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Week 08 news
5 Ways to Eat Your Way to Healthier
Teeth
If you see your dentist twice a year for professional cleanings and brush and floss twice
a day, every day, you’re well on your way to maintaining optimal oral health for the
rest of your life.
51 pc schoolkids in metros at high
risk of lead poisoning
Sudden decline in IQ levels of children and unexplained retardation or hyperactivity among
them can now be traced to unacceptably high levels of lead in their blood-sugar levels.
A New Facet Of Drug Resistance
Low doses of one medication can cause resistance to that one and others.
Accutane linked to severe skin
reactions
Rare but potentially deadly skin reactions have been found in people using Accutane to
treat severe acne, Health Canada says.
Acupuncture could help period pain,
researchers say
Acupuncture may be an effective way of easing severe period pain, a South Korean review of
27 studies suggests.
African gene trawl may provide
secrets to long life
A genetic peek deep into the heart of Africa confirms that Africans have more genetic
diversity than Europeans or Asians and provides insights into how to live a long life
despite disease and famine.
Almost half of all primates face
'imminent extinction'
Of 634 primate species, 48% are on the IUCN's 'red list' of animals under threat as
loggers, hunters and smugglers thrive
An ibuprofen a day could keep
Parkinson's disease away
New research shows people who regularly take ibuprofen may reduce their risk of developing
Parkinson's disease, according to a study released today that will be presented at the
American Academy of Neurology's 62nd Annual Meeting in Toronto April 10 to April 17, 2010.
The research involved 136,474 people who did not have Parkinson's disease at the beginning
of the research. Participants were asked about their use of non-steroid anti-inflammatory
drugs (NSAIDs), including aspirin, ibuprofen and acetaminophen. After six years, 293
participants had developed Parkinson's disease. The study found regular users of ibuprofen
were 40 percent less likely to develop Parkinson's disease than people who didn't take
ibuprofen. Also, people who took higher amounts of ibuprofen were less likely to develop
Parkinson's disease than people who took smaller amounts of the drug. The results were the
same regardless of age, smoking and caffeine intake.
Animals linked to human Chlamydia
pneumoniae
Animals have been found to have infected humans sometime in the past with the common
respiratory disease Chlamydia pneumoniae, according to Queensland University of Technology
infectious disease expert Professor Peter Timms. Unlike the sexually-transmitted form of
Chlamydia, Chlamydia pneumoniae is a major bacterial germ that causes widespread
respiratory disease in humans. The discovery was made by an international team of
scientists from QUT's Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation and the Institute for
Genome Sciences (IGS) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, who used koalas to
prove the link between Chlamydia pneumoniae in animals and humans. "We were able to
sequence the genome (an organism's hereditary information) of Chlamydia pneumoniae
obtained from an Australian koala and found evidence that human Chlamydia pneumoniae was
originally derived from an animal source," Professor Timms said.
Anti-inflammatory signal protein
discovered
Researchers at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet have discovered a
protein that is crucial in mediating the anti-inflammatory actions of nuclear lipid
receptors. The findings, published in the research journal Genes & Development, link
lipid metabolism and inflammation and open up new possibilities for developing treatments
of metabolic diseases associated with inflammation, such as diabetes and atherosclerosis.
Nuclear receptors are regulatory proteins within the cell nucleus that can directly bind
to a variety of hormones, metabolites and pharmaceuticals. Binding affects the activity of
these proteins, causing them to switch genes on or off that in turn leads to increased or
decreased production of the proteins that carry out diverse functions within the cell.
Numerous nuclear receptors are known as master regulators of lipid metabolism and
homeostasis. Latest research indicates that these receptors also play important roles in
the control of inflammation via mechanisms that remain to be clarified. A team led by
Professor Eckardt Treuter has now investigated the molecular mechanisms of how the nuclear
lipid receptors LRH-1 and LXR inhibit inflammatory gene expression in liver during the
so-called acute phase response. The study identified GPS2, a protein that directly
interacts with receptors, as a central component of a sophisticated protein network - or
‘genomic positioning system' - determining where and when these lipid receptors can
function anti-inflammatory.
Anti-Social Behaviors Increase
Wives’ Symptoms of Depression, MU Researchers Find
In the United States, nearly 10 percent of the population suffers from a depressive
disorder, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. While the causes of
depression vary, a new study at the University of Missouri reveals that marital hostility
is a contributing factor. MU researcher, Christine Proulx, found that husbands’
hostile and anti-social behaviors increased their wives’ symptoms of depression over
time. "In the study, husbands’ marital hostility was significantly related to
increases in wives’ symptoms of depression,” said Proulx, assistant professor in
the Department of Human Development and Family Studies in the College of Human
Environmental Sciences. “The more hostile and anti-social behavior exhibited by
husbands, the more depressed their wives were after three years. These findings suggest
that husbands’ treatment of their wives significantly impacts their psychological
well-being and that hostile behavior has a lasting effect on couples that continues
throughout their marriages.”
Are 'Test Tube Babies' Healthy?
Children conceived through IVF are more likely to weigh less than 2.5 kilograms than are
babies conceived naturally. That's not just because so many IVF babies are twins or other
multiple births; the same is true for single babies. That could spell trouble ahead,
because low-birth-weight babies often have long-term health problems. They're more likely
to be obese, to have diabetes, and to have hypertension when they're 50, for example.
Are panic attacks triggered by
carbon dioxide reactivity and influenced by environmental circumstances?
A study performed by a group of Italian investigators and published in the current issue
of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics has explored the relationship between adverse events,
early antecedents and carbon dioxide reactivity (CO2 reactivity) in panic disorder.
Are You a Victim of Farming's Drug
Problem?
E. coli, Campylobacter, Salmonella and Listeria flourished in the food supply; S. aureus,
S. pneumoniae and C. difficile gained footholds in hospitals and the community and
Acinetobacter got all the way to Iraq where it threatened our troops.
Association of vitamin B-6 status
with inflammation, oxidative stress, and chronic inflammatory conditions
Low vitamin B-6 concentrations are associated with inflammation, higher oxidative stress,
and metabolic conditions in older Puerto Rican adults. Our data suggest that vitamin B-6
may influence cardiovascular disease risk through mechanisms other than homocysteine and
support the notion that nutritional status may influence the health disparities present in
this population.
Audiences hate modern classical
music because their brains cannot cope
Modern classical music is so widely disliked by audiences because the human brain
struggles to find patterns it needs to understand the compositions as music.
Babies and sleep - Another reason
to love naps
Anyone who grew up in a large family likely remembers hearing "Don't wake the
baby." While it reinforces the message to older kids to keep it down, research shows
that sleep also is an important part of how infants learn more about their new world.
Rebecca Gomez, Richard Bootzin and Lynn Nadel in the psychology department at the
University of Arizona in Tucson found that babies who are able to get in a little daytime
nap are more likely to exhibit an advanced level of learning known as abstraction. Nadel,
a Regents' Professor at the UA, will describe the group's work (Early Learning in Infants
May Depend on Sleep) in a session at the American Association for the Advancement of
Science annual meeting in San Diego on Sunday, Feb. 21, starting at 8:30 a.m., Pacific
time. In their research, Nadel and his colleagues played recordings of "phrases"
created from an artificial language to four dozen 15-month-old infants during a learning
session. Their methodology included repeatedly playing phrases like
"pel-wadim-jic" until the babies became familiar with them.
Benzene exposure linked to sperm
abnormalities that cause birth defects
Men exposed to benzene at levels close to the U.S. permissible limit are more likely to
have an abnormal number of chromosomes in their sperm, researchers report in the journal
Environmental Health Perspectives.
Better prognosis markers for
prostate cancer found
Measuring levels of the active form of the protein EGFR in the tumor and its vicinity can
provide a more reliable prognosis for individuals with prostate cancer. This is what Umeĺ
University researcher Peter Hammarsten and his associates write in a study in the leading
scientific journal Clinical Cancer Research. One of the major problems with prostate
cancer is that, with today's prognosis markers, some 70-80 percent of patients wind up in
a group where very little can be said about their prognosis. Unfortunately, today no
methods to are good enough determine which patients truly need treatment and which ones
can get along fine without the difficult treatment. This in turn means that certain
patients are over-treated with therapies that can lead to serious side effects and that
other patients who reallyneed intensive treatment do not get it or get it too late. In a
study recently published in the scientific journal Clinical Cancer Research, Hammarsten
studied tissue biopsies from prostate tumors in 259 patients and found a new prognosis
marker for prostate cancer. It is the active form of the protein EFGR (Epidermal Growth
Factor Receptor) that was shown to provide information about the aggressiveness of the
tumor, both when it is measured in the tumor or in the healthy tissue surrounding the
tumor.
Biogas climate benefit greater than
previously thought
Biogas from refuse produces 95 per cent less greenhouse gas emissions than petrol,
according to a new research report. With a few simple improvements to the biogas plants,
the figure can rise to 120 per cent – i.e. biogas becomes more than climate neutral.
This can be compared with the standard figures used today, which indicate that biogas
produces 80 per cent lower emissions than petrol. A research group at the Lund University
has calculated the figures on behalf of the Swedish Energy Agency after having analysed a
biogas plant in Skĺne. The case study will make it easier to study and optimise other
biogas facilities. In Sweden there are some 20 similar plants, producing biogas for use in
cars and other vehicles. As much vehicle gas is produced by sewage treatment works that
produce biogas from sewage sludge.
Biologists Discover How Biological
Clock Controls Cell Division in Bacteria
A team of biologists has unraveled the biochemistry of how bacteria so precisely time cell
division, a key element in understanding how all organisms from bacteria to humans use
their biological clocks to control basic cellular functions. The discovery, detailed in
the February 19 issue of the journal Cell, provides important clues to how the biological
clocks of bacteria and other “prokaryotic” cells—which lack cell
nuclei—evolved differently from that of “eukaryotic” cells with nuclei that
comprise most other forms of life, from fungi to plants and animals.
Bleeding Risk Associated with
Image-Guided Biopsies is Low
Even among patients who have taken aspirin in proximity to an image-guided percutaneous
biopsy, risk of major bleeding associated with the procedure is low, according to a study
in the March issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology (www.ajronline.org).
Image-guided percutaneous biopsies are an important means of diagnosing disease in organs
and other soft tissues. They involve the removal of cells or tissues for examination.
“With the evolution of imaging guidance, percutaneous biopsy has become a valuable
tool in obtaining tissue for diagnosis,” said Thomas D. Atwell, MD, lead author of
the study. “Unfortunately, this procedure is not without risk, and hemorrhage is the
most feared complication after biopsy,” he said. The study included a retrospective
review of percutaneous biopsies performed at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, over the
course of six years. “Among the 15,181 percutaneous biopsies performed during the
study period, only 70 hemorrhages (0.5 percent) were identified within three months of
biopsy,” said Atwell. “The incidence of bleeding in patients taking aspirin
within 10 days before biopsy was 0.6 percent (18/3,195),” he said.
Both sides take tobacco fight to
Supreme Court
The Obama administration asked the Supreme Court Friday to allow the government to seek
nearly $300 billion from the tobacco industry for a half-century of deception that
"has cost the lives and damaged the health of untold millions of Americans."
Breast Cancer Fears Grow Around
Household Cleaners
That fresh clean smell that American's love may be boosting cases of breast cancer in the
U.S.-- and possibly even causing breast cancer in young children, let alone their moms.
British scientists discover 'secret
to ageing' bringing new hope to old-age sufferers
The secret to ageing appears to have been solved by British scientists, bringing new hope
to sufferers of old age-related illnesses such as heart disease.
Chemical tags likely to affect
metabolism, cancer development
It is not unusual to hear people blame their metabolism after gaining a few pounds. But
changes in metabolism – the process that shapes how our bodies turn food into energy
-- can have much more sinister effects than making it hard to fit into your favorite
jeans. In fact, differences in metabolic rates are known to exist between normal cells and
tumor cells, though the mechanism behind it is unclear. Now new research from the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill suggests that the addition or removal of a
certain type of chemical tag – called an acetyl group – onto metabolic enzymes
plays a key role in how cellular metabolism is regulated. The finding, which will appear
in the February 19 issue of the journal Science, gives researchers vital clues to
understand how normal cells respond to nutrient changes and how the process by which
normal cells turn cancerous, and could one day lead to new drugs that starve cancer cells
into submission. "We have discovered an entirely new layer of control of
metabolism," said Yue Xiong, Ph.D., professor of biochemistry and biophysics and a
member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. "This process -- the
acetylation of metabolic enzymes -- appears to be highly conserved during evolution and
very dynamic, which makes it an ideal target for future drug development. Now if we can
identify which enzyme or enzymes are responsible for the difference in metabolism between
normal and tumor cells, then we could have new targets for the treating cancer
patients."
Chemicals In Toys, Furniture May
Face Tighter Standards
Wiles and other consumer advocates are now helping to shape what is expected to be a
massive overhaul of American chemical policy.
Chemicals suspected in breast
cancer
US experts called Friday for toxicity tests on chemicals they suspect play a role in the
development of breast cancer, a leading cause of death in American women.
Childhood obesity a risk for
premature death
In a study now being published in The New England Journal of Medicine, Associate Professor
Paul Franks of Umeĺ University in Sweden, in collaboration with researchers in the US,
shows how childhood obesity, together with other risk factors for cardiovascular disease,
affects premature death. The researchers studied 4,857 children from the indigenous Indian
population in the US, born between 1945 and 1984. All underwent detailed medical
examinations, including measurement of body fat (BMI), cholesterol, blood pressure, and
blood sugar. The children were then followed up for an average of 24 years of their
continuing lives, during which time further parameters were monitored, as were any deaths
in the group. In this group, 559 individuals (11.5%) died before the age of 55, 166 of
them from natural causes. The most common natural causes of death were alcohol-related
liver disease and cardiovascular disease. Among the four risk factors that were monitored
in the study, childhood obesity turned out to be the strongest predictor of premature
death from disease. The 1,214 most overweight children in the group (the upper quarter)
had a mortality frequency that was more than twice as high (230%) of that of the leanest
quarter of those studied.
