Monthly Archives: October 2012

Genetic Disorder Test for Newborns May Speed Up Diagnoses

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By Randy Dotinga HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 3 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers say they have developed a blood test that could potentially detect hundreds of genetic conditions in newborn babies in about two days. The test might allow physicians to quickly diagnose babies and treat them instead of waiting for lengthy tests or guessing without full information.

The test, which uses a drop of a newborn's blood to examine the entire genome, isn't ready for widespread use. A study released Oct. 3 reports only the results of testing that confirmed genetic conditions in three newborns.

The test could be available soon, however, said study co-author Dr. Stephen Kingsmore, director of the Center for Pediatric Genomic Medicine at the Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo.

"Genome analysis is moving from being a research tool that holds promise to being something that's ready to ... be used for real medical care in real patients," he said.

Newborns routinely undergo genetic screening in the United States to see if they have genetic conditions. The screenings, however, look for about 60 conditions at most, Kingsmore said, and focus on diseases that don't show obvious symptoms at first.

There are thousands of other genetic conditions -- many of them quite rare -- and about 500 can be treated. If a child shows symptoms of one of them, testing may take weeks and cost thousands of dollars, Kingsmore said. Physicians may base their diagnoses on other factors in order to treat children quickly, in some cases to keep them from dying.

"The reality is that neonatologists have to treat on the basis of their best clinical judgment rather than based on any knowledge of the genome sequence," Kingsmore said.

"If you liken testing to fishing, conventional fishing is like throwing a line into the ocean and hoping you catch a fish," he said. The new test, which looks for signs of genetic problems throughout the genome, "is like throwing a net over the entire ocean and seeing what you catch."

The test costs about $13,500 and takes 50 hours to process, although researchers hope to quicken the pace, he said. The new study reports that the test identified genetic conditions in three newborns and ruled them out in another.

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Are inhaled medications effective and safe in critically ill patients on mechanical ventilation?

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Public release date: 4-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Vicki Cohn vcohn@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News

New Rochelle, NY, October 4, 2012Essential medications can be delivered as inhaled drugs to critically ill patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) who require mechanical ventilation to breathe. Aerosol drug delivery is highly complex, however, and if not done properly the medication will not reach the lungs and therapy will be ineffective. The efficacy and safety of aerosol delivery of drugs commonly used in the ICU such as antibiotics, diuretics, and anticoagulants is explored in depth in a review article published in Journal of Aerosol Medicine and Pulmonary Drug Delivery, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free online on the Journal of Aerosol Medicine and Pulmonary Drug Delivery website.

Arzu Ari, PhD, RRT and James Fink, PhD, RRT, Georgia State University (Atlanta) and Rajiv Dhand, MD, University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine (Knoxville) state that the successful use of bronchodilator therapy in ventilator-dependent patients has led to growing interest in the delivery of other aerosolized forms of medication to improve outcomes for patients in the ICU that require mechanical ventilation. In the article "Inhalation Therapy in Patients Receiving Mechanical Ventilation: An Update," the authors explore the complexities of aerosol therapy in this patient population and the advances in drug delivery devices that are contributing to its increasing use and success.

"Newer drugs, such as antibiotics, will require better control of dose and delivery if they are to be successful in treating the intubated patient." says Editor-in-Chief Gerald C. Smaldone, MD, PhD, Professor and Chief, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at SUNY-Stony Brook.

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About the Journal

Journal of Aerosol Medicine and Pulmonary Drug Delivery is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published bimonthly in print and online. It is the Official Publication of the International Society for Aerosols in Medicine. The Journal is the only authoritative publication delivering innovative articles on the health effects of inhaled aerosols and delivery of drugs through the pulmonary system. Topics covered include airway reactivity and asthma treatment, inhalation of particles and gases in the respiratory tract, toxic effects of inhaled agents, and aerosols as tools for studying basic physiologic phenomena. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Journal of Aerosol Medicine and Pulmonary Drug Delivery website.

