Brain scans validate Freudian view of hysteria

According to this website, http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=healthNews&storyID=2006-12-11T204452Z_01_COL174527_RTRIDST_0_HEALTH-FREUDIAN-HYSTERIA-DC.XML&WTmodLoc=SciHealth-C4-Health-5. Recent research as validated Freudian view of hysteria. What is Freudian view of hysteria? It is a severe psychological trama that affects the physical well being of a person. Using the functional MRI The study has found that patients with this disorder responds to a physical stimulus with the emotional part of their brain. As the article reports "Normally, when a healthy limb is touched, a particular, sensation-related area of the brain on the side opposite to that limb will be activated. For the three women (with hysteria) in Feinstein's study, stimulation of the numb limb failed to trigger activity in this sensory area of the brain. Instead, brain regions involved in emotion "lit up" on the MRI scans." The researchers are now in the process of finding a way to distract the patients enough to fool the brain into functioning normally.

I find this article interesting in two respects. Firstly, we have just gone over the brain nevrous system interaction. Secondly, this disorder has been well documented in Chinese Folklore where a person falls physically ill due to the lose of a loved one. I've always thought these stories were pure BS to make the story interesting. This study has given some credibility to these type of folk legends. I guess it's another case of Western science proving an old world practice/story.

Before I end the blog, I'd like to also give an update on my report on trans-fat banning in New York city. Yes, it has been approved, and other cities are following the Big Apple's example. However, this has lead a wave a back lash. People are upset that the current American culture has made the government/businesses the scapegoat from losing jobs to obesity. People, just say no to that triple decker bacon cheese burger with fries dipped in lard and get your fat butts to the treadmil.

Artificial muscles made from carbon nanotubes are 100 times stronger than human muscles

http://www.technologyreview.com/NanoTech/17872/page1/

Researchers at the Nanotech Institute at the Univeristy of Texas at Dallas have recently discovered how to wind carbon nanotubes into "yarn strands" which exhibit incredible strength. Possible uses for this technology include prosthetics, micro machines, and robotics. The tubes are very small in diameter - invisible to the human eye and about 2% of the width of a hair. They can be up to a meter long.
Problems still exist. These yarn strands show a property dubbed "creep." This means that when stretched very far, the yarn strands will not return to their original length, but be slightly longer. This technology looks very promising, and I think that carbon nanotubes will play a role in future technological advances because of their size, strength, and versatility.

Liver Chip

Liver failure causes many people to die each year, so Linda Griffith, a tissue engineer, and her research team are trying "physiological models" to help them understand liver diseases. They way they have done this is by inplanting a miniture liver on a chip, smaller than dime, to a circulation system in order to observe the cells and understand what is happening in the tissue as time passes. Hopefully this "liver on a chip" as it is called which is made up of silicon, will help with developing drugs for liver disease.

http://www.sciencentral.com/articles/view.php3?language=english&type=&article_id=218392284

A New Breakthrough In Data Storage

Imagine taking the entire collection of historical documents at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and storing it on a single DVD. University of Central Florida Chemistry Professor Kevin D. Belfield and his team have cracked that puzzle by developing a new technology that will allow users to record and store massive amounts of data; as 500 movies, onto a single disc or small cube. His team figured out a way to use lasers to store large amounts of information permanently without the possibility of damage. This is a great step towards "making things smaller" and a way to store large amounts of data in one place.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/12/061209091727.htm

Nanotechnology

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=58316

A survey was recently taken on consumer opinion of nanotechnology. I just thought that this applied since we did the nanobot project. If engineers are going to design these nanobots, they will need consumers. So, this was a survey to see how nanoproducts, such as drugs, would fair with consumers. There was a good turnout, as most consumers agreed that they would still be interested in nanoproducts, even when the risks could be higher than something more conventional, as the benefits are also much higher.

Does malaria aids AIDS?

What is malaria? Malaria is a disease caused by a parasite that is spread by mosquitos . How then does it affect AIDS? The simple answer is that in Africa in the poorer countries where AIDS and malaria runs rampant, they run hand in hand. AIDS destroys ones immune system while increasing the odds of getting malaria. However does Malaria help one get aids. According to researchers malaria increases the amount of viral load. Thus if one was to have malaria and the HIV virus then the virus would be at a higher concentration than normal. Thus if one was to have sex then there would be more odds to give the virus to your partner. Overall malaria is just a bad combination with AIDS. This articl explains it all.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_42302.html

Nano Implant to Monitor Cancer

Researchers at MIT are working on a tiny device that could be very useful in monitoring tumors in cancer patients. The technology is called implanted magnetic sensing. The tiny device is a silicon capsule with a porous membrane. Inside are nanoparticle sensors that are coated with an antibody. When target molecules cross through the membrane, they clump together with the nanoparticles, and then these clumps can be detected using a MRI. The researchers feel this technique could be useful in monitoring a patient's response to cancer treatments.