Climate change could be accelerated
by 'methane time bomb'
Climate change could be accelerated dramatically by rising levels of methane in the
Earth’s atmosphere, scientists will warn today.
Climate scientists withdraw journal
claims of rising sea levels
Study claimed in 2009 that sea levels would rise by up to 82cm by the end of century
– but the report's author now says true estimate is still unknown.
Common gene variant may increase
risk for a type of cardiac arrhythmia
An international research team has identified a common gene variant associated with a form
of the irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation. In their report in the journal
Nature Genetics, being published online, the investigators describe finding that
variations affecting a protein that may help control the heart's electrical activity
appear to increase the risk of what is called lone atrial fibrillation (AF), a type seen
in younger individuals with no other form of heart disease. "The genetic location we
have identified could be a new drug target for the treatment of AF," says Patrick
Ellinor, MD, PhD, of the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Cardiovascular Research
Center and Cardiac Arrhythmia Service, a co-corresponding author of the report. "We
also will be investigating whether these variants can help us predict patients' clinical
outcomes or their response to the various treatments for AF." The most common type of
irregular heartbeat, atrial fibrillation affects more than 2.2 million people in the U.S.
In AF the upper chambers of the heart, called the atria, beat in a rapid and uncoordinated
fashion, which can cause blood to pool within the heart. If blood clots form within the
heart, they can break loose, travel to the brain and cause a stroke. While AF is most
commonly seen in older individuals with hypertension, heart failure or other forms of
heart disease, about 10 percent of AF patients begin having symptoms when they are younger
and have no other known cardiovascular disease, a condition called lone AF.
Compostable plastics have a sweet
ending
Food packaging and other disposable plastic items could soon be composted at home along
with organic waste thanks to a new sugar-based polymer. The degradable polymer is made
from sugars known as lignocellulosic biomass, which come from non-food crops such as
fast-growing trees and grasses, or renewable biomass from agricultural or food waste. It
is being developed at Imperial College London by a team of Engineering and Physical
Sciences Research Council scientists led by Dr Charlotte Williams. The search for greener
plastics, especially for single use items such as food packaging, is the subject of
significant research worldwide. "It's spurred on not only from an environmental
perspective, but also for economic and supply reasons," explains Dr Williams.
Computer simulation of protein
malfunction related to Alzheimer's disease
Researchers at Universitat Autňnoma de Barcelona (UAB) and University of Stockholm have
created a computer modelling of the structural malfunctioning of the ApoE4 protein when it
enters into contact with the Amyloid beta molecule, the main cause of Alzheimer's disease.
The research, published in PLoS Computational Biology, supports experimental evidence that
links ApoE4 with this pathology and opens up new exploration possibilities in
understanding and fighting against the disease. The research proposes a three-dimensional
model which simulates the interaction between the peptide Amyloid beta and the different
forms of Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) and offers a first molecular base for the comprehension
of this phenomenon. Three possible ApoE forms exist in humans: ApoE2, ApoE3 and ApoE4.
ApoE3 is the most common form, while ApoE4 is very closely linked to Alzheimer's disease.
The project was carried out by five researchers, including Jean-Didier Maréchal and Ŕlex
Perálvarez, lecturers at the UAB Departments of Chemistry and of Biochemistry and
Molecular Biology (Centre for Biophysics Studies). Given the difficulty in carrying out in
vitro experiments with the peptide Amyloid beta, researchers decided to create a computer
simulation to establish the first approximation of the molecular mechanisms which relate
it to ApoE4.
Contrast-enhanced MRI could play a
key role in differentiating between common types of arthritis
Contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may help physicians differentiate
between rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis in the hand and wrist enabling more
targeted therapies unique to each condition, according to a study in the March issue of
the American Journal of Roentgenology. Contrast-enhanced MRI uses contrast media to
improve the visibility of internal bodily structures. Rheumatoid arthritis is a long-term
disease that leads to inflammation of the joints and surrounding tissues. Psoriatic
arthritis is associated with psoriasis of the skin and is usually confined to the knees,
ankles, and joints in the feet. "Clinically, it may be difficult to distinguish
psoriatic arthritis from rheumatoid arthritis because the symptoms of both diseases are
similar and the diagnostic tests currently available to aid in the differentiation of
psoriatic and rheumatoid arthritis are not always sufficient," said Nina F.
Schwenzer, MD, lead author of the study. The study, performed at the University Hospital
of Tubingen in Tubingen, Germany, included 45 patients (31 patients with rheumatoid
arthritis and 14 with psoriatic arthritis) who were imaged using contrast-enhanced MRI.
"The perfusion (or uptake) of contrast media in psoriatic arthritis and rheumatoid
arthritis is presumed to be different," said Schwenzer. Typically, one will not be
able to see a difference until after 15 minutes after the contrast material is given.
"Our study revealed a significant difference in perfusion between those patients with
rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis after 15 minutes. However, since it was a
small group of patients and there was an overlap in perfusion values between both types of
arthritis, a diagnosis could not be led by contrast-enhanced MRI alone. Our results are
nonetheless promising though," she said.
Cooling Inflammation for Healthier
Arteries
Agricultural Research Service (ARS)-funded scientists have reported new reasons for
choosing "heart-healthy" oats at the grocery store.
Corporate Baking Giant Sara Lee
Hijacks Organics
With the growing success of organics, and increasing consumer interest in buying foods
that were grown on sustainable farms without toxic chemicals, Sara Lee Corporation has
launched, with much fanfare, a marketing campaign for its EarthGrains bread, chock-full of
environmental-friendly catchphrases.
Creating biomarkers from tumor DNA
Researchers have developed a new technique for tracking cancer by identifying personalized
biomarkers from tumor DNA, reports a new study in the 24 February 2010 issue of the
journal Science Translational Medicine, published by AAAS, the nonprofit science society.
The findings show that next-generation sequencing technology is poised become an important
tool in the new era of personalized management of cancer patients. "There is
currently no test for cancer patients that provides personalized biomarkers for clinical
management of disease, and we feel that this is an important step in bringing new genome
sequencing technologies to personalized patient care," said senior author Victor
Velculescu, associate professor of oncology and Co-Director of the Cancer Biology Program
at Johns Hopkins.
CSHL neuroscientist discovers
protein that regulates forgetting of short-term memories
Memories that we have just acquired – a new phone number, or the name of a new
acquaintance -- are more liable to be forgotten than memories we have held for some time.
We know this from experience, but we are just learning about events inside and between
nerve cells that account for the loss of short-term memory. Now, a neuroscience team led
by a scientist at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) has discovered that three kinds of
forgetting – all involving the erasure of short-term memory – are regulated
within neurons by the activity of a protein called Rac. The results will be published
online ahead of print February 19 in the journal Cell. Naturally occurring Rac activation
within neurons located in a fruit fly organ called the mushroom body was linked
experimentally with three distinct memory-erasure tasks by CSHL Professor Yi Zhong, Ph.D.,
and colleagues at Tsinghua University in Beijing. One kind of erasure is associated with
gradual short-term memory loss (previously considered "passive"); another
entails an acute, rapid removal of short-term memory (e.g., "reversal
learning"); a third involves a kind of erasure associated with new information that
interferes with an existing short-term memory ("interference"). In all three
kinds of erasure, the team has found, the process of forgetting is mediated by a mechanism
dependent upon the activity level of Rac, a protein that belongs to the Rho family of
GTPases. These are a type of protein known to act, among other things, as regulators of
the cytoskeleton, the superstructure of cells. Importantly, Zhong and colleagues propose
that Rac's role in erasing memory is directly related to its function as a cytoskeleton
remodeling agent.
Dark-skinned immigrants urged to
take vitamin D
Immigrants who come to Canada from sunnier parts of the world are at risk of health
problems caused by a lack of vitamin D unless they take supplements, doctors and
nutritionists warn.
Developer Proposes 30,000 Solar
Dishes in Calif. Desert
When completed, Stirling Energy System Inc.'s $2.2 billion Solar Two project is expected
to include 30,000 solar dish systems across more than 6,100 acres of federal land.
Diapers' contents could change way
of finding intestinal disease
A medical test initially researched for aging adults also could be helpful for premature
babies, according to scientists with Texas AgriLife Research. The procedure, which uses
fecal samples rather than the oft-dreaded colonoscopy, was developed by Dr. Robert Chapkin
and his colleagues, who have been studying the noninvasive technique at the genetic level
for more than a decade. "Babies have many, many intestinal conditions that can
threaten their lives, such as necrotizing enterocolitis, or NEC, in premature
infants," said Chapkin, a nutritional scientist. "Our test, we believe, may have
utility for determining a baby's risk, and then would allow a physician to take different
strategies in order to abate or prevent the possibility of this life threatening
disorder." Necrotizing enterocolitis can be fatal, Chapkin noted, and it's very
difficult to determine which babies in the premature baby intensive care unit are going to
develop the disease. The researchers examined the fecal samples of 20 healthy babies in
collaborative research with clinicians at the University of Illinois-Urbana.
Discovery gives hope for resilience
of corals to future global warming
Penn State researchers and their international collaborators have discovered a diversity
of corals harboring unusual species of symbiotic algae in the warm waters of the Andaman
Sea in the northeastern Indian Ocean. "The existence of so many novel coral symbioses
thriving in a place that is too warm for most corals gives us hope that coral reefs and
the ecosystems they support may persist -- at least in some places -- in the face of
global warming," said the team's leader, Penn State assistant professor of biology
Todd LaJeunesse.
Discovery of the Nutrient 'Mining
Machine' in Plants
Scientists from the John Innes Centre and the University of Oxford have discovered which
genes control the specialized nutrient mining machine that develops on the surface of
plant roots. Root hairs develop on roots and burrow into the soil releasing acids and
other scouring chemicals that crack open rocky minerals releasing valuable nutrients such
as iron and phosphate that are necessary for plant growth. It has long been known that
when crops such as barley and wheat are grown on soils containing small amounts of
phosphate, those plants with long hairs give higher yields than those with short hairs.
Similarly long-haired beans grown on nutrient poor tropical soils of Central America do
much better than short haired varieties. The mechanism that controls the growth of these
nutrient excavating cells has eluded scientists until now. This week a group of UK-based
scientists shed light on the mystery in a paper published in Nature Genetics. They
discovered that a master regulatory gene called RSL4 acts like a switch; hair cells grow
when the gene is turned on and growth stops when it is off.
DNA evidence tells 'global story'
of human history
In recent years, DNA evidence has added important new tools for scientists studying the
human past. Now, a collection of reviews published by Cell Press in a special issue of
Current Biology published online on February 22nd offers a timely update on how new
genetic evidence, together with archaeological and linguistic evidence, has enriched our
understanding of human history on earth. "To understand what it is to be human, it is
essential to understand the human past," says Colin Renfrew of the University of
Cambridge, who first coined the term "archaeogenetics" and is the author of a
guest editorial in the special issue. "Nearly all civilizations have their own origin
or creation myth. Now we can use archaeogenetics to tell a global story that is robust and
applicable to all human communities everywhere." The journey started around 60 to 70
thousand years ago in Africa, where modern humans evolved more than 150 thousand years
ago, and where human diversity is still the highest among all continents in terms of
genetic variation and languages. From there, humans settled Europe and South Asia and
reached Oceania. The Americas (apart from the remote Oceanian islands) were settled last.
Doctors and nurses 'should be more
careful giving a powerful antibiotic to babies'
Doctors and nurses should be more careful when giving a powerful antibiotic to babies, a
health watchdog has warned following hundreds of safety scares.
Does Fair Trade Coffee Lift Growers
Out of Poverty or Simply Ease Our Guilty Conscience?
How many times a day do you consume a food produced by a subsistence farmer on the other
side of the world? Whether it's chocolate, coffee, tea, sugar or bananas, most Americans
regularly enjoy inexpensive tropical foods, but far fewer actually think about the effects
on the people or the environment where those products are grown.
Does red meat give you bowel
cancer?
A bitter row has broken out between members of the British meat industry and the World
Cancer Research Fund over whether red meat increases the risk of bowel cancer.
Dolphin cognitive abilities raise
ethical questions, says Emory neuroscientist
Emory University neuroscientist Lori Marino will speak on the anatomical basis of dolphin
intelligence at the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference (AAAS)
in San Diego, on Sunday, Feb. 21 at 3:30 p.m. "Many modern dolphin brains are
significantly larger than our own and second in mass to the human brain when corrected for
body size," Marino says. A leading expert in the neuroanatomy of dolphins and whales,
Marino will appear as part of a panel discussing these findings and their ethical and
policy implications. Some dolphin brains exhibit features correlated with complex
intelligence, she says, including a large expanse of neocortical volume that is more
convoluted than our own, extensive insular and cingulated regions, and highly
differentiated cellular regions. "Dolphins are sophisticated, self-aware, highly
intelligent beings with individual personalities, autonomy and an inner life. They are
vulnerable to tremendous suffering and psychological trauma," Marino says. The
growing industry of capturing and confining dolphins to perform in marine parks or to swim
with tourists at resorts needs to be reconsidered, she says. "Our current knowledge
of dolphin brain complexity and intelligence suggests that these practices are potentially
psychologically harmful to dolphins and present a misinformed picture of their natural
intellectual capacities," Marino says. Marino worked on a 2001 study that showed that
dolphins can recognize themselves in a mirror – a finding that indicates
self-awareness similar to that seen in higher primates and elephants.
