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Week 31
Stress and Depression Worsen
Childhood Asthma, UB Researchers Show
Young people with asthma have nearly twice the incidence of depression compared to their
peers without asthma, and studies have shown that depression is associated with increased
asthma symptoms and, in some cases, death. How stress and depression play upon one another
to worsen asthma is a lingering question. A new study by researchers at the University at
Buffalo has shown that depressed children with asthma exhibit a dysregulation of the
autonomic nervous system along with increased airway compromise.
Estrogen can reduce stroke damage
by inactivating protein
Estrogen can halt stroke damage by inactivating a tumor-suppressing protein known to
prevent many cancers, Medical College of Georgia researchers say. "Our research
suggests that estrogen suppresses p53 after stroke, which stops the damage," says
Limor Raz, a fourth-year Ph.D. student in the MCG School of Graduate Studies. P53, the
protein in the mitochondria, or powerhouse, of the cell, is known as "the guardian of
the genome" because it regulates the cell cycle and prevents genome mutation. It also
can prevent cancer by suppressing tumor growth. It is known that stressful conditions such
as a stroke activate p53, triggering unfavorable changes in the cell. One change is the
activation of another protein called PUMA, which signals a cascading effect that destroys
the mitochondria and causes cell death, or apoptosis.
Researchers investigate high-risk
populations for bladder-cancer screenings
A new study by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers sheds light on the challenges
involved in identifying which high-risk population would benefit most from bladder-cancer
screening. Large-scale screening of people at high risk for developing invasive bladder
cancer could result in earlier diagnosis and improved survival rates. Bladder cancer is
the fourth most common cancer in men and the fifth most common cancer overall. In the
early stages of the disease, it’s common to have no signs or symptoms. Smoking has
been proven to increase the risk of the disease. “At this time bladder cancer
screening is not the standard of care,” said Dr. Yair Lotan, associate professor of
urology and senior author of the study appearing online and in a future edition of The
Journal of Urology. “Although progress has been made in diagnosis, those efforts have
translated into minimal survival benefit. In order to get the most benefit from the added
cost of screening, we need to identify the appropriate population to screen.” In the
study researchers used a point-of-care urine-based test called NMP22 BladderChek to screen
1,502 subjects without symptoms who are at high risk for bladder cancer based on age,
smoking history and occupational exposure.
USC study finds links between
obesity and adolescents' social networks
Study finds overweight youth are twice as likely to have overweight friends. Researchers
from the Institute of Prevention Research at the Keck School of Medicine of the University
of Southern California (USC) found in a recent study that overweight youth were twice as
likely to have overweight friends. "Although this link between obesity and social
networks was expected, it was surprising how strong the peer effect is and how early in
life it starts," says lead author Thomas Valente, Ph.D., professor of preventive
medicine at the Keck School of Medicine. Previous data had shown a connection between
overweight adults and their social peers. However, the USC study used more advanced
statistical modeling techniques than previous research and the association remained
strong, Valente says. "The findings certainly raise health concerns because when kids
start associating only with others who have a similar weight status it can reinforce the
negative behaviors that cause obesity," he says. In-school surveys were conducted
among 617 students ages 11-13 from the greater Los Angeles area. In addition to finding
that overweight adolescents were more likely to have overweight friends than their
normal-weight peers, the researchers also found that overweight girls were more likely to
name more friends, but less likely to be named as a friend than normal-weight girls.
DNA Repair Is a Quirky Process
The “sloppier copier” discovered by USC biologists is also the best sixth man in
the DNA repair game, an article in the journal Nature shows. The enzyme known as DNA
polymerase V (pol V) comes off the bench when a cell’s DNA is reeling from radiation
damage or other serious blows. Pol V copies the damaged DNA as best it can - saving the
life of the bacterial cell at the cost of adding hundreds of random mutations.The July 16
Nature study reveals pol V’s key attributes: economy of motion and quickness to
engage. The study also solves two stubborn mysteries about the mechanics of DNA repair:
the exact composition of the active form of pol V and the crucial role of a protein
filament, known as RecA*, that is always present around DNA repair sites, but was never
shown to be directly involved.The three findings together describe an exquisitely
efficient process.
Barrow researchers identify new
brain receptor, possible target for Alzheimer's treatment
Barrow Neurological Institute researchers have identified a novel receptor in the brain
that is extremely sensitive to beta-amyloid peptide (AB) and may play a key role in early
stages of Alzheimer's disease. Published in the Journal of Neuroscience, the research lead
by Jie Wu, MD, PhD, has identified a new candidate for therapeutic intervention in
Alzheimer's. The novel receptor was found in the basal forebrain, an area of the brain
that plays a critical role in memory and learning and is one of the first areas of the
brain to degenerate with Alzheimer's. That degeneration is associated with losses of the
chemical messenger, acetylcholine, and some of the molecules that translate
acetylcholine's messages, called nicotinic receptors. The forming of large aggregates or
plaques of AB also is a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. While these two features have
been under examination in Alzheimer's research, it is not clear how they interrelate. At
Barrow, Dr. Wu and his colleagues made the unexpected finding during a study examining
effects of AB on basal forebrain nicotinic receptors. They first found that acetylcholine
signaling at those receptors was highly sensitive to blockage even by low levels of AB.
They also found that AB as small aggregates -- and not large plaques of AB -- had this
same blocking effect. They next found that the type of nicotinic receptors showing this
high sensitivity to AB has a different composition than other nicotinic receptor types
previously identified and shown to be less sensitive to AB. "We now believe that most
of the nicotinic receptors in the basal forebrain have this unique composition and high
sensitivity to AB," says Dr. Wu. "Our hypothesis is that as AB begins to
increase, it first blocks acetylcholine signaling at these receptors, perhaps triggering
events that eventually lead to neurodegeneration."
Solar cycle linked to global
climate
Establishing a key link between the solar cycle and global climate, research led by
scientists at the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded National Center for Atmospheric
Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colo., shows that maximum solar activity and its aftermath
have impacts on Earth that resemble La Niña and El Niño events in the tropical Pacific
Ocean. The research may pave the way toward predictions of temperature and precipitation
patterns at certain times during the approximately 11-year solar cycle. "These
results are striking in that they point to a scientifically feasible series of events that
link the 11-year solar cycle with ENSO, the tropical Pacific phenomenon that so strongly
influences climate variability around the world," says Jay Fein, program director in
NSF's Division of Atmospheric Sciences. "The next step is to confirm or dispute these
intriguing model results with observational data analyses and targeted new
observations." The total energy reaching Earth from the sun varies by only 0.1
percent across the solar cycle. Scientists have sought for decades to link these ups and
downs to natural weather and climate variations and distinguish their subtle effects from
the larger pattern of human-caused global warming. Building on previous work, the NCAR
researchers used computer models of global climate and more than a century of ocean
temperature to answer longstanding questions about the connection between solar activity
and global climate. The research, published this month in a paper in the Journal of
Climate, was funded by NSF, NCAR's sponsor, and by the U.S. Department of Energy. "We
have fleshed out the effects of a new mechanism to understand what happens in the tropical
Pacific when there is a maximum of solar activity," says NCAR scientist Gerald Meehl,
the paper's lead author. "When the sun's output peaks, it has far-ranging and often
subtle impacts on tropical precipitation and on weather systems around much of the
world." The new paper, along with an earlier one by Meehl and colleagues, shows that
as the Sun reaches maximum activity, it heats cloud-free parts of the Pacific Ocean enough
to increase evaporation, intensify tropical rainfall and the trade winds, and cool the
eastern tropical Pacific. The result of this chain of events is similar to a La Niña
event, although the cooling of about 1-2 degrees Fahrenheit is focused further east and is
only about half as strong as for a typical La Niña.
Secrets of a life-giving amino acid
revealed by Yale researchers
Selenium is a trace element crucial to life - too little or too much of it is fatal. In
the July 17 issue of the journal Science, researchers at Yale University and University of
Illinois at Chicago detail the molecular mechanisms that govern its metabolism in the
human body. "It must require an intricately regulated uptake system," said
Dieter Söll, co-senior author of the paper, Sterling Professor of Molecular Biophysics
and Biochemistry at Yale. "There are 25 human selenoproteins, and most of them are
probably essential for life." Selenium is thought to offer protection from diverse
human ailments including adverse mood states, cardiovascular disease, viral infections and
cancer. Selenocysteine is the most active metabolite of selenium in humans. It is unique
among amino acids because it is the only one synthesized directly on a transfer RNA (tRNA)
molecule, which shuttles the amino acids to the protein-making machinery within cells.
Proteins that contain selenocysteine are responsible for recycling protective antioxidants
such as vitamin C and coenzyme Q10. Söll's team for the first time captured images of how
selenocysteine is created on a super-sized tRNA molecule, which seems to have a highly
specialized role in nature. The 20 other amino acids and their associated tRNAs use the
same protein vehicle, called an elongation factor, for transport to the ribosome. However,
nature has provided this large tRNA molecule with a specialized elongation factor that
chauffeurs only selenocysteine to the ribosome.
La Jolla Institute discovers
genetic trigger for disease-fighting antibodies
A research team led by the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology has identified
the specific gene which triggers the body to produce disease-fighting antibodies -- a
seminal finding that clarifies the exact molecular steps taken by the body to mount an
antibody defense against viruses and other pathogens. The finding, published online today
in the prestigious journal Science, has major implications for the development of new and
more effective vaccines. The La Jolla Institute's Shane Crotty, Ph.D., was the lead
scientist on the team, which also included researchers from Yale University. "The
finding is enormous in terms of its long-term benefit to science and society as a whole
because it illuminates a pivotal piece of the vaccine development puzzle -- that is, 'what
is the molecular switch that tells the body to create antibodies?' Dr. Crotty has
pinpointed the BCL6 gene and, in doing so, has answered a critical question that has long
been sought by the scientific community," said Mitchell Kronenberg, Ph.D., president
& scientific director of the La Jolla Institute, a nonprofit biomedical research
institute. Dr. Kronenberg said this knowledge opens the door to developing ways to boost
antibody production, thereby creating stronger and more effective vaccines. Rafi Ahmed,
Ph.D., director of the Emory Vaccine Center, and a professor of microbiology and
immunology at the Emory University School of Medicine, called the finding an
"important breakthrough." "Dr. Crotty has defined the gene that regulates
the formation of certain CD4 T cells," said Dr. Ahmed. "Those cells are very
critical for antibody production, so describing what regulates the birth of those cells is
clearly an important discovery." Pamela L. Schwartzberg, M.D., Ph.D., a senior
investigator in the Cell Signaling Section of the National Human Genome Research
Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, called the discovery a major step
forward in the area of vaccine development. "This finding defines the master
regulator (gene) that triggers an elaborate cellular interaction necessary to get
effective long-term antibody responses, which are required for most successful
vaccines," she said. "In making this discovery, Dr. Crotty and his fellow
researchers at Yale have made a major contribution that will help provide critical insight
into the processes important for successful vaccination and effective immune
responses."
Genetic source of muscular
dystrophy neutralized
Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center have found a way to block the
genetic flaw at the heart of a common form of muscular dystrophy. The results of the
study, which were published today in the journal Science, could pave the way for new
therapies that essentially reverse the symptoms of the disease. The researchers used a
synthetic molecule to break up deposits of toxic genetic material and re-establish the
cellular activity that is disrupted by the disease. Because scientists believe that
potentially all of the symptoms of myotonic dystrophy – the most common form of
muscular dystrophy in adults – flow from this single genetic flaw, neutralizing it
could potentially restore muscle function in people with the disease. "This study
establishes a proof of concept that could be followed to develop a successful treatment
for myotonic dystrophy," said neurologist Charles Thornton, M.D., the senior author
of the study and co-director of the University of Rochester Medical Center's Wellstone
Muscular Dystrophy Cooperative Research Center. "It also demonstrates the potential
to reverse established symptoms of the disease after they have developed, as opposed to
simply preventing them from getting worse." Myotonic dystrophy is a degenerative
disease characterized by progressive muscle wasting and weakness. People with myotonic
dystrophy have prolonged muscle tensing (myotonia) and are not able to relax certain
muscles after use. The condition is particularly severe in the hand muscles and can cause
a person's grip to lock making it difficult to perform rapid, repeated movements.
Currently there is no medication to halt the progression of the disease.
Children with FASD have more severe
behavioral problems than children with ADHD
Children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) have a high risk of psychiatric
problems, particularly attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), conduct disorder,
or both. Often children with FASD are initially diagnosed with ADHD. A new study is the
first to examine a range of cognitive factors and social behavior in children with FASD
and ADHD, finding that those with FASD have significantly weaker social cognition and
facial emotion-processing abilities. Results will be published in the October issue of
Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and are currently available at Early
View. "Behaviorally, FASD and ADHD can look quite similar, particularly with respect
to problems with very limited attention, physical restlessness, and extreme
impulsivity," explained Rachel Greenbaum, a clinical psychologist with the Children's
Mental Health Team at Surrey Place Centre in Toronto, who conducted the study as part of
her doctoral dissertation. "However, social deficits in children with
neurodevelopmental disorders may have different underlying mechanisms," noted
Piyadasa W. Kodituwakku, associate professor of pediatrics and neurosciences at the
University of New Mexico School of Medicine. "For example, children with ADHD
experience social problems because of poor self-regulation rather than deficient knowledge
of appropriate social behavior. In other words, a child with ADHD may accurately recite
social rules, but fail to apply them. In contrast, social difficulties in a child with
autism may result from a fundamental deficit in social sense, referred to as
mind-blindness. Thus, when delineating qualitative differences in social phenotypes of
neurodevelopmental disorders, it is important to assess not only observable behaviors, but
also their underlying cognitive mechanisms." This study looked specifically at
social-cognition and emotion-processing abilities, said Joanne Rovet, a professor at the
University of Toronto and senior scientist in neurosciences and mental health at the
Hospital for Sick Children, and supervisor of the fetal alcohol research program.
Baking soda - For cooking,
cleaning, and kidney health?
A daily dose of sodium bicarbonate—baking soda, already used for baking, cleaning,
acid indigestion, sunburn, and more—slows the decline of kidney function in some
patients with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD), reports an upcoming study in the
Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). "This cheap and simple strategy
also improves patients' nutritional status, and has the potential of translating into
significant economic, quality of life, and clinical outcome benefits," comments Magdi
Yaqoob, MD (Royal London Hospital). The study included 134 patients with advanced CKD and
low bicarbonate levels, also called metabolic acidosis. One group received a small daily
dose of sodium bicarbonate in tablet form, in addition to their usual care. For this
group, the rate of decline in kidney function was greatly reduced—about two-thirds
slower than in patients. "In fact, in patients taking sodium bicarbonate, the rate of
decline in kidney function was similar to the normal age-related decline," says
Yaqoob. Rapid progression of kidney disease occurred in just nine percent of patients
taking sodium bicarbonate, compared to 45 percent of the other group. Patients taking
sodium bicarbonate were also less likely to develop end-stage renal disease (ESRD)
requiring dialysis. Patients taking sodium bicarbonate also had improvement in several
measures of nutrition. Although their sodium levels went up, this didn't lead to any
problems with increased blood pressure. Low bicarbonate levels are common in patients with
CKD and can lead to a wide range of other problems. "This is the first randomized
controlled study of its kind," says Yaqoob. "A simple remedy like sodium
bicarbonate (baking soda), when used appropriately, can be very effective." The
researchers note some important limitations of their study—there was no placebo group
and the researchers were aware of which patients were receiving sodium bicarbonate.