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2006/cancer-chip.html

Bioengineers at Work

Bioengineers at Work

Bioengineered hearts come closer to reality

The article discusses research done by the University of Michigan on growing bioengineered heart muscle, or BEHM, with organized cells, able to generate pulsating forces and reacting more like real muscle. They found a way to create muscle much faster by using a fibrin gell to support rat cardiac cells, before the fibrin breaks down as the cell organizes into tissue. They found that this method produced a more cohesive tissue that contracted with more force than any other artificial tissue reported by other researchers. The research shows promise in using BEHM as a treatment option.

http://in.news.yahoo.com/061208/139/6a4ok.html

This article discussed the relation of people who are socially impaired with autism and the size of their amygdala. They are suggesting that autism is the “most severe expression of a broad spectrum of genetically-influenced characteristics” one of which is social impairment. The amygdala, which is responsible for feelings of emotion, in this case fear, is said to be smaller in individuals that are socially impaired with autism. It is suggested the “social fear” originally triggers hyperactivity which causes an abnormally large amygdala. The body then responds and kills brain cells, which shrinks the amygdala to an abnormally small size. They measured social impairment by the method of “eye-tracking”. This was done by observing the duration in which a subject looked into the eyes of another person to identify different types of emotion. They found that autistic subjects with the most nonverbal social impairment as children had small amygdalae. I thought this article was interesting because in class we have discussed brain mapping and how different parts of a person’s brain are responsible for different functions. This is an application where they have found a relationship which could be useful in further understanding of physiological problems which many people face. They were also able to see a relationship between siblings suggesting a possible genetic link between autism. However it must be remembered that this is one study. It did mention in this article that other studies have found results that were inconsistent, However the article claims that their study resolved the inconsistencies by taking into account the “wide variability of the autism spectrum.”

http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/dec2006/nimh-04b.htm

Seahorse Aphrodisiac Riddle

Indian scientists have just revised 111,000 dollars in funding to research the aphrodisiac properties of seahorses. Seahorses have been sought since 342 BC for there supposed ability as an aphrodisiac and as a cure for respiratory problems. Since they are so popular they have been sought out and fished to near extinction. Scientist hope that by analyzing seahorse's they can find out if they are in fact an aphrodisiac, and if so, isolate the chemical compounds in hope to stop the over fishing and poaching. ~John A Mullins

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061201/sc_afp/indiasciencemarineseahors

DNA in Computation

Pretty interesting article about the continuing research in DNA's computation power. DNA's power as an information medium is well known in biological systems; their value in hybrid biological and classical computation systems shows quite a bit of promise. Seems like steps are taken every day that further show DNA's usefulness outside of the cellular realm.

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&articleID=5E997060-E7F2-99DF-35B5CE968BA205D1

Teleportation!

Teleportation seems to be a science fiction but phycisists from University of Vienna and the Austrian Academy of Science have successfully carried out teleportation with particles of light over a distance of 600m across the River Danube in Austria.

They used an 800m-long optical fibre fed through a public sewer system tunnel to connect labs on opposite sides of the River Danube, which establishes a channel between the labs, dubbed Alice and Bob. This enables the properties, or "quantum states", of light particles to be transferred between the sender (Alice) and the receiver (Bob).

One crucial potential of teleportation of quantum properties is the application in superfast quantum computers. In the computers of tomorrow, this information would form the qubits (the quantum form of the digital bits 1 and 0) of data processing through the machines.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3576594.stm

Crab Shells: the new bomb-sniffer

This article combines nanotechnology with a very unique natural substance. Researchers are using Chitosan, which is a derivative of the common chemical, chitin: the main component of crab and insect exoskeletons. Chitosan has been found to be able to detect minute concentrations of explosive and other hazardous material. It changes conformation when it comes into contact with the substance. Researchers want to make a nano-chip device with lever like parts that will be coated with Chitosan. Changes in these levers will signal a detection of specific hazardous substance. Overall, this is a nice combination of natural, if a little random, substances, and synthetically made devices, much like many of our device design projects that combined nanobots and natural chemicals/processes. I don't see any reason why they won't be coming out with a security chip pretty soon and will be able to make places such as airports safer. Who knows, they may even be able to detect polonium 210 in the future...

http://sev.prnewswire.com/nanotechnology/20060726/DCW00226072006-1.html

Forgetful Cats

http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20061206/hl_hsn/catscangetalzheimersstudy

This study further proves an earlier statement that cats suffer many of the same age-related problems as humans, Specifically dementia. The study takes it a step more to say that cats actually can develop Alzheimer's disease. Originally, they found plaque buildups on cat's brains, but now they have identified the protein that is commonly blamed for the onset of Alzheimer's disease. This opens the door to much more study on how diet, drugs, and hypertension affect the course of the disease because of the cat's shorter lifespan compared to humans. Also, the article states that 28% of cats age 1-14 develop some sort of age-related problem, that number jumps to 50% afte 15 years of age. This explains why my old cat (16 years) and my aunt's 18 year old cat seemed/s kind of out of it at times and they do not recognize people so much anymore. To lessen the chance of a cat developing dementia, the article says to provide a good diet, mental stimulation, and companionship for your cat; all of which are easy and fun to provide for your cat.

