Siddheshvar Bhela----> back in the game!!

**I, Siddheshvar Bhela, created an account on www.blogger.com , however i was unable to join the bioenginnersatwork blog. So I am posting my article through Tanisha Sharma's account. **


Back In The Game
The most common injuries in any kind of game is generally sprains or strains of ligaments or muscles. The article states talks how a new high technology approach to project fragile bones can get injured players back into the game. Experts in orthotics and prosthetics are developing new injury braces using a combination of plastic and carbon that is heated to become soft and then molded into perfect-fitting shapes that allow players to play while offering full protection to injuries.
http://www.ivanhoe.com/science/story/2006/04/125a.html

Siddheshvar Bhela

**I, Siddheshvar Bhela, created an account on www.blogger.com , however i was unable to join the bioenginnersatwork blog. So I am posting my article through Tanisha Sharma's account.

Heat Treatment for Asthma

Researchers at McMaster, a distinguished University in Ontario, Canada, have discovered a new treatment of asthma using heat to reduce the extent to which the airways in the lungs can constrict. Surrounding these airways are smooth muscle cells, which are in control of contraction and expansion. For asthma patients, smooth muscle tissue contracts beyond the normal limit for a healthy person, resulting in difficulty breathing, wheezing, and in severe cases suffocation. Dr. Gerard Cox and Dr. John Miller discovered bronchial thermoplasty by realizing that heating the smooth muscle tissue to 65 degrees Celsius destroys many of the surrounding cells. New loose connective tissue replaces the smooth muscle tissue and in doing so limits the extent to which the airways can constrict. A bronchoscope, a flexible tube, is inserted into the patient’s lungs via mouth or nose. A catheter with an expandable heat source at the tip is fed through the bronchoscope into the lungs and in the thirty minute procedure, radiofrequency energy kills about half of the smooth muscle cells surrounding the esophagus. The heat is hot enough to kill the smooth muscle cells, yet not too hot as to damage the esophagus permanently. After three short treatments, patients walk away with limited pain from the bronchoscope and relatively no pain from the actual treatment. Results are still being observed, but thus far patients experience a tremendous increase in quality of life and have a significant decrease in asthma symptoms. Tests have been in effect for little over two years; consequently lasting damage has yet to be discovered. Nevertheless, scientists are hopeful that bronchial thermoplasty will play a significant role in asthma treatments in years to come.

http://www.emaxhealth.com/108/4970.html

Paclitaxel-Eluting Stent Prevents Restenosis

Restenosis, the re-narrowing of an artery, is a major concern following balloon angioplasty and the instillation of coronary stents. Following coronary stenting, smooth-muscle cells proliferate and extracellular matrix production increases. This is known as neointimal hyperplasia and is the main cause of restenosis following stinting. This article describes the success of trials utilizing a polymer-based stent which slowly delivers Paclitaxel to the target site. Paclitaxel is an agent that interrupts cellular replication, thus inhibiting neointimal hyperplasia. This device is very promising for the prevention of restenosis after the treatment of atherosclerotic lesions.

Full Article:
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/350/3/221

Portable Handheld MRI Sans Magnet

Recently scientists at Berkeley have discovered a way in which they can produce MRI scans without the use of magnets and can have temporal resolutions of .1 seconds and eventually spatials resolutions on the nanoliter scale. The technique, rather than using large superconducting magnetic coils as both the polarizer and detector, uses vapor chambers of polarized rubidium gas that respond to the depolarization of the target atoms by depolarizing themselves. This can very easily be measured by this magneto-optical detector device and the group eventually hopes to shrink the device to a battery operated handheld unit that could be used for onsite medical imaging.

I think it is awesome to think that in the future, the EMT's at the scene of a car accident will be able to internally image someone and be able to see in real time, the movement of blood internal to the patient and diagnose the level of internal injury/bleeding before the person ever leaves the pavement.

Nanotechnology bawsed plaque fighting therapy

The article called, Endothelial alpha-v-beta-3 Integrin-Targeted Fumagillin Nanoparticles Inhibit Angiogenesis in Atherosclerosis, describes a nano-technology based plaque-fighting therapy that opens a new field to heal cardiovascular and atherosclerotic diseases. In this new technique, the researchers actually combined the molecular imagining technique and the drug delivery with nanoparticles. Researchers successfully reduced angiogenesis by a great amount (about 60~80%), and at the same time they were able to monitor the condition of the patient by MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) technique. This is significant development that cut down the amount of drug needed and the side effects followed by overdosing. For instance, the over use of fumagillin, an antibiotic that is often used to block blood vessel formation, can cause neurocognitive side effects. With this newly developed technique, people will be able use those substances that are toxic at high concentration safely since it now needs only very small amount.

Whole article:

http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/cgi/content/full/63/18/5838

(Simplified version of the original article:)

http://atvb.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/26/9/2103

First Biotechnology Product for Arthritis Approved

First Biotechnology Product for Arthritis Approved
The FDA approved a new genetically engineered protein called etanercept to reduce the symptoms of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. It can also be used with methotrexate, to help patients who do not benefit from methotrexate alone. Etanercept binds to tumor necrosis factor and inhibits its actions. The tumor necrosis factor is what promotes inflammation in arthritis patients and is found around affected joints of rheumatoid arthritis patients. Clinical trials proved that 59 percent of patients treated with etanercept, compared to 11 percent untreated groups had a reduction in symptoms including swollen and painful joints. After treatment, patients will able to recover normal daily activities .
I found this article important because it demonstrates the advances in biotechnology and the significance of it to find breakthroughs to treat diseases. It is also the first biotechnology product approved by the FDA, this brings hope that research within this area will continue to advance to find treatments for arthritis patients.
http://www.webmd.com/content/article/6/1680_50447.htm

