Islanders from a remote British territory in the Pacific hope to lure billionaire US investor Warren Buffett to help them overcome a severe economic downturn, an academic said Monday.
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Touch Down for Romance in 16 Islands of The Bahamas
NASSAU, The Bahamas, May 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --
- With Photo
Sixteen lucky brides and their grooms-to-be touched down in Nassau before heading off to 16 different islands where Bahamian wedding planners are making the finishing touches to arrangements for the 16th May wedding ceremonies. Each won by the couples in the Bahamas 16 Islands Wedding Invitation.
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120516/531519 )
Two couples will take a short taxi ride, one staying in Nassau for their 'Colour Me with Love' ceremony and the other travelling over the connecting bridge to Paradise Island for their 'Royal Bliss' wedding in the 14th century Cloister.
Inter-island flights lasting from just 15 to 90 minutes will take the 14 remaining couples to other main islands in this tropical archipelago. Also joining them will be their 32 witnesses, two per couple, plus about fifty extra family and friends who have booked through joint sponsor Kuoni to join the couples' once-in-a-lifetime Caribbean wedding experience.
Not simply beach weddings, these are destination weddings with a difference. For example:
Jade & Mikhail have so many guests coming from around the world to The Berry Islands that the small CarrieEarl hotel cannot accommodate them all. Berry Islands' residents are opening their homes to put up the extra guests so that all can enjoy the wedding ceremony at sea. No need for a beribboned bridal car when you are tying the 'Nautical Love Knot' aboard a white catamaran floating on an azure ocean.
There's no limousine either for Carla and Daniel for their 'Light Up My Love' marriage ceremony in The Abacos. A small boat ferries the groom and witness across the harbour to await the bride's arrival, travelling by little golf cart with her witness to the candy-striped Elbow Cay Lighthouse.
The 'Colour Me with Love' wedding in Nassau will be a loud, lively and colourful celebration with a band of Junkanoo musicians, in bright handmade costumes. A wedding party that's sure to be a hit with the 7 children in Claire and Jason's wedding party of twelve.
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Career moves
The American Society of Human Genetics recently elected Dr. Jeffrey C. Murray, professor of pediatrics, epidemiology, nursing and biological sciences at the University of Iowa, to serve as the society’s president in 2013.
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Blue Chip Marketing Worldwide Launches New Mobile Health Care Technology Survey
NORTHBROOK, IL--(Marketwire -05/15/12)- Blue Chip Patient Recruitment, a division of Blue Chip Marketing Worldwide, today announced the launch of its mHealth (mobile health care technology) Survey. The study will examine the benefits of mobile technology in clinical trial recruitment through three separate surveys targeting patients, physicians and site coordinators. Complete survey results will be presented at this year's Drug Information Association (DIA) Conference, June 26, 2012, during the forum "The Next Patient Recruitment Frontier: Leveraging Mobile Health Care Technology (mHealth) to Recruit Patients for Clinical Trials." Neil Weisman, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Blue Chip Patient Recruitment, will moderate.
"According to the Center for Information & Study on Clinical Research Participation, delays in patient recruitment for clinical trials account for an average of 4.6 months lost per trial. It is our opinion that this delay can be avoided by better understanding where and when potential study participants are most receptive to receiving a message asking them to enroll in a specific study," said Stanton Kawer, Chairman and CEO of Blue Chip Marketing Worldwide. "Blue Chip Patient Recruitment recognizes the significant changes that the growth in mobile technology has delivered to all facets of society. We are specifically interested in identifying how such dynamic platforms can translate to accelerated enrollment for the clinical trial industry. That is our charge."
Blue Chip Patient Recruitment is fielding the mHealth Survey in three parts over the course of three months (March - May 2012), directly targeting three core constituencies -- patients, physicians and trial site coordinators. Selected patient participants have to currently own a smartphone and/or tablet. All participating physicians and site coordinators have to currently be involved in clinical trials.
"The mHealth Survey will help us to determine ways in which mobile devices can be used by each of our key audiences to make them more willing to participate in, engage with, or refer patients to clinical trials," said Neil Weisman. "In our technologically savvy world where people are constantly connected in one way or another, the Survey will be vital in helping Blue Chip Patient Recruitment create tools that will connect patients, physicians and research sites to meaningful clinical trial opportunities."