Dolphins could be ideal model to
study human cervical cancer
After testing dozens of samples from marine mammals, University of Florida aquatic animal
health experts say dolphins may be the ideal model for the study of cervical cancer in
people. "We discovered that dolphins get multiple infections of apillomaviruses,
which are known to be linked with cervical cancer in women," said Hendrik Nollens, a
marine mammal biologist and clinical assistant professor at UF's College of Veterinary
Medicine today (Feb. 18) at the annual meeting of the American Academy for the Advancement
of Science. "Dolphins are the only species besides humans that we know of that can
harbor coinfections, or infections of multiple papillomavirus types, in the genital
mucosa." There are approximately 100 types of human papillomaviruses, and
multiple-type infections of up to eight HPV types have been reported in humans, he said.
Dolphins' health shed light on
human and ocean health
A panel of governmental, academic and non-profit scientists speaking today at the annual
meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) unveiled
research suggesting that diseases found in dolphins are similar to human diseases and can
provide clues into how human health might be affected by exposure to contaminated coastal
water or seafood. "Dolphins and humans are both mammals, and their diet includes much
of the same seafood that we consume. Unlike us, however, they are exposed to potential
ocean health threats such as toxic algae or poor water quality 24 hours a day," said
Carolyn Sotka of the NOAA Oceans and Human Health Initiative and lead organizer of the
session. "Our ecological and physiological similarities make dolphins an important
'sentinel species' to not only warn us of health risks, but also provide insight into how
our health can benefit from new medical discoveries." "Marine animal and
ecosystem health are connected to public health and well-being," said Jane Lubchenco,
Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator.
"NOAA is committed to better understanding these connections and building the
partnerships necessary to have healthy oceans, including healthy dolphins."
Don't criticize your employees in
front of consumers - It's bad for business
When employees are rude to one another, it creates a negative impression that affects
consumer judgments of the company, according to new study in the Journal of Consumer
Research. Authors Christine Porath, Debbie MacInnis, and Valerie Folkes (all University of
Southern California) conducted several studies of employee-employee incivility and found
that consumers frequently witnessed incidents of employees behaving badly toward each
other. "Employee incivility was reported across a variety of industries, including
restaurants, banks, government offices, gyms, retail stores, universities, airlines, and
entertainment venues," the authors write. "Approximately 40 percent reported
witnessing an act of employee incivility at least once per month." Across four
studies, the authors found that consumers witnessing acts of employee incivility among
employees is extremely detrimental to companies. "It induces consumer anger and
causes consumers to make broad and negative conclusions (generalizations) about the firm
as a whole, other employees who work there, and expectations about future encounters with
the firm; conclusions that go well beyond the uncivil incident."
Ecstasy damages complex memory
Ecstasy users have more trouble with difficult memory tasks than non-drug takers and
cannabis users, according to new Australian research.
EU biofuels significantly harming
food production in developing countries
EU biofuels 10% targets cause millions of peope to go hungry and increase food prices and
landlessness, says report.
Everyday grass could provide green
fuel
A five-year research project has come up with a way of generating green energy from a
humble everyday grass. Researchers at Teesside University’s Contaminated Land and
Water Centre began the project in 2004 to see which plants could best be grown on
brownfield sites as a way of improving unsightly blots on the landscape. Now, the research
by the BioReGen (Biomass, Remediation, re-Generation) project team has revealed that reed
canary grass can be turned into an excellent fuel for biomass power stations and, on a
smaller scale, boilers in buildings like schools.
Ex-Chief of Monsanto India Claims
Data for Approvals Faked
Jagadisan, who worked with Monsanto for nearly two decades, including eight years as the
managing director of India operations, spoke against the new variety during the public
consultation held in Bangalore on Saturday. On Monday, he elaborated by saying the company
"used to fake scientific data" submitted to government regulatory agencies to
get commercial approvals for its products in India.
Exercise Helps Protect Brain Of
Multiple Sclerosis Patients
Highly fit multiple sclerosis patients perform significantly better on tests of cognitive
function than similar less-fit patients, a new study shows. In addition, MRI scans of the
patients showed that the fitter MS patients showed less damage in parts of the brain that
show deterioration as a result of MS, as well as a greater volume of vital gray matter.
“We found that aerobic fitness has a protective effect on parts of the brain that are
most affected by multiple sclerosis,” said Ruchika Shaurya Prakash, lead author of
the study and assistant professor of psychology at Ohio State University.
Exposing the Latest Propaganda and
Euphemisms of the Biotech Industry
Prof. Heinemann has that rare ability of communicating science to a non-specialist
audience with clarity, and even wit (items 1 and 2). His incisive analysis of the
misleading language in vogue among biotechnologists intent on reducing regulation of GMOs
is very timely.
Farmers' markets offer different
strokes for different folks
Farmers' markets are not created equal. Some sell only fresh produce while others offer
entertainment and a wide variety of vendors. And each market's unique personality attracts
some people while repelling others. A University of Illinois study revealed that based on
what they offer, farmers' markets self-select people who are on a specific mission -- and
visiting other retail stores isn't one of them. "Not one of the six farmers' markets
we visited in the city of Chicago and suburbs drew any business to any of the other
retailers on the same day as the farmers' market," said U of I economist Michael
Mazzocco. "That's not to say that there isn't an occasional person. But on the
questionnaire we asked 'how many other retailers have you visited or will you visit on
this trip?' and the answer was zero." Mazzocco concluded that market organizers are
mistaken if they are counting on a farmers' market to bring in more traffic in retail
stores. "The farmers' markets may build awareness of other stores for future trips,
but we did not investigate that." So, what does bring people to the market?
"Each farmers' market attracts those who they subconsciously, inadvertently, want to
attract," Mazzocco said. "For example, the Oak Park farmers' market is the only
one where we found a majority of men, and a larger proportion of money than anywhere else
we went was spent on food consumed on site. People were there to buy coffee and donuts,
roam around downtown, and visit with their friends."
Flu-induced stress response is
critical for resistance to secondary infection
A new study reveals how infection with the influenza virus impacts the way that the immune
system responds to subsequent infections. The research, published by Cell Press in the
February 18th issue of the journal Cell Host and Microbe, provides a new understanding of
the physiological and pathological consequences of the flu. Much of what is known about
how the immune system protects against infection comes from studies examining exposure to
a single pathogen. However, in the natural environment, organisms are commonly exposed to
multiple infectious agents at the same time, so it is important to determine how the
host's response to one pathogen alters its response to another. This is particularly
relevant for infection with influenza because it is often accompanied by secondary
bacterial infections that are more lethal that the initial viral infection. "Several
studies have demonstrated that infection with influenza virus can result in a suppression
of the immune system," explains senior study author, Dr. Ruslan Medzhitov from the
Department of Immunology at the Yale University School of Medicine. "However, these
studies focused primarily on the local effects of influenza at the site of infection. The
effect of influenza virus infection on the systemic immune response is less well
understood."
Fluorescent probes light up
cancerous tumors
Building on his Nobel Prize-winning work creating fluorescent proteins that light up the
inner workings of cells, a team of researchers led by Howard Hughes Medical Institute
investigator Roger Tsien, PhD, professor of pharmacology, chemistry and biochemistry at
the University of California, San Diego and the Moores UCSD Cancer Center has developed
biological probes that can stick to and light up tumors in mice. The scientists were able
to spot and remove more cancerous tissue in mice injected with the fluorescent probes than
in those mice without the fluorescent probes, upping survival five-fold. The findings
– reported online the week of February 15 in the early edition of the Proceedings of
the National Academy of Sciences – are the latest steps in research aimed at helping
surgeons see the outlines of cancerous tumors in real time, and promise to open new doors
to using molecular tools in the operating room. "The development of biological probes
that can guide surgeons, rather than depending only on feel and normal 'white light' to
see, can provide tools to navigate the body on a molecular level," said first author
Quyen Nguyen, MD, PhD, assistant professor of surgery at the University of California, San
Diego School of Medicine.
Food allergies - The enemy within
The guidance document is the result of several years of negotiation by a high-level
collaboration of experts from regulatory agencies representing Canada, USA, Australia,
Japan, the European Union, academic research institutions, and food allergen test-kit
manufacturers, under the auspices of the AOAC (Association of Analytical Communities)
Presidential Taskforce on Food Allergens. For the first time, national authorities
carrying out official food allergen controls have a common basis for accepting validated
testing methods. Consumers allergic to certain food ingredients will benefit from an
increased level of protection by the availability of harmonised and reliable testing
methods, and international trade will be facilitated by applying mutually-agreed testing
protocols.
From Carnivorous Plants to the
Medicine Cabinet?
New Tel Aviv University research investigates anti-fungal agents in the sticky
"pitchers" of carnivorous plants. In the tropics, carnivorous plants trap
unsuspecting prey in a cavity filled with liquid known as a "pitcher." The
moment insects like flies, ants and beetles fall into a pitcher, the plant's enzymes are
activated and begin dissolving their new meal, obtaining nutrients such as carbon and
nitrogen which are difficult to extract from certain soils. Carnivorous plants also
possess a highly developed set of compounds and secondary metabolites to aid in their
survival. These compounds could serve as a new class of anti-fungal drugs for use in human
medicine, says Prof. Aviah Zilberstein of Tel Aviv University's Department of Plant
Sciences. In a study conducted together with Dr. Haviva Eilenberg from her lab, Prof.
Esther Segal from the Sackler Faculty of Medicine and Prof. Shmuel Carmeli from the School
of Chemistry, the unusual components from the plants’ pitchers were found effective
as anti-fungal drugs against human fungal infections widespread in hospitals. The primary
results are encouraging.
Genes, environment, or chance?
Biologists attribute variations among individual organisms to differences in genes or
environment, or both. But a new study of nematode worms with identical genes, raised in
identical environments, has revealed another factor: chance. It's another source of
variation for scientists to consider. "Researchers have been exploring whether
organisms evolve different ways to cope with genetic and environmental variation,"
said author Scott Rifkin, an assistant professor of biology at UC San Diego. "This
study adds random variation to that mix." Rifkin, who joined the UCSD faculty this
fall, completed the study while working at MIT. The paper, co-authored by Arjun Raj, who
contributed equally to the work, Erik Andersen and Alexander van Oudenaarden of MIT, is
published in the February 18 issue of Nature.
Genome Study Shows How Strep Throat
Germ Circumvents Our Immune System
Investigators at The Methodist Hospital Research Institute in Houston examined for the
first time the long-term response to strep throat on a genome-wide level, shedding light
on how group A streptococcus interacts with the patient’s immune system and attempts
to circumvent it. Results were published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy
of Sciences (PNAS). In the United States, the human bacterial pathogen group A
streptococcus causes an estimated 30 million cases of strep throat annually and also
causes rheumatic fever that damages the heart.
Glaxo to halt production of
Poligrip with zinc
The maker of Poligrip denture cream will stop making formulas containing zinc amid
lawsuits claiming years of excessive use caused neurological damage and blood problems in
consumers, allegedly crippling some.
Global warming may hurt some poor
populations, benefit others
The impact of global warming on food prices and hunger could be large over the next 20
years, according to a new Stanford University study. Researchers say that higher
temperatures could significantly reduce yields of wheat, rice and maize – dietary
staples for tens of millions of poor people who subsist on less than $1 a day. The
resulting crop shortages would likely cause food prices to rise and drive many into
poverty. But even as some people are hurt, others would be helped out of poverty, says
Stanford agricultural scientist David Lobell. "Poverty impacts depend not only on
food prices but also on the earnings of the poor," said Lobell, a center fellow at
Stanford's Program on Food Security and the Environment (FSE). "Most projections
assume that if prices go up, the amount of poverty in the world also will go up, because
poor people spend a lot of their money on food. But poor people are pretty diverse. There
are those who farm their own land and would actually benefit from higher crop prices, and
there are rural wage laborers and people that live in cities who definitely will be
hurt."
Governments 'misjudging' scale of
CO2 emissions
Policy makers in Europe and United States are markedly underestimating the changes needed
to mitigate CO2 emission required to prevent dangerous climate change because they work in
'silos', according to pioneering research. Dr Sebastian Carney, from The University of
Manchester, discovered that the lack of communication between government departments, NGOs
and other authorities has resulted in significant differences over who is responsible for
what. He will describe his work at the prestigious 2010 American Association for the
Advancement of Science Annual Meeting on 21 February in San Diego. Using special computer
software he developed at The University of Manchester, Dr Carney has worked with
authorities in England, Scotland and California to troubleshoot the way they calculate
emissions reductions. The 'scenario sessions' bring together national and local
politicians, council officers, policy makers and NGOs – among others - to discuss
their approaches to emissions. "When it becomes evident that policy makers, and
energy planners are vastly underestimating the scale of the problem, the universal
reaction is one of shock.
Happiness is…looking forward
to your vacation
It takes more than a vacation to make people happy. Indeed, vacationers tend to be happier
than non-vacationers in the lead up to their break, but once they are back, there is very
little difference between the two groups’ levels of happiness. These findingsš by
Jeroen Nawijn from Erasmus University in Rotterdam and NHTV Breda University of Applied
Sciences and his team are published online in Springer’s journal Applied Research in
Quality of Life. Research to date suggests that vacations are associated with a number of
positive feelings. Jeroen Nawijn’s study sets out to answer four questions. Firstly,
are vacationers happier than non-vacationers? Secondly, does a trip boost happiness?
Thirdly, if a trip does boost happiness, how long does this effect last? And lastly, what
are the roles of length of time away and vacation stress?
Has Global Warming Stopped?
Weather conditions at specific locations, including temperature, are dynamic and vary with
regional and hemispheric weather patterns. The average global air temperature, which is
the sum of regional temperatures, has been gradually rising over the past 100 years.
According to NASA, the ten warmest years on record have occurred since 1997. The Fourth
Assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, reported in 2007
that 11 out of 12 of the years from 1995 to 2006—the exception being 1996—are 11
of the 12 warmest years since 1850.