Smell vs. Hunger

It has always been known that the sense of smell seems to trigger hunger in most individuals. Once the smell is introduced to the body, the digestion system begins to "warm up" anticipating its food. Dr. Alan Hirsch developed flavor crystals to intensify the flavor of food which might make people eat less. ""It made some anatomical sense," Hirsch says, because of a connection between the nose and the brain. The reason people feel full, he says, is because it's usually our brains, not our stomachs, that interpret whether we've had enough food. This is based on how much food enters our mouth, as well as how much we smell and taste."
Dr. Hirsch employed his theory by giving dieters tubes of flavor crystals that they could smell when hungry in effort to curb their appetites. Dieters in this study lost an average of 30lbs in six months compared to the "traditional" dieters who only lost 6.
So next time you feel yourself craving chocolate, smell it-rather than eat it. It'll satisfy your craving acting as a displacement mechanism without adding pounds to your figure.
Read the whole article: http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=50353

Female Scientist rewarded!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15064707/

The link is simply a news article noting Elizabeth Blackburn's acheivements. Blackburn is the scientist who discovered the protien telomerase which determines the lifespan of cells. She was honored with the Lasker award which is the highest regognition in American science. Graduating as the only female in her graduate class, Blackburn strives to interest more women into her field. At her lab in California, the woman/man ratio is 50/50 which is highly uncommon in the field of science though she notes its merely "the biological ratio". Blackburn is a suspected candidate for the Nobel Prize to be awarded October 2, 2006.

It's nice to hear of a woman succeeding in the role of a scientist as it is a male dominated field. I think it inspires other women in this field and seems personal being one of the few females in A&M's engineering college.

New Calcium-Sensing MRI Contrast Agent

A researcher at MIT has developed a new calcium-sensitive MRI contrast agent that will improve the ability to observe brain function. Current functional MRI machines measure brain function by detecting blood flow through regions of the brain stimulated by electrical waves. This technique has its limitations because once the neurons fire, the change in bloodflow takes several seconds to occur, thus precise activity is not measured. A calcium sensitive MRI agent is a better alternative because it will enter the neurons almost immediately after they are fired. Therefore, increased calcium levels can be tracked as information actually flows through the circuitry of the brain. The designer is using what are called "superparamagnetic nanoparticles" as the sensor for the agent. These particles are molecule sized and can produce higher-resolution images of the brain, than their blood imaging counterparts. This new technique will help in studying the circuitry of the brain.

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2006/imaging-neurons.html


I found this article appealing because it demonstrates how nanotechnology is being used to improve the functionality of MRI scanners. My device team is studying Alzheimer's disease. This new technique will improve the ability to study the brain and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's.

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2006/imaging-neurons.html

Nanoshell-mediated near-infrared thermal therapy of tumors under magnetic resonance guidance

Many new surgical techniques have been developed to 'take out' tumors that are in well defined, accessible regions of the body. However, surgery leaves much trama to the muscles, tissues and cells surrounding the tumor. It is because of the risk of injuring healthy tissues, tumors that develop within the proximity of a vital organ or tissue cannot be surgically removed without serious consequences. With the help of biomedical engineers and physicians, a team of scientists were able of find a more effective method for removing tumors close to vital organs or tissues. The newly developed minimally invasive thermal ablation treatment uses heat to target and destroy(denature) specific cells/tissue with as little damage to surrounding cells/tissues. In this article the team used silica-gold nano particles(fabrication method shown in the article) with a strong absorption to nearly infrared light(NIR; powered externally by a low-power diode laser). The nanoshells were coated with immunoinert materials as well as combined them with biomolecules for targeted therapy. According to the Mie Scattering Theory the gold surface of the nanoshells is shown to be more likely to absorb light and convert it into thermal energy. The thermal energy(heat) is concentrated only on the targeted tissue, which heats it 37.4 degrees more than its normal functioning temperature leaving surrounding healthy tissues with little or no damage. When nanoshells and NIR are combined with real-time magnetic resonance temperature imaging(MRTI), they created a minimally invasive thermal treatment method for many types of cancers.

http://www.pubmedcentral.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=263851

I found this article very interesting because ever since SNBAL #1 I've wondered if such techniques for nanoshells were being used or duplicated to further extend their use. It was also nice to see that this technique was used in vitro and in vivo(mice). The results and the effectiveness of the treatment is amazing as far at the percentage of tumors destroyed with minimal harm to healthy tissue.
(Article published and experiments are done by Rice Bioengineers and University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center)

Genes Coding for Electric Response Found

This article provides information to support the idea that electric fields play a role in guiding cells to heal wounds. Although it has been long known that wounds generate faint electric fields around the affected area, the mechanism behind how these electric fields are generated was unclear until now. Researchers in the United Kingdom were able to identify which genes were in charge of this electric response, which is known as electrotaxis. They were able to do so by tagging cells with fluorescent markers that lit up when electrical signals induced a biochemical cascade inside the cell.
Not only were they able to identify the electric field, but they were also able to find which genes encoded for this response in cells by applying electric fields to artificial wounds in cell culture dishes and real wounds in rodent corneas. By doing so they detected epithelial cells rushing towards the wound center; reversing the field caused the cells to change direction. They then disrupted a gene called p110 gamma, which releases a key chemical in chemotaxis (a chemical response). After doing so, cells did not move to the affected area in response to the applied electric field.
These findings are vey exciting because they can lead to developing more rapid, bioelectric methods to help aid wounds, virtually eliminating recovery time after a serious injury!