About the Publisher

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Pediatric Allergy, Immunology, and Pulmonology; High Altitude Medicine & Biology; and Microbial Drug Resistance. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 70 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website.

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Are inhaled medications effective and safe in critically ill patients on mechanical ventilation?

Miguel parties with panache in 'The Thrill' video

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The singer Miguel. (Kai Reagan)

October 4, 2012, 1:41 p.m.

We've had our eye on the young, L.A.-based R&B futurist Miguel for a while now. But it appears that he's finally having his moment in the critical spotlight, with a best new music badge from Pitchfork for his ravishing new album, "Kaleidoscope Dreams."

In the video for his latest single, "The Thrill," Miguel hits all the high points of the rising-star life: pool parties, packed clubs and general bonhomie. (Watch the video below.)

But it's all filmed in a sleek, detached black and white that makes the revelry seem a little distant. In fact, that's a pretty good visual metaphor for Miguel's newer music from "Dreams" and his three-part series of EPs, "Art Dealer Chic." "The Thrill" pairs bone-dry electric guitars reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac with a jittery kick drum sample and a whole lot of reverb -- a spacious showcase for Miguel's pristine pipes.

His sound has all the minimal spookiness of "PBR&B" peers such as the Weeknd and AlunaGeorge, but he's toured with Usher and has major-label muscle angling to get him on big stages. Here's hoping he gets there and stays there.

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Live review: Usher at Staples Center

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Monkees tour boycott -- or is Michael Nesmith just monkeying around?

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Miguel parties with panache in 'The Thrill' video

LOCAL SPORTS BRIEFS: Freedom tennis trips Chase on Sr. Night

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By: STAFF REPORTS | Morganton News Herald Published: October 04, 2012 Updated: October 04, 2012 - 5:37 PM

The Freedom High girls tennis team moved above .500 with an impressive 7-2 South Mountain 2A/3A Conference triumph Wednesday on Senior Night against Chase.

The Lady Patriots (6-5 SMAC) collected four singles wins, as Sam Roller (No. 1), Amber LeGoullon (No. 2), Hannah Kirksey (No. 4) and Danna Huffman (No. 5) won in straight sets.

Amber is undefeated (at 7-0) this season and has beaten all six teams in that process, said FHS coach Rusty Kiddoo.

Freedom then swept the doubles matches as Roller/LeGoullon (No. 1) and Kirksey/Mackenzie Snider (No. 2) claimed 8-0 victories before Huffman/Maggie Lee (No. 3) eked out a 9-8 (7-4) win.

Winners of five of its last six matches, Freedom played at Patton late Thursday and will participate in the 3A portion of the SMAC tournament on Tuesday and Wednesday on the Lady Panthers home courts.

- Tommy Fleming

SOCCER

Shelby 1, Freedom 0 (OT)

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LOCAL SPORTS BRIEFS: Freedom tennis trips Chase on Sr. Night

Freedom Sings rocks Bluebird with ‘Watergate Years’

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Thursday, October 4, 2012

The 14th annual Freedom Sings concert last night at the Bluebird Caf in Nashville celebrated the thought-provoking music of the early 1970s.

Freedom Sings, a First Amendment Center program that strives to educate the public about First Amendment freedoms through topical and often controversial songs, began in 1999. It has since branched into a touring company that appears on college campuses, but the original concert remains an annual event.

Among the performances at this years concert, dubbed The Watergate Years:

Former Beatles were well represented, including songs by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Lari White performed Woman is the Nigger of the World, explaining that Dick Cavett had to apologize for the song on his television show before Lennon and Yoko Ono were allowed to sing it. The song is recognized as one of the earliest pop songs about equal rights for women. Paul McCartneys Hi Hi Hi, banned by the BBC because a censor misunderstood the word polygon as body gun, was performed by Gordon Kennedy.

Other performers included Don Henry, Mark Volman, Bill Lloyd, Gretchen Peters, Suzi Ragsdale, Seth Timbs, Jason White, Craig Krampf, Dave Pomeroy and Walter Egan.

The evening closed with Jonell Mosser leading the assembled performers and audience in a rousing version of the OJays Love Train.

Tags: Freedom Sings, music, music censorship, music lyrics

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Freedom Sings rocks Bluebird with ‘Watergate Years’

Freedom of speech is not a license to spread hatred

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In the last few weeks the world has witnessed the response to an evil, insulting and abhorrent movie that atbodyted to malign the noble character of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Such insult to a religious icon has brought about overwhelming condemnation, and we believe that the vast majority of Americans disapprove of such atbodyts to sow seeds of hatred among people of different faiths and ethnic backgrounds. We would like to help our fellow citizens understand the complicated yet extremely sensitive nature of the whole situation. This in no way should be seen as condoning any violence in the name of our religion. There are approximately 1.6 billion Muslims in the world today, representing different ethnicities and speaking different languages.

The American Muslim population is estimated to comprise almost every ethnicity of the world. What unites them is their faith in God Almighty and their belief in Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) as the last Prophet of God.

Muslims all over the world love the Prophet (pbuh). This love for him takes precedence over the love of their own families and even love for themselves. They regard him as a man who, through amazing moral strength and absolute commitment to the Message of God, brought about a revolution in the deserts of Arabia. A revolution that spanned the entire world in less than 100 years, liberating humanity from the tyranny of the few and liberating man from the servitude of the creation to the servitude of the Creator.

God Almighty declared Muhammad (pbuh) a Mercy to the Worlds (Quran: Chapter 21 Verse 107). He was known as The trustworthy and The one who always speaks the truth, even among his enemies. He was the man who gave the honor of making the very first call to prayer to a former black Abyssinian slave while the rich and the aristocrats of Arabia stood watching by. His noble character is described in the Quran as one with exalted standard of character (Quran: Chapter 68, Verse 4).

Muslims believe that the message of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was the same as the message brought by previous Prophets like Abraham, Moses and Jesus (peace be upon them). They also love and respect these Prophets of God, because the Quran says: Insult to any of these religious icons is an insult to their belief system itself. (Chapter 6 Verse 108)

When someone insults a messenger of God, it hurts all Muslims. The Muslim community has always welcomed intellectual and scholarly discourse on Islam, and history is witness to the fact that Muslim scholars debated in a civil manner with scholars from other faiths. But there is a difference between an intellectual and scholarly criticism and distasteful, cheap and offensive talk.

As Americans, we understand the importance of the right to free speech and freedom of expression. American Muslims value this right on behalf of every American citizen and would never shy away from ever defending this right. We also feel that this right to free speech should be seen as a great responsibility. Freedom of expression and willful provocation will have different outcomes, and such is the case of free speech and hate speech. The right to freedom of expression should not be an opportunity to spread hate and pass insults on sacred religious icons. American society is mature enough to recognize that hate speech is not acceptable.

The Bible says: There is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. (Proverbs 12:18, New American Standard Bible 1995)

Let us all as Americans unite in bringing about the healing that is desperately needed in our global village today.

The above statement is made by the Islamic Circle of North America on the anti-Islam film vis--vis freedom of expression.

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Freedom of speech is not a license to spread hatred

Freedom of expression

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Recently, disturbances erupted throughout the Muslim world against the film "Innocence of Muslims" which was deliberately made to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims.

US President Obama refused to ban it or take any action against its makers citing the American law on freedom of expression. Obama said that as long as this law exists in America, he cannot take any action against the producers. Also, it is election time in America and President Obamas opponents can exploit any slight mistake on his part to reduce his chances of being re-elected.

This should be understood and appreciated. It is what it is. Of course the violence against Americans has to be strongly condemned. But the situation has given rise to an important question: can such a right be absolute as American law makes it out to be? Should it have any limits or not? According to this law, there is no limit and religious sentiments do not count. Even outright and wilful blasphemy cannot be barred or punished.

For example, in a number of New York subway stations posters were recently put up which said, In any war between the civilised man and the savage, support the civilised man. Support Israel. Defeat Jihad. The relevant court also upheld the ad as permissible according to American law.

Rick Jacobs, a Jewish scholar, commented on the ad thus: What is the message of this ad, directed at the multitude of subway riders of countless faiths and ethnicities? Jacobs then continues, By using the term "jihad" in the context of war against savages, the ad paints Islam as inherently violent, evil and bent on overthrowing the Western democracies and their key ally in the Middle East , Israel.

This ad implicates all Muslims as wagers of jihad in the sense of war, though hardly a handful of extremists indulge in this and millions of other Muslims take jihad as a spiritual struggle against selfish desires, greed and lust for power. But it is quite legitimate according to American law. Interestingly, an Arab activist who spray-painted one of the posters was arrested. Perhaps we have to understand why such a law was made by Americas founders.

Those who came to America after its "discovery" were mostly persecuted Protestants from all over Europe. The Catholic Church was persecuting them for defying its authority. They did not want its repeat in America and hence they wanted a law which allowed them absolute freedom from all such persecution in the name of religion. And so this law was made.

There is another factor which must also be taken into account to understand the American law. At the time when this law was made America had mostly Protestant Christians and no other religious groups had yet migrated to the country in significant numbers. In their eyes this law was not only justified but greatly needed so that no one used religion for the persecution of others. Had there been a plurality of religions as is the case today, such a law perhaps would not have been enacted. This law gives full freedom to any individual to defy, to blaspheme or to ridicule ones own or others religions.

First we must understand what freedom of religion means. Religion is a system of belief and belief is rooted in ones conscience. In any democracy, or even non-democratic system, freedom of conscience is a very important freedom which cannot be tampered with. The Quran also greatly respects this freedom of conscience when it says There is no compulsion in religion. (2:256).

This right to freedom of conscience or religion can certainly allow a serious critique of certain religious or cultural practices as long as the motive is philosophical.

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Freedom of expression

All-New 2013 Chevy Malibu Make Waves in Midsize Segment with 2.9% Financing for 60 Months or 0% on 2012 Malibu While …

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Chevrolets eighth generation Malibu - LS, LT, Top-spec LTZ and fuel-saving Eco with eAssist now includes fresh styling, MyLink infotainment system, class-leading handling and 2.9% financing for 60 months making it one of the most progressive midsize sedans to hit Guaranty Chevrolet's showrooms in decades.

SANTA ANA, Calif. (PRWEB) October 04, 2012

The precision continues on the inside of the 2013 Chevy Malibu with attractive styling, advanced technology, and entertainment options topped off with a level of comfort that is sure to be valued by any driver. The General Motors MyLink system offers an integrated full media experience and navigation via the in car infotainment system. Available features such as Remote Start and Keyless Access with Push Button Start improve convenience before the drive even begins. Drivers can start and set the temperature in the all-new Malibu before setting foot inside the car.

With Malibu Eco, stylish superiority takes on intelligence with eAssist electrification technology that helps conserve fueled power when its not needed. The increased torque provided by eAssist technology makes for a smarter fuel-efficient drive with 37 MPG on the highway. The Chevy Malibu Eco mild hybrid adds efficiency to an already resourceful power train.

The Malibu Eco is a smart choice for customers who want a great looking car inside and out with excellent fuel economy, but without the higher price of some hybrid sedans, said Russ Clark, director of Chevrolet marketing. In short, its an incredible value.

As the first truly global midsize sedan for Chevrolet - design and technology from the American market is spreading worldwide. The 2013 Chevy Malibu Eco will go on sale in China and South Korea respectively - both counties producing their vehicles on home-soil. Globalization of the GM brand has helped the American carmaker produce exciting and affordable midsize sedans people all over the world are happy to drive.

Guaranty Chevrolet is also offering special 2.9% financing for 60 months on the 2013 Malibu and 0% financing for 60 months on all 2012 Chevy Malibus while supplies last.

Guaranty Chevrolet keeps an extraordinary inventory of Crossovers, Trucks, SUVs and cars such as Equinox, Malibu, Silverado and Spark in all trim levels from basic standard models to loaded LTZ and everything in-between. Guaranty Chevrolet boasts expert and veteran sales and service teams that pride themselves on customer satisfaction.

Visit Guaranty Chevrolet to experience the exceptional customer service and stress-free sales at our Santa Ana Chevrolet dealership. Conveniently located at 711 E. 17th Street, we're easily accessible from neighboring Orange and anywhere in Orange County. As an OC Chevrolet dealer, we have a large selection of new and used Chevy cars, trucks and SUVs. To thank our customers, we offer special vehicle deals and discounts every day. Let us help you find your perfect Chevy vehicle!

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All-New 2013 Chevy Malibu Make Waves in Midsize Segment with 2.9% Financing for 60 Months or 0% on 2012 Malibu While ...

Alcohol consumption on beaches to be targeted

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The Police Minister Liza Harvey has promised a crackdown on alcohol at Perth beaches following a brawl last weekend involving dozens of people.

Police were called to Scarborough Beach when violence erupted.

The local council also reported that bottles and other rubbish was left strewn around the area.

The Minister says she has met with staff from the City of Stirling and Surf Life Saving WA to work out a plan to police the area.

Mrs Harvey would not be drawn on the details but says the State Government will act on when it comes to people drinking on Perth beaches.

"What I can tell you though is that the plan includes a very serious crackdown on people taking alcohol to the beaches," she said.

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SKA Pathfinder telescope launched in WA

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Construction of the CSIRO's ground-breaking, 36-dish Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) telescope at the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory, about 315km northeast of Geraldton, is now complete.

The Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder is expected to discover in its early stages - using just 36 dishes - more than 700,000 new supergalaxies, CSIRO says.

radio-astronomy instruments on the planet.

They are the precursor to the international Square Kilometre Array project that Australia will host with South Africa and New Zealand.

CSIRO chief executive Megan Clark said ASKAP would pick up radio signals sent before the earth existed.

It will provide an insight into the very beginnings of the universe and help answer some of the most fundamental questions of 21st century astronomy and physics involving dark matter, dark energy, the nature of gravity, the origins of first stars and galaxies, and the generation of magnetic fields in space.

Ms Clark said the amount of data to be captured and moved was mind-boggling.

In the first few weeks of this facility (being) up and running, the amount of data that will move from here through Geraldton and down to Perth, is more than currently exists in all of radioastronomy around the world, she told reporters on site.

And very soon we will have enough data that will really be more than what we see on the internet today.

Science and Research Minister Chris Evans, who attended the launch on Friday, said the ASKAP was an important science project in its own right, but would also provide the basis for Australia's contribution to the broader $2.5 billion SKA project, jointly hosted with South Africa and New Zealand.

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SKA Pathfinder telescope launched in WA

Astronomer jets up, up and away with Blue Angels

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By Robert Sanders, Media Relations | October 4, 2012

Astronomer Alex Filippenko shows hes ready for take-off in a jet fighter piloted by Lt. Mark Tedrow, one of the Navys elite Blue Angels team. Noelle Filippenko photo.

For the lucky few, soaring over San Francisco with the Blue Angels is the dream of a lifetime you want to sit back and enjoy. But for UC Berkeley astronomer Alex Filippenko, it was a teaching opportunity.

As he banked and rolled over the Bay Area yesterday (Wednesday, Oct. 3), he took the opportunity to videotape in-flight physics lessons he hopes to use in outreach to the public.

It was an out-of-this-world experience, he wrote in an email. We broke the sound barrier It was incredible!

The Blue Angels, the Navys elite flight-demonstration team, are in town to celebrate the annual Fleet Week.

Filippenko flew as part of the Blue Angels Key Influencers program, in part because of Filippenkos role in the research that led to last years Nobel Prize in physics. One of the other Key Influencers was local heroCapt. Chesley Sully Sullenberger, the famed US Airways pilot who landed a passenger liner in the Hudson River three years ago.

Filippenkos jet was piloted by Navy Lt. Mark Tedrow, who took Berkeleys well-known black hole expert through rolls and turns where he felt the effects of 6.2 Gs more than six times the force of gravity as well as weightlessness at 0 G and even negative Gs, all perfect conditions for experiments that will wow his Astro 10 students.

Besides being a heck of a lot of fun, there were so many interesting physical principles to talk about before and during theflight, he told a San Francisco Chronicle reporter.

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Google Puts Its Virtual Brain Technology to Work

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Platonic ideal: This composite image represents the ideal stimulus that Googles neural network recognizes as a cat face. Credit: Google

This summer Google set a new landmark in the field of artificial intelligence with software that learned how to recognize cats, people, and other things simply by watching YouTube videos (see "Self-Taught Software"). That technology, modeled on how brain cells operate, is now being put to work making Google's products smarter, with speech recognition being the first service to benefit.

Google's learning software is based on simulating groups of connected brain cells that communicate and influence one another. When such a neural network, as it's called, is exposed to data, the relationships between different neurons can change. That causes the network to develop the ability to react in certain ways to incoming data of a particular kindand the network is said to have learned something.

Neural networks have been used for decades in areas where machine learning is applied, such as chess-playing software or face detection. Google's engineers have found ways to put more computing power behind the approach than was previously possible, creating neural networks that can learn without human assistance and are robust enough to be used commercially, not just as research demonstrations.

The company's neural networks decide for themselves which features of data to pay attention to, and which patterns matter, rather than having humans decide that, say, colors and particular shapes are of interest to software trying to identify objects.

Google is now using these neural networks to recognize speech more accurately, a technology increasingly important to Google's smartphone operating system, Android, as well as the search app it makes available for Apple devices (see "Google's Answer to Siri Thinks Ahead"). "We got between 20 and 25 percent improvement in terms of words that are wrong," says Vincent Vanhoucke, a leader of Google's speech-recognition efforts. "That means that many more people will have a perfect experience without errors." The neural net is so far only working on U.S. English, and Vanhoucke says similar improvements should be possible when it is introduced for other dialects and languages.

Other Google products will likely improve over time with help from the new learning software. The company's image search tools, for example, could become better able to understand what's in a photo without relying on surrounding text. And Google's self-driving cars (see "Look, No Hands") and mobile computer built into a pair of glasses (see "You Will Want Google's Goggles") could benefit from software better able to make sense of more real-world data.

The new technology grabbed headlines back in June of this year, when Google engineers published results of an experiment that threw 10 million images grabbed from YouTube videos at their simulated brain cells, running 16,000 processors across a thousand computers for 10 days without pause.

Average features: This composite image represents the ideal stimulus for Google's software to recognize a human face. Credit: Google

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Research and Markets: Human Genes and Genomes. Science, Health, Society Provides Students and Professionals Alike With …

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DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/jtwtps/human_genes_and) has announced the addition of Elsevier Science and Technology's new book "Human Genes and Genomes. Science, Health, Society" to their offering.

In the nearly 60 years since Watson and Crick proposed the double helical structure of DNA, the molecule of heredity, waves of discoveries have made genetics the most thrilling field in the sciences. The study of genes and genomics today explores all aspects of the life with relevance in the lab, in the doctor's office, in the courtroom and even in social relationships. In this helpful guidebook, one ofthe most respected and accomplished human geneticists of our time communicates the importance of genes and genomics studies in all aspects of life. With the use of core concepts and the integration of extensive references, this book provides students and professionals alike with the most in-depth view of the current state of the science and its relevance across disciplines.