"Our results will need validation in a multicenter study," says Yaqoob.
Study to assess hip exercises as
treatment for osteoarthritis in the knee joints
Researchers at Rush University Medical Center are testing a novel regimen of hip-muscle
exercises to decrease the load on the knee joints in patients with osteoarthritis. The
goal is not only to relieve pain but also, possibly, to halt progression of the disease.
"Each time you take a step, a load, or force, is placed on the knee joints. How much
load depends not just on your weight, but also on the way you walk and the alignment of
your leg," said Laura Thorp, PhD, assistant professor of anatomy and cell biology at
Rush Medical College and principal investigator for the study. "If we can
appropriately alter the gait patterns of patients with osteoarthritis, we can minimize the
load and relieve pain. "Ultimately, we're hoping we can prevent the disease from
advancing. No treatment currently exists that can stop osteoarthritis from progressing in
the knees, other than joint replacement surgery." Osteoarthritis is the most common
form of arthritis and a significant source of disability and impaired quality of life. A
higher-than-normal load on the knees during walking is a hallmark of the disease,
associated with both the severity of the osteoarthritis and its progression, according to
Thorp. Thorp is enrolling patients with mild to moderate osteoarthritis in their knees in
a research study to determine the effectiveness of certain hip exercises in treating the
disease. Study participants have their knees x-rayed and undergo an initial assessment in
Rush's Human Motion Laboratory to measure the load on their knee joints while walking.
Participants then follow a specific regimen of hip exercises for four weeks under the
direction of Charles Cranny, clinical manager of outpatient physical therapy.
Childhood adversity may affect
processing in the brain's reward pathways
New research shows that childhood adversity is associated with diminished neural activity
in brain regions implicated in the anticipation of possible rewards. Scientists at Harvard
University used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to monitor brain activity as
participants played a game involving cues that predicted monetary rewards and penalties.
"We found that, in comparison to community controls, young adults who had experienced
childhood adversity showed weaker responses to reward-predicting cues in left hemisphere
regions of the basal ganglia, a part of the brain that is important for orchestrating
goal-directed actions," says Diego Pizzagalli, the John and Ruth Hazel Associate
Professor of the Social Sciences in the Department of Psychology at Harvard. The research
is published in the current issue of the journal Biological Psychiatry, and was conducted
by Pizzagalli and Karlen Lyons-Ruth, associate professor of psychology at Harvard Medical
School. The lead author is Daniel Dillon, a postdoctoral researcher working with
Pizzagalli, and co-authors were Avram Holmes, Jeffrey Birk, and Nancy Brooks, all in the
Department of Psychology in Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences. "In the group
that had childhood adversity, two structures in the left basal ganglia were not responsive
to reward cues, which differed from what we saw in the control group," says Dillon.
"There weren't any differences between the controls and maltreated participants in
response to cues that predicted either penalties or no incentive outcomes. In other words,
the group that had experienced childhood adversity only showed a weaker response to the
reward cues." Participants also rated their experiences of positive and negative
arousal in response to the cues while in the MRI scanner. Relative to controls, the
participants who had experienced childhood adversity rated the reward cues as less
positive, consistent with the weaker brain response to these cues.
Trojan horse for ovarian cancer --
nanoparticles turn immune system soldiers against tumor cells
In a feat of trickery, Dartmouth Medical School immunologists have devised a Trojan horse
to help overcome ovarian cancer, unleashing a surprise killer in the surroundings of a
hard-to-treat tumor. Using nanoparticles--ultra small bits-- the team has reprogrammed a
protective cell that ovarian cancers have corrupted to feed their growth, turning the
cells back from tumor friend to foe. Their research, published online July 13 for the
August Journal of Clinical Investigation, offers a promising approach to orchestrate an
attack against a cancer whose survival rates have barely budged over the last three
decades. "We have modulated elements of the tumor microenvironment that are not
cancer cells, reversing their role as accomplices in tumor growth to attackers that boost
responses against the tumor," said Dr. Jose Conejo-Garcia, assistant professor of
microbiology and immunology and of medicine, and a researcher at Dartmouth-Hitchcock's
Norris Cotton Cancer Center, who led the research. "The cooperating cells hit by the
particles return to fighters that immediately kill tumor cells." The study, in mice
with established ovarian tumors, involves a polymer now in clinical trials for other
tumors. The polymer interacts with a receptor that senses danger to activate cells that
trigger an inflammatory immune response. The Dartmouth work focuses on dendritic cells--an
immune cell particularly abundant in the ovarian cancer environment. It does take direct
aim at tumor cells, so it could be an amenable adjunct to other current therapies.
"That's the beautiful part of story--people usually inject these nanoparticles to
target tumor cells. But we found that these dendritic cells that are commonly present in
ovarian cancer were preferentially and avidly engulfing the nanoparticles. We couldn't
find any tumor cells taking up the nanoparticles, only the dendritic cells residing in the
tumor," explained Juan R. Cubillos-Ruiz, graduate student and first author. Dendritic
cells are phagocytes--the soldiers of the immune system that gobble up bacteria and other
pathogens, but ovarian cancer has co-opted them for its own use, he continued. "So we
were trying to restore the attributes of these dendritic cells--the good guys; they become
Trojan horses."
Believers Beware Trailer - The
Cause of Effect 2 - Sequel to Hijacking Humanity
Geert Driessen
"Mass Evacuation Bus"
Cruising Down The Highway
While out on the road this morning I came
upon a very peculiar vehicle. This "Mass Evacuation Bus" is obviously owned and
operated by a local county E.M.S. department and was being relocated to an undisclosed
location. An immediate phone call to a local Patriot informed me that this bus was, in
fact, heading in the opposite direction of where this county asset is typically maintained
and stored. Perhaps, the county was just taking her out for a spin to "clear out the
cobwebs". Or, perhaps out on a training exercise over at the local "Emergency
Containment Area" (see related video). In all fairness, I must note that this
particular county is rich in potential disaster-related scenarios, including: hurricanes,
nuclear power-plant facility issues and a large military munitions loading terminal.
Still, the timing of seeing this bad-boy out on the road raises my eyebrow.
Michael Jackson Dance Tribute -
STOCKHOLM
This is the official clip from BOUNCE &
Friends. More than 300 dancers met at 15.30, got informed and then learned the
choreography in 30 min. Less then 1 hour later they performed it. A big thank you to all
the dancers who made this possible....
Larry Brilliant talks about how smallpox
was eradicated from the planet, and calls for a new global system that can identify and
contain pandemics before they spread. Larry Brilliant's career path, as unlikely as it is
inspirational, has proven worthy of his surname. Trained as a doctor, he was living in a
Himalayan monastery in the early 1970s when his guru told him he should help rid the world
of smallpox. He joined the World Health Organization's eradication project, directed
efforts to eliminate the disease in India and eventually presided over the last case of
smallpox on the planet.
Michael Pollan is the author of The
Omnivore’s Dilemma, in which he explains how our food not only affects our health but
has far-reaching political, economic, and environmental implications. His new book is In
Defense of Food. Few writers approach their subjects with the rigor, passion and
perspective that’s typical of Michael Pollan. Whereas most humans think we are
Darwin’s most accomplished species, Pollan convincingly argues that plants —
even our own front lawns — have evolved to use us as much as we use them. The author
and New York Times Magazine contributor is, as Newsweek asserts, “an uncommonly
graceful explainer of natural science,” for his investigative stories about food,
agriculture, and the environment. His most recent book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, was
named one of the top ten nonfiction titles of 2006. As the director of the Knight Program
in Science and Environmental Journalism at UC Berkeley, Pollan is cultivating the next
generation of green reporters. "His writing—an engaging melange of travelogue,
economic analysis, and sheer, tactile joy in the pleasures of food—has made him a
favorite among the foodie and enviro crowds alike."
Babies understand dog-speak, BYU
study finds
New research shows babies have a handle on the meaning of different dog barks –
despite little or no previous exposure to dogs. Infants just 6 months old can match the
sounds of an angry snarl and a friendly yap to photos of dogs displaying threatening and
welcoming body language. The new findings come on the heels of a study from the same
Brigham Young University lab showing that infants can detect mood swings in
Beethoven’s music. Though the mix of dogs and babies sounds silly, experiments of
this kind help us understand how babies learn so rapidly. Long before they master speech,
babies recognize and respond to the tone of what’s going on around them.
“Emotion is one of the first things babies pick up on in their social world,”
said BYU psychology professor Ross Flom, lead author of the study.
Future of Western Water Supply
Threatened by Climate Change, Says New CU-Boulder Study
As the West warms, a drier Colorado River system could see as much as a one-in-two chance
of fully depleting all of its reservoir storage by mid-century assuming current management
practices continue on course, according to a new University of Colorado at Boulder study.
The study, in press in the American Geophysical Union journal, Water Resources Research,
looked at the effects of a range of reductions in Colorado River stream flow on future
reservoir levels and the implications of different management strategies. Roughly 30
million people depend on the Colorado River -- which hosts more than a dozen dams along
its 1,450 journey from Colorado's Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of California -- for
drinking and irrigation water. The Colorado River system is presently enduring its 10th
year in a drought that began in 2000, said lead study author Balaji Rajagopalan, a
CU-Boulder associate professor of civil, environmental and architectural engineering.
Fortunately, the river system entered the drought with the reservoirs at approximately 95
percent of capacity. The reservoir system is presently at 59 percent of capacity, about
the same as this time last year, said Rajagopalan, also a fellow at CU-Boulder's
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences. The research team examined
the future vulnerability of the system to water supply variability coupled with projected
changes in water demand. The team found that through 2026, the risk of fully depleting
reservoir storage in any given year remains below 10 percent under any scenario of climate
fluctuation or management alternative. During this period, the reservoir storage could
even recover from its current low level, according to the researchers. But if climate
change results in a 10 percent reduction in the Colorado River's average stream flow as
some recent studies predict, the chances of fully depleting reservoir storage will exceed
25 percent by 2057, according to the study. If climate change results in a 20 percent
reduction, the chances of fully depleting reservoir storage will exceed 50 percent by
2057, Rajagopalan said.
UCLA researchers discover new
molecular pathway for targeting cancer, disease
A UCLA study has identified a way to turn off a key signaling pathway involved in
physiological processes that can also stimulate the development of cancer and other
diseases. The findings may lead to new treatments and targeted drugs using this approach.
In the study, which is currently available in the online edition of the journal Molecular
Endocrinology, scientists found that by activating a receptor in cells called the liver X
receptor (LXR), they were able to inhibit the hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway, which is
involved in the maintenance of tissue integrity and stem cell generation. When stimulated
in an unregulated manner, however, the Hh pathway can also cause cancers of the brain,
lung, blood, prostate, skin and other tissues. Blocking such unregulated stimulation of
the Hh pathway had previously been shown in animal studies to prevent cancers, according
to the researchers. How LXR was able to inhibit tumor cell growth by impeding the Hh
pathway was previously unknown. "Our finding shows that activation of LXR signaling
is a novel strategy for inhibiting Hh pathway activity and for targeting various cell
types, including cancer cells, which may provide important clues as to how we might be
able to intervene with tumor formation," said Farhad Parhami, a professor of medicine
at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the study's principal investigator.
During the study, researchers performed various tests activating LXR receptors in cells
and found that specific gene expression induced by the Hh pathway could be inhibited. This
finding was also confirmed in mice. "Since Hh signaling plays a major role in other
physiological and pathological processes, we may be able to impact other diseases as
well," Parhami said. Dr. William Matsui of Johns Hopkins Medical Institute, an expert
on Hh signaling in cancer development, noted the importance of the UCLA study and its
significance for the next stages of research — finding a pharmaceutical drug or
substance molecule to act as an agonist, which would stimulate LXR activity to inhibit
aberrant Hh signaling.
C. difficile spores spread superbug
New research suggests that antibiotic treatment could be asymptomatically inducing the
transmission of the healthcare-acquired infection, C. difficile, contributing to the
outbreaks that have recently been widely reported in hospitals and other settings. A team
of scientists have successfully mirrored the infection cycle of C. difficile by generating
a 'mouse hospital' with conditions mimicking the human environment in which C. difficile
is transmitted. The results have implications for infection control measures in the
healthcare environment and open the door for the development of treatments and improved
diagnosis of C. difficile. At present, healthcare professionals manage the threat of C.
difficile by observing stringent hygiene and isolation practices primarily by dealing with
patients who exhibit the symptoms of infection - including diarrhoea and fever. But
today's publication suggests that widening the targets of infection control in hospitals,
to include all patients receiving antibiotic treatment - although logistically complex -
is worth investigating. "C. difficile is a highly resistant and highly infectious
pathogen and resistant to many front line antibiotics," explains Dr Trevor Lawley,
Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute researcher and lead author on the study. "Until now,
animal studies have focussed on the observable, acute symptoms of C. difficile. But, to
understand how this highly infectious pathogen spreads, investigating the entire cycle of
transmission is absolutely vital. We looked at mice carrying C. difficile and observed
that they shed low levels of spores and, crucially, they did not infect other mice."
"But when we treated mice with antibiotics, we saw a dramatic rise in the levels of
spores shed - leading to what we have described as a 'supershedder state' and transmission
of C. difficile among mice. Importantly, transmission occurs even in the absence of
clinical symptoms." C. difficile transmission relies on the shedding of highly
resistant spores in the faeces of humans. These bacterial spores are essentially dormant
cells with protective outer layers making them well-adapted for survival and dispersal in
a wide range of environmental conditions. When humans shed spores in their faeces, those
spores are capable of surviving dormant in the environment for long periods of time, under
harsh conditions and in temperatures up to 70 ºC, before reintroduction and infection in
a new human host.
Breast cancer drug shows promise
against serious infections
An FDA-approved drug used for preventing recurrence of breast cancer shows promise in
fighting life-threatening fungal infections common in immune-compromised patients, such as
infants born prematurely and patients with cancer. Some scientists suspected that
tamoxifen has antifungal properties; now new research from the University of Rochester
Medical Center shows that it actually kills fungus cells and stops them from causing
disease. "It's still early, but if tamoxifen, or molecules like it, turns out to be
an effective treatment against serious fungal infections, it'll be a welcome addition to
our arsenal," said Damian Krysan, M.D., Ph.D., author of the research recently
published in the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy and assistant professor of
Pediatrics at the University of Rochester Medical Center . While serious fungal infections
are generally isolated to patients with cancer, patients in intensive care units, patients
with HIV or patients taking immune-suppression medications for chronic conditions, they
are among the deadliest infections. Fungus is the third most common cause of blood stream
infection in premature infants in the neonatal intensive care unit. The survival rate for
children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia is about 95 percent, but if they acquire a
Candida albicans fungal infection, that drops to 80 percent. Bacterial meningitis has a 5
percent risk of death, but the risk of death for C. albicans blood stream infection is 20
percent.