Urine Test Identifies Prostate Cancer

A new urine test can detect prostate cancer by measuring the presence of RNA from the prostrate cancer gene 3 or PCA3. Cancerous prostate cells exhibit increased transcription of PCA3 genes resulting in 60 to 100 times more expression of PCA3 RNA than normal prostate cells. This test is more accurate than the current PSA test which detects a prostate-specific antigen given off by all prostate cells. The current method cannot differentiate between a man with an noncancerous enlarged prostate and a man with prostate cancer. The new urine test will allow men to skip unnecessary biopsies and even surgeries. The test has been approved in some European countries, but has not been approved here in the United States.

http://www.webmd.com/content/article/130/117654.htm

Risks of Drug-Coated Stents Divide Federal Review Panel

There is growing evidence that relatively new drug-coated stents may increase the odds of deadly clots forming in the arteries. Many experts agree, however, that this does not mean the risks outnumber the benefits. A panel was called together to discuss the issues by the FDA. The group quickly decided that the increased clot formation was due mainly to two drug-coated stents, Taxus, from Boston Scientific, and Cypher, from Johnson & Johnson. Most of the group agrees that a longer trial will be needed to tell if the problem is significant. Many are worried that a longer trial may result in even more serious repercussions on patients. At the very least, the panel agrees that warnings should be issued on all of the products. I found this interesting because we had discussed drug coated stents briefly in biomechanics. Statistics show that drug-coated stents are twice as effective as normal stents. That makes it a very difficult decision to decide if the risks are worth the benefits.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/08/health/08stent.html

Brain in a Dish

Researchers created "minibrains" in a petridish by growing rat neurons on top of an electorode. The neurons can control the device the electorde is connected to. It can recieve information, process it, and then send out a response, such as moving toward a light. The researchers had some difficulty when the neurons would randomly fire. They realized that this was caused by sensory deprivation, because in a brain, neurons are constantly recieving information. To compensate for this, they provided a background stimulation, that would allow the neurons to function normally.
http://www.discover.com/issues/nov-06/rd/minibrains-dishes/

Smoking: Exercise, Stress And Second Hand Smoke

According to Austrian researchers, exercise-training therapy is an effective smoking cessation aid without side effects. The new study examined whether exercise-based interventions combined with a smoking cessation program were more effective than a cessation program alone. A study was done on two groups. One group just had nicotine replacement therapy, and another group had nicotine replacement therapy with exercise training for three months. While there was a significant amount of people who stopped smoking in both groups, 80 percent in exercise training quit smoking, compared with 52 percent in the nicotine replacement therapy group. Researchers concluded that exercise training together with nicotine replacement therapy was possible and could help a person stop smoking.
Stressful life events do not decrease a smoker's chances of quitting the habit, a new study has revealed. Researchers examined the impact of stressful life events in 1,330 smokers being treated for tobacco dependence; some of the smokers had experienced one or more major stressful events during treatment. Researchers concluded that many smokers who reported major stressful event during treatment were able to successfully quit. It was also believed that secondhand smoking is associated with chronic cough and sputum production. Researchers studied the association of secondhand smoking and respiratory symptoms in 139 patients and found that secondhand smokers showed a significant association with chronic sputum production and also showed a trend toward an increased prevalence of cough. I found this aspect of physiology interesting enough to share with the rest of the class because when people smoke they are not only affecting themselves but also other non-smokers around them. Therefore, the information from this article could help a lot of people, smokers and non-smokers.
Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=55194

Formerly Conjoined Twins Released from Hospital

http://health.yahoo.com/news/169725;_ylt=AtacKs9ZKVADtnQzKb_xU52mxbAB
Two twins born connected at the lower back due to conjoined spinal cords were released from a Wisconsin hospital today after being successfully seperated. Both have spina bifida, which leaves the spine incompletely closed, and it is too soon to tell whether they will be able to walk normally as they age. While the parents' health insurance has maxed out due to the many surgeries their children have undergone they are grateful for the success. They were quoted as they left the hospital, "To be able to bring these guys home I think is the greatest Christmas gift you could ask for."

The Allen Institute for Brain Science has released a comprehensive 'atlas' map of the mouse brain that was taken with a resolution of 100 um^3. The map shows comprehensive gene expression data in every part of the brain and was taken by collecting thin slices of brain tissue, then using labeled RNA probes to detect mRNA concentrations one gene at a time. More than one mouse brain was needed for this procedure, so a group of inbred male mice were all sacrificed at the same age, on the same day, at the same time to insure that the expression patterns would be nearly identical.
With this map, researchers can look not only at accurate anatomical layouts, but actual functional groupings of brain tissue according to gene expression. This should allow for much enhanced experiments asking more indepth questions as to what specific parts of the brain interact with one another.
The software is free to download and you can search by gene, or brain area. It is really quite amazing and should lead to many discoveries in the future.

Stressful Sleep Loss Impairs Memory

I'm sure we've all heard about the importance of sleep before exams and whatnot. Now there is science to back the claims. Scientists conducted a study on mice that involved stressful sleep deprivation. Scientists had mice on an elevated platform above water. If the mice fell asleep they would immediately fall in the water and be awakened. This scenario also induced stress in the mice. Researchers found that after this went on for a few days the mice had elevated levels of corticosterone. They then linked the elevated levels of corticosterone to a reduced number of new cells in the hippocampus, the region of the brain that controls memory and learning. This was compared to mice that underwent unstressful sleep deprivation. These mice didn't have raised corticosterone levels. They also showed normal brain function. Therefore one can raise the question that corticosterone is responsible for decreased hippocampus activity.

The full article can be found here: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_41872.html

I found this suprisingly pertinent to our current situation as students and finals. Best of luck to everyone.