- Bridges the gap between basic human genetic understanding and one of the most promising avenues for advances in the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of human disease.

- Includes the latest information on diagnostic testing, population screening, predicting disease susceptibility, pharmacogenomics and more

- Explores ethical, legal, regulatory and economic aspects of genomics in medicine.

- Integrates historical (classical) genetics approach with the latest discoveries in structural and functional genomics

Key Topics Covered:

Foreword

Framing the Field

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High Blood Pressure In Pregnancy May Curb Child’s IQ

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October 4, 2012

Connie K. Ho for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

Researchers from the American Academy of Neurology recently found that a mothers high blood pressure during pregnancy could impact a childs cognitive skills long into adulthood.

The findings of the study were recently published in the online version of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

High blood pressure and related conditions such as preeclampsia complicate about 10 percent of all pregnancies and can affect a babys environment in the womb, explained the studys author Katri Riknen, a professor at the University of Helsinki in Finland.

Our study suggests that even declines in thinking abilities in old age could have originated during the prenatal period when the majority of the development of brain structure and function occurs.

In the study, the researchers examined medical records from the mothers of 398 men who were born between 1934 and 1944. Along with identifying the mothers blood pressure, the scientists tested the mens thinking abilities at age 20 and again at around 69 years of age. They also compiled data on the participants language and math skills as well as visual and spatial relationships.

The team of investigators discovered that the men whose mothers had high blood pressure scored about 4.36 points lower on the tests than the men whose mothers did not have high blood pressure. At both ages 20 and age 69 these men score lower than their counterparts. Their scores also tended to decline more quickly over time than the men whose mothers did not have high blood pressure.

Maternal hypertensive disorders in pregnancy predict lower cognitive ability and greater cognitive decline up to old age, noted the researchers in an article by the Daily Mail. A propensity to lower cognitive ability and decline up to old age may have prenatal origins.

Furthermore, the researchers studied whether premature birth would impact the findings and found that early birth did not affect the score in the same way. Additionally, the fathers occupation did not appear to influence the participants scores, and the scores did not change for participants whose fathers worked as manual laborers or office workers.

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High Blood Pressure In Pregnancy May Curb Child’s IQ

Research and Markets: Neurobiology of Psychiatric Disorders, Vol 106. Handbook of Clinical Neurology (Series Editors …

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DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/9f9zgp/neurobiology_of) has announced the addition of Elsevier Science and Technology's new book "Neurobiology of Psychiatric Disorders, Vol 106. Handbook of Clinical Neurology (Series Editors: Aminoff, Boller and Swaab). Vol. 106" to their offering.

This new volume in the Handbook of Clinical Neurology presents a comprehensive review of the fundamental science and clinical treatment of psychiatric disorders.

Advances in neuroscience have allowed for dramatic advances in the understanding of psychiatric disorders and treatment. Brain disorders, such as depression and schizophrenia, are the leading cause of disability worldwide. It is estimated that over 25% of the adult population in North America are diagnosed yearly with at least one mental disorder and similar results hold for Europe. Now that neurology and psychiatry agree that all mental disorders are in fact, "brain diseases," this volume provides a foundational introduction to the science defining these disorders and details best practices for psychiatric treatment.

- Provides a comprehensive review of the scientific foundations of psychiatric disorders and psychiatric treatment

- Includes detailed results from genetics, molecular biology, brain imaging, and neuropathological, immunological, epidemiological, metabolic, therapeutic and historical aspects of the major psychiatric disorders

- A "must have" reference and resource for neuroscientists, neurologists, psychiatrists, and clinical psychologists as well as all research scientists investigating disorders of the brain

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/9f9zgp/neurobiology_of

Source: Elsevier Science and Technology

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Research and Markets: Neurobiology of Psychiatric Disorders, Vol 106. Handbook of Clinical Neurology (Series Editors ...