Research sheds light on cause of
Down syndrome and other genetic disorders
Scientists have a better understanding of what causes an abnormal number of chromosomes in
offspring, a condition called aneuploidy that encompasses the most common genetic
disorders in humans, such as Down syndrome, and is a leading cause of pregnancy loss. To
pinpoint what goes awry in these cases, researchers at the U.S. Department of
Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee,
Knoxville studied mice. They found that if a mother’s egg cell has a mutation in just
one copy of a gene, called Bub1, then she is more likely to have fewer offspring that
survive to birth. Ordinarily, both copies of a gene in a chromosome must carry the same
mutation in order for an organism to be adversely effected. “But we found that a
mutation in a single copy of the Bub1 gene can have an impact — and this is not the
case with most genes. With Bub1, if you have one bad gene and one healthy gene,
there’s a problem,” says Francesco Marchetti of Berkeley Lab’s Life
Sciences Division. He worked with Sundaresan Venkatachalam of the University of Tennessee
and other scientists on the research. Their findings appear in the online early edition of
the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the week of July 13.
Pregnancy complications are a
stress test for future maternal health and pregnancies
Predicting whether pregnancy complications affect long-term maternal health as well as
future pregnancies is at the heart of two studies conducted by researchers in the
Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at Yale School of Medicine.
The first study, published in the journal Hypertension, showed that women who have had two
pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia are at a higher risk of hypertension after
pregnancy. Working in collaboration with the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, senior
author Michael Paidas, M.D., and his team conducted a retrospective study of over 11
million women who gave birth in Denmark from 1978 to 2007. Their findings showed that
among women with preeclampsia, a complication of pregnancy linked to life-threatening
cardiovascular disease, the risks of subsequent hypertension risks were compounded with
each affected pregnancy. Only healthy women without any other previously identified
medical problems were included in the study. "The only reliable treatment for
preeclampsia is delivery of the baby," said Paidas, associate professor and
co-director of Yale Women and Children's Center for Blood Disorders, Department of
Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences. "But while delivery may 'cure'
preeclampsia in the moment, these mothers are at high risk of chronic hypertension, type 2
diabetes mellitus and blood clots for the rest of their lives. Pregnancy acts like a
natural stress test for women." Paidas said the research adds to growing data on the
link between hypertensive pregnancy disorders, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and
maternal death. Paidas and the research team are conducting ongoing studies to explore the
genetic links between pregnancy complications, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
"Physicians and other healthcare professionals should be encouraged to include the
history of a woman's pregnancy outcomes when estimating the risk of cardiovascular
disease," said Paidas. "Identifying women soon after a hypertensive pregnancy
will alert care providers to the increased risks of heart disease, diabetes and blood
clotting and allow prompt intervention." In light of this new information, Paidas
also urges care providers to exercise caution when prescribing oral contraceptives to
women with hypertensive pregnancy complications.
Daily potassium citrate wards off
kidney stones in seizure patients on high-fat diet
Children on the high-fat ketogenic diet to control epileptic seizures can prevent the
excruciatingly painful kidney stones that the diet can sometimes cause if they take a
daily supplement of potassium citrate the day they start the diet, according to research
from Johns Hopkins Children's Center. A report on the work is published in the August
issue of Pediatrics. "We can confidently say this is a safe and powerful way to
prevent kidney stones, and it should become part of standard therapy in all ketogenic
dieters, not just those who already show elevated urine calcium levels," says senior
investigator Eric Kossoff, M.D., a pediatric neurologist at Hopkins Children's. "If
you wait, it might be too late." The ketogenic diet, believed to work by initiating
biochemical changes that eliminate seizure-triggering short circuits in the brain's
signaling system, is given to many children whose seizures do not respond to medications.
But the diet, which consists of high-fat foods with very few carbohydrates, causes a
buildup of calcium in the urine and the formation of kidney stones in about 6 percent of
those on it. Hopkins Children's adopted the preventive treatment with potassium citrate
two years ago, and doctors now believe this one major side effect of the diet is a thing
of the past, allowing more children to remain on the diet for longer. Potassium citrate
taken twice daily, either as powder sprinkled on food or dissolved in water, is believed
to inhibit stone formation.
Purer water made possible by Sandia
advance
By substituting a single atom in a molecule widely used to purify water, researchers at
Sandia National Laboratories have created a far more effective decontaminant with a shelf
life superior to products currently on the market. Sandia has applied for a patent on the
material, which removes bacterial, viral and other organic and inorganic contaminants from
river water destined for human consumption, and from wastewater treatment plants prior to
returning water to the environment. “Human consumption of ‘challenged’
water is increasing worldwide as preferred supplies become more scarce,” said Sandia
principal investigator May Nyman. “Technological advances like this may help solve
problems faced by water treatment facilities in both developed and developing countries.
”The study was published in June 2009 in the journal Environmental Science &
Technology (a publication of the American Chemical Society) and highlighted in the June 22
edition of Chemical & Engineering News. Sandia is working with a major producer of
water treatment chemicals to explore the commercial potential of the compound.
Researchers Identify Genes Linked
to Chemoresistance
Two genes may contribute to chemotherapy resistance in drugs like 5-fluorouracil, which is
used in liver cancer treatment, according to Virginia Commonwealth University Massey
Cancer Center researchers. Liver cancer is a highly aggressive form that has limited
therapeutic options. One of the key challenges with cancer treatment is that patients can
develop resistance to chemotherapy. Researchers are examining ways to prevent resistance
by determining the molecular mechanisms involved with cancer progression, and then
developing new generations of chemotherapeutic agents. In the study, published online in
the Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the week of July
13, researchers reported that two genes - astrocyte elevated gene-1, or AEG-1, and late
SV40 factor, LSF, contribute to resistance of a commonly used chemotherapeutic drug called
5-fluorouracil, or 5-FU. The team found that over-expression of AEG-1 increased resistance
of the liver cells to 5-FU. They observed that a second gene, LSF, is under the control of
AEG-1 and mediates a series of molecular pathways involved the resistance to 5-FU.
Starve a Fever, Feed a Cold, Don't
Be Stressed
Whether it's getting a cold during exam time or feeling run-down after a big meeting,
we've all experienced feeling sick following a particularly stressful time at work or
school. Is this merely coincidence, or is it possible that stress can actually make us
sick? In a new report in Perspectives on Psychological Science, a journal of the
Association for Psychological Science, psychologist Janice K. Kiecolt-Glaser from the Ohio
State University College of Medicine reviews research investigating how stress can wreak
havoc on our bodies and provides some suggestions to further our understanding of this
connection. The field of psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) investigates how stress and negative
emotions (such as depression and anxiety) affect our health. Over the past 30 years,
researchers in this field have uncovered a number of ways that stress adversely affects
our health, and specifically, how stress can damage our immune system. Numerous studies
have shown that stressed individuals show weaker immune responses to vaccines, and as
Kiecolt-Glaser observes, "The evidence that stress and distress impair vaccine
responses has obvious public health relevance because infectious diseases can be so
deadly." Stress and depression have been shown to increase the risk of getting
infections and also result in delayed wound healing. Inflammation is the body's way of
removing harmful stimuli and also starts the process of healing, via release of a variety
of chemicals known as proinflammatory cytokines (e.g., interleukin-6). However, too much
inflammation can be damaging and has been implicated in the development of many
age-related diseases, including Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's disease, arthritis, and
Type II diabetes. Negative emotions and psychological stressors increase the production of
proinflammatory cytokines. A recent study revealed that men and women who serve as
caregivers to spouses with dementia (and thus are under constant stress) have a four times
larger annual rate of increase in serum interleukin-6 levels compared to individuals
without caregiving responsibilities.
University of Minnesota research
leads to new technology to protect human health
Larry Wackett and Michael Sadowsky, members of the University of Minnesota’s
BioTechnology Institute, developed an enzyme that is used in Bioo Scientific’s new
MaxDiscovery™ Melamine Test kit, which simplifies the detection of melamine
contamination in food. Melamine is an industrial chemical that killed six Chinese children
and hospitalized 150,000 last year after it was added to milk to increase its apparent
protein content. Some children may have life-long chronic kidney problems resulting from
melamine exposure. Development of the test responds to a call from the World Health
Organization (WHO) for a simple, inexpensive method to detect melamine contamination in
infant formula and other liquids. Until now, melamine testing required expensive
laboratory equipment and skilled personnel. This kit simplifies the testing and reduces
the cost of melamine detection. The MaxDiscovery Melamine Test kit can detect melamine in
milk, powdered milk, cream, ice cream and chocolate drink. Bioo Scientific has plans to
adapt it to detect melamine in seafood and meat. Researchers at the BioTechnology
Institute (BTI) developed the enzyme, melamine deaminase, used in the MaxDiscovery
Melamine Test kit and the enzyme will be produced in the BTI Pilot Plant fermentation
facilities. Melamine deaminase works by breaking one of the C-N bonds in melamine to
release ammonia, which can be detected by a simple test that turns the liquid blue.
Jennifer Seffernick, a research associate in Wackett’s lab, discovered the enzyme
while conducting research on biodegradation of s-triazine herbicides. It is one of many
examples of how basic research can lead to new technologies that benefit society.
"Development of the melamine enzyme and the test kit is an example of how
universities and industry can collaborate to foster basic science, education, and
technology that benefits society," says Wackett, who is a Distinguished McKnight
University Professor in the College of Biological Sciences.
Dr Russell Blaylock Nutrition and
Behavior Aspartame MSG
Review provides new insights into
the causes of anorexia
New imaging technology provides insight into abnormalities in the brain circuitry of
patients with anorexia nervosa (commonly known as anorexia) that may contribute to the
puzzling symptoms found in people with the eating disorder. In a review paper published on
line in Nature Reviews Neuroscience, Walter Kaye, MD, professor of psychiatry and director
of the Eating Disorders Program at the University of California, San Diego, and colleagues
describe dysfunction in certain neural circuits of the brain which may help explain why
people develop anorexia in the first place, and behaviors such as the relentless pursuit
of dieting and weight loss. "Currently, we don't have very effective means of
treating people with anorexia," said Kaye. "Consequently, many patients with the
disorder remain ill for years or eventually die from the disease, which has the highest
death rate of any psychiatric disorder." A better understanding of the underlying
neurobiology – how behavior is coded in the brain and contributes to anorexia
—is likely to result in more effective treatments, according to the researchers.
Childhood personality and temperament may increase an individual's vulnerability to
developing anorexia. Predisposing factors, some suspected to be inherited, such as
perfectionism, anxiety, or obsessive-compulsive tendencies may precede the onset of an
eating disorders. These traits become intensified during adolescence as a consequence of
many factors such as hormonal changes, stress and culture. "Adolescence is a time of
transition, when individuals must learn to balance immediate and long-term needs and goals
in order to achieve independence," said Kaye. "For such individuals, learning to
cope with mixed societal messages and pressures may be overwhelming, exacerbating
underlying traits of anxiety and a desire to perfectly achieve." Once a patient
develops anorexia, starvation and malnutrition cause profound effects on the brain and
other organ systems. Such changes include neuro-chemical imbalances, which may, in turn,
exaggerate the preexisting traits and accelerate the disease process.
Mayo Clinic researchers find first
potential pathogenic mutation for restless legs syndrome
An international team of researchers led by scientists at the Mayo Clinic campus in
Florida have found what they believe is the first mutated gene linked to restless legs
syndrome, a common neurologic disorder. The researchers, who reported the findings in the
July 21 issue of Neurology, doubt that a large proportion of the millions of people who
suffer from the syndrome have this mutated MEIS1 gene. They point out, however, that
understanding the function of both the normal and abnormal genes will shed some insights
into this mysterious disorder. Restless legs syndrome affects between 5 and 11 percent of
the population in Europe and in North America. The condition is characterized by
unpleasant sensations in the legs at rest, especially in the evening, that are temporarily
relieved by movement. Because restless legs syndrome often interrupts sleep, people
commonly are diagnosed after they consult a sleep specialist for assistance. "We
think restless legs syndrome may be due to a number of clinical factors, but we also
believe that there is a strong genetic component to the disorder," says the study's
lead investigator, Carles Vilariño-Güell, Ph.D., a neuroscientist at Mayo Clinic,
Jacksonville. "The mutation we found is in a portion of the protein that is identical
in species as distinct to human as frogs and fish, which tells us that this portion is
very important for the proper function of the protein and that the mutation has a very
high chance of causing disease," he says. While common variants (different versions)
of MEIS1 and BTBD9, another associated gene, have been found in families with a high
incidence of restless legs syndrome, it is not clear that those variants are capable of
causing disease, Dr. Vilariño-Güell says. "This mutation, on the other hand, is the
first that we think can be a real candidate for causing or promoting restless legs
syndrome," he says.
Screening for childhood depressive
symptoms could start in second grade
New research indicates that screening children for symptoms of depression, the most common
mental health disorder in the United States, can begin a lot earlier than previously
thought, as early as the second grade.A University of Washington study that followed
nearly 1,000 children from the second to the eighth grades also found five distinct
patterns for the way symptoms of depression develop among adolescents. "Some children
are reporting that they don't have as many friends, feel lonelier and are more anxious
than their peers," said James Mazza, a UW professor of educational psychology and
lead author of the study. "They are telling us that they feel different from the
typical happy- go-lucky second grader. "We can start to build a profile of children's
mental health in the second grade. This is important because children who are experiencing
depression symptoms early on may be at great risk for mental health concerns during
adolescence, based on other research studies. We want to reassure parents that everyone,
including children, may feel sad or depressed once in a while, but that doesn't mean they
will go on to develop depression. We are trying to understand how depression starts and
evolves in childhood so that we can develop interventions to help children," Mazza
said.The new study relied on annual self reports from the children as well as parental and
teacher evaluations collected as part of the Raising Healthy Children study, a larger,
long-term investigation looking at the development of healthy and problem behaviors among
children at 10 suburban schools in the Pacific Northwest. The depression study used data
from 511 boys and 440 girls, and 81 percent of the participants were white. The study
identified five patterns of depression symptoms, but 56 percent of the children showed no
or very few symptoms of depression in the second grade.
