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Week 05 news
70 Percent of Antibiotics Used on
Animals Slaughtered for Food
Widespread antibiotic use in animal agriculture is drawing increasing fire as a primary
cause of the growing prevalence of drug-resistant and ever more lethal superbugs.
70% of Employers Have Rejected
Applicants Over Online Info
In a survey of Web-surfers, human resource workers, and employment recruiters across the
U.S., U.K., Germany and France, researchers found that, although most people acknowledge
that their personal online behavior may have ramifications in their professional lives,
A gimmick-free weight-loss pill in
the works
A Université de Montréal research team is developing a pill composed of leptin, the
protein that tells our brain to stop eating. "Mice deprived of leptin will not stop
eating. They become so big they have trouble moving around," says Moïse Bendayan, a
pathology professor at the Université de Montréal Faculty of Medicine who has studied
the leptin protein extensively.Leptin regulates appetite in mammals and its levels
decrease when fasting and rise during meals. It has been proven to be an appetite
suppressant when administered intravenously to pathologically obese people. Postdoctoral
student Philippe Cammisotto is leading the charge for a leptin-based, appetite suppressing
pill with Dr. Bendayan and Émile Levy, a professor from the Department of Nutrition.
"Taken orally, such a pill would provide obese people with the sensation of being
full. They would eat less and in turn lose weight," says Dr. Cammisotto."We hope
to start animal testing in 2010," says Bendayan. "The molecule is easy to
synthesize and the protocol is ready." After decades of building his reputation in
fundamental research, Bendayan is happy to collaborate on something more tangible.
"Obesity is a big problem in our society, no pun intended," says Bendayan.
"To develop medication to combat obesity would be a great way for our laboratory to
contribute to public health." The new pill is being created based on a startling
Université de Montréal discovery from 2006: leptin isn't only secreted by fatty tissues.
"From the first bite of any meal, leptin levels skyrocket in the bloodstream. Yet
this has nothing to do with the leptin stored in the fatty tissues," says Bendayan.
"In the lab, we proved that up to 80 percent of cells in our stomach also produce
leptin. Those are the ones that regulate appetite." The Université de Montréal
finding led to a different understanding of how the protein works, since leptin alone
can't survive in an acidic stomach without assistance. Indeed, leptin protects itself with
an accomplice that acts as its bodyguard and accompanies the protein through the digestive
system until it can be absorbed into the bloodstream.
A Great Dental Tool—Small
Inter-dental Brushes
This cross between a toothpick and a toothbrush is new to me but has been around for
several years (and may be an old friend for you). Since Mary and I have started using this
tool after every meal we have noticed a remarkable improvement in the health of our gums
and an overall clean feeling in our mouths. Even though Mary and I floss and brush our
teeth at least twice a day, our big surprise was the small food particles still left
between our teeth, which were removed by using these small inter-dental brushes.
A mind at rest strengthens
memories, NYU researchers find
Our memories are strengthened during periods of rest while we are awake, researchers at
New York University have found. The findings, which appear in the latest issue of the
journal Neuron, expand our understanding of how memories are boosted—previous studies
had shown this process occurs during sleep, but not during times of awake rest.
"Taking a coffee break after class can actually help you retain that information you
just learned," explained Lila Davachi, an assistant professor in NYU's Department of
Psychology and Center for Neural Science, in whose laboratory the study was conducted.
"Your brain wants you to tune out other tasks so you can tune in to what you just
learned." The study, whose lead author was Arielle Tambini, a doctoral candidate in
NYU's Graduate School of Arts and Science, focused on memory consolidation—the period
when a memory is stabilized after it is initially created, or encoded. To determine if
memory consolidation occurred during periods of awake rest, the researchers imaged the
hippocampus, a brain structure known to play a significant role in memory, and cortical
regions during periods of awake rest. Previous studies have demonstrated regions of the
brain more active during periods of rest, but their function at these times had been
unclear.
Ability to navigate may be linked
to genes, researcher says
Imagine that you are emerging from the subway and heading for your destination when you
realize that you are going in the wrong direction. For a moment, you feel disoriented, but
a scan of landmarks and the layout of the surrounding streets quickly helps you pinpoint
your location, and you make it to your appointment with time to spare. Research tells us
that human adults, toddlers, rats, chicks and even fish routinely and automatically
accomplish this kind of "reorientation" by mentally visualizing the geometry of
their surroundings and figuring out where they are in space. Until now, however, we
haven't understood that genes may play a part in that ability. Writing this week in the
online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team led by
Barbara Landau, the Dick and Lydia Todd Professor in the Department of Cognitive Science
at The Johns Hopkins University, for the first time links genes to our ability to navigate
the world. "We found that people with a rare genetic disorder cannot use one of the
very basic systems of navigation that is present in humans as early as 18 months and
shared across a wide range of species," Landau said. "To our knowledge, this is
the first evidence from human studies of a link between the missing genes and the system
that we use to reorient ourselves in space."
Acutely damaged livers may be
repaired via transplanted hepatocytes
A research team from the National Taiwan University Hospital has evaluated the efficiency
of transplanted hepatocyte (liver) cells in animal models severely damaged by two kinds of
chemical toxicity to see whether and how transplanted hepatocytes were able to efficiently
repopulate the toxin-induced, severely damaged livers. The results of this study are
published in the current double issue of Cell Transplantation. The study was carried out
in the on-going effort to evaluate hepatocyte transplantation as an alternative to liver
transplantation, not only because of the current shortage of liver donors for
transplantation, but also because successful cell transplantation is simpler, less
invasive and less expensive than organ (i.e., liver) transplantation.The researchers found
that animal model of livers with damage induced from combined
retrosine-plus-D-galactosamine (as opposed to animals infused with single toxins) were
subject to "massive repopulation of the liver by transplanted hepatocyte cells and
hepatocyte growth factor genes."
Advances in cancer detection
research by Virginia Tech engineer featured in British magazine
New advances for the detection of cancer led by Rafael V. Davalos of the Virginia
Tech-Wake Forest School of Biomedical Engineering and Science (SBES) are featured as the
cover story in the January 19, 2010 Royal Society of Chemistry's magazine, "Lab on a
Chip," the premier journal for researchers in microfluidics. Microfluidics is the
behavior of fluids at the microscale level. A relatively new technology, it had already
shown promise in revolutionizing certain procedures in molecular biology and in
proteomics, among other fields. Building upon novel technology developed while working on
Homeland Security projects at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) as well as from his
biomedical graduate student days at the University of California, Berkeley, Davalos, an
assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Virginia Tech, is now creating unique
microsystems that are showing considerable promise for the detection of cancer and for the
study of the progression of this disease. Specifically, Davalos helped engineer
microsystems for the detection of water-borne pathogens using a technique called
dielectrophoresis (DEP) in the early part of this decade. DEP separates and identifies
cells and microparticles suspended in a medium based on their size and electrical
properties. Using the technology that can detect bacteria in water, Davalos continues to
work with his colleague at Sandia, Blake A. Simmons, vice president, Deconstruction of the
Joint BioEnergy Institute and manager of the Energy Systems Department at SNL. Together,
they hypothesized that the technology could be reconfigured to detect cancer cells by
injecting a blood or saliva sample into their microfluidic chip to screen for cancer,
based on the cancer cells electrical signatures.
Alcohol use and cognitive decline
among the elderly
Studies of alcohol use and cognition among the elderly are rare and have mixed results. A
study of drinking among the elderly in Brazil has found that heavy alcohol use is
associated with more memory and cognitive problems than mild-to-moderate alcohol use,
especially among women. Results will be published in the April 2010 issue of Alcoholism:
Clinical & Experimental Research and are currently available at Early View "There
is a scarcity of information about alcohol use and the elderly," said Marcos Antonio
Lopes, corresponding author for the study and currently a visiting lecturer at Newcastle
University in the United Kingdom, "which needs to be resolved in order to construct a
real diagnosis and promote proper health care for this population." Jerson Laks,
associate professor at the State University of Rio de Janeiro and a researcher with the
Brazilian National Committee for Research, agrees. "Alcohol use is frequently an
exclusion criterion for any study of cognition and dementia in the elderly, as well as in
studies aimed at depression," he said. "Therefore, by simply excluding alcohol
use and abuse, most studies cannot reveal the interaction between drinking behaviors and
cognition in this age range." The current study is also important, Laks added,
because it did not have any expectations that the elderly would drink less than younger
subjects and, furthermore, it asked many difficult questions despite their negative
stigmas in order to uncover the facts about drinking among the elderly in Brazil and its
association with dementia.
Algal Power Not So Green After All
ALGAE have been touted as a solution to environmental worries over biofuels, but they may
be a long way from providing a truly green option.
Alterations in the brain's reward
system related to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
Until now, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was related to alterations in
the brain affecting attention and cognitive processes. Researchers at Universitat
Autònoma de Barcelona and the Vall d'Hebron University Hospital for the first time have
discovered anomalies in the brain's reward system related to the neural circuits of
motivation and gratification. In children with ADHD, the degree of motivation when
carrying out an activity is related to the immediacy with which the objectives of the
activity are met. This would explain why their attention and hyperactivity levels differ
depending on the tasks being carried out. Susanna Carmona, researcher at the Cognitive
Neuroscience Unit of the UAB Department of Psychiatry and Legal Medicine
(URNC-IAPS-Hospital del Mar), has worked in collaboration with clinical researchers of the
Vall d'Hebron University Hospital on the first research which relates the structure of the
brain's reward system, the ventral striatum, with clinical symptoms in children suffering
from ADHD. Models describing the origin of ADHD tend to emphasise the relevance of
attention processes and of the cognitive functions which guide our mental processes in
achieving proposed objectives. Nevertheless, recent research has focused on neural
gratification/pleasure circuits, which can be found in what is known as the brain's reward
system, with the nucleus accumbens as the central part of this system.
Alternative chemicals ease safety
concerns about nonstick, repellent coatings
Amid concern about the potential toxic effects of the fluorochemicals used in nonstick
cookware, water-repellent clothing, and other consumer products, manufacturers are using
new versions of these chemicals that may be safer. That's the topic of the cover story in
the current issue of Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), ACS' weekly newsmagazine.
C&EN Senior Editor Stephen K. Ritter cites indications that long-chain compounds like
perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) can cause developmental
problems, liver toxicity, and cancer in animals. Uncertainty exists over their health
effects in people. Nevertheless, chemical companies are working with the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to phase out PFOS and are in the process of phasing
out PFOA. The companies are replacing these chemicals with shorter chain fluorochemicals
that perform just as well but appear to be safer. Although these new ingredients are
considered sound replacements, they may only be a temporary fix, pending development of a
new generation of less toxic substitutes. After being surprised by the unexpected
environmental persistence of PFOA and PFOS, EPA is taking extra caution with the
replacements to avoid a similar problem in the future.
Aluminum sulfate found in deodorant
stones and sprays
Some of the most popular natural deodorants may be tainted with some chemical that has
been linked to increased risk for Alzheimer's disease.
American Opinion Cools on Global
Warming
Public concern about global warming has dropped sharply since the fall of 2008, according
to the results of a national survey released today by researchers at Yale and George Mason
universities.The survey found only 50 percent of Americans now say they are
“somewhat” or “very worried” about global warming, a 13-point
decrease, the percentage of Americans who think global warming is happening has declined
14 points, to 57 percent, The percentage of Americans who think global warming is caused
mostly by human activities dropped 10 points, to 47 percent. In line with these shifting
beliefs, there has been an increase in the number of Americans who think global warming
will never harm people in the United States or elsewhere or other species.
Anesthetic approach stops pain
without affecting motor function
One of the holy grails of local anesthesia is the ability to achieve a long-lasting nerve
block that eliminates pain sensation while not affecting motor function. Now, researchers
at Children's Hospital Boston have discovered an anesthetic approach that seems to do just
that. If it proves to work in humans as well as it did in rats, it could be useful in a
variety of medical applications, providing, for example, a local anesthetic for childbirth
that would block pain without interfering with the mother's ability to push, or for
musculoskeletal disorders in which it is important to maintain mobility. The discovery was
reported in the online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences during the week of February 1. The researchers, led by Daniel Kohane, MD, PhD, of
the Division of Critical Care Medicine at Children's, originally sought only to find an
agent that would prolong the anesthetics' effects. They focused on surfactants, a subclass
of so-called "chemical permeability enhancers" that enable drugs to spread more
easily throughout a tissue. In testing three kinds of surfactant along with the
anesthetics QX-314 and QX-222 (both derivatives of lidocaine), they found that this
approach did prolong the sensory block in rats' sciatic nerves, for up to 7 hours or more
depending on the surfactant, but didn't prolong motor impairment; in some cases the motor
block was absent or of very short duration. In the rats, this meant they were able to
tolerate having their paws on a hot plate for long periods, yet still able to balance and
bear weight on their legs. "This was a surprise finding," says Kohane, who also
directs the Laboratory for Biomaterials and Drug Delivery (LBDD) at Children's. "What
we've discovered really is a new approach; the question now is to figure out the mechanism
by which it works and look at the effects of other chemical permeability enhancers."
Animal antibiotics are causing
drug-resistant, killer infections
The proliferation of drug-resistant "superbugs" has been steadily increasing due
to the widespread use of antibiotic drugs. Particularly in pigs, chickens, and cows,
excessive antibiotic use by farmers has led to killer infections that do not respond to
antibiotic treatment. Over 65,000 people die every year from such infections, leading many
researchers to believe that the antibiotic-induced plague has finally arrived.
Another Look at Atrazine
One of the most widely used herbicides in the U.S., Atrazine, is being reevaluated by the
EPA. Some scientists say the weed killer negatively impacts the environment and human
health. But Atrazine’s parent company Syngenta stands behind its product, claiming
the nearly 6,000 studies, and the chemical’s 50-year use, are demonstrative of its
safety. Living on Earth’s Jessica Ilyse Smith looks at the controversy surrounding
EPA’s review of Atrazine.
Antibiotic found to protect hearing
in mice
A type of antibiotic that can cause hearing loss in people has been found to paradoxically
protect the ears when given in extended low doses in very young mice. The surprise finding
came from researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis who looked
to see if loud noise and the antibiotic kanamycin together would produce a bigger hearing
loss than either factor by itself. The results will appear in an upcoming issue of the
Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology and are now available online.
"The protective effect of this type of antibiotic is a previously unknown phenomenon
that now leads to at least a dozen important questions about what mechanisms cause hearing
loss and what mechanisms could be protective," says senior author William W. Clark,
Ph.D., professor of otolaryngology and director of the Program in Audiology and
Communication Sciences, a division of CID at Washington University School of Medicine. The
research project arose out of concern for premature infants being airlifted to St. Louis
Children's Hospital from remote locations across the bi-state area. Mary Jude Weathers, a
flight nurse who supervised the transport of these infants wondered whether the babies
were being exposed to potentially damaging amounts of noise from the helicopters. She
approached Clark, who was worried about hearing loss in these newborns for a different
reason: they were being given the drug gentamicin, which is closely related to kanamycin.
Gentamicin is one of a group of antibiotics used to help treat and prevent a variety of
bacterial infections. Unfortunately these antibiotics can produce severe hearing loss in
some circumstances. But premature infants need something to protect their compromised
immune systems during air transport. Babies get gentamicin because it can protect against
a wide range of infectious bacteria, and it is the mildest antibiotic in its class.
"There was good evidence from laboratory studies in animals that gentamicin and noise
had a synergistic interaction, and that the drug would amplify potential noise
damage," Clark says. "So it seemed logical to assume that people on gentamicin
would be more susceptible to noise induced hearing loss, and we were especially concerned
for these infants."
Antibodies attack immune proteins
Two studies published online on February 1 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine reveal
that patients with a rare autoimmune disease produce antibodies that attack
microbe-fighting immune proteins called cytokines. These findings may help explain why
these patients suffer recurrent yeast infections. Autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome, or
APS-I, afflicts one in 100,000 people and is characterized by disrupted thyroid and
adrenal gland function and recurrent skin infections with one type of yeast. Normally, the
immune system produces cytokines that help protect the body against airborne yeast and
other environmental pathogens. Two teams of researchers—one led by Anthony Meager at
the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control (UK), and the other led by
Desa Lilic at Newcastle University (UK) and Jean-Laurent Casanova at Rockefeller
University (New York)—found that patients with APS-I produce autoantibodies that bind
to and disarm these yeast-fighting cytokines. It is not yet clear why these patients are
prone to infection with only one type of yeast. But these studies suggest that cytokine
replacement therapy might be considered in the treatment of APS-I patients.
Are new genes always better?
Re-vegetation seems like a beneficial strategy for conserving and restoring damaged
ecosystems, and using a variety of species can help increase biodiversity in these
systems. But what are the risks involved with introducing seeds from other locations to
plants located near the damaged site? Introduced populations often hybridize with the
local populations from the same species, which can result in "polluting"
neighboring populations with genes that are poorly adapted to local conditions. Long-term
consequences of such "pollution" could negatively impact the survival of the
existing native populations. A recent article in the January issue of the American Journal
of Botany by Lisèle Crémieux and colleagues from the University of Fribourg in
Switzerland (http://www.amjbot.org/cgi/content/full/97/1/94) looks at how gene flow from
two distant populations and one local, but ecologically distinct, population affected a
local population of Plantago lanceolata, a short-lived perennial herb. Seedling size,
adult vegetative biomass, and estimated seed production were measured for two hybrid
generations plus the first generation backcrossed with the local parents. "We wanted
to know whether the provenance of the seed material used in ecosystem restoration had an
effect on the fitness of neighboring, locally adapted, populations," Crémieux said,
"and not only on the success of the restored area itself."
As Weed Resistance Grows, GM
Herbicide-Tolerant Crops Fast Becoming Useless
Weeds in GM cotton fields in the US have developed resistance to the herbicide glyphosate
to such an extent that this could threaten the sustainable use of glyphosate-resistant
crop technology, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences journal.
Basilea to continue late-stage
antifungal study
Swiss biotechnology group Basilea said it would resume recruitment of patients into a
late-stage trial of an antifungal treatment in the first half of 2010 after a U.S. safety
panel recommended the study's continuation.
Bees recognize human faces using
feature configuration
Going about their day-to-day business, bees have no need to be able to recognise human
faces. Yet in 2005, when Adrian Dyer from Monash University trained the fascinating
insects to associate pictures of human faces with tasty sugar snacks, they seemed to be
able to do just that. But Martin Giurfa from the Université de Toulouse, France,
suspected that that the bees weren't learning to recognise people. 'Because the insects
were rewarded with a drop of sugar when they chose human photographs, what they really saw
were strange flowers. The important question was what strategy do they use to discriminate
between faces,' explains Giurfa. Wondering whether the insects might be learning the
relative arrangement (configuration) of features on a face, Giurfa contacted Dyer and
suggested that they go about systematically testing which features a bee learned to
recognise to keep them returning to Dyer's face photos.
Benefits outweigh risks associated
with newborn screening for disorder
Newborn screening for a metabolic disorder could lead to false positives -- adding stress
to parents, costing money and possibly subjecting a baby to unnecessary follow-up
treatment and dietary restrictions. But the benefits of diagnosing these children early
and preventing the risk of mental retardation, disability or death outweigh the costs of a
false positive, according to new U-M research published today in the February issue of the
journal Pediatrics.
Biochemical profile may help
diagnose, determine aggressiveness of prostate cancer
Magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy – which analyzes the biochemistry rather than
the structure of tissues – may someday be able both to pinpoint the precise location
of prostate cancer and to determine the tumor's aggressiveness, information that could
help guide treatment planning. In the January 27 online issue of Science Translational
Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers report how spectroscopic
analysis of the biochemical makeup of prostate glands accurately identified the location
of tissue confirmed to be malignant by conventional pathology. "Collectively
analyzing all the metabolites measurable with a 7-Tesla MR scanner maps out prostate
cancer in a way that cannot be achieved by any other current radiological test or by
analyzing changes in a single metabolite," says Leo L. Cheng, PhD, of the MGH Imaging
and Pathology departments, the study's senior author. "It detects tumors that cannot
be found with other imaging approaches and may give us information that can help determine
the best course of treatment." Prostate-specific antigen screening indicates the
potential presence of a tumor, but since benign prostate conditions also affect PSA
levels, a surgical biopsy is necessary to detect cancer. Since a tumor may be confined to
only a small portion of the prostate, without a way to identify the most suspicious
regions, a biopsy sample can miss the malignant area. In 2005, Cheng and his colleagues
found that information provided by MR spectroscopy could distinguish prostate cancer from
benign tissue and was superior to traditional pathological studies in determining a
tumor's prognosis. That investigation analyzed tiny tissue samples with an advanced
technique utilizing a powerful research magnet. The current study, building on the 2005
study, used a clinical MR scanner to analyze whole prostate glands, an approach that could
be applied to patient care. Spectroscopic readings were taken across sections of five
cancerous prostate glands that had been removed from patients. The scans measured
proportions of metabolites – biochemicals produced by various metabolic processes
– that had been associated with the presence of cancer using data from the 2005
study. After scanning was complete, the prostate glands were examined by standard
histological techniques, which determine the presence of tumor based on the tissue's
appearance. The histological analysis was done in a way that preserved the tumor's
location within the prostate.
Blood test can predict rheumatoid
arthritis before symptoms arise
Researchers from University Hospital in Umea, Sweden, have identified several cytokines,
cytokine-related factors, and chemokines that increase significantly prior to rheumatoid
arthritis (RA) disease onset. These findings confirm those of earlier studies which
suggest that the risk of developing RA can be predicted and disease progression may be
prevented. Complete findings of this study are published in the February issue of
Arthritis & Rheumatism, a journal of the American College of Rheumatology. Rheumatoid
arthritis is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by joint inflammation involving
the synovial (lubricating fluid of the joints) tissue and eventually leading to
destruction of cartilage and bone. The cause leading to disease development and
progression is not completely understood, although various cells of the immune system and
of synovial origin are suggested to be involved. Numerous cytokines are expressed and are
functionally active in the synovial tissue once the disease has developed. Now a research
team led by Solbritt Rantapää-Dahlqvist, M.D. has found that several of these cytokine
levels spike as much as several years prior to the development of arthritic symptoms. An
early and accurate diagnosis of RA is crucial. According to the American College of
Rheumatology, RA can be difficult to diagnose because it may begin with only subtle
symptoms, such as achy joints or early morning stiffness. Many diseases including lupus,
osteoarthritis and fibromyalgia, especially early on, mimic the symptoms of RA making
diagnosis more difficult. Studies have shown that people who receive early treatment for
RA feel better sooner and more often, are more likely to lead an active life, and are less
likely to experience the type of joint damage that leads to joint replacement.
Brain dopamine receptor density
correlates with social status
People have typically viewed the benefits that accrue with social status primarily from
the perspective of external rewards. A new paper in the February 1st issue of Biological
Psychiatry, published by Elsevier suggests that there are internal rewards as well. Dr.
Martinez and colleagues found that increased social status and increased social support
correlated with the density of dopamine D2/D3 receptors in the striatum, a region of the
brain that plays a central role in reward and motivation, where dopamine plays a critical
role in both of these behavioral processes. The researchers looked at social status and
social support in normal healthy volunteers who were scanned using positron emission
tomography (PET), a technology that allowed them to image dopamine type 2 receptors in the
brain. This data suggests that people who achieve greater social status are more likely to
be able to experience life as rewarding and stimulating because they have more targets for
dopamine to act upon within the striatum.
