(Michigan State University) While the massive weight loss associated with gastric bypass surgery is beneficial, some patients may face malnutrition, poor wound healing and infection as their immune systems adjust to the extreme decrease in food consumption, according to a Michigan State University researcher.

(Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology) Everyone knows that vitamins "from A to zinc" are important for good health. Now, a new research study in the August 2009 print issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology suggests that zinc may be pointing the way to new therapeutic targets for fighting infections. Specifically, scientists from Florida found that zinc not only supports healthy immune function, but increases activation of the cells (T cells) responsible for destroying viruses and bacteria.

(American Institute of Physics) Proton therapy -- which uses beams of the subatomic particles to treat cancer -- is a hot topic at this year's American Association of Physicists in Medicine meeting, which takes place from July 26-30 in Anaheim, Calif. Ways to make the technology more effective, cheaper and smaller will be discussed, and news of research on proton computed tomography (proton CT) -- which uses protons to image the body's interior.

(Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres) In honor of scientist and astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543), the discovering team around Professor Sigurd Hofmann suggested the name "copernicium" with the element symbol "Cp" for the new element 112, discovered at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum fur Schwerionenforschung (GSI Center for Heavy Ion Research) in Darmstadt.

In a breakthrough for applied physics, North Carolina State University researchers have developed a magnetic semiconductor memory device, using GaMnN thin films, which utilizes both the charge and spin of electrons at room temperature.