Genetic marker linked to problem
behaviors in adults with developmental disabilities
A common variation of the gene involved in regulating serotonin and norepinephrine in the
brain may be linked to problem behaviors in adults with developmental and intellectual
disabilities, new research indicates. The findings were published in the July 2009 issue
of the American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and are available
online at http://tinyurl.com/mw8baj. "Problem behaviors in these populations account
for billions of dollars in intervention costs each year, but nearly all of these
interventions occur after the fact," Craig Kennedy, a co-author of the study and
professor of special education at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College of education and
human development, said. "This research suggests one way we might predict which
individuals are at risk of being aggressive and destructive and provide treatment before
problems occur." Fifteen to 20 percent of adults with developmental/intellectual
disabilities have problem behaviors. For this study, the researchers focused specifically
on aggression, self-injury or property destruction and set out to determine if there was a
genetic underpinning for these behaviors. They focused on the gene that encodes monoamine
oxidize A or MAOA. MAOA is involved in the regulation of the neurotransmitter serotonin,
which is linked to appetite and mood, and the neurotransmitter and hormone norepinephrine,
which is linked to the fight-or-flight response. Previous studies found that variations in
MAOA were linked to violent behavior. "We found that a common variant of the MAOA
gene was strongly associated with problem behaviors in adults with developmental and / or
intellectual disabilities," Kennedy said. The researchers studied 105 white men
between the ages of 18 and 50. The individuals were divided into three groups: those with
developmental/intellectual disabilities and a history of more than 10 years of problem
behavior, those with the disabilities but without problem behavior, and a typically
developing control group. Only white men were sampled because the MAOA gene is linked to
the X chromosome and also is shown to vary by ethnicity. Forty-three percent of those with
developmental/intellectual disabilities and behavior problems had the gene variant,
compared to 20 percent of the same group with no behavior issues and 20 percent of a
typically developing control group.
A genetic basis for schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a severely debilitating psychiatric disease that is thought to have its
roots in the development of the nervous system; however, major breakthroughs linking its
genetics to diagnosis, prognosis and treatment are still unrealized. Jill Morris, PhD
assistant professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine
and a researcher in the Human Molecular Genetics Program of Children's Memorial Research
Center studies a gene that is involved in susceptibility to schizophrenia, Disc1
(Disrupted-In-Schizophrenia 1). Two recent publications by Morris and colleagues focus on
the role of Disc1 in development, particularly the migration of cells to their proper
location in the brain and subsequent differentiation into their intended fate. During
development, cells need to properly migrate to their final destination in order to develop
into the appropriate cell-type, integrate into the corresponding network of cells and
function properly. Disruption of cell migration can lead to inappropriate cell development
and function, resulting in disease. The first paper, published in the July 2009 online
issue of the journal Development, followed the role of Disc1 in cranial neural crest (CNC)
cells, which are multi-potent cells that give rise to multiple cell types including
craniofacial cartilage and the peripheral nervous system during development. They also are
similar to neurons in their high mobility, response to signals and cellular origin. The
Morris laboratory determined that Disc1 regulates two stem cell maintenance factors that
have many functions in CNC cells, including the maintenance of precursor pools, timing of
migration onset and the induction of cell differentiation. The authors showed that Disc1
disruption results in increased expression of these factors, leading to hindered cell
migration and a change in cell fate. "This research indicates that Disc1 may be
involved in regulating stem cells and their fate," says Morris. The second paper,
published in the June 2009 online issue of Human Molecular Genetics, studied the
hippocampus, a brain area that is involved in learning and memory, and is also associated
with the pathology of schizophrenia. Disc1 is highly expressed in the hippocampus,
particularly the dentate gyrus, which is considered the gateway to the hippocampus. In
this study, the authors decreased Disc1 expression using RNA interference in the
developing mouse hippocampus. The loss of Disc1 resulted in hindered migration of dentate
gyrus granule cells to their proper location in the brain. "Improper migration of
hippocampal neurons may result in altered connectivity in the brain," says Morris.
When children have breathing
problems - UFZ researchers involved in improving air quality in La Plata
Increasing numbers of children around the world are suffering from respiratory problems
– coughing, wheezing and asthma attacks. Although the key external causes of these
diseases were identified a long time ago (traffic and industrial air pollution), it had
not previously been possible to distinguish clearly between these two factors so as to
have a targeted impact on them. Researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental
Research (UFZ) and the University of Leipzig carried out research in this area together
with colleagues from the University of La Plata and can now confirm that air pollution
caused by industry has even more grave effects than vehicle exhaust fumes.The recently
completed study on ‘Combined effects of airborne pollutants as risk factors for
environmental diseases’ was conducted as part of a long-standing collaborative
venture, supported by the international office of the German Federal Ministry of Education
and Research, between the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), the
University of Leipzig and the University of La Plata in Argentina. The results have been
published in several internationally-respected journals, including the Journal of Allergy
and Clinical Immunology and Toxicology.
Anti-Epilepsy Drug Risk On
Cognitive Function For Unborn Childre
Interim results of a study being conducted by scientists at the University of Liverpool
suggest that children aged three years and younger, who are born to women taking the
anti-epileptic drug sodium valproate whilst pregnant, are likely to have an IQ of six to
nine points lower than average. The research, in collaboration with Emory University in
the US and the Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, tested more
than 300 three-year-olds in the UK and US, whose mothers took one of four anti-epilepsy
drugs (AEDs) whilst pregnant. The preliminary findings suggest that children exposed to
the drug sodium valproate had lower IQ results than children exposed to other AEDs,
regardless of the mother’s IQ. The results also took dosage, duration of pregnancy
and mother’s consumption of folic acid whilst pregnant, into account. Professor of
Clinical Neuropsychology at the University, Gus Baker, said “Our research looked at
how exposure to sodium valproate and other AEDs in the womb affected children’s
everyday life – in particular their IQ, memory and language abilities from one to six
years of age.”
New research into how stress
affects weight control
An academic at the University of Hertfordshire is leading a research team to explore how
emotions, habits and stress can cause people difficulties in controlling their weight.
Study shows gene variant raises
obesity risk
An international team of researchers has found a connection between a variation in a gene
active in the central nervous system (CNS) and an increased risk for obesity. The study,
published in the journal Public Library of Science (PLoS) Genetics, adds weight to past
findings that our genes play a major role in what we want to eat and how much of it, and
in our susceptibility to obesity. The research is part of the EU-funded EUROSPAN
('European special populations research network: quantifying and harnessing genetic
variation for gene discovery') project, which is supported under the Sixth Framework
Programme (FP6) to the tune of EUR 2.4 million.For this latest study, 34 European and US
research institutions discovered that people who have inherited the gene variant neurexin
3 (NRXN3) have a 10% to 15% increased chance of being obese versus people who do not have
the variant. 'Obesity is a major health concern worldwide. In the past two years,
genome-wide association studies of DNA (desoxyribonucleic acid) markers known as SNPs
(single nucleotide polymorphisms) have identified two novel genetic factors that may help
scientists better understand why some people may be more susceptible to obesity,' the
authors write. 'We uncovered a new gene influencing waist circumference, the NRXN3, which
has been previously implicated in studies of addiction and reward behaviour.' Data from
eight studies were used to carry out the research. These studies, which focused on genes
and body weight, included over 31 000 people of European origin, aged 45 to 76. According
to the researchers, the subjects represented a broad range of health behaviours and
dietary habits.
Patterns of genetic changes found
in mental retardation
Dutch and British researchers have shed more light on the connection between genes and
mental retardation or intellectual disability. Thanks to their work, they shrank the list
of genes whose changes trigger this disorder from thousands to several dozen. The findings
are published in the open-access journal Public Library of Science (PLoS) Genetics. The
results of the study are part of the AnEUploidy ('Understanding the importance of gene
dosage imbalance in human health using genetics, functional genomics and systems biology')
project, which is funded under the EU's 'Life sciences, genomics and biotechnology for
health' Thematic area of the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6). Financing for AnEUploidy,
which will end in November 2010, stands at EUR 12 million. The project aims to fuel the
understanding of the molecular basis and pathogenetic mechanisms of aneuploidies (cells
that have extra copies or missing copies of specific chromosomes). The researchers from
the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre in the Netherlands and the UK Medical
Research Council at the University of Oxford noted that between 1% and 3% of the
population is affected by mental retardation (also known as developmental or intellectual
disability, this condition is characterised by subnormal intellectual functioning and
impaired adaptive behaviour during one's developmental years). Various, yet individually
rare DNA (desoxyribonucleic acid) deletions and duplications, lead to this disease.
'Mental retardation is defined as an overall intelligence quotient lower than 70, and is
associated with functional deficits in adaptive behaviour, such as daily living skills,
social skills and communication,' the authors write. 'This disorder results from
extraordinarily heterogeneous environmental and genetic causes. Genetic changes underlying
mental retardation are still poorly resolved, especially for the autosomes that provide
the largest contribution to disease aetiology.' According to the team, microscopically
visible chromosomal changes detected by routine chromosome analysis are responsible for
mental retardation in 5% to 10% of patients. Such changes 'represent gains or losses of
more than 5 [to]10 Mb of DNA and affect many genes, thereby almost inevitably leading to
developmental abnormalities during embryogenesis [formation and development of the
embryo]', the research shows.
When food gets inspected and even
recalled, consumers may not be getting a clear picture of the process
Consumers usually find out pretty quickly if the meat they're planning to throw on the
grill has been recalled. What consumers may not be finding out about recalls and the
inspection process, however, could make them doubt the effectiveness of what is actually a
pretty good system to keep food safe, according to Kansas State University researchers.
Charles Dodd, K-State doctoral student in food science, Wamego, and Doug Powell, K-State
associate professor of food safety, published a paper in the journal Foodborne Pathogens
and Disease about how one government agency communicates risk about deadly bacteria like
E. coli O157 in ground beef. Publications, Web pages and recalls are all used in this risk
communication. Dodd said that although the Food Safety and Inspection Service generally
does a good job of keeping meat safe, it's easy for consumers to think the opposite,
particularly when a recall tells them that the food in the fridge or pantry may be
dangerous. In their study, Dodd and Powell looked at what information consumers can take
away from the Food Safety and Inspection Service's Web site, and suggest government
agencies can more clearly communicate their role in keeping the food supply safe. "We
as Americans tend to expect more from regulatory agencies than we should, so we set
ourselves up for disappointment," Dodd said. "Occasionally, regulatory agencies
may create unrealistic expectations by the way they communicate with the public. The
message of our paper is to say that the Food Safety and Inspection Service is doing a good
job, considering the amount of resources it has. We are trying to open up dialogue about
how its role could be communicated more effectively."
Life Lessons - Where Psychology
Stands on Living Well
Unfortunately for us, there is no formula for fulfillment or guide to life satisfaction;
however, humans have turned to philosophy, religion and science time and again for answers
to our existential questions. We may have come a long way since Confucius and Plato, and
science continues to piece together some of the answers, but what have we learned so far?
Psychologists Nansook Park and Christopher Peterson from the University of Michigan turned
to their own field to ask, "What is a good life and how can we achieve and sustain
it?" In their article recently published in Perspectives in Psychological Science, a
journal of the Association for Psychological Science, the authors explored the many ways
psychology has contributed to, and continues to research, the science of living well. So
far we have learned from psychology that a good life includes experiencing more positive
than negative feelings, feeling like your life has been lived well, continually using your
talents and strengths, having close interpersonal relationships, being engaged at work and
other activities, being a part of a social community, perceiving that life has a meaning,
and feeling healthy and safe. And while these conclusions may seem like common sense, we
as humans fall short on knowing just how to obtain and maintain these qualities.
Psychology still has a ways to go until the perfect formula for a good life is found. As
Park and Peterson put it, "At present, psychology knows more about people's problems
and how to solve them than it does about what it means to live well and how to encourage
and maintain such a life." They suggest researchers across all disciplines of
psychology come together and collaborate on their findings, perhaps pulling together a
more complete picture of the human experience.
Stop and smell the flowers -- the
scent really can soothe stress
Feeling stressed? Then try savoring the scent of lemon, mango, lavender, or other fragrant
plants. Scientists in Japan are reporting the first scientific evidence that inhaling
certain fragrances alter gene activity and blood chemistry in ways that can reduce stress
levels. Their study appears in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a
bi-weekly publication. In the new study, Akio Nakamura and colleagues note that people
have inhaled the scent of certain plants since ancient times to help reduce stress, fight
inflammation and depression, and induce sleep. Aromatherapy, the use of fragrant plant
oils to improve mood and health, has become a popular form of alternative medicine today.
And linalool is one of the most widely used substances to soothe away emotional stress.
Until now, however, linalool's exact effects on the body have been a deep mystery. The
scientists exposed lab rats to stressful conditions while inhaling and not inhaling
linalool. Linalool returned stress-elevated levels of neutrophils and lymphocytes —
key parts of the immune system — to near-normal levels. Inhaling linalool also
reduced the activity of more than 100 genes that go into overdrive in stressful
situations. The findings could form the basis of new blood tests for identifying
fragrances that can soothe stress, the researchers say.
An inner 'fingerprint' for
personalizing medical care
Fingerprints move over. Scientists are reporting evidence that people have another
defining trait that may distinguish each of the 6.7 billion humans on Earth from one
another almost as surely as the arches, loops, and whorls on their fingertips. In a study
scheduled for the Aug. 7 issue of ACS' monthly publication the Journal of Proteome
Research, they report evidence from studies in humans for the existence of unique patterns
in metabolism. Metabolism is a whole caboodle of chemical processes. The body uses to turn
food into energy, grow, repair damage from diseases and injuries, use medicines, and carry
out other functions necessary to continue living. In the new study, Ivano Bertini and
colleagues cite growing evidence that each individual has a unique metabolic profile. It's
a biochemical counterpart to fingerprints that can be detected by analyzing the chemical
whorls and grooves that result from metabolism and can be detected in the urine.
Vaccine Blocks Malaria Transmission
in Lab Experiments
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute have for the first time
produced a malarial protein (Pfs48/45) in the proper conformation and quantity to generate
a significant immune response in mice and non-human primates for use in a potential
transmission-blocking vaccine. Antibodies induced by Pfs48/45 protein vaccine effectively
blocked the sexual development of the malaria-causing parasite, Plasmodium, as it grows
within the mosquito. Sexual development is a critical step in the parasite’s life
cycle and necessary for continued transmission of malaria from mosquitoes to humans. The
study is published in the July 22 edition of the journal PLoS ONE. “Development of a
successful transmission-blocking vaccine is an essential step in efforts to control the
global spread of malaria. In our study, we demonstrate the relative ease of expression and
induction of potent transmission-blocking antibodies in mice and non-human primates. This
approach provides a compelling rationale and basis for testing a transmission-blocking
vaccine in humans,” said Nirbhay Kumar, PhD, senior author of the study and professor
in Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s W. Harry Feinstone Department of
Molecular Microbiology and Immunology.
New Treatment Method Reduces Pain
and Increases Mobility in Patients with Vertebral Compression Fractures
Vesselplasty, a new minimally invasive procedure, increases mobility and reduces pain and
the need for pain killers in patients with vertebral compression fractures (VCFs),
according to a study performed at the Hospital Universitario Doctor Peset, Valencia,
Spain. Vesselplasty is a new alternative to vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty—two
conventional VCF treatment methods. Vesselplasty solves the problem of leakage of cement
out of the vertebral body which can happen during both vertebroplasty and
kyphoplasty,” said Lucia Flors, MD, lead author of the study.The study included 29
patients with VCFs who underwent vesselplasty. “After the procedure, all patients had
improvements in their pain scores; 93% of patients had improvements in mobility; and 62%
of patients had a decreased need for pain killers,” said Dr. Flors. There was no
evidence of clinical complications following the procedure. “Vertebral compression
fractures often cause severe, disabling pain and progressive deformities of the spine in
osteoporotic patients,” she said. “Vesselplasty is a safe alternative in the
treatment of VCFs. It is an image-guided procedure that only requires conscious sedations
and local anesthesia. Most patients refer improvement in their level of pain immediately
following the procedure,” said Dr. Flors.