Statin Users Suffer Preventable Heart Attacks

The statins (or HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors) form a class of hypolipidemic agents, used as pharmaceuticals to lower cholesterol levels in people with or at risk for cardiovascular diseases. A recent study in Amsterdam has revealed that patients that tend to not follow the proper dose requirements are having heart attacks as a consequence. It has been recorded that nearly half of the patients that were prescribed the medication stopped comsumption after two years, most resulting in a heart attack. These preventable heart attacks are increasing over the European continent only because of the patients' laziness of taking the prescribed medication over a long time period to prevent further complication of their cardiovascular disease.

http://www.ivanhoe.com/channels/p_channelstory.cfm?storyid=15054&channelid=CHAN-100010

I found this article very interesting because most people complain about the ineffectiveness of their treatments or prescriptions. I feel that the doctors emphasize enough about that importance of medications with those with cardiovascular diseases, however, most patients stop taking their medication due to laziness. This tends to lead to a worsening of the condition and doctors seem to take the blame. Only if there was a sure way to ensure the daily consumption of the medication prescribed to the patients.
-MPatel

Heart Drugs may Reduce Alzheimer's Disease

Researchers have been looking into how altering blood pressure would help treat Alzheimer's Disease. Drugs such as anti-hypertensive drug propranolol HCl (Inderal), have known to prevent the beta-amyloid build up and are most commonly prescribed to treat high blood pressure. Researchers think that it is possible to find a concentration of the drug that would block the build up of beta-amyloid without affecting the blood pressure. If they are successful in finding this specific concentration of the drug that wouldn't affect the blood pressure, then this drug could be available to patients who are developing Alzheimer's Disease.


http://www.ivanhoe.com/channels/p_channelstory.cfm?storyid=15051&channelid=CHAN-100010

Brain Waves in Puberty

Not only are there changes to the body's maturation during puberty, there are also changes in the brain waves. They brain is still developing until late in the teen years usually, but a recent study showed that 9-11 year olds have an unchanged rate of Delta waves from the sleep and awake stage, but in the 12-14 year olds, there were at 25% decrease in Delta waves during sleep. This changes were related to age only, and were not significantly different in 12-14 year olds at different stages of sexual maturation, or size, or any other factors. -Oliver Hunt

http://science.monstersandcritics.com/news/article_1230406.php/Adolescent_brain_wave_changes_are_studied

Switching Bacteria Off May Be Possible with New Class of Antibiotic

One day in the future, infection may be fought by simply switching bacterial invaders off. At least, that's the promise of new technology out of a group at Yale University that's studying riboswitches- short sections of untranslated RNA that monitor small compounds in the cell-like nucleotides, amino acids and sugars-in order to control gene expression. This nascent technology, which is currently being tested on simple bacteria in the lab, may soon constitute a novel class of antibiotics, those wonderful "magic bullets" from the 20th century that suddenly are encountering resistance from evolving bacteria.

Full article at
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa025&articleID=4E869AEA-E7F2-99DF-36BD03E8C0FF62A8

Adipose Tissue is Good for You

In a recent study, scientists have discovered that adipose tissue (aka fat) contributes to the elimination of plasma ammonia after exercise. As we have learned in physiology, too much of something can never be a good thing, and in this case, too much ammonia is toxic. So you may be exercising to get rid of most of your body fat, but some is necessary to counteract the plasma NH3 that builds up after high-intensity exercise. More on this article can be found at the link below:


http://jap.physiology.org/cgi/content/full/101/6/1576

There are a few perfect people in the world, the rest are right handed.

Austrailian researchers have recently found that left-handed people tend to think more quickly, and the speed increases the more left-handed a person is. Left-handers tend to use both sides of their brain more often, increasing the rate at which information can be processed. The researchers did tests on very left-handed, mildly left-handed, and right handed people, testing the speed at which they could identify matching letters in the right and left visual fields. Since left-handers responded with a shorter reaction time researchers suggested that they use both sides of their brain to interprept language. Reaction time improves over time because both sides are consistently being used. This implies that left-handed people are instinctively better at activities that involve both sides of the brain, including computer games, certain sports, driving in traffic or other activities involving mulitple stimulus processing.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6212972.stm

Dual Cholesterol Therapy

Pfizer Inc tries to use Niaspan with other medication to raise good cholesterol and decrease the bad cholesterols. With the current technology, many patients use medication to decrease the bad cholesterols (or LDL). The frequent medication for this use, statins often cause heart attacks and other problems as side effects. Therefore, doctors found ways to boost good cholesterols (or HDl) instead of reducing LDL. Pfizer's torcetrapib is very potential as HDL booster, but it is still dangerous to use for it uses 'laser-guided missile approach.'

http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/12/04/cholesterol.drug.ap/index.html

Litvinenko's Poisoning

This article provides a little bit of an update on the Litvinenko case. More radioactive traces have been found in places and people connected to Litvinenko. It has been confirmed that both his wife and the Italian security expert, Mario Scaramella, that he met with the day he fell ill both had been exposed to polonium-210. However, neither had enough exposure to give them radiation poisoning. Pathologists, wearing protective suits and face-covering helmets to guard against radiation, began his autopsy Friday, December 1, but results were not expected for a few days.