CHECK IT OUT! http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2006/726/2

World's Smallest Laser

Doing research for our nanobot project, I ran across this article about lasers. http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/extreme_machines/1280846.html I assume most of you won’t bother reading that, but basically it boils down to this. “Measuring barely a hundred-millionth of a millimeter across, the smallest nanolaser was crafted by Charles Lieber and his colleagues at Harvard University. It consists of individual wires of cadmium sulphide, a semiconductor similar to the silicon found in everyday electronic circuits.” The article goes on to say that these lasers can help surgeons perform microscopic surgeries. These lasers haven’t been perfected yet, because to draw power, they need to be activated by another larger laser, but these nanolasers have potential to destroy artery clogging plaque, but they also are trying to be used in devices outside of the biological realm, e.g. quantum computers. Another “problem” is that these lasers can only flash for about 100milliseconds before they lose power, but to destroy plaque, all we need is for our laser to turn on for a little bit, and zap the plaque, and turn off. For team Solo, this means the technology, as it stands now, is optimum for our specific nanobot. I think it’s fascinating that something so small can be developed that can help humans in such huge ways.

Artificial Pancreas

Researchers are working on an artificial pancreas that would regulate patients' blood sugar. Hopefully, it would allow diabetics to not have to deal with daily pricks to monitor their insulin level. The machine would combine functions of other devices, sampling blood sugar levels and supplying the needed amount of insulin. The device is still almost a decade away from marketing. A study at Yale University was done with a prototype. The size of the study was small (there were only 18 patients), but the machine was effective. Researchers still have much work to be done for the device to be approved by the FDA. I found this article interesting because it shows how bioengineers are working to create artificial organs.

http://www.webmd.com/content/article/127/116858.htm

Vitamin C improves endothelium-dependent vasodilatation in patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus

Patients with diabetes mellitus develop atherosclerotic vascular disease earlier than nondiabetic patients. The endothelium plays a critical role in regulating vascular function by releasing nitric oxide. Endothelium-derived nitric oxide reduces vascular resistance and inhibits platelet adhesion to the vascular wall. Endothelial dysfunction in diabetic patients is contributed by the inactivation of nitric oxide by oxygen-derived free radicals. Vitamin C is an antioxidant capable of scavenging free radicals. Though a study it was concluded that Vitamin C selectively restores the damaged endothelium-dependent vasodilatation in patients with insulin-dependent diabetes.

I found this article to be interesting because my family has a history of diabetes. It was also interesting because an earlier SNBL and the use of the antioxidants.

http://content.onlinejacc.org/cgi/reprint/31/3/552

Human Red Blood Cell’s Amazing Flexibility.

A team of UCSD researchers discovered the secret behind human red cells flexibility. In their research they stated that the human red blood cell membrane skeleton is a network of roughly 33,000 protein hexagons that looks like a microscopic geodesic dome. Each hexagon vertex is joined with flexible lines to a central maypole-like proto-filament, giving it the capability to curl and contort without breaking, which also helps to squeeze out the oxygen into the tissues. The more a red blood cell is mechanically deformed, the more likely its individual proto-filaments will rotate left and right like which would speed up the movement of oxygen from one side of the membrane to the other. The shape of red blood cells is also the most favorable for maximizing surface area (for diffusion) without sacrificing volume (for payload). If they were inflexible disks, they would get trapped, starving tissues of oxygen and causing death.

I found this article interesting and thought provoking as very little was known on how the RBC’s behave once they deform and it was related to my field biomedical engineering.


http://www.jacobsschool.ucsd.edu/news_events/releases/release.sfe?id=484

U.S. Ban on Trans Fat

Since our group is doing hypertension, I thought this article is of some interest. I actually saw this report on the NBC nightly news on September 27. Anyways, the article is from http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=22&art_id=qw1159394581837B243, titled "US trans fat ban: life-saver or Orwellian?". It talks about the American obesity epidemic and how that's related to the trans fat. According to medical professionals, trans fat can dramatically increase one's blood pressure, and risk of heart attack not to mention other weight related problems. New York city is considering a ban all trans fat in restaurants especially the fast food chains. This ban according to officals will lower the risk of early death and generally make people more healthy. Some restaurants in the area have already changed their cooking oil from trans fat based to regular butter or vegetable oils. So what is trans-fat, well, I did a little bit of reading on it on wikipedia. Trans-fat is a chemically motified vegetable oil. Trans fat naturally occurs in animal fats in very low percentages; 1 or 2 percent at most. Oil from animal fats are reported to be more expensive than vegetable oil, yet animal fat based oil is needed to "give the french fries the crunch". So, us engineers chemically motified vegetable oil so that it will have a much higher boiling point. This property give food a much longer shelf life and its distinct fast food test. Anyways, going back to the article, this ban while good is an infringement on civil liberty. People themselves ultimately have the choice of what they want eat. If the government has to step in to tell people what they can eat, then what's next? How is that different from communism? Restaurants will change its ways based on popular demands. Those restaurants that serve food bathed in trans fat will not attract business from health conscience customers and vise versa.

New Formula Predicts Osteoporosis Fracture Risk

In this article, Australian researchers have come up with a formula that will predict osteoporosis factures with 75% accuracy. In the current method used, doctors currently compare T-scores (which compare bone scores with yound females at peak bone density) and Z-scores (a comparison of age matched peers). It was mainly tested on women. The researchers then go to assess that heavier body women are more likely to have a fracture due to the ammount of force applied in a fall.

To me, this was interesting in noting that many items in medicine can be formulated by math modeling or equations.

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=64407

New Formula Predicts Osteoporosis Fracture Risk

In this article, Australian researchers have come up with a formula that will predict osteoporosis factures with 75% accuracy. In the current method used, doctors currently compare T-scores (which compare bone scores with yound females at peak bone density) and Z-scores (a comparison of age matched peers). It was mainly tested on women. The researchers then go to assess that heavier body women are more likely to have a fracture due to the ammount of force applied in a fall.

To me, this was interesting in noting that many items in medicine can be formulated by math modeling or equations.