Brain responses during anesthesia
mimic those during natural deep sleep
The brains of people under anesthesia respond to stimuli as they do in the deepest part of
sleep – lending credence to a developing theory of consciousness and suggesting a new
method to assess loss of consciousness in conditions such as coma. Scientists at the
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, led by brain researcher
Fabio Ferrarelli, reported their findings in this week's edition of the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Science. The group gave the anesthetic midazolam, commonly used at
lower doses in "conscious sedation" procedures such as colonoscopies, to
volunteers. Then they used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), a noninvasive
technique to stimulate the brain cortical neurons from the scalp, in combination with
electroencephalography (EEG), which recorded the TMS-evoked brain responses. What they
found is a pattern that looks much as it does when the brain is in deep, non-rapid eye
movement (non-REM) sleep, another condition when consciousness fades. Co-author and
consciousness expert Giulio Tononi says that when the brain is unconscious it appears to
lose the connectivity that underlies the coordinated, yet differentiated responses to
electrical stimuli observed when the brain is awake or in REM sleep. The group's earlier
studies demonstrated the differences between the sleeping and awake brain.
Brain scientists extend map of fear
memory formation
Draw a map of the brain when fear and anxiety are involved, and the amygdala—the
brain's almond-shaped center for panic and fight-or-flight responses—looms large. But
the amygdala doesn't do its job alone. Scientists at Emory University have recently built
upon work from others, extending the fear map to part of the brain known as the prelimbic
cortex. Researchers led by Kerry Ressler, MD, PhD, found that mice lacking a critical
growth factor in the prelimbic cortex have trouble remembering to fear electric shocks.
The discovery could help improve diagnosis and treatment for anxiety disorders such as
post-traumatic stress disorder and phobias. The results are published online this week in
the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Ressler is a researcher at Emory
University's Yerkes National Primate Research Center, an associate professor of psychiatry
and behavioral sciences at Emory University School of Medicine and a member of the
Atlanta-based Center for Behavioral Neuroscience. He is the first practicing psychiatrist
to be appointed a Howard Hughes Medical Investigator. The research was conducted in mice
at the Yerkes Research Center.
Breakthrough for Hybrid Solar Cells
Scientists at the Department of Microsystems Engineering (IMTEK) and the Freiburg
Materials Research Center (FMF) have succeeded in developing a method for treating the
surface of nanoparticles which greatly improves the efficiency of organic solar cells. The
researchers were able to attain an efficiency of 2 percent by using so-called quantum dots
composed of cadmium selenide. These measurements, well above the previous efficiency
ratings of 1 to 1.8 percent, were confirmed by the „Dye and Organic Solar Cells“
research group of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems at the FMF. The
photoactive layer of hybrid solar cells consists of a mixture of inorganic nanoparticles
and an organic polymer. As it is theoretically possible to apply the method developed by
the researchers to many nanoparticles, this breakthrough opens up new potential for
increasing the efficiency of this type of solar cell even further. The procedure has been
patented and the results were published in a recent issue of the renowned journal
„Applied Physics Letters.“
Breakthrough heart scanner will
allow earlier diagnosis
An innovative cardiac scanner will dramatically improve the process of diagnosing heart
conditions. The portable magnetometer* is being developed at the University of Leeds, with
funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) playing a key
role. Due to its unprecedented sensitivity to magnetic fluctuations the device will be
able to detect a number of conditions, including heart problems in foetuses, earlier than
currently available diagnostic techniques such as ultrasound, ECG (electrocardiogram) and
existing cardiac magnetometers. It will also be smaller, simpler to operate, able to
gather more information and significantly cheaper than other devices currently available.
'Listen to a podcast about the device on our Pioneer Podcast page on iTunes or
alternatively, watch it on our Youtube or Vimeo channels. Another key benefit is that, for
the first time, skilled nurses as well as doctors will be able to carry out heart scans,
helping to relieve pressure on hospital waiting lists. The device will also function
through clothes, cutting the time needed to perform scans and removing the need for
patients to undress for an examination. It could also be taken out to a patient's home,
leading to a reduction in the use of hospital facilities.
Campaign group says both Uganda and
UK complicit in dodgy oil deals
A leading UK environmental campaign group says that both the British and Ugandan
governments are complicit in allowing oil exploration deals in Uganda which are likely to
lead to excessive profits for the oil companies and little benefit for the people.
Can blocking a frown keep bad
feelings at bay?
Your facial expression may tell the world what you are thinking or feeling. But it also
affects your ability to understand written language related to emotions, according to
research that was presented today to the Society for Personal and Social Psychology in Las
Vegas, and will be published in the journal Psychological Science. The new study reported
on 40 people who were treated with botulinum toxin, or Botox. Tiny applications of this
powerful nerve poison were used to deactivate muscles in the forehead that cause frowning.
The interactions of facial expression, thoughts and emotions has intrigued scientists for
more than a century, says the study's first author, University of Wisconsin-Madison
psychology Ph.D. candidate David Havas. Scientists have found that blocking the ability to
move the body causes changes in cognition and emotion, but there were always questions.
(One of the test treatments caused widespread, if temporary, paralysis.) In contrast,
Havas was studying people after a pinpoint treatment to paralyze a single pair of
"corrugator" muscles, which cause brow-wrinkling frowns. To test how blocking a
frown might affect comprehension of language related to emotions, Havas asked the patients
to read written statements, before and then two weeks after the Botox treatment. The
statements were angry ("The pushy telemarketer won't let you return to your
dinner"); sad ("You open your email in-box on your birthday to find no new
emails"); or happy ("The water park is refreshing on the hot summer day.")
Havas gauged the ability to understand these sentences according to how quickly the
subject pressed a button to indicate they had finished reading it. "We periodically
checked that the readers were understanding the sentences, not just pressing the
button," says Havas. The results showed no change in the time needed to understand
the happy sentences. But after Botox treatment, the subjects took more time to read the
angry and sad sentences. Although the time difference was small, it was significant, he
adds. Moreover, the changes in reading time couldn't be attributed to changes in
participants' mood.
Can blood samples predict arthritic
rheumatism?
Levels of inflammatory proteins, so-called cytokines, are elevated in the blood even
before the onset of arthritic rheumatism. This means that such blood samples could be used
to predict the development of the disease and thereby make it possible to prevent the
pathological process, according to an article by Umeå researcher Solbritt
Rantapää-Dahlqvist and her associates in the journal Arthritis and Rheumatism. The
research team analyzed blood samples from 86 individuals who donated samples to the
Medical Biobank before they developed arthritic rheumatism. Of these, 69 had submitted
samples at the time they were developing the disease. Moreover, blood samples were
analyzed from 256 population-based matched controls from the Medical Biobank. The
concentrations of 30 different cytokines and cytokine-related factors in plasma were
measured using a so-called multiplex system. The results show that individuals that later
developed arthritic rheumatism had significantly elevated levels of most cytokines and
that these cytokine patterns distinguished them from the control individuals. There was a
connection with several different parts of the immune defense and also with specific
auto-antibodies, so-called anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies. The results
indicate that several years before individuals develop symptoms of arthritic rheumatism,
the immune system is activated and the process that leads to arthritic rheumatism has
started.
Change in mammography guidelines
questioned
Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore and Washington DC (Jan 28 2010) The methodology
and evidence behind a widely publicized change in national mammography guidelines is
questionable, according to a review in the Journal of Diagnostic Medical Sonography
(JDMS), published by SAGE. In November 2009, the US Preventive Services Task Force
(USPSTF) published a report in the Annals of Internal Medicine discussing the screening
techniques for the early detection of breast cancer. A few isolated portions of that
report, regarding recommended changes for the use of mammography, were widely discussed in
the media, and garnered tremendous public attention. This new JDMS article provides an
evidenced-based review of the work and recommendations contained in the USPSTF report and
raises the question whether the controversial conclusions for breast cancer screening were
supported by established scientific measurement and research standards. The JDMS review
found low methodological scores in the USPSTF report, which may place in question the
recommendations generated from the report. The article concludes that, despite the
report's depiction as a systematic review, the USPSTF report was actually just a review of
literature, which reduces the overall scientific impact of the report to a much lower
level in the hierarchy of evidence. "Even though the methodology used by the USPSTF
is not clear and the level of evidence is questionable, the proposed recommendations have
been highly publicized." writes author Kevin D. Evans. "The most appropriate way
to guarantee patients are receiving quality health care is to become adept at reviewing
published research and implementing information that will change current practice
patterns."
Charest may face asbestos protests
in India
Quebec Premier Jean Charest will face protests over the province’s continued
exportation of asbestos when he arrives in India on Sunday, according to a Montreal
newspaper report.
Chemicals in old furniture can make
it harder to get pregnant
Chemicals found in old furniture could reduce a woman's chance of getting pregnant,
research has found.
Childhood obesity may contribute to
later onset of puberty for boys
Increasing rates of obese and overweight children in the United States may be contributing
to a later onset of puberty in boys, say researchers at the University of Michigan Health
System. In a new study published in the February issue of the Archives of Pediatrics and
Adolescent Medicine, researchers show that a higher body mass index during early and
mid-childhood for boys is associated with later onset of puberty. This is one of the first
longitudinal studies in the U.S. to examine the association between weight status and
timing of puberty in boys. “We found that increased body fatness is associated with a
later onset of puberty in boys, the opposite of what we have seen in girls, as heavier
girls tend to develop earlier, rather than later.
Children more likely to have
attention, behavioral problems when exposed to phthalates in womb, New York study says
Children exposed in the womb to chemicals in cosmetics and fragrances are more likely to
develop behavioral problems commonly found in children with attention deficit disorders,
according to a study of New York City school-age children published Thursday. Scientists
said the findings uncovered a new problem that could be related to phthalates - effects on
a child’s developing brain. "More phthalates equaled more behavioral
problems," said Stephanie Engel, an associate professor of preventive medicine at
Mount Sinai School of Medicine. "For every increase of exposure, we saw an increase
in frequency and severity of the symptoms," including attention problems, poor
conduct and aggression. The connection was only detected for the types of phthalates used
in perfumes, shampoos and other personal care products, not the ones found in vinyl toys
and other soft plastics.
Cholesterol's link to heart disease
gets clearer -- and more complicated
The new findings also highlight a pretty remarkable thing, Heinecke says: "Despite 30
years of study, we still don't know how cholesterol causes heart disease." But, with
the new findings, scientists are getting closer. Earlier studies had shown that heart
disease is about more than just high LDL ("bad") cholesterol. Cells known as
macrophages also play a critical role. Macrophages are part of the innate immune system
that typically gobble up pathogens and clear away dead cells. But they also take up and
degrade cholesterol derivatives. When they get overloaded with those lipoproteins, they
take on a foamy appearance under the microscope to become what scientists aptly refer to
as foam cells. Those foam cells are the ones that seem to have critical importance in the
development of atherosclerosis. People had typically thought about this problem in terms
of linear pathways, Heinecke explained. In essence, macrophages end up with too much
cholesterol going in and not enough coming out. The macrophages get overwhelmed and
trapped in the artery wall, and somehow plaques form as a result.
Climate chief was told of false
glacier claims before Copenhagen
The chairman of the leading climate change watchdog was informed that claims about melting
Himalayan glaciers were false before the Copenhagen summit, The Times has learnt.
Collaborative Study Shows Value of
Urine Testing in Pain Management
Two Yale affiliates traveled to Spain in November to present their research on the
clinical efficacy of urine toxicology in pain management. The two — Dr. Nalini
Vadivelu, professor of anesthesiology at the Yale School of Medicine, and Yale College
senior Isabel Chen (who is also a member of the Class of 2011 in the School of Public
Health) — co-authored an article titled "The Implications of Urine Testing in
Pain Management" with anesthesiologists Maria Teresa Gudin and Esperenza Ortigoso,
both at the Hospital Universitario de Getafe in Spain.
Compound found that targets wide
range of viruses
The development of antibiotics gave physicians seemingly miraculous weapons against
infectious disease. Effective cures for terrible afflictions like pneumonia, syphilis and
tuberculosis were suddenly at hand. Moreover, many of the drugs that made them possible
were versatile enough to knock out a wide range of deadly bacterial threats.
Unfortunately, antibiotics have a fundamental limitation - They're useless against
viruses, which cause most infectious diseases. Antiviral drugs have proven far more
difficult to create, and almost all are specifically directed at a few particular
pathogens — namely HIV, herpes viruses and influenza viruses. The two
"broad-spectrum" antivirals in use, ribavirin and interferon-alpha, both cause
debilitating side effects. Now, researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch at
Galveston, UCLA, Harvard University, the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of
Infectious Diseases and Cornell University have teamed up to develop and test a
broad-spectrum antiviral compound capable of stopping a wide range of highly dangerous
viruses, including Ebola, HIV, hepatitis C virus, West Nile virus, Rift Valley fever virus
and yellow fever virus, among others.
Computer Model Demonstrates That
White Roofs May Successfully Cool Cities
Painting the roofs of buildings white has the potential to significantly cool cities and
mitigate some impacts of global warming, a new study indicates. The research, which is the
first computer modeling study to simulate the impacts of white roofs on urban areas
worldwide, suggests there may be merit to an idea advanced by U.S. Energy Secretary Steven
Chu and other policymakers that white roofs can be an important tool to help society
adjust to climate change. But the study team, led by scientists at the National Center for
Atmospheric Research (NCAR), cautions that there are still many hurdles between the
concept and actual use of white roofs to counteract rising temperatures.
Couples who say "we" have
a better shot at resolving conflicts
People often complain about those seemingly smug married couples who constantly refer to
themselves as "we." But a new study from the University of California, Berkeley,
suggests that spouses who use "we-ness" language are better able to resolve
conflicts than those who don't. UC Berkeley researchers analyzed conversations between 154
middle-aged and older couples about points of disagreement in their marriages and found
that those who used pronouns such as "we," "our" and "us"
behaved more positively toward one another and showed less physiological stress. In
contrast, couples who emphasized their "separateness" by using pronouns such as
"I," "me" and "you" were found to be less satisfied in their
marriages. This was especially true for older couples. Their use of separateness pronouns
was most strongly linked to unhappy marriages, according to the study. Moreover, the study
found that older couples identified more as "we" than did their middle-aged
counterparts, suggesting that facing obstacles and overcoming challenges together over the
long haul, including raising families, may give couples a greater sense of shared
identity. "Individuality is a deeply ingrained value in American society, but, at
least in the realm of marriage, being part of a 'we' is well worth giving up a bit of
'me,'" said UC Berkeley psychology professor Robert Levenson, a co-author of the
study published last semester in the journal Psychology and Aging.
Dangers of black mold
Black mold is found in damp areas and can impact the respiratory system. Reducing the
humidity in a home to between the range of 30-60 percent is recommended to minimize
growth.
Decades later, U.S. military
pollution in Philippines linked to deaths
The U. S. military is long gone from bases in the Philippines, but its legacy remains
buried here.
Decreased Muscle Strength Predicts
Functional Impairments in Older Adults
Decreased muscle strength is associated with difficulty in performing functional
activities such as stooping, crouching, or kneeling (SCK) in older adults, according to an
observational study published in the January issue of Physical Therapy, (PTJ) the
scientific journal of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA). These researchers
found that adults with SCK difficulty had significant decreases in adjusted strength
measurements of trunk extensor, knee extensor, and ankle flexion muscles. Concluding that
measurements of strength predict SCK difficulty, their study sets the stage for research
exploring whether rehabilitation programs that focus on training specific muscle groups
are effective in improving functional performance and whether improvements in functional
performance reduces falls in older adults. Bending down and kneeling are fundamental tasks
of daily living. Other researchers have suggested that older adults with SCK difficulty
are more likely to have limitations in other lower-body functional tasks, such as lifting
and prolonged standing. "As with standing up from a chair, stooping, crouching, and
kneeling movements require coordination of the whole-body center of mass over a wide range
of postures in order to prevent a loss of balance or fall," said physical therapist
researcher and APTA member Allon Goldberg, PT, PhD, assistant professor in the Department
of Health Care Sciences, Program in Physical Therapy, Mobility Research Laboratory, at
Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. "More research is needed, but it is
reasonable to predict that a physical therapy program to improve strength in older adults
who have difficulty performing basic stooping, crouching, or kneeling movements could lead
to improvements in performing these activities, and these improvements could be associated
with reduced number of falls." The study was conducted when Goldberg was a
post-doctoral fellow at the Institute of Gerontology at the University of Michigan in Ann
Arbor. Co-authors of the study are Manuel Hernandez, MS (lead author), and Neil Alexander,
MD, both at the University of Michigan. The study's purpose was to compare trunk and
lower-extremity muscle strength differences in older adults who had difficulty with
stooping, crouching, or kneeling with older adults who did not have these difficulties.
The study analyzed 48 community-dwelling older adults, over age 65, with and without
self-reported SCK difficulty. Participants rated their ability to stoop, crouch, or kneel
according to a 5-point difficulty scale and were tested on balance, strength, and
fall-related measures.
Detecting cancer early
The earlier the doctor finds the tumor, the better the patient's chances of recovery. A
new testing method aims to detect the disease in its initial stages. The technology is
based on a microfluidic chip with tiny channels in which a blood sample from the patient
circulates. The chip traces marker proteins which are indicative of cancer. The measured
concentration of the tumor marker in the blood will help doctors to diagnose the disease
at an early stage. Similar testing systems already exist but their measurements are not
very precise and they can only detect molecules that are present in the blood in large
quantities. What's more, the tests have to be carried out in a laboratory, which is
time-consuming and costly. A project funded by the German Ministry of Education and
Research and coordinated by the Fraunhofer FIT aims to improve matters. Biofunctionalized
nanoparticles developed by research scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate
Research ISC in Würzburg are the key element in the new sensor. »We have improved the
detection limit compared with the present state of the art by a factor of one hundred,«
explains Dr. Jörn Probst, Head of the Business Unit Life Science at the ISC. »Whereas
previously a hundred molecules were needed in a certain quantity of blood to detect tumor
markers, we now need only one. This means that diseases can be diagnosed much earlier than
with present methods.
Diabetes may be linked to
pollutants
There is growing evidence diabetes -- especially among indigenous people -- may be linked
to environmental pollutants, U.S. and Canadian researchers say.
Diabetes patients rank health
concerns differently than their doctors
About one-third of doctors and their patients with diabetes do not see eye to eye on the
most important health conditions to manage, according to a survey by the University of
Michigan Medical School. While both groups frequently ranked diabetes and hypertension
among their top concerns, 38 percent of doctors were more likely to rank hypertension as
the most important, while only 18 percent of diabetics said it was the most important.
Patients were also more likely to prioritize symptoms such as pain and depression. The
findings appear in the current issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine and may
shed light on why some patients manage their diabetes so poorly. "If a patient and
their doctor do not agree on which of these issues should be prioritized, it will be
difficult for them to come up with an effective treatment plan together," says lead
author Donna M. Zulman, M.D., a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar at the University of
Michigan Medical School and researcher at the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System in Ann
Arbor.
Disarming specialized stem cells
might combat deadly ovarian cancer
Eliminating cancer stem cells (CSCs) within a tumor could hold the key to successful
treatments for ovarian cancer, which has been notoriously difficult to detect and treat,
according to new findings published this week in the journal Oncogene by Yale School of
Medicine researchers. "We found that stopping the expression of two genes—Lin28
and Oct4—reduces ovarian cancer cell growth and survival," said Yingqun Huang,
M.D., assistant professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive
Sciences at Yale School of Medicine. Ovarian cancer has been challenging to treat because
it tends to recur frequently and develop resistance to treatment. The poor outcome for
women with ovarian cancer has been associated with subtle and nonspecific
symptoms—earning it the moniker the "disease that whispers." "This
recurrence and drug resistance may be due to the presence of CSCs within the tumors that
have the capacity to reproduce and to differentiate into non-CSC tumor cells that
repopulate the tumor mass," said Huang, who is a member of Yale Stem Cell Center and
Yale Cancer Center. "Eliminating these CSCs may be key to successful
treatments."
Distance education for parents of
children with autism found effective
Through the use of instructional DVDs, parents of children with autism can learn how to
teach their child to communicate and improve their behavior, according to research
published in the January 2010 issue of The Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions
(published by the Hammill Institute on Disabilities and SAGE). Family members play a
central role in the education and treatment of children with autism. However, training
parents in appropriate techniques can provide unique challenges. Often, mothers and
fathers are not available at the same time to participate in training. Contemporary work
schedules no longer conform to a traditional 9 to 5 schedule, further complicating efforts
to help parents with their child. And, many families are simply too far away from training
opportunities to participate on a regular basis. Providing family members with the type of
flexibility they need to participate in training is often beyond the capability of most of
these programs. Researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara (Nicolette
Nefdt, Robert Koegel, George Singer and Michael Gerber) explored whether providing
training to parents through DVDs could help bridge this gap. The good news is that parents
did improve their skills through watching the training videos, and there were improvements
in child behavior as well.
DNA testing on 2,000-year-old bones
in Italy reveal East Asian ancestry
Researchers excavating an ancient Roman cemetery made a surprising discovery when they
extracted ancient mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from one of the skeletons buried at the site:
the 2,000-year-old bones revealed a maternal East Asian ancestry. The results will be
presented at the Roman Archeology Conference at Oxford, England, in March, and published
in the Journal of Roman Archaeology. According to Tracy Prowse, assistant professor of
Anthropology, and the lead author on the study, the isotopic evidence indicates that about
20% of the sample analyzed to-date was not born in the area around Vagnari. The mtDNA is
another line of evidence that indicates at least one individual was of East Asian descent.
"These preliminary isotopic and mtDNA data provide tantalizing evidence that some of
the people who lived and died at Vagnari were foreigners, and that they may have come to
Vagnari from beyond the borders of the Roman Empire," says Prowse. "This
research addresses broader issues relating to globalization, human mobility, identity, and
diversity in Roman Italy." Based on her work in the region, she thinks the East Asian
man, who lived sometime between the first to second centuries AD—the early Roman
Empire—was a slave or worker on the site. His surviving grave goods consist of a
single pot (which archaeologists used to date the burial). What's more, his burial was
disturbed in antiquity and someone was buried on top of him.
Doctor casts new light on cat that
can predict death
When doctors and staff realized that a cat living in a U.S. nursing home could sense when
someone was going to die, the feline, Oscar, was portrayed as a furry grim reaper or
four-legged angel of death.
Doctors are addicted to 'every drug
under the sun'
Doctors are addicted to “every drug under the sun” the head of the first ever
confidential GP service for health professionals has warned.
Doctors cut back hours when risk of
malpractice suit rises, study shows
A new study shows that the number of hours physicians spend on the job each week is
influenced by the fear of malpractice lawsuits. Economists Eric Helland and Mark Showalter
found that doctors cut back their workload by almost two hours each week when the expected
liability risk increases by 10 percent. The study, published in the new issue of the
Journal of Law and Economics, notes that the decline in hours adds up to the equivalent of
one of every 35 physicians retiring without a replacement. “The effect of malpractice
risk on hours worked might seem like a small item compared to physicians moving across
state borders or avoiding high-risk specialties like obstetrics,” said Showalter, an
economics professor at Brigham Young University. “However, when you aggregate that
across all physicians, the total effect is quite large.” The analysis combined data
gathered by insurers about medical liability risks in each state and medical specialty
with physicians’ responses to surveys about their workload and income.