http://www.canadaeast.com/dg/news/article.php?articleID=74799

NYC health board votes to ban trans fats

New York City became the country's first city to ban artificial trans fats at restaurants after a unanimous vote by the Board of Health. The board gave restaurants until July 2008 to remove all artificial trans fats from their foods. Restaurant industry representatives found the ban to be bothersome. Dan Fleshler, a spokesman for the National Restaurant Association said "We don't think that a municipal health agency has any business banning a product the Food and Drug Administration has already approved." It is believed that trans fats are harmful because they contribute to heart disease by both lowering good cholesterol and raising bad cholesterol. Trans fats are created in the process hydrogenation, where liquid oils are made into solid fats. Trans fats are preferred because of their long shelf life. Mayor Micheal Bloomberg said "Nobody wants to take away your french fries and hamburgers — I love those things, too, but if you can make them with something that is less damaging to your health, we should do that." Fast food restaurants such as McDonald's, Wendy's, and Taco Bell are working to find ways to remove tran fat. NYC's ban has been mostly approved by health organizations. I found this new story to be interesting because if brings up the question how far should the government intervene in laws relating to people's health.

New Bypass Technology Used In Wisconsin

The C-Port(R) XA Device was used in its first clinical trial in Wisconsin. It was the first of its kind to be put to use in the United States. The device is used to attach a blood vessel graft in heart surgery. The new system allows for a quick and affective attachment of the graft that would normally take much longer because it is done by hand. No hand-sewn grafts are needed with the device. The device was approved by the FDA in Novemeber.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=58125

Problems with Drug-Coated Stents

This article caught my eye yesterday and these findings could have a major impact on the stent industry. Apparently, studies are now showing that drug-coated stents don’t work as well as previous studies indicated in long term trials and patients have to take Plavix along with the stent. Doesn’t taking a drug to prevent clotting defeat the purpose of a drug-coated stent, especially since the cost of the drug-coated stent is significantly higher than a plain metal one?
This article also provides some insight into stents and how quick we can be at jumping into new technology.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=2699191&page=1

There's More To Magic Than Meets The Eye

Magicians always fascinated me as a child. I could never understand how magicians could fool so many people so easily. After reading this article, I realize that magicians use social cues and a person’s expectations to fool them; however, we are not 100% fooled. Researchers have found that while we may perceive to have seen a ball thrown, our eyes do not follow the perceived ball through the air. In fact, our oculomotor system, which governs motor control over the eye, is not fooled in the least by the magician. Experiments show that while observers claim to have seen the ball in some area of space after seeing the illusion, their eyes were never actually looking in that direction at all. This article further supports the theory there exist two separate neural pathways for perception and visuomotor control. Learn more by reading this article:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=57176

Most Chicken Contains Harmful Bacteria

Consumer Reports investigated that 83% of the chicken tested were contaminated with either bacteria salmonella or campylobacter or even both. The results have increased from 49% since 2003. However, safe handling and proper cooking can reduce the risk. Investigators have tested 525 whole broiler chickens from the leading brands as well as other brands raised without antibiotics. According to the research, 15% of chickens tested were contaminated with salmonella. An astounding 81% contained campylobacter, which is a bug that usually caused bacterial diarrhea illness. 13% were contaminated with both bacteria salmonella and campylobacter. According to experts, the problems with antibiotic resistance are due to the widespread use of antibiotics in animal feed and the widespread use in humans. Major brands tested such as Perdue, Tyson, and Foster Farms show no better results than smaller brands.

For more info's about the article, here is the link:
http://www.webmd.com/content/article/130/117698.htm

Infants wheeze less in homes with multiple dogs

If you're like me, your parents owned a dog before you were born. Now, research shows that this dog may have prevented you from developing respitory problems as a baby. Researchers from the University of Cincinnati claim that the endotoxins that dogs bring into the home actually help prevent infants from wheezing. Endotoxins are found in bacteria in feces, so I was very surprised to learn that they were actually helpful in boosting the immune system. You can read all about it at:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=57912

Nanoparticles a Weapon of Choice against Brain Tumors

In concurrence with the numerous breakthroughs in nano-technology, radiologists and other various scientists at the University of Michigan, have developed a cancer treatment system that utilizes nanoparticles measuring at about 40 nm in length. The nanoparticle is tagged with a cancer-seeking peptide in order to target brain tumors. The drug/peptide of choice is Photofrin. Photofrin is an anti-cancer drug developed by scientist that is “photodynamic” (activated via a laser beam). Most importantly, Photofrin can penetrate cell membranes and become attracted to expressions of nucleolin (a peptide commonly found in cancer cells). Unfortunately, due to the drug’s sensitivity to light, the patient must stay away from bright light for about 30 days after the nanoparticle delivery.

An obstacle that commonly hinders treatment of brain tumors is the inability to administer treatments across the blood-brain barrier. Fortunately, the nanoparticle targets blood vessel cells that are in the tumor, and starves the tumor of blood flow, thus avoiding the obstacle altogether.

