Little Malcolm's Swimming Pool

2010-09-27T17:05:00.000-07:00

Dudley Moore and Peter Cook "Goodbye"

2010-09-27T17:03:00.000-07:00

You may be gone . . . but

2010-09-27T17:01:00.001-07:00

Hale & Pace: Goodbye

2010-09-27T17:01:00.000-07:00

Lesson Learned?

2010-09-27T16:58:00.000-07:00

goodbyeee

2010-09-27T16:57:00.000-07:00

Offenbach-Orpheus in the Underworld-Mov.1

2010-09-26T17:04:00.000-07:00

Father Ted

2010-09-26T16:58:00.000-07:00

Wales

2010-09-26T16:57:00.000-07:00

Lewis Black

2010-09-26T16:56:00.000-07:00

What you need is 'Length and Thickness...'

2010-09-26T16:53:00.000-07:00

How to Quit Smoking

2010-09-26T16:50:00.000-07:00

Hey You!

2010-09-26T16:30:00.000-07:00

University of Toronto (September 21, 2010) —

Inner Voice Plays Role in Self Control

Talking to yourself might not be a bad thing, especially when it comes to exercising self control.

New research out of the University of Toronto Scarborough -- published in this month's edition of Acta Psychologica -- shows that using your inner voice plays an important role in controlling impulsive behavior.

"We give ourselves messages all the time with the intent of controlling ourselves -- whether that's telling ourselves to keep running when we're tired, to stop eating even though we want one more slice of cake, or to refrain from blowing up on someone in an argument," says Alexa Tullett, PhD Candidate and lead author on the study. "We wanted to find out whether talking to ourselves in this 'inner voice' actually helps."

Tullett and Associate Psychology Professor Michael Inzlicht, both at UTSC, performed a series of self control tests on participants. In one example, participants performed a test on a computer. If they saw a particular symbol appear on the screen, they were told to press a button. If they saw a different symbol, they were told to refrain from pushing the button. The test measures self control because there are more "press" than "don't press" trials, making pressing the button an impulsive response.

The team then included measures to block participants from using their "inner voice" while performing the test, to see if it had an impact on their ability to perform. In order to block their "inner voice," participants were told to repeat one word over and over as they performed the test. This prevented them from talking to themselves while doing the test.

"Through a series of tests, we found that people acted more impulsively when they couldn't use their inner voice or talk themselves through the tasks," says Inzlicht. "Without being able to verbalize messages to themselves, they were not able to exercise the same amount of self control as when they could talk themselves through the process."

"It's always been known that people have internal dialogues with themselves, but until now, we've never known what an important function they serve," says Tullett. "This study shows that talking to ourselves in this 'inner voice' actually helps us exercise self control and prevents us from making impulsive decisions."

reference:

The voice of self-control: Blocking the inner voice increases impulsive responding.
Alexa M. Tullett and Michael Inzlicht
Acta Psychologica, 2010 doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2010.07.008
Link to Acta Psych abstract

Link to UTS news release

Cloud-Computing security

2010-09-26T16:03:00.000-07:00

North Carolina State University newsroom (September 21, 20100)

New Research Improves Ability to Detect Malware in Cloud-Computing Systems

Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed new software that offers significantly enhanced security for cloud-computing systems. The software is much better at detecting viruses or other malware in the "hypervisors" that are critical to cloud computing, and does so without alerting the malware that it is being examined.

Cloud computing is being hailed as a flexible, affordable way of offering computer resources to consumers. Under the cloud-computing paradigm, the computational power and storage of multiple computers is pooled, and can be shared by multiple users. But concerns exist about hackers finding ways to insert malware into cloud computing systems. A new program called HyperSentry, developed by researchers at NC State and IBM, should help allay those fears.

HyperSentry is security software that focuses on protecting hypervisors in virtual computing clouds. Hypervisors are programs that create the virtual workspace that allows different operating systems to run in isolation from one another -- even though each of these systems is using computing power and storage capability on the same computer.

Specifically, HyperSentry enables cloud administrators to measure the integrity of hypervisors in run time -- meaning that the administrators can check to see whether a hypervisor has been breached by a third party, while the hypervisor is operating.

"The concern is that an attacker could compromise a hypervisor, giving them control of the cloud," says Dr. Peng Ning, professor of computer science at NC State and co-author of a paper describing the research. If a hypervisor is compromised, the attacker could do almost anything: access users' sensitive information; use the cloud's computing resources to attack other Internet entities; spread malware; etc.