Doctors Miss Major Cause of
Infertility and Obesity
Gail Donnelly's classmates nicknamed her "Knobby" because she was so skinny all
her bones seemed to poke out from under her skin. But when Donnelly turned 27, that once
knobby frame disappeared under mysteriously ballooning weight. Her diet hadn't changed,
she was still walking several miles a day, but she gained 50 pounds in just six months.
Her doctor thought the cause was ovarian cysts. It took ten years and two surgeries before
a new doctor accurately diagnosed her with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). It's a
serious metabolic disorder and one of the major causes of hormonally related infertility,
yet the disorder remains largely undiagnosed and unknown. About 5 million women in the
U.S. are affected by it. "Women are told they are too fat and aren't taken seriously
for a long time," said Andrea Dunaif, M.D., the Charles F. Kettering Professor of
Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a physician at
Northwestern Memorial Hospital. "They go to an average of four doctors before they
are diagnosed. They have been to physicians who say 'there is nothing wrong with you,
don't worry'."
Does evolution always lead to
bigger brains?
The commonly held assumption that as primates evolved, their brains always tended to get
bigger has been challenged by a team of scientists at Cambridge and Durham. Their work
helps solve the mystery of whether Homo floresiensis – dubbed the Hobbit due to its
diminutive stature – was a separate human species or a diseased individual. The team
combined previously published datasets of brain and body mass with measurements from
fossil remains. They then used three different mathematical methods to reconstruct
patterns of brain evolution across the primate family tree from these 37 existing and 23
extinct primate species. The results show that while brains evolved to be larger in both
relative and absolute terms along most branches of the primate family tree, the opposite
happened along several lineages. For example brain size shrank during the evolution of
Mouse Lemurs, Marmosets and Mangabeys. In contrast, the study found no overall trend to
increase body size, suggesting that brain and body mass have been subject to separate
selection pressures in primates. Gorillas, for example, have large brains but the increase
in body mass during the evolution of modern gorillas greatly exceeds the increase in brain
mass. Conversely, lineages leading to other primates, such as Gibbons and Colobus monkeys
show an increase in brain mass but a decrease in body mass. The findings may help solve
the mystery of "the Hobbit" or Homo floresiensis. This metre-high early human
species shared the planet with our species until 13,000 years ago. Its discovery on the
Indonesian island of Flores in 2003 sparked a long-running debate, some scientists arguing
that it was a new human species while others believed disease was more likely to be
responsible for its small size.
Early menopause can result in
earlier onset dementia
Women experiencing an early onset of menopause could develop dementia at a younger age.
Research by Tonnie Coppus of Erasmus MC has indicated this. She studied women with Down
Syndrome, who are known to have an early onset of menopause. The results of her research
can be translated to apply to the general population. Her results will be published in the
Journal of Alzheimer Disease today. Women with Down Syndrome have an earlier onset of
menopause compared to women in the general population, 44 years of age and 52 years of
age, respectively. Coppus' findings show a strong relationship between the age of
menopause onset and the age at which dementia is diagnosed. Coppus: "Women with Down
Syndrome with an early onset of menopause also appear to suffer from dementia at an early
age. In addition, my study shows that these women also die younger." Alzheimer's
disease is the major cause of illness and death among people with Down Syndrome. The
Epidemiology department of Erasmus MC has been studying more than 500 people with Down
Syndrome, above the age of 45, since 2000. In particular, the factors affecting the onset
of dementia and death are studied. The health development found within this group is in
fact an accelerated version of the developments found in the general population. The
research results can therefore be translated to similar results for the general
population.
Elevated brain levels of magnesium
enhance learning and memory
New research finds that an increase in brain magnesium improves learning and memory in
young and old rats. The study, published by Cell Press in the January 28th issue of the
journal Neuron, suggests that increasing magnesium intake may be a valid strategy to
enhance cognitive abilities and supports speculation that inadequate levels of magnesium
impair cognitive function, leading to faster deterioration of memory in aging humans. Diet
can have a significant impact on cognitive capacity. Identification of dietary factors
which have a positive influence on synapses, the sites of communication between neurons,
might help to enhance learning and memory and prevent their decline with age and disease.
Professor Guosong Liu, Director of the Center for Learning and Memory at Tsinghua
University in Beijing, China, led a study examining whether increased levels of one such
dietary supplement, magnesium, boosts brain power. "Magnesium is essential for the
proper functioning of many tissues in the body, including the brain and, in an earlier
study, we demonstrated that magnesium promoted synaptic plasticity in cultured brain
cells," explains Dr. Liu. "Therefore it was tempting to take our studies a step
further and investigate whether an increase in brain magnesium levels enhanced cognitive
function in animals." Because it is difficult to boost brain magnesium levels with
traditional oral supplements, Dr. Liu and colleagues developed a new magnesium compound,
magnesium-L-threonate (MgT) that could significantly increase magnesium in the brain via
dietary supplementation. They used MgT to increase magnesium in rats of different ages and
then looked for behavioral and cellular changes associated with memory. "We found
that increased brain magnesium enhanced many different forms of learning and memory in
both young and aged rats," says Dr. Liu. A close examination of cellular changes
associated with memory revealed an increase in the number of functional synapses,
activation of key signaling molecules and an enhancement of short- and long-term synaptic
processes that are crucial for learning and memory.
Elevation Leads to Altruistic
Behavior
Seeing someone perform a virtuous deed (especially if they are helping another person),
makes us feel good, often eliciting a warm, fuzzy feeling in our chest. This positive,
uplifting emotion, known as “elevation,” might make us feel great, but is it
enough to get us to go out and perform good acts ourselves? According to new findings
reported in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science,
the answer may be yes. Psychological scientists Simone Schnall from the University of
Cambridge, Jean Roper from the University of Plymouth, and Daniel M.T. Fessler from the
University of California, Los Angeles, wanted to investigate the influence of elevation on
behavior. Volunteers viewed either a neutral TV clip (showing scenes from a nature
documentary) or an uplifting TV clip (a segment from “The Oprah Winfrey Show”
showing musicians thanking their mentors) that was designed to induce feelings of
elevation and then wrote an essay describing what they watched. As they received their
payment and a receipt, they were to indicate if they would be willing to participate in an
additional study.
Engineers aim to make air travel
greener
Carbon emissions from air travel could be reduced thanks to a new collaboration between
engineers from the Universities of Bath and Bristol and the aerospace industry. The £1.4
million project will investigate new ways of using composite materials for wing panels in
aircraft. The research, funded by the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council
(EPSRC) and aircraft manufacturers Airbus and GKN, will be using carbon fibres that are
curved within flat plates to produce damage-tolerant, buckle-free structures. This will
lead to substantial cost and weight savings of between 10 and 30 per cent on structural
components, saving fuel and reducing CO2 emissions from the aviation industry, in turn
helping reduce the impact on the environment.
Engineers Explore Environmental
Concerns of Nanotechnology
As researchers around the world hasten to employ nanotechnology to improve production
methods for applications that range from manufacturing materials to creating new
pharmaceutical drugs, a separate but equally compelling challenge exists. History has
shown that previous industrial revolutions, such as those involving asbestos and
chloroflurocarbons, have had some serious environmental impacts. Might nanotechnology also
pose a risk?Linsey Marr and Peter Vikesland, faculty members in the Via Department of
Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech, are part of the national Center for
the Environmental Implications of NanoTechnology (CEINT), funded by the National Science
Foundation (NSF) in 2008. Along with Michael Hochella, University Distinguished Professor
of Geosciences, they represent Virginia Tech’s efforts in a nine-member consortium
awarded $14 million over five years, starting in 2008. Virginia Tech’s portion is
$1.75 million.
Enlisting a drug discovery
technique in the battle against global warming
Scientists in Texas are reporting that a technique used in the search for new drugs could
also be used in the quest to discover new, environmentally friendly materials for fighting
global warming. Such materials could be used to capture the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide
from industrial smokestacks and other fixed sources before it enters the biosphere. The
new study appears in ACS' bi-monthly journal Energy & Fuels. Michael Drummond and
colleagues Angela Wilson and Tom Cundari note that greener carbon-capture technologies are
a crucial component in mitigating climate change. Existing technology is expensive and can
generate hazardous waste. They point out that proteins, however, can catalyze reactions
with carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, in an environmentally friendly way. That
fact got the scientists interested in evaluating the possibility of using proteins in
carbon capture technology. In the study, they used the pharmacophore concept to probe how
the 3-dimensional structure of proteins affects their ability to bind and capture carbon
dioxide. The German chemist and Nobel Laureate Paul Ehrlich, who originated the concept a
century ago, defined a pharmacophore as the molecular framework that carries the key
features responsible for a drug's activity. The scientists concluded that the approach
could point the way to the development of next-generation carbon capture technologies.
Environmental toxins and learning
disorders
a growing number of people believe that a major cause of the uptick in neurological
problems in children involves the ever-increasing amounts of toxic chemicals in the
environment – the very same types of agents that are suspected of causing increases
in the rates of cancers and other physical ailments.
EU Farmers Face Genetic
Contamination of Seeds
Biodiversity, already decaying fast as a result of climate change and intensive farming,
is under further threat by genetic modification (GM) of seeds, says a leading German
ecological activist.
Even mild kidney disease harms a
child's quality of life
Challenging prevailing wisdom that only children with end-stage kidney disease suffer
physical, social, emotional and educational setbacks from their disease, research led by
Johns Hopkins Children's Center shows that even mild to moderate kidney disease may
seriously diminish a child's quality of life. The findings, reported in the February issue
of Pediatrics, suggest that earlier attention to quality-of-life issues in children with
chronic kidney disease is needed. "Even mild and moderate declines in kidney function
may lead to serious physical, emotional, intellectual and social challenges," says
lead investigator Arlene Gerson, Ph.D., a pediatric psychologist at Hopkins Children's.
"What this means is we should be thinking about screening children for these
challenges and intervening earlier than we once thought." For example, recently
diagnosed children who report learning problems may benefit from help before grades drop,
researchers say, noting that children with chronic diseases currently do not qualify for
special education until their scores decline dramatically. In their study of 402 children,
ages 2 to 16, with mild-to-moderate kidney disease, researchers analyzed the link between
kidney function, disease severity, age of onset and disease duration, on the one hand, and
physical, emotional, psychological and school functioning on the other.
Exercise May Increase Volume in
Certain Brain Areas of Patients With Schizophrenia
Potentially beneficial brain changes (an increase in the volume of an area known as the
hippocampus) occur in response to exercise both in patients with schizophrenia and healthy
controls, according to a report in the February issue of Archives of General Psychiatry,
one of the JAMA/Archives journals. The findings suggest that the brain retains some
plasticity, or ability to adapt, even in those with psychotic disorders. Schizophrenia is
known to be associated with a reduced volume in the area of the brain known as the
hippocampus, which helps regulate emotion and memory, according to background information
in the article. "In contrast to other illnesses that may display psychotic features,
such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia is often characterized by incomplete recovery of
psychotic symptoms and persistent disability," the authors write. "These
clinical features of illness may relate to an impairment of neural plasticity or
mechanisms of reorganizing brain function in response to a challenge." The formation
of new neurons is one component of plasticity; previous studies have shown that neuron
growth in the hippocampus of healthy individuals can be stimulated by exercise.
Frank-Gerald Pajonk, M.D., of The Saarland University Hospital, Homburg and Dr. K.
Fontheim's Hospital for Mental Health, Liebenburg, Germany, and colleagues assessed
changes in hippocampal volume in response to an exercise program in both male patients
with schizophrenia and men who had similar demographics and physical characteristics but
did not have the condition. Eight participants with schizophrenia and eight controls were
randomly assigned to exercise (supervised cycling) three times per week for 30 minutes,
whereas an additional eight patients with schizophrenia instead played tabletop football
for the same period of time. The game enhances coordination and concentration but does not
affect aerobic fitness. All participants underwent fitness testing, magnetic resonance
imaging of the hippocampus, neuropsychological testing and other clinical measures before
and after participating in the program for 12 weeks.
Expectant mom’s flu exposure
stunts baby’s brain development
For expectant mothers, catching even a mild case of the flu could stunt brain development
in their newborns, according to a new study conducted in rhesus macaques. Writing in the
most recent online edition (Jan. 22) of the journal Biological Psychiatry, a team led by
Christopher Coe of the University of Wisconsin-Madison reports that flu infections in
pregnant monkeys resulted in significant reductions in gray matter in baby monkeys,
particularly in areas that in humans are associated with language, and the combining of
information from different senses. "The effects were greater for gray matter, which
reflects cell number and size in the cortex, but we did see some reductions in white
matter, too," explains Coe, a UW-Madison professor of psychology.
Experts say 40 percent of cancers
could be prevented
Forty percent of the 12 million people diagnosed with cancer worldwide each year could
avert the killer disease by protecting themselves against infections and changing their
lifestyles, experts said Tuesday.
Fake Fragrances - what Is Really in
Them?
Active ingredients found in counterfeit fragrance include things like urine, bacteria,
antifreeze.
Fat behaves differently in patients
with polycystic ovary syndrome
Fat tissue in women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome produces an inadequate amount of the
hormone that regulates how fats and glucose are processed, promoting increased insulin
resistance and inflammation, glucose intolerance, and greater risk of diabetes and heart
disease, according to a study conducted at the Center for Androgen-Related Research and
Discovery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, or PCOS, is the most
common hormonal disorder of women of childbearing age, affecting approximately 10 percent
of women. It is the most common cause of infertility, and an important risk factor for
early diabetes in women. "We're beginning to find that fat tissue behaves very
differently in patients with PCOS than in other women," said Ricardo Azziz,
M.D.,M.P.H., director of the Center for Androgen-Related Research and Discovery, and
principal investigator on the study. "Identifying the unusual behavior of this
fat-produced hormone is an important step to better understanding the causes underlying
the disorder, and may be helpful in developing treatments that will protect patients
against developing heart disease and insulin resistance." Fat tissue is the body's
largest hormone-producing organ, secreting a large number of hormones that affect
appetite, bowel function, brain function, and fat and sugar metabolism. One of these
hormones is adiponectin, which in sufficient quantities encourages the proper action of
insulin on fats and sugars and reduces inflammation. Women with PCOS produce a smaller
amount of adiponectin than women who do not have the disease, in response to other
fat-produced hormones, according to the research to be published in the February issue of
Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.
Fat Tissue May Be a Source of
Valuable Blood Stem Cells, Study Says
Bone marrow is a leading source of adult stem cells, which are increasingly used for
research and therapeutic interventions, but extracting the cells is an arduous and often
painful process. Now, researchers have found evidence that fat tissue, known as adipose
tissue, may be a promising new source of valuable and easy-to-obtain regenerative cells
called hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs), according to a study prepublished
online in Blood, the official journal of the American Society of Hematology.
“It’s not outside the realm of possibility that a donor graft of adipose
tissue-derived HSPCs might be able to partially replace the need for bone marrow
transplantation within 10 years,” said lead study author Gou Young Koh, MD, PhD, of
the Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
(KAIST) in Daedeok Science Town, Daejeon, South Korea. HSPCs are powerful cells that have
the ability to regenerate and develop into many different kinds of cells. With advances in
technologies and understanding of cell functions, HSPCs are now used to repair damaged
tissue and are being studied for their potential to treat a vast array of chronic and
degenerative conditions. HSPCs are found in high quantities in the bone marrow, but a
certain portion known as extramedullary tissue, found outside of bone marrow, circulate
between the marrow and the peripheral blood.
Fewer honey bee colonies and
beekeepers throughout Europe
The number of bee colonies in Central Europe has decreased over recent decades. In fact,
the number of beekeepers has been declining in the whole of Europe since 1985. This is the
result of a study that has now been published by the International Bee Research
Association, which for the first time has provided an overview of the problem of bee
colony decline at the European level. Until now there had only been the reports from
individual countries available. As other pollinators such as wild bees and hoverflies are
also in decline, this could be a potential danger for pollinator services, on which many
arable crops depend, according to what an international team of scientists have written in
a special edition of the Journal of Apicultural Research. In their investigation the
researchers analysed data that was available from national beekeeper magazines and
national reports, in order to calculate the total number of bee colonies and beekeepers.
In this way the number of bee colonies between 1965 and 1985 could be reconstructed for 14
European countries and for 18 European countries between 1985 and 2005. The compilation
provides us with a preliminary overview of the situation in Europe. It is not complete
however, since for example France, Spain and some Eastern European EU countries are
missing from it, as no suitable data could be procured for them. While in Europe and the
USA the number of bee colonies has declined, the number on a worldwide scale is thought to
have increased by approximately 45 percent over the last 50 years according to a 2009
report from the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
Unfortunately however this finding is of little use to the agrarian economy in Europe and
the USA, for although honey can be imported as a product of the bees, this is not the case
for the service provided by the bees – namely pollination.
Fight Back Against the GMO Assault
on Our Immune Systems
Japan, Canada and some European countries have banned a few of Monsanto's products, while
the USA remains an open market for GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms). This is due
largely to Monsanto Mike's efforts, which includes successfully lobbying against labeling
requirements for GMOs.
Firms told to halt distribution of
167 banned pesticides
Sellers of 167 banned pesticides must declare their stockpiles within one month and
immediately halt their distribution to farmers and other users, officials ordered
yesterday.
Fish oil may reduce the risk of
psychotic disorders in high-risk individuals
Individuals at extremely high risk of developing psychosis appear less likely to develop
psychotic disorders following a 12-week course of fish oil capsules containing long-chain
omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, according to a report in the February issue of
Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. "Early treatment
in schizophrenia and other psychoses has been linked to better outcomes," the authors
write as background information in the article. "Given that subclinical psychotic
symptoms may predict psychotic disorder and psychosis proneness in a population may be
related to the rate of psychotic disorder, intervention in at-risk individuals holds the
promise of even better outcomes, with the potential to prevent full-blown psychotic
disorders." Long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids are a promising
intervention in individuals with schizophrenia, who may have an underlying dysfunction in
fatty acid metabolism, the authors note. G. Paul Amminger, M.D., of Medical University of
Vienna, Austria, and Orygen Youth Health Research Centre, Melbourne, Australia, conducted
a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of their effect on the risk
of progression to psychosis in 81 individuals at ultra–high risk. These individuals
either had mild psychotic symptoms, transient psychosis or a family history of psychotic
disorders plus a decrease in functioning. These criteria identify individuals whose risk
of becoming psychotic may be as high as 40 percent in a 12-month period.
Five Major Poisons Inherently Found
in Animal Foods
Sellers of animal foods for human consumption draw in customers with the marketing
strategy of “unique positioning”—each industry tries to make its
merchandise stand apart from other foods by promoting a nutrient that is especially
plentiful in its product. Over time this effective advertising approach has meant that the
mention of calcium brings to mind milk and cheese, iron has become synonymous with beef,
and eggs are well known as the “best source of high quality protein.”
For bonobos, it’s one for all
Daycare workers and kindergarten teachers tend to offer young humans a lot of coaching
about the idea of sharing. But for our ape cousins the bonobos, sharing just comes
naturally. In fact, according to a pair of papers published by researchers at Harvard and
Duke University in the latest issue of the journal Current Biology, it looks like bonobos
never learn how not to share. Chimpanzees, by contrast, are notorious for hogging food to
themselves, using aggression if necessary. While chimps will share as youngsters, they
grow out of doing so.
Fructose, Uric Acid, and Heart
Disease
About 8 years ago I attended a conference on Arthritis and related joint diseases. The
lecturer who spoke about Gout, proposed that uric acid, the chemical long known to
precipitate Gout attacks, might also contribute to the development of problems associated
with heart disease. At the time, the notion that uric acid related to heart disease seemed
quite absurd and virtually nobody discussed it with any real seriousness.
Functional connection between
hippocampus and cortex modulates anxiety
A new study demonstrates that cooperation between the hippocampus, best known for its
critical role in learning and memory, and a principal downstream cortical target modulates
anxiety-related behaviors in mice. The research, published by Cell Press in the January
28th issue of the journal Neuron, provides intriguing insight into how anxiety is
processed in the brain and may help to explain what governs anxiety-related behaviors.
Recent research has linked a specific region of the hippocampus, called the ventral
hippocampus (vHPC), with anxiety-related behaviors. "While we have known for some
time that the vHPC plays a key role in anxiety-like behaviors in rodents, how it does so
was unclear," explains senior study author, Dr. Joshua A. Gordon from the Department
of Psychiatry at Columbia University. "We wondered whether it might influence anxiety
by interacting with other brain regions thought to be important." Dr. Gordon and
colleagues tested this hypothesis by recording electrical activity from the vHPC and the
medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in mice as they explored different environments, some of
which were known to elicit anxiety. The mPFC was of interest because it was previously
shown to play an important role in anxiety and it receives direct input from the vHPC. The
researchers looked for a synchronization of brain activity between the brain regions
because this is a sign of information transfer or, to put it more simply, that one brain
region is talking and the other is listening.
Gene variation makes alcoholism
less likely in some survivors of sexual abuse
Exposure to severe stress early in life increases the risk of alcohol and drug addiction.
Yet surprisingly, some adults sexually abused as children — and therefore at high
risk for alcohol problems — carry gene variants that protect them from heavy drinking
and its effects, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in
St. Louis. The researchers, from the university’s Midwest Alcoholism Research Center,
say the finding could aid the development of therapies for alcohol dependence by offering
suggestions for targeted treatments based on genetic traits and history of exposure to
severe stressors.
Genetic clues to bowel syndrome
found in Walkerton
There are genetic risk factors behind post-infectious irritable bowel syndrome, say
researchers studying residents sickened by tainted water in Walkerton, Ont.
Genetic mutations associated with
suicide risk among patients with depression
Single mutations in genes involved with nerve cell formation and growth appear to be
associated with the risk of attempting suicide among individuals with depression,
according to a report posted online today that will appear in the April print issue of
Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. An estimated 10 to 20
million suicides are attempted each year around the world, and 1 million are completed,
according to background information in the article. Patients with psychiatric disorders
are more likely to attempt suicide, and those with depression or other mood disorders are
at higher risk. "Twin and family studies suggest that suicide and suicide attempts
are heritable traits and likely part of the same phenotype, with completed suicide and
suicide attempts clustering in the same families," the authors write. "The
genetic risk factors for suicide appear to be independent from the underlying psychiatric
disorder." Martin A. Kohli, Ph.D., then of the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry,
Munich, Germany, and now of the John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics, Miami, and
colleagues investigated genetic variants among 394 depressed patients, including 113 who
had attempted suicide, and 366 matched healthy control participants. The authors then
replicated their results in 744 German patients with major depressive disorder (152 of
whom had attempted suicide) and 921 African American non-psychiatric clinic patients (119
of whom had attempted suicide).
Ginkgo herbal medicines may
increase seizures in people with epilepsy
Restrictions should be placed on the use of Ginkgo biloba (G. biloba) — a top-selling
herbal remedy — because of growing scientific evidence that Ginkgo may increase the
risk of seizures in people with epilepsy and could reduce the effectiveness of
anti-seizure drugs, a new report concludes. The article appears in ACS' monthly Journal of
Natural Products. It also suggests that Ginkgo may have harmful effects in other people
after eating raw or roasted Ginkgo seed or drinking tea prepared from Ginkgo leaves.