About Blue Chip Patient RecruitmentBlue Chip Patient Recruitment, a division of Blue Chip Marketing Worldwide, is a global, full-service patient recruitment and retention agency dedicated to accelerating clinical trial enrollment. They have proudly delivered success to the world's top health care corporations for nearly 20 years, across more than 600 clinical studies. They are recognized for their scientific approach to clinical trial marketing, their insights and strategies, their innovative recruitment tactics and their best in class creative. Most importantly, they are known for the intelligence and passionate service that they bring to every study. For more information, visit http://www.bcpatientrecruitment.com.
About Blue Chip Marketing WorldwideFounded in 1982 in Northbrook, Illinois, Blue Chip Marketing Worldwide (www.bluechipmarketingworldwide.com) is an independent, full-service global marketing agency that unites brands to sales to deliver unparalleled results. Through 360 insights, proprietary models and detailed execution, BCMW delivers core marketing capabilities for the retail, healthcare and branding sectors. Clients include Procter & Gamble, Gorton's, Wells Enterprises, Inc. (Blue Bunny Ice Cream), Fisher Nuts, On-Cor Frozen Foods, LLC, BioSante Pharmaceuticals, Inc., inVentiv Health and Alva-Amco, among others.
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Blue Chip Marketing Worldwide Launches New Mobile Health Care Technology Survey
Health care provides poor value for tax dollars spent
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Health Care REIT Property Awarded Prestigious LEED® Environmental Certification
TOLEDO, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Health Care REIT, Inc. (NYSE:HCN - News) announced today that Paramount Senior Living at Peters Township, a premier assisted living facility in the South Western Pennsylvania region that is owned and developed by Health Care REIT, has been awarded LEED Silver certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). LEED, established by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), is the nations preeminent program for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings.
The strength of USGBC has always been the collective strength of our leaders in the building industry, said Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO & Founding Chair, U.S. Green Building Council. Given the extraordinary importance of climate protection and the central role of the building industry in that effort, Health Care REIT demonstrates their leadership through the LEED certification of Peters Township.
Peters Township is owned by Health Care REIT and operated by Paramount Health Resources. The LEED certification of Peters Township was based on a number of green design and construction features that positively contribute to the project and the broader community. Key sustainability metrics of the project include:
An integral part of Health Care REITs strategy is to make sustainable investments, which is the right thing to do for the environment while also creating value for our shareholders, said George L. Chapman, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of Health Care REIT. The pursuit and accomplishment of LEED certification for Peters Township demonstrates Health Care REITs industry-leading capabilities, as well as its commitment to be a full-service capital partner.
Peters Township is a state-of-the-art, premier assisted living community that is focused on providing the highest level of clinical service to our residents, said James J. Cox, President and Chief Executive Officer of Paramount Health Resources. There was an alignment of incentives when we were given the opportunity to maximize resident satisfaction while employing sustainable strategies to protect the environment.
Health Care REIT is also pursuing LEED certification for several additional projects currently underway. The companys corporate headquarters was also recently awarded LEED Platinum.
About Health Care REIT, Inc.
Health Care REIT, Inc., an S&P 500 company with headquarters in Toledo, Ohio, is a real estate investment trust that invests across the full spectrum of seniors housing and health care real estate. The company also provides an extensive array of property management and development services. As of March 31, 2012, the companys broadly diversified portfolio consisted of 956 facilities in 46 states. More information is available on the companys website at http://www.hcreit.com.
About U.S. Green Building Council
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Health Care REIT Property Awarded Prestigious LEED® Environmental Certification
Senate bill aims to reduce health costs
BOSTON (WWLP) - The State Senate began debate Tuesday on health care payment reform.
Senate leaders say their version of the health care cost containment bill will reign-in skyrocketing health care costs, while at the same time updating how we deliver health care.
The Senate bill seeks to contain health care spending equal to the growth of the state economy. The bill encourages providers to adopt electronic health records and to become certified as Accountable Care Organizations that focus on wellness and sickness-prevention efforts.
A new Health Care Quality and Finance Authority would be created to keep an eye on spending and set annual health care cost goals. Governor Deval Patrick criticized the bill's creation of a new state agency, calling it a "bad Massachusetts habit." Nevertheless, Patrick did say there's a lot to like about the bill.
"This bill is 233 pages of ways to contain costs, said Sen. Gale Candaras (D-Wilbraham). It has wellness programs, it makes providers accountable for rates."