A test administered on rats, shows significant, positive correlation with life expectancy and the use of the drug. Click on the link below to view more:

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa002&articleID=F81F74A8-E7F2-99DF-325025A7F2F3416A

Adolescents boys more likely to have hypertension than girls

Adolescent boys are far more likely to suffer high blood pressure than adolescent girls. Currently, the reason is speculated to be the onset of puberty, but it is not guaranteed. The same trend has been seen in later age groups as well, but this is the first study to show gender differences at such an early age. The study also indicated that both boys and girls who engaged in active behaviour such as sports, were less likely to develop hypertension. Unfortunately, the current sedentary lifestyle (playing video games, TV, Internet surfing, etc) does not help alleviate this problem in our youth.


http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/12/04/blood.pressure.study.reut/index.html

Genetic Variation: We're More Different Than We Thought

Recent research suggests that up to 10% of human genes vary from person to person. This is very different than the previous estimate that we share 99.9% of our genome. Rather than small fragments of our DNA differing, it is more likely that there are segments millions of nucleotides long that vary.

The research group also identified genes involved in diseases like Schizophrenia and atherosclerosis. These findings may make the idea personalized mapping of the an individuals genome more difficult but not out of the picture. It also changes how geneticists will go about studying genetic diseases and genetic evolution.
Overall, this new knowledge is helpful in the progress towards using genetics to cure diseases.

http://www.hhmi.org//news/scherer20061123.html

videogame madness

This study was conducted on teens that played videogames. The study used fMRI to show that violent games lead to more emotional arousal in children and decreased concentration where as playing a non violent game, increased concentration. Also, playing a violent videogame increased the flight or fight response (sympathetic division of autonomic system), and the benefits of long term sympathetic control have always been doubtful.
There is also a very interesting video which shows the fMRI. It also explains why it is hard for children to give up playing videogames from a radiological/neurological point of view.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/fun.games/11/28/video.games.brain.reut/index.html


Tanisha Sharma

Recent Updates in Stem Cells Research

Stem Cells research has come a long way and this website has a few different articles about new recent discoveries.

In the first article researches have found that colon cancer originates from rare colon cancer stem cells and these cells are the driving force initiating the tumors. They say that based on this new discovery scientist can now begin to find unique properties of colon cancer stem cells.

Another later article announced 'the development of a process that converts human embryonic stem cells into insulin producing pancreatic endocrine cells.' With this new development there holds potential for new therapy for Type I diabetes patients.

http://www.scrfinfo.org/NewsUpdates/SCRF/SCRF_NewsUpdateSearch.asp#Latest

French Doctors Call Partial Face Transplant a Success

Isabelle Dinoire just isn't herself these days; at least she doesn't look like herself. After being severely disfigured by her pet labrador in May of 2005, Dinoire received the lips, chin, and nose of a brain-dead woman taken off of life support. The French doctors working with Dinoire have stated that the first partial face transplant is a success. Dinoire has gained increasing levels of facial sensitivity and mobility each month after the surgery a year ago. Dinoire said she has had trouble speaking, but now is able to be understood whenever she speaks. Doctors in Great Britain as well as the US are working towards a successful full face transplant. Dinoire is planning on returning to work soon, and has gotten a new dog, Max. Apparently, Isabelle Dinoire has a new outlook on life ;)
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,232277,00.html

Link between Huntington's and Abnormal Cholesterol Levels Discovered

Researchers at Mayo Clinic found that the mutated Huntington's protein causes cholesterol accumulation in neurons. This mutant protein alters the proper transport of materials required of neurons. This in turn causes the symptoms associated with Huntington's, such as chorea and personality changes.

Cholesterol accumulation occurs when the mutant protein is expressed with calveolin-1, which is found in the caveolae. The researchers found that omitting the expression of caveolin causes the neurons expressing the mutant protein to stop accumulating cholesterol. This research proved to be a landmark in figuring out how Huntington's disease works and also how it is incurred.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/12/061201105735.htm

Nanobots becoming a reality

MIT scientists have engineering a calcium sensor that they are using to deduce cell-to-cell signaling. I came across this technology while researching for our device design project. We needed a way to signal to our bot that it was inside the cell and we thought we could use a sort of calcium sensor. The one MIT made wasn't exactly what we needed, so we found another way to accomplish our goal, but this little sensor is a sign that nanotechnology is here and advancing quickly. The sensors used hand in hand with fMRI allow researchers to track the firing of neuronal activity with calcium signals. The sensors are coated with proteins that bind together in the presence of calcium, thus interpreting the flow of electrical activity in the brain. This is not only nanotechnology, but also a way to understand the functions and actions of the brain which will help with future research.

http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=17607&ch=nanotech

Hippocampus on Strike

A study has found that the hippocampus, the memory-encoding brain region of the brain, to be slacking off in college students the day after they have pulled an all-nighter. fMRI scans have revealed lower activity in the hippocampus of sleep-deprived students than in well-rested students. This study raises many interesting questions about the relationships between sleep, memory, and emotion.
I found this article to be very interesting because I can relate to feeling the after-effects of pulling an all-nighter.

http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2006/1018/2

Skin Patch Immunizations

A new way to immunize people is to use a patch that is applied to the skin. A sand paper like gadget is used on the skin in order to remove the dead epithelial cells. The patch is then applied to the area of skin. This method has practical purposes in third world countries where the re use of needles is common. In studies concerning the flu, when elderly recieved both the flu vaccine and the skin patch it gave them a better chance of not catching the flu. The researchers are hoping that this method will increase peoples willingness to get immunized and help to increase the stockpile of flu vaccines.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15592585/