"HyperSentry solves two problems," Ning says. "It measures hypervisor integrity in a stealthy way, and it does so in the context of the hypervisor." Context is important, Ning explains. To effectively identify hypervisor problems you need to look at the hypervisor program memory and the registers inside the central processing units (CPUs) that are actually running the program. (The registers are the internal memory of CPUs.) This is important because intelligent malware can conceal itself from security programs that look only at the memory where the hypervisor is supposed to be located -- they can effectively make themselves invisible to such security programs by modifying certain registers of the CPU and thus relocating the infected hypervisor elsewhere. By ensuring in-context measurement, HyperSentry can successfully track where the infected hypervisor is actually located and thus defeat such intelligent malware.

The fact that HyperSentry can check the integrity of a hypervisor in a stealthy way -- checking the hypervisor without the hypervisor being aware of it -- is important too. If a hypervisor is aware that it is being scrutinized, and has already been compromised, it can notify the malware. The malware, once alerted, can then restore the hypervisor to its normal state in order to avoid detection. Then the malware effectively hides until the security check is over.

Once a compromised hypervisor has been detected, a cloud administrator can take action to respond to the compromise, such as shutting down the computer, performing additional investigations to identify the scope of the problem and limiting how far the damage can spread.

The research is being presented Oct. 5 at the 17th ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security in Chicago, Ill. The research was a part of the thesis work of NC State Ph.D. student Ahmed Azab, and was co-authored by Ning; NC State Ph.D. student Zhi Wang; Dr. Xuxian Jiang, an assistant professor of computer science at NC State; and Dr. Xiaolan Zhang and Nathan Skalsky of IBM. The work was done with funding from the U.S. Army Research Office, the National Science Foundation and IBM.

reference

HyperSentry: Enabling Stealthy In-context Measurement of Hypervisor Integrity
Ahmed M. Azab, Peng Ning, Zhi Wang, Xuxian Jiang, North Carolina State University; Xiaolan Zhang, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center; Nathan C. Skalsky, IBM Systems & Technology Group
To Be Presented: Oct. 5, 2010, at the 17th ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security in Chicago, Ill.

Link to CCS 2010

Link to NCSU news release

Altruism gene

2010-09-26T12:06:00.000-07:00

Michigan State University News (Sep. 21, 2010) —

New MSU research sheds light on how we become altruistic

Using digital evolution techniques that give scientists the ability to watch evolution in action, Michigan State University researchers have shed new light on what it is that makes species altruistic.

Defined as the ability to sacrifice yourself for the sake of others, altruism has been a bit of a genetic mystery. Understanding why altruism evolves is one of the fundamental challenges in evolutionary theory.

However, a paper published online in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society by researchers affiliated with MSU's BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action has shed new light on the subject. This study marked the first time that scientists have been able to test such generalizations of kin selection theory.

"The ability to conduct research in digital systems enabled us to learn nuances of kin selection theory that may have been difficult to discover via evolutionary experiments in natural systems," said team member Charles Ofria.

Using digital evolution technology, the team learned how altruism evolves by setting up different experimental situations. Through this, the researchers found that genes were more likely to help others that were physically similar to them, as opposed to strictly helping those that are related to them.

"Sometimes, by chance, relatives do not share genes, while complete strangers do," said Jeff Clune, a postdoctoral fellow at Cornell University who recently earned his doctorate from MSU. "A potentially better strategy, then, is to help individuals who are very physically similar to you, which may be a proxy for genetic similarity."

"By observing digital organisms that had the ability to sense genetic similarity in addition to kinship, we confirmed that, if given the choice, populations of organisms that were being altruistic toward kin will evolve to stop doing so, and instead help those organisms that are genetically similar," said Rob Pennock, a BEACON researcher and paper co-author.

Testing these predictions is difficult in biological systems because it is hard to take a group of organisms that are all acting altruistic toward their relatives and experimentally give them a new ability to base altruism on genetic similarity.

"One of the great things about digital evolution is that it allows scientists to explore alternative evolutionary trajectories besides those that have already occurred on Earth," Clune said. "This experiment raises the interesting prospect that life on other planets may not revolve around familial units, but could instead be based on shared genes."

Another possibility was that organisms may choose to help only individuals who carry specific markers to indicate the presence of an "altruism gene." The mechanism, described as a "greenbeard gene," involves a conspicuous marker, such as a green beard, which indicates the presence of the altruist gene. It was theorized that in such a system all organisms with green beards would recognize and be altruistic toward each other.

Clune and his collaborators gave the digital organisms the equivalent of greenbeard genes to see if they would use them to choose who to help.