Eckhard Leistner and Christel Drewke note that consumers use pills, teas, and other
products prepared from leaves of the Ginkgo tree to treat a wide array of health problems.
Those include Alzheimer's disease and other memory loss, clinical depression, headache,
irritable bladder, alcohol abuse, blockages in blood vessels, poor concentration, and
dizziness. Scientific concern focuses mainly on one chemical compound in the herb. It is a
potentially toxic material known as ginkgotoxin. They reviewed scientific research on
Ginkgo, and found 10 reports indicating that patients with epilepsy who take Ginkgo
products face an increased risk of seizures. They note that laboratory studies explain how
Ginkgo could have that unwanted effect. Ginkgotoxin seems to alter a chemical signaling
pathway in ways that may trigger epileptic seizures. Further evidence showed that Ginkgo
can interact with anti-seizure medications and reduce their effectiveness. "Contrary
to our own previous assumption, we are now convinced, however, that G. biloba medications
and other products can have a detrimental effect on a person's health condition," the
report concludes. "It is therefore important that the large number of G. biloba
product users and their health care providers be made aware of these risks, in order to
enable them to make informed decisions about the use of these preparations."
Glacier-melting debate highlights
importance of satellites
The intense public debate on how rapidly the Himalayan glaciers are retreating highlights
the necessity for the constant monitoring of glaciers worldwide by satellites. Since
glaciers are among the most reliable indicators of climate change and because they can
have a major influence on water availability, knowledge of the recent changes and future
behaviour is of great interest for climate scientists and governing bodies. A key to
assess these changes or to model their future evolution is the existence of a detailed
glacier inventory. Data from satellites allow scientists to measure glacier extent in
detail, providing authoritative evidence of trends. They also allow local measurements to
be expanded to a regional scale. Considering the valuable role satellites can play in
determining the state of Earth’s glaciers, the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS)
has called for the systematic monitoring of glaciers by satellites in support of the UN
Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Gladstone scientists identify
target that may reduce complications of obesity
Although obesity is a risk factor for diabetes and coronary heart disease worldwide, only
some obese individuals go on to develop these metabolic complications, while others are
relatively protected. Defining these protective factors could help scientists prevent
disease in the wider population. To this end, a research team at the Gladstone Institute
of Cardiovascular Disease, led by Suneil Koliwad, MD, PhD, recently added new details that
link obesity to diabetes and heart disease. When individuals become obese from overeating,
cells called adipocytes located in the fat tissue fill up with dietary fats and begin to
die. Immune cells called macrophages move out of the blood stream and into this tissue,
where they accumulate around dying adipocytes. As the macrophages work to clear away th
dead cells, they are exposed to large amounts of dietary fat that can result in unwanted
consequences. Exposure to saturated fats, in particular, causes the macrophages to enter
an inflammatory state. In this state, the macrophages secrete cytokines, such as tumor
necrosis factor (TNF) alpha, that encourage the development of insulin resistance,
diabetes, and heart disease.
Glial cells can protect or kill
neurons, vision
Scientists have identified a double agent in the eye that, once triggered, can morph from
neuron protector to neuron killer. The discovery has significant health implications since
the neurons killed through this process results in vision loss and blindness. The
findings, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS),
are collaboration between the Université de Montreal, McGill University and the Montreal
Neurological Institute in Canada and the Université de Namur in Belgium. The researchers
show how an unusual molecule, called proNGF, activates glial cells that normally protect
neurons in the retina and brain. "We found that glial cells attack and kill neurons
after being triggered by proNGF," says coauthor Dr. Philip Barker, a neuroscientist
at the Montreal Neurological Institute and a professor at the McGill Department of
Neurology and Neurosurgery. "Since glial cells normally protect neurons, we were
surprised to find that proNGF can convert glial cells into killers that cause neuron death
in the retina."
Google wants to see client
addresses in DNS queries
Google employees posted an "Internet-Draft" outlining proposed changes to the
DNS protocol that allow authoritative DNS servers to see the addresses of clients.
Grandpa´s broken hip may mean
weaker bones for his grandsons
If your grandfather has had a hip fracture, you too could be at risk. Researchers at the
Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, have been able to show, for
the first time, a link between hip fractures in elderly men and impaired bone health in
their grandsons. The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology &
Metabolism, shows that hip fractures in grandfathers are linked to low bone density and
reduced bone size in their grandsons. “This is the first time this risk factor for
low bone mass has been demonstrated across two generations,” says associate professor
Mattias Lorentzon, who led the research team at the Sahlgrenska Academy. “This new
risk factor may be significant for the diagnosis of low bone mass and suggests possible
mechanisms for the inheritance of low bone mass and fracture risk.”
Grieving mother blames cancer
vaccine
Rhonda Renata is in no doubt about what caused the death of her daughter Jasmine.
Growing cartilage -- no easy task
Northwestern University researchers are the first to design a bioactive nanomaterial that
promotes the growth of new cartilage in vivo and without the use of expensive growth
factors. Minimally invasive, the therapy activates the bone marrow stem cells and produces
natural cartilage. No conventional therapy can do this. The results will be published
online the week of Feb. 1 by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
"Unlike bone, cartilage does not grow back, and therefore clinical strategies to
regenerate this tissue are of great interest," said Samuel I. Stupp, senior author,
Board of Trustees Professor of Chemistry, Materials Science and Engineering, and Medicine,
and director of the Institute for BioNanotechnology in Medicine. Countless people --
amateur athletes, professional athletes and people whose joints have just worn out --
learn this all too well when they bring their bad knees, shoulders and elbows to an
orthopaedic surgeon. Damaged cartilage can lead to joint pain and loss of physical
function and eventually to osteoarthritis, a disorder with an estimated economic impact
approaching $65 billion in the United States. With an aging and increasingly active
population, this figure is expected to grow. "Cartilage does not regenerate in
adults. Once you are fully grown you have all the cartilage you'll ever have," said
first author Ramille N. Shah, assistant professor of materials science and engineering at
the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science and assistant professor of
orthopaedic surgery at the Feinberg School of Medicine. Shah is also a resident faculty
member at the Institute for BioNanotechnology in Medicine.
Growth factor gene shown to be a
key to cleft palate
Cleft palate has been linked to dozens of genes. During their investigation of one of
these genes, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis were
surprised to find that cleft palate occurs both when the gene is more active and when it
is less active than normal. They say the finding suggests this gene and processes closely
associated with it are central to palate development and could become important targets
for investigators seeking nonsurgical treatments to prevent cleft palate before birth.
Their report will appear in an upcoming issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy
of Sciences. "Palate formation in the embryo is a complex process, and many things
can go wrong," says senior author David M. Ornitz, M.D., Ph.D., Alumni Endowed
Professor of Developmental Biology. "A cleft palate is often diagnosed late in
pregnancy and treated surgically after birth. But if we understood the genetic causes of
this common birth defect, we might be able to diagnose it much earlier. That would
potentially allow intervention with prenatal surgery or with drugs or other agents
designed to counteract the genetic abnormalities." Clefts of the lip and palate
affect about one in 700 newborns worldwide. Children with cleft lip and palate can have
difficulty feeding as infants and can have speech, dental and hearing problems as they
grow older. Depending on severity, surgical repair can require several operations over
many years, and the estimated average lifetime cost of treatment in the United States is
about $100,000 per patient.
Have a break to boost your memory
power
New research suggests that even a short rest while conscious could help the brain sort and
retain information. The findings by scientists at New York University, which appear in the
latest issue of the journal Neuron, expand our understanding of how memory can be
improved.
HIV researchers solve key puzzle
after 20 years of trying
Researchers have made a breakthrough in HIV research that had eluded scientists for over
20 years, potentially leading to better treatments for HIV, in a study published today in
the journal Nature. The researchers, from Imperial College London and Harvard University,
have grown a crystal that reveals the structure of an enzyme called integrase, which is
found in retroviruses like HIV. When HIV infects someone, it uses integrase to paste a
copy of its genetic information into their DNA. Prior to the new study, which was funded
by the Medical Research Council and the US National Institutes of Health, many researchers
had tried and failed to work out the three-dimensional structure of integrase bound to
viral DNA. New antiretroviral drugs for HIV work by blocking integrase, but scientists did
not understand exactly how these drugs were working or how to improve them. Researchers
can only determine the structure of this kind of molecular machinery by obtaining high
quality crystals. For the new study, researchers grew a crystal using a version of
integrase borrowed from a little-known retrovirus called Prototype Foamy Virus (PFV).
Based on their knowledge of PFV integrase and its function, they were confident that it
was very similar to its HIV counterpart.
Human placenta cells die after BPA
exposure
Exposure to very low concentrations of the plasticizer bisphenol A (BPA) causes cellular
damage and death in cultured human placenta cells, researchers report. The doses used for
this study are similar to blood levels found in pregnant women. A particularly worrying
finding is that effects were most pronounced at the lowest – rather than the highest
– concentrations of BPA indicating that placental development could be particularly
sensitive to BPA exposure. Damage to the placenta can induce a range of adverse pregnancy
outcomes including premature birth, preeclampsia or even pregnancy loss. It is not known
if exposure to BPA is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes in humans.
Hunger for stimulation driven by
dopamine in the brain
Our need for stimulation and dopamine's action upon the brain are connected, which
explains why people who constantly crave stimulation are in danger of addictive behaviour
such as drug abuse and gambling. The urge to actively seek out new experiences is a
personality trait that psychologists have known about for years, but up until now
scientists have been unable to prove how this urge relates to hormonal activities in the
brain. Now, an international research team made up of scientists from the University of
Copenhagen, University of Aarhus and University of Tokyo have been able to prove for the
first time that this hunger for stimulation is greater on average among people who possess
more of the gratification hormone - dopamine in the brain. The research team lead by
Professor Albert Gjedde from the Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology at the
University of Copenhagen and Doctor Arne Møller from CFIN at Aarhus University used PET
scans at Aarhus University Hospital to map the areas in the brain where dopamine was
active among healthy volunteers.
Immune memory formation seen in
early stages of viral infection
In an acute viral infection, most of the white blood cells known as T cells differentiate
into cells that fight the virus and die off in the process. But a few of these
"effector" T cells survive and become memory T cells, ensuring that the immune
system can respond faster and stronger the next time around. Scientists have identified a
molecule that defines which cells are destined to become memory T cells just a few days
after a viral infection begins. The finding could guide the development of more effective
vaccines for challenging infections such as HIV/AIDS and also cancer. The results were
published online this week by the journal Immunity. The senior author is Rafi Ahmed, PhD,
director of the Emory Vaccine Center, a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar and a
member of the National Academy of Sciences. Working with Ahmed, postdoctoral fellows
Vandalia Kalia and Surojit Sarkar tracked memory T cell formation in mice infected with
lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus, a virus that causes an acute infection. They observed
that a few days after infection begins, T cells separate into two groups: one with high
levels of the molecule CD25 on their surfaces and one with low levels of CD25. Later on,
all T cells reduce their levels of CD25 and the differences disappear as the infection is
cleared. "The outstanding question in our field has been: when do T cells commit to
becoming memory cells," Kalia says. "This is one of the earliest points where we
have been able to see these groups of cells with distinct fates."
Improved air quality linked to
fewer pediatric ear infections
A new study by researchers at UCLA and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston suggests
that improvements in air quality over the past decade have resulted in fewer cases of ear
infections in children. Ear infections are one of the most common illnesses among
children, with annual direct and indirect costs of $3 billion to $5 billion in the United
States. "We believe these findings, which demonstrate a direct correlation between
air quality and ear infections, have both medical and political significance," said
study co-author Dr. Nina Shapiro, director of pediatric otolaryngology at Mattel
Children's Hospital UCLA and an associate professor of surgery at the David Geffen School
of Medicine at UCLA. "The results validate the benefits of the revised Clean Air Act
of 1990, which gave the Environmental Protection Agency more authority to implement and
enforce regulations reducing air-pollutant emissions. It also shows that the improvements
may have direct benefit on health-quality measures." The research appears in the
February issue of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, the official peer-reviewed
publication of the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery
Foundation. The researchers reviewed National Health Interview Survey data for 120,060
children between the years of 1997 and 2006 and measured the number of instances of three
disease conditions for each year — frequent ear infections (three or more within a
year), respiratory allergy and seizure activity, which is not influenced by air quality
but was included as a control condition.
Increased Co-payments for Doctor
Visits Boost Health Care Costs for Seniors
For years many health experts believed that increasing insurance co-payments for routine
doctor visits helped control costs. Patients faced with the higher price tag, they
theorized, would simply cut back unnecessary visits, saving themselves and insurers money.
Brown University researchers now believe that the practice of increasing co-payments for
outpatient visits — at least for senior citizens — may actually make care far
more expensive. They determined that patients faced with higher co-payments did cut back
on their doctor visits. But those same elderly patients ultimately required expensive
hospital care because their illnesses worsened. The finding, to be detailed in the Jan.
28, 2010, edition of The New England Journal of Medicine, has implications for insurers
and politicians seeking ways to control costs but also improve quality of care.
Inflammation marker related to
obesity is elevated in patients with pancreatic cancer
The levels of an inflammatory chemokine were significantly elevated in patients with
pancreatic cancer who were extremely obese, according to research conducted by scientists
at the Jefferson Pancreatic, Biliary and Related Cancers Center. They presented their data
at the 5th Annual Academic Surgical Congress, held in San Antonio. Studies have shown that
obesity is correlated with inflammation. Similarly, studies have also shown that
inflammation contributes to the tumor progression of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
(PDA). This study looks at the role of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), a
marker of inflammation, in obese patients with pancreatic cancer. Hwyda Arafat, M.D.,
Ph.D., associate professor of Surgery at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson
University, and colleagues sought to identify whether MCP-1 could serve as a marker for
pancreatic cancer, and a differentiation marker between benign and malignant lesions. The
research team analyzed the MCP-1 levels in serum samples obtained from patients with
confirmed PDA or intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMN). They found that the
levels of MCP-1 were significantly elevated in extremely obese patients. In the less obese
population (BMI <37.5), the MCP-1 levels were elevated only in patients with PDA. In the patients who had IPMN, high levels of MCP-1 also correlated with older age.
Intense blood sugar treatment risky
Aggressively treating some people with Type 2 diabetes to lower their blood sugar levels
may increase the risk of premature death, researchers have found.
Iowa State, Ames Lab chemists
discover how antiviral drugs bind to and block flu virus
Antiviral drugs block influenza A viruses from reproducing and spreading by attaching to a
site within a proton channel necessary for the virus to infect healthy cells, according to
a research project led by Iowa State University's Mei Hong and published in the Feb. 4
issue of the journal Nature. Hong, Iowa State's John D. Corbett Professor of Chemistry and
an associate scientist for the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory, said the
findings clarify previous, conflicting studies and should pave the way to development of
new antiviral drugs against influenza viruses, including pandemic H1N1. Two papers
published by Nature in 2008 came to different conclusions about where the antiviral drug
amantadine binds to a flu virus and stops it from infecting a healthy cell. A paper based
on X-ray studies concluded the drug attached to the lumen of the proton channel, the area
inside the channel, and stopped the virus by blocking the channel. Another paper based on
solution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technology concluded the drug attached to the
surface of the virus protein near the proton channel and stopped the virus by indirectly
changing the channel structure. Hong's research concluded that when amantadine is present
at the pharmacologically relevant amount of one molecule per channel, it attaches to the
lumen inside the proton channel. But the paper also reports that when there are high
concentrations of amantadine in the membrane, the drug will also attach to a second site
on the surface of the virus protein near the channel. "Our study using solid-state
NMR technology unequivocally shows that the true binding site is in the channel lumen,
while the surface-binding site is occupied only by excess drug," Hong said. "The
previous solution NMR study used 200-fold excess drug, which explains their observation of
the surface-binding site. The resolution of this controversy means that medical chemists
can now try to design new drugs to target the true binding site of the channel."
Is there more to the story on GMOs?
In addition to the considerable questions about the safety of GMOs and their effects on
mammals, what about other potential side effects to crop producers of GMO crops and their
use?
Israeli Scientists Show DNA
Evidence Can be Fabricated
Scientists from the Tel Aviv, Israel-based company Nucleix have demonstrated that it is
possible to create fake DNA samples and plant them as evidence at a crime scene, in a
paper published in the journal Forensic Science: International Genetics.
ISU multi-center study finds little
effect of soy isoflavones on bone loss in postmenopausal women
A previous six-month study by Iowa State University researchers had indicated that
consuming modest amounts of soy protein, rich in isoflavones, lessened lumbar spine bone
loss in midlife, perimenopausal women. But now an expanded three-year study by some of
those same researchers does not show a bone-sparing effect in postmenopausal women who
ingested soy isoflavone tablets, except for a modest effect at the femoral (hip) neck
among those who took the highest dosage. The multi-center clinical trial of 224
postmenopausal women -- led by D. Lee Alekel, professor of nutrition and interim associate
director of the Nutrition and Wellness Research Center (NWRC) at Iowa State, and supported
by the National Institute of Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, one of the
research institutes of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) -- was the longest ever
conducted on the effects of soy isoflavones on bone mineral density (BMD). It compared the
effects of either ingesting daily 80-mg daily or 120-mg soy isoflavone tablets, compared
to placebo tablets on BMD and other health outcomes.
JDRF-funded research advances
potential for regeneration as a possible cure for type 1 diabetes
A hormone responsible for the body's stress response is also linked to the growth of
insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, according to JDRF- funded researchers at the Salk
Institute for Biological Studies in California. The findings are the latest advances to
underscore the potential for regeneration as a key component of a possible cure for type 1
diabetes. The research, which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences, was led by Wylie Vale, Ph.D., Professor and Head of the Clayton Laboratories for
Peptide Biology and Mark O. Huising, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow at the Clayton
Foundation Laboratories. The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation was a funder of the
study. According to Patricia Kilian, Ph.D., Program Director for Regeneration at JDRF, the
study showed that the stress hormone could increase the rate at which insulin-producing
cells in the pancreas expand in animal models. These findings reinforce the potential of
regeneration as a cure for diabetes and provide insights for discovering new approaches to
treat people with diabetes by restoring or regenerating their ability to produce insulin.
Let them eat grass
Ridge Shinn's cows are fat and happy eating grass, which makes their carbon footprint
smaller than that of corn-fed cattle in feedlots, and grass-feeding has health benefits,
too.
Lifestyle changes for teens
critical in light of research about teens' heart disease risk
Pamphlets detailing the warning signs associated with heart disease may soon end up in an
unexpected location: your child's pediatrician's office. According to new research from
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one in five American teens has at
least one risk factor for developing heart disease in adulthood. With heart health
front-and-center this month in honor of American Heart Month, most media coverage will
focus on at-risk adults. But that's a mistake according to Sarah Wally, a dietitian with
the National Association for Margarine Manufacturers. "Although heart disease is
typically diagnosed in adulthood, its roots often begin in childhood," says Wally.
"Heart disease is the result of a lifelong process and intervention strategies to
reduce risk should begin as early as possible." The new CDC report, released earlier
this year, highlights the need to intervene early. The report reveals that twenty percent
of children and teens in the U.S. have an abnormal lipid profile – a sign of high
triglycerides, low levels of good cholesterol or high levels of bad cholesterol – and
a strong marker for future heart disease risk.
Lighting up nerves could help
people with eye condition Retinitis Pigmentosa
Scientists are developing a new genetic engineering technique called optogenetics that
they hope could ultimately lead to a new treatment for people with the eye condition
Retinitis Pigmentosa, in a £2 million funded project announced today, involving
researchers from Imperial College London and European partners. Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP)
is a group of hereditary eye disorders affecting approximately one person in every 3,500.
In the early stages, this leads to poor night vision, leading to tunnel vision, which
gradually narrows until there is a total loss of sight. RP inactivates cells in the eyes
called rods, which are important for night vision. As RP progresses, these cells die and
this eventually results in the loss of the remaining light sensitive cells.
Linheng Li proposes novel theory
for mammalian stem cell regulation
Linheng Li, Ph.D., Investigator, together with Hans Clevers, M.D., Ph.D., Director of the
Hubrecht Institute in Utrecht, Netherlands, co-authored a prospective review published
today by the journal Science that proposes a model of mammalian adult stem cell regulation
that may explain how the coexistence of two disparate stem cell states regulates both stem
cell maintenance and simultaneously supports rapid tissue regeneration. Adult stem cells
are crucial for physiological tissue renewal and regeneration following injury. Current
models assume the existence of a single quiescent (resting) population of stem cells
residing in a single niche of a given tissue. The Linheng Li Lab and others have
previously reported that primitive blood-forming stem cells can be further separated into
quiescent (reserved) and active (primed) sub-populations. Emerging evidence indicates that
quiescent and active stem cell sub-populations also co-exist in several tissues —
including hair follicle, intestine, bone marrow, and potentially in the neural system
— in separate yet adjacent microenvironments. In the review, Dr. Li proposes that
quiescent and active stem cell populations have separate but cooperative functional roles.
"Both quiescent and active stem cells co-exist in separate 'zones' in the same
tissue," explained Dr. Li. "Active stem cells are the 'primed' sub-population
that account for the generation of corresponding tissues, whereas quiescent stem cells
function as a 'back-up' or 'reserved' sub-population, which can be activated in response
to the loss of active stem cells or to tissue damage."
Losing sleep, losing brain?
Chronic and severely stressful situations, like those connected to depression and
posttraumatic stress disorder, have been associated with smaller volumes in "stress
sensitive" brain regions, such as the cingulate region of the cerebral cortex and the
hippocampus, a brain region involved in memory formation. A new study, published by
Elsevier in Biological Psychiatry, suggests that chronic insomnia may be another condition
associated with reduced cortical volume. Using a specialized technique called voxel-based
morphometry, Ellemarije Altena and Ysbrand van der Werf from the research group of Eus van
Someren evaluated the brain volumes of persons with chronic insomnia who were otherwise
psychiatrically healthy, and compared them to healthy persons without sleep problems. They
found that insomnia patients had a smaller volume of gray matter in the left orbitofrontal
cortex, which was strongly correlated with their subjective severity of insomnia. "We
show, for the first time, that insomnia patients have lower grey matter density in brain
regions involved in the evaluation of the pleasantness of stimuli, as well as in regions
related to the brain's 'resting state'. The more severe the sleeping problems of
insomniacs, the less grey matter density they have in the region involved in pleasantness
evaluation, which may also be important for the recognition of optimal comfort to fall
asleep," explained Altena. She added, "Our group previously showed that
insomniacs have difficulties with recognizing optimal comfort. These findings urge further
investigation into the definition of subtypes of insomnia and their causal factors, for
which we have now initiated the Netherlands Sleep Registry."
Loss of gene function makes some
prostate cancer cells more aggressive, researchers find
Prostate cancer cells are more likely to spread to other parts of the body if a specific
gene quits functioning normally, according to new data from researchers at UT Southwestern
Medical Center. Certain prostate cancer cells can be held in check by the DAB2IP gene. The
gene’s product, the DABIP protein, acts as scaffolding that prevents many other
proteins involved in the progression of prostate cancer cells from over-activation. When
those cells lose the DAB2IP protein, however, they break free and are able to metastasize,
or spread, drastically increasing the risk of cancer progression in other organs as the
cells travel through the bloodstream or lymph system.