Health warnings on drinks could be
compulsory
CIGARETTE-style warning labels could become compulsory on bottles of wine, beer and
spirits to help tackle binge drinking in the UK, under government plans launched
yesterday.
Helmets must be part of skiing and
snowboarding culture, doctors urge
While the world's best skiers and snowboarders at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games
compete with helmets on, many other skiers and snowboarders are choosing to forego this
important piece of safety equipment. In fact, many skiers and snowboarders place fashion
before safety, according to a commentary by a St. Michael's Hospital neurosurgeon
published in the Journal of the American Medical Association today. The commentary calls
for skiers to shun the cultural stigma or fashion faux pas associated with wearing helmets
to encourage helmet use as a routine part of the ski and snowboard culture. Head injuries
in these two alpine sports are the most frequent cause of hospital admission and death.
Research shows that about 120,000 people in North America suffer head injuries while
skiing or snowboarding each year. Recent studies have shown that helmets help reduce the
risk of head injuries by up to 60 percent.
Hopkins Scientists Discover How
Protein Trips Up Germs
If bad bacteria lurk in your system, chances are they will bump into the immune
system’s protective cells whose job is gobbling germs. The catch is that these
do-gooders, known as macrophages, ingest and destroy only those infectious invaders that
they can securely hook and reel in. Now, Hopkins scientists have shown that a healthy
immune response depends on a protein called TRPV2 (pronounced trip-vee-two) which, they
discovered, is the means by which macrophages capitalize on brief and accidental
encounters with nasty bugs.
How nerve cells grow
Brain researcher Hiroshi Kawabe has discovered the workings of a process that had been
completely overlooked until now, and that allows nerve cells in the brain to grow and form
complex networks. The study, which has now been published in the journal Neuron, shows
that an enzyme which usually controls the destruction of protein components has an
unexpected function in nerve cells: it controls the structure of the cytoskeleton and thus
ensures that nerve cells can form the tree-like extensions that are necessary for signal
transmission in the brain. (Neuron, February 11, 2010)
How Sugar Harms Your Mental
Well-Being
The health effects of too much sugar in the diet have been well established and well known
for many years now. However, years ago it seemed the only worry was about sugar rotting
your teeth. Not that that isn’t a serious condition, but it pales in comparison to
the long-term impact of diseases like diabetes and obesity, which have been linked more
comparatively recently. And now new research suggests that sugar can affect your mental
health as well – even in diseases such as depression and schizophrenia.
In learning, the brain forgets
things on purpose
Scientists have known that newly acquired, short-term memories are often fleeting. But a
new study in flies suggests that kind of forgetfulness doesn't just happen. Rather, an
active process of erasing memories may in some ways be as important as the ability to lay
down new memories, say researchers who report their findings in the February 19th issue of
the journal Cell, a publication of Cell Press. "Learning activates the biochemical
formation of memory," says Yi Zhong of Tsinghua University and Cold Spring Harbor
Laboratory. "But you need to remove memories for new information to come in. We've
found that forgetting is an active process to remove memory." The researchers have
traced that process to a molecular pathway including a small protein known as Rac. When
that mechanism is blocked, flies hold on to newly acquired memories for longer than they
otherwise would. At the psychological level, scientists have debated about the reasons we
forget. One theory held that new memories are simply unstable and evaporate over time. On
the other hand, some thought that interference caused earlier short-term memories to be
overridden as new information comes in. Now it appears that those competing notions are,
at the molecular level at least, one and the same.
Inadequate access to opioid-based
pain relief is a human rights issue for cancer patients
Many cancer patients in Europe are being denied access to adequate pain relief because of
over-zealous regulations restricting the availability and accessibility of opioid-based
drugs such as morphine. Authors of the Europe-wide study say that restricting access to
pain-killing drugs in this way is a breach of patients' human rights, and they conclude
that "there is an ethical and public health imperative to address these issues
vigorously and urgently". The study, which is published online in the cancer journal,
Annals of Oncology [1] today (Monday 22 February), is a joint report on the availability
and accessibility of opioids for the relief of cancer pain by the European Society for
Medical Oncology and the European Association for Palliative Care. The authors collected
data from 21 Eastern European countries and 20 Western European countries. They evaluated
the lists of allowed opioid drugs for the management of strong pain (opioid analgesics)
for each country, the cost of opioid medication to patients and the regulatory barriers
that can make it more difficult, if not impossible, for cancer patients and their doctors
to get access to these medications in a timely manner. They found that in some countries,
particularly in Western Europe, access and availability was good (the UK was an example of
a country that performed well in this respect), but in other countries, particularly in
Eastern Europe, it was much more restricted. In countries, such as Lithuania, Tajikistan,
Belarus, Albania, Georgia and Ukraine, some essential opioid medicines were completely
unavailable.
India's Battle Against Monsanto
Rages On
Patented gene technologies will not help small farmers survive climate change, but they
will concentrate corporate power, drive up costs, inhibit public sector research and
further undermine the rights of farmers to save and exchange seeds.
Indian Official Warns Against
Mixing Climate, Trade
A senior Indian trade official on Thursday warned there was a growing trend for countries
to use unreasonable environmental and health standards as a covert form of protectionism,
blocking trade already hit by global slowdown.
Infant diet key to obesity, study
shows
BABIES given solid foods before they are four months old are more likely to be overweight
at the age of three than other infants, research said.
International study confirms
doubling of childhood leukemia rates in southern Iraq
Childhood leukemia rates have more than doubled over the last 15 years in the southern
Iraq province of Basrah, according to the study, "Trends in Childhood Leukaemia in
Basrah, Iraq (1993-2007), published in the American Journal of Public Health. The authors,
three of whom are from the University of Washington, say they hope their calculations can
now pave the way for an investigation into reasons why the rates have climbed so high, and
why they are higher than found in nearby Kuwait, or in the European Union or the United
States. The study documents 698 cases of leukemia for children aged 0-14 during the
15-year period, with a peak of 211 cases in 2006. Younger children had higher rates than
older ones. "By using a hospital cancer registry, we were able to measure a jump in
leukemia rates from 3 per 100,000 youngsters in the first part of our study period, to a
rate of almost 8 and a half in the final three years," said UW Department of Global
Health faculty member Amy Hagopian, the paper's lead author. By comparison, Hagopian said,
the European Union and the United States report rates of 4 and 5 per 100,000,
respectively. She also noted Kuwait reports a rate of approximately 2 per 100,000 and Oman
reports rates between 2 and 3, depending on the gender of the child (boys typically have
higher rates, as do children from higher socio-economic classes).
IOM Report Declares High Blood
Pressure a Neglected Diseas
Public health officials and health care providers need to step up their efforts to reduce
Americans' increasing rates of high blood pressure and better treat those with the
condition, which triggers more than one-third of heart attacks and almost half of heart
failures in the United States each year, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine.
Policies that create environments which support healthier eating, lowered sodium
consumption, and increased physical activity offer greater promise of reducing the high
hypertension rate than merely educating individuals about the dangers of high blood
pressure, said the committee that wrote the report. Roughly three-quarters of Americans
recognize the importance of having their blood pressure checked, but this awareness has
not translated into sustained reductions in the condition. Nearly one-third of U.S. adults
have high blood pressure, and it accounts for about one in six adult deaths annually, a 25
percent increase from 1995 to 2005. Given that many individuals with high blood pressure
have not been diagnosed and the majority of patients with hypertension do not have it
under control, the report also calls on public health and medical officials to explore
ways to improve health care providers' adherence to treatment guidelines. Multiple studies
show that physicians are unlikely to start or intensify treatment for mild to moderate
hypertension and that they are less aggressive about treating older patients, who are the
most likely to have the condition and benefit from therapy. In addition, public health
officials should work with health insurance plans to reduce or eliminate deductibles and
co-payments for anti-hypertensive drugs to improve patients' compliance with treatment
regimens.
Is tofu bad for the
environment?Category:
There is growing evidence that soy-based proteins can have a far larger impact on the
environment than we might have imagined – but does that mean we should shun them,
too?
IVF technique a fertility threat to
next generation
An extreme form of IVF that forces individual sperm into eggs is being overused and may
pass on infertility to the next generation, the doctor who pioneered it has warned.
Johns Hopkins scientists develop
personalized blood tests for cancer using whole genome sequencing
Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have used data from the whole genome
sequencing of cancer patients to develop individualized blood tests they believe can help
physicians tailor patients' treatments. The genome-based blood tests, believed to be the
first of their kind, may be used to monitor tumor levels after therapy and determine
cancer recurrence. "We believe this is the first application of newer generations of
whole-genome sequencing that could be clinically useful for cancer patients," says
Victor Velculescu, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of oncology and co-director of the
cancer biology program at Johns Hopkins. "Using this approach, we can develop
biomarkers for potentially any cancer patient." In a report on the work, published in
the February 24 issue of Science Translational Medicine, the scientists scanned patients'
genomes for alterations that, they say, most researchers have not been looking for –
rearrangements of large chunks of DNA rather than changes in a single DNA letter among
billions of others. They call their new approach Personalized Analysis of Rearranged Ends
(PARE).
Key cancer gene 'link to poverty'
There is a genetic explanation for why women from poor backgrounds are less likely to beat
breast cancer, Dundee University researchers have said.
Kidney damage in 12 percent of
Chinese children exposed to melamine-contaminated dairy products
While the majority of children who were affected by consuming toxic melamine-contaminated
products in China recovered, kidney abnormalities remained in 12% of the affected
children, according to an article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal)
(pre-embargo link only) www.cmaj.ca. In 2008, melamine-contaminated dairy products from
the Sanlu Dairy Company resulted in a large outbreak of serious kidney damage in Chinese
children. Melamine, commonly used in the chemical industry, was intentionally added to
milk to boost its protein content. Of the 69 affected batches of product, 11 were baby
formula. Chinese authorities announced the outbreak on September 12, 2008 and initiated
product recalls, programs to screen and treat affected children and other emergency
responses. More than 50 000 children have been hospitalized and six have died due to
kidney damage. Although melamine-related disease in humans has been recognized, the full
effects of melamine remain unknown.
Law slows efforts to control
chemical used by dry cleaners
When it comes to dry cleaning, nothing else gets stains out like a chemical called
perchloroethylene, or "perc," for short.
Low-income Urban Mothers Have High
Rate of Postpartum Depression
More than half of low-income urban mothers met the criteria for a diagnosis of depression
at some point between two weeks and 14 months after giving birth, according to a study led
by University of Rochester Medical Center researchers and published online by the journal
Pediatrics. This is the first study to describe the prevalence of depression among
low-income urban mothers, who were attending well-child care visits, through the use of a
diagnostic interview. It also is the first study of this population group to test the
accuracy of three depression screening tools routinely used by physicians.
Men who survive cancer may need
testosterone boost
Men who survive cancer may need extra testosterone to counter the side effects of
chemotherapy and radiotherapy, British researchers have said.
Migraine More Common in Women with
MS
Migraine is seen more frequently in women with multiple sclerosis (MS) than those without,
according to a study released today that will be presented at the American Academy of
Neurology’s 62nd Annual Meeting in Toronto April 10 to April 17, 2010.
Mild traumatic brain injury, not so
mild after all
Douglas Smith, MD, director of the Center for Brain Injury and Repair and professor of
Neurosurgery at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, will present
information on the molecular mechanism at play in mild TBI (mTBI), commonly called
concussions. Although mTBI affects over 1 million people each year in the United States,
it is generally ignored as a major health issue. However, this 'mild' form of injury
induces persisting neurological and cognitive problems in many of these patients, exacting
an enormous emotional and financial toll on society. Despite the prevalence and impact of
mTBI, little is known about how mTBI affect nerve cells and connections in the brain, and
therefore clinical outcomes after injury. Smith and colleagues have begun to amass data
from human and animal studies on mTBI at 2-4 days after injury using advanced neuroimaging
techniques. They have found distinct changes throughout the white matter in the brain.
Also, protein markers of brain pathology were identified after mTBI in the blood of mTBI
patients. The team proposes a potential molecular mechanism to explain their findings.
Specifically, they found that the stretching and disconnecting of nerve-cell axons after
mTBI induces problems to the sodium channels found on the surface of neurons. "This
is not inconsequential," say Smith. "Indeed, the observation that brain
pathology can be detected after a concussion calls for much more extensive efforts to
prevent, diagnose, and treat mild traumatic brain injury."
Mom's antidepressants may delay
baby's first steps
When pregnant women take antidepressants, it sometimes causes their babies to hit
developmental milestones late, Danish researchers reported on Monday.
Mom's diet may alter infant's
allergies
Eating lots of vegetables and fruits during pregnancy may lower the chance of having a
baby with certain allergies, hint study findings from Japan.
More, Better Biodiesel
Yields of biodiesel from oilseed crops such as safflower could be increased by up to 24
percent using a new process developed by chemists at UC Davis. The method converts both
plant oils and carbohydrates into biodiesel in a single process, and should also improve
the performance characteristics of biodiesel, especially in cold weather. A paper
describing the method, which has been patented, is online in the journal Energy &
Fuels. Conventional biodiesel production extracts plant oils and then converts them into
fatty acid esters that can be used to power engines, said Mark Mascal, professor of
chemistry at UC Davis and co-author of the paper with postdoctoral researcher Edward
Nikitin. That leaves behind the carbohydrate portion of the plant — the sugars,
starches, and cellulose that make up stems, leaves, seed husks and other structures.
