials express their ideas and talents.

·         May be a teaching tool if the presentation is designed to further the learning of the audience.

Teacher's Role in Classroom Presentation

·         With the student or alone, sets the idea for the assessment of the presentation.

·         Monitors student progress are selected stages during students preparation.

·         Provides oral or written feedback after the presentation.

Consideration in Classroom Presentation

·         Is a natural form of assessment for speeches, debates and subjects such as the study of languages?

·         Holds the potential to increase peer comparisons which may be harmful to some students because of the oral and visual aspects of presentations.

·         Is a critical skill to be taught, practice assessed and evaluate.