The Senate will sift through about 260 amendments to the bill; most of which will be rejected or withdrawn.
Senate President Therese Murray (D-Plymouth) has said she expects the health care overhaul bill to pass by July 1.
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Health-care Stocks: Cardinal Health settles Florida DEA charges
Drug distributor cuts deal on charges of improperly controlling distribution of pain medication at a facility in Lakeland, Fla.
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Health-care Stocks: Cardinal Health settles Florida DEA charges
VHA IMPERATIV(TM) Gives Hospital Leaders Holistic Performance Improvement Advantage
IRVING, TX--(Marketwire -05/15/12)- As health care leaders struggle to manage myriad new payment models and other demands associated with health care reform, the need for enterprise-wide visibility and the synthesis of clinical, operational and financial data has become a critical business requirement. To deliver this level of insight, VHA Inc., the national health care network, has developed VHA IMPERATIV, an enterprise-wide performance management solution to be unveiled and demonstrated at VHA's annual Leadership Conference in Denver, Colo., May 20-23.
Powered by analytics, expert advisory services and industry-leading best practices, the concept for VHA IMPERATIV was originally conceived through a collaboration of member hospitals in the VHA network. The VHA IMPERATIV roadmap includes sophisticated data analysis across the entire continuum of care that is considered integral to managing population health on a broad scale.
"Our 1,500 hospital members find that they must balance the complexities of emerging payment models and other health care reform changes with the need for continued superior clinical care and patient experience within a cost effective and patient-centric model. To support this, we've built a comprehensive, multi-dimensional solution designed to help each hospital achieve its performance improvement objectives. This solution meets each member where they are today in their transformation journey and guides them where they need to go moving forward," said Steve Miff PhD, senior vice president for VHA IMPERATIV. "Given today's pressures, this holistic, data-driven and collaborative approach allows health care leaders to quickly make well-informed decisions that will significantly improve their overall performance."
IMPERATIV componentsMiff explains that the sum is greater than the whole of its parts, with VHA IMPERATIV components, including: Advisory servicesVHA IMPERATIV is differentiated from other hospital performance improvement tools by a critical element to success: the human touch. VHA's expert advisors work with subscribers to synthesize opportunities and recommend performance improvement strategies based on factual information from multiple data sources throughout the enterprise. AnalyticsVHA IMPERATIV employs integrated data from clinical, financial and operational domains, combined with proven strategies, to deliver the insight to support current and emerging population-based payment models. VHA IMPERATIV building blocksVHA partners with Thomson Reuters and UHC to provide hospitals with industry-leading clinical and operational benchmarking data in an additional subscription-based service called VHA IMPERATIV Advantage. VHA IMPERATIV Advantage provides all the service of the foundational offering plus more detailed analytics, robust data and advanced advisory services. VHA partnered with Thomson Reuters and UHC to include their powerful clinical and operational database systems into VHA IMPERATIV Advantage. VHA IMPERATIV Advantage incorporates clinical data tools CareDiscovery and CareDiscovery Quality Measures from Thomson Reuters and UHC's Clinical Data Base and Resource Manager, along with the operational data system from Thomson Reuters, ActionOI.
Thomson Reuters and UHC are recognized leaders at managing complex healthcare data and combing it with powerful analytics to uncover every opportunity to improve the efficiency and outcomes of healthcare services. Building upon existing relationships, these new collaborations unite information assets with the power of analytics, expert advisory services and industry knowledge to help hospitals improve their operational, clinical and financial performance.
KnowledgeMoving beyond data, VHA IMPERATIV leverages the VHA Leading Practice Blueprint library of more than 150 leading clinical and patient-centered practices including clostridium difficile, hand hygiene and urinary tract infections to help hospitals achieve CMS' Partnership for Patients improvement objectives as well as emerging national quality and cost improvement requirements on metrics such as 30-day readmission, care coordination, value analysis, reprocessing, inventory management and the patient centered medical home (PCMH).
Peer-to-Peer collaborationIn addition to data capture and analysis, VHA IMPERATIV encourages peer-to-peer networking and collaboration by expanding existing regional and national knowledge-sharing opportunities, which help to facilitate members' adoption of best practices. VHA advisors are available every step of the way to aid members in evaluating, prioritizing and identifying performance improvement opportunities.