Magnesium supplement helps boost
brainpower
Neuroscientists at MIT and Tsinghua University in Beijing show that increasing brain
magnesium with a new compound enhanced learning abilities, working memory, and short- and
long-term memory in rats. The dietary supplement also boosted older rats' ability to
perform a variety of learning tests. Magnesium, an essential element, is found in dark,
leafy vegetables such as spinach and in some fruits. Those who get less than 400
milligrams daily are at risk for allergies, asthma and heart disease, among other
conditions. In 2004, Guosong Liu and colleagues at MIT discovered that magnesium might
have a positive influence on learning and memory. They followed up by developing a new
magnesium compound — magnesium-L-threonate (MgT) —that is more effective than
conventional oral supplements at boosting magnesium in the brain, and tested it on rats.
"We found that elevation of brain magnesium led to significant enhancement of spatial
and associative memory in both young and aged rats," said Liu, now director of the
Center for Learning and Memory at Tsinghua University. "If MgT is shown to be safe
and effective in humans, these results may have a significant impact on public
health." Liu is cofounder of Magceutics, a California-based company developing drugs
for prevention and treatment of age-dependent memory decline and Alzheimer's disease.
"Half the population of the industrialized countries has a magnesium deficit, which
increases with aging. If normal or even higher levels of magnesium can be maintained, we
may be able to significantly slow age-related loss of cognitive function and perhaps
prevent or treat diseases that affect cognitive function," Liu said.
Magnetic Nanoparticles Show Promise
for Combating Human Cancer
Scientists at Georgia Tech and the Ovarian Cancer Institute have further developed a
potential new treatment against cancer that uses magnetic nanoparticles to attach to
cancer cells, removing them from the body. The treatment, tested in mice in 2008, has now
been tested using samples from human cancer patients. The results appear online in the
journal Nanomedicine. “We are primarily interested in developing an effective method
to reduce the spread of ovarian cancer cells to other organs ,” said John McDonald,
professor at the the School of Biology at the Georgia Institute of Technology and chief
research scientist at the Ovarian Cancer Institute. The idea came to the research team
from the work of Ken Scarberry, then a Ph.D. student at Tech. Scarberry originally
conceived of the idea as a means of extracting viruses and virally infected cells. At his
advisor’s suggestion Scarberry began looking at how the system could work with cancer
cells.
Mandatory Policy Boosts Influenza
Vaccination Rate Among Health Care Workers
A mandatory influenza vaccination policy improves immunization rates among health care
workers, according to a recent study of a large health care organization. The finding
comes from a study, now available online, published in the February 15 issue of Clinical
Infectious Diseases. BJC Health Care, a multi-hospital health care system in the Midwest,
implemented a mandatory influenza vaccination policy for its approximately 26,000
employees in 2008 after several years of free vaccinations, extensive educational efforts,
and incentives failed to increase the employee vaccination rate to the system’s goal
of 80 percent. The new policy improved the vaccination rate to 98 percent compared with
rates of 71 percent in 2007 and 54 percent in 2006. Medical and religious exemptions were
granted to 411 employees under the mandatory policy in 2008. Eight workers who were not
vaccinated or granted exemptions were terminated for not complying with the policy.
“Mandatory programs work and can be implemented at large health care facilities or
systems successfully,” said study author Hilary Babcock, MD, of the Washington
University School of Medicine in St. Louis. “Staff influenza vaccination rates are
being discussed as a possible patient safety indicator that could be used for
accreditation or public reporting, which would increase the likelihood of more programs
developing mandatory policies.”
Mapping the brain
MIT neuroscientists are making computers smart enough to see the connections between the
brain's neurons.
Memory failing? You may be at
higher risk for stroke
People who experience memory loss or a decline in their thinking abilities may be at
higher risk of stroke, regardless of whether they have been diagnosed with dementia,
according to a new study published in the February 2, 2010, print issue of Neurology®,
the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. "Stroke is a leading cause
of disability and death among older people, making early identification of people at high
risk of stroke extremely important, so preventative measures can be taken," said
study author Bernice Wiberg, MD, with Uppsala University in Sweden. For the study, 930 men
in Sweden around the age of 70 without a history of stroke participated in three mental
tests. The first test, called the Trail Making Test A, measures attention and visual-motor
abilities. The second, the Trail Making Test B, measures the ability to execute and modify
a plan. The third, the Mini Mental State Examination, is commonly used by doctors to
measure cognitive decline.
Men feel less guilt
Although changing social and cultural contexts mean guilt has less power today than it
once did, a new study has shown that in the West this emotion is "significantly
higher" among women. The main problem, according to the experts, is not that women
feel a lot of guilt (which they do), but rather that many males feel "too
little". "Our initial hypothesis was that feelings of guilt are more intense
among females, not only among adolescents but also among young and adult women, and they
also show the highest scores for interpersonal sensitivity", Itziar Etxebarria, lead
author of the study and a researcher at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU),
tells SINC. The research, published in the Spanish Journal of Psychology, was carried out
using a sample from three age groups (156 teenagers, 96 young people and 108 adults)
equally divided between males and females. The team of psychologists asked them what
situations most often caused them to feel guilt. They also carried out interpersonal
sensitivity tests - the Davis Empathetic Concern Scale, and a questionnaire on
Interpersonal Guilt, created purposely for this study.
Mental illnesses are second leading
cause of time off work in Spain
An interdisciplinary team coordinated by researchers from the University of Castilla La
Mancha (UCLM) and the Canary Islands Health Service has evaluated the economic impact of
mental illness in Spain, and estimated their social cost. According to the study, despite
health resources being invested to alleviate the effects of such illnesses, informal care
and lost work time places a heavy burden on society. Mental illnesses affect a large
number of people, impact on their quality of life and have high socioeconomic costs.
"The three disease groups that the National Health System spends most on in Spain are
cancer, circulatory system diseases and mental illnesses", Juan Oliva, lead author of
the study and a researcher at the UCLM, tells SINC. he study, published recently in the
European Journal of Health Economics, shows that mental illnesses are the second leading
cause of temporary and permanent sick leave, after osteomuscular complaints. In addition,
people suffering from mental illnesses are the fourth most likely to receive informal care
(provided by non-professional carers, usually families), following those who have suffered
strokes and heart attacks, dementia and osteomuscular disease.
Mercury in canned tuna high
More than half of canned tuna samples from a local grocery store failed to meet the strict
Environmental Protection Agency safety level for mercury in fish, according to a new study
by University of Nevada, Las Vegas researchers.
Micronutrients may help diabetes
patients
Dietary supplementation with combined micronutrients including selenium, vitamin e,
vanadium and chromium may help diabetes patients decrease the high blood glucose levels.
Most parents don't realize their 4
or 5 year-olds are overweight or obese
Half of the mothers who took part in a study thought that their obese four or five
year-old was normal weight, as did 39 per cent of the fathers, according to the February
issue of Acta Paediatrica. When it came to overweight children, 75 per cent of mothers and
77 per cent of fathers thought that their child was normal weight. More than 800 parents
of 439 children took part in the study, carried out by researchers from the University
Medical Centre Groningen in The Netherlands. Five per cent of the children were
overweight, four were obese and the rest were normal weight. "As well as asking them
to provide information on their child's height and weight, they were also asked to provide
information on their own vital statistics" says Professor Pieter Sauer from the
Department of Paediatrics.
Mount Sinai finds prenatal exposure
to certain chemicals affects childhood neurodevelopment
A new study led by Mount Sinai researchers in collaboration with scientists from Cornell
University and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has found higher
prenatal exposure to phthalates—manmade chemicals that interfere with hormonal
messaging—to be connected with disruptive and problem behaviors in children between
the ages of 4 and 9 years. The study, which is the first to examine the effects of
prenatal phthalate exposure on child neurobehavioral development, will be published
January 28, on the Environmental Health Perspectives website. "There is increasing
evidence that phthalate exposure is harmful to children at all stages of
development," said Stephanie Engel, PhD, lead study author and Associate Professor of
Preventive Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. "We found a striking pattern
of associations between low molecular weight phthalates – which are commonly found in
personal care products – and disruptive childhood behaviors, such as aggressiveness
and other conduct issues, and problems with attention. These same behavioral problems are
commonly found in children diagnosed with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD),
Oppositional Defiant Disorder, or Conduct Disorder." Phthalates are part of a group
of chemicals known as endocrine disruptors, that interfere with the body's endocrine, or
hormone system. They are a family of compounds found in a wide range of consumer products
such as nail polishes, to increase their durability and reduce chips, and in cosmetics,
perfumes, lotions and shampoos, to carry fragrance. Other phthalates are used to increase
the flexibility and durability of plastics such as PVC, or included as coatings on
medications or nutritional supplements to make them timed-release. "Recently, the
government instituted regulations limiting certain phthalates in things like child care
articles or toys that a young child might put in their mouth," continued Dr. Engel.
"But it's their mother's contact with phthalate-containing products that causes
prenatal exposure. The phthalates that we found most strongly related to neurodevelopment
were those commonly found in cosmetics, perfumes, lotions and shampoos. Current US
regulations do not address these kinds of phthalates."
MSU researcher advocates new way to
treat autism
Children with autism would likely receive better treatment if supporters of the two major
teaching methods stopped bickering over theory and focused on a combined approach, a
Michigan State University psychologist argues in a new paper. For years, the behavioral
and developmental camps have argued over which theory is more effective in teaching
communication and other skills to preschool-aged children with autism. Basically,
behaviorists believe learning occurs through reinforcement or reward while developmental
advocates stress learning through important interactions with caregivers.But while the
theories differ, the actual methods the two camps ultimately use to teach children can be
strikingly similar, especially when the treatment is naturalistic, or unstructured, said
Brooke Ingersoll, MSU assistant professor of psychology. In the January issue of the
Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, Ingersoll contends that advocates of the
behavioral and developmental approaches should set aside their differences and use the
best practices from each to meet the needs of the student and the strengths of the parent
or teacher. “We need to stop getting so hung up on whether the behavioral approach is
better than the developmental approach and vice versa,” Ingersoll said. “What we
really need to start looking at is what are the actual intervention techniques being used
and how are these effective.”
MSU researcher identifies cell
mechanism leading to diabetic blindness
Scientists have long known that high blood sugar levels from diabetes damage blood vessels
in the eye, but they didn't know why or how. Now a Michigan State University scientist has
discovered the process that causes retinal cells to die, which could lead to new
treatments that halt the damage. Diabetic retinopathy is a common side effect of diabetes
and the leading cause of blindness in young adults in the United States. It’s
estimated that between 40 percent and 45 percent of people diagnosed with diabetes have
some degree of diabetic retinopathy. Research by Susanne Mohr, MSU associate professor of
physiology, found the siah-1 protein is produced by the body when blood sugar levels are
high. She then discovered that the siah-1 protein serves as a type of chauffeur for
another protein, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), shuttling the GAPDH
into the nucleus of Müller cells, special cells that have contact with the blood vessels
in the eye. When GAPDH accumulates in their nuclei, the Müller cells die, which leads to
the vascular damage associated with diabetic retinopathy.
Multiple sclerosis risk changes
with the season
Previous studies have shown multiple sclerosis (MS) patients are more often born in spring
than in any other season, indicating that there is an environmental risk factor for the
disease. A paper in the journal Neurology, reviewed for f1000 Medicine by Emmanuelle
Waubant and Ellen Mowry, now suggests that this seasonal effect is mediated by the gene
HLA-DRB1. In many European populations, the HLA-DRB1*15 allele of this gene is associated
with an increased risk of MS, and the large-scale study of MS patients from Canada, Sweden
and Norway now shows that this allele is more common among patients born in the spring.
Waubant and Mowry said the study was "unique in its attempt to understand how genes
and environment interact in MS". However, even though there is a correlation between
birth month, genetics and risk of MS, it is not yet clear how this is regulated. One
likely contender is vitamin D, which influences expression of the HLA-DRB1*15 allele.
Since vitamin D production fluctuates with the seasons, a vitamin D deficit in pregnant
mothers could be related to the increased risk of MS among spring births, but this
requires further investigation.
Natural standard
Natural Standard was founded by clinicians and researchers to provide high quality,
evidence-based information about complementary and alternative therapies. This
international multidisciplinary collaboration now includes contributors from more than 100
eminent academic institutions.
Neural processing differences in
ADHD in individuals with and without prenatal alcohol exposure
The adverse effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on behavioral, cognitive, and social
development can lead to a range of symptoms referred to as fetal alcohol spectrum disorder
(FASD). Attention and cognition problems seen in individuals with a history of prenatal
alcohol exposure often resemble those linked to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD). An assessment of these disorders has found that while children with FASD may meet
the behavioral criteria for ADHD, their attention difficulties differ in subtle but
important respects. Results will be published in the April 2010 issue of Alcoholism:
Clinical & Experimental Research and are currently available at Early View. "ADHD
is clinically diagnosed primarily on the basis of observations by the parent, teacher, and
clinician regarding the degree to which a child exhibits specific behavioral symptoms,
such as difficulty sustaining attention to and completing tasks or play activities,
failure to listen when spoken to directly, impulsivity, talking out of turn, or difficulty
sitting still," explained Joseph Jacobson, professor at Wayne State University School
of Medicine and the study's corresponding author. "A large proportion of children
with a history of prenatal alcohol exposure exhibits these behavioral characteristics and,
therefore, may meet the criteria for a diagnosis of ADHD." Jacobson and his
colleagues examined event-related potentials (ERPs), which reflect changes in the brain's
electrical activity in response to a particular stimulus or condition, in 102 (54 women,
48 men) 19-year-olds. All of the young adults performed a Go/No-go task, which requires
the participant to attend and respond selectively to non-target stimuli (Go) and inhibit
responses to a target stimulus (No-go). Jacobson explained how the Go/No-go task was used
in this study. "The participant is instructed to press a button whenever a letter
appears on the screen except when the letter X appears," he said. "The
participant gets into the routine of pressing the button as the letters appear on the
screen. Once the rhythm of button pressing is established, individuals with ADHD find it
more difficult to inhibit or hold back their impulse to press the button when the X
appears and make more errors on the task regardless of whether or not they were exposed
prenatally to alcohol."
Neurotoxic Chemical Common in Foods
In the new study, researchers tested 2,000 people for PBDEs, finding that meat eaters had
body burdens 25 percent higher than vegetarians. This provided still more evidence that
the chemicals build up in animal fat, resisting degradation.
New 'suicide' molecule halts
rheumatoid arthritis
A researcher from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine has invented a novel
way to halt and even reverse rheumatoid arthritis. He developed an imitation of a suicide
molecule that floats undetected into overactive immune cells responsible for the disease.
Whimsically referred to as Casper the Ghost, the stealthy molecule causes the immune cells
to self-destruct. The approach, tested on mice, doesn't carry the health risks of current
treatments. "This new therapy stopped the disease cold in 75 percent of the
mice," reported Harris Perlman, the lead author and an associate professor of
medicine at Feinberg. "The best part was we didn't see any toxicity. This has a lot
of potential for creating an entirely new treatment for rheumatoid arthritis."
New Agent to Manage Cancer Related
Effusions
In the USA each year, 200,000 cancer patients suffer from a malignant pleural effusion -
development of excessive fluid (pleural effusion) in the chest. Several litres of such
fluid can accumulate, and many patients suffer from significant breathlessness and
distress. One in four patients with lung cancer, one in every three with breast cancer and
most of the patients with mesothelioma will develop a malignant effusion. The current
strategy is to induce a pleurodesis (seal the pleural cavity with a chemical agent so no
fluid can accumulate). However existing agents are far from perfect, with most producing
significant side effects while delivering low success rates. A recent issue of Respirology
published by Wiley-Blackwell features two papers that propose the use of a new alternative
pleurodesing agent, Iodoprovidone. They evaluate iodopovidone as a pleurodesis agent and
found that it demonstrated good efficiency and safety, making it a good option in the
management of malignant pleural effusion.
New form of stem cell communication
rescues diseased neurons
Investigators at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham, formerly
Burnham Institute for Medical Research), the Karolinska Institutet, Beth Israel Deaconess
Medical Center (BIDMC), Harvard Medical School and Université Libre de Bruxelles have
demonstrated in mouse models that transplanted stems cells, when in direct contact with
diseased neurons, send signals through specialized channels that rescue the neurons from
death. These direct cell-to-cell connections may also play a role in normal development by
laying down the blueprint for more mature electrical connections between neurons and other
cells. The research was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences on February 1. While it was already known that stem cells will seek out diseased
cells in the brain, the international group of scientists showed, both in tissue culture
and in mice, that the stem cells actively bring diseased neurons back from the brink via
cross-talk through gap junctions, the connections between cells that allow molecular
signals to pass back and forth. Significantly, the stem cells do not need to differentiate
into the specific type of neuron to provide this therapeutic effect. The researchers also
believe this protective mechanism may be active in other cell types and play a role in
many diseases. For example, some of their preliminary work shows that these mechanisms may
rescue damaged neural fibers in adult spinal cord injuries. "We showed a while ago
that stems cells may exert a therapeutic effect on damaged or diseased host systems by
secreting therapeutic factors and 'bathing' the dying cells," said Evan Snyder, M.D.,
Ph.D., director of the Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology program at Sanford-Burnham.
"However, we did not know that stem cells can also exert their action through direct
cell-to-cell contact. Indeed, we believe that this may be a newly-recognized way in which
stem cells communicate with the cells around them, not only under diseased conditions but
during normal development."
New insights into breast-feeding
hormone
A mechanism for regulating the hormone prolactin has newly been revealed by scientists at
Karolinska Institutet. The results are to be published in the scientific journal Neuron,
and may be significant for conditions and functions such as breast-feeding, sexual libido,
and metabolism. The hormone, prolactin, is released from the pituitary gland in the brain
and is the signal that triggers breast milk production during nursing. The reason that
women normally do not produce milk - and men never do - is that the release of prolactin
is normally strongly inhibited by the signal substance dopamine. This is secreted by cells
known as ‘TIDA' neurons in the hypothalamus in the brain. A research group at
Karolinska Institutet has now for the first time investigated the electrical activity of
the dopamine-producing TIDA cells, in order to understand in more depth the regulation of
prolactin. The study has shown that the cells normally display an extremely rhythmical
activity, with discharges every 20 seconds. The scientists believe that this rhythmical
behaviour lies behind the ability of the TIDA cells to function as a strong inhibitor of
prolactin release.
New method improves eating skills
of dementia patients
A pioneering international study involving academics from the University of Sheffield has
shown for the first time that it is possible to improve the eating skills and nutritional
status of older people with dementia. The study, which was published in the International
Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and funded by the National Health Research Institutes of
Taiwan, tested two separate intervention methods to assess the eating patterns of dementia
patients in Taiwan. Loss of memory and problems with judgement in dementia patients can
cause difficulties in relation to eating and nutrition. Poor eating habits in patients
have been associated with poor quality of life and can lead to pressure ulcers and
infections.
New on-off 'switch' triggers and
reverses paralysis in animals with a beam of light
In an advance with overtones of Star Trek phasers and other sci-fi ray guns, scientists in
Canada are reporting development of an internal on-off "switch" that paralyzes
animals when exposed to a beam of ultraviolet light. The animals stay paralyzed even when
the light is turned off. When exposed to ordinary light, the animals become unparalyzed
and wake up. Their study appears in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS).
It reports the first demonstration of such a light-activated switch in animals. Neil
Branda and colleagues point out that such "photoswitches" — light-sensitive
materials that undergo photoreactions — have been available for years. Scientists use
them in research. Doctors use light-sensitive materials and photoreactions in medicine in
photodynamic therapy to treat certain forms of cancer. Those light-sensitive materials,
however, do not have the reversibility that exists in photoswitching.
New paper describes important
advance in imaging of cell death
For quite some time, the "Holy Grail" in medical imaging has been the
development of an effective method to image cell death as a means to intervene early in
diseases and rapidly determine the effectiveness of treatments. A new paper by researchers
at the University of Notre Dame and the Washington University School of Medicine describes
important progress in using a synthetic probe to target dead and dying cells in mammary
and prostate tumors in living animals. Bradley D. Smith, Emil T. Hofman Professor of
Chemistry and Biochemistry at Notre Dame, points out that the group of researchers had
previously discovered that synthetic zinc (II)-dipicolylamine (Zn-DPA) coordination
complexes can selectively target the outer surfaces of anionic (negatively charged) cell
membranes. Furthermore, fluorescent versions of these Zn-DPA complexes act as imaging
probes that can distinguish dead and dying mammalian cells from healthy cells in a cell
culture and also selectively target bacteria in contaminated samples. The researchers also
recently demonstrated that a fluorescent near-infrared probe referred to as PSS-794 can be
used to image bacterial infections in mice, indicating that PSS-794 has a notable ability
to selectively target anionic cells in living animals.
New Research on Type 2 Diabetes by
TCD Researchers Could Benefit Young Adults with the Condition
New research on Type 2 diabetes by Trinity College Dublin researchers could benefit young
adults (aged 18-25 years) with the condition. The research led by Professor John Nolan of
Trinity College Dublin and St James’s Hospital, Dublin, has just been published
online in the leading international journal, Diabetes Care¹. The study findings
demonstrate new mechanisms in muscle cells that may explain severe insulin resistance
which is the body’s decreased ability to respond to the effects of insulin, and a
reduced response to aerobic exercise in young obese patients with Type 2 diabetes. These
important findings will contribute in the longterm to the development of more specific
treatments for young people with Type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is the most common form
of diabetes. It occurs because the body produces too little insulin and is unable to
properly use the insulin that is secreted. It usually occurs in older people although it
is becoming more common among younger people, partly due to lifestyle factors such as
diet, lack of physical activity and obesity. The highest rates occur in countries with
modern lifestyles. Type 2 diabetes accounts for approximately 85%-90% of all cases of
diabetes in European countries². It is estimated that 129,052 people in the Republic of
Ireland have adult Type 2 diabetes or 4.3% of the adult population³.
New study on dirty fuel raises
health concerns
New York University Law School's Institute of Policy Integrity released a study last
Saturday regarding the substantial environmental, health and economic benefits of
converting "dirty" boiler fuel to cleaner-burning fuels in New York City.
New study shows effectiveness of
MEND program in prevention and treatment of pediatric obesity
Ground-breaking results from a study to evaluate the effectiveness of the MEND Program
(Mind, Exercise, Nutrition, Do it!), a multi-component community-based childhood obesity
intervention (www.mendcentral.org), are published today in the US journal Obesity. The
results coincide with the launch of Michelle Obama's initiative to reduce childhood
obesity announced in the State of the Union speech. The independent study conducted by a
team at University College London Institute of Child Health (ICH) demonstrates the success
of the weight management program MEND for overweight and obese children and their
families. The MEND Program supports recent international recommendations calling for
pediatric obesity programs to involve the whole family and include nutrition education,
behavior modification and promotion of physical activity. 116 children aged between 8 and
12 years took part in the study, which involved attending a nine week MEND program,
followed by the provision of 12 weeks of free family swimming between January 2005 and
January 2007. All lost weight, lowered their BMI (Body Mass Index) and waist
circumference, and improved their self esteem and physical activity levels. Their general
health, including cardiovascular fitness, also improved. Participants were randomly
assigned to start the program immediately (intervention group), or receive the
intervention six months later (control group). Waist circumference, BMI, body composition,
physical activity level, sedentary activities, cardiovascular fitness and self esteem were
assessed at baseline, and again at six and 12 months. All measures improved at six months
and were sustained at 12 months. A key strength of the MEND Program was its acceptability
to families—all the children who started the program completed it.