Low-Dose CT Method, Delivering 50%
Less Radiation, Correctly Identifies Patients with Appendicitis
Patients with possible appendicitis are typically evaluated using a standard-dose contrast
enhanced CT, but a low-dose unenhanced CT that delivers approximately 50% less radiation
is just as effective, according to a study performed at the Seoul National University
College of Medicine in Seoul, Korea. The standard-dose enhanced CT scan delivers
approximately 8.0 mSv of radiation; the low-dose unenhanced CT scan delivers approximately
4.2 mSv of radiation. A total of 78 patients with appendicitis were all evaluated using
both the standard-dose and low-dose methods. CT images were then reviewed by two separate
radiologists. Radiologist number one was able to correctly identify appendicitis in 77/78
patients using the low-dose unenhanced method and in 78/78 using the standard-dose
enhanced method. Radiologist number two was able to correctly identify appendicitis in all
78 patients using both methods. “Considering the high incidence of appendicitis in
the general population and the rapidly increasing use of CT, small individual risks
applied to such an increasingly large population may create a public health issue in the
future,” said Kyoung Ho Lee, MD, lead author of the study. “Low-dose unenhanced
CT can potentially be used as the first line imaging test in patients suspected of having
appendicitis,” he said.
New silver nanoparticle skin gel
for healing burns
Scientists in India are reporting successful laboratory tests of a new and potentially
safer alternative to silver-based gels applied to the skin of burn patients to treat
infections. With names like silver sulfadiazine and silver nitrate, these germ-fighters
save lives and speed healing. The researchers describe gel composed of silver
nanoparticles — each 1/50,000th the width of a human hair — that appears more
effective than these traditional gels. Their study is scheduled for the Aug. 3 issue of
ACS' Molecular Pharmaceutics, a bi-monthly journal. Kishore Paknikar and colleagues note
that antimicrobial silver compounds have been used for decades on burn patients, whose
damaged skin is highly vulnerable to bacterial infections. However, topical silver agents
now in use can loose effectiveness in the body, cause skin discoloration, and damage
cells. Drug-resistant bacteria can make these treatments less effective. The scientists
demonstrated that their gel killed a broad range of harmful bacteria, including
Pseudomonas aeruginosa, one of the most common causes of burn infections, as well as
several drug-resistant microbes. The gel, which contains 30 times less silver than silver
sulfadiazine, did not have any apparent toxic effects when applied to the healthy skin of
test animals. "These results clearly indicate that silver nanoparticles could provide
a safer alternative to conventional antimicrobial agents in the form of a topical
antimicrobial formulation," the article states.
Scientists link immune system's
natural killer cells to infant liver disease
Scientists have linked an overactive response by one of the immune system's key weapons
against infection – natural killer, or NK, cells – to the onset of biliary
atresia in infants, a disease where blocked bile ducts can cause severe liver damage and
death. Researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center also report that
blocking a gene that helps NK cells attack bile duct tissues lessens damage and may be a
way to treat the most common cause of chronically progressive liver disease in children.
The study, to be published in the Aug. 3 Journal of Clinical Investigation, is posted
online on the journal's website. "Our findings underscore the developing immune
system's role in causing injury to bile ducts soon after birth, and they have implications
for developing new therapies to block the disease by targeting certain cells or
pro-inflammatory circuits," said Jorge A. Bezerra, M.D., the study's senior
investigator and research director of the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and
Nutrition at Cincinnati Children's. "The next steps for translating these findings
into clinical application would include pre-clinical trials of biologics to halt disease
progression by blocking the Nkg2d receptor and depleting NK cells at the time biliary
atresia is diagnosed," he added. Very little is known about the cause of biliary
atresia, although it has been traced to the immune system responding to an infection in
the liver and bile ducts. Surface tissues inside the bile ducts are damaged, which in turn
allows inflammatory cells to block the duct and the ongoing accumulation of fibrotic
tissue. Biliary atresia affects about one in every 15,000 babies. The current frontline
treatment is surgery to remove and replace obstructed bile ducts with sections of the
child's intestine. Without surgery, bile cannot enter the intestines to aid digestion, and
instead backs up into and damages the liver. Corrective surgery is successful 65 to 85
percent of the time and is not considered a cure, although it can allow babies to have
several years of fairly good health. In more severe cases, children may require a liver
transplant.
Large abdominal wall lipoma causes
bowel obstruction
Proteus syndrome is a complex disorder associated with varied, disproportionate,
asymmetric overgrowth of many body parts and unregulated adipose tissue. The overgrowth
seen in Proteus syndrome is progressive and difficult to manage. Patients with Proteus
syndrome require repeated treatment for the progressive overgrowth of tissue over a long
period. Aggressive treatment may cause severe functional and cosmetic consequences, so
surgical intervention is often delayed until it is absolutely necessary. This report
written by Yoshifumi Nakayama from Japan presents a surgical case of a large lipoma in the
abdominal wall of a patient with Proteus syndrome. Their article is to be published on
July, 14 2009 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology. On physical examination, a large
mass with unclear margins was found in the left lower quadrant of her abdominal wall. A
plain abdominal X-ray examination indicated scoliosis and deformity of the pelvic bone.
Colon gas in the left colon shifted to the right upper side. Computed tomography (CT) of
the abdomen demonstrated a large mass in the subcutaneous adipose tissue at the left lower
abdominal wall. In the current case, the patient was diagnosed with Proteus syndrome based
on certain diagnostic criteria and underwent an excision. The postoperative course was
uneventful, the encasement of the left colon was improved, and she left the hospital on
the 15th postoperative day. At present, she continues to receive medical treatment on an
outpatient basis. Postoperatively, bowel movement occurred twice a day.
Is somatic hypersensitivity a
predictor of irritable bowel syndrome?
Although visceral hypersensitivity is considered a hallmark feature of IBS, conflicting
evidence exists regarding somatic hypersensitivity in this patient population. Several
investigators have found no evidence for heightened somatic pain sensitivity in IBS
patients. Also, others have reported similar cold presser pain tolerance in IBS patients
and controls. These conflicting findings may result from differing somatic pain testing
procedures. Previous studies have explored the correlates of visceral hypersensitivity
among patients with IBS. To further evaluate somatic hyperalgesia among patients with IBS,
the authors evaluated thermal pain sensitivity among patients with diarrhea-predominant
IBS (D-IBS) vs constipation-predominant IBS (C-IBS) compared with healthy subjects. A
research led by G Nicholas Verne from United States addressed this issue. The article is
to be published on July 14, 2009 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology. A total of 42
cases with D-IBS and 24 with C-IBS, and 52 control subjects were collected in the study.
Their thermal pain hypersensitivity were examined Thermal stimuli were delivered using a
Medoc Thermal Sensory Analyzer with a 3 cm × 3 cm surface area. Heat pain threshold
(HPTh) and heat pain tolerance (HPTo) were assessed on the left ventral forearm and left
calf using an ascending method of limits. The Functional Bowel Disease Severity Index
(FBDSI) was also obtained for all subjects. The research revealed controls were less
sensitive than C-IBS and D-IBS with no differences between C-IBS and D-IBS for HPTh and
HPTo. Thermal hyperalgesia was present in both groups of IBS patients relative to
controls, with IBS patients reporting significantly lower pain threshold and pain
tolerance at both test sites. A unique finding of this study is that the authors detected
a strong relationship between heat pain measures and Functional Bowel Disease Severity
Index (FBDSI) scores. IBS patients with high FBDSI scores had the highest thermal pain
sensitivity compared to those IBS patients with low to moderate FBDSI scores.
Pre-chewed food could transmit HIV
Researchers have uncovered the first cases in which HIV almost certainly was transmitted
from mothers or other caregivers to children through pre-chewed food. The source of HIV in
the pre-chewed food was most likely the infected blood in the saliva of the people who
pre-chewed the food before giving it to the children. The researchers said their findings
suggest that HIV-infected mothers or other caregivers should be warned against giving
infants pre-chewed food and directed toward safer feeding options. The cases indicate that
physicians and clinics should routinely include questions about pre-chewing food in their
health screening of infant caregivers who have HIV or are suspected of the infection.
Also, possible cases of HIV transmission through pre-chewed food should be reported to
public health agencies to help increase understanding of the prevalence of such
transmission. Led by Aditya Gaur, M.D., of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital,
with colleagues from St. Jude (Marion Donohoe, CPNP), the University of Miami (Charles
Mitchell, M.D., and Delia Rivera, M.D.) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(Kenneth Dominguez, M.D., Marcia Kalish, Ph.D., and John Brooks, M.D.), the researchers
published their findings in the August 2009 issue of the journal Pediatrics. Gaur is an
assistant member of the St. Jude Infectious Diseases department. Giving infants pre-chewed
food has been reported to transmit infections such as streptococcus and the hepatitis B
virus, Gaur said. However, until these cases there was no evidence that the blood-borne
HIV could be similarly transmitted. The source of blood in the saliva of the person
pre-chewing the food for the child may likely have been visible or microscopic bleeding
from the gums or some other part of the mouth, he added. In their paper, the researchers
described three cases in which pre-chewed food was likely the source of HIV transmission
to infants. The case that led to this published report was a 9-month-old infant who was
referred to St. Jude because she was HIV positive after earlier tests had been negative.
“Her HIV-positive mother had not breastfed her, and further investigation had ruled
out transmission by blood transfusion, injury or sexual abuse,” Gaur said. Also,
genetic testing, led by Kalish at the CDC, showed that the daughter had been infected with
the same HIV strain as the mother. “Fortunately, the St. Jude nurse practitioner,
Marion Donohoe, was very thorough in her questioning about feeding practices, and she
asked about pre-mastication. It turned out this mother had fed her daughter pre-chewed
food,” Gaur said.
Longer life for milk drinkers say
Reading researchers
Research undertaken by the Universities of Reading, Cardiff and Bristol has found that
drinking milk ¹ can lessen the chances of dying from illnesses such as coronary heart
disease (CHD) and stroke by up to 15-20 %.In recent times milk has often been portrayed by
the media as an unhealthy food. The study, led by Professor Peter Elwood (Cardiff
University) together with Professor Ian Givens from the University of Reading’s Food
Chain and Health Research Theme, aimed to establish whether the health benefits of
drinking milk outweigh any dangers that lie in its consumption.Importantly, this is the
first time that disease risk associated with drinking milk has been looked at in relation
to the number of deaths which the diseases are responsible for.
Kuroshio Sea - 2nd largest aquarium
tank in the world
A giant mysterious blob is moving through
Alaskan waters. The blob is made up of a gooey substance, and it has hair! Scientists
don't know what the blob is made up of, but the blob has already been found to have
captured seabirds and jellyfish in its goo. Scientists have confirmed that the blob is
neither algae nor oil.
Secret Virus Testing on the Public
Aerosol Attack
Commercial Jet Pilots Film Close
Call With Military Chemtrail Jets
What's "Organic" About
Organic? trailer
Sunscreen's Gonna Getcha
People who are fair-skinned and most
vulnerable to skin cancer slather on high SPF sunscreen and hang out in the sun in summer
or on holidays thinking they are protected, but they are not!
Health Alert for Sunscreens
Living Fuel, Inc. Founder and CEO, K.C.
Craichy, and his wife Monica, share an urgent health alert that affects every member of
your family. Find out about the dangers of sunscreens and what you can do to better
protect your family from the powerful rays of the sun.
Mandatory Swine Flu Shots
World Health Organization to require
everyone to get Swine Flu Shots
The Yes Men - Exxon Hoax: Vivoleum
TheYesMen.org's Mike Bobanno and Andy
Bichlbaum impersonate the Exxon Mobil Corp. at this years GoExpo with a mock new energy
source, Vivoleum.
The Yes Men - Bhopal results
The Yes Men Fix The World 2009 -
trailer
New research finds possible genetic
link to cause of pregnancy loss and disorders
Scientists at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory (LBNL) have published new findings about a cause of a condition at the root of
genetic disorders such as Down Syndrome, pregnancy loss and infertility.Called aneuploidy,
the condition is an abnormal number of chromosomes, and the research team found that if a
mother's egg cell has a mutation in just one copy of a gene, called Bub1, then she is less
likely to have offspring that survive to birth. The findings appear in the online early
edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences for the week of July 13.
Sundar Venkatachalam, an assistant professor of biochemistry and cellular and molecular
biology at UT Knoxville, originally was studying the gene for a possible connection to
colon cancer, when he found his lab mice showed strange fertility characteristics.
"Where you would normally expect a female to have eight to 10 pups, there were only
one or two pups that survived to term in the litters of females that had one copy of
Bub1," said Venkatachalam. "So this was unusual when we were looking for cancer
effects, especially in this group of females." Ordinarily, both copies of a gene in a
chromosome must carry the same mutation in order for an organism to be adversely effected,
but the drastic effects of a single mutation were unexpected. Venkatachalam, working with
pathologist Robert Donnell at the UT College of Veterinary Medicine and LBNL researcher
Francesco Marchetti, also found that the harmful effects of this mutation increased with a
mother's age. As the female mice got older, there was eventually a complete loss of their
ability to support a full-term pregnancy that lined up with an increase in aneuploidy. The
same is true in humans: the chance of having an aneuploid pregnancy increases with the age
of the mother. For the past several years, scientists have used mice to study the genetic
causes of aneuploidy. They've zeroed in on mutations in a handful of genes as the
culprits, including Bub1.