To schedule a VHA IMPERATIV demonstration at the VHA Leadership Conference in Denver, contact Maxine Levy, 972.830.7845, mlevy@vha.com. For additional information on VHA IMPERATIV, visit http://www.vha.com/VHAIMPERATIV or call 800.842.5146 or 972.830.0626.
About VHA Inc. Based in Irving, TX, VHA Inc. is a national network of not-for-profit health care organizations that work together to drive maximum savings in the supply chain arena, set new levels of clinical performance, and identify and implement best practices to improve operational efficiency and clinical outcomes. Since 1977, VHA has leveraged its expertise in analytics, contracting, consulting and networks to help members achieve their operational, clinical and financial objectives. In 2011, VHA delivered record savings and value of $1.8 billion to members. VHA serves more than 1,350 hospitals and more than 30,000 non-acute care providers nationwide, coordinating delivery of its programs and services through its 15 regional offices. VHA has been ranked as one of the best places to work in healthcare by Modern Healthcare since the publication introduced this list in 2008.
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VHA IMPERATIV(TM) Gives Hospital Leaders Holistic Performance Improvement Advantage
Accretive Health Initiates Panel of Health Care Policy Experts to Establish National Standards for Health Care …
CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Accretive Health, Inc. (NYSE: AH - News) announced today that prominent health care and policy leaders have agreed to convene to develop a process for implementing national standards for how hospitals and other providers interact with patients regarding their financial obligations.
This process will create first-of-kind national standards for understanding expected charges, available resources, counseling, billing and payment procedures regardless of the ability to pay. An independent accreditation process will accompany the new standards, providing patients with assurance that they will be treated compassionately and fairly.
The group will identify and select an independent non-profit Standard Development Organization (SDO) to conduct a collaborative process among practitioners, patient advocates, and other interested parties. Once concluded, the group will advance the identified standards to a national accrediting organization.
Accretive Health initiated this process in order to provide clarity and consistency among providers and, as a result, help ensure a more uniform and transparent experience for patients as hospitals work to become more financially stable and bring down the cost of care.
The following noted health care and policy leaders have agreed to serve as independent conveners of the process:
CHAIRMAN
Michael O. Leavitt Former Secretary of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, three-term governor of Utah and former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. He is currently the founder of Leavitt Partners, which specializes in the health care field, and has led numerous large public and private collaborations.
ADVISORS
Tom Daschle Former U.S. Senator from South Dakota, former U.S. Senate Majority Leader, served three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and is a respected health care thought leader. He is currently a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress and a member of the Health Policy and Management Executive Council at the Harvard School of Public Health.
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Gov. Patrick promises health-care cost containment
Gov. Deval L. Patrick told Boston business leaders this morning that by the time he returns to speak to them again next year, Massachusetts will have the best health-care cost-containment system in the country to match what he said it has already, the highest access rates to medical care in the nation.
Lawmakers will pass some combination of bills put forward by the chief executive, the House and the Senate, he said. And he is confident the result will be an improvement, whatever the mixture of ideas turns out to be, despite jabs the states health-care system may have received in the presidential race.
The question for me is not whether there is a role for government. The question is, what is the role for government, Patrick said to a packed Seaport Hotel audience of members of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. Just as the public and private sectors came together to solve health-care access, we are going to find a solution together to containing health-care costs. We have already shown we can, the problem is how we can sustain it for the next decade and beyond.
The governor was greeted warmly by chamber President and CEO Paul Guzzi, who put continuing health-care cost reform front and center as the top issue for his members and the business community in general.
He praised Patrick for his willingness to hear the concerns of businesses and to work with them on health care and other issues.
We have enjoyed a working relationship which we think has been very, very productive, said Guzzi.
Patrick said many of the solutions to the states health-care improvements and cost containment will come from the hospitals, doctors and others working in that industry itself, all of whom have the closest knowledge of their own industry.
I am proud of the strong partnership we have built and am certain we will reach a good legislative conclusion together in the next few weeks. And I have no doubt that the future of health care as a business in Massachusetts is bright, he told his audience. We have challenged each other to make a big change. Thats what we do in Massachusetts. I know we can accomplish this. My confidence comes from the undeniable fact that, working together with many of you in this room, we have addressed problem after tough problem that had been talked about and yet left unsolved for decades.