Antimicrobial Gloves Are a Simple Way to Reduce MDR Nosocomial Infections

Research done at the University of Texas on the effects of antimicrobial gloves reveals that they would reduced pathogen transmission, including E-coli and Staphylococcocus aureus, by at least 90% after long-term exposures to the pathogens, and by 100% after short-term exposures. Dr. Reitzel and his colleagues developed and tested a combination of antiseptics, which they used to coat disposable latex and nitrile exam gloves. They then tested for how much bacteria stuck on the coated glove and original glove when exposed to bacteria for different lengths of time. These gloves would be ideal for use in clinical settings and the food industry. Each year one million of the hospitalized patients in the US develop a nosocomial infection (infections which are a result of treatment in a hospital), which are primarily transmitted from healthcare worker to patient. "Bacterial infections are also responsible for 30% of all cases of food poisoning each year; 325,000 of these patients require hospitalization and approximately 5000 patients die."
I think these gloves are a pretty good idea, but I am surprised that they were not developed earlier.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/545204

Elevated Testosterone leads to Nerve Cell Apoptosis

Researchers at Yale found that taking large doses of steroids can lead to a critical loss in nerve cells. Steroids cause behavioral changes (such as aggressiveness) that show signs of changes in neuronal function. In neurons, testosterone acts as a neuroactive steroid and can alter neuron excitability by interacting with neurotransmitter-gated ion channels, which leads to changes in behavior and mood. Overactivation of the intracellular Ca2+ signaling pathways was found to trigger testosterone-induced apoptosis of the nerve cells.

I found this article interesting because it is relevant to brain/neuron physiology, which our group had to learn for our device design project.

Link:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060926104352.htm

Elevated Testosterone leads to Nerve Cell Apoptosis

Researchers at Yale found that taking large doses of steroids can lead to a critical loss in nerve cells. Steroids cause behavioral changes (such as aggressiveness) that show signs of changes in neuronal function. In neurons, testosterone acts as a neuroactive steroid and can alter neuron excitability by interacting with neurotransmitter-gated ion channels, which leads to changes in behavior and mood. Overactivation of the intracellular Ca2+ signaling pathways was found to trigger testosterone-induced apoptosis of the nerve cells.

I found this article interesting because it is relevant to brain/neuron physiology, which our group had to learn for our device design project.

Link:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060926104352.htm

Visual Hallucinations and Parkinson's Disease

Studies are now being conducted concerning hallucinations that correspond to having Parkinson's disease. Multiple aspects of brain function are affected with this disease. Subjects that displayed the worst symptoms were those with the worst cases of Parkinson's and those that were older. It was important in this study to find the similarities between a "normal" Parkinson's patient and a patient that had hallucinations to see if the same areas of the brain were affected. This is interesting because Parkinson's disease usually affects motor skills to the greatest extent, now it is found to be affecting visual capacities.

http://jnnp.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/abstract/70/6/727

New vaccine would target ear, sinus infections

A US research group said they would begin trials for a new vaccine aimed at preventing childhood ear and sinus infection, as well as bronchitis in adults. The vaccine will target Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae or NTHi, which is the main remaining cause of ear and sinus infections and bronchitis. "For ear infections they are the No. 1 cause, for sinus infections they are the No. 1 cause and for bronchitis in adults they are the No. 1 cause, but they do not invade the bloodstream and cause life-threatening illness in normal people," Pichichero said. Ear infections are almost never fatal, however, they occur in over eighty percent of children before the age of three. Many doctors agree that antibiotics are overused in America, wasting money and helping to develop immune strands of bacteria. Infections in children is one of the leading reasons for antibiotic prescriptions. This vaccine would help to prevent such overuse.

This vaccine is interesting because it is one of the first vaccines aimed not at saving lives but at preventing nuisance illnesses. Testing is now beggining and if successful, cold viruses would become the leading cause of repiratory diseases.

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa011&articleID=305DDAD049F65A2C241DBB6E6F746C54

Ultra-sensitive Blood Test for Breast Cancer

In the past, the detection of breast cancer has been a major concern due to the difficulty of detecting the cancer at its early stages. Most of the time female breast cancer patients aren't diagnosed with the disease until the cancer has progressed, and this makes treatment less effective. This article is addressing this detection issue. Now an international research group is developing a new, "ultra-sensitive" blood test for breast cancer that should make this detection occer earlier for patients. The test will also allow an easier administration that the traditional mammogram. This new test, if proven effective, could be used not only in the detection of breast cancer, but also for prostate cancer, ovarian cancer, and melanoma. This test will be useful for these cancers because they are all epithelial cancers; the cancers originate in the epithelial cells of the body. This test will be more sensitive in breast cancer detection in younger women as well because it would be more sensitive than a mammogram. Overall, if this "ultra-sensitive" blood test is proven effective and successful, the outcome for many cancer patients will be more positive, and thus give patients more of a fighting chance in their battle with cancer.

By: Pamela Myers

site: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060826215007.htm

Stem Cell trial for rare and fatal disease

The phase I trial for stem cells being used with Batten's disease is now taking place in humans. Batten's is a very rare neurodegenerative disease that affects children from 6 months to 10 years of age. These children lack an enzyme that breaks down complex fat and protein complexes. When these fats and proteins aren't broken down, they accumulate and eventually kill the cells around them becoming fatal by the late teens or early 20's. A phase I trial is not used to test effectiveness of the treatment, but rather the safety of the treatment, periodically testing on six different children with Batten's. In animal testing, the stem cells formed into cells that produce the missing enzymes. Researchers hope that this same outcome will occur in human testing. This is one of few tests proceeding to human testing after President Bush limited federal funding for stem cell research in 2001. As of that date, only embryos taken before the limit was placed could be tested on, which greatly reduced the amount of high quality testing. Hopefully this will be a step in the right direction for the children that are affected by this deadly disease.

http://health.msn.com/healthnews/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100145773

Fatty Fish Fight Cancer

The article states that eating fatty fish such as salmon, herring, sardines, and mackerel might lower the risk of kidney cancer in women. Fatty fish are full of omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D. They found that women who ate fatty fish at least once a week had a 44% chance of lowering the risk of kidney cancer. Those that ate fatty fish on a daily basis over a ten year period had up to 74% chance of lowering their risk of kidney cancer. The report did not state that eating fatty fish will prevent kidney cancer but there is a link between them that will require future research.