Rates of secondhand smoke exposure
high among college students
Secondhand smoke (SHS) is not only a nuisance, but a potential health concern for many
college students, and administrators should be taking steps to reduce students' exposure,
according to a new study by researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.It is
the first study to provide evidence of the high rates of SHS exposure, and correlates of
exposure, among college students in the United States. Funded by the National Institute on
Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the study can be found online today and will appear in the
July 23 issue of Nicotine & Tobacco Research, a publication of the Society for
Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. "It is well-known that there are some serious
health issues surrounding secondhand smoke," said Mark Wolfson, Ph.D., lead author on
the study, professor and section head for the Section on Society and Health in the
Department of Social Sciences and Health Policy. "While some college campuses are
smoke free, others have virtually no restrictions on smoking, not even in the residence
halls. There is a growing national movement to move away from that, but it still very much
varies by campus. In this first study to evaluate SHS exposure among college students, we
were really kind of floored to see how many, and how frequently, students are exposed to
it." For the study, researchers surveyed 4,223 undergraduate college students from 10
North Carolina universities – eight public and two private. They were asked questions
about their drinking and smoking habits, demographics (age, gender, race, parents'
education level), lifestyle (residence on- or off-campus, living in a substance-free
dormitory, participation in a fraternity or sorority) and SHS exposure. Of the
participants, 83 percent reported having been exposed to SHS at least once in the seven
days preceding the survey. Most of those exposures (65 percent) happened at a restaurant
or bar, followed by exposure at home or in the same room as a smoker (55 percent) and in a
car (38 percent). Daily and occasional smokers were more likely than nonsmokers to report
exposure, perhaps not surprising given that they are more likely than other students to
have friends who smoke and to frequent or live in locations where smoking occurs,
according to the study. Similarly, students who binge drink were more likely than other
students to report exposure to SHS, likely reflective of the co-occurrence of smoking and
drinking among college students. Other factors that appeared to be associated with
increased exposure to SHS included living in residence locations where smoking is allowed
or locations associated with smoking, such as Greek houses and off-campus housing, being
female, of white race, having parents with higher education levels and attending a public
versus private school. Nearly all nonsmokers (93.9 percent) and the majority of smokers
(57.8 percent) reported that SHS was somewhat or very annoying.
Are we what our mothers ate?
The time between ovulation and conception may be a critical one for maternal and fetal
health, according to Kelle Moley, M.D., Washington University School of Medicine. In mouse
studies, she found that subtle differences in maternal metabolism had long-lasting
effects. Indeed, when Dr. Moley transferred embryos from a diabetic mouse into a
non-diabetic mouse shortly after egg implantation, she noted neural tube defects, heart
defects, limb deformities and growth defects in offspring. These findings indicate that we
may need to re-direct our ideas about maternal health to the time prior to pregnancy, she
says.
1 gene that contributes to breast
cancer's aggressive behavior identified
Aggressive forms of cancer are often driven by the abnormal over-expression of
cancer-promoting genes, also known as oncogenes. Studies at the Genome Institute of
Singapore (GIS), a research institute under the Agency for Science, Technology and
Research (A*STAR) of Singapore, have identified a gene, known as RCP (or RAB11FIP1), that
is frequently amplified and over-expressed in breast cancer and functionally contributes
to aggressive breast cancer behaviour.The research findings are published in the July 20th
online issue of Journal of Clinical Investigation (JCI). The GIS team, led by Lance
Miller, Ph.D., and Bing Lim, Ph.D., initially discovered that RCP expression was
positively correlated with cancer recurrence in a population of breast cancer patients.
This suggested that RCP may be required by some tumours for growth and metastatic spread
to other organs. When the researchers over-expressed RCP in non-cancerous breast cells,
they found that RCP promotes migration, or cellular movement, which is a precursor to the
ability of tumours to invade neighbouring tissues.
EU and Canada settle WTO case on
Genetically Modified Organisms
The European Union and Canada have today
signed in Geneva a final settlement of the WTO dispute that Canada brought against the EU
in May 2003 regarding the application of its legislation on biotech products. The mutually
agreed solution provides for the establishment of a regular dialogue on issues of mutual
interest on agriculture biotechnology. The EU and Canada will notify this settlement to
the WTO Dispute Settlement Body as a mutually agreed solution. EU Trade Commissioner
Ashton said: "The mutually agreed solution with Canada is a clear sign that this type
of dialogue works. I hope we can follow the same constructive approach with Argentina and
the United States." EC regulatory procedures on genetically modified organisms are
working normally, as evidenced by 21 authorisations since the date of establishment of the
WTO panel. The European Commission has held regular discussions on biotech-related issues
with the three complainants in this case – Canada, Argentina and the United States -
since the adoption of the WTO panel report in 2006. The settlement reached with Canada
provides for bi-annual meetings between competent services of the European Commission and
Canadian authorities on agricultural biotechnology market access issues of mutual
interest, including:
* GM product approvals in the territory of
Canada or the EU as well as, where appropriate, forthcoming applications of commercial
interest to either side.
*The commercial and economic outlook for future approvals of genetically modified
products.
*Any trade impact related to asynchronous approvals of genetically modified products or
the accidental release of unauthorised products, and any appropriate measures in this
respect.
*Any biotech-related measures that may affect trade between Canada and the EU, including
measures of EU Member States.
*Any new legislation in the field of agriculture biotechnology.
*Best practices in the implementation of legislation on biotechnology
This dialogue is aimed at an exchange of
information that would contribute to avoiding unnecessary obstacles to trade. The EU is
not expected to modify its current regulatory regime on biotech products, which was never
subject to WTO challenge in itself. Following a complaint by the US, Canada and Argentina
against the EU on the application of its legislation on biotech products, the WTO Dispute
Settlement Body (DSB) adopted on 21 November 2006 three panel reports which found a
violation of the WTO Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement on three grounds:
* The application of a general de facto
moratorium on approval of GM products from June 1999 to August 2003
*The existence of undue delays with respect to 23 product-specific applications (out of
the 27 cases considered by the Panel).
*National safeguard measures introduced by 6 Member States before the establishment of the
panel, which were found not to be based on an appropriate risk assessment.
Subsequently, the EU and the three
complainants (US, Argentina and Canada) agreed to engage in technical discussions on
biotech-related issues, which would not be limited to issues of implementation of the WTO
panel recommendations. The EU and the complainants also reached an agreement for a
12-month Reasonable Period of Time for implementation (i.e. until 21 November 2007). The
complainants agreed to further extend the RPT until 11 January 2008, where they would take
stock of progress and decide the way forward.
The complainants have taken different
positions in view of the expiration of that extended RPT:
(a) Argentina and Canada have agreed to
several extensions of the RPT, most recently until 31 December 2009 and 31 July 2009 July,
respectively. Technical discussions with Argentina and Canada have continued to date.
(b) The US made a general retaliation
request on 17 January 2008. On 6 February 2008, the EU objected to the US retaliation
request. The matter was referred to arbitration under Article 22.6 of the Dispute
Settlement Understanding at the special meeting of the DSB held on 8 February 2008. On 15
February 2008, and according to the sequencing agreement concluded between the US and the
EU, both parties requested the suspension of Article 22.6 procedures. The chairman of the
arbitration panel suspended those procedures on 18 February 2008. Those procedures can
only be resumed following the examination of compliance of the panel report by the EU
through an arbitration procedure under Article 21.5 of the Dispute Settlement
Understanding (DSU). The US and the EU continued technical discussions in 2008. The last
round of discussions took place in October 2008.
Risk factors for cardiovascular
disease increasing in younger Canadians
The prevalence of heart disease and certain key risk factors – hypertension,
diabetes, and obesity – are increasing in all age groups and most income groups in
Canada found a new study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). This
study, which looked at national data from 1994 to 2005, encompassed people aged 12 years
and older sampling from Canadians of all socioeconomic and ethnic groups. Risk factors
such as hypertension, diabetes, and obesity increased most rapidly among younger people
between 12 to 50 years of age. The increasing prevalence of heart disease in Canada is
likely related to both earlier detection and better survival among those with
cardiovascular disease. More Canadians are surviving their first heart attack. The
prevalence of heart disease is rising fastest among Canadians of lower socioeconomic
status, who also tend to have the highest cardiovascular risk profiles. This increase in
risk factors in younger Canadians has significant health implications because it
predisposes people to earlier onset heart disease. It can place greater burden on health
care resources as younger people may need longer, and perhaps more intense, treatment. The
study found an estimated 1.29 million Canadians reported having heart disease in 2005, a
19.3% increase in men and 2.1% increase in women compared with 1994. Although people who
were of lower socioeconomic status had the highest risk factor burden, hypertension
prevalence nearly doubled and obesity increased over time in all socioeconomic groups.
Diabetes is also increasing in almost all income groups, although the gap between the
richest and the poorest is widening over time.
Cancelling an AOL account
Take vitamin D3 Not the flu Shot!
Swine Flu Vaccine Will Be Mandatory
in USA
Mandatory Flu Shots Cause Outrage
New Jersey's Public Health Council stopped
complaining last year about parents who don't vaccinate their children and took action.
Now, New Jersey is the first state in the nation to require a flu shot for all children
before they enroll in preschools and daycare centers.
The Health Ranger on Alex Jones
Reveal the enemy
Bacterial diseases are usually detected by first enriching samples, then separating,
identifying, and counting the bacteria. This type of procedure usually takes at least two
days after arrival of the sample in the laboratory. Tests that work faster, in the field,
and without complex sample preparation, whilst being precise and error-free, are thus high
on the wish list. A Spanish research team headed by Jordi Riu and F. Xavier Rius at the
University Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona has now developed a new technique to make this
wish come true. With a novel biosensor, they have been able to detect extremely low
concentrations of the typhus-inducing Salmonella typhi. As reported in the journal
Angewandte Chemie, their new method is based on electrochemical measurements by means of
carbon nanotubes equipped with aptamers as bacteria-specific binding sites. If bacteria
bind to the aptamers, the researchers detect a change in electrical voltage. Aptamers are
synthetic, short DNA or RNA strands that can be designed and made to bind a specific
target molecule. An aptamer that specifically binds to salmonella has recently been
developed. The Spanish researchers chose to use this aptamer for their biosensor. By means
of additional functional groups, they securely anchored the aptamers to carbon nanotubes,
which were deposited onto an electrode in an ultrathin layer. In the absence of
salmonella, the aptamers fit closely against the walls of the carbon nanotubes. If the
biosensor is put into a salmonella-containing sample, the microbes stick to the aptamers
like flies to flypaper. This influences the interaction between the aptamers and the
nanotubes, which makes a change in the electrode voltage noticeable within seconds.
Children's IQ can be affected by
mother's exposure to urban air pollutants
Prenatal exposure to environmental pollutants known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
(PAHs) can adversely affect a child's intelligence quotient or IQ, according to new
research by the the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health (CCCEH) at the
Mailman School of Public Health. PAHs are chemicals released into the air from the burning
of coal, diesel, oil and gas, or other organic substances such as tobacco. In urban areas
motor vehicles are a major source of PAHs. The study findings are published in the August
2009 issue of Pediatrics. The study, funded by the National Institute of Environmental
Health Sciences (NIEHS), a component of the National Institutes of Health, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency and several private foundations, found that children
exposed to high levels of PAHs in New York City had full scale and verbal IQ scores that
were 4.31 and 4.67 points lower, respectively than those of less exposed children. High
PAH levels were defined as above the median of 2.26 nanograms per cubic meter (ng/m3).
"These findings are of concern because these decreases in IQ could be educationally
meaningful in terms of school performance," says Frederica Perera, DrPH, professor of
Environmental Health Sciences and director of the CCCEH at Columbia University Mailman
School of Public Health and study lead author. "The good news is that we have seen a
decline in air pollution exposure in our cohort since 1998, testifying to the importance
of policies to reduce traffic congestion and other sources of fossil fuel combustion
byproducts." The study included children who were born to non-smoking Black and
Dominican American women age 18 to 35 who resided in Washington Heights, Harlem or the
South Bronx in New York. The children were followed from in utero to 5 years of age. The
mothers wore personal air monitors during pregnancy to measure exposure to PAHs and they
responded to questionnaires.
Our brain looks at eyes first to
identify a face
A study by the University of Barcelona (UB) has analysed which facial features our brain
examines to identify faces. Our brain adapts in order to obtain the maximum amount of
information possible from each face and according to the study the key data for
identification come from, in the first place, the eyes and then the shape of the mouth and
nose. The objective of this study, undertaken by researcher Matthias S. Keil from the
Basic Psychology Department of the UB and published in the prestigious US journal PLoS
Computational Biology, was to ascertain which specific features the brain focuses on to
identify a face. It has been known for years that the brain primarily uses low spatial
frequencies to recognise faces. "Spatial frequencies" are, in a manner of
speaking, the elements that make up any given image.As Keil confirmed to SINC, "low
frequencies pertain to low resolution, that is, small changes of intensity in an image. In
contrast, high frequencies represent the details in an image. If we move away from an
image, we perceive increasingly less details, that is, the high spatial frequency
components, while low frequencies remain visible and are the last to disappear." As a
result of the psychophysical research carried out prior to the publication of this study,
it was known that the human brain was not interested in very high frequencies when
identifying faces, despite such frequencies playing a significant role in, for example,
determining a person's age. "In order to identify a face in an image, the brain
always processes information with the same low resolution, of about 30 by 30 pixels from
ear to ear, ignoring distance and the original resolution of the image," Keil says.
"Until now, nobody had been able to explain this peculiar phenomenon and that was my
starting point". What Matthias S. Keil did was to analyse a large number of faces,
namely those belonging to 868 women and 868 men. "The idea was to find common
statistical regularities in the images." Keil used a model of the brain's visual
system, that is, "I looked at the images to certain extent like the brain does, but
with one difference: I had no preferred resolution, but considered all spatial frequencies
as equal. As a result of this analysis, I obtained a resolution that is optimum in terms
of encoding, as well as the signal-to-noise ratio, and was also the same resolution
observed in the psychophysical experiments". This result therefore suggests that
faces are themselves responsible for our resolution preference. This led Keil to one of
the brain's properties: "The brain has adapted optimally to draw the most useful
information from faces in order to identify them. My model also predicts this resolution
if we take into account the eyes alone – ignoring the nose and the mouth – but
also by considering the mouth or nose separately, albeit less reliable."
Car horns warn against natural
disasters
In Batman's hometown of Gotham City, a gigantic searchlight projects the Bat signal into
the sky in case of disaster to alarm the superhero and the population. In Germany, an
extensive network of sirens was used in the past to warn the population against disasters:
in case of forest fires, industrial accidents or a looming inundation of a part of town,
civil protection agencies could trigger the loud and clear siren alarm, while detailed
information was provided by radio and television. However, after the end of the Cold War,
most sirens were dismantled in the mid-nineties to be replaced by the satellite-based
warning system SatWaS, which informs the population only via radio and television. But if
TV and radio are switched off, the warning goes unheard. In recent years, different
individual solutions for warning systems have been developed. Cell-broadcast systems can
send mass SMS messages to mobile phones. Smoke detectors, radio-controlled clocks and
weather stations equipped with radio receivers can also trigger alarm. Despite the high
distribution rate of some of these devices, it cannot be ensured that a warning reaches
the entire population. Only individual persons or households would be warned, and only if
the devices are on standby 24/7/365. Today, fire brigades and disaster protection agencies
would rather want the sirens back. However, the resulting costs would amount to several
100 million Euros for German federal and state governments, which share the responsibility
for civil protection. In January, researchers of the INT applied for a patent of a
technology which allows the horns of parked cars to be activated in case of disaster. The
technology is based on the eCall emergency system, which new cars are going to be equipped
with as from September 2010. The eCall system was developed at the initiative of the EU
Commission to help reduce the number of road traffic fatalities. It consists of a GPS
sensor and a mobile phone component, which is activated only in case of an accident (i.e.
when the airbags are triggered) and which can transmit data (e.g. accident time,
coordinates and driving direction of the vehicle) to an emergency call center.