Master Stem Cell for the Heart

Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston studying mice said they have found what may be a master cardiac stem cell - able to change into the three major cell types in a mammal's heart - in a finding that could help guide heart repair in people. Writing in the Journal Cell they identified these cells in mice, then demonstrated that they can transform into the contracting cardiac heart muscle cells and the smooth muscle and endothelial cells that make up blood vessels. Lead researcher Dr. Kenneth Chien indicated his team was surprised to learn that a single cell can lead to all of these tissues and structures in the heart. Also writing in Cell, a team of researchers led by Dr. Stuart Orkin of Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Children's Hospital, Boston said they found a type of stem cell that is the precursor to at least two of the three main cell types that form the heart. Findings, the researchers said, could move scientists nearer to being able to use stem cell therapies to regenerate tissues to repair congenital heart defects in children and damage caused by heart attacks in adults. Chien noted that both studies involved the use of mouse embryonic stem cells, and said emphasis was needed on exploring the potential of human embryonic stem cells for repairing damaged hearts. Chien said the heart may be more similar to blood that scientists imagined, nothing single so-called hematopoietic stem cells can give rise to all of the cell types found in blood.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn10642-heart-stem-cells-discovered-by-three-teams.html

A Brain Chip to Control Paralyzed Limbs

As we know, the spinal cord injuries and some types of stroke and neurodegenerative disease, the neuron network between our brain and our limbs or body are damaged. That is the main cause of not being able to control or move our limbs as well as our body. Scientists have tried to make some remarkable progress to solve those problems. One of the solutions, my group and i have already given in the device project. Now, i read another interesting solution. The scientists are now building a device that can records our brain signals and then transmits them to the paralyzed muscles potentially returning muscle control to severely paralyzed patients. That device is called the brain chip. I hope this article can give you all some ideas about how progressive our biotechnology is.

This is URL link:

http://www.technologyreview.com/BioTech/17842/

‘Elastogram’ instantly diagnoses breast cancer

In a new method that has just been developed, elastography uses ultrasound to determine whether or not a woman has cancer without doing a biopsy. Having a nearl 100% accuracy rate, this method has been proven to be very accurate and a possible replacement to biopsies. The expected cost of this technique is between $100-$200 while a biopsy current cost between $200-$1000. Upon these two basis, elastography is a definite possibility.

Elastography uses high-frequency waves to picture the inside of a part of the body. In the article, an expert describes the technique of ultrasound using the analogy of a matress. In a matress, there are a lot of springs. The body would naturally have tons more. With the case of cancer, these flexible and movable springs woule be stuck in place thereby creating an image through the echos that ultrasound uses.

"Breast cancer shows up larger on an elastogram than it does on a traditional ultrasound image, perhaps because the elastogram can “see” the scar tissue around the cancer, Ophir said."

In my opinion, I think that this is a great technique that has a lot of potential; however, this is only an experimental technique right now and needs to be perfected and given more time to work out the kinks. If everthing is seen through to the end, then there is a definite chance that this technique will work and possibly even lead to other similar techniques that are also relatively cheap for the patient.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15990645/wid/11915773

‘Elastogram’ instantly diagnoses breast cancer

In a new method that has just been developed, elastography uses ultrasound to determine whether or not a woman has cancer without doing a biopsy. Having a nearl 100% accuracy rate, this method has been proven to be very accurate and a possible replacement to biopsies. The expected cost of this technique is between $100-$200 while a biopsy current cost between $200-$1000. Upon these two basis, elastography is a definite possibility.

Elastography uses high-frequency waves to picture the inside of a part of the body. In the article, an expert describes the technique of ultrasound using the analogy of a matress. In a matress, there are a lot of springs. The body would naturally have tons more. With the case of cancer, these flexible and movable springs woule be stuck in place thereby creating an image through the echos that ultrasound uses.

"Breast cancer shows up larger on an elastogram than it does on a traditional ultrasound image, perhaps because the elastogram can “see” the scar tissue around the cancer, Ophir said."

In my opinion, I think that this is a great technique that has a lot of potential; however, this is only an experimental technique right now and needs to be perfected and given more time to work out the kinks. If everthing is seen through to the end, then there is a definite chance that this technique will work and possibly even lead to other similar techniques that are also relatively cheap for the patient.

Good Health versus Good Business

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/01/business/01beam.html

Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) is a currently available treatment for prostate cancer. While it can be highly effective, concern has risen over its high profit potential. While insurers typically pay $2000 or less for prostate cancer surgeries or radioactive seed implantation, they are willing up pay sums exceeding $50,000 for IMRT treatment. Thus, IMRT has more profit potential than other prostate cancer treatments and the high initial investment required for equipment and software may encourage doctors to recommend the treatment even in instances when it has no significant advantage for the patient. Some urologists admit that profit considerations were a factor in their decision to purchase the IMRT system but also maintain that the IMRT system offers superior prostate cancer treatment. However, IMRT is more costly than other treatments, requires more time commitment from the patients and there is no medical consensus on whether it is a superior to other treatments.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/30/health/30drug.html

Studies in the New England Journal of Medicine have suggested that aggressive treatment of anemia in kidney patients may increase the likelihood of death or heart problems. A panel of doctors for the National Kidney Foundation is expected to meet early next year to make new recommendations for treatment. However, anemia drugs marketed by Amgen and Johnson & Johnson constitute a $10 billion market and the National Kidney Foundation is largely funded by industry. Amgen donated $4 million to the foundation last year and the foundation's recently released treatment guidelines encourage more aggressive anemia treatment than the FDA recommends, leading some to believe the panel's future recommendations will be tainted by influence from the drug companies.