Most maternal deaths in sub-Saharan
Africa could be avoided
More than 500,000 women die each year worldwide due to complications arising from
pregnancy and childbirth. Half of these women live in sub-Saharan Africa. A research team
from the King Juan Carlos University (URJC) in Madrid says these women are not dying as a
result of any illness, but rather from a lack of basic healthcare measures. "Maternal
mortality is a good indicator of a country's healthcare situation and of the inequalities
between men and women", José Luis Álvarez, the lead author of this study and a
researcher at the URCJ in Madrid, tells SINC. The objective of this research, published in
the journal BMC Public Health was to quantify the specific weight of maternal mortality in
sub-Saharan African and to determine the healthcare, cultural and economic factors
involved in this.
Multi-Hued Carrots Offer A Wide
Variety of Health Benefits
Orange carrots are highly revered and regarded as “good for you” vegetables but
a review from Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety describes carrots of
the purple and red variety and suggest they offer just as much nutritional benefit. The
review published by the Institute of Food Technologists offers insight on the nutritional
value of carrots of all colors stating that the greatest benefits of this food are the
phytochemical content and fiber. Carotenoids are compounds that are responsible for the
multi-hues of carrots ranging from yellow to orange and red. Anthocyanins give the purple
carrots their bluish-red hue.
Nanotech discovery may green
chemical manufacturing
A new nanotech catalyst developed by McGill University Chemists Chao-Jun Li, Audrey Moores
and their colleagues offers industry an opportunity to reduce the use of expensive and
toxic heavy metals. Catalysts are substances used to facilitate and drive chemical
reactions. Although chemists have long been aware of the ecological and economic impact of
traditional chemical catalysts and do attempt to reuse their materials, it is generally
difficult to separate the catalyzing chemicals from the finished product. The team's
discovery does away with this chemical process altogether. Li neatly describes the new
catalyst as "use a magnet and pull them out!" The technology is known as
nanomagnetics and involves nanoparticles of a simple iron magnet. Nanoparticles are sized
between 1 and 100 nanometres (a strand of hair is about 80,000 nanometres wide). The
catalyst itself is chemically benign and can be efficiently recycled. In terms of
practical applications, their method can already be used to generate the reactions that
are required for example in pharmaceutical research, and could in the future be used to
achieve reactions necessary for research in other industries and fields.
Needing less sleep as you age is a
myth claims scientist and could do you harm
The idea that people need less sleep as they age is a myth and could be contributing to a
decline in memory among the elderly, according to a researcher.
Neuroscientists reveal new links
that regulate brain electrical activity
Investigators in the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Faculty of Medicine, have made a major
breakthrough in our understanding of nerve impulse generation within the brain. Brain
cells communicate with each other by firing electrical impulses, which in turn rely upon
special ion channels that are positioned at strategic locations in their membranes. This
exciting, new foundational research was published this week in the prominent journal
Nature Neuroscience. Principal Investigators, Ray W. Turner, Ph.D. and Gerald Zamponi,
Ph.D. study the inhibitory and excitatory actions of ion channels in neurons of the
cerebellum. Partnerships between the two laboratories, enabled Turner to 'follow his
hunch' to prove that specific members of two different families of channels, previously
thought to function independently, in fact function in tandem. "A-type"
potassium channels exhibit unique properties to control the timing of neuronal output.
Turner's team found that these channels physically link with a class of "T-type"
calcium channels that enhances their ability to control nerve impulse timing.
Interestingly, T-type calcium channels also exhibit unique properties compared to other
members of their family - which in retrospect forms a perfect match between the members of
this new signaling complex.
New body weight animal studies
findings from University of Western Sydney published
Data detailed in 'White button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) lowers blood glucose and
cholesterol levels in diabetic and hypercholesterolemic rats' have been presented.
"Agaricus bisporus (white button mushroom; WBM) contains high levels of dietary
fibers and antioxidants including vitamin C, D, and B(12); folates; and polyphenols that
may provide beneficial effects on cardiovascular and diabetic diseases.
New DNA technique leads to a
breakthrough in child cancer research
Researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden and
Karolinska Institutet have used novel technology to reveal the different genetic patterns
of neuroblastoma, an aggressive form of childhood cancer. This discovery may lead to
significant advances in the treatment of this malignant disease, which mainly affects
small children. The article is being published in the respected scientific journal,
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The study includes 165 children
with neuroblastoma, most of whom developed the disease before the age of five. These
children have been monitored for over 20 years by two research teams led by professors
Tommy Martinsson, of the Sahlgrenska Academy, and Per Kogner of Karolinska Institutet.
Neuroblastoma is a nerve cell cancer that has defects in certain chromosomes. If the
tumour has a characteristic defect on chromosome 11, it is very aggressive and difficult
to cure.
New endoscopic treatment may spare
Barrett's esophagus patients from surgery
Early tumor formation in Barrett's esophagus (BE) can be effectively and safely treated
with radiofrequency ablation (RFA), in combination with prior endoscopic removal of
visible lesions, according to a new study in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the
official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute.
"Barrett's esophagus is the most important risk factor for the development of
esophageal cancer, but there is no generally accepted management strategy for patients
with early neoplasia in Barrett's esophagus," said Jacques J.G. H. M. Bergman, MD, of
the Academic Medical Center and lead author of the study. "Combining endoscopic
resection with complete removal of residual Barrett cells with radiofrequency ablation may
decrease the recurrence of lesion formation and could potentially limit the number of
Barrett's esophagus cases that progress to esophageal cancer." In this European
multi-center, prospective cohort study, doctors evaluated the safety and efficacy of this
combined modality approach in 23 BE patients with high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia
(seven patients) or early cancer (16 patients). Eradication of tumors and abnormal
intestinal cells was achieved in 95 percent and 88 percent of patients, and after
additional escape endoscopic resection in two patients, in 100 percent and 96 percent of
patients, respectively. Complications after RFA included melena (dark tarry stool) and
difficulty swallowing. After additional follow-up, no neoplasia recurred.
New evidence that green tea may
help fight glaucoma and other eye diseases
Scientists have confirmed that the healthful substances found in green tea — renowned
for their powerful antioxidant and disease-fighting properties — do penetrate into
tissues of the eye. Their new report, the first documenting how the lens, retina, and
other eye tissues absorb these substances, raises the possibility that green tea may
protect against glaucoma and other common eye diseases.
New research shows emotional impact
of low sexual desire and associated distress
New findings from a European study show that women with low sexual desire and associated
distress experience personal and emotional distress related to the sexual issue. The
findings, presented today at the International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual
Health (ISSWSH) 2010 Annual Meeting in St. Petersburg, Fla., are based on a survey of
5,098 women with low sexual desire and associated distress. In the study (DESIREŽ), many
women reported experiencing negative emotions, such as dissatisfaction with their sex
life, guilt about sexual difficulties and distress about their sex life, frequently or
always during the previous three months.
New Study Finds Link between Marine
Algae and Whale Diversity over Time
A new paper by researchers at George Mason University and the University of Otago in New
Zealand shows a strong link between the diversity of organisms at the bottom of the food
chain and the diversity of mammals at the top. Mark D. Uhen, a geologist at Mason, says
that throughout the last 30 million years, changes in the diversity of whale species
living at any given time period correlates with the evolution and diversification of
diatoms, tiny, abundant algae that live in the ocean. In the paper "Climate,
Critters, and Cetaceans: Cenozoic Drivers of the Evolution of Modern Whales," which
was published in the latest issue of Science, Uhen and co-author Felix G. Mark of Otago
show that the more kinds of diatoms living in a time period, the more kinds of whales
there are. Looking at thousands of published accounts of whale fossil records, the
researchers assembled the records in a database to analyze and pinpoint the various
fossils. The fossil records show a direct link between the productivity of the ocean and
the variety of whale fossils. Uhen says they also found a correlation between global
changes and fossil variety. "This study shows that if we look at the bottom of the
food chain, it might tell you something about the top," says Uhen. "Diatoms are
key primary producers in the modern ocean, and thus help to form the base of the marine
food chain. The fossil record clearly shows that diatoms and whales rose and fell in
diversity together during the last 30 million years."
Non-invasive diagnostic tool for
diagnosing testicular cancer
Researchers have found that non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a good
diagnostic tool for the evaluation and staging of testicular cancer and may improve
patient care by sparing some men unnecessary surgery, according to a study in the March
issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology (www.ajronline.org). "Medical imaging
plays an important role in the investigation of testicular masses," said Athina C.
Tsili, MD, lead author of the study. "Sonography, although the primary imaging
technique for the evaluation of scrotal contents, does not always allow confident
characterization of the nature of a testicular mass. The purpose of our study was to
assess the role of MRI in the preoperative characterization and local staging of
testicular masses," said Tsili. Prior surgery and histological examination revealed
28 malignant and 8 benign lesions in 33 patients. "Of those 36 lesions, MRI correctly
identified all 28 malignant lesions and 7/8 benign lesions," she said.
Obesity -- mild or severe -- raises
kidney stone risk
Obesity in general nearly doubles the risk of developing kidney stones, but the degree of
obesity doesn't appear to increase or decrease the risk one way or the other, a new study
from Johns Hopkins shows. "The common thinking was that as weight rises, kidney stone
risk rises as well, but our study refutes that," says study leader Brian R. Matlaga,
assistant professor of urology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and
director of stone diseases and ambulatory care at Hopkins' James Buchanan Brady Urological
Institute. "Whether someone is mildly obese or morbidly obese, the risk for getting
kidney stones is the same."
Ocean geoengineering scheme no easy
fix for global warming
Pumping nutrient-rich water up from the deep ocean to boost algal growth in sunlit surface
waters and draw carbon dioxide down from the atmosphere has been touted as a way of
ameliorating global warming. However, a new study led by Professor Andreas Oschlies of the
Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences (IFM-GEOMAR) in Kiel, Germany, pours cold water on
the idea. "Computer simulations show that climatic benefits of the proposed
geo-engineering scheme would be modest, with the potential to exacerbate global warming
should it fail," said study co-author Dr Andrew Yool of the National Oceanography
Centre, Southampton (NOCS). If international governmental policies fail to reduce
emissions of carbon dioxide to levels needed to keep the impacts of human-induced climate
change within acceptable limits it may necessary to move to 'Plan B'. This could involve
the implementation of one or more large-scale geo-engineering schemes proposed for
reducing the carbon dioxide increase in the atmosphere.
On different wavelengths over EMFs
Do the electromagnetic fields of power lines, cells and Wi-Fi cause harm? Experts
disagree, so anxieties persist.
Overlooked Contaminant Found in
Donated Blood
The CDC has reported that, in March 2009, several people accidentally received blood
products with yellow fever vaccine in them. The investigation documents evidence for
transmission of vaccine virus through infected blood products.
Parents to blame for women 'unlucky
in love', claim scientists
The reason why some women remain without a long-term boyfriend appears to have been solved
by Australian scientists.
Penn researchers find genetic link
to leukemias with an unknown origin
Although leukemia is one of the best studied cancers, the cause of some types is still
poorly understood. Now, a newly found mutation in acute myeloid leukemia patients could
account for half of the remaining cases of adult acute leukemia with an unknown origin.
"The molecular biology of leukemia has been studied for the last 20 years and we
thought we had found most of the common genes for leukemia," comments senior author
Craig B. Thompson, MD, director of the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of
Pennsylvania. "Now we're able to point to a distinct type of mutation for half of the
remaining leukemias for which we didn't know the cause and between one-quarter and
one-third of leukemias in older patients." The findings are described online this
week in Cancer Cell.
Pesticide Exposure, Family History
Raise Risk of Prostate Cancer
A study of professional pesticide applicators suggests that exposure to the insecticide
coumaphos may increase their risk of prostate cancer if they had a family history of the
disease.
Pesticide use and cutaneous
melanoma in pesticide applicators in the Agricultural Heath Study
Melanoma rates continue to increase; however, few risk factors other than sun sensitivity
and ultraviolet radiation (including sun exposure) have been identified. While studies of
farmers have shown an excess risk of melanoma and other skin cancers, it is unclear how
much of this is related to sun exposure compared to other agricultural exposures.
Pesticides to blame for wave of
Parkinson's in Israeli Arab town
Israeli researchers say the unusual frequency of Parkinson's disease in Baqa al-Gharbiyeh
is linked to pesticides sprayed in nearby fields.
Photosynthesis - a new source of
electrical energy
CNRS scientists have transformed the chemical energy generated by photosynthesis into
electrical energy. They thus propose a new strategy to convert solar energy into
electrical energy in an environmentally-friendly and renewable manner. The biofuel cell
thus developed could also have medical applications. These findings have just been
published in the journal Analytical Chemistry. Photosynthesis is the process by which
plants convert solar energy into chemical energy. In the presence of visible light, carbon
dioxide (CO2) and water (H20) are transformed into glucose and O2 during a complex series
of chemical reactions. Researchers at the Centre de Recherche Paul Pascal (CNRS) developed
a biofuel cell that functions using the products of photosynthesis (glucose and O2) and is
made up of two enzyme-modified electrodes. The cell was then inserted in a living plant,
in this case a cactus. Once the electrodes, highly sensitive to O2 and glucose, had been
implanted in the cactus leaf, the scientists succeeded in monitoring the real-time course
of photosynthesis in vivo. They were able to observe an increase in electrical current
when a desk lamp was switched on, and a reduction when it was switched off. During these
experiments, the scientists were also able to make the first ever observation of the
real-time course of glucose levels during photosynthesis. This method could offer a new
means of better understanding the mechanisms of photosynthesis.
Pipes, cigars as harmful as
cigarettes
While many believe cigars and pipes as safe ways to smoke, a new study links them to the
similar respiratory diseases as those caused by smoking cigarettes.