New TAU study proves smoking
cessation significantly increases cardiac health later in life
Smoking affects your cardiac health both before and after a major event like a heart
attack. But how much? And does cutting back instead of quitting have a positive effect as
well? There are definitive answers in a new study from Tel Aviv University, the largest
and most comprehensive of its kind. The research found that quitting smoking after a heart
attack has about the same positive effect as other major interventions such as
lipid-lowering agents like statins or more invasive procedures. Study results were
reported in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
New way to lose fat, keep the lean
Researchers reporting in the February 3rd issue of Cell Metabolism may have a new way to
trick the body into consuming more energy. The target in this case is an enzyme that
indirectly controls the activity of what the researchers refer to as the "energy
master switch." It boils down to this: When you give mice a chemical that blocks the
function of the enzyme known as Fyn kinase, they almost immediately begin burning more
fat. "When there is an imbalance between what we eat and what we burn," the
outcome is obesity, said Claire Bastie of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and
Neuroscience. "And the problem of obesity is not going away. This is a new mechanism
to help the body to burn extra energy." Bastie's team earlier showed that mice
lacking Fyn kinase altogether burn more fatty acids and expend more energy to become
leaner. They also showed other metabolic improvements, including increased insulin
sensitivity. Those effects were the result of higher levels of the master energy switch
AMPK in their fat and muscle tissue. Those findings suggested that the enzyme might offer
a useful target for a new kind of weight loss drug. Now, the researchers add support for
that idea by showing that chemical inhibition of Fyn kinase with an experimental drug
known only as SU6656 does have considerable metabolic benefits for mice. Ultimately, the
animals appear to become increasingly fit as they lose fat and keep the lean.
Nitrogen feedbacks may accelerate
climate change
Studies have shown that nitrogen can affect the carbon cycle and hence global climate.
Nitrogen affects carbon-climate interactions in several ways. As atmospheric carbon
dioxide concentrations increase, the amount of carbon dioxide plants take up should rise,
but nitrogen constrains the amount of carbon dioxide plants can use. On the other hand,
rising temperatures increase organic matter decomposition, making more nitrogen available
for increased plant growth, which results in increased carbon storage. Using land surface
model simulations, Zaehle et al. investigate the overall effect of nitrogen dynamics on
carbon and climate. The authors first compare their model with ecosystem level
experimental studies to verify that the model reproduces observed effects, and then use
the model to estimate how nitrogen might influence the future global carbon cycle and
climate. Overall, the authors find that nitrogen dynamics substantially decrease
terrestrial carbon storage, and thus increase atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations,
potentially accelerating climate change. Predictions of future climate change need to
account for the potential impacts of nitrogen dynamics on the global carbon cycle.
No role for mental health
professionals in the practice of torture
Psychologists and psychiatrists should not be expected to participate in torture as they
do not have the expertise to assess individual pain or the long-term effects of
interrogation, says an expert on bmj.com today. The authors, Derrick Silove and Susan
Rees, from the University of New South Wales in Australia, say some senior members of the
US military have argued that a psychologist's presence is necessary to protect the
prisoner or detainee from the "severe physical or mental pain or suffering resulting
in prolonged mental harm." They add that several leading scientific journals have
also published papers by authors who support the presence of mental health professionals
as protection for detainees. But the authors believe that there is no established marker
to assess "extreme experiences that cause pain or psychological trauma" and do
not believe it is possible for professionals "to make accurate assessments of the
level of pain or mental trauma being experienced by the detainee." They maintain that
it can be "notoriously difficult" to assess how much distress a detainee is
experiencing. Indeed, there is evidence that "militants who are ideologically
prepared may show greater resilience when tortured." There is extensive research,
they argue, that torture causes long-term mental health problems. However, "we do not
yet have the scientific knowledge to predict with any precision what the psychological
outcome will be for an individual." The authors conclude that having spent years
trying to reveal the damaging effects of torture, it would be ironic if health
professionals were called upon to use their skills to participate in this practice.
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
associated with high mortality rates
Researchers from the Karolinska Institute determined that patients with nonalcoholic fatty
liver disease (NAFLD) have a higher overall mortality rate compared with the general
population. Details of this study are available in the February issue of Hepatology, a
journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American Association for the Study
of Liver Diseases. While NAFLD is the most common cause of elevated liver enzyme levels,
the long-term prognosis of this condition is relatively unknown. "We wanted to
determine the frequency of NAFLD and NASH in a population of subjects with elevated serum
levels of aminotransaminases and compare the survival and causes of death in NAFLD
subjects with those of subjects from other liver diseases, and the general
population," explains research team leader Dr. Cecilia Söderberg. The research team
evaluated 256 male and female subjects between the ages of 33-57 who had undergone a liver
biopsy (between 1980-1984) due to elevated liver enzymes. The biopsies were blindly scored
for NAFLD and NASH. The inclusion criteria were persistently elevated levels of aspartate
aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) for more than 6 months. Subjects
with symptoms or clinical signs of liver disease, serum levels of alkaline phosphate more
than twice the upper normal limit, or with clinical or laboratory signs of kidney disease
were excluded. It was understood that subjects consumed alcohol in moderation.
Standardized mortality ratios were used to assess the relative risk of death. The study
findings suggest that for this study population, persistently elevated serum levels of
liver enzymes was associated with an increased risk of death during the 28-year study
period. Patients with NAFLD and NASH had a much higher risk of death than the general
population but not as high a risk as for patients with chronic viral hepatitis or
alcoholic liver disease. Cardiovascular disease and extra-hepatic malignancies were the
primary and secondary causes of death among patients with NAFLD whereas liver-related
causes were the third.
Oral contraceptive may boost breast
cancer risk
A study published Jan 15 in the Cancer Research has found oral contraceptive may at least
boost triple-negative (ER(-)/PR(-)/HER2(-) breast cancer.
Parkinson's disease research
uncovers social barrier
People with Parkinson's disease suffer social difficulties simply because of the way they
talk, a McGill University researcher has discovered. Marc Pell, at McGill's School of
Communication Sciences and Disorders, has learned that many people develop negative
impressions about individuals with Parkinson's disease, based solely on how they
communicate. These perceptions limit opportunities for social interaction and full
participation in society for those with the disease, reducing their quality of life.
Pell's research offers the public a better understanding of the difficulties these
patients face – as well as an opportunity to promote greater inclusiveness. The
research was conducted in collaboration with Abhishek Jaywant, a research trainee in
McGill's Neuropragmatics and Emotion Lab, and with financial support from the Canadian
Institutes of Health Research and the Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec. Aging
adults both with and without Parkinson's were recorded as they described visual scenes.
Their voices were then played to listeners who were unaware of the speaker's health
status. Those with Parkinson's disease were perceived as less interested, less involved,
less happy and less friendly than aging speakers without the disease. Negative impressions
of their personality were specifically related to changes in the speaking voices caused by
the disease, not the ability to describe the scenes.
Performing single ultrasound to
detect blood clot may be sufficient for some patients
An analysis of previous studies suggests that for patients with a suspected blood clot in
a deep vein of a leg, withholding anticoagulation therapy after a negative whole-leg
compression ultrasound is associated with a low risk of developing a blood clot during the
subsequent 3 months, suggesting that multiple ultrasounds may not be necessary for some
low-risk patients, according to an article in the February 3 issue of JAMA. Compression
ultrasound (CUS) is the primary testing procedure used to diagnose proximal deep vein
thrombosis (DVT; a blood clot in a deep vein in the thigh or leg), as the method confirms
and excludes DVT of the proximal veins (above the knee) but its accuracy for distal vein
DVT (below the knee) has been questioned. Up to 25 percent of distal DVTs may move into
proximal veins, increasing the risk of pulmonary embolism (blood clot in the veins moving
into the lung). "Consequently, practice guidelines recommend serial CUS of the
proximal veins 5 to 7 days after an initial negative result to safely exclude clinically
suspected DVT. Because only 1 percent to 2 percent of repeat CUS tests detect thrombus
propagation, many repeat studies are conducted to detect a small number of DVTs," the
authors write. Whole-leg CUS may exclude proximal and distal DVT in a single evaluation
and lessen the need for repeat CUS tests, however concerns exist regarding the safety of
using a single whole-leg CUS to exclude DVT following an initially negative result,
according to background information in the article.
Play yourself healthy
A just published research experiment on inactive men with high blood pressure shows that
just 3 months of soccer practise twice a week causes a significant fall in blood pressure,
resting pulse rate, and percentage of body fat, and is more effective than the doctor's
usual advice on healthy diet and exercise. Other parallel experiments on both women and
men further demonstrates that a regular game of soccer affects numerous cardiovascular
risk factors such as maximal oxygen uptake, heart function, elasticity of the vascular
system, blood pressure, cholesterol and fat mass far more than e.g. strength training and
just as much if not more than running. Photo from the projectEach of the experiments was
controlled randomized studies where the soccer groups were compared to other exercise
groups and inactive controls. The soccer experiments are part of a large-scale research
project on soccer and health carried out at the University of Copenhagen, four Danish
University Hospitals, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and the Schulthess Clinic
in Zurich.
Pomegranate extract stimulates
uterine contractions
The team identified beta-sitosterol – a steroid that can inhibit the absorption of
cholesterol in the intestine – as the main constituent of pomegranate seed extract.
The research suggests that pomegranate extract could be used as a natural stimulant to
encourage the uterus to contract during labour. Pomegranate juice is thought to have a
number of health benefits, from lowering cholesterol and blood pressure to protecting
against some cancers, but until now there has been no evidence to demonstrate its effects
on the uterus. Researchers investigated pomegranate seed extract – more highly
concentrated than pomegranate juice – and its effect on uterine smooth muscle
samples. Professor Sue Wray, from the University's Department of Physiology, said:
"Previous study has suggested that the pomegranate's antioxidant and
anti-inflammatory properties have a positive impact on health. We wanted to understand its
effect on uterine contractions to help us explore new ways of treating women who may
experience difficult labours. Currently the only available drug to treat women with a
poorly contracting uterus is oxytocin, a hormone which only works approximately 50% of the
time. "It is important for us to investigate how the uterus works and what happens
when it does not contract normally so that women experiencing problems during labour do
not have to undergo major surgery to deliver a healthy baby."
Potential new target for drugs to
treat iron deficiency and overload discovered
The discovery of a major player in the body's regulation of iron levels should provide a
new target for drugs that prevent common iron deficiency as well as rare, potentially
deadly iron overload, researchers said. Medical College of Georgia researchers noted in
the online edition of Blood that the protein neogenin, a receptor that aids in neural
development, is also part of the body's interwoven regulatory process for iron. The
receptor, located on the cell surface, should be an easy target for drug development to
help increase or decrease iron levels as needed, said Dr. Wen-Cheng Xiong, the study's
corresponding author and a developmental neurobiologist at the Medical College of Georgia
Schools of Medicine and Graduate Studies. Iron, an essential nutrient in foods such as
meats, beans and spinach, is used by all cells but primarily helps red blood cells deliver
oxygen throughout the body. However, in some individuals, low levels cause iron
deficiency-anemia while genetic diseases such as juvenile hemochromatosis or blood
transfusions can result in toxic levels of iron in the body.
Prenatal alcohol exposure can alter
the brain's developing pain regulatory system
Prenatal alcohol exposure is widely known to impair brain development in exposed
offspring. Rodent studies have shown that developmental deficits in newborns related to
altered levels of a brain chemical called serotonin (5-HT), leading to subsequent
alterations in patterns of neonatal acute pain responses and/or
hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) stress reactivity. New findings show a "blunted
response" to an acutely painful event – a heel lance – in alcohol-exposed
human newborns, indicating that prenatal alcohol exposure may alter the brain's developing
pain regulatory system. Results will be published in the April 2010 issue of Alcoholism:
Clinical & Experimental Research and are currently available at Early View.
"Timing is everything," said Tim F. Oberlander, a professor in the Division of
Developmental Pediatrics at the BC Children's Hospital, the Child and Family Research
Institute (CFRI), and the University of British Columbia. "The idea to look at pain
responses in newborns with prenatal alcohol exposure came from two places," he said.
"Since 1996, our group here in Vancouver had been studying acute pain reactivity and
stress regulation in newborns of depressed mothers taking an SSRI antidepressant –
such as Prozac – during their pregnancies. At the same time, Sandra Jacobson, a
professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences at Wayne State
University, and her collaborators had been studying stress regulation and development in
alcohol-exposed children in Detroit and Cape Town, South Africa."
Prenatal exposure to
traffic-related air pollution and ultrasound measures of fetal growth
Our results lend some support to an effect of exposure to traffic-related air pollutants
from early pregnancy on fetal growth during mid-pregnancy. Environmental Health
Perspectives.
Prolactin blocks oncogene
associated with poor prognosis in breast cancer
Researchers from the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson have found a mechanism by which a
hormone responsible for milk production blocks an oncogene that makes breast cancer more
aggressive. Publishing in the journal Cancer Research, the researchers discovered that
prolactin, a pituitary hormone that normally stimulates breast development and milk
production, in fact reduces levels of an oncogene called BCL6. The BCL6 protein has
previously been shown to play a role in poorly differentiated breast cancer, which carries
a poorer prognosis. According to Hallgeir Rui, M.D., Ph.D., a professor of Cancer Biology
and Medical Oncology at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University,
prolactin's role in breast cancer is, to a large extent, carried out by a protein pathway
called Stat5. In breast cancer, the inactivation of Stat5 is related to poorly
differentiated breast cancer, and thus poorer prognosis. "We found that prolactin
will block expression of the BCL6 protein, and showed that Stat5a, but not the very
similar Stat5b variant, is involved in this process as a mediator of prolactin," said
Dr. Rui. "We think that prolactin plays an important role in preventing aggressive
breast cancers, and that there is a connection between the loss of Stat5 and the increase
of BCL6 in making breast cancer more aggressive."
Promising new neuroimaging
techniques for early detection of Alzheimer's disease
Investigators from the International Center for Biomedicine and the University of Chile,
in collaboration with the Center for Bioinformatics of the Universidad de Talca, have
discovered that two drugs, the benzimidazole derivatives lanzoprazole and astemizole, may
be suitable for use as PET (positron emission tomography) radiotracers and enable imaging
for the early detection of Alzheimer's Disease. The study is published in the current
issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. Lanzoprazole and astemizole specifically tag
pathological oligomers of tau which form the core of neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), a
pathognomonic brain lesion in Alzheimer´s patients. Prof. Dr. R.B. Maccioni and Dr.
Leonel Rojo, authors of the study commented, "Since neurofibrillary tangles are
positively correlated with cognitive impairment, we propose that these drugs have great
potential in PET neuroimaging for in vivo early detection of AD and in reducing the
formation of NFTs. These studies, based on advanced proteomics and databases of molecular
interactions, may help to find potential new drugs for early diagnosis and treatment of
Alzheimer´s disease. The findings are the result of a long-standing research program
supported by the Alzheimer´s Association-USA and Fondecyt, Chile to evaluate new drug
candidates." Technological applications of this discovery are being developed with
the collaboration of VentureL@b of the Universidad Adolfo Ibañez. Interestingly,
lanzoprazole and astemizole, already approved for treatment of proton pump disorders and
as an antihistamine respectively, specifically bind directly to aggregated variants of tau
protein, paired helical filaments (PHFs) and NFTs in Alzheimer´s brains. Until now it has
not been possible to detect these pathological brain structures in living Alzheimer´s
patients. The only confirmation of the disease has been attained by postmortem
neuropathological evaluation.
Public swimming ups risk of
gastrointestinal ills
A dip in the public pool or local lake may boost people's odds of catching a case of
"stomach flu," a new study shows.
Push to send FEMA trailers to Haiti
stirs backlash
The trailer industry and lawmakers are pressing the government to send Haiti thousands of
potentially formaldehyde-laced trailers left over from Hurricane Katrina — an idea
denounced by some as a crass and self-serving attempt to dump inferior American products
on the poor.
Putting fences around medical
marijuana use
Even as a proposal to legalize medical marijuana emerges in Maryland, a backlash over the
burgeoning industry has developed in other states - and is likely to influence legislation
here.
Quantifying the positive feedback
between CO2 and temperature
Anthropogenic climate change promotes increased release of the greenhouse gas CO2 from the
terrestrial biosphere and the oceans - this, in turn, increases global warming. For each
degree Celsius of global warming, CO2 levels in the atmosphere increased by roughly three
percent. This conclusion represents the outcome of a study conducted by climatologists of
the Swiss Federal Research Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape (WSL) in collaboration
with Bern and Mainz Universities. Their paper was published in the journal Nature on 28
January 2010.
Reduced Kidney Function and High
Levels of Protein in Urine Associated With Increased Risk of Death, Heart Attack and
Kidney Failure
Patients with high levels of proteinuria (protein in urine) in addition to another marker
of reduced kidney function had an associated increased risk of all-cause death, heart
attack or progression to kidney failure, according to a study in the February 3 issue of
JAMA. As many as 26 million Americans have chronic kidney disease (CKD). The current
system for determining the stage of CKD is based primarily on the estimated rate of
glomerular filtration (eGFR; measure of the kidneys' ability to filter and remove waste
products) with lower eGFR associated with higher risk of adverse outcomes. " ...the
guidelines have been criticized because they do not incororate information about the
presence and severity of proteinuria an important marker of CKD that is associated with
adverse outcomes," the authors write. Brenda R. Hemmelgarn, M.D., Ph.D., of the
University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and colleagues examined the association between
reduced eGFR, proteinuria, and adverse clinical outcomes, including all-cause death, heart
attack, and progression to kidney failure. The researchers analyzed data from a
province-wide (Alberta) laboratory registry that included eGFR and proteinuria
measurements for 2002 to 2007. There were 920,985 adults who had at least 1 outpatient
serum creatinine measurement and who did not require renal replacement treatment (i.e.,
dialysis) at the beginning of the study.
Research breakthrough could lead to
new treatment for malaria
Malaria causes more than two million deaths each year, but an expert multinational team
battling the global spread of drug-resistant parasites has made a breakthrough in the
search for better treatment. Better understanding of the make-up of these parasites and
the way they reproduce has enabled an international team, led by John Dalton, a biochemist
in McGill's Institute of Parasitology, to identify a plan of attack for the development of
urgently needed new treatments. Malaria parasites live inside our red blood cells and feed
on proteins, breaking them down so that they can use the proceeds (amino acids) as
building blocks for their own proteins. When they have reached a sufficient size they
divide and burst out of the red cell and enter another, repeating the process until severe
disease or death occurs. Dalton and his colleagues found that certain "digestive
enzymes" in the parasites enable them to undertake this process. Importantly, the
researchers have also now determined the three-dimensional structures of two enzymes and
demonstrated how drugs can be designed to disable the enzymes. "By blocking the
action of these critical parasite enzymes, we have shown that the parasites can no longer
survive within the human red blood cell," Dalton explains. The discovery will be
published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and is the result of
collaboration including Australia's Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Monash
University and the University of Western Sydney, Wroclaw University of Technology in
Poland and the University of Virginia in the U.S. The team is putting their findings into
action immediately and is already pursuing anti-malarial drug development.
Research reveals how blood flow
force protects blood vessels
It is second nature for most of us that exercise protects against heart attack and stroke,
but researchers have spent 30 years unraveling the biochemistry behind the idea. One
answer first offered by researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center is that
athletic hearts push blood through arteries with greater force, which alone triggers
reactions that protect against dangerous clogs in blood vessels. In the latest study out
of Rochester, published recently in the journal Blood, researchers demonstrated that they
are very close to understanding every step in one flow-sensitive chain reaction that
protects arteries. Each step provides an opportunity to mimic with drugs the proven
ability of fast, steady blood flow to open up blood vessels and avert the inflammation and
blood clots that come with atherosclerosis. ast research at the Medical Center and
elsewhere had determined that two genes, Krüppel-like factor 2 (KLF2) and endothelial
nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), are turned on by blood flow force to reverse
atherosclerosis, but not how. The current study found for the first time that flow causes
a structural change in the enzyme histone deacetylase 5 (HDAC5), which in turn influences
whether the two key genes are turned on. "Obviously we should all be exercising to
get our hearts pumping fast, which increases blood flow force through our vessels with all
of these molecular benefits," said Zheng-Gen Jin, Ph.D., associate professor of
Medicine within the Aab Cardiovascular Research Institute (CVRI) at the University of
Rochester Medical Center, and corresponding author for the study. "Beyond that, the
designers of future therapies may manipulate HDAC5 to fine-tune the action of protective
genes."
Researchers find 'broad spectrum'
antiviral that fights multitude of viruses
Viruses are insidious creatures. They differ from each other in many ways, and they can
mutate — at times seemingly at will, as with HIV — to resist a host of weapons
fired at them. Complicating matters further is that new viruses are constantly emerging.
One potential weapon is a small-molecule "broad spectrum" antiviral that will
fight a host of viruses by attacking them through some feature common to an entire class
of viruses. For example, there are two categories of viruses: lipid-enveloped and
non-enveloped. Enveloped viruses are surrounded by a membrane that in effect serves as a
mechanism through which a virus inserts its genome into a host cell, infecting it. Is
there something out there that might disrupt that action in as many viruses as possible
— and not produce unwanted side effects? A group of researchers led by a team from
UCLA and including others from the University of Texas at Galveston, Harvard University,
Cornell University and the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious
Diseases may have found just such a compound. In a proof-of-principle study published
online in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers have identified
an antiviral small molecule that is effective against numerous viruses, including HIV-1,
influenza A, filoviruses, poxviruses, arenaviruses, bunyaviruses, paramyxoviruses and
flaviviruses. These viruses cause some of the world's deadliest diseases, such as AIDS,
Nipah virus encephalitis, Ebola, hemorrhagic fever and Rift Valley fever. Even better, the
compound — a rhodanine derivative that the researchers have dubbed LJ001 — could
be effective against new, yet-to-be discovered enveloped viruses.
Researchers find leukemia cells
metabolize fat to avoid cell death
Leukemia cells, like most cancers, are addicted to glucose to generate their energy, but
new research shows for the first time that these cells also rely on fatty acid metabolism
to grow and to evade cell death. Inhibiting fatty acid oxidation makes leukemia cells
vulnerable to drugs that force them to commit suicide, scientists from The University of
Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center and The University of Texas Medical School at Houston
report in the January edition of the Journal of Clinical Investigation. "These
findings translate to a potentially transformational approach to controlling leukemia and
cancer cell metabolism by therapeutically targeting fatty acid oxidation," said
co-senior author Michael Andreeff, M.D., Ph.D., professor in M. D. Anderson's Department
of Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy. "Cancer metabolism has attracted
renewed, cutting-edge research interest," Andreeff said. "Here we have first
identified a metabolic target and our first in vivo results are promising, but there is
much more work that needs to be done." Andreeff and co-senior author Heinrich
Taegtmeyer, M.D., D.Phil., professor in the University of Texas Medical School at Houston
Division of Cardiology, are collaborating to develop drugs based on their research
results.
Researchers Find New Way To Study
How Enzymes Repair DNA Damage
Researchers at Ohio State University have found a new way to study how enzymes move as
they repair DNA sun damage -- and that discovery could one day lead to new therapies for
healing sunburned skin. Ultraviolet (UV) light damages skin by causing chemical bonds to
form in the wrong places along the DNA molecules in our cells. Normally, other, even
smaller molecules called photolyases heal the damage. Sunburn happens when the DNA is too
damaged to repair, and cells die.