Full text of the article:
www.webmd.com/content/article/127/116750.htm

Brain Microchips

http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2006/march22/boahensr-032206.html

With knowledge obtained form research in neuroscience, Dr. Kwabena Boahen is currently attempting to create a silicon chip that would mimic the way the brain's neural system works. Neural network computing is different from the regular binary-system computing in that it changes the way it works as new input is given. Dr. Boahen has already created a silicon retina that processes images in the same way a human retina would. The immediate result of the development of a silicon chip that works as the human brain would be greatly more efficient computers and with further studies, this type of silicon chips could aid in damaged neural tissue replacement in patients.

Reducing Nitric Oxide in the Brain makes All-Nighters Easier

http://www.childrenshospital.org/newsroom/Site1339/mainpageS1339P1sublevel238.html

In this article, published by the Children's Hospital of Boston, researchers studied the effects of nitric oxide on the brain. They found that nitric oxide produced in the basal forebrain stimulates the production of adenosine, which evenutally causes one to go into "recovery" sleep, which is what happens after you have been up for a while. Therefore, the reduction in the prodcution of nitric oxide will put off the sleep urge, making it easier for those that need to stay awake (soldiers, doctors, pilots, trucks, parents of newborns) to stay awake.

Though this seems promising to help keep these people who need it, the article says nothing about how the lack of sleep would effect function. Would these people still be as alert as they need to be? or would they just be awake and be of no use because of lack of rest? Also, the article does not say how long sleep can be prolonged effectively. More research needs to be done before this can go out of the lab and into society.

Nicotinamide May Help Slow The Progress of Multiple Sclerosis

http://www.medpagetoday.com/Neurology/MultipleSclerosis/tb/4144

Background on MS: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a disease in which the immune system attacks myelin, a material that coats the nerve fibers in the central nervous system. Myelin speeds the transmission of nerve signals and demyelination results in the interruption of nerve transmissions and various neurological symptoms. MS presents in two forms: relapsing-remitting MS, where the patient suffers from bouts of illness followed by periods of recovery, and chronic progressive MS. While anti-inflammatory drugs can help patients with relapsing-remitting MS, there is no good treatment for the chronic form.


The article: Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, a disease similar to MS, was induced in mice used to test the effectiveness of nicotinamide. The researchers found that mice injected with nicotinamide showed slower progression of the disease and had less neurological damage. Nicotinamide is the chemical precursor of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD). Researchers believe that injections of nicotinamide increases the biological levels of NAD and help prevent neuronal damage.

The results are promising because nicotinamide was also shown to be effective in the chronic stages of the disease for which there is no current treatment and because it readily crosses the blood brain barrier. It is also inexpensive and readily available. However, the doses used for the mice study are significantly higher than the doses that have ever been used clinically on humans.

Alzheimers Breakthrough

A recent Study is showing that alcohol (in the form of red wine) may help to prevent Alzheimer's. Testing has been done in mice and shown remarkable results. Mice that drank red wine for 7 months performed better in a maze than mice that drank only water for 7 months and mice that drank an ethanol/water mixture for 7 months. There was no difference between the water mice and water/ethanol mice. Apparently a component of red wine helps to stop the formation of certain brain proteins (mainly amyloid-beta) with a direct link to Alzheimers. The wine would instead cause a different protein to form. In order to be effective, the researchers project that one will have to drink 5-10 ounces of red wine a day. The amount differs for men and women. However, because this is a prelimenary study, researchers are not suggesting that people should begin drinking alcohol to prevent Alzheimer's.

The full text of this study can be seen at:
http://www.webmd.com/content/article/127/116757.htm

Genetic mutation kills the sex life of crickets!!

I feel sorry for the cricket!
Field crickets found in the Hawaiian island of Kauai have lost their ability to sound their mating call due to a genetic mutation that makes them able to avoid a predator! But who wants that kind of life anyway?
A rapid genetic evolution has literally left most of the crickets speechless as a result they are incapable of making their mating call, and thus unable to breed.
But these smart crickets found a way of continuing anyway by congregating near speakers that broadcast cricket calls. These speakers were set up as a laboratory study which found some very interesting results found in this article.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn10121-flying-sex-pest-silences-the-crickets.html

Medical News Summary: New breakthrough in spinal cord injury recovery

When nerve damage prevents brain signals reaching muscles which causes paralysis. Do you know that the enzymes also plays very important part of curing paralysis.

This is the link talk about the breakthrough in spinal cord injury recovery:

http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/news/new_breakthrough_in_spinal_cord_injury_recovery.htm

Fight Against Drug-Resistant Bacteria

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have come up with a new form of treatment using a technique called the microwave-assisted chemistry to design compounds called N-acylated L-homoserine lactones (AHLs) to deal with bacteria. This technique emphasizes on the concept on how bacteria behave in numbers, how they communicate with one another in order to mount an invasion of the body's system.

Quoted from Guardian Unlimited,

"These compounds are similar to those used by bacteria, but with one important difference - when they come into contact with bacteria they act as "earplugs", in effect leaving the bacteria oblivious to their neighbors. Because their communication system is cut, the bacteria never get the signal to attack or produce biofilms."

Although it is still being tested, the concept of doing such a thing is still quite amusing.