Pitt Researchers Report Internal
and Environmental Factors Trigger Unique Brain Activity in Teens
While the otherworldly behavior of teenagers is well documented, University of Pittsburgh
researchers have taken a significant step toward finally unraveling the actual brain
activity that can drive adolescents to engage in impulsive, self-indulgent, or
self-destructive behavior. Published in the current edition of “Behavioral
Neuroscience,” the Pitt study demonstrates that adolescent brains are more sensitive
to internal and environmental factors than adult brains and suggests that the teenage
tendency to experiment with drugs and develop psychological disorders could stem from this
susceptibility. Lead researcher Bita Moghaddam, a professor in the Department of
Neuroscience in Pitt's School of Arts and Sciences, said that although the exact mechanics
of the adolescent brain's reaction need further investigation, the current study is a
starting point in mapping the neural path from stimuli to behavior in the adolescent
brain. Pitt neuroscience doctoral student David Sturman was the “Behavioral
Neuroscience “report's lead author, conducting the study with Moghaddam and Pitt
research assistant Daniel Mandell. The project was supported by the National Institute of
Mental Health.
Placebo effect stronger than
doctors believed
When it comes to the placebo effect, it really may be mind over matter, a new analysis
suggests.
Pollution - the biggest killer on
Britain's roads
Air pollution from traffic is killing vast numbers every year - and the problem is getting
worse.
Potentially deadly infection may be
linked to frequent cow exposure
A common bacteria found in many healthy adult females that can cause life-threatening
infections when passed to newborns could be introduced to some women through frequent
contact with cows, according to a research team led by a Michigan State University
pediatrician. The recently published findings that Group B streptococcus could be a
zoonotic disease - transmitted between different species - may have significant public
health implications, said Dele Davies, chairperson of MSU's Department of Pediatrics and
Human Development. GBS, first recognized as a bacterium that leads to infections in the
breasts of cows, is now found in up to 36 percent of pregnant women in their digestive or
genital tracts. When passed to newborns during pregnancy, the infection can be severe -
leading to death - though not all infants become sick. While GBS affects only 1 in every
2,000 babies, and there are prenatal tests to identify it, Davies said understanding how
women are infected could greatly reduce transmission rates. Efforts have been made to
understand the risk factors that lead to transmission from mothers to babies, but it
hasn't been established how mothers originally acquire it, Davies said.
Progesterone for traumatic brain
injury tested in phase III clinical trial
Researchers at 17 medical centers across the country soon will begin using the hormone
progesterone to treat patients who experience traumatic brain injury (TBI). The treatment
is part of a randomized, double-blind Phase III clinical trial that will enroll
approximately 1,140 people over a three- to six-year period beginning in March, 2010. The
trial is funded by a grant to Emory University from the National Institutes of Health. The
clinical trial is led by David Wright, MD, associate professor of emergency medicine at
Emory University School of Medicine. Atlanta's Grady Memorial Hospital will serve as the
lead center, with faculty from Emory School of Medicine and Morehouse School of Medicine.
Wright will discuss progress in clinical trials using progesterone for TBI at the American
Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting in San Diego. His
presentation takes place in a panel discussion about traumatic brain injury at 1:30 p.m.
PST, Friday, Feb. 19, 2010. Emory researchers concluded in an earlier three-year clinical
trial conducted in 100 patients that giving progesterone to trauma victims shortly after a
brain injury appears to be safe and may reduce the risk of death and long-term disability.
That clinical trial was called ProTECT I (Progesterone for Traumatic brain injury –
Experimental Clinical Treatment). The current trial is named ProTECT III.
Projection shows water woes likely
based on warmer temperatures
Several Midwestern states could be facing increased winter and spring flooding, as well as
difficult growing conditions on farms, if average temperatures rise, according to a Purdue
University researcher.
Protein found to be key in
protecting the gut from infection
A signaling protein that is key in orchestrating the body's overall immune response has an
important localized role in fighting bacterial infection and inflammation in the
intestinal tract, according to a study by UC San Diego School of Medicine investigators,
published in the journal Cell Host and Microbe. Martin Kagnoff, MD, UCSD Professor
Emeritus of Medicine and Pediatrics, who led the study, says his team's findings suggest
that diminished levels of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) is
potentially an underlying factor in the severe illness caused by pathogens such as E.
coli, and inflammation of the intestine by diseases such as Crohn's disease. These
findings shed light on the apparent benefits of GM-CSF administration to some patients
with Crohn's, which have been observed but not clearly understood. Kagnoff is also
Director of Laboratory of Mucosal Immunology and the Wm. K. Warren Medical Research Center
for Celiac Disease at UC San Diego.GM-CSF is important for the survival and function of
dendritic cells, immune cells that are the body's foot soldiers against certain diseases.
Dendritic cell levels are normally elevated when the body is exposed to infection. GM-CSF
serves a rapid-response role when the body is attacked by molecular agents –
activating dendritic cells, pumping up their numbers, and signaling them to the target
site of infection, where they orchestrate a defense against the invading pathogen. This
response is sustained until the pathogens are cleared from the body.
Push to ban trade in endangered
bluefin tuna
Scientists, politicians and wildlife groups are pressing to restrict the sale of bluefin
tuna; a move likely to be opposed by Japan, the world's main purchaser of the fish
Remember Magnesium If You Want to
Remember
Those who live in industrialized countries have easy access to healthy food and
nutritional supplements, but magnesium deficiencies are still common. That's a problem
because new research from Tel Aviv University suggests that magnesium, a key nutrient for
the functioning of memory, may be even more critical than previously thought for the
neurons of children and healthy brain cells in adults. Begun at MIT, the research started
as a part of a post-doctoral project by Dr. Inna Slutsky of TAU's Sackler School of
Medicine and evolved to become a multi-center experiment focused on a new magnesium
supplement, magnesium-L-theronate (MgT), that effectively crosses the blood-brain barrier
to inhibit calcium flux in brain neurons.
Researchers discover second
protective role for tumor-suppressor
ATM, a protein that reacts to DNA damage by ordering repairs or the suicide of the
defective cell, plays a similar, previously unknown role in response to oxidative damage
outside of the nucleus, researchers report this week in the online version of the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "This tumor-suppressor that works in
the nucleus to prevent replication of defective cells also has a second life out in the
cytoplasm, which was totally unexpected," said senior author Cheryl Walker, Ph.D.,
professor in The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center Department of
Carcinogenesis. "ATM recognizes damage caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS) and
tells the cell to stop growing by suppressing the protein-synthesizing pathway mTORC1 or
orders the cell to consume itself, a process called autophagy," Walker said. This
pathway parallels the protein's role of damage recognition and response in the nucleus.
Reactive oxygen species are a byproduct of cellular metabolism and in small amounts play a
role in cell signaling. Their ability to react with other molecules makes them toxic, and
they are kept in check by antioxidant enzymes. When that natural balance is disrupted,
elevated levels of these volatile molecules damage proteins, lipids and DNA, Walker said.
Researchers Say Toxic Pesticides
Poisoning Indonesia's Farmers
As Indonesia hosts an international meeting on toxic and hazardous chemicals here, a
nongovernmental organization said on Sunday that an increase in the country’s
pesticide use had resulted in the poisoning of farmers.
Rose-colored glasses have many
shades
A proud consumer won't necessarily make the same purchase as a contented one, according to
a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. "Previous research shows that
positive feelings produce a 'rose-colored glasses effect,' leading products to appear more
desirable," write authors Vladas Griskevicius (University of Minnesota), Michelle N.
Shiota, and Stephen M. Nowlis (both Arizona State University). "But we find that
rose-colored glasses come in different shades." Although positive feelings of all
sorts have often been lumped together into general categories such as
"happiness" or "good mood," the researchers found that different
positive emotions had drastically different effects, including making some products
somewhat less appealing. Since participants in the authors' studies were not aware that
emotions were affecting their preferences, the effects were largely unconscious.
Salinas Valley house dust carries
pesticides
In the largest study of its kind, researchers searched hundreds of local homes for tiny
pesticide compounds sticking to dust layers and discovered widespread residues of 22
private and agricultural-use products.
Sandia scientist discusses use of
algae as a biofuel
As Americans demand new and cleaner ways to meet the country's energy needs, researchers
are turning to algae as a promising new fuel source. The approach has the potential to
significantly reduce the nation's reliance on imported oil while contributing to rural
economic development and lowering greenhouse emissions. Experts project that algae-based
biofuels could displace large volumes of diesel and jet transportation fuels. One of the
field's leading experts, Sandia researcher Ron Pate, will present an overview of the
current state of research and development and associated opportunities and challenges for
algal biofuels during the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement
of Science in San Diego on Feb. 19. Pate, who is a principal member of technical staff at
Sandia, has been in Washington, D.C., since November 2009, serving as a technical
consultant to the emerging algae biofuels program within the Biomass Office of the
Department of Energy's Office of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (EERE). The DOE
program evolved out of an initiative started in 2008 to develop a National Algae Biofuels
Technology Roadmap; researchers from Sandia, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory
(NREL) and other national laboratories, universities and industry are teaming up with DOE
to overcome some of the field's biggest challenges. "We've been heavily involved in
supporting the Office of Biomass Program for the past year and a half on the Algae
Biofuels Roadmap and a couple of specific projects that are algae biofuel-related,"
Pate said.
Sara Lee accused of greenwashing
marketing hype with its "EcoGrain" bread
The Sara Lee company stands accused today of engaging in blatant greenwashing through its
highly misleading marketing of its new "EcoGrain" bread.
Scientists identify critical enzyme
in healthy heart function
Scientists are reporting the first-ever data to show that the enzyme calcineurin is
critical in controlling normal development and function of heart cells, and that loss of
the protein leads to heart problems and death in genetically modified mice. Published Feb.
26 in the Journal of Biological Chemistry as the paper of the week, and posted online Feb.
19, the research was led by scientists at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The study demonstrates that calcineurin in hearts
of mice is directly linked to proper cardiac muscle contraction, rhythm and maintenance of
heart activity. The near total absence of calcineurin in mice leads to heart arrhythmia,
failure and death, according to the research team. Scientists knew previously that
calcineurin is important to heart function, but the extent of its role had not been
defined prior to the current study. Although the research involved mice, it offers
important insights for future studies that could lead to new approaches in diagnosis and
treatment of heart patients, said Marjorie Maillet, Ph.D., the study's first author.
"We found that when you eliminate calcineurin, a pool of genes that regulates calcium
in the heart went awry. This leads to defects in the growth and proliferation of heart
cells, heart disease, arrhythmia, loss of contractility and heart failure and
disease," said Dr. Maillet.
Scientists unlock mystery in
important photosynthesis step
An international team of scientists, including two from Arizona State University, have
taken a significant step closer to unlocking the secrets of photosynthesis, and possibly
to cleaner fuels. Plants and algae, as well as cyanobacteria, use photosynthesis to
produce oxygen and "fuels," the latter being oxidizable substances like
carbohydrates and hydrogen. There are two pigment-protein complexes that orchestrate the
primary reactions of light in oxygenic photosynthesis: photosystem I (PSI) and photosystem
II (PSII). Understanding how these photosystems work their magic is one of the long-sought
goals of biochemistry. The ASU scientists working with collaborators at the Max Planck
Institute at Mülheim a.d. Ruhr in Germany have been investigating the PSI reaction
center. They have made an important observation that is nut-shelled in the title of a
paper published in this week's online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The paper is titled "Independent initiation of primary
electron transfer in the two branches of the photosystem I reaction center."
Seeds from the Moringa tree can be
used for water purification
Pure water is a key requirement for good health and alternative cheap, safe methods are
required in many countries. In a paper that has just been published in the leading
American Chemical Society journal on interfaces, Langmuir, researchers from Uppsala
University in co-operation with The University of Botswana describe how extracts from
seeds of the Moringa oleifera tree can be used for water purification. Flocculation of
particulate impurities is a common first stage in purification of water. This often uses
addition of either aluminium or iron salts. Aluminium, particularly, has undesirable
health implications. An alternative procedure that uses a natural extract from seeds of
the Moringa oleifera tree is used in Africa. Research in a paper that has just appeared in
the leading American Chemical Society journal on interfaces, Langmuir, describes how very
small amounts of the protein from these seeds can bind strongly to surfaces and thus would
cause contaminant particles to aggregate. The Scattering Centre at Ĺngström Laboratory
and the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Uppsala University is a centre of expertise
in exploiting a powerful technique known as neutron reflection to measure structure and
composition of layers of just a few nanometres (millionths of a millimetre) at the
interface between a solid and a liquid.
Should Our National Heart Agency
Partner with Coke?
The Center for Science in the Public Interest points out that Coca-Cola, whose products
are not exactly heart healthy, is a strange partner for the NHLBI.
Socioeconomic stresses could lower
life expectancy
Socioeconomic status can affect life expectancy, a Virginia Commonwealth University
researcher said in a study published today. People who live in areas with lower household
incomes are much more likely to die because of their personal and household
characteristics and their community surroundings, according to Steven H. Woolf, M.D.,
M.P.H., director of the VCU Center on Human Needs, professor in the Department of Family
Medicine and lead author of the study. "It's tempting to assume that our findings are
based on how much money people make," Woolf said. "But areas with high household
incomes also tend to have better schools, a different racial and social mix and healthier
community conditions."
Southern African genomes sequenced
- Benefits for human health expected
Human genomes from Southern African Bushmen and Bantu individuals have been sequenced by a
team of scientists seeking a greater understanding of human genetic variation and its
effect on human health. The study's findings will be published in the journal Nature on 18
February 2010. The research was completed by scientists from American, African, and
Australian research institutions, with support from Penn State University in the United
States and from several U.S. companies that market DNA-sequencing instruments. "We
sequenced the personal genomes of four Bushmen participants who are tribal leaders from
their communities and are at least 80 years of age, and from one Bantu participant who is
in his late 70s," said Stephan Schuster, a professor at Penn State and a co-leader of
the project. The Nature paper reveals the identities of each of these five participants.
The other co-leader, Vanessa Hayes of the University of New South Wales, who also is a
group leader at Children's Cancer Institute Australia, added, "The Bantu participant
is Right Reverend Archbishop Desmond Tutu who, through his Tswana and Nguni ancestry, is
an ideal representative for most Southern Africans." The study identified 1.3-million
genetic variants that scientists previously had not observed. These genetic variations
reveal that Southern Africans are quite distinct genetically from Europeans, Asians, and
West Africans. The study also reveals striking levels of genetic differences among the
individual study participants. Webb Miller, professor of biology and computer science at
Penn State, who performed the comparative analysis of the genomes, underscores the genetic
uniqueness of the Bushmen by saying, "On average, there are more genetic differences
between any two Bushmen in our study than between a European and an Asian. To know how
genes affect health, we need to see the full range of human genetic variation, and
Southern Africa is the place to look."
Special issue of
NeuroRehabilitation focuses on hypoxic-ischemic brain injuries
IOS Press announces publication of a special issue of NeuroRehabilitation: An
International Journal (NRE) devoted specifically to hypoxic-ischemic brain injury (HI-BI),
a significant disruption of brain function due to a deficient supply of oxygen to the
brain. This is the first publication to present a consolidated overview of HI-BI. It
provides a thorough review of neuropathophysiology, neuroimaging assessment, and
evaluation and management of the neurological and neurobehavioral sequelae of these
injuries in adults and children. "This special issue of NeuroRehabilitation on
hypoxic-ischemic brain injury will serve as an excellent resource for clinicians assessing
and treating this unique patient group given the absence of a comprehensive source of
clinical information of this scope and detail," comments NRE Co-Editor Nathan Zasler,
MD, FAAPM&R, FACRM, CBIST, CEO and Medical Director of Tree of Life Services, Inc and
Concussion Care Centre of Virginia, Ltd., as well as Clinical Professor of Physical
Medicine and Rehabilitation at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA. Guest
Editor of this special issue David B. Arciniegas, Director of the Neurobehavioral
Disorders Program and Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology, University of
Colorado School of Medicine; and Medical Director, Brain Injury Rehabilitation Unit,
HealthONE Spalding Rehabilitation Hospital, talks about the challenges of treating
patients with HI-BI. He states, "As with the approach to HI-BI adopted in the TBI
(Traumatic Brain Injury) Act of 2008, applying a certain measure of care-by-analogy is
understandable and unavoidable – doing so allows those of us working with persons
with HI-BI and their families to organize and deliver care that supports their
neurological and functional recovery, assists with adaptation to disability, and, to the
greatest extent possible, facilitates re-entry into the community and workforce.
…"We hope that our readers and others interested in this subject will find this
issue of NeuroRehabilitation informative and useful."
Stop Using 'Natural' Deodorants
Until You Read This
Some of the most popular natural deodorants are the "crystal" deodorant stones
and sprays. But most people don't know that these crystal deodorant products contain
aluminum.
Stress linked to diabetics' memory
loss
Stress raises the risk of memory loss and cognitive decline among older people with
diabetes, research suggests. University researchers studied more than 900 men and women
aged between 60 and 75 with type-2 diabetes.
Study finds traffic pollution can
speed hardening of arteries
People living within 328 feet of an L.A. freeway were found to have twice the average
progression of atherosclerosis -- thickening of artery walls that can lead to heart
disease and stroke.
Study Finds Variations In One Gene
May Be Associated With Endurance Running
A few minor variations in one gene may make a difference in athletic endurance, according
to a new study from Physiological Genomics. The study found that elite endurance athletes
were more likely to have variations of the NRF2 gene than elite sprinters. Non-elite
endurance athletes were also more likely to have the genetic variations compared to
sprinters, although the difference was not as pronounced. The study shows an association
between the gene variation and endurance, but does not establish a cause-effect
relationship. Future studies are needed to unravel exactly what role the gene plays in
athletic performance. The study is part of a larger body of research that is exploring the
human genome and which aims to understand the genetic underpinnings of athletic
performance.
Study shows people not only judge
mothers based on work status, but also judge their kids
Although a woman's role in the home varies, a recent study shows that people favor not
only a mother, but also her child and their relationship when she is not employed outside
the home full time. A Kansas State University study evaluated the perceptions people have
of women and their children based on the woman's work status. The findings showed that
people value, and do not differentiate between, mothers who stay in the home full time and
mothers who find a compromise between working and at-home motherhood after they have a
child. People also devalue mothers employed full time outside the home, relative to their
non-employed counterparts, and perceive their children to be troubled and their
relationships to be problematic. "The most interesting, and potentially dangerous,
finding is the view that if a child has a working mother, people don't like that child as
much," said Jennifer Livengood, a K-State graduate student in psychology from Sweet
Springs, Mo. "People really devalue a mom who works full time outside the home in
comparison to a mom who doesn't. People like mothers who fulfill traditional stereotypes,
like staying at home. That's just not a reality and not a preference for women as much as
it used to be."
Sweet-toothed kids risk depression
Children with a sweet tooth are at a greater risk of becoming depressed or experiencing
alcohol-related problems later on in the life, a new study finds.
Synthetic lethality - A new way to
kill cancer cells
Ovarian and breast cancer treatments being developed that mix a protein inhibitor and
traditional anticancer drugs are showing signs of success, according to a new review for
Faculty of 1000 Biology Reports. Susan Bates and Christina Annunziata looked at several
recent papers on this form of treatment, which takes advantage of the synthetic lethality
of BRCA (breast cancer susceptibility genes) and poly-ADP ribose polymerase (PARP)
proteins to attack cancerous cells whilst sparing healthy ones. BRCA and PARP are two key
players in DNA repair and have different but complementary functions in the cell. Loss of
the BRCA protein still allows the cell to survive but greatly increases its chances of
becoming cancerous through the accumulation of mutations. The loss of both proteins,
however, kills the cell in a process called synthetic lethality.
Testosterone deficiency affects
male cancer survivors' quality of life
A new study has found that many male cancer survivors who develop testosterone deficiency
after receiving chemotherapy or radiation therapy have an impaired quality of life and
reduced energy levels. Published early online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the
American Cancer Society, the study suggests that young male cancer survivors with
testosterone deficiency may benefit from testosterone replacement therapy. Testosterone
deficiency is a late side effect of radiation therapy and chemotherapy that occurs in
approximately 15 percent of male cancer survivors. Investigators led by Professor Richard
Ross, MD, FRCP, of the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom examined the
relationship between testosterone levels, quality of life, self-esteem, fatigue and sexual
function in 176 young male cancer survivors compared with 213 young men without cancer.
Young male cancer survivors said they experienced a marked impairment in quality of life,
as well as reduced energy levels and quality of sexual function. These experiences were
exacerbated in survivors with testosterone deficiency. Psychological distress was not
elevated, self-esteem was normal, and sexual relationships were not impaired in male
cancer survivors, however.
The 'cancer risk' of frying steak
on a gas hob
Frying meat on a gas hob may increase your risk of cancer, researchers claim. They found
fumes from steak pan-fried on a gas flame contained more cancer-causing particles than
those from an electric hob.
The aftertaste of more milk and
meat
Did you know that 70 percent of all newly emerging infectious human diseases originate in
animals? The links between diseases, livestock and climate change are raised in the
flagship annual report of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which put the
spotlight on livestock.
The Benefit of Probiotics in
Treating Crohn’s Disease
Sufferers of Crohn’s Disease may have some good news. More and more research is
suggesting that probiotics can successfully be used for treatment of this debilitating
condition. Keep reading for more information on this developing research.
The Egyptian "boy king"
Tutankhamun may well have died of malaria after the disease ravaged a body crippled by a
rare bone disorder, experts say.
One in three people can expect to be diagnosed with asthma in their lifetimes, Ontario
research suggests.
The role of sleep in brain
development
Marcos Frank, PhD, associate professor of Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania
School of Medicine, will present information on early brain development and the importance
of sleep during early life when the brain is rapidly maturing and highly changeable.
Building on his research that the brain during sleep is fundamentally different from the
brain during wakefulness, Dr. Frank has found that cellular changes in the sleeping brain
that may promote the formation of memories. "This is the first real direct insight
into how the brain, on a cellular level, changes the strength of its connections during
sleep," Frank says. When an animal goes to sleep it's like a switch is thrown,
everything is turned on that's necessary for making synaptic changes that form the basis
of memory formation. The team used an animal model of cortical plasticity – the
making and breaking of neural connections in response to life experiences. They found that
once the brain is triggered to reorganize its neural networks in wakefulness (by visual
deprivation, for instance), intra- and intercellular communication pathways engage,
setting a series of enzymes into action within the reorganizing neurons during sleep. The
key cellular player in this process is a molecule called N-methyl D-aspartate receptor
(NMDAR), which acts like a combination listening post and gate-keeper. It both receives
extracellular signals in the form of glutamate and regulates the flow of calcium ions into
cells. "As soon as the animal had a chance to sleep, we saw all the machinery of
memory start to engage." Frank will discuss recent experiments and how these relate
to memory formation at the molecular level, why humans need sleep, and why they are so
affected by the lack of it.
The Truth about Eco-Friendly Brands
IF YOU care about the environment, you may want to show that in the way you spend your
money. Maybe you shop at an organic food store rather than a conventional supermarket. You
probably look at energy efficiency labels before buying a new laptop. And if you're really
serious, you may even be concentrating your nest egg into "green" investment
funds.
The truth about factory farming
In this disturbing extract from Eating Animals, the novelist reveals the unpalatable truth
about factory-farmed poultry.
The Truth About Grapefruit Seed
Extract
The big controversy that's been going on for years with Grapefruit Seed Extract lies in
its potential to be contaminated with benzalkonium chloride, parabens, and triclosan.
Tiny molecules may tell big story
about cardiovascular disease risk
Tiny bits of molecular "trash" found in circulating blood appear to be good
predictors of cardiovascular disease and untimely death, say researchers at Duke
University Medical Center. The discovery, published online in the April issue of the
journal Circulation Genetics, comes from the largest study of its kind for cardiovascular
disease, and is the first to identify specific metabolic profiles associated with coronary
artery disease, heart attacks and death among patients who have undergone coronary
catheterization. The Duke study analyzed metabolites, the molecular debris left over after
the body breaks food down into energy sources and building blocks of cells and tissues.
Scientists believe metabolites may be useful in diagnosing disease, said Svati Shah, M.D.,
M.H.S., a cardiologist in the Duke Heart Center, the Duke Center for Human Genetics and
the lead author of the study. But the tiny molecules are notoriously hard to identify,
quantify and characterize. Shah has been studying metabolic signatures in heart disease
for several years and led earlier research showing that metabolic profiles associated with
early-onset coronary artery disease can be inherited. Shah and William Kraus, M.D.,
professor of medicine at Duke and the senior author of the study, wanted to know if they
could isolate and identify particular metabolites associated with coronary artery disease.
They began their investigation with information in Duke's CATHGEN biorepository which
holds health records and blood samples from nearly 10,000 patients who had come to Duke
over the past eight years for catheterization. Collaboration with Christopher B. Newgard,
PhD., director of Duke's Sarah W. Stedman Center for Nutrition and Metabolism, allowed
Shah, Kraus and others to accurately quantify and characterize the metabolites.
Researchers selected 174 patients who had experienced early-onset coronary artery disease
(CAD) and compared them to 174 controls who had undergone catheterization but who were not
found to have CAD. Using a panel of 69 metabolites previously identified as potentially
involved in the development of CAD, they examined the metabolic profiles in both groups.
Toxic electronic waste poses
increasing risk
Technicians dismantle electronic waste (e-Waste) from obsolete, broken and discarded
electronic devices such as computer peripherals, monitors CPUs servers ,telephone set, at
Hyderabad’s first full-fledged safe disposal facility.
Toxin Triggers Epilepsy In Sea
Lions And Humans
Just one exposure to the algal toxin domoic acid can trigger epilepsy in sea lions and
humans. NOAA scientist John Ramsdell discusses the one known human case of epilepsy from
domoic acid poisoning, and what scientists can learn from similar cases of epilepsy in sea
lions.
Trans fats expand your waistline
A new study published in 2009 in Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests
intake of trans fats increases a person's waistline even though it may not increase his
body mass index.
Transforming skin cells into stem
cells using a molecular toolkit
In an effort to sidestep the ethical dilemma involved in using human embryonic stem cells
to treat diseases, scientists are developing non-controversial alternatives: In
particular, they are looking for drug-like chemical compounds that can transform adult
skin cells into the stem cells now obtained from human embryos. That's the topic of a
fascinating article in Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), ACS' weekly
newsmagazine. C&EN Associate Editor Sarah Everts notes that in 2006, researchers in
Japan figured out a way to use genetic engineering to coax a skin cell to become a
so-called "pluripotent" stem cell — a type of cell that can potentially
morph or change into any cell of the human body. The scientists achieved the result by
infecting the skin cell with a virus containing certain genes instructing the cell to
change. Now chemists are trying to reproduce this cellular alchemy with drug-like
substances because gene therapies have faced trouble getting into the clinic. Scientists
are looking for chemical ways to go backward in cell development — to reprogram
mature cells into stem cells. Others are trying to identify substances that can morph one
cell directly into other cell types — for example, from a skin cell directly into a
nerve cell that might treat Parkinson's disease — without the use of stem cells at
all. The ultimate goal is to be able to reprogram any cell of the body into another by
means of a simple molecular kit, the article notes. But as chemists start putting together
toolkits with these drug-like molecules, they face many technical hurdles as well as
challenges getting acceptance from the stem cell community.
Tumor mechanism identified
Researchers from the Peninsula Medical School in Plymouth (UK), the Memorial
Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, Cornell University in New York, Weil Medical
College in New York and the Center for Neural Tumour Research in Los Angeles, have for the
first time identified a key mechanism that makes certain cells become tumorous in the
brain. The resulting tumours occur most often spontaneously but can also occur in numbers
as part of the inherited disease Neurofibromatosis type 2.
U-M researchers find key
interaction that controls telomeres
In the dominoes that make up human cells, researchers at the University of Michigan
Comprehensive Cancer Center have traced another step of the process that stops cells from
becoming cancerous. It starts with the enzyme telomerase, which affects the caps, or
telomeres, at the end of a chromosome. Telomeres shorten over time. But telomerase
prevents this from happening, making the cell immortal. If cancer is triggered in the
cell, the presence of telomerase leads to the growth of the cancer.
U.S. reviewers urge Glaxo's Avandia
come off market
Two U.S. drug safety reviewers have recommended that GlaxoSmithKline PLC's diabetes drug
Avandia be pulled from the market after concluding it is more dangerous to the heart than
a rival medicine.
UAB-Led Study Shows Simple Steps
Could Reduce Stillbirths by up to 1 Million
New findings in a study led by the director of the University of Alabama at Birmingham
(UAB) Division of Neonatology show that that training birth attendants in essential
newborn-care techniques reduced stillbirths by more than 30 percent - and potentially
could save as many as 1 million lives worldwide each year. Ninety-eight percent of the 3.7
million neonatal deaths and 3.3 million stillbirths each year occur in developing
countries. This project, spearheaded by UAB's Waldemar A. Carlo, M.D., was designed to
train birth attendants, including doctors, midwives, nurses and traditional birth
attendants, in communities and hospitals in 96 communities worldwide. The findings were
published in the Feb. 18 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.
UC studies show marijuana has
therapeutic value, reports to legislature
Researchers from the University of California's Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research
(CMCR) have found "reasonable evidence that cannabis is a promising treatment"
for some specific, pain-related medical conditions. Their findings, presented today to the
California legislature and public, are included in a report available on the CMCR web site
at http://www.cmcr.ucsd.edu "We focused on illnesses where current medical treatment
does not provide adequate relief or coverage of symptoms," explained CMCR director,
Igor Grant, MD, Executive Vice-Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the UCSD School of
Medicine. "These findings provide a strong, science-based context in which policy
makers and the public can begin discussing the place of cannabis in medical care."
Researchers have completed five scientific clinical trials, with more in progress. These
studies showed that cannabis can be helpful in easing pain in selected syndromes caused by
injury or diseases of the nervous system and possibly for painful muscle spasms due to
multiple sclerosis.
UCLA study reveals how genes
interact with their environment to cause disease
A UCLA study reveals how human genes interact with their environment to boost disease
risk. Published in the Feb. 18 online edition of the American Journal of Human Genetics,
the findings shed light on why the search for specific gene variants linked to human
diseases can only partly explain common disorders. "We know that genes and
environmental factors influence common human diseases like heart disease, diabetes and
cancer," explained principal investigator Jake Lusis, professor of medicine, human
genetics and microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics at the David Geffen School of
Medicine at UCLA. "Most research, however, has focused on unraveling the genetic
component of disease risk while ignoring the effect of environmental stimuli. Our study
examined how the molecular interaction between the two helps lead to disease."
"Smoking and high cholesterol, for example, each increase a person's risk for heart
disease," he said. "But when you add them together, the total risk exceeds its
parts. Their interaction creates a dangerous synergy that causes damage beyond what the
two can cause independently." Unlike earlier studies that focused on a single gene,
the UCLA team scrutinized the activity of thousands of human genes both at rest and under
stress. In particular, the scientists zeroed in on gene expression—the process by
which a gene's DNA sequence is converted into cellular proteins.
UCR researcher identifies mechanism
malaria parasite uses to spread among red blood cells
Malaria remains one of the most deadly infectious diseases. Yet, how Plasmodium, the
malaria parasite, regulates its infectious cycle has remained an enigma despite decades of
rigorous research. But now a team led by a cell biologist at the University of California,
Riverside has identified a mechanism by which Plasmodium intensively replicates itself in
human blood to spread the disease. "If this mechanism can be stopped," said
Karine Le Roch, an assistant professor of cell biology and neuroscience, who led the
research, "Plasmodium replication would cease or be severely inhibited, thus
controlling the spread of malaria." In the cells of eukaryotes, such as the
unicellular Plasmodium and humans, DNA, which can be as long as two meters, is closely
packed to fit into the cell's tiny nucleus. Huge complex proteins called nucleosomes
facilitate this DNA compaction so that eventually the DNA is coiled in an ordered manner
to form chromosomes. Made up of histone, a kind of protein, the nucleosomes are repeating
units around which the double helix of DNA gets wrapped and vast amounts of genetic
information get organized.
UN global warming data skewed by
heat from planes and buildings
Weather stations which produced data pointing towards man-made global warming may have
been compromised by local conditions, a new report suggests.
UN study reveals environmental cost
of world trade
Political pressure is growing to make big businesses pay for the damage they cause to the
environment.
Unilever drops major palm-oil
producer
BBC documentary shows Indonesian company clearing protected rainforest.
Unpacking condensins' function in
embryonic stem cells
Regulatory proteins common to all eukaryotic cells can have additional, unique functions
in embryonic stem (ES) cells, according to a study in the February 22 issue of the Journal
of Cell Biology (www.jcb.org). If cancer progenitor cells—which function similarly to
stem cells—are shown to rely on these regulatory proteins in the same way, it may be
possible to target them therapeutically without harming healthy neighboring cells. The new
study, by Thomas Fazzio and Barbara Panning (University of California, San Francisco)
finds that two chromatin regulatory proteins essential for ES cell survival, Smc2 and
Smc4, together form the heart of the condensin complexes that promote chromosome
condensation in mitosis and meiosis. Because somatic cells lacking condensins continue to
proliferate with relatively minor mitotic defects, Fazzio and Panning wondered why ES
cells died in the absence of Smc2 or Smc4.
Untreated poor vision in elderly
linked to dementia
Elderly people with visual disorders that are left untreated are significantly more likely
to develop Alzheimer's disease -- the most common form of dementia, according to a
University of Michigan Health System study. The study used Medicare data and shows that
those with poor vision who visited an ophthalmologist at least once for an examination
were 64 percent less likely to develop dementia. The study appears online ahead of print
in the American Journal of Epidemiology and may draw a new picture of poor vision as
predictor of dementia rather than as a symptom after the diagnosis. "Visual problems
can have serious consequences and are very common among the elderly, but many of them are
not seeking treatment," says lead author Mary A.M. Rogers, Ph.D, research assistant
professor of internal medicine at the U-M Medical School and research director of the
Patient Safety Enhancement Program at the U-M Health System and the Ann Arbor VA Medical
Center. For the study, Rogers and her colleague Kenneth M. Langa, M.D., Ph.D., professor
of internal medicine at U-M Medical School, analyzed data from the nationally
representative Health and Retirement Study and records from Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services. "Our results indicate that it is important for elderly individuals
with visual problems to seek medical attention so that the causes of the problems can be
identified and treated," Rogers says.
Urban 'green' spaces may contribute
to global warming
Dispelling the notion that urban “green” spaces help counteract greenhouse gas
emissions, new research has found – in Southern California at least – that total
emissions might be lower if lawns did not exist. Turfgrass lawns help remove carbon
dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis and store it as organic carbon in soil,
making them important “carbon sinks.” However, greenhouse gas emissions from
fertilizer production, mowing, leaf blowing and other lawn management practices are
similar to or greater than the amount of carbon stored by ornamental grass in parks, a UC
Irvine study shows. These emissions include nitrous oxide released from soil after
fertilization. Nitrous oxide is a greenhouse gas that’s 300 times more powerful than
carbon dioxide, the Earth’s most problematic climate warmer.
VARI Findings May Help Patients
with Deadly Kidney Cancer
Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) researchers have found a way to reverse resistance to
sunitinib, a treatment that is currently the first line of defense against clear cell
renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), a deadly form of kidney cancer. Most patients who show a
positive response to sunitinib develop a resistance to the drug after one year of
treatment. Kidney cancer is among the 10 most common cancers in both men and women,
striking nearly 50,000 Americans in 2009 and killing more than 11,000. Renal cell
carcinoma (RCC) accounts for 9 out of 10 kidney cancers, and ccRCC is the most common
subtype, accounting for 8 out of 10 RCC cases.* "The research from Dr. Teh’s
(VARI) group is a critical step forward in understanding the mechanisms of response and
resistance to the new standard of care therapies in renal cell carcinoma such as
sunitinib,” said Brian Rini, MD, Solid Tumor Oncology, Cleveland Clinic Taussig
Cancer Institute.
Very high omega-3 intakes linked to
big health benefits
Intakes of omega-3 exceeding levels consumed by the general US population may
significantly reduce the risk of chronic disease, suggests a new study with Yup'ik
Eskimos.
Viruses changed human evolution
Italian scientists said on Friday they had found evidence of how viruses helped change the
course of human evolution and said their discovery could help in the design of better
drugs and vaccines.
Vitamin D Shrinks Breast Cancer
Cells
"What happens is that vitamin D enters the cells and triggers the cell death
process," she told "Good Morning America." "It's similar to what we
see when we treat cells with Tamoxifen," a drug used to treat breast cancer.
Warmer planet temperatures could
cause longer-lasting weather patterns
Whether it's never-ending heat waves or winter storms, atmospheric blocking can have a
significant impact on local agriculture, business and the environment. Although these
stagnant weather patterns are often difficult to predict, University of Missouri
researchers are now studying whether increasing planet temperatures and carbon dioxide
levels could lead to atmospheric blocking and when this blocking might occur, leading to
more accurate forecasts. "In this research, we're trying to see if increased carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere and the resulting atmospheric warming will affect the onset and
duration of future blocking events," said Tony Lupo, professor and chair of the
atmospheric science department at the MU College of Agriculture, Food and Natural
Resources. "We're hoping that the research will add cues that could help fellow
forecasters better predict blocking and warn people in cases of long-lasting, severe
weather."
Warning - Immigrating to North
America may foster smoking in children
Moving to Canada could be hazardous for the health of young immigrants. A new study
published in the Journal of Adolescent Health has found that over time, immigrant children
from multiethnic, disadvantaged, inner-city neighbourhoods are up to 3.5 times more likely
to smoke. The findings are important since an estimated 45,000 school-aged children
immigrate to Canada with their parents each year. Several reasons prompt new Canadians to
light up, says lead author Jennifer O'Loughlin, a professor at the Université de
Montréal's Department of Social and Preventive Medicine. "Smoking may be more
visible than in their countries of origin, especially if they settle in low-income,
inner-city communities where smoking prevalence is high," says Dr. O'Loughlin, who is
also a scientist at the Research Centre of the Centre hospitalier de l'Université de
Montréal (CRCHUM). "Many of their new friends may smoke, adult smoking may be more
visible, smoking may be more apparent in media and there may be increased or easier access
to cigarettes." Dr. O'Loughlin, who collaborated with McGill University colleagues,
studied 1,959 Montreal children aged 9 to 12 years old. Among participants, 23 percent
were Canadian born, 42 percent had one parent born outside Canada and 35 percent were
immigrants born in another country.
When the heart gets out of step
Atrial fibrillation is a cardiac arrhythmia – a chronic irregularity of heartbeat
– which affects an estimated 1 million people in Germany. Although the condition is
not acutely life-threatening, it does increase the risk of developing more serious
illnesses, such as cardiac insufficiency, stroke and dementia. In the third of a series of
genomewide asssociation studies, an international team of researchers, led by LMU
physician PD Dr. Stefan Kääb, now reports the identification of a new gene locus that
has a significant influence on risk for atrial fibrillation. The product of this gene is a
so-called potassium channel, which plays a role in coordinating the electrical impulses
that control heartbeat. "The discovery of this functional link will enable us to
develop new and more specific drugs for the treatment of atrial fibrillation",
explains Kääb. The discovery is the result of a meta-analysis of data from ten
large-scale epidemiological studies, and emerged from a comparison between the genomes of
1335 patients with atrial fibrillation and those of 12844 healthy control subjects. The
analysis was carried out in close collaboration with scientists at the Technical
University of Munich and the Helmholtz Center Munich, with contributions from over 50
other international research institutions. (Nature Genetics online, 21 February 2010)
Why Feeding Chicken Manure and
Slaughterhouse Waste to Cows is a Bad Idea
Agricultural societies, I imagine, have always fed waste products to livestock. On
diversified farms, pigs and chickens get lots of kitchen scraps and
"culls"-produce that can't be sold. And it's worthwhile to keep cows around if
you have access to pasture-cows convert a wild, low-input perennial crop (grass), which
humans can't digest, into highly nutritious beef and milk.
World's Top Firms Cause $2.2
Trillion of Environmental Damage, Report Estimates
World's top firms cause $2.2tn of environmental damage, report estimatesReport for the UN
into the activities of the world's 3,000 biggest companies estimates one-third of profits
would be lost if firms were forced to pay for use, loss and damage of environment.
Your old sofa - and much more -
could be composted, say scientists
Polyurethane plastics used to make a host of products from furniture fillings to shoe
soles, cable insulation and paints – and which can be difficult to recycle –
could soon be degraded in compost heaps, thanks to a study at the University of
Manchester. Dr Geoff Robson and his team at the Faculty of Life Sciences have found that
certain fungi can degrade the plastic in soil. Furthermore the rate of degradation
increases when the volume of these fungi is increased or nutrients are added to the soil
to boost the fungi’s activity. They are now carrying out further studies to make sure
the degradation of polyurethanes does not adversely affect the composting process or its
products. Dr Robson, whose Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
funded study is published in the Applied and Environmental Microbiology, said: “This
is a significant finding. Polyurethanes are used to make many, many products and can take
up a large amount of volume in landfill sites, which are rapidly running out of space.
This makes it a major environmental pollutant.“This study opens the possibility that
fungi could be used to degrade these materials instead of dumping them into landfill
sites.”
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