S. Korean scientists say caffeine
slows brain cancer growth
Caffeine found in coffee and green tea could effectively slow the growth of brain cancer
tumors, a group of scientists at the (South) Korea Institute of Science and Technology
(KIST) said Monday.
Science Must Be Responsible to
Society, Not to Politics
Governments rightly request the advice of scientists on matters of fact that affect the
public good, from climate change to cancer screening. Scientists must then assess
available data and present recommendations based on the data. But what is the role of
scientists when politicians see these recommendations as inconvenient?
Scientists discover enzyme that
'cleans' cancer cells
Dr Jorg Hartkamp and Dr Stefan Roberts have found that the protease HtrA2 can
“clean” cells of the oncogene WT1, which is found at high levels in many
leukaemias and solid cancers such as breast and lung cancer. Their work has given drug
designers a new target which will allow them to develop treatments for all these cancers
in which WT1 expression is elevated. WT1 is a well-known factor in cancer, having been
discovered 20 years ago. It suppresses the development of Wilms’ tumour of the
kidney, a rare cancer that affects one in 10,000 children. However it has a cancer causing
role in other forms of the disease, particularly leukemias such as acute myeloid leukaemia
(AML) and chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML). In addition high expression of WT1 is
associated with a bad prognosis in AML patients, while trials using peptide vaccines
against WT1 in patients with lung cancer, breast cancer and leukaemia were promising. This
latest study – published in the journal Molecular Cell and funded by the Wellcome
Trust, Cancer Research UK and the Association of International Cancer Research (AICR)
– is the first to identify the enzyme that can rid cells of WT1.
Scientists find ideal target for
malaria therapy
Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a
protein made by the malaria parasite that is essential to its ability to take over human
red blood cells. Malaria, which is spread by mosquito bites, kills between 1 million and 3
million people annually in Third World countries. Death results from damage to red blood
cells and clogging of the capillaries that feed the brain and other organs. "The
malaria parasite seizes control of and remodels the red blood cell by secreting hundreds
of proteins once it's inside," says Dan Goldberg, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine
and of molecular microbiology and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator.
"But without this protein, plasmepsin V, those other proteins can't get out of the
parasite into the blood cell, and the infectious process stops." The closest
equivalent to plasmepsin V in humans is a protein called beta secretase, but it's only
distantly related. The significant differences between the malarial protein and its
closest human relative may mean scientists will be able use drugs to disable plasmepsin V
with little worry of adverse side effects on human biology, according to Goldberg.
Scientists show how molecular
switch helps pancreatic cancer beat drugs
Researchers at the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego, have
found one reason that pancreatic cancer tumors are so difficult to treat with drugs. They
have shown how a molecular switch steps up pancreatic cancer cell survival as well as
resistance to a standard chemotherapy drug, and have identified alternate routes cancer
cells take to avoid the effects of the therapy. The findings, by a group led by Andrew M.
Lowy, MD, professor of surgery and chief of surgical oncology at the UCSD School of
Medicine and the Moores UCSD Cancer Center, are reported online and will appear February 1
in the journal Cancer Research. The study provides new insights into pancreatic cancer
development and new potential drug targets and treatment strategies against the disease.
"To understand how to treat pancreatic cancer tumors, we need to better understand
their circuitry and behavior," Lowy said. Pancreatic cancer is a particularly deadly
cancer, fast-moving and difficult to detect early. It's estimated that more than 35,000
people died from pancreatic cancer last year in the United States. RON is a signaling
protein known as a tyrosine kinase, essentially a switch that turns on various activities
in cells. Previous work in Lowy's lab showed that RON is overexpressed in a majority of
precancerous and pancreatic cancer cells, and could also help cells resist dying. The
researchers wanted to find out what role, if any, RON played in pancreatic cancer
development and progression. In a series of experiments, the researchers showed that RON
sends signals that regulate the activity of genes that help tumors cells survive,
"implying RON is a potent survival signal for pancreatic cancer cells," Lowy
said.
Scott & White Healthcare
researchers studying 'deep brain stimulation' for Parkinson's disease
At Scott & White Memorial Hospital, a multi-disciplinary team of neurosurgeons,
neurologists, neurophysiologist, neuropsychologists and a movement disorders specialist
are offering hope to some Parkinson's patients with a treatment called Deep Brain
Stimulation (DBS). DBS involves placing a thin wire that carries electrical currents deep
within the brain on Parkinson's patients who are no longer benefitting from medications,
and have significant uncontrollable body movements called dyskinesia. Scott & White is
also performing research into the effects of DBS on the non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's
disease including "drenching sweats," bladder dysfunction, depression,
hallucination, anxiety, and dementia as well as intestinal disorders, loss of sense of
smell, and sleep disturbances. "We've found that some Parkinson's patients
experienced non-motor symptoms up to 20 to 30 years before their Parkinson's diagnosis,
which leads us to believe the presence of these symptoms could be used as predictors of
the onset of Parkinson's," said Manjit K Sanghera Ph.D. neurophysiologist at Scott
& White and associate professor and director of the Human Electrophysiology Lab, Texas
A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine. "If we're better able to identify
individuals who are at high risk for Parkinson's, we can engage these patients in
neuro-protective therapies, including exercise and medication." Dr. Sanghera's
research is funded by the Plummer Foundation. Parkinson's disease (PD) is a brain disorder
that occurs when certain nerve cells or neurons in the brain die. When this happens, these
cells no longer produce a chemical called dopamine, which facilitates the smooth,
coordinated function of our muscles. When about 80% of these neurons die, that's when
Parkinson's makes an appearance. The tell-tale signs include tremors, slowness of
movement, rigidity, difficulty with balance, small, cramped handwriting, stiff facial
expressions, a shuffling walk, and muffled speech.
Scripps Research scientists create
new way to screen libraries of 10 million or more compounds
The search for new drug compounds is probably worse than looking for a needle in a
haystack because scientists are limited in the size of the haystacks they can rummage
through—time and money make it virtually impossible to screen or search through
super-large libraries of potential compounds. This is a serious problem, because there is
enormous interest in identifying synthetic molecules that bind to proteins for
applications in drug discovery, biology, and proteomics, and larger libraries should mean
higher odds of success. But large libraries come with large problems. Because even
compounds with only modest affinity (binding to the target protein receptor with less
force than those with high affinity) are usually marked as hits, researchers often end up
with several hundred of them and, because of practical constraints involving time and
money, no easy way to determine which might be the highest affinity or best compound to
serve as a starting point to design a drug. These limitations and others have drastically
blunted the use of very large libraries—monster libraries—in binding assays.
Now, in research published in the most recent issue of the journal Chemistry &
Biology, Tom Kodadek, a professor at The Scripps Research Institute's Florida campus, and
his colleagues at Scripps Florida and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
have devised an innovative new way to solve this longstanding problem. "Current
methods severely limit the size of the libraries you can screen," said Kodadek.
"If you get 20 hits out of a 100,000 compound library, it's feasible to re-synthesize
each of those hits to test which are the most effective. But what if you want to screen 10
million compounds? It takes an impossible amount of time to re-synthesize promising
compounds for further study. To find the most potent ligands, our new method stands head
and shoulders over what is available to researchers today."
Secrets of immunologic memory
Investigators at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) have
discovered a new way the cell surface protein, CD44, helps specific T helper (Th1) cells
develop immunologic memory. Linda Bradley, Ph.D., Bas Baaten, Ph.D., and colleagues
determined that without CD44, Th1 cells died off during their initial immune response and
were unable to generate immunologic memory. This is the first time scientists have
identified this unique CD44 function on Th1 cells, making the protein a potential target
to treat a variety of diseases. The study was published online on January 14 in the
journal Immunity. CD44, a protein found on many cell types throughout the body, binds to
the glycan hyaluronic acid (HA) in the extracellular matrix. When T helper cells are
activated by infection, they upregulate (increase the activity of) CD44. Though CD44 is a
marker for these "experienced" cells, its function has remained elusive. T cells
are important components in the body's defense against diseases and, as memory cells,
provide immunity to subsequent infections. "In various infections and autoimmune
conditions, Th1 cells are often the bad guys," said Dr. Bradley. "They can
contribute to disease by overproducing cytokines and are often responsible for the disease
pathology. Our findings reveal an opportunity to harness CD44 to control this
pathogenesis."
Seeing the Brain Hear Reveals
Surprises About How Sound is Processed
New research shows our brains are a lot more chaotic than previously thought, and that
this might be a good thing. Neurobiologists at the University of Maryland have discovered
information about how the brain processes sound that challenges previous understandings of
the auditory cortex that suggested an organization based on precise neuronal maps. In the
first study of the auditory cortex conducted using advanced imaging techniques, Patrick
Kanold, Assistant Professor of Biology, Shihab Shamma, Professor of Electrical and
Computer Engineering and Institute for Systems Research (ISR), and Sharba Bandyopadhyay,
Assistant Research Scientist (ISR), describe a much more complex picture of neuronal
activity. Their findings are published in the January 31 online edition of Nature
Neuroscience. All our knowledge of how the brain really works has been based on taking a
small sampling of all available neurons and making inferences about how the other neurons
respond, Dr. Kanold explains. “This is like showing someone who wants to know how
America looks, ‘Here is one person from New York City and one person from
California.’ You don’t get a very good picture of what the country looks like
from that sampling,” says Kanold, originally from Germany.
Severe complications of diabetes
higher in depressed patients
Depression raises risks of advanced and severe complications from diabetes, according to a
prospective study of Group Health primary-care patients in western Washington. These
complications include kidney failure or blindness, the result of small vessel damage, as
well as major vessel problems leading to heart attack or stroke. The findings were
published this week in Diabetes Care, a scientific journal of the American Diabetes
Association. The study was conducted by scientists from the Group Health Research
Institute, Seattle; the University of Washington (UW) School of Medicine and School of
Public Health, and the Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System. The lead author is
Dr. Elizabeth Lin of the Group Health Research Institute. Among their research volunteers
with type 2 diabetes followed over 5 years, major depression was associated with a 36
percent higher risk of developing advanced micro-vascular complications, such as end-stage
kidney disease or blindness, and a 25 percent higher risk of developing advanced
macrovascular complications, such as stroke or myocardial infarction (heart attack from a
blood clot), compared with diabetes patients without depression. The clinically
significant risks remained even after the researchers adjusted for diabetes severity and
self-care activities.
SIDS linked to low levels of
serotonin
The brains of infants who die of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) produce low levels of
serotonin, a brain chemical that conveys messages between cells and plays a vital role in
regulating breathing, heart rate, and sleep, reported researchers funded by the National
Institutes of Health. SIDS is the death of an infant before his or her first birthday that
cannot be explained after a complete autopsy, an investigation of the scene and
circumstances of the death, and a review of the medical history of the infant and of his
or her family. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, SIDS is the third
leading cause of infant death, claiming more than 2,300 lives in 2006. The researchers
theorize that this newly discovered serotonin abnormality may reduce infants' capacity to
respond to breathing challenges, such as low oxygen levels or high levels of carbon
dioxide. These high levels may result from re-breathing exhaled carbon dioxide that
accumulates in bedding while sleeping face down. The findings appear in the Feb. 3 issue
of The Journal of the American Medical Association. "We have known for many years
that placing infants to sleep on their backs is the single most effective way to reduce
the risk of SIDS," said Alan E. Guttmacher, M.D., acting director of the Eunice
Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), the NIH
institute that funded the research. "The current findings provide important clues to
the biological basis of SIDS and may ultimately lead to ways to identify infants most at
risk as well as additional strategies for reducing the risk of SIDS for all infants."
Smokers at risk from their own
'second-hand' smoke
It is well known that smokers damage their health by directly inhaling cigarette smoke.
Now, research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Environmental Health has
shown that they are at additional risk from breathing environmental tobacco smoke,
contrary to the prevailing assumption that such risks would be negligible in comparison to
those incurred by actually smoking. Maria Teresa Piccardo worked with a team of
researchers from the National cancer Research Institute, Genoa, Italy, to study the
exposure of newsagents in the city to harmful cigarette smoke. She said, "Newsagents
were chosen because they work alone in small newsstands, meaning that any tobacco smoke in
the air they breathe is strictly correlated to the number of cigarettes smoked by that
newsagent. We studied the contribution environmental tobacco smoke made to carcinogen
exposure in 15 active smokers." The researchers found that environmental tobacco
smoke may have a significant impact on smokers' health. For someone who smokes 14
cigarettes a day, their own second hand smoke resulted in exposure the equivalent of
smoking an extra 2.6 cigarettes. According to Piccardo, "Both active and passive
smoking contributions should always be considered in studies about health of active
smokers."
Some morbidly obese people are
missing genes, shows new research
A small but significant proportion of morbidly obese people are missing a section of their
DNA, according to research published today in Nature. The authors of the study, from
Imperial College London and ten other European Centres, say that missing DNA such as that
identified in this research may be having a dramatic effect on some people's weight.
According to the new findings, around seven in every thousand morbidly obese people are
missing a part of their DNA, containing approximately 30 genes. The researchers did not
find this kind of genetic variation in any normal weight people. There are an estimated
700,000 morbidly obese people in England, with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of over 40.
Researchers believe that the weight problems of around one in twenty morbidly obese people
are due to known genetic variations, including mutations and missing DNA. Many more
similar obesity-causing mutations, such as the one in this study, remain to be found, says
the team Previous research had identified several genetic variations that contribute to
obesity, most of which are single mutations in a person's DNA that change the function of
a gene. Today's research is the first to clearly demonstrate that obesity in otherwise
physically healthy individuals can be caused by a rare genetic variation in which a
section of a person's DNA is missing. The researchers do not yet know the function of the
missing genes, but previous research has suggested that some of them may be associated
with delayed development, autism and schizophrenia.
Some swine flu vaccines may raise
heart risk
One article authored by researchers at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in Germany
warns that use of adjuvanted swine flu vaccine may raise cardiovascular disease.
Sources of infection –
Mycobacterium avium infections in pigs, humans and birds in Norway
Through work carried out in connection with her PhD, Tone Bjordal Johansen has shown that
Mycobacterium avium does not infect pigs via birds, as previously believed. M. avium can
be divided into several subspecies, and the research shows that birds are infected by one
particular subspecies, whereas pigs and humans are infected by another. Closely related
bacteria were isolated in pigs and humans, which would indicate that pigs and humans are
vulnerable to infection from the same sources in their surroundings. Mycobacterium avium
is the cause of tuberculosis in birds. In Norway, this disease no longer occurs in
poultry, but is occasionally found in wild birds. This bacterium can also lead to
infections in mammals, primarily in pigs and humans. Pigs infected with the bacterium
seldom become diseased, but the infection can result in financial loss for farmers because
meat from the infected animals has to be destroyed. In humans, this bacterium can result
in three different kinds of illness: pneumonia in patients already prone to lung disease,
glandular fever in children or generalised infection in AIDS patients. In Norway, about
100 new cases of such infections occur each year.
Soy formula associated with higher
risk of fibroids in women
Women who were fed soy-based infant formula as babies are 25 percent more likely to
develop uterine fibroids than those who were breastfed or given milk-based formula.
Hormones guide the development of these noncancerous tumors in the uterus that can cause
pelvic pain, heavy bleeding and reproductive problems. Fibroids affect about a quarter of
all women and are the leading cause of hysterectomy. This is the first study to examine
whether exposure to soy estrogens early in life is associated with fibroids development
later in life.
Stanford researchers explore link
between human birth defect syndrome, cancer metastasis
Some cells are natural rule-breakers. Neural crest cells for example, not only migrate
throughout the body during development (most cells are more selective in their wandering),
they are also more developmentally flexible than their predecessors (a no-no for nearly
all cell types). Now researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have shown
that a protein that controls DNA accessibility is responsible for the cells' unruly ways.
The finding not only offers a better understanding of the molecular basis of a spontaneous
genetic disease in humans called CHARGE syndrome, it may also be important in
understanding how cancer cells gain the ability to migrate, or metastasize. "Most
cells lose developmental potential as they differentiate," said Joanna Wysocka, PhD,
assistant professor of developmental biology and of chemical and systems biology.
"But neural crest cells are a spectacular example of migratory cells that are capable
of becoming over 100 different cell types, including neurons, the bone and cartilage of
the face, jaw and teeth, pigment cells and certain heart structures." Wysocka is the
senior author of the research, which will be published online Feb. 3 in Nature. Wysocka,
who studies how chromatin modification affects development, became interested in the cells
when it became apparent that mutations in a protein called CHD7 were responsible for
CHARGE syndrome. The condition's name is an acronym for a constellation of associated
birth defects that affect about one in 10,000 children. Children with the disorder have a
combination of craniofacial malformations; eye, ear and heart defects; and other
abnormalities. The unusual combination of this wide array of symptoms led physicians and
researchers to speculate that the problem arose early in development in the neural crest
cells.
Stem cell breakthrough - Bone
marrow cells are the answer
Using cells from mice, scientists from Iowa and Iran have discovered a new strategy for
making embryonic stem cell transplants less likely to be rejected by a recipient's immune
system. This strategy, described in a new research report appearing in the February 2010
print issue of The FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org), involves fusing bone marrow
cells to embryonic stem cells. Once fused, the hybrid cells have DNA from both the donor
and recipient, raising hopes that immune rejection of embryonic stem cell therapies can be
avoided without drugs. "Our study shows that transplanted bone marrow cells fuse not
only with bone marrow cells of the recipient, but with non-hematopoietic cells, suggesting
that if we can understand the process of cell fusion better, we may be able to target
certain organ injuries with the patient's own bone marrow cells and repair the
tissues," said Nicholas Zavazava, M.D., Ph.D., a University of Iowa researcher
involved in the work. Although the study holds great promise for future embryonic stem
cell therapies, the results may be even more far reaching. Zavazava and colleagues used
two different mouse strains, one as the donor and the other as the recipient. When bone
marrow cells were engrafted into the recipient, they tested for the presence of both donor
and recipient cells and found three different types of cells: donor cells, recipient
cells, and fused cells that had DNA from the donor and recipient. They then discovered
that these cells could fuse with many different types of cells in addition to embryonic
stem cells, including those from the liver, kidney, heart, and gut. Although more work is
necessary to determine the exact clinical outcomes, the discovery raises the possibility
that bone marrow cells could be fused to transplant organs to reduce the likelihood of
rejection. They could also be fused to failing organs to support regeneration.
Stem cells rescue nerve cells by
direct contact
Scientists at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet have shown how
transplanted stem cells can connect with and rescue threatened neurons and brain tissue.
The results point the way to new possible treatments for brain damage and
neurodegenerative diseases. A possible strategy for treating neurodegenerative diseases is
to transplant stem cells into the brain that prevent existing nerve cells from dying. The
method has proved successful in different models, but the mechanisms behind it are still
unknown. According to one hypothesis, the stem cells mature into fully-mature neurons that
communicate with the threatened brain tissue; according to another, the stem cells secrete
various growth factors that affect the host neurons. The new report, co-authored by
several international research groups and lead by Karolinska Institutet, shows that stem
cells transplanted into damaged or threatened nerve tissue quickly establish direct
channels, called gap junctions, to the nerve cells. Stem cells actively bring diseased
neurons back from the brink via cross-talk through gap junctions, the connections between
cells that allow molecular signals to pass back and forth. The study found that the nerve
cells were prevented from dying only when these gap junctions were formed. The results
were obtained from mice and human stem cells in cultivated brain tissue, and from a series
of rodent models for human neurodegenerative diseases and acute brain injuries.
STOP Taking Multivitamins Until You
Read This
Why You Should Avoid Synthetic Isolates Like the Plague.
Stopping Schizophrenia Before It
Starts?
The onset of schizophrenia is not easy to predict. Although it is associated with as many
as 14 genes in the human genome, the prior presence of schizophrenia in the family is not
enough to determine whether one will succumb to the mind-altering condition. The disease
also has a significant environmental link. According to Prof. Ina Weiner of Tel Aviv
University’s Department of Psychology, the developmental disorder, which usually
manifests in early adulthood, can be triggered in the womb by an infection. But unlike
developmental disorders such as autism, it takes many years for the symptoms of
schizophrenia to develop. "Pharmacological treatments for schizophrenia remain
unsatisfactory, so clinicians and researchers like myself have started to dig in another
direction," says Prof. Weiner. "The big question asked in recent years is if
schizophrenia can be prevented."
Storm runoff and sewage treatment
outflow contaminated with household pesticides
Pyrethroids, among the most widely-used home pesticides, are winding up in California
rivers at levels toxic to some stream-dwellers, possibly endangering the food supply of
fish and other aquatic animals, according to a new study by researchers at the University
of California, Berkeley, and Southern Illinois University (SIU). Pyrethroid insecticides,
commonly used in California to kill ants and other insect pests around the home, have been
found in street runoff and in the outflow from sewage treatment plants in the Sacramento
area. The insecticide ended up in two urban creeks, the San Joaquin River and a 20-mile
stretch of the American River, traditionally considered to be one of the cleanest rivers
in the region. Although the pyrethroid levels were low – around 10-20 parts per
trillion – they were high enough to kill a test organism similar to a small shrimp
that is used to assess water safety. "These indicator organisms are 'lab rat' species
that are very sensitive, but if you find something that is toxic to them, it should be a
red flag that there could be potential toxicity to resident organisms in the stream,"
said study leader Donald P. Weston, UC Berkeley adjunct professor of integrative biology.
Study examines sexual orientation
and bullying among adolescents
The act and victimization of bullying continues to be a problem among today's youth. While
many children are experiencing this form of violence, it is more prevalent in children
that are different from the social norm. As medical professionals continue to further
their understanding of bullying, research shows a high rate of sexual minority youth who
experience this harmful activity. A new study conducted by doctors at Nationwide
Children's Hospital found that sexual minority youth, or teens that identify themselves as
gay, lesbian or bisexual, are bullied two to three times more than heterosexuals.
According to the study that is now available online in the Journal of Adolescent Health,
sexual minority youth are more vulnerable to a variety of physical and mental domains such
as bullying or suicidal thoughts. Plus, the study found that many older adolescents
reported being bullied.
Study finds link between pregnancy
complication and childhood asthma
Using electronic health records to follow nearly 400,000 births in Southern California,
researchers at Kaiser Permanente have found a link between a common pregnancy complication
and the risk of childhood asthma.
Study Finds Reduced Brain Gray
Matter Concentration in Patients with Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea
A study in the Feb. 1 issue of the journal SLEEP found gray matter concentration deficits
in multiple brain areas of people with severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The study
suggests that the memory impairment, cardiovascular disturbances, executive dysfunctions,
and dysregulation of autonomic and respiratory control frequently observed in OSA patients
may be related to morphological changes in brain structure. Results indicate that in newly
diagnosed men with severe OSA, gray matter concentrations were significantly decreased in
multiple brain areas, including limbic structures, prefrontal cortices and the cerebellum.
Optimized voxel-based morphometry, an automated processing technique for magnetic
resonance imaging (MRI), was used to characterize structural differences in gray matter by
examining the entire brain, rather than a particular region. “Gray matter”
refers to the cerebral cortex, where most information processing in the brain takes place.
It is a layer of tissue that coats the surface of the cerebrum and the cerebellum and is
gray in appearance, lacking the myelin insulation that makes most other parts of the brain
appear to be white.Principal investigator Seung Bong Hong, MD, PhD, professor of neurology
at the Samsung Medical Center in Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine in Seoul,
South Korea, said the study emphasizes the importance of diagnosing and effectively
treating severe OSA. “Poor sleep quality and progressive brain damage induced by OSA
could be responsible for poor memory, emotional problems, decreased cognitive functioning
and increased cardiovascular disturbances,” said Hong. “The use of continuous
positive airway pressure – CPAP - therapy could stop further progression of brain
damage in patients with severe OSA.”
Study Says Lead May Be the Culprit
in ADHD
ADHD, or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, is among the costliest of behavioral
disorders. Its combination of inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity leads to
accidental injuries, school failure, substance abuse, antisocial behavior and more. Yet
despite nearly a century of study, the disorder’s roots remain mysterious. Much of
modern ADHD research has focused on heritability of the condition, and indeed evidence
suggests that genes may account for as much as 70 percent of hyperactivity and inattention
in children. But that leaves 30 percent unexplained, so recently the focus has shifted to
the environment. What is it that triggers an underlying susceptibility and changes it into
a full-blown disorder? New research suggests that the culprit may be an old
villain—lead—and what’s more it explains the causal pathway from exposure
to disability. Lead is a neurotoxin. This has been known for a long time, and in fact
government regulation drastically reduced environmental lead a generation ago. But
regulating automobile fuel and paint didn’t entirely eliminate lead from the
environment. It’s found in trace amounts in everything from children’s costume
jewelry to imported candies to soil and drinking water. Every American today is exposed to
low levels of the metal, and indeed nearly all children have measureable levels of lead in
their bodies. According to psychological scientist Joel Nigg of the Oregon Health &
Science University, this universal low-level exposure makes lead an ideal candidate for
the disorder’s trigger. This was just a theory until quite recently, but two recent
studies now provide strong evidence. The first study compared children formally diagnosed
with ADHD to controls, and found that the children with the disorder had slightly higher
levels of lead in their blood. This study showed a link only between blood lead and
hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms, not inattention. But a second study showed a robust
link between blood lead and both parent and teacher ratings of ADHD symptoms, including
both hyperactivity and attention problems. In both studies, the connection was independent
of IQ, family income, race, or maternal smoking during pregnancy. Nigg offers a causal
model for the disabling symptoms associated with ADHD: Lead attaches to sites in the
brain’s striatum and frontal cortex, where it acts on the genes in these
regions—causing them to turn on or remain inactive. Gene activity shapes the
development and activity of these brain regions. By disrupting brain activity, the toxin
in turn alters psychological processes supported by these neurons, notably cognitive
control. Finally, diminished cognitive control contributes to hyperactivity and lack of
vigilance.
Study suggests that healthy adults
may need less sleep as they age
A study in the Feb. 1 issue of the journal SLEEP suggests that healthy older adults
without sleep disorders can expect to have a reduced "sleep need" and to be less
sleepy during the day than healthy young adults. Results show that during a night of eight
hours in bed, total sleep time decreased significantly and progressively with age. Older
adults slept about 20 minutes less than middle-aged adults, who slept 23 minutes less than
young adults. The number of awakenings and the amount of time spent awake after initial
sleep onset increased significantly with age, and the amount of time spent in deep,
slow-wave sleep decreased across age groups. Yet even with these decreases in sleep time,
intensity and continuity, older adults displayed less subjective and objective daytime
sleep propensity than younger adults. Furthermore, two additional nights involving
experimental disruption of slow-wave sleep led to a similar response in all age groups.
Daytime sleep propensity increased, and slow-wave sleep rebounded during a night of
recovery sleep. According to the authors, this suggests that the lack of increased daytime
sleepiness in the presence of an age-related deterioration in sleep quality cannot be
attributed to unresponsiveness to variations in homeostatic sleep pressure. Instead,
healthy aging appears to be associated with reductions in the sleep duration and depth
required to maintain daytime alertness. "Our findings reaffirm the theory that it is
not normal for older people to be sleepy during the daytime," said principal
investigator Derk-Jan Dijk, PhD, professor of sleep and physiology at the University of
Surrey in the U.K. "Whether you are young or old, if you are sleepy during the day
you either don't get enough sleep or you may suffer from a sleep disorder."
Sunbathing 'boosts men's sex drive'
Testosterone levels in men's blood rise accordingly with doses of vitamin D. The vital
nutrient is produced in the body after exposure to sunlight and can also be obtained from
eating oily fish and meat.
Symptoms have little value for
early detection of ovarian cancer
Use of symptoms to trigger a medical evaluation for ovarian cancer does not appear to
detect early-stage ovarian cancer earlier and would likely result in diagnosis in only 1
out of 100 women in the general population with such symptoms, according to an article
published online January 28 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Researchers
at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle assessed the predictive value of
certain symptoms, including abdominal pain or bloating and urinary frequency, which were
cited in a recent consensus statement as a way to diagnose ovarian cancer earlier. Mary
Anne Rossing, Ph.D., of the Program in Epidemiology at Fred Hutchinson, and colleagues
conducted in-person interviews with 812 patients aged 35-74 years who had epithelial
ovarian cancer that was diagnosed from 2002 through 2005. They compared the results from
these case patients with results from interviews with 1,313 population-based control
subjects—women who did not have ovarian cancer. The researchers assessed the
sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value of a proposed symptom index and of
symptoms included in the consensus recommendation.
Teens who drink with parents may
still develop alcohol problems
Parents who try to teach responsible drinking by letting their teenagers have alcohol at
home may be well intentioned, but they may also be wrong, according to a new study in the
latest issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. In a study of 428 Dutch
families, researchers found that the more teenagers were allowed to drink at home, the
more they drank outside of home as well. What's more, teens who drank under their parents'
watch or on their own had an elevated risk of developing alcohol-related problems.
Drinking problems included trouble with school work, missed school days and getting into
fights with other people, among other issues. The findings, say the researchers, put into
question the advice of some experts who recommend that parents drink with their teenage
children to teach them how to drink responsibly -- with the aim of limiting their drinking
outside of the home.That advice is common in the Netherlands, where the study was
conducted, but it is based more on experts' reasoning than on scientific evidence,
according to Dr. Haske van der Vorst, the lead researcher on the study.
The almond tree’s secret
weapon
Has the almond tree developed a unique way of drawing potential pollinators? A group of
researchers at the Department of Environmental and Evolutionary Biology and the Department
of Science Education at the University of Haifa-Oranim speculate that the toxin called
amygdalin that is found in almond tree nectar is in fact an evolutionary development
intended to give that tree an advantage over others in its surroundings. Previous studies
have already shown that amygdalin can be found in almond nectar at a concentration of 4-10
milligrams per liter. It also known that the almond tree is the only plant to have this
toxin in its flowers’ nectar; in fact, the tree’s subgenus classification is
Amygdalus, after the toxin it produces. For small mammals this is a deadly substance and
as it is highly concentrated in the seeds of unripe wild bitter almonds, these almonds are
also dangerous for human consumption.
The Evolution of the Epidemic of
Charcoal-Burning Suicide in Taiwan
An epidemic of carbon monoxide poisoning suicide by burning barbecue charcoal has occurred
in East Asia in the last decade. We investigated the spatial and temporal evolution of the
epidemic to assess its impact on the epidemiology of suicide in Taiwan.
The fungus among us - An
eco-friendly way of decomposing BPA-containing plastic
Just as cooking helps people digest food, pretreating polycarbonate plastic — source
of a huge environmental headache because of its bisphenol A (BPA) content — may be
the key to disposing of the waste in an eco-friendly way, scientists have found. Their new
study is in ACS' Biomacromolecules, a monthly journal. Mukesh Doble and Trishul Artham
note that manufacturers produce about 2.7 million tons of plastic containing BPA each
year. Polycarbonate is an extremely recalcitrant plastic, used in everything from
screwdriver handles to eyeglass lenses, DVDs, and CDs. Some studies have suggested that
the BPA may have a range of adverse health effects, sparking the search for an
environmentally safe way of disposing of waste plastic to avoid release of BPA. The
scientists pretreated polycarbonate with ultraviolet light and heat and exposed it to
three kinds of fungi — including the fabled white-rot fungus, used commercially for
environmental remediation of the toughest pollutants. The scientists found that fungi grew
better on pretreated plastic, using its BPA and other ingredients as a source of energy
and breaking down the plastic. After 12 months, there was almost no decomposition of the
untreated plastic, compared to substantial decomposition of the pretreated plastic, with
no release of BPA.
Three Brain Diseases Linked by
Toxic Form of Same Neural Protein, According to Penn Study
For the first time, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
have found that three different degenerative brain disorders are linked by a toxic form of
the same protein. The protein, called Elk-1, was found in clumps of misshaped proteins
that are the hallmarks of Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and
Huntington’s disease. “These results suggest a molecular link between the
presence of inclusions and neuronal loss that is shared across a spectrum of
neurodegenerative disease,” notes senior author, James Eberwine, PhD, co-director of
the Penn Genome Frontiers Institute and the Elmer Holmes Bobst Professor of Pharmacology.
“Identifying these links within the diseased microenvironment will open up novel
avenues for therapeutic intervention. For example it is reasonable to now ask, “Is
this molecule a possible new biomarker for these neurodegenerative diseases?” says
Eberwine.
Thyme to fight inflammation
Essential oils from plants have a wide range of uses from calming to antibiotic.
To Be or To Become - That's the
Question for Advertisers
If you won a million dollars today, what would you do? Say “sayonara” to your
boss and head to Bora Bora, or invest your newfound wealth in a long-term T-bill?
According to new research by Dr. Danit Ein-Gar of Tel Aviv University’s Recanati
Graduate School of Business Studies, your answer may not be so clear-cut. She and her
American colleague Dr. Camille Su Lin Johnson found that whether you’ll indulge or be
prudent is not necessarily based on your personality type or education, but may be
strongly influenced by advertising and other environmental cues. This research, the first
to quantify the effect of advertising on personal desires using these parameters, was
recently presented at the Academy of Consumer Research Conference in Pittsburgh.
Too many superfoods could be
harmful
Superfoods such as broccoli, lentils and blueberries could be harmful if consumed in large
quantities, according research into the impact of the antioxidants they contain.
Toward safer plastics that lock in
potentially harmful plasticizers
Scientists have published the first report on a new way of preventing potentially harmful
plasticizers — the source of long-standing human health concerns — from
migrating from one of the most widely used groups of plastics. The advance could lead to a
new generation of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastics that are safer than those now used in
packaging, medical tubing, toys, and other products, they say. Their study is in ACS'
Macromolecules, a bi-weekly journal. Helmut Reinecke and colleagues note that
manufacturers add large amounts of plasticizers to PVC to make it flexible and durable.
Plasticizers may account for more than one-third of the weight of some PVC products.
Phthalates are the mainstay plasticizers. Unfortunately, they migrate to the surface of
the plastic over time and escape into the environment. As a result, PVC plastics become
less flexible and durable. In addition, people who come into contact with the plastics
face possible health risks. The U. S. Consumer Product Safety Commission in 2009 banned
use of several phthalate plasticizers for use in manufacture of toys and child care
articles. The scientists describe development of a way to make phthalate permanently bond,
or chemically attach to, the internal structure of PVC so that it will not migrate.
Laboratory tests showed that the method completely suppressed the migration of plasticizer
to the surface of the plastic. "This approach may open new ways to the preparation of
flexible PVC with permanent plasticizer effect and zero migration," the article
notes.
Turmeric Treats Candida Infection
and Colorectal Cancers
Candida infection is caused by a yeast overgrowth in the intestines. It can cause gas,
bloating, indigestion and even chronic disease. Known by its Latin name, curcumin,
turmeric shows promise as an antifungal for Candida as well as many other fungal
infections. According to the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, the herb turmeric may
be useful in inhibiting the Candida infection. Research at the Linus Pauling Institute
also points to turmeric's curative value in treating colorectal cancers.
UC Davis researchers identify brain
protein for synapse development
A new study from UC Davis Health System identifies for the first time a brain protein
called SynDIG1 that plays a critical role in creating and sustaining synapses, the complex
chemical signaling system responsible for communication between neurons. The research,
published in the Jan.14 issue of the journal Neuron, fills a major gap in understanding
the molecular foundations of higher cognitive abilities as well as some brain disorders.
"We know that synapses are essential for learning, memory and perception and suspect
that imbalances in synapse formation impact disorders of the brain such as autism and
schizophrenia," said Elva Diaz, assistant professor of pharmacology and senior author
of the study. "Our study is the first to identify SynDIG1 as a critical regulator of
these important brain connections." The majority of synapses in the brain use
glutamate as a neurotransmitter. While past research revealed that regulation of a certain
class of glutamate receptor -- AMPA receptors -- are critical to communication between
neurons, Diaz set out to discover novel molecular mechanisms of AMPA receptors that could
support the formation and vitality of synapses.
UCLA cancer researchers perform
complete genomic sequencing of brain cancer cell line
Researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have performed the first
complete genomic sequencing of a brain cancer cell line, a discovery that may lead to
personalized treatments based on the unique biological signature of an individual's cancer
and a finding that may unveil new molecular targets for which more effective and less
toxic drugs can be developed. The study also may lead to new and better ways to monitor
for brain cancer recurrence, allowing for much earlier diagnosis and treatment when the
cancer returns. Clinicians also could use the finding to develop a test to determine when
the brain cancer has been killed, preventing overtreatment with harmful drugs that can
later cause debilitating health problems. Using the latest technology, the sequencing was
done in less than a month and cost about $35,000. By comparison, the sequencing of the
human genome took years, required huge teams of scientists and cost more than $1 billion,
said Dr. Stan Nelson, a professor of human genetics, a researcher at UCLA's Jonsson
Comprehensive Cancer Center and senior author of the study. "This is very exciting
because we, as scientists, can now move forward with revealing complete cancer
genomes," said Nelson, who directs the cancer center's Gene Expression Shared
Resource. "Cancer is at its heart a genetic disease. Cancer cells have acquired
mutations that allow them to invade tissues and to not live by the normal rules. The
changes from normal (mutations) that have given the cancer these special properties are
encoded in DNA, and the entire DNA sequence has just been to complex and costly to decode
until now."
UCLA researchers image earliest
signs of Alzheimer's, before symptoms appear
Estimates are that some 10 percent of people over the age of 65 will develop Alzheimer's
disease, the scourge that robs people of their memories and, ultimately, their lives.
While researchers race to find both the cause and the cure, others are moving just as fast
to find the earliest signs that will predict an eventual onset of the disease, well before
any outward symptoms. The reason is simple: The earlier the diagnosis, the earlier
treatments can be applied. Now, through the use of sophisticated brain-imaging techniques,
researchers at UCLA have been able to predict a brain's progression to Alzheimer's by
measuring subtle changes in brain structure over time, changes that occur long before
symptoms can be seen. The research appears in two separate papers currently available
online and scheduled for future print publication. In the first study, which appears in
the online edition of the journal Human Brain Mapping, UCLA assistant clinical professor
of neurology Liana Apostolova and colleagues tracked 169 people over three years who had
been diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a condition that causes memory
problems greater than those expected for an individual's age — but not the
personality or cognitive changes that define Alzheimer's. They found that after three
years, those who went on to be diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease showed a 10 to 30
percent greater atrophy in two specific locations within the brain's hippocampus, a part
of the brain known to be critical for long-term memory. In the second study, which appears
in the online edition of the journal Neurobiology of Aging, the researchers looked at 10
cognitively normal elderly people and compared their brain scans with those of seven other
elderly people who were later diagnosed with MCI and then Alzheimer's. Again, they found
that the group that went on to be diagnosed with Alzheimer's showed the same pattern of
atrophy in the same regions of the hippocampus. This shows, Apostolova said, that excess
atrophy is present in cognitively normal individuals who are predestined to develop MCI.
Further, that atrophy ultimately cascades across the entire hippocampus of the brain,
leading to Alzheimer's disease.
Uncorrelated activity in the brain
Interconnected networks of neurons process information and give rise to perception by
communicating with one another via small electrical impulses known as action potentials.
In the past, scientists believed that adjacent neurons synchronized their action
potentials. However, researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and the Max Planck
Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Germany said in a current report in the journal
Science that this synchronization does not happen. Their findings provide detail as to how
the brain accesses and processes information. "Understanding healthy neuronal
activity is one of the first steps to unlocking the brains of those with illnesses such as
autism," said Dr. Andreas S. Tolias, assistant professor of neuroscience at BCM and
senior author on the paper. The patterns of action potentials are organized to allow our
brain to work efficiently. For example, the visual cortex, which is the area of the brain
where information from the eyes is processed, contains around two dozen distinct regions
organized in a hierarchical fashion. People can see and interpret the surrounding world
because the information is processed (through action potentials) through this organized
system from one region to the next. Tolias, who is also on the staff at with the Michael
E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center, said, "If you were to eavesdrop on the
activity of a neuron in the visual part of the brain while a person is looking at a
picture over and over again, the neuron will respond differently each time. In other
words, a substantial part of the activity is unrelated to the picture itself. It is this
activity that was believed to be common among many adjacent neurons because they are
densely interconnected."
Veterans Affairs looks to dogs to
help stress disorder
Dogs could be an integral part of the ongoing treatment of veterans with post-traumatic
stress disorder, and Veterans Affairs is looking into the potential.
Vitamin c help would healing
An article published in the March 1982 issue of Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, and Oral
Pathology says that people who took vitamin C supplements after surgery recovered faster
than those who did not.
Vitamin D helps fight Swine flu
Doctors are of the opinion that deficiency of vitamin D gives flare up to Swine Flu and if
this deficiency is made up, it helps fighting Swine Flue successfully. Vitamin D
deficiency is also associated with myriad health problems including 17 cancers, heart
disease, diabetes, depression, autoimmune disease, and many other afflictions.
Vitamin D May Be Associated with
Higher Serum HDL Cholesterol and Lower Incidence of Metabolic Syndrome
Metabolic syndrome describes a state of poor health commonly associated with obesity and
poor diet. The International Diabetes Federation (2006) (1) defines metabolic syndrome as
elevated waist measurement and two of the following: elevated serum triglycerides, reduced
HDL cholesterol, elevated blood pressure or elevated fasting glucose.
Vitamin D supplements could fight
Crohn's disease
A new study has found that Vitamin D, readily available in supplements or cod liver oil,
can counter the effects of Crohn’s disease. John White, an endocrinologist at the
Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, led a team of scientists from
McGill University and the Université de Montréal who present their findings about the
inflammatory bowel disease in the latest Journal of Biological Chemistry. “Our data
suggests, for the first time, that Vitamin D deficiency can contribute to Crohn’s
disease,” says Dr. White, a professor in McGill’s Department of Physiology,
noting that people from northern countries, which receive less sunlight that is necessary
for the fabrication of Vitamin D by the human body, are particularly vulnerable to
Crohn’s disease. Vitamin D, in its active form (1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D), is a
hormone that binds to receptors in the body’s cells. Dr. White’s interest in
Vitamin D was originally in its effects in mitigating cancer. Because his results kept
pointing to Vitamin D’s effects on the immune system, specifically the innate immune
system that acts as the body’s first defense against microbial invaders, he
investigated Crohn’s disease. “It’s a defect in innate immune handling of
intestinal bacteria that leads to an inflammatory response that may lead to an autoimmune
condition,” stresses Dr. White.
Warning! Don't Take Another Drug
Until You Read How You're Being Conned
There are no long-term studies that look at what happens to women with osteopenia who
start Fosamax in their 50’s and continue treatment long-term in the hopes of
preventing old-age fractures. And none are planned.
What you eat after exercise matters
Many of the health benefits of aerobic exercise are due to the most recent exercise
session (rather than weeks, months and even years of exercise training), and the nature of
these benefits can be greatly affected by the food we eat afterwards, according to a study
published in the Journal of Applied Physiology (http://jap.physiology.org).
"Differences in what you eat after exercise produce different effects on the body's
metabolism," said the study's senior author, Jeffrey F. Horowitz of the University of
Michigan. This study follows up on several previous studies that demonstrate that many
health benefits of exercise are transient: one exercise session produces benefits to the
body that taper off, generally within hours or a few days. "Many of the improvements
in metabolic health associated with exercise stem largely from the most recent session of
exercise, rather than from an increase in 'fitness' per se," Dr. Horowitz said.
"But exercise doesn't occur in a vacuum, and it is very important to look at both the
effects of exercise and what you're eating after exercise." Specifically, the study
found that exercise enhanced insulin sensitivity, particularly when meals eaten after the
exercise session contained relatively low carbohydrate content. Enhanced insulin
sensitivity means that it is easier for the body to take up sugar from the blood stream
into tissues like muscles, where it can be stored or used as fuel. Impaired insulin
sensitivity (i.e., "insulin resistance") is a hallmark of Type II diabetes, as
well as being a major risk factor for other chronic diseases, such as heart disease.
WHO urging public to have homes
tested for radon
Health experts now say that radon risk has been shown to be more serious than previously
believed and are strongly recommending that property owners here test for it.
Why Has the FDA Allowed a Drug
Marked 'Not Safe for Use in Humans' to Be Fed to Livestock Right Before Slaughter?
While researchers and scientists investigate the cause of our diabetes, obesity, asthma
and ADHD epidemics, they should ask why the FDA approved a livestock drug banned in 160
nations and responsible for hyperactivity, muscle breakdown and 10 percent mortality in
pigs, according to angry farmers who phoned the manufacturer.
Why wearing a helmet could be bad
for a biker’s health
Wearing a crash helmet is essential to a motorcyclist's safety but could it actually be
harming their health and affecting their riding? That is what academics from the two Bath
universities are investigating in a new research project funded by The Leverhulme Trust.
Leading the study are Dr Michael Carley, from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at
the University of Bath and Dr Nigel Holt from the Department of Psychology at Bath Spa
University. With the help of Dr Ian Walker, from the Department of Psychology at the
University of Bath, the team will take on-road measurements to find how noise is
transmitted through a helmet and how it affects the rider's hearing and ability to
concentrate. Dr Carley said "The noise inside the helmet at the legal speed of 70 mph
is higher than the legal limit for noise at work - more than enough to cause serious
hearing damage.
Wild Fish Stocks Depleted by
Feeding of Farmed Fish Like Salmon
Rather than relieving pressure on wild fish stocks, the explosive growth of aquaculture
has actually exacerbated this pressure, according to an international study led by
Rosamond L. Naylor of Stanford University and published in the Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences.
Women should be allowed to eat,
drink during labor
The traditional practice of restricting food and fluids during labour does not provide any
benefits, finds a new review co-authored by a Queen's University Associate Professor.
"Based on our review, there is no convincing and current evidence to support
restriction of fluids, and perhaps food, for women during labour. Women should be able to
choose for themselves," says Dr. Joan Tranmer of the Queen's School of Nursing.
Practitioners have been concerned about eating and drinking during labour since the 1940s.
The restriction is thought to prevent Mendelson's syndrome (named after work by Dr. Carl
Mendelson), a rare, but sometimes fatal, condition caused by regurgitation of acidic
stomach contents into the lungs when a general anaesthetic is given. "With medical
advances over the past 60 years, including the increase use of epidural anesthesia, we
thought it was time to question the widespread ban on food and drink now that we are in
the 2000s," says Professor Tranmer. "The use of general anesthesia during
C-sections is low. And even when used, the techniques have improved since the 1940s, so
the risk of maternal death or illness is very, very low"
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