"To our surprise," said team member Heather Goldsby, "the digital organisms did not evolve to base altruism on the presence of greenbeard markers -- instead, they continued to rely on overall genetic similarity."

Why did the digital organisms ignore the greenbeard markers? It was discovered that the greenbeard mechanism was too inflexible: It did not allow the organisms to adjust how altruistic to be.

"The greenbeard mechanism cannot evolve to increase the minimum amount of altruism that needs to be performed to join the greenbeard club," Clune said. "For that reason, greenbeards have an incentive to do the minimal amount necessary to reap the benefits of being in the club, and no more. Unfortunately for them, that means they cannot take advantage of the benefits of increased amounts of altruism."

This project was funded by the National Science Foundation, the Cambridge Templeton Consortium and Michigan State.

BEACON formally opened in February.

Reference:

Selective pressures for accurate altruism targeting: evidence from digital evolution for difficult-to-test aspects of inclusive fitness theory.
Jeff Clune, Heather J. Goldsby, Charles Ofria, Robert T. Pennock.
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2010; DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2010.1557
Link to PRSB abstract

Link to BEACON

Link to MSU news release

Mika

2010-09-25T16:32:00.000-07:00

potential for aggression can last

2010-09-25T12:01:00.001-07:00

Science Daily (September 20, 2010)

Violent Video Games Increase Aggression Long After the Game Is Turned Off, Study Finds

Playing a violent video game can increase aggression, and when a player keeps thinking about the game, the potential for aggression can last for as long as 24 hours, according to a study in the current Social Psychological and Personality Science.

Violent video game playing has long been known to increase aggression. This study, conducted by Brad Bushman of The Ohio State University and Bryan Gibson of Central Michigan University, shows that at least for men, ruminating about the game can increase the potency of the game's tendency to lead to aggression long after the game has been turned off.

The researchers randomly assigned college students to play one of six different video games for 20 minutes. Half the games were violent (e.g., Mortal Kombat) and half were not (e.g., Guitar Hero). To test if ruminating about the game would extend the games' effect, half of the players were told over "the next 24 hours, think about your play of the game, and try to identify ways your game play could improve when you play again."

Bushman and Gibson had the participants return the next day to test their aggressiveness. For men who didn't think about the game, the violent video game players tested no more aggressive than men who had played non-violent games. But the violent video game playing men who thought about the game in the interim were more aggressive than the other groups. The researchers also found that women who played the violent video games and thought about the games did not experience increased aggression 24 hours later.

This study is the first laboratory experiment to show that violent video games can stimulate aggression for an extended period of time. The authors noted that it is "reasonable to assume that our lab results will generalize to the 'real world.' Violent gamers usually play longer than 20 minutes, and probably ruminate about their game play in a habitual manner."

Reference:

Violent Video Games Cause an Increase in Aggression Long After the Game Has Been Turned Off.
Brad J. Bushman and Bryan Gibson.
Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2010; DOI: 10.1177/1948550610379506
Link to SPPS abstract

Link to Science Daily article

what did she say?

2010-09-25T12:01:00.000-07:00

Science Daily (September 21, 2010)

Overheard Cell-Phone Conversations Are Not Only Annoying but Reduce Our Attention

"Yeah, I'm on my way home."
"That's funny." "Uh-huh."
"What? No! I thought you were -- "
"Oh, ok."

Listening to someone talk on a cell phone is very annoying. A new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, finds out why: Hearing just one side of a conversation is much more distracting than hearing both sides and reduces our attention in other tasks.

Lauren Emberson, a psychology Ph.D. candidate at Cornell University, came up with the idea for the study when she was taking the bus as an undergraduate student at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. "I was commuting for 45 minutes by bus every day and I really felt like I couldn't do anything else when someone was on a cell phone," she says. "I couldn't read. I couldn't even listen to my music. I was just so distracted, and I started to wonder about why that could be."

For the experiment, Emberson recorded two pairs of female college roommates as they had a cell phone conversation. She recorded each conversation both as a dialogue, in which both women could be heard by a listener, and as a "halfalogue" in which only one side of the conversation could be heard, the same as overhearing a cell-phone conversation. She also recorded each woman recapping the conversation in a monologue. Then she played the recordings at volunteers as they did various tasks on the computer that require attention, such as tracking a moving dot using a computer mouse.

Sure enough, volunteers were much worse at the concentration tasks when they could only hear half of the conversation. Emberson thinks this is because our brains more or less ignore predictable things, while paying more attention to things that are unpredictable. When both sides of the conversation are audible, it flows predictably, but a cell phone conversation is quite unpredictable. Emberson conducted the study with Gary Lupyan of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Michael Goldstein of Cornell University, and Michael Spivey of the University of California-Merced.

"It's definitely changed my own etiquette," says Emberson. "I'm a lot more sensitive about talking on the phone in public. It has a really profound effect on the cognition of the people around you, and it's not because they're eavesdropping or they're bad people. Their cognitive mechanism basically means that they're forced to listen."

Reference:

Overheard Cell-Phone Conversations: When Less Speech Is More Distracting
Lauren L. Emberson, Gary Lupyan, Michael H. Goldstein, and Michael J. Spivey
Psychological Science first published on September 3, 2010 as doi:10.1177/0956797610382126
Link to Psych Sci abstract

Link to Science Daily article

Gwyn Thomas visits Ebbw Vale

2010-09-24T16:30:00.000-07:00

Porridge

2010-09-24T16:12:00.000-07:00

HIGNFY

2010-09-24T16:10:00.000-07:00

DADT Remix - I Don't Care What You Say

2010-09-24T14:05:00.000-07:00

Resistance in Mosquitoes

2010-09-24T10:00:00.001-07:00

Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (September 22, 2010)

New Technique Uncovers Hidden Insecticide Resistance in Mosquitoes

A new technique pioneered at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) is improving the detection and monitoring of insecticide resistance in field populations of an important malaria-carrying mosquito.

Researchers at LSTM, led by Dr Charles Wondji have developed a new technique which encourages the female Anopheles funestus mosquitoes to lay eggs which are then reared into adult mosquitoes to provide sufficient numbers to determine levels of insecticide resistance and to characterize the underlying mechanisms.

Explaining the significance, John Morgan, who designed the technique, said: "Malaria is the main cause of death in Uganda with some 12 million cases recorded annually. The Ministry of Health relies heavily on insecticide treated nets and spraying to control mosquitoes. The effectiveness of those control programs depends on the ability to detect and monitor insecticide resistance.

"The An.funestus mosquito is difficult to collect and rear from the field and hence published studies of insecticide resistance in this species are limited. This new forced egg laying technique encourages the females to lay eggs which we were then able to rear into viable populations.

"This allowed us to study levels of resistance to particular insecticides and in doing so, we have been able to find the first documented resistance to pyrethroid/DDT insecticides in East Africa. This will enable researchers to map the distribution of this resistance and allow the Ministry of Health to modify its vector control program, thereby increasing its effectiveness and helping to reduce the transmission of malaria."

Reference:

Pyrethroid Resistance in an Anopheles funestus Population from Uganda.
John C. Morgan, Helen Irving, Loyce M. Okedi, Andrew Steven, Charles S. Wondji.
PLoS ONE, 2010; 5 (7): e11872 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0011872
Link to PLoS ONE article

Link to LSTM news release

toxoplasmosis

2010-09-24T10:00:00.000-07:00

Science Daily (September 22, 2010) —

Ingredient in Soap Points Toward New Drugs for Infection That Affects Two Billion

The antibacterial ingredient in some soaps, toothpastes, odor-fighting socks, and even computer keyboards is pointing scientists toward a long-sought new treatment for a parasitic disease that affects almost two billion people. Their report on how triclosan became the guiding light for future development of drugs for toxoplasmosis appears in ACS' monthly Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.

In the study, Rima McLeod and colleagues point out that toxoplasmosis is one of the world's most common parasitic infections, affecting about one-third of the world population, including 80 percent of the population of Brazil. People can catch the infection, spread by the parasite Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii), from contact with feces from infected cats, eating raw or undercooked meat, and in other ways. Many have no symptoms because their immune systems keep the infection under control and the parasite remains inactive. But it can cause eye damage and other problems, even becoming life threatening in individuals with immune systems weakened by certain medications and diseases like HIV infection, which allow the parasite to become active again, and in some persons without immune compromise. Most current treatments have some potentially harmful side effects and none of them attack the parasite in its inactive stage.

The scientists knew from past research that triclosan has a powerful effect in blocking the action of a key enzyme that T. gondii uses to live. Triclosan, however, cannot be used as a medication because it does not dissolve in the blood. The scientists describe using triclosan's molecular structure as the model for developing other potential medications, including some that show promise as more effective treatments for the disease.

Reference:

Identification and Development of Novel Inhibitors ofToxoplasma gondiiEnoyl Reductase.
Suresh K. Tipparaju, Stephen P. Muench, Ernest J. Mui, Sergey N. Ruzheinikov, Jeffrey Z. Lu, Samuel L. Hutson, Michael J. Kirisits, Sean T. Prigge, Craig W. Roberts, Fiona L. Henriquez, Alan P. Kozikowski, David W. Rice, Rima L. McLeod.
Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 2010; 53 (17): 6287 DOI: 10.1021/jm9017724
Link to JMC abstract

Link to Science Daily article

New Target for Alzheimer's

2010-09-24T09:59:00.000-07:00

Rush University Medical Center (September 21, 2010)

Scientists Identify a New Target for Alzheimer's Disease

Neurological researchers at Rush University Medical Center have found a new therapeutic target that can potentially lead to a new way to prevent the progression of Alzheimer's disease. The target called neutral sphingomyelinase (N-SMase) is a protein that when activated, can cause a chain of reactions in the cell leading to neuronal death and memory loss.

Results from the study funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Alzheimer's Association are published in the Sept. 22 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.

"There are multiple, neurotoxic, disease-causing pathways that converge on the neutral sphingomyelinase that can cause neuronal loss in the brain of an Alzheimer's patient," said Kalipada Pahan, PhD, neurological researcher and lead investigator at Rush. "If we can stop the activation of the neutral sphingomylinase, we may be able to stop memory loss and the progression of Alzheimer's disease."

In the brain of a patient with Alzheimer's disease, two abnormal structures called plaques and tangles are prime suspects in damaging and killing nerve cells. While neurons die, other brain cells like astroglia and microglia do not die. These cells become activated and glial cell activation plays a key role in the destruction of neurons. However, the molecular mechanisms by which activated glial cells can kill neurons have been poorly understood until now.

Beta-amyloid, which is a protein fragment deposited in the brains of patients who have Alzheimer's disease, causes the activation of glial cells. Neuritic plaques are mainly composed of aggregates of beta-amyloid. When healthy nerve cells in the brain are exposed to beta-amyloid, they exhibit a number of pathological changes that are characteristic of Alzheimer's pathology.

Researchers at Rush were able to determine that the neutral sphingomyelinase is triggered by the activated brain cells and beta-amyloid. However, when the neutral sphingomyelinase was inhibited by using a small molecule inhibitor and a chemical inhibitor, the activated brain cells and beta amyloid were unable to kill neurons.

Experts tested the two inhibitors using human brain cells in a mouse model and a cell culture model.

"Understanding how the disease process works is important in identifying effective approaches to protect the brain and stop the progression of Alzheimer's disease," said Pahan. "The results of this study are very promising and our next step is to translate these findings to the clinic."

"If we can develop and test a clinical medication that can target the neutral sphingomyelinase, we may be able to halt memory loss in Alzheimer's disease patients," said Pahan.

Reference:

Fibrillar Amyloid-β-Activated Human Astroglia Kill Primary Human Neurons via Neutral Sphingomyelinase: Implications for Alzheimer's Disease.
A. Jana, K. Pahan.
Journal of Neuroscience, 2010; 30 (38): 12676 DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1243-10.2010
Link to J Neurosci abstract

Link to Rush news release

‘antibiotics are not effective against viruses’

2010-09-24T09:58:00.000-07:00

Science Daily (September 22, 2010)

Doctors Often Overprescribe Antibiotics for Respiratory Infections, Pennsylvania Study Finds

Doctors frequently misuse antibiotics when treating patients hospitalized with respiratory tract infections (RTIs), according to a study to be published in the November issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology.

The study, which tracked patients in two Pennsylvania hospitals, found that doctors often use antibiotics to treat patients whose infections are known to be caused by viruses. The findings are alarming because antibiotics are not effective against viruses, and antibiotic overuse has been linked to the development of resistant bacterial strains.

"[T]hese data demonstrate at least one area where antibiotics are commonly used in hospitalized patients without clear reason," write the study's authors, Kevin T. Shiley, Ebbing Lautenbach and Ingi Lee, all from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. "Recognition of this may be helpful in developing interventions to limit inappropriate antibiotic use in the future."

In recent years, new diagnostic tests have been developed to distinguish infections caused by viruses from those caused by bacteria. In theory, more definitive diagnoses should reduce the inappropriate use of antibiotics in patients with viral infections. But that does not appear to be happening, according to Shiley and his colleagues.

The researchers looked at data on RTI patients admitted to two hospitals over a two-year period. Of 196 patients who were diagnosed with viral infections, 125 remained on antibiotics after their diagnoses. It would be understandable to keep a patient on antibiotics if an abnormal chest x-ray suggests a concurrent bacterial infection, the researchers said. However, only 37% of these patients had abnormal chest x-rays. "It is less clear why the remaining 63% of patients with normal chest imaging were prescribed antibiotics," Shiley and his colleagues write.

No Clinical Benefit

Patients in the study who remained on antibiotics did not benefit from the treatment, the researchers found. In fact, antibiotics may have led to harm in some cases. For example, a significant number of antibiotic patients developed Clostridium difficile diarrhea, a condition linked with antibiotic use.

On average, the antibiotic group had longer hospital stays and higher mortality rates than the non-antibiotic group. While those poorer outcomes cannot be attributed directly to antibiotic treatment, they do suggest that there was no clinical benefit, the researchers say.

"This study highlights the crucial role of antimicrobial stewardship in improving patient care," said Neil O. Fishman, M.D. at the University of Pennsylvania and president of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. "Appropriate use of antibiotics is not only essential to limiting emergence of resistance, but also may help improve clinical outcomes."

Reference:

The Use of Antimicrobial Agents after the Diagnosis of Viral Respiratory Tract Infections in Hospitalized Adults: Antibiotics or Anxiolytics?
Kevin T. Shiley, Ebbing Lautenbach, and Ingi Lee.
Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, 2010; 31: 11
Link to ICHE abstract

Link to Science Daily article

Peter Sellers

2010-09-23T19:46:00.000-07:00

ISIHAC

2010-09-23T19:45:00.000-07:00

Sesame Street: True Mud

2010-09-23T19:42:00.000-07:00

Dino's Stimulus Flub

2010-09-23T19:41:00.000-07:00

Worst Person

2010-09-23T19:38:00.000-07:00

David Mitchell 's Soap Box

2010-09-23T16:59:00.000-07:00

Typhoid mouse

2010-09-23T16:31:00.000-07:00

University of Washington News (September 21, 2010)

Mice engrafted with human immune cells may provide clues to better prevention and treatment of typhoid fever

Better treatments and prevention for typhoid fever may emerge from a laboratory model that has just been developed for the disease. The model is based on transplanting human immune stem cells from umbilical cord blood into mice that are susceptible to infections.

The transplanted cells live alongside the mouse's own immune system. Although mice are normally resistant to the dangerous strain of Salmonella that causes typhoid fever, the bacteria are able to reproduce in the mice that have received transplanted human cells.

Because typhoid fever affects only humans, progress in creating more effective vaccines and medications has been limited, notes Dr. Ferric C. Fang, professor of laboratory medicine and microbiology at the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle and the senior scientist on the project. The new model enables scientists to study innovative approaches against the disease in a living system, before testing them on people.

The "humanized" mouse model for studying Salmonella Typhi infections was reported recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The lead author of the paper is Stephen J. Libby, research associate professor of laboratory medicine.

The World Health Organization estimates that more than 16,000,000 new cases of typhoid fever occur annually. More than 600,000 people die each year from the disease, which is transmitted through contaminated food or water. Making the situation worse, multi-drug resistant strains have emerged. Researchers are looking for new drugs to replace those that are no longer effective.

The current typhoid fever vaccines have protection rates ranging from 60 to 80 percent. The protection conferred by the present inoculation is short-lived, and doesn't have a booster effect, the researchers explained. The oral vaccine spoils easily if storage conditions aren't optimal -- as is the case in many tropical countries where typhoid fever is common. It also requires multiple doses. Studies in travelers suggest that many fail to take the vaccine properly.

Most of what scientists know about how Salmonella causes disease comes from studying a strain called Salmonella typhimurium, which can infect both mice and humans.

However, Fang noted that Salmonella infections in mice have not been found to correlate well with human typhoid infections.

"The mouse Salmonella infection differs from human typhoid in a number of important respects," he said. Immunity to one strain is fundamentally distinct from immunity to the other. This complicates attempts to construct vaccines based on observations of mice infected with Salmonella typhimurium."

Fang added that Salmonella Typhi, the cause of human typhoid fever, is highly adapted to people. It has evolved many ways to evade infection-fighting defenses inside humans. It can also enter and destroy disease-fighting cells. The bacteria induce inflammation where it is in their own self-interest, and suppress it when and where it might be a disadvantage, such as in the intestine. Salmonella has changed over time by acquiring new DNA, such as plasmids and bacteriophages, from other organisms. This borrowed DNA makes it more virulent to humans and other animal hosts.

The host-pathogen interactions in mouse typhoid and human typhoid fever are drastically removed from each other, Fang said.

The researchers demonstrated that human blood-forming cells engrafted into immune-deficient mice allowed the mice to be infected with the organism that causes human typhoid fever, and that the typhoid bacteria appeared to reproduce inside the human cells. The researchers were also able to use this model to look for genetic factors that the typhoid bacteria need to cause severe illness.

Based on their studies, the researchers believe that the new lab mouse model can provide an unprecedented opportunity to gain insights into how the human typhoid fever bacterium, Salmonella Typhi, causes serious disease and to devise better strategies for the prevention of typhoid fever. Their research also demonstrates how mice engrafted with human stem cells can allow scientists to better understand human infections.

Reference:

Humanized nonobese diabetic-scid IL2rγ^null mice are susceptible to lethal Salmonella Typhi infection.
S. J. Libby, M. A. Brehm, D. L. Greiner, L. D. Shultz, M. McClelland, K. D. Smith, B. T. Cookson, J. E. Karlinsey, T. L. Kinkel, S. Porwollik, R. Canals, L. A. Cummings, F. C. Fang.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2010; 107 (35): 15589 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1005566107
Link to PNAS abstract

Link to UW news release

pissing on the planet

2010-09-23T15:31:00.001-07:00

Science Daily (September 22, 2010)

Cocaine and Ecstasy Detected in Waters of the L'Albufera in Valencia, Spain

The water in the canals and irrigation channels in the L'Albufera Natural Park in Valencia, Spain contain cocaine, ecstasy and a further six drugs. This has been confirmed by a study carried out by researchers from the University of Valencia (UV), who have issued a warning about the continued presence of these substances on wildlife and human health.

"The results confirm the presence of drugs such as cocaine, amphetamines, codeine, morphine and cannabis in the surface waters of the L'Albufera National Park at levels ranging between 0.06 and 78.78 nanograms/litre," Yolanda Picó, lead author of the study and a senior professor in the Department of Nutrition and Bromatology at the UV said.

Scientists from this university and the Desertification Research Centre (CSIC-UV-GV) analyzed the presence of 14 kinds of illegal drugs -- including heroin, cocaine and ecstasy -- in 16 canals and irrigation channels in the natural park. The study looked for the residue these drugs leave behind in human urine after they have been taken, and which end up in the water.

The results, published in the journal Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, positively showed the presence of eight kinds of drugs, particularly cocaine and ecstasy. "Cocaine and its metabolites (such as benzoylecgonine) were ubiquitous in all the samples taken, while ecstasy (3.4-methylendioximetamphetamine, or MDMA) was also found very frequently," Picó explains.

The greatest drug concentration and frequency was found in the north of the park, above all in the area of the Poyo ravine. Waste water is regularly discharged in this area, and it also has the highest population density (almost 70% of the total population), as well as industry and nightclubs.

The researcher points out that this "indicates, with increasing likelihood, that drugs are reaching the sewer and channel systems, and that in many cases they could be affecting the irrigation channels and waters of the L'Albufera lake."

The team also found very high levels in some particular samples taken in the area of Benifaió and Almusaffes, which can only be explained by the presence of untreated waste water.

A risk for the wetlands

Exhaustive eco-toxocological studies into the risk the presence of these substances in the water could pose to people and the environment have not yet been carried out. However, the scientists have issued a warning about the possible consequences.

"The health problems potentially caused by consuming these, added to the fact that these residues are still strongly pharmacologically active, may have consequences for land organisms and aquatic fauna," said Picó.

The L'Albufera Natural Park is one of the most important wetlands in Europe because of its biodiversity of flora and fauna, and because it is a key area for migratory birds. The area is a SPAB (Special Protection Area for Birds), is on the List of Sites of Community Importance for the Mediterranean Biogeographical Region, and is covered by the RAMSAR Convention on Wetlands.

Paradoxically, the park is surrounded by cities, industries, farms, shopping malls and leisure centers. The wetland is bordered by the Mediterranean highway and the V-31 motorway, and crossed by the Saler motorway and other roads. The L'Albufera is also affected by pressure from the 12 urban centers -- including the city of Valencia -- and the 14 municipal districts that surround it.

Reference:

SPE and LC-MS/MS determination of 14 illicit drugs in surface waters from the Natural Park of L’Albufera (València, Spain)
Pablo Vazquez-Roig, Vicente Andreu, Cristina Blasco, Yolanda Pic.
Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, 2010; 397 (7): 2851 DOI: 10.1007/s00216-010-3720-x
Link to AB Chem abstract

Link to Science Daily

microbial world of sex and virulence

2010-09-23T15:31:00.000-07:00

Science Daily (September 23, 2010)

Linking Microbial Sex and Virulence

Two opportunistic pathogens that were once thought to be very different have evolved some sexual reproduction and disease-causing habits that are not only similar but also suggest that in the microbial world sex and virulence are closely linked, according to a review published this week in the online journal mBio™.

"Although the mechanisms used by bacterial and fungal species to promote genetic exchange are distinct, recent studies have uncovered surprising parallels between pheromone signaling in these species," says Richard Bennett of Brown University who co-authored the article with Gary Dunny of the University of Minnesota.

Sexual reproduction in bacteria involves the joining of two parent cells and the exchange of genetic materials. In sexual reproduction, the offspring will have a mixture of the parent cells' traits. Most bacteria reproduce asexually by simple cell division so that the newly formed cells carry the exact genetic makeup of the original cells.

Bennett's primary area of research is focused on understanding the sexual reproductive cycle of the opportunistic human pathogen Candida albicans, a yeast that generally grows harmlessly in the human digestive tract but under certain circumstances can cause disease. Dunny studies genetic transfer and virulence in Enterococcus faecalis, a bacterium that, like C. albicans, is a common component of the digestive tract but can also cause life-threatening opportunistic infections.

Telesensing, or probing of the environment by releasing chemical messengers such as pheromones, plays a central role in the sexual reproduction of microorganisms. In the review Bennett and Dunny examine recent evidence that indicates that these two very different microorganisms actually show similar modes of pheromone signaling to regulate the exchange of genetic material. More importantly, they make the connection to evidence that shows these same mechanisms can be used by the pathogens to cause disease.

"It is now apparent that pheromone signaling not only controls sexual reproduction and genetic exchange but can also activate expression of potential virulence factors in diverse opportunistic pathogens," say the authors. "It will therefore prove revealing to determine whether other microbes have adapted their mating machinery for novel purposes, with particular emphasis on the role of these processes in opportunistic pathogens that colonize and infect the human host."

Reference:

Analogous Telesensing Pathways Regulate Mating and Virulence in Two Opportunistic Human Pathogens.
Richard J. Bennett and Gary M. Dunny
mBio, 2010; 1 (4): e00181-10 DOI: 10.1128/mBio.00181-10
Link to mBio abstract

Link to Science Daily article

Low awareness of HIV infection

2010-09-23T15:30:00.001-07:00

Julie Steenhuysen for Reuters (September 23, 2010)

1 in 5 gay, bisexual men in U.S. cities has HIV: nearly half unaware

Nearly one in five gay and bisexual men in 21 major U.S. cities are infected with HIV, and nearly half of them do not know it, U.S. health officials said on Thursday.

Young men, and especially young black men, are least likely to know if they are infected with HIV, according to a study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Researchers at the CDC studied 8,153 men who have sex with men in 21 U.S. cities. The men were taking part in the 2008 National HIV Behavioral Surveillance System, which looked at prevalence and awareness of HIV.

Overall, they found that 19 percent of gay men are infected with HIV.

The study found that 28 percent of gay black men infected with HIV, compared with 18 percent of Hispanic men and 16 percent of white men.

Black men in the study were also least likely to be aware of their infection, with 59 percent unaware of their infection compared with 46 percent of Hispanic men and 26 percent of white men.

Age also plays a role. Among 18 to 29-year-old men, 63 percent did not know they were infected with HIV, compared with 37 percent of men aged 30 and older, the team reported in the CDC's weekly report on death and disease.

"This alarming new data provides further evidence that prevention efforts for gay men have not been adequate to meet the growing epidemic and should be dramatically scaled up," said Carl Schmid of the nonprofit AIDS Institute.

"The severity of the impact of HIV in the gay community is nothing new. What has been missing is an appropriate response by our government, at the federal, state and local levels, and the gay community itself," he said in a statement.

reference

Prevalence and Awareness of HIV Infection Among Men Who Have Sex With Men --- 21 Cities, United States, 2008
A Smith, MPH, I Miles, ScD, B Le, MD, T Finlayson, PhD, A Oster, MD, E DiNenno, PhD, Div of HIV/AIDS Prevention, National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, CDC.
MMWR September 24, 2010 / 59(37);1201-1207
Link to CDC’s MMWR article

Link to CDC Press Release

Link to Reuters article

Non-Stick solution?

2010-09-23T15:30:00.000-07:00

Science Daily (September 23, 2010)

Non-Stick Coating of a Protein Found in Semen Reduces HIV Infection

A non-stick coating for a substance found in semen dramatically lowers the rate of infection of immune cells by HIV a new study has found.

The new material is a potential ingredient for microbicides designed to reduce transmