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Training the next generation of cancer nanomedicine scientists

Posted on August 19, 2014 by ev1

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

18-Aug-2014

Contact: Casey Bayer c.bayer@neu.edu 617-373-2592 Northeastern University

Northeastern University has received a five-year, $1.15 million grant from the National Institutes of Health's National Cancer Institute to train the next generation of cancer nanomedicine scientists and clinicians through a unique experiential learning program.

The centerpiece of the new program, which is called "CaNCURE: Cancer Nanomedicine Co-ops for Undergraduate Research Experiences," is a unique partnership between Northeastern and the Initiative to Eliminate Cancer Disparities at the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center. The DF/HCC is the world's largest comprehensive cancer center, bringing together the research efforts of its seven member institutions, comprising Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, and the Harvard School of Public Health. For more than a decade, the IECDamong the nation's first integrated, inter-institutional programs focused on eliminating cancer disparitieshas offered programming to address the complexities of cancer disparities, including training students, enhancing research, and facilitating access to underserved populations.

"Nanotechnology is leading to breakthroughs in diagnosis and therapy of many diseases, particularly cancer, leading to the new discipline of cancer nanomedicine," said principal investigator Srinivas Sridhar, Northeastern's Arts and Science Distinguished Professor of Physics, Bioengineering, and Chemical Engineering, and the director of the university's IGERT Nanomedicine Science and Technology program. "Advances in the field are beginning to have revolutionary impact on healthcare."

Over the next five years, a total of 75 undergraduate students will receive training to study and conduct cancer nanomedicine research in the laboratories of 35 leading scientists at Northeastern and DF/HCC. These six-month co-op experiences, facilitated through Northeastern's co-op office, will provide students in majors ranging from biomedical physics to chemical engineering with hands-on research experience and one-on-one mentoring from the leading researchers in cancer nanomedicine at these partner institutions.

"These mentors represent some of the world's best scientists in cancer nanomedicine research," Sridhar explained, noting that the undergraduate researchers will also have the opportunity to collaborate with their postdocs and graduate students. "We are tapping into an unprecedented resource of talent and expertise for teaching and the students' learning environment is going to be absolutely outstanding."

Sridhar, who expects to enroll the program's initial cohort of students this fall, has placed an emphasis on attracting young scientists from underrepresented minority groups. "Our goals are well aligned with that of NCI, which wants to ensure that segments of the population that are underrepresented in the scientific and healthcare professions have access to opportunities in research and professional development," he said.

All enrollees will participate in specialized workshops, conferences, and bi-monthly seminars featuring cancer nanomedicine experts. At the conclusion of the yearlong program, each student will give a presentation of his or her work.

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Training the next generation of cancer nanomedicine scientists

Pigs’ hearts transplanted into baboon hosts remain viable more than a year

Posted on August 19, 2014 by ev1

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

18-Aug-2014

Contact: Nicole Baritot press@aats.org 978-299-4520 American Association for Thoracic Surgery

Beverly, MA, August 18, 2014 Investigators from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have successfully transplanted hearts from genetically engineered piglets into baboons' abdomens and had the hearts survive for more than one year, twice as long as previously reported. This was achieved by using genetically engineered porcine donors and a more focused immunosuppression regimen in the baboon recipients, according to a study published in The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, an official publication of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery.

Cardiac transplantation is the treatment of choice for end stage heart failure. According to the NHLBI, approximately 3,000 people in the US are on the waiting list for a heart transplant, while only 2,000 donor hearts become available each year. For cardiac patients currently waiting for organs, mechanical assist devices are the only options available. These devices, however, are imperfect and experience issues with power supplies, infection, and problems with blood clots and bleeding.

Transplantation using an animal organ, or xenotransplantation, has been proposed as a valid option to save human lives. "Until we learn to grow organs via tissue engineering, which is unlikely in the near future, xenotransplantation seems to be a valid approach to supplement human organ availability. Despite many setbacks over the years, recent genetic and immunologic advancements have helped revitalized progress in the xenotransplantation field," comments lead investigator Muhammad M. Mohiuddin, MD, of the Cardiothoracic Surgery Research Program at the NHLBI.

Dr. Mohiuddin's group and other investigators have developed techniques on two fronts to overcome some of the roadblocks that previously hindered successful xenotransplantation. The first advance was the ability to produce genetically engineered pigs as a source of donor organs by NHLBI's collaborator, Revivicor, Inc. The pigs had the genes that cause adverse immunologic reactions in humans "knocked out" and human genes that make the organ more compatible with human physiology were inserted. The second advance was the use of target-specific immunosuppression, which limits rejection of the transplanted organ rather than the usual generalized immunosuppression, which is more toxic.

Pigs were chosen because their anatomy is compatible with that of humans and they have a rapid breeding cycle, among other reasons. They are also widely available as a source of organs.

In this study, researchers compared the survival of hearts from genetically engineered piglets that were organized into different experimental groups based on the genetic modifications introduced. The gene that synthesizes the enzyme alpha 1-3 galactosidase transferase was "knocked out" in all piglets, thus eliminating one immunologic rejection target. The pig hearts also expressed one or two human transgenes to prevent blood from clotting. The transplanted hearts were attached to the circulatory systems of the host baboons, but placed in the baboons' abdomens. The baboons' own hearts, which were left in place, maintained circulatory function, and allowed the baboons to live despite the risk of organ rejection.

The researchers found that in one group (with a human gene), the average transplant survival was more than 200 days, dramatically surpassing the survival times of the other three groups (average survival 70 days, 21 days, and 80 days, respectively). Two of the five grafts in the long-surviving group stopped contracting on postoperative days 146 and 150, but the other three grafts were still contracting at more than 200 to 500 days at the time of the study's submission for publication.

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Pigs' hearts transplanted into baboon hosts remain viable more than a year

Pygmy phenotype developed many times, adaptive to rainforest

Posted on August 19, 2014 by ev1

19 hours ago A Batwa young man in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, Uganda. Credit: George Perry, Penn State

The small body size associated with the pygmy phenotype is probably a selective adaptation for rainforest hunter-gatherers, according to an international team of researchers, but all African pygmy phenotypes do not have the same genetic underpinning, suggesting a more recent adaptation than previously thought.

"I'm interested in how rainforest hunter-gatherers have adapted to their very challenging environments," said George H. Perry, assistant professor of anthropology and biology, Penn State. "Tropical rainforests are difficult for humans to live in. It is extremely hot and humid with limited food, especially when fruit is not in season."

A phenotype is the outward expression of genetic makeup and while two individuals with the same phenotype may look alike, their genes may differ substantially. The pygmy phenotype exists in many parts of Africa, Southeast Asia, the Philippines and potentially in South America. The phenotype is usually associated with rainforest hunter-gathers, groups of people who do not farm, but obtain resources by hunting large and small animals and gathering fruit, nuts, insects and other available resources.

Perry and colleagues looked at the genetics of the Batwa rainforest hunter-gatherers of Uganda and compared them to their farming neighbors, the Bakiga, with whom they traditionally traded forest products for grain, and sometimes intermarry. The researchers also looked at the Baka rainforest hunter-gatherers and their farming neighbors the Nzebi/Nzime in central Africa. They report their results online today (Aug. 18) in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science.

The average height for Batwa men is five foot and for women it is four foot eight inches. Their short stature is not caused by a single genetic mutation as occurs in many forms of dwarfism, but is the result of a variety of genetic changes throughout the genome that influence height.

The researchers investigated 16 different genetic locations that were associated with short stature when they looked at individuals who were an admixture of Batwa and Bakiga. Several of these regions contained genes known to be involved with growth in humans. They then studied these regions to look for indications that the changes were ones that persisted because they were adaptive.

Genetic mutations occur in populations all the time. If they have a negative impact on the individual, they tend to disappear from the population quickly. If they have no noticeable impact for the good or bad, they might disappear as well, although more slowly. Mutations which have positive influence on individuals, making them more fit for their environment, tend to spread through the population.

Short stature may be adaptive for rainforest individuals for a variety of reasons, according to Perry. Small bodies require less food, which is adaptive for a food-limited location like the rainforest. Small bodies also generate less heat, which, in the heat and humidity of the rainforest, is adaptive. It is also easier for small, agile individuals to move through dense undergrowth and to climb trees.

The results of the genetic comparison indicated that there was a statistical difference between the two groups indicative of multi gene adaptation.

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Pygmy phenotype developed many times, adaptive to rainforest

Sequencing at sea: Real-time DNA sequencing in a remote field location

Posted on August 19, 2014 by ev1

3 hours ago San Diego State University graduate student Yan Wei Lim is exploring coral reefs in the southern Line Islands. Credit: Rob Edwards, SDSU computer scientist

Daylight was breaking over the central Pacific and coffee brewing aboard the MY Hanse Explorer. Between sips, about a dozen scientists strategized for the day ahead. Some would don wetsuits and slip below the surface to collect water samples around the southern Line Islands' numerous coral reefs. Others would tinker with the whirring gizmos and delicate machinery strewn throughout the 158-foot research vessel. All shared a single goal: Be the first research group to bring a DNA sequencer out into the field to do remote sequencing in real time. Against an ocean of odds, they succeeded.

This three-week, five-island expedition took place last year with a research crew including San Diego State University computer scientist Rob Edwards, biologist Forest Rohwer, postdoctoral scholar Andreas Haas and graduate student Yan Wei Lim. They were accompanied by several other researchers from the San Diego region and around the world. The researchers published an account of their trip and methods today in the journal PeerJ.

Line Island investigations

Biologists and computer scientists at SDSU have been traveling to the Line Islands for the last decade, collecting and analyzing the coral habitat to better understand what organisms live there, how they compete for resources, and what effects their presence has on the reef's ecosystem. It always bothered Edwards that they had to wait until they were back home, on the other side of the world, before they could look at their data and develop new hypotheses.

"If only we had had that data out in the field, we could have asked those questions there and then," Edwards said.

That inkling grew into an ambitious plan to somehow, some way bring out to sea a cumbersome and expensive piece of equipment designed to analyze a sample's DNA makeup and spit out detailed information about its genome.

The project initially had its doubters.

"People are a little bit hesitant to take a half-million-dollar piece of equipment into the middle of the Pacific if you're not sure it's going to be coming back," Edwards said.

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Sequencing at sea: Real-time DNA sequencing in a remote field location

Are children who play violent video games at greater risk for depression?

Posted on August 19, 2014 by ev1

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

18-Aug-2014

Contact: Kathryn Ryan kryan@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News

New Rochelle, NY, August 18, 2014While much attention has focused on the link between violent video game playing and aggression among youths, a new study finds significantly increased signs of depression among preteens with high daily exposure to violent video games. The details and implications of this important new study are described in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking website.

Susan R. Tortolero, PhD and coauthors from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health, RAND Corporation (Santa Monica, CA), The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Atlanta, GA), and Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School (Boston, MA) recorded significantly more depressive symptoms over the course of a year among fifth-graders from three U.S. cities who reported playing high-violence video games for 2 or more hours a day, compared to those who reported playing low-violence video games for less than 2 hours a day. This association was consistent across all racial/ethnic subgroups and among boys, according to the study results presented in the article "Daily Violent Video Game Playing and Depression in Preadolescent Youth."

"One of the strengths of this study is its large and ethnically diverse sample," says Editor-in-Chief Brenda K. Wiederhold, PhD, MBA, BCB, BCN, Interactive Media Institute, San Diego, California and Virtual Reality Medical Institute, Brussels, Belgium.

###

About the Journal

Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published monthly online with Open Access options and in print that explores the psychological and social issues surrounding the Internet and interactive technologies plus cybertherapy and rehabilitation, plus cybertherapy and rehabilitation. Complete tables of contents and a sample issue may be viewed on the Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking website.

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Are children who play violent video games at greater risk for depression?

More than just X and Y: A new genetic basis for sex determination

Posted on August 19, 2014 by ev1

20 hours ago Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory researchers have found that miRNAs, short RNA molecules, are responsible for sexual differences in fruit flies. Shown here are testes from a male fruit fly where a hormone that controls a key miRNA has been inactivated. The abnormal testes fail to make sperm. They now produce sex determinants (shown in red) that are found in the ovaries of female flies. Credit: D. Fagegaltier/ Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Men and women differ in plenty of obvious ways, and scientists have long known that genetic differences buried deep within our DNA underlie these distinctions. In the past, most research has focused on understanding how the genes that encode proteins act as sex determinants. But Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) scientists have found that a subset of very small genes encoding short RNA molecules, called microRNAs (miRNAs), also play a key role in differentiating male and female tissues in the fruit fly.

A miRNA is a short segment of RNA that fine-tunes the activation of one or several protein-coding genes. miRNAs are able to silence the genes they target and, in doing so, orchestrate complex genetic programs that are the basis of development.

In work published in Genetics, a team of CSHL researchers and colleagues describe how miRNAs contribute to sexual differences in fruit flies. You've probably never noticed, but male and female flies differ visibly, just like other animals. For example, females are 25% larger than males with lighter pigmentation and more abdominal segments.

The team of researchers, including Delphine Fagegaltier, PhD, lead author on the study, and CSHL Professor and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator Greg Hannon, identified distinct miRNA populations in male and female flies. "We found that the differences in miRNAs are important in shaping the structures that distinguish the two sexes," says Fagegaltier. "In fact, miRNAs regulate the very proteins that act as sex determinants during development."

The team found that miRNAs are essential for sex determination even after an animal has grown to adulthood. "They send signals that allow germ cells, i.e., eggs and sperm, to develop, ensuring fertility," Fagegaltier explains. "Removing one miRNA from mature, adult flies causes infertility." More than that, these flies begin to produce both male and female sex-determinants. "In a sense, once they have lost this miRNA, the flies become male and female at the same time," according to Fagegaltier. "It is amazing that the very smallest genes can have such a big effect on sexual identity."

Some miRNAs examined in the study, such as let-7, have been preserved by evolution because of their utility; humans and many other animals carry versions of them. "This is probably just the tip of the iceberg," says Fagegaltier. "There are likely many more miRNAs regulating sexual identity at the cellular and tissue level, but we still have a lot to learn about these differences in humans, and how they could contribute to developmental defects and disease."

Explore further: Scientists identify a gene that controls the timing of precisely ordered events during maturation

More information: "A Genome-Wide Survey of Sexually Dimorphic Expression of Drosophila miRNAs Identifies the Steroid Hormone-Induced miRNA let-7 as a Regulator of Sexual Identity" appeared online in Genetics on July 31, 2014.

Closely related organisms share most of their genes, but these similarities belie major differences in behavior, intelligence, and physical appearance. For example, we share nearly 99% of our genes with chimps, ...

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More than just X and Y: A new genetic basis for sex determination

Forestry geneticists develop tree biomass crop to grow on marginal lands

Posted on August 19, 2014 by ev1

1 hour ago Amy Brunner

Two Virginia Tech researchers have received a $1.4 million grant to investigate the genetic regulatory networks that will allow an important bioenergy crop to be bred so it will grow in less than ideal soils and climate.

Populus, a genus of fast-growing trees commonly known as cottonwoods and aspens, is being grown for bioenergy because it produces a significant amount of biomass in two years and will re-grow robustly when cut at just above ground level. Woody biomass can be converted to liquid fuels, such as ethanol.

"The goal is to develop the species so it will not become dormant in conditions that would stress other crops, such as high temperature, drought, or marginal soil nutrients," said Amy Brunner, associate professor of molecular genetics in the College of Natural Resources and Environment and an affiliate of the Fralin Life Science Institute. "It is important that bioenergy crops not require prime agricultural land."

"We don't want biomass production to compete with food production," she continued. "The aim is to minimize inputs, develop varieties that grow in different environments, and maximize biomass production."

Brunner and Jason Holliday, assistant professor of forest genetics and biotechnology in the college and a fellow Fralin Life Science Institute affiliate, received the grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Biological and Environmental Research. Their project is one of 10 grants awarded as part of the national strategy of sustainable biofuels production.

"The college made the decision to enter into the specialized and highly competitive research arena of molecular genetics, and Drs. Brunner and Holliday are making important contributions to the body of molecular genetics science of tree species," said Paul Winistorfer, dean of the college. "Developing alternative approaches to biofuel crops and their adaptation and success to a changing climate is a strategic and important contribution to our future energy needs."

Brunner and Holliday are experimenting with the FT2 gene, which regulates vegetative growth. "In addition to seasonal dormancy, which happens when days get shorter, a common response to stress by woody plants is to stop growing and wait for things to get better, which is important to natural populations' ability to survive adverse conditions," said Brunner.

"Jason and I are melding our expertise to understand growth and dormancy transitions," she continued. "We will identify specific control points that can be manipulated to maximize growth in different environments."

The FT2 gene integrates signals regarding environmental conditions, such as day length and drought, to control shoot growth or regrowth after harvest.

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Forestry geneticists develop tree biomass crop to grow on marginal lands

Prioritizing suicide research can help lead to fewer suicide attempts, deaths

Posted on August 19, 2014 by ev1

Suicide experts recommend research into early behavioral detection, interventions, use of mass media, and other areas, American Journal of Preventive Medicine reports

In a new supplement to the September issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, experts address the state of the science on suicide prevention and provide useful recommendations for research to inform effective suicide prevention. Suicide has been a challenging and perplexing public health issue to study as it has many dimensions and underlying factors. Although much is known about the patterns and potential risk factors of suicide, the national suicide rate does not appear to have dropped over the last 50 years.

This groundbreaking supplement -- titled Expert Recommendations for U.S. Research Priorities in Suicide Prevention -- draws together topic experts across the spectrum of suicide prevention research, who have considered and proposed ways in which research improvements could more effectively reduce suicide. The 24 articles cover a broad range of scientific topics, from basic science regarding the neurobiological underpinnings of suicide to the dissemination and implementation of prevention strategies. They represent a subset of presentations made by suicide prevention experts to inform A Prioritized Research Agenda for Suicide Prevention: An Action Plan to Save Lives (Research Agenda), which was created by the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention's Research Prioritization Task Force (RPTF).

"The articles in this special supplement represent the collective thinking of suicide prevention experts from across the United States and several other countries about where research efforts might best be invested to address the vexing public health problem of suicide," say the supplement's guest editors Morton Silverman, MD, Jane E. Pirkis, PhD, Jane L. Pearson, PhD, and Joel T. Sherrill, PhD. "We are confident the articles will have a major influence on the suicide prevention research community."

The content of the supplement directly addresses research that will inform the following goals:

Proposed strategies include research into early detection of suicidal behavior, particularly among youth and adolescents, intervention, evidence-based follow-up care, and reducing stigma through the use of mass media.

Effective suicide prevention is a team effort, including both public and private partners. Contributors to the supplement stress that progress in the area of suicide prevention research will require interdisciplinary, collaborative science and that translational science and interdisciplinary research collaboration ("team science") will be critical for advancing science and ultimately identifying effective prevention strategies.

The supplement's guest editors conclude, "The papers in this supplement, like the Research Agenda itself, are intended as inspirational resources that highlight the challenges and rewards of engaging in suicide prevention research, and suggest future research directions that have the potential to advance the overall goal of reducing attempts and deaths."

The journal's supplement can be found online at: http://www.ajpmonline.org/issue/S0749-3797%2814%29X0015-2

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Prioritizing suicide research can help lead to fewer suicide attempts, deaths

Prioritizing suicide research can help lead to fewer suicide attempts and deaths

Posted on August 19, 2014 by ev1

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

18-Aug-2014

Contact: Angela J. Beck ajpmmedia@elsevier.com 734-764-8775 Elsevier Health Sciences

Ann Arbor, MI, August 18, 2014 In a new supplement to the September issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, experts address the state of the science on suicide prevention and provide useful recommendations for research to inform effective suicide prevention. Suicide has been a challenging and perplexing public health issue to study as it has many dimensions and underlying factors. Although much is known about the patterns and potential risk factors of suicide, the national suicide rate does not appear to have dropped over the last 50 years.

This groundbreaking supplementtitled Expert Recommendations for U.S. Research Priorities in Suicide Preventiondraws together topic experts across the spectrum of suicide prevention research, who have considered and proposed ways in which research improvements could more effectively reduce suicide. The 24 articles cover a broad range of scientific topics, from basic science regarding the neurobiological underpinnings of suicide to the dissemination and implementation of prevention strategies. They represent a subset of presentations made by suicide prevention experts to inform A Prioritized Research Agenda for Suicide Prevention: An Action Plan to Save Lives (Research Agenda), which was created by the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention's Research Prioritization Task Force (RPTF).

The content of the supplement directly addresses research that will inform the following goals:

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Prioritizing suicide research can help lead to fewer suicide attempts and deaths

Women seek anti-aging clinicians to treat menopausal symptoms, study finds

Posted on August 19, 2014 by ev1

Feeling that conventional doctors did not take their suffering seriously, women instead sought out hormonal treatments for menopausal symptoms from anti-aging clinicians, according to a Case Western Reserve University study that investigated the appeal of anti-aging medicine.

Some women also feared the harmful side effects from conventional hormone replacement therapy (HRT) that had shown increased risks for cancer, heart disease and high blood pressure. Yet, they thought that the bioidentical, "natural" hormones their anti-aging doctors prescribed were safe, despite a lack of conventional scientific evidence to that fact.

Michael Flatt, a doctoral candidate in sociology at Case Western Reserve University, and Jennifer Fishman, assistant professor at McGill University, will discuss these and other findings during the presentation "'Hormones Are Where It's At': Bioidentical Hormones, Menopausal Women, and Anti-Aging Medicine" on Monday, Aug. 18, at the 109th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, Aug. 16-19, in San Francisco.

The findings about the women's attitudes are part of a larger study in the Department of Bioethics at Case Western Reserve that investigated the views of scientists, doctors and patients involved with anti-aging science and medicine.

The researchers, who conducted the study with Richard Settersten Jr., professor of public health at Oregon State University, explored what it was about anti-aging medicine that appealed to women, given that the costs for care and prescribed medications were not covered by medical insurance.

Was it vanity to maintain their youthful appearance or some other motivation?

Findings from in-depth interviews with 25 women who used bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) prescribed by an anti-aging clinician bucked the vanity-driven stereotype.

Instead, Flatt said the women told researchers they wanted to relieve their menopausal symptoms, feel energized and avoid chronic illnesses associated with aging. The women also described their motivation as wanting to return to an "optimal" state and believed that bioidentical hormones would do this.

"Hormones became the panacea reported by the women," Flatt said. "They felt that if the hormones were in order, they'd be back on track."

The anti-aging clinicians prescribed BHRT after the women took a series of tests to determine the causes of their menopausal symptoms, which purportedly included hormonal and vitamin deficiencies. They were prescribed BHRT, hormones derived from plants, like soy and yams. The hormonal therapies are unregulated by the Food and Drug Administration and made to order by compounding pharmacists.

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Women seek anti-aging clinicians to treat menopausal symptoms, study finds

Study Finds Women Seek Anti-Aging Clinicians for Menopausal Symptoms

Posted on August 19, 2014 by ev1

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Newswise Feeling that conventional doctors did not take their suffering seriously, women instead sought out hormonal treatments for menopausal symptoms from anti-aging clinicians, according to a Case Western Reserve University study that investigated the appeal of anti-aging medicine.

Some women also feared the harmful side effects from conventional hormone replacement therapy (HRT) that had shown increased risks for cancer, heart disease and high blood pressure. Yet, they thought that the bioidentical, natural hormones their anti-aging doctors prescribed were safe, despite a lack of conventional scientific evidence to that fact.

Michael Flatt, a doctoral candidate in sociology at Case Western Reserve University, and Jennifer Fishman, assistant professor at McGill University, will discuss these and other findings during the presentation Hormones Are Where Its At: Bioidentical Hormones, Menopausal Women, and Anti-Aging Medicine on Monday, Aug. 18, at the 109th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, Aug. 16-19, in San Francisco.

The findings about the womens attitudes are part of a larger study in the Department of Bioethics at Case Western Reserve that investigated the views of scientists, doctors and patients involved with anti-aging science and medicine.

Was it vanity to maintain their youthful appearance or some other motivation? Findings from in-depth interviews with 25 women who used bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) prescribed by an anti-aging clinician bucked the vanity-driven stereotype.

Instead, Flatt said the women told researchers they wanted to relieve their menopausal symptoms, feel energized and avoid chronic illnesses associated with aging. The women also described their motivation as wanting to return to an optimal state and believed that bioidentical hormones would do this.

Hormones became the panacea reported by the women, Flatt said. They felt that if the hormones were in order, theyd be back on track.

Youngest SL certified in Aesthetic Medicine by AAAM

Posted on August 19, 2014 by ev1

Dr. Shanika Arsecularatne, the youngest person to be certified by the American Academy of Aesthetic Medicine (AAAM) in Sri Lanka, is very passionate about conveying the importance of Aesthetic medicine to Sri Lankans. It is an area of medical practice, which embraces multidisciplinary modalities dedicated to create a harmonious physical and psychological balance through non-invasive, minimally invasive and invasive treatment modalities, which are evidence-based.

Gaining her primary education from Holy Family Convent and Asian International School where she completed her Advanced Levels, she then went on to pursue her aspiration of becoming a Medical doctor. Fulfilling her dream, she returned to Sri Lanka to successfully pass the Sri Lankan Medical Councils licensing exam to practice in Sri Lanka.

I did my internship at the Hambantota General Hospital in Surgery, Pediatrics and was a RHO in Radiology, said Dr. Shanika reflecting on the start of her career.

While pursuing her passion of becoming a Doctor of Aesthetic Medicine, Dr. Shanika also practices in Pediatrics in a leading private Hospital in Colombo.

Having studied under many of the worlds leading specialists in Aesthetic Medicine she received the post Graduate Advanced Diploma from the American Academy of Aesthetic Medicine and is currently in the process of completing the Fellowship in Aesthetic and Anti- Aging Medicine.

Dr. Shanika is on an upward trajectory to fulfill her aspirations while providing that benefit to Sri Lankans as well.

While working in Colombo and in rural regions, I have observed various skin disorders in newborns, teenagers, and in the aging population such as, disfiguring birth marks, acne and acne scars, pigmentation, surgical or traumatic scars and skin problems associated with aging and hormonal imbalances.

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Youngest SL certified in Aesthetic Medicine by AAAM

One Codex in open beta for genomic data search

Posted on August 18, 2014 by ev1

Aug 17, 2014 by Nancy Owano

Data, data everywhere and now as ever researchers need the best tools to make the data useful. In medicine, searching through genomic data can take some time. A startup called One Codex hopes to make difference with their genetic search platform that can process data sets quickly. A report on their work on Friday in TechCrunch noted the advantage of One Codex speed. "Currently," wrote Julian Chokkattu, "the most commonly used tool for genome searching is by using an algorithm called BLAST, Basic Local Alignment Search Tool, which compares primary biological sequence information." For Nick Greenfield, cofounder of One Codex, uploading a file to BLAST took two minutes and 30 seconds to process, compared with the One Codex system where the number was less than 1/20th of a second. The company defines One Codex as a search engine for genomic data. The TechCrunch piece describes what they offer as a service platform for genomics. Apart from using search technology," said Chokkattu, the platform also acts as an indexed, curated reference.

The company said that it can search the world's largest index of bacterial, viral, and fungal genomes. A key advantage is speed. The product can, said the company, "process next-generation datasets in minutes, not days (millions of DNA base pairs per second)."

The two founders are Nick Greenfield, former data scientist, and Nik Krumm, who has a PhD in genome sciences from the University of Washington.

Sample applications would be in clinical diagnostics, food safety and biosecurity. Right now, said TechCrunch, the company is focusing on testing their platform with hospitals and agencies. One Codex is in open beta.

Scientific interest in being able to search genomic data faster has been in evidence for some years. In 2012, MIT's news office reported on a study in Nature Biotechnology, where MIT and Harvard researchers described an algorithm "that drastically reduces the time it takes to find a particular gene sequence in a database of genomes. Moreover, the more genomes it's searching, the greater the speedup it affords, so its advantages will only compound as more data is generated."