Pacific tsunami threat greater than
expected
The potential for a huge Pacific Ocean tsunami on the West Coast of America may be greater
than previously thought, according to a new study of geological evidence along the Gulf of
Alaska coast. The new research suggests that future tsunamis could reach a scale far
beyond that suffered in the tsunami generated by the great 1964 Alaskan earthquake.
Official figures put the number of deaths caused by the earthquake at around 130: 114 in
Alaska and 16 in Oregon and California. The tsunami killed 35 people directly and caused
extensive damage in Alaska, British Columbia, and the US Pacific region*. The 1964 Alaskan
earthquake – the second biggest recorded in history with a magnitude of 9.2 –
triggered a series of massive waves with run up heights of as much as 12.7 metres in the
Alaskan Gulf region and 52 metres in the Shoup Bay submarine slide in Valdez Arm. The
study suggests that rupture of an even larger area than the 1964 rupture zone could create
an even bigger tsunami. Warning systems are in place on the west coast of North America
but the findings suggest a need for a review of evacuation plans in the region. The
research team from Durham University in the UK, the University of Utah and Plafker
Geohazard Consultants, gauged the extent of earthquakes over the last 2,000 years by
studying subsoil samples and sediment sequences at sites along the Alaskan coast. The team
radiocarbon-dated peat layers and sediments, and analysed the distribution of mud, sand
and peat within them. The results suggest that earthquakes in the region may rupture even
larger segments of the coast and sea floor than was previously thought. The study
published in the academic journal Quaternary Science Reviews and funded by the National
Science Foundation, NASA, and the US Geological Survey shows that the potential impact in
terms of tsunami generation, could be significantly greater if both the 800-km-long 1964
segment and the 250-km-long adjacent Yakataga segment to the east were to rupture
simultaneously. Lead author, Professor Ian Shennan, from Durham University's Geography
Department said: "Our radiocarbon-dated samples suggest that previous earthquakes
were fifteen per cent bigger in terms of the area affected than the 1964 event. This
historical evidence of widespread, simultaneous plate rupturing within the Alaskan region
has significant implications for the tsunami potential of the Gulf of Alaska and the
Pacific region as a whole. "Peat layers provide a clear picture of what's happened to
the Earth. Our data indicate that two major earthquakes have struck Alaska in the last
1,500 years and our findings show that a bigger earthquake and a more destructive tsunami
than the 1964 event are possible in the future. The region has been hit by large single
event earthquakes and tsunamis before, and our evidence indicates that multiple and more
extensive ruptures can happen."
Promising new treatment for
Alzheimer's suggested based on Hebrew University research
Research carried out at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has resulted in a promising
approach to help treat Alzheimer's disease in a significant proportion of the population
that suffers from a particularly rapid development of this disease. In the research at the
Silberman Institute of Life Sciences of the Hebrew University, scientists solved a mystery
as to why people who carried a mutated gene known as BChE-K were prone to more rapid
development of Alzheimer's than those who had a normal version of the gene. This mutation
appears in about 20 percent of the American and Israeli populations. In theory, the
carriers of the mutated gene should actually be more protected from the devastating
effects of the disease, since the mutated protein (the enzyme that is the product of the
gene) breaks down the neurotransmitter acetylcholine at a slower rate than in those who
have the normal gene. The result is that the carriers maintain higher levels of this
neurotransmitter, so they should in principle be protected from Alzheimer's disease, in
which acetylcholine levels decrease. Indeed, these carriers tend to develop the disease
later than others, but when that happens, it progresses more rapidly and does not respond
to medication. Therefore, the bottom line is that carriers of the mutated gene have a
greater risk than others for disease progression. The reason for this anomalous situation
has been a puzzle for a long time, but the studies by the Hebrew University scientists
solved it by finding the explanation for this increased risk, thereby offering as well a
possible new therapeutic solution. At the Wolfson Center for Structural Biology at the
Hebrew University, the researchers found that the mutation in the BChE-K gene damages the
very end, or tail, of the resultant mutant enzyme protein. This tail is the part of BChE
which is important for protection from the Alzheimer's disease plaques. It does this by
interacting with the Alzheimer's disease ?-amyloid protein and preventing it from
precipitating and forming those brain plaques which are the neuropathological hallmark of
this disease. To compare the normal protein to the K mutant, the researchers used
synthetic tails of the normal and the K proteins, as well as engineered human BChE
produced in the milk of transgenic goats at a U.S. company, Pharmathene. The goat-
produced protein is prepared at Pharmathene for the U.S. military as protection from nerve
gas poisoning (a result of earlier research at the Hebrew University). It was much more
stable and efficient than the mutant protein, which suggests that the BChE-K carriers'
susceptibility to Alzheimer's could be substantially improved by treating them with the
engineered normal protein that is produced in the milk of the transgenic goats.
The right messenger for a healthy
immune response
Researchers from the Molecular Immunology group at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection
Research (HZI) in Braunschweig, Germany have now shown that Beta-Interferon also plays a
crucial role during an immune response: without Beta-Interferon immune cells are unable to
show "wanted posters" of pathogens to other cells. As a consequence, these cells
will not recognize the pathogen and the immune response does not start properly. The
group's results have now been published in the current issue of the scientific magazine
Journal of Immunology. During an infection, immune cells produce Beta-Inferferon.
Interestingly, an immune response is even stronger when a low amount of Beta-Interferon
has already been present before the infection occurs. Scientists call this behaviour
"priming". A healthy basal level of Beta-Interferon facilitates a faster immune
reaction against microbial and viral threads. Researchers from the HZI have now managed to
show why this is the case: Beta-Interferon is a key regulator and of vital importance in
enabling the immune system to display fragments of pathogens, so-called antigens. Immune
cells present these antigens on their surface and in this way communicate with one
another: antigens are the "wanted posters" of the virus or the bacterium which
has to be destroyed. The researchers discovered the important role of Beta-Interferon in
mice lacking the gene for Beta-Interferon. These mice displayed poor immune responses.
"Without those knock-out mice we would not have been able to identify the impact of
Beta-Interferon on the immune system," says Siegfried Weiß, leader of the Molecular
Immunology group at the HZI. His research assistant, the scientist Natalia Zietara,
investigated what Beta-Interferon is doing in immune cells. She found a molecular factor
that is pivotal in producing the pathogen's profile and which is regulated by
Beta-Interferon. The factor belongs to a group of proteins that is usually produced in
conditions of stress. Without Beta-Interferon, no active stress protein – without
stress protein, no wanted poster – without wanted poster, no immune response.
Gene linked to increasingly common
type of blood cancer
California and Arizona researchers have identified a gene variant that carries nearly
twice the risk of developing an increasingly common type of blood cancer, according to a
study published online today by the science journal Nature Genetics. Investigators at the
University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) and at the Translational Genomics
Research Institute (TGen) found that mutations in a gene called C6orf15, or STG, are
associated with the risk of developing follicular lymphoma. This is a cancer of the body's
disease-fighting network whose rates have nearly doubled in the past three decades. In the
first genome-wide association study of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, scientists at UC Berkeley and
TGen identified a SNP – a single nucleotide polymorphism – that could determine
susceptibility to follicular lymphoma. The SNP, a DNA variant within the more than
3-billion base pairs in the human genome, was identified as rs6457327. The study was led
by Dr. Christine Skibola, Associate Adjunct Professor of Environmental Health Sciences at
UC Berkeley's School of Public Health, and by Dr. Kevin M. Brown, an Associate
Investigator in the Integrated Cancer Genomics Division of TGen, a Phoenix-based,
non-profit biomedical research institute. "What's exciting about this study is that
we found a target in the genome influencing the susceptibility to follicular lymphoma,
which helps us discern between three major types of lymphomas," said Skibola, the
paper's co-lead author. "That had not been done before on a genome-wide scale. It is
our hope that this research may some day be useful in helping develop prevention, early
detection and treatment of this disease."
Discovery of genetic toggle switch
inches closer to possible diabetes cure
Scientists have identified a master regulator gene for early embryonic development of the
pancreas and other organs, putting researchers closer to coaxing stem cells into
pancreatic cells as a possible cure for type1 diabetes. Researchers at Cincinnati
Children's Hospital Medical Center report their findings in the July 21 Developmental
Cell. Besides having important implications in diabetes research, the study offers new
insights into congenital birth defects involving the pancreas and biliary system by
concluding both organs share a common cellular ancestry in the early mouse embryo. This
discovery reverses a long standing belief that the biliary system's origin is connected to
early embryonic formation of the liver, the researchers said. The pancreas regulates
digestion and blood sugar, and the biliary system is vital for digestion. If the organs do
not form properly during fetal development, it can be fatal. The study reports that one
gene, Sox17 (a transcription factor that controls which genes are turned on or off in a
cell) is the key regulator for giving instruction to cells in early mouse embryos to
become either a pancreatic cell or part of the biliary system. The first author on the
paper is Jason Spence, Ph.D., a research fellow in the lab of the study's senior
investigator, James Wells, Ph.D., a researcher in the Division of Developmental Biology at
Cincinnati Children's and associate professor of pediatrics at the University of
Cincinnati College of Medicine. "We show that Sox17 acts like a toggle or binary
switch that sets off a cascade of genetic events," said Dr. Wells. "In normal
embryonic development, when you have an undecided cell, if Sox17 goes one way the cell
becomes part of the biliary system. If it goes the other way, the cell becomes part of the
pancreas." The finding advances ongoing research by Dr. Wells and his team to guide
embryonic stem cells to become pancreatic beta cells, which scientists believe could be
used to treat or cure type1 diabetes. The disease occurs when the immune system attacks
insulin producing beta cells in the pancreas, usually destroying them beyond repair before
the illness is diagnosed.
Mindblind eyes - an absence of
spontaneous Theory of Mind in Asperger Syndrome
Highly intelligent adults with Asperger Syndrome still have difficulties in day-to-day
social interaction. These difficulties may be explained by ‘mindblindness', the idea
that they are unable to predict what other people will do by thinking about their mental
states, that is, their knowledge and beliefs. If this is true then why do people with
Asperger syndrome pass all the standard tests of mental state attribution? Is the theory
wrong or are the tests insensitive? This study reports evidence from eye movements, that
adults with Asperger Syndrome do not spontaneously anticipate another person's behaviour
on the basis of that person's mental state. This is in stark contrast with typical adults,
and even young toddlers.
Cover of Journal shows cell
infected by virus first viewed by MSU scientists
The June cover of the Journal of Virology features a photograph of the unusual effects on
a cell infected by a virus. Montana State University researchers were the first to view
the virus, which they collected from a boiling, acidic spring in Yellowstone. The article
linked with the cover photograph describes the researchers' findings about the life cycle
of the virus Sulfolobus turreted icosahedral virus (STIV). No one has seen STIV replicate
within a host cell prior to the work done by MSU scientists.
The Fancier the Cortex, the Smarter
the Brain?
Why are some people smarter than others? In a new article in Current Directions in
Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, Eduardo
Mercado III from the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, describes
how certain aspects of brain structure and function help determine how easily we learn new
things, and how learning capacity contributes to individual differences in intelligence.
Cognitive plasticity is the capacity to learn and improve cognitive skills such as solving
problems and remembering events. Mercado argues that the structural basis of cognitive
plasticity is the cortical module. Cortical modules are vertical columns of interconnected
neuronal cells. Across different areas of the cerebral cortex, these columns vary in the
number and diversity of neurons they contain. Identifying how cortical modules help us
learn cognitive skills may help explain why variations in this capacity occur — that
is, why people learn skills at different rates and why our ability to learn new skills
changes as we age.
UAB/Southern Research Scientists
Discover How Flu Damages Lung Tissue
A protein in influenza virus that helps it multiply also damages lung epithelial cells,
causing fluid buildup in the lungs, according to new research from the University of
Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and Southern Research Institute. Publishing online this week
in the journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, the
researchers say the findings give new insight into how flu attacks the lungs and provides
targets for new treatments. In severe cases of flu, fluid accumulates in the lungs, making
it difficult to breathe and preventing oxygen from reaching the blood stream. The
researchers report that M2, a protein in the flu virus, damages a protein responsible for
clearing fluid from the lungs by increasing the amount of oxidants, or free radicals,
within the cells. Oxidants are necessary for proper cell function, but can become toxic if
uncontrolled. "Under normal conditions, oxidants play an important role, as they
destroy pathogens in cells. But our findings suggest that lowering the number of oxidants,
or preventing their increase, would prevent damage to the lungs resulting from the M2
protein," said Sadis Matalon, Ph.D., vice chairman for research and professor of
anesthesiology at UAB and principal investigator of the study.
Scientists locate disease switches
A team of scientists from the University of Copenhagen and the Max Planck Institute in
Germany, using groundbreaking technology, has identified no less than 3,600 molecular
switches in the human body. These switches, which regulate protein functions, may prove to
be a crucial factor in human ageing and the onset and treatment of diseases such as
cancer, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. The results of the team’s work
have been published in the current edition of the journal Science.
New information about DNA repair
mechanism could lead to better cancer drugs
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shed new light
on a process that fixes breaks in the genetic material of the body's cells. Their findings
could lead to ways of enhancing chemotherapy drugs that destroy cancer cells by damaging
their DNA. Using yeast cells, the scientists studied protein molecules that have an
important role in homologous recombination, which is one way that cells repair breaks in
the DNA double helix. The process in yeast is similar to that in humans and other
organisms. Earlier research had established that a protein molecule named Srs2 regulates
homologous recombination by counteracting the work of another protein, Rad51. Reporting in
the July 10 issue of the journal Molecular Cell, the research team reveals the mechanism
of how Srs2 removes Rad51 from DNA and thereby prevents it from making repairs to broken
strands. "Our findings may make it possible to uncover ways to augment the effect of
DNA-damaging agents that are used for cancer chemotherapy," says senior author Tom
Ellenberger, D.V.M, Ph.D., the Raymond H. Wittcoff Professor and head of the Department of
Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics. "Many chemotherapeutic agents work by causing
DNA damage in cancer cells, leading to their death, and tumors can become resistant to
chemotherapy by using DNA repair mechanisms to keep the cells alive. Drugs that inhibit
the DNA repair process could help increase the efficiency of chemotherapeutic
agents." Ellenberger is also co-director of the Pharmacology Core at Siteman Cancer
Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University. The facility aids in the
development of anti-cancer agents.
Gene regulates immune cells'
ability to harm the body
A recently identified gene allows immune cells to start the self-destructive processes
thought to underlie autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS) and rheumatoid
arthritis, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine have found. Researchers
showed that mice without the Batf gene lacked a type of inflammatory immune cell and were
resistant to a procedure that normally induces an autoimmune condition similar to human
MS. They plan to look for other genes and proteins influenced by Batf that could be
targets for new treatments for autoimmune diseases. "Batf allows immune cells to head
down a pathway that's been a very hot topic in immunology because of its potential links
to autoimmune disease," says senior author Kenneth Murphy, M.D., Ph.D., professor of
pathology and immunology and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. "We
showed that Batf regulates the only other gene previously revealed to control this
pathway, so Batf may have quite a bit to teach us about autoimmunity."