Catch the full article at

http://www.guardian.co.uk/medicine/story/0,,1869479,00.html#article_continue

Dilatoin of Arterioles in response to Adenosine

Hey guys,

While reasearching about coronary artery disease, and dilating the arterioles, i found this article pretty useful and interesting!

Researchers have examined the roles of specific adenosine receptor subtypes, nitric oxide (NO), and adenosine triphosphate (ATP)–sensitive K+ (KATP) channels in adenosine-induced dilation of retinal arterioles.

Check it out.

http://www.iovs.org/cgi/content/full/46/6/2113

Black Women In South Carolina More Likely To Develop, Die From Breast, Cervical Cancers, Study Says

Black women living in South Carolina are more likely to develop and die from breast and cervical cancers, compared to white women, according to a study published in the Journal of the South Carolina Medical Association, the AP/WHNS reports (AP/WHNS, 9/13). James Herbert of the University of South Carolina's Arnold School of Public Health and colleagues examined data from the South Carolina Central Cancer Registry to determine if health disparities exist among black and white residents diagnosed with cancer (USC release, 9/13). The study finds that black women are 60% more likely to die of breast cancer than white women in the state. In addition, black women are more likely to develop and die from cervical cancer than white women in the state, despite similar screening rates, the study finds. "While some of the differences, especially in mortality, are related to socio-economic factors that determine access to health care, we are pretty much in the dark regarding many of the underlying causes," Herbert said (AP/WHNS, 9/13). The researchers also found disparities among blacks and whites in the state diagnosed with colorectal, esophageal, lung, oral cavity and prostate cancers.

Taken from:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=52071

Aging May be Defense Mechanism Against Cancer

Researchers have discovered the gene p16INK-4a. This gene determines when cells stop dividing and start deteriorating. As we age, this gene becomes more active. Therefore, our cells may be protected against becoming cancerous, but as a result our bodies may physically and mentally "wear out." This research actually suggests that the physical deterioration is actually programmed into our genes in an attempt to prevent the body from developing cancer! Check out the article for yourself at :
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,214352,00.html?sPage=fnc.science/humanbody

E.coli spinach outbreak spreads across US

(Filed: 18/09/2006)

The number of people sickened by an E. coli outbreak traced to packs of spinach has climbed to 109.

	The E.coli is a deadly bacterium that causes bloody diarrhea and dehydration.

"This is unquestionably a significant outbreak in terms of E. coli," Dr. David Acheson, chief medical officer with the Food and Drug Administration's Centre for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, said.

The outbreak has prompted food producers Natural Selection to recall 34 brands, including the company's own label brands and those of other companies that had contracts with Natural Selection to produce or package its spinach.

Yesterday, River Ranch Fresh Foods of California, added to its recall spring mixes containing spinach, FDA officials said. All contain spinach purchased from Natural Selection, they said.

The recalls came as the federal Centres for Disease Control and Prevention intervened to help investigate the outbreak, which has killed a 77-year-old Wisconsin woman, officials said.

In Ohio, state health officials said they were investigating the death of a 23-month-old girl who was sickened by E. coli to determine whether the case was related to the outbreak. The girl's mother said she often buys bagged spinach.

E. coli cases linked to tainted spinach have been reported in 19 states, including California, Idaho, Kentucky, Maine and Wisconsin, according to the CDC.

The Food and Drug Administration continued to warn consumers not to eat fresh spinach or products containing fresh spinach until further notice.

Article taken from

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/09/18/uspinach.xml

Electric Jolt Triggers Release of

This article is about research being done at Johns Hopkins University using bursts of electricity to release particles from a gold electrode. This method could be used to release medicine or nanoparticles into the body. The gold electrodes are as thin as a piece of hair, and are attached to a chain of hydrocarbons with a biomolecule on one end. The current breaks the bond and releassd the biomolecule into the body.

http://www.jhu.edu/news_info/news/home06/sep06/nanobio.html

Treating varicose veins with radiofrequency or laser heat

People sometimes think that treating varicose veins is just for cosmetic reasons, but many patients are unhappy due to the pain and discomfort. About forty-one percent of American women may have varicose vein disease between the age of forty and fifty. Recently, there has been a new procedure to treat this disease. It is called VNUS Closure procedure, which uses heat to treat varicose vein disease. Age, pregnancy, genetics or injury can contribute to this disease, which occurs mainly in people with professions, such as, nurses, chefs, waitresses, and hairstylists that require prolonged standing. “Normally, Peterson says, veins carry blood from the extremities toward the heart, but with varicose veins, the blood flows backward, pooling impure and acidic blood in the legs.”
In the VNUS Closure procedure, Petersen firsts inserts a thin catheter into the damaged vein through a small incision. Using an ultrasonic guide, the catheter is manipulated up the vein, and radiofrequency energy is delivered to the vein wall, causing it to heat, collapse and seal shut. Healthy veins take over, once the diseased vein is closed, and normal blood flow returns to the leg, allowing the swelling, pain and discoloration to improve noticeably. This is a great and interesting procedure because a lot of ladies who suffer from varicose vein disease daily in America can possibly feel pain free after this procedure for the rest of their life.