The authors of that paper, titled "Compressive genomics," said, "In the past two decades, genomic sequencing capabilities have increased exponentially, outstripping advances in computing power. Extracting new insights from the data sets currently being generated will require not only faster computers, but also smarter algorithms." They stated that although compression schemes for BLAST and BLAT that they presented yield an increase in computational speed and in scaling, "they are only a first step."

Explore further: Team develops tool to better visualize, analyze human genomic data

More information: One Codex: onecodex.com/

2014 Phys.org

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One Codex in open beta for genomic data search

UT Arlington Research Team’s Work Could Lead To Earlier Diagnosis, Treatment Of Mental Diseases

Posted on August 18, 2014 by ev1

August 17, 2014

Herb Booth, University of Texas, Arlington

A computer science and engineering associate professor and her doctoral student graduate are using a genetic computer network inference model that eventually could predict whether a person will suffer from bipolar disorder, schizophrenia or another mental illness.

The findings are detailed in the paper Inference of SNP-Gene Regulatory Networks by Integrating Gene Expressions and Genetic Perturbations, which was published in the June edition of Biomed Research International. The principal investigators were Jean Gao, an associate professor of computer science and engineering, and Dong-Chul Kim, who recently earned his doctorate in computer science and engineering from UT Arlington.

We looked for the differences between our genetic computer network and the brain patterns of 130 patients from the University of Illinois, Gao said. This work could lead to earlier diagnosis in the future and treatment for those patients suffering from bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. Early diagnosis allows doctors to provide timely treatments that may speed up aid to help affected patients.

The UT Arlington researchers teamed with Jiao Wang of the Beijing Genomics Institute at Wuhan, China; and Chunyu Liu, visiting associate professor at the University of Illinois Department of Psychiatry, on the project.

Gao said the findings also could lead to more individualized drug therapies for those patients in the early stages of mental illnesses.

Our work will allow doctors to analyze a patients genetic pattern and apply the appropriate levels of personalized therapy based on patient-specific data, Gao said.

One key to the research is designing single nucleotide polymorphism or SNP networks, researchers said.

SNPs are regulators of genes, said Kim, who joins the University of Texas-Pan American this fall as an assistant professor. Those SNPs visualize how individual genes will act. It gives us more of a complete picture.

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UT Arlington Research Team's Work Could Lead To Earlier Diagnosis, Treatment Of Mental Diseases

Researchers block plant hormone: Small molecule inhibits jasmonic acid, helps to explain its effects

Posted on August 18, 2014 by ev1

5 minutes ago Jarin1 inhibits the enzyme JAR1 by displacing the natural substrate, Jasmonoyl-isoleucine (JA-Ile), from its binding site. Both substances overlap, so that JAR1 can no longer fulfil its tasks. The left panel shows an overview of the entire enzyme; the right panel a view into the active centre. Credit: Corey S. Westfall, Washington University, St. Louis

Researchers trying to get new information about the metabolism of plants can switch off individual genes and study the resulting changes. However, Erich Kombrink from the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Cologne and Markus Kaiser from the University of Duisburg-Essen adopt a different approach. They identify small molecules that block specific components of the metabolic process like brake pads and prevent the downstream reactions. In their search for these molecules, they use a biological selection process involving intact plants. This strategy has long been exploited in drug research. Its application in the plant sciences, however, is relatively new.

Kombrink, Kaiser and their colleagues have identified a molecule that interferes with the effect of jasmonic acid. This plant hormone influences flower formation, root growth, defence against herbivores and infections, wound healing, ageing of plants, and much more.

Although many questions about plant metabolism can be answered through targeted gene mutations, the method has its limits. This is also demonstrated in the case of jasmonic acid and its derivatives. So far, only one signalling chain has been discovered, but this cannot explain the wide-ranging effect of this plant hormone. Therefore, other hitherto undiscovered signalling paths and action mechanisms must exist. To find out more about them, Kombrink and Kaiser have adopted an approach that is similar to one used in medicine. Their strategy is based on the blocking of important metabolic pathways using low molecular weight compounds, which are easily assimilated by the plant. While in medical therapy such compounds are assimilated through the blood, in the plant they are introduced through the root.

The scientists embarked on their search with a screening of Arabidopsis thaliana and treating the plants with compounds in such a way that the desired selection could be identified by a conspicuous trait. Of the 1728 substances from a commercial compound library tested 16 emerged as inhibitors. This number was further reduced using more selective tests. In the end, only one substance turned out to be a specific inhibitor of the jasmonic acid signalling pathway and was given the name Jarin-1. "In terms of its basic structure, the substance is a plant alkaloid, whose two amino groups can carry different side chains," Kombrink explains. "However, its effect is associated with a particular side chain in one of the positions. Other side chains impair the activity of the substance. We also deliberately synthesised it once again to be certain that we had understood its chemical structure correctly."

The scientists also looked for the target of the newly discovered inhibitor. The known signalling chain starts with the conjugation of the jasmonic acid with the amino acid isoleucine by an enzyme called JAR1. The resulting pair leads to the expression following various detours of the genes necessary for the relevant effect of the jasmonic acid. Kombrink and Kaiser were able to show that JAR1 is the target of the newly discovered inhibitor. Due to the inhibition, the jasmonic acid conjugated with isoleucine does no longer accumulate in the cell. As a result genes are not expressed because the jasmonic acidisoleucine pair no longer activates the genes' starting point.

The Jarin-1 inhibitor identified by Kombrink and Kaiser not only works in Arabidopsis but also in Cardamine hirsuta or hairy bittercress. "So we are obviously dealing with a broadly applicable molecule," comments Kombrink. Under the effect of the inhibitor, the plants show the same features as they do following the targeted mutation of genes from the jasmonic acid signalling pathway.

The scientists also investigated the exact location where the molecule takes effect. They succeeded in demonstrating that it binds to the active centre of JAR1 and inhibits the natural substrate. "Our molecule is not a classical competitive inhibitor," says Kombrink. "But its effect can be explained, at least in parts, by displacement of the substrate from its binding site."

Small molecules are interesting new tools for plant research. Through their work, the researchers show how it is possible to search for them systematically and to identify their molecular mode of action.

Explore further: Signalling pathway links local and systemic plant immunity

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Researchers block plant hormone: Small molecule inhibits jasmonic acid, helps to explain its effects

Study finds women seek anti-aging clinicians to treat menopausal symptoms

Posted on August 18, 2014 by ev1

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

18-Aug-2014

Contact: Susan Griffith susan.griffith@case.edu 216-368-1004 Case Western Reserve University

Was it vanity to maintain their youthful appearance or some other motivation?

Findings from in-depth interviews with 25 women who used bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) prescribed by an anti-aging clinician bucked the vanity-driven stereotype.

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Study finds women seek anti-aging clinicians to treat menopausal symptoms

Man who killed son a schizophrenic: doc

Posted on August 15, 2014 by ev1

THREE days before Roberto Umpad, 29, killed his two-year-old son, neighbors and relatives had noticed his unusual behaviour.

Hilumon siya ug magsigeg hinuktok (He was very quiet and he looked like he had a lot on his mind), said Odessa Capili, his neighbor.

In 2012, Umpad underwent treatment at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Centers (VSMMC) Center for Behavioral Science after suffering from a nervous breakdown.

Traumatic youth

According to a relative, who asked not to be named, Umpad had a traumatic childhood because his father left him when he was still young while his mother went abroad.

Umpad had been admitted to the psychiatric ward six times.

He last went to the VSMMC on Feb. 14, 2013 for his check-up.

He was supposed to continue his medication but because they had no money, he stopped taking them last year.

Dr. Rene Obra, chief of the Center for Behavioral Sciences, said they diagnosed Umpad with schizophrenia.

The doctor described schizophrenia as a mental illness where a person loses contact with reality and experiences mood disorder symptoms.

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Man who killed son a schizophrenic: doc

With attitudes changing, and science shifting, NFL searches for marijuana answers

Posted on August 15, 2014 by ev1

Marijuana is casting an ever-thickening haze across NFL locker rooms, and it's not simply because more players are using it.

As attitudes toward the drug soften, and science slowly teases out marijuana's possible benefits for concussions and other injuries, the NFL is reaching a critical point in navigating its tenuous relationship with what is recognized as the analgesic of choice for many of its players.

"It's not, let's go smoke a joint," retired NFL defensive lineman Marvin Washington said. "It's, what if you could take something that helps you heal faster from a concussion, that prevents your equilibrium from being off for two weeks and your eyesight for being off for four weeks?"

One challenge the NFL faces is how to bring marijuana into the game as a pain reliever without condoning its use as a recreational drug. And facing a lawsuit filed on behalf of hundreds of former players complaining about the effects of prescription painkillers they say were pushed on them by team trainers and doctors, the NFL is looking for other ways to help players deal with the pain from a violent game.

A Gallup poll last year found 58 percent of Americans believe marijuana should be legalized. That's already happened in Colorado and Washington the states that are home of last season's Super Bowl teams.

The World Anti-Doping Agency has said it does not need to catch out-of-competition marijuana users. And at least one high-profile coach, Pete Carroll of the champion Seahawks, publicly said he'd like to see the NFL study whether marijuana can help players.

There are no hard numbers on how many NFL players are using marijuana, but anecdotal evidence, including the arrest or league discipline of no fewer than a dozen players for pot over the past 18 months, suggests use is becoming more common.

Washington Redskins defensive back Ryan Clark didn't want to pinpoint the number of current NFL players who smoke pot but said, "I know a lot of guys who don't regularly smoke marijuana who would use it during the season."

Washington wouldn't put a specific number on it but said he, too, knew his share of players who weren't shy about lighting up when he was in the league, including one guy "who just hated the pain pills they were giving out at the time." Another longtime defensive lineman, Marcellus Wiley, estimates half the players in the average NFL locker room were using it by the time he shut down his career in 2006.

"They are leaning on it to cope with the pain," said Wiley, who played defensive line in the league for 10 seasons. "They are leaning on it to cope with the anxiety of the game."

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With attitudes changing, and science shifting, NFL searches for marijuana answers

Volokh Conspiracy: Consumer Credit and the American Economy

Posted on August 15, 2014 by ev1

By Todd Zywicki August 14

I am excited to say that after years of work my new co-authored book Consumer Credit and the American Economy is now officially available for sale. The Amazon page is here. It is co-authored with former Federal Reserve economist Thomas Durkin, current Fed economist Gregory Elliehausen, and University of Arizona professor Michael Staten (who was formerly head of the Credit Research Center and Financial Services Research Program). The book is a comprehensive look at the economics, regulation, history, and intellectual history of consumer credit in America (largely excluding mortgage credit, however, which we decided is really a book unto itself).

One of the joys of working with my co-authors was how much I learned about these topics, especially the intellectual history of the study of consumer credit. The book is dedicated to the pioneers in the field, who are largely forgotten today, but whose basic analytical framework remains almost entirely as valid today as it was when first developed almost a century ago.

Tom and I plan to do a series of posts sometime soon highlighting some of the key points of the book. But for now Ill just post the Amazon summary and cover blurbs to give you a flavor:

Consumer Credit and the American Economyexamines the economics, behavioral science, sociology, history, institutions, law, and regulation of consumer credit in the United States.

After discussing the origins and various kinds of consumer credit available in todays marketplace, this book reviews at some length the long run growth of consumer credit to explore the widely held belief that somehow consumer credit has risen too fast for too long. It then turns to demand and supply with chapters discussing neoclassical theories of demand, new behavioral economics, and evidence on production costs and why consumer credit might seem expensive compared to some other kinds of credit like government finance. This discussion includes review of the economics of risk management and funding sources, as well discussion of the economic theory of why some people might be limited in their credit search, the phenomenon of credit rationing. This examination includes review of issues of risk management through mathematical methods of borrower screening known as credit scoring and financial market sources of funding for offerings of consumer credit.

The book then discusses technological change in credit granting. It examines how modern automated information systems called credit reporting agencies, or more popularly credit bureaus, reduce the costs of information acquisition and permit greater credit availability at less cost. This discussion is followed by examination of the logical offspring of technology, the ubiquitous credit card that permits consumers access to both payments and credit services worldwide virtually instantly.

After a chapter on institutions that have arisen to supply credit to individuals for whom mainstream credit is often unavailable, including payday loans and other small dollar sources of loans, discussion turns to legal structure and the regulation of consumer credit. There are separate chapters on the theories behind the two main thrusts of federal regulation to this point, fairness for all and financial disclosure. Following these chapters, there is another on state regulation that has long focused on marketplace access and pricing.

Before a final concluding chapter, another chapter focuses on two noncredit marketplace products that are closely related to credit. The first of them, debt protection including credit insurance and other forms of credit protection, is economically a complement. The second product, consumer leasing, is a substitute for credit use in many situations, especially involving acquisition of automobiles. This chapter is followed by a full review of consumer bankruptcy, what happens in the worst of cases when consumers find themselves unable to repay their loans.

Because of the importance of consumer credit in consumers financial affairs, the intended audience includes anyone interested in these issues, not only specialists who spend much of their time focused on them. For this reason, the authors have carefully avoided academic jargon and the mathematics that is the modern language of economics. It also examines the psychological, sociological, historical, and especially legal traditions that go into fully understanding what has led to the demand for consumer credit and to what the markets and institutions that provide these products have become today.

Continued here:
Volokh Conspiracy: Consumer Credit and the American Economy

Screening along the spectrum: The search for a genetic test for autism

Posted on August 15, 2014 by ev1

By Shane Huntington

Neuropsychiatrist Prof Chris Pantelis and neural engineering researcher Prof Stan Skafidas discuss the potential for the use of genetics to improve the diagnosis of autism.

SHANE HUNTINGTON I'm Dr Shane Huntington. Thanks for joining us. Human beings are social animals. We rely on language and the subtle social cues that accompany our words to communicate with each other. But for people with Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD for short, the simple acts of communicating and interacting with others in a social setting can be baffling or even terrifying. Currently ASD diagnosis is complex. Psychological assessments and interviews are combined with behavioural observations by parents and teachers and a multitude of other mental disorders need to be carefully ruled out. But we know from twin studies that there's a genetic component to ASD, so why don't we have a genetic test for this condition? Are behavioural observations really the best we can do for desperate parents seeking answers for the challenging behaviour in their children? Surely our extraordinary advances in genetics hint at effective DNA based tests. Today on Up Close we speak to a neuropsychiatrist and an electrical engineer about how we might one day test for ASD based on our genetics. Chris Pantelis is Professor of Neuropsychiatry and Scientific Director of the Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre at the University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health. Stan Skafidas is Professor of Neural Engineering at the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering; leads the Melbourne School of Engineering's research in nanoelectronics and is the Director of the Centre for Neural Engineering. Welcome to Up Close Stan and Chris.

STAN SKAFIDAS Thank you.

CHRIS PANTELIS Thank you.

SHANE HUNTINGTON Chris, I might start with you. What sorts of tests are currently available to diagnose someone with Autism Spectrum Disorder?

CHRISTOS PANTELIS So the diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder relies very much on clinical observation. It requires careful considered observation of behaviour, social interaction and particularly looking at language and communication; also observations related to stereotype, the repetitive behaviours that many of these children manifest. The disorder is diagnosed early. The onset is before the age of three and it's the observation that children are not engaging, not socialising appropriately, that they're delayed in their language and that they may have stereotyped or repetitive behaviours. So very much the diagnosis is based on clinical observation at this point in time. Now as you rightly point out it is clear that there is a genetic component to this disorder. It runs in families. Those twins that are monozygotic have a high concordance, which means that if one twin has the disorder there's a high likelihood that the co-twin is also affected. This means that we should be able to examine the genetics of this disorder and see if we can come up with a test if you like that might help us in our clinical diagnosis.

SHANE HUNTINGTON You mentioned we can look at children as young as three. It would seem difficult that you'd be able to extract the sort of behavioural anomalies that you're talking about at that age, given the wide variety of developmental speeds that we find out kids growing up with. Now some kids learn language very quick, others don't. How successful is it in terms of determining if a child is positive at age three?

CHRISTOS PANTELIS Again a very good and I think the important thing here is that one needs to take account of the trajectory of development of any individual child. And often clinicians looking at these children will assess them over a lengthy period of time. The diagnosis might be suspected but may not be confirmed for a considerable period of time, perhaps a number of years. It depends on the severity of the presentation, the range of symptoms and how they're developing.

SHANE HUNTINGTON You mentioned the possibility of genetic testing. It would seem that we have a genetic test for every second illness at the moment. There are a lot of new ones around, the most commonly known ones such as those for breast cancer and so forth. There is definitely a genetic component to this as you say from twin studies. Why is it that we don't have a genetics test at this point for autism?

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