And while the governor was received well by the business crowd, there were voices who expressed concern over problems yet to be resolved in the legislation.
Lynn Nicholas of the Massachusetts Hospital Association rose to challenge Patricks assertion that health-care costs might even be able to drop below the level of growth for the state economy in general.
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Local health care leaders plan obesity summit
In the 1940s, almost half of all adults smoked in this country. By 2010, that percentage had been more than cut in half, thanks to public health campaigns, the reduction of smoking advertising and the banning of smoking in restaurants and many public buildings.
Today, almost two-thirds of adults in Lancaster County are overweight or obese. A third of children also are overweight or obese. Together, they total more than a quarter of a million people here.
Local health care leaders are hoping that what happened to tobacco will happen to obesity and weight issues in the coming decades.
"I have hope because there are a lot of parallels with what happened with tobacco 40, 50 years ago," said Alice Yoder, a Lancaster General Health official who is coordinator of the Lighten Up Lancaster County Coalition. "The surgeon general put out a report. Things that were needed went in place. A lot of public awareness had to go on."
"I think obesity should be everybody's concern," said Steve Batchelor, director of wellness services for Ephrata Community Hospital.
Next week, more than 300 business, health care and community leaders will gather for a summit on the state of health in Lancaster County.
Berwood Yost of Franklin & Marshall College will present the results of a 2012 community health assessment, highlighting statistics on local residents' access to health care; their health behaviors; maternal and infant health; sexually transmitted diseases; substance abuse; and rates for diseases such as cancer, heart disease and stroke.
Lancaster General and Ephrata Community Hospital helped fund the study, as did a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The group also will hear Gretchen Van Wye of the New York City Department of Health discuss how that city has tried to reduce obesity.
And it will hear a panel, including representatives from a health care provider, an employer, an insurer and a public agency, talk about the best practices for improving a community's health.
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Schizophrenia’s core genetic features proposed
Researchers may be closing in on diseases inherited component
Web edition : 1:40 pm
Schizophrenias elusive genetic roots may finally be within grasp. A new, wide-ranging effort has uncovered a set of DNA signatures that are shared by people with the disease consistently enough that the set can be used to reliably predict whether someone has the disease. If replicated, the results may point out ways to diagnose schizophrenia and suggest new targets for treatment.
By analyzing a battery of 542 genetic variants, researchers could predict who had schizophrenia in a group of European Americans and African Americans. The confirmation of the result in people of varying ancestry suggests that the set of genes truly does detect the core features of the disorder, scientists report online May 15 in Molecular Psychiatry.
Genetic studies in psychiatry tend to produce initial excitement but are then not reproduced in independent populations, which is the most important proof that a finding is solid and real, says study coauthor Alexander Niculescu of the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis.
Niculescu and his colleagues created their gene panel by assessing a slew of earlier studies on schizophrenia: Data from humans and animals on gene variation and gene behavior all fed into the teams analysis. If a gene popped out of several different datasets, the reasoning went, it is probably important to schizophrenia. Niculescu compares this method called convergent functional genomics to an Internet search: The more links to a web page, the higher it comes up on your search list.
After sifting through all of this data, the team identified some top candidates, some already known to be related to schizophrenia (DISC1, a known culprit, sits at the top of the list) and a handful that have never before been linked to the disease.
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In Sperm Banks, a Matrix of Untested Genetic Diseases
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Genetic test identifies eye cancer tumors likely to spread
Public release date: 14-May-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jim Dryden jdryden@wustl.edu 314-286-0110 Washington University School of Medicine
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have developed a genetic test that can accurately predict whether the most common form of eye cancer will spread to other parts of the body, particularly the liver.
In 459 patients with ocular melanoma at 12 centers in the United States and Canada, the researchers found the test could successfully classify tumors more than 97 percent of the time.
The study will appear in an upcoming issue of the journal Ophthalmology, but is now online.
"When the cancer spreads beyond the eye, it's unlikely any therapy is going to be effective," says principal investigator J. William Harbour, MD. "But it's very possible that we can develop treatments to slow the growth of metastatic tumors. The real importance of this test is that by identifying the type of tumor a patient has, we can first remove the tumor from the eye with surgery or radiation and then get those individuals at high risk into clinical trials that might be able to help them live longer."
Harbour believes the test should allow ocular oncologists to quickly evaluate the risks associated with particular tumors and to begin treatment the moment they can detect any spread of the cancer.