Professor sheds light on DNA
mechanisms
By manipulating individual atoms in DNA and forming unique molecules, a Georgia State
University researcher hopes to open new avenues in research towards better understanding
the mechanisms of DNA replication and transcription, and perhaps leading to new treatments
for diseases. Chemistry and chemical biology Professor Zhen Huang and his lab were able
for the first time, to manipulate groups of molecules, called methyl and phosphate groups,
in DNA that has been altered to contain selenium in order to bring them close enough
together to form hydrogen bonds. Such interactions may reduce the energy needed for a
process called DNA duplex separation, thereby playing a role in the unwinding of DNA,
which must happen in order for the genetic code to be copied and transcribed during cell
replication and transcription. The research also helps to explain how energy is used in
the process, Huang said. "Assume that you want to do something, like to move an
object from downstairs to upstairs, or building a pyramid where heavy blocks have to be
transported," Huang said. "You need lots of energy for these processes. "If
you need lots of energy, it will be a slow process or become inhibited because it consumes
too much energy."
Healing power of aloe vera proves
beneficial for teeth and gums, too
The aloe vera plant has a long history of healing power. Its ability to heal burns and
cuts and soothe pain has been documented as far back as the 10th century. Legend has it
that Cleopatra used aloe vera to keep her skin soft. The modern use of aloe vera was first
recognized the 1930s to heal radiation burns. Since then, it has been a common ingredient
in ointments that heal sunburn, minor cuts, skin irritation, and many other ailments.
Recently, aloe vera has gained some popularity as an active ingredient in tooth gel.
Similar to its use on skin, the aloe vera in tooth gels is used to cleanse and soothe
teeth and gums, and is as effective as toothpaste to fight cavities, according to the
May/June 2009 issue of General Dentistry, the Academy of General Dentistry's (AGD)
clinical, peer-reviewed journal. Aloe vera tooth gel is intended to perform the same
function as toothpaste, which is to eliminate pathogenic oral
microflora—disease-causing bacteria—in the mouth. The ability of aloe vera tooth
gel to successfully perform that function has been a point of contention for some dental
professionals. However, research presented in General Dentistry may alleviate that
concern. The study compared the germ-fighting ability of an aloe vera tooth gel to two
commercially popular toothpastes and revealed that the aloe vera tooth gel was just as
effective, and in some cases more effective, than the commercial brands at controlling
cavity-causing organisms.
How to manage erosion caused by
everyday beverages
Researchers have warned people to beware of the damage that acidic beverages have on
teeth. Yet, for some, the damage and problems associated with drinking sodas, citric
juices or certain tea may have already begun to take effect. The question remains: What
can be done to restore teeth already affected? In a recent study that appeared in the
May/June 2009 issue of General Dentistry, the AGD's clinical, peer-reviewed journal, lead
author, Mohamed A. Bassiouny, DMD, MSc., PhD, outlined the acidic content of beverages,
such as soda; lemon, grapefruit and orange juice; green and black tea; and revealed three
steps to rehabilitate teeth that suffer from dental erosion as a result of the excessive
consumption of these products. Dr. Bassiouny instructs those who are experiencing tooth
erosion to first, identify the culprit source of erosion, possibly with the help of a
dental professional. Then, the individual should determine and understand how this source
affects the teeth in order to implement measures to control and prevent further damage.
Lastly, the person should stop or reduce consumption of the suspected food or beverage to
the absolute minimum. He notes that information about the acid content of commonly
consumed foods or beverages is usually available online or on the product's label. It is
also recommended to seek professional dental advice in order to possibly restore the
damaged tissues. "Dental erosion," according to Dr. Bassiouny, "is a
demineralization process that affects hard dental tissues (such as enamel and
dentin)." This process causes tooth structure to wear away due to the effects that
acid has on teeth, which eventually leads to their breakdown. It can be triggered by
consumption of carbonated beverages or citric juices with a low potential of hydrogen
(pH), which measures the acidity of a substance. Excessive consumption of the acidic
beverages over a prolonged period of time may pose a risk factor for dental health.
Large epidemiologic study supports
brain power of fish in older people
xperts estimate that over 24 million people worldwide suffer from dementia, and many of
these people live in low- and middle-income countries. Recently, there has been growing
interest in whether dietary factors, particularly oily fish and meat, might influence the
onset and/or severity of dementia. Oily fish are rich in omega-3 long-chain
polyunsaturated fatty acids, which some studies suggest are positively related to
cognitive function in later life. Conversely, there is a suggestion from some studies that
increased meat consumption may be related to cognitive decline. To examine this, a group
of international researchers studied older people in 7 middle- to low-income countries.
You can read the results of their study in the August 2009 issue of the American Journal
of Clinical Nutrition.Data from 14,960 participants (?65 y of age) living in China, India,
Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Mexico, and Peru were analyzed. Dietary habits
were assessed by using standard, culturally appropriate face-to-face interviews, and
dementia was diagnosed by using validated culturally and educationally fair criteria. In
each of the study countries, except India, there was an inverse association between fish
consumption and dementia prevalence. These data extend to low- and middle-income countries
previous conclusions from industrialized countries that increased fish consumption is
associated with lower dementia prevalence in later life. The authors propose that this
relation is not due to poor overall nutritional status in those with dementia, because
meat consumption tended to be higher in this group. The relation between meat consumption
and dementia remains unclear.
Baby bathwater contains fragrance
allergens
A group of chemists from the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC) has developed a
method to quantify the fragrance allergens found in baby bathwater. The researchers have
analysed real samples and detected up to 15 allergen compounds in cosmetics and personal
hygiene products. A team of scientists from the Department of Analytical Chemistry,
Nutrition and Bromatology at the USC has developed a method to detect and quantify the 15
most common fragrance allergens included in soap, gel, cologne and other personal hygiene
products. "Applying the method to eight real samples obtained from the daily baths of
a series of babies aged between six months and two years old, we discovered the presence
of all the compounds under study in at least one of the samples," co-author of the
study published this month in Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, María Llompart,
explained to SINC. The scientists found at least six of the 15 compounds in all the
samples. In some cases, concentrations were "extremely high", exceeding 100ppm
(parts per million = nanograms/millilitre). Some of the substances that appeared were
benzyl salicylate, linalol, coumarin and hydroxycitronellal. "The presence and levels
of these chemical agents in bathwater should be cause for concern," Llompart said,
"bearing in mind that babies spend up to 15 minutes or more a day playing in the bath
and that they can absorb these and other chemicals not only through their skin, but also
by inhalation and often ingestion, intentional or not."
Infectious Diseases Remain a Burden
to Healthcare Systems Worldwide
Respiratory infectious diseases continue to be a huge and rising burden to health-care
systems and societies worldwide. Published by Wiley-Blackwell, the latest issue of
Respirology includes an invited review series focused on infectious pulmonary diseases.The
first paper entitled "Clinical Challenges in Managing Bronchiectasis" provides a
review of the characteristics and clinical features of Bronchiectasis. The article also
includes the often misdiagnosed and neglected treatment guidelines on how best to manage
this common disease.Lead author Kenneth Tsang from the LKS Faculty of Medicine, The
University of Hong Kong said, "As symptoms of bronchiectasis are not specific, many
patients are misdiagnosed as suffering from other inflammatory airway diseases such as
asthma and COPD. Despite being prevalent in Asia-Pacific, bronchiectasis remains a
long-neglected illness which should receive more research attention for better
understanding of its aetiology, pathogenesis and treatment."
Gliomas exploit immune cells of the
brain for rapid expansion
Gliomas are among the most common and most malignant brain tumors. These tumors infiltrate
normal brain tissue and grow very rapidly. As a result, surgery can never completely
remove the tumor. Now, the neurosurgeons Dr. Darko S. Markovic (Helios Klinikum
Berlin-Buch) and Dr. Michael Synowitz (Charité) as well as Dr. Rainer Glass and Professor
Helmut Kettenmann (both Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, MDC, Berlin-Buch),
have been able to show that glioma cells exploit microglia, the immune cells of the brain,
for their expansion (PNAS Early Edition)*. Microglial cells are the immune cells of the
brain/central nervous system. They constantly screen the brain environment. On their
surface they use sensors to detect changes in their environment due to brain damage or
infections. An important family of these sensors are Toll-like receptors (TLR). However,
microglia do not attack glioma cells. On the contrary: they support the growth of the
tumor and, thus, make the disease worse. Together with researchers in Warsaw, Poland,
Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and Bethesda, USA, the researchers in Berlin have been able to
show how the immune cells promote the tumor growth. Microglial cells are attracted toward
the glioma cells and gather in and around the tumor in large numbers. Interestingly,
gliomas consist of up to 30 per cent of microglia, especially at the tumor edge. Gliomas
release certain enzymes, metalloproteases, which digest the extracellular matrix, and also
dissolve the ties between cells. However, the metalloproteases are produced and released
as inactive precursor protein which need to be cleaved to be activated. This cleavage is
accomplished by another enzyme, which is produced by the microglial cells. This enzyme is
anchored in the membrane and was therefore named membrane type 1 metalloprotease
(MT1-MMP). MT1-MMP activates the metalloproteases which clear the way for the glioma cells
and allows them to infiltrate normal brain tissue and expand very rapidly.
Researchers find that eating high
levels of fructose impairs memory in rats
Researchers at Georgia State University have found that diets high in fructose — a
type of sugar found in most processed foods and beverages — impaired the spatial
memory of adult rats. Amy Ross, a graduate student in the lab of Marise Parent, associate
professor at Georgia State's Neuroscience Institute and Department of Psychology, fed a
group of Sprague-Dawley rats a diet where fructose represented 60 percent of calories
ingested during the day. She placed the rats in a pool of water to test their ability to
learn to find a submerged platform, which allowed them to get out of the water. She then
returned them to the pool two days later with no platform present to see if the rats could
remember to swim to the platform's location. "What we discovered is that the fructose
diet doesn't affect their ability to learn," Parent said. "But they can't seem
to remember as well where the platform was when you take it away. They swam more randomly
than rats fed a control diet." Fructose, unlike another sugar, glucose, is processed
almost solely by the liver, and produces an excessive amount of triglycerides — fat
which get into the bloodstream. Triglycerides can interfere with insulin signaling in the
brain, which plays a major role in brain cell survival and plasticity, or the ability for
the brain to change based on new experiences. Results were similar in adolescent rats, but
it is unclear whether the effects of high fructose consumption are permanent, she said.
Obesity raises risk of
complications in pregnancy, study shows
Expectant mothers who are obese are much more likely to suffer from minor complications
such as heart burn and chest infections during pregnancy, a study suggests Expectant
mothers who are obese are much more likely to suffer from minor complications such as
heart burn and chest infections during pregnancy, a study suggests. Research by the
University of Edinburgh found that obese mothers-to-be were nearly 10 times more likely to
suffer from chest infections, and more than twice as likely to suffer from headaches and
heartburn, compared with pregnant women of a healthy weight. Researchers studied the
records of more than 650 pregnant women, of whom nearly half were overweight or obese at
the beginning of their pregnancy. The study took into account factors such as age and
smoking. Obese pregnant women were three times more likely to have carpal tunnel syndrome,
which occurs when an increase in fluid causes swelling in the wrist. The condition can
lead to tingling, pain, numbness and lack of coordination in the hands. The study,
published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, also found that obese
women had a more than three-fold increased risk of suffering from a condition known as
symphysis-pubis dysfunction, which affects the pelvic joints and may cause walking
difficulties if severe. The costs of treating minor complications in obese women were
estimated to be more than three times that of treating women of a healthy body weight.
Cystic fibrosis treatments may have
unseen long-term benefits
Cystic fibrosis medicines that help to break down mucus in the lungs may carry an
unexpected long-term benefit, a study suggests. The treatments not only help breathing in
the short term - they may also make lung infections develop to be less harmful in the long
run, research from the University of Edinburgh shows. Scientists studied how bacteria
which infect the lungs of cystic fibrosis patients gather nutrients from their
surroundings. The work builds on the knowledge that most bacteria co-operate to scavenge
what they need from their environment, but some bacteria do not actively hunt, instead
stealing nutrients from neighbouring bacteria. Scientists found that in a viscous
environment, similar to thick mucus, the co-operating type of bacteria is most common.
However, in a more liquid environment - similar to mucus having been broken down by
medicine - the number of thieving bacteria increases, eventually outnumbering the
scavenging type. In this environment, because the thieving bacteria are less adept at
obtaining food, the bacterial growth slows down. The results suggest that liquefying lung
mucus would be expected to limit the impact of infection in cystic fibrosis.
Targeting MMPs to halt advanced
metastatic breast cancer
An upcoming G&D paper reveals how two specific matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) proteins
contribute to bone metastasis in advanced breast cancer – lending important new
insight into the design of clinically useful small molecule inhibitors. The study was led
by Dr. Yibin Kang in Princeton University in close collaboration with Dr. Joan Massagué
at MSKCC and Dr. Michael Reiss at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey. It will be published
online ahead of print at www.genesdev.org/cgi/doi/10.1101/gad.1824809. "More than 70%
of late stage breast cancer patients have skeletal complications," explains Dr. Yibin
Kang. "It is important to uncover molecular mechanism of bone metastasis in order to
come up with better treatments to reduce the pain and suffering from bone
metastasis." MMPs are a large class of related enzymatic proteins that degrade the
extracellular matrix. Normal MMP activity is tightly regulated, and is necessary for a
number of physiological processes, like tissue remodeling, angiogenesis, ovulation and
wound healing. However, MMP dysregulation facilitates tumor metastasis. MMP1 and ADAMTS1
are two different MMP family members that were previously identified in a genomic screen
for breast cancer bone metastasis genes. Dr. Kang and colleagues now show how alterations
in MMP1 and ADAMTS1 expression promote bone metastasis.
Thalidomide does not improve
survival in small cell lung cancer
Treating patients with thalidomide in combination with chemotherapy for small cell lung
cancer (SCLC) did not improve their survival but did increase their risk of blood clots,
according to a new study published online July 16 in the Journal of the National Cancer
Institute. Siow Ming Lee, M.D., of the Department of Oncology, University Hospital in
London, and colleagues randomly assigned 724 SCLC patients to take either a placebo or
thalidomide. Used in treating some other cancers, thalidomide is an anti-angiogenic drug,
i.e., it targets and suppresses the formation of new blood vessels that tumors need to
survive and grow. In this randomized double-blind trial, patients received 100-200
milligrams daily for up to two years. The researchers found no evidence of a survival
difference between the two groups. The median overall survival for patients who received
the placebo was 10.5 months. For patients who took thalidomide capsules, it was 10.1
months. Patients treated with thalidomide, however, had higher risk of thrombotic events.
"Together, these results suggest that targeting anti-angiogenesis in SCLC may not
work as well as in multiple myeloma or colorectal cancer, perhaps because of differences
in the angiogenic pathways involved in SCLC," the authors write.