1 in 500,000 Fetus in Fetu

On November 15, a boy was born in Santiago, Chile with a fetus growing inside his stomach. The condition known as "fetus in fetu" is extremely rare (one in 0.5million) with only less than 90 reported cases worldwide. The condition devleops when one twin becomes trapped inside the other and continues to grow during pregnancy. The fetus was 4 inches long with a partially developed spinal cord but no head or limbs. The fetus had no chance of survival and was immediately removed and the boy is recovering from surgury.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15879296/

Man recieves hand transplant 30 years later

Thirty years after David Savage lost his hand, he became third patient to have a successfull hand implant in the United States. Because Savage lost his hand over thrity years ago, doctors had many problems to work with among those being constricted blood vessels. The procedure took over 16 hours with 32 doctors working this past Wednesday. Savage is also the test patient for a anti-rejecting drug called Campath. This reminded me of the bionic arm article though he was able to have a "real" hand transplanted though with new complications after thirty years.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15976582/

Male Nipples: Two Views

Live Science claims we all start out as females in the womb, and only after about 60 days the testosterone kicks in if it’s a male. By then, the nipples have already formed and don’t get deleted. As to why there are nerves and blood vessels serving them, the writer appeals to the old vestigial organ argument. There is no reason for male nipples, it’s just that natural selection hasn’t removed them yet. The article denies that early males once suckled the young on the grounds of lack of evidence. “Brace yourselves for a low blow, tough guy,” the article begins, hinting that the evolutionary answer won’t help a man’s self-esteem; at least it calls the nipples “harmless.” The article ends with a link to a list of other alleged vestigial organs, including the coccyx, appendix, wisdom teeth and body hair.


http://www.livescience.com/mysteries/061127_men_nipples.html

Successful Hand Transplant

A man who lost his hand in a work related incident many years ago received a successful hand transplant. Of the two dozen successful hand transplants performed in the world, this one is unique. This man received the transplant after losing his original hand over 30 years ago. The hand works, though he is currently taking anti-rejection drugs so that his body's immune system does not attack the foreign hand.

This is a huge success in the field of limb transplants and prosthetics. This advances the conception that fully-functional limb transplants are possible. In the future, artificially grown limbs or more advanced prosthetics could replace lost limbs with new limbs that are just as good as the original (or better).

http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/11/30/hand.transplant.ap/index.html

Misleading Pain Receptors

Pain can be indicative of specific injury or damage to certain parts of the body, but at the same time, it can be misleading of the real cause of the 'pain', as in the phenomenon known as the referred pain. The evolutionary reason for referred pain is not known yet. This article discusses an example of referred pain, and it includes a brief explanation on the topic.

http://health.yahoo.com/experts/sportsnick/1411/when-pain-is-misleading

Smoking Changes Brain Chemistry

The first imaging study was performed by the Radiological Society of North America to monitor the chemical makeup of the brain in chronic smoking after they quit smoking. Proton magnetic spectroscopy was used to image the brain and measure the brains metabolism at the cellular level of smokers two weeks after they quit smoking, and then again after six months. The data obtained was then compared to data from a control group of healthy people. The finding was that the nicotine-dependent patients had much lower concentrations of amino acid NAA in their anterior cingulate cortex. Also, the more that the smokers had smoked in the past, the lower their NAA levels were. These lower NAA levels are indicators of neuronal dysfunction, and low levels can also be found in patients with dementia, schizophrenia, and mood disorders. The choline concentrations were also found to be lower in the brains of smokers. Choline is needed for cell membrane metabolism, and reduced levels can lead to breakdown of the cell membranes.

Another interesting finding was that the creatine levels in the frontal lobe were higher in smokers who did not use the patch while quitting. High creatine levels are generally associated with the use of stimulants.

After the six month check-up, the metabolite concentrations seemed to go back to normal, which is a good finding for people who quit smoking.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=57726

Bioengineers at Work: November 2006

Bioengineers at Work: November 2006
http://www.udel.edu/PR/experts/muscles.html
I found this article while trying to find out more about muscles. It is about artificial stimulation of muscles that will hopefully one day lead to allowing a person with severe paralysis to stand-up and walk again. However, artificial stimulation makes a muscle more tired than normal, which means they are still a long way from curing paralysis. The article also talks about regular stimulation as opposed to varying stimulation, which they found works better, because it is closer to the body’s natural stimulation. "Patients can move their muscles much more forcefully for a longer period of time if their muscles are stimulated at varying rather than regular intervals," Binder-Macleod says. "This study is the first to show the effectiveness of a variable pulse pattern, and it's very exciting." After running tests on the effectiveness of different pulse patterns, they found that the most effective pulse pattern was a variable frequency train, which allowed the volunteers to move their muscles 25 to 35 percent more forcefully than consistent stimulation.