Melanoma of the eye is relatively rare, diagnosed in about 2,000 people in the United States each year. Advances in treatment have allowed surgeons to preserve patients' vision, but when cancer spreads beyond the eye, it often is deadly.
About a decade ago, Harbour, the Paul A. Cibis Distinguished Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, began using gene expression profiling to monitor the activity of thousands of genes in and around ocular melanoma tumors.
"At the time, we were surprised to see that based on these gene expression profiles, the tumors clustered into two groups that corresponded, almost perfectly, to patients whose cancer spread and those whose cancer was confined within the eye," says Harbour, who directs Washington University's Center for Ocular Oncology. "Tumors with a class 1 gene expression profile, or 'signature,' very rarely spread, but those with a class 2 profile frequently develop into metastatic cancer."
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In Sperm Banks, a Roll of the Genetic Dice
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Given number of inheritors, donor sperm carries risk of genetic harm
In households across the country, children conceived with donated sperm are struggling with serious genetic conditions inherited from men they have never met: heart defects, spinal muscular atrophy, neurofibromatosis type 1 and fragile-X syndrome the most common form of mental retardation in boys and others.
Donated eggs pose a risk as well, but the threat of genetic harm from sperm donation is arguably much greater. Sperm donors are no more likely to carry genetic diseases than anybody else, but they can father a far greater number of children: 50, 100 or even 150, each a potential inheritor of flawed genes.
Sharine and Brian Kretchmar of Yukon, Okla., tried a number of medical treatments to conceive a second child.
After a depressing series of failures, they were advised by a doctor to find a sperm donor. For more than a year, the Kretchmars researched sperm banks and donors. The donor they chose was a family man, a Christian like them, they were told. Most important, he had a clean bill of health. So the Kretchmars jumped in. After artificial insemination, Sharine Kretchmar became pregnant, and in April 2010, she gave birth to a boy they named Jaxon.
But the baby failed to have a bowel movement in the first day or so after birth, a sign to doctors that something was wrong. Doctors returned with terrible news: Jaxon appeared to have cystic fibrosis.
"We were pretty much devastated," Sharine Kretchmar said.
Genetic testing showed that Jaxon did carry the genes for cystic fibrosis. Sharine Kretchmar, 33, had no idea she was a carrier and was shocked to discover that so, too, was the Kretchmars' donor.
His sperm, they would discover, was decades old, originally donated at a laboratory halfway across the country and frozen ever since. Whether it was properly tested is a matter of dispute.
Experience not unique
Sadly, the Kretchmars' experience is not unique.
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Given number of inheritors, donor sperm carries risk of genetic harm
Berkeley Trains "Harmless" Viruses to Harvest Human Kinetic Energy
Viruses act as tiny piezoelectric generators
Viruses, tiny chunks of protein and nucleic acid, have long plagued mankind and its evolutionary ancestors before it. But thanks to the wonders of modern genetic engineering, researchers believe they have finally been able to instill a beneficial purpose in these deadly pests.
I. From Pest to Power
A team of researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory -- one of 16 U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratories -- has created a special breed of virus that undergoes self-nanoassembly to form tiny piezoelectric generators -- machines which harvest mechanical energy (vibrations or pressure) to directly produce electricity.
The special "bug" is the M13 bacteriophage, a rod-shaped virus that only infects bacteria (such asE. coli bacteria)-- not humans.
Faculty researchersSeung-Wuk Lee, Ramamoorthy Ramesh, and Byung Yang Lee selected the virus due to its tendency to self-assemble into nanofilms, given its rod-like shape. The viruses tightly pack "like chopsticks in a box" and are easy to grow by the millions given a small supply of host bacteria.
II. Refining the Virus
But the effect was too weak to be of use. So the researchers spliced a quadruplet of negatively charged amino acids into one of the coat proteins. The results was a larger voltage gradient across the coat. The researchers also tested stacking films of the modifed viruses to see how thick they could layer the viruses in order to get the maximum effect.
When pressure was applied to the film a 400 millivolt, 6 nanoampere current was put off. That's about a quarter of the voltage of an AAA battery, albeit at a far smaller current. Still it was enough to power a '1' to show up on a low-power liquid crystal display.
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Berkeley Trains "Harmless" Viruses to Harvest Human Kinetic Energy
Scientists Make Groundbreaking Discovery Of Mutation Causing Genetic Disorder In Humans
Hamamy syndrome is a rare genetic disorder which is marked by abnormal facial features and defects in the heart, bone, blood and reproductive cells. Its exact cause was unknown until now. The international team, led by scientists at IMB, have pinpointed the genetic mistake to be a mutation in asingle gene called IRX5.
This is the first time that a mutation in IRX5 (and the family of IRX genes) has ever been discovered in man. IRX5 is part of a family of transcription factors that is highly conserved in all animals, meaning that this gene is present not only in humans but also in mice, fish, frogs, flies and even worms. Using a frog model, the scientists demonstrated that Irx5 orchestrates cell movements in the developing foetus which underlie head and gonad formation.
Carine Bonnard, a final-year PhD student at IMB and the first author of the paper, said, "Because Hamamy syndrome causes a wide range of symptoms, not just in newborn babies but also in the adult, this implies that IRX5 is critical for development in the wombas well as for the function of many organs in our adult body. For example, patients with this disease cannot evacuate tears from their eyes, and they will also go on to experience repetitive bone fractures (Annex A) or progressive myopia as they age.This discovery of the causative gene is a significant finding that will catalyze research efforts into the role of the Irx gene family and greatly increase our understanding of human health, such as bone homeostasis, or gamete formation for instance."
"We believe that this discovery could open up new therapeutic solutions to common diseases like osteoporosis, heart disease, anaemia which affect millions of people worldwide," said Dr Bruno Reversade, Senior Principle Investigator at IMB. "Thefindings also provide a framework for understanding fascinating evolutionary questions, such as why humans of different ethnicities have distinct facial features and how these are embedded in our genome. IRX genes have been repeatedly co-opted duringevolution, and small variation in their activity could underlie fine alterations in the way we look, or perhaps even drastic ones such as the traits seen in an elephant, whale, turtle or frog body pattern."
Only a handful of people in the worldhave been identified with Hamamy Syndrome making it a very rare genetic disorder. Rare genetic diseases, usually caused by mutations in a single gene, provide a unique opportunity to better understand more common disease processes. These "natural"experiments are similar to carefully controlled knockout animal experiments in which the function of single genes are analyzed and often give major insights into general health issues.[2]
Prof Birgitte Lane, Executive Director of IMB, said, "Understanding how various pathways in the human body function is the foundation for developing new therapeutic targets. This is an important piece of research that I believe will be of great interest to many scientists and clinicians around the world becauseofthe clinical and genetic insights it brings to a large range of diseases."
Notes for editor: The research findings described in this news release can be found on Nature Genetics's website under the title "Mutations in IRX5 impair craniofacialdevelopment and germ cell migration via SDF1" by Carine Bonnard[1], Anna C Strobl[2], Mohammad Shboul1, Hane Lee[3], Barry Merriman[3], Stanley F Nelson[3], Osama H Ababneh[4], Elif Uz[5],[6], Tulay Guran[7], Hulya Kayserili[8], Hanan Hamamy[9],[10]& Bruno Reversade[1],[11].
[1] Institute of Medical Biology, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, Singapore
[2] Division of Systems Biology, Medical Research Council National Institute for Medical Research, London,UK
[3] Department of Human Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA
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Scientists Make Groundbreaking Discovery Of Mutation Causing Genetic Disorder In Humans
Paradigm-shifting publishing format for scientific research
Public release date: 14-May-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Sophie Mohin smohin@liebertpub.com Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News
New Rochelle, NY, May 7, 2012 In direct contrast to the increasingly cumbersome and frustrating current model for authoring, editing, reviewing, and publishing scientific literature, Kondziolka et al. have developed an interactive knowledge network, called World Science, that will radically change how scientific knowledge is written, published, and shared. This breakthrough in scientific publishing is featured in an article in the inaugural issue of Disruptive Science and Technology, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. To request a copy of the article "A Knowledge Network for Authoring, Reviewing, Editing, Searching, and Using Scientific or Other Credible Information," please contact journalmarketing1@liebertpub.com.
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By including multiple elements of knowledge engagement, users, readers, and reviewers can easily examine papers with intuitive and user-friendly tools. On a broader scale, all of the contributors, reviewers, and publishers become part of an integrated knowledge network that focuses on increasing the flow and sharing of scientific information worldwide.
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