Website: http://mednews.wustl.edu/tips/page/normal/4431.html

Embryonic Stem Cells Awaken Latent Nerve Repair

Damage to nerve cells in the adult central nervous system may not be irreversible after all! This article describes a new break through in restoring lost nerve function. Through the use of stem cells, a team of Johns Hopkins scientists have reports that they have engineered fully working motor neuron circuits — neurons stretching from spinal cord to target muscles — in paralyzed adult animals. In one study…they injected the cells into paralyzed rats and within 3 months many were able to move their hind limbs and walk. This is really exciting because it’s seems that science is on the right track towards one day repairing damage from disease like ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) and Multiple Sclerosis as well as traumatic spinal cord injury! Enjoy!
http://www.jhu.edu/gazette/2006/26jun06/26stem.html

New Stem Cell Research

The article talks about a new technique of stem cells that seems to be a small step towards social acceptance of stem cell research.
The new technique, which was first used in mice, takes only one cell from the embryo, allowing them "to [be] coaxed into spawning an embryonic stem cell line." And, scary as it is, the single cell could theoretically become a whole nother organism.
The downside is that it isn't as effective as using the embryo as a whole. The article also goes into the politics of both parties concerning stem cell research.
The stem cells that are used come from embryos that are created using preimplantation genetic diagnosis (used to avoid lethal or debilitating birth defects), which will cause some interesting controversy since it is coming from a possible future person.
It's interesting, mainly because it shows that science is conforming to current ethical and politcal standards, yet it's still able to make progress despite it.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14481692/

Micro Musclebot: Wee walker moves by heart cells' beats

When I was little, one of my favorite shows/book series was The Magic School Bus. You remember? The crazy, red-headed science teacher and her unassuming pupils get to go on the wildest adventures in their old yellow-dog. I especially remember one episode where the school bus shrinks down to the size of, you guessed it, a nanobot and enters the teacher’s body. At eight years old, I never thought the Magic School Bus might not be quite so magic, but just a slightly ahead of its time.
This article depicts the project of researchers at UCLA interested in “living micromachines”. Their tiny gold machines are coated with a thin layer of rat cardiac muscle and shaped in an arch. The researchers placed the machines into a glucose solution, and the cardiac muscle began to beat. The design of the arch allows the machine to move with each beat as the “arch tightens, dragging its back leg forward…then, as the arch loosens…the front leg takes a step forward.” These machines are only able to move in one direction, but the researchers promise more versatile models are coming soon.
I enjoyed this article and thought it was very relevant to VTPP 434. Hope you enjoy!
http://sciencenews.org/articles/20050122/fob6.asp

MIT's molecular sieve advances protein research

New technology from MIT that allows for faster and more accurate sorting of proteins that could potentially help cure and understand diseases. This technology uses a sieve that can sort the proteins by size and shape. The current technology involves using electrophoresis (relating charged substances and how they move through an electrical field) which is slow and not as accurate. Enjoy!

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2006/sieve.html

"Bionic" Arms Give Amputees Freedom To Move

This is pretty sweet. A women named Mitchell is the first woman to be fitted with this "bionic" arm. She lost her arm two years ago in an accident. The arm re-directs severed nerves to send her brain's signals to the motors in her prosthetic arm. All she has to do is think about what she wants to do and the motors in the arm complete the action. This is possible because nerves were placed in her chest where they could re-grow close to the skin. Electrodes were then placed on top of these nerves. So they fire as normally and the electrodes pick up the signal and move the motors. A draw back is the size of this arm. It's weighs 11 pounds and some of the motors can be seen. A step in the right direction. http://articles.news.aol.com/news/_a/bionic-arms-give-amputees-freedom-to/20060914003609990003?ncid=NWS00010000000001

Genetic Diagnosis for Multiple Myeloma

There is a new way to diagnose Multiple Myeloma (MM), which is a type of bone marrow disease. It is important to catch this disease at its earliest stages, and due to researchers' focus on the disease at the genetic level, this can be accomplished. A closer look has been taken at patients with MM by means of statistical analysis. The results suggest chomosomal changes. This is allowing researches to futher classify this disease, as well as administer genetically specific treatments.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=51675

Photonic Crystal Go Magnetic!

Photonic crystals are nanostructures that can produce photonic band gap, which allows scientists to define allowed and forbidden energy bands, in a way that is similar to the electron flow in semiconductor except that the electron is sbustituted by photons in this material. The photonic band gap is produced by periodic variations of certain property, usually the material's electric permittivity. This article is about the discovery of a method to produce the photonic band gap using magnetic property instead of electric permittivity, giving an alternative way of controlling the flow of light at nanoscale.

http://nanotechweb.org/articles/news/5/9/4?alert=1

Cancer research is becoming more and more specific as science advances. The general chemotherapy, radiation and surgery is slowly developing into more precise techniques for individual types and cases of cancer. Theraspheres are one example; used to treat certain types of liver cancer. This technique uses glass beads smaller than the diameter of a human hair to deliver radiation directly to the tumor. Because of the size difference in the blood vessels of the tumor, the radiation is localized and little to no harm is done to the surrounding tissues.
This technique could have huge implications if adapted for various other types of cancer.

http://livercancercenter.upmc.com/AdvancedApproaches/TherasphereBasic.asp?section=AdvancedApproaches

(Be sure to look at the link to the CT scans on this page too)

Breakthrough in Replacement Cartilage Growth

Damaged cartilage does not repair itself quickly due to the fact that little circulation flows to the cartilage of the body. Also, countless patients who suffer from arthritis don't have enough cartilage and have little hope of regaining that cartilage without proper treatment. Currently, most successful attempts at growing replacement cartilage for arthritic areas such as the knee have involved the placement of an artificial biodegradable "scaffold" implant seeded with donor cells and growth factors. The donor cells and growth factors encourage the growth of new natural cartilage. However, this process often has a risk of toxicity and has a high risk of causing complications due to the fact that the artificial cartilage is made from artificial material.

A breakthrough has been made that allows biomedical engineers to grow new cartilage in the lab that is nearly identical in structure and composition to natural cartilage. Donor cells from the specific organism are used to grow the cartilage in the lab to greatly reduce the risk of rejection once the new cartilage is implanted. The cartilage is also customized to fit the treated area of the specific organism perfectly.

If this breakthrough were refined and put into practice, it would help countless people as well as our older family members and friends live happier, more comfortable, and more productive lives. We students would also be able to live without the fear of chronically suffering from arthritis when we get older. We would also be able to procure reliable cartilage replacement therapy if we tore or damaged our cartilage in the near or distant future.

Webside: http://www.media.rice.edu/media/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=8354
Image: http://www.rice.edu/media/cartilage_femur.jpg

Diabetes in Control - Omnipod

I found this website about a type on insulin pump that doesn't have to be connected to you by a tube. It is a wireless deliever from a Personal Diabetes Manager. I found the site to be pretty interesting!

http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2680

Biology Visualization and Monster Biology

I don't really think these are the types of articles that are required for this blog assignment, but I found both of them really interesting, so I decided to share them anyways.

Cell Visualizations

Harvard University commisioned this company to develop computer generated movies of the molecular cell processes, there is a 3 minute trailer available here. It looks really really awesome, I wonder if they will eventually make it availble to buy? I would be really interested to see this kind of thing in action as I'm a very visual person.

B-Movie Biology

And here is an article that analyzes the bad biology behind many of the B-movies of the past century. From King Kong, to shrunken protagonists and then to giant ants, its an interesting read, here's a sample:

These super-ants have several problems, although neither they nor the humans seem to appreciate it. First, let's start with the vulnerability of an insect the size of a small elephant. The giant insects don't look terribly vulnerable--small arms and machine guns don't seem to have much effect on them. Part of this relative invulnerability is certainly due to the fact that arthropods wear their skeleton on the outside, where it can act as armor, but I'd argue that the military is using the wrong weapons and aiming at the wrong targets.

Insects have a much more distributed nervous system than vertebrates, so the head is a pretty poor target. So is the body. Because of their highly efficient respiratory system (see Mothra, in Session 4), circulatory demands are much lower in insects than in vertebrates; they can get away with a fairly low-pressure circulatory system. A hole in the exoskeleton, even a 30-caliber hole, just isn't going to bleed much, and the hole will be quickly sealed because insect blood has excellent clotting characteristics. The heart is on the dorsal side of the body, so it, too, makes a lousy target.

So where are they vulnerable? The secret lies in the exoskeleton. Hollow tubes are mechanically very efficient structures, especially for resisting bending--the nastiest way you can load a structure. (Don't believe me? Take a toothpick and break it. Easy, wasn't it? But you broke it by bending it, so take another toothpick, grab one end in each hand, and pull straight along the length of the toothpick. Pretty tough in pure tension, isn't it? Now take another toothpick and grab it between the thumb and first fingers of each hand, with your thumbs a half inch or less apart, and try to break the toothpick by pushing along the length of the toothpick. Pretty tough in compression, too.)

Magnetic Field Acts as 'Remote Control' to Deliver Nanomedicine

This sounds amazing! This is an article about using a magnetic field as a "remote control" to lead a nanocarrier to a tumor so that it can deliver a drug with more precision and boost the amount of the PDT drugs that the cell gets. I found it while researching nanotechnology for my report.
http://www.physorg.com/news68909462.html

Hi-Tech coating to boost implants

I came across this article while researching possible materials that could be used for our group's nano-bot, and I found it interesting! Enjoy!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4260770.stm

A coating for medical implants could help cut the risk of rejection and infections like MRSA, say scientists.

The chemically-inert diamond-like carbon (DLC) material can be used to coat plastics, metals and other natural materials used in implants.

Knee implants with a DLC coating have been successfully fitted to two arthritic patients allergic to the metal components underneath.

The Brunel University work featured at an Institute of Physics conference.

The coating makes implants more hard-wearing, and reduces friction between their components.


The coating is important because it prevents colonization of the tissue by bacteria, such as the superbug MRSA
Professor Joe Franks

It is also biocompatible, so unlike other types of coating it does not trigger the coagulation of blood.

And it can be deposited on a surface without having to heat the component to several hundred degrees, which means it is suitable not only for metals and ceramics, but plastics too.

Researcher Professor Joe Franks said: "We have developed coatings that can be used for catheters and various medical implants that go through the skin.

"The coating is important because it prevents colonization of the tissue by bacteria, such as the superbug MRSA."

Professor Gordon Blunn, of the Centre for Biomedical Engineering at University College London, was involved in fitting the knee implants.

He said both patients were allergic to the chromium which is contained in the most durable and long-lasting knee implants.

The only alternative would have been to have fitted less hard-wearing implants that could easily have worn out.

"By using DLC we were able to seal off the metal from the surrounding body fluids to create a very, very hard surface which did not cause problems with allergic reactions," he told the BBC News website.

Bypass operations

The Brunel team is working on a version of the coating to be used in combination with a natural body protein called collagen.

This combination could potentially be ideal for creating artificial arteries for use in bypass operations.

Lining collagen with DLC would enable blood to flow along the artery without risk of clotting.

The same pairing could also be used as a patch graft in repair operations, for instance to plug a hole left by the removal of a tumour.

Collagen is porous, which can cause the repair to be degraded by the acidic or alkaline chemistry of the body.

A DLC coating would solve the problem by forming a strong inert chemical barrier around the tissue.

Easier production

DLC was first produced in 1971 in a vacuum chamber using a technical and costly method that involved spraying charged carbon atoms at the surface to be coated.

Professor Franks' team has developed a more effective method known as plasma-assisted chemical vapour deposition (PACVD).

The component to be coated is mounted in a vacuum chamber on an electrode connected to a high-energy radio wave transmitter.

A hydrocarbon gas, such as methane or natural gas, is pumped into the chamber and the radio waves tear apart the hydrocarbon molecules and strip off the electrons from its carbon atoms to produce positive carbon ions.

These are attracted to the negatively charged component to produce the coating.

Professor Franks said: "The advantage of this method is that the ionized plasma surrounds the component, which means it does not need not to be manipulated inside the chamber to get an even and uniform coating.

"The ion energy can be varied as can the composition of the gases in the chamber to vary the properties of the coating."

It is hoped DLC will also be useful for coating industrial equipment, such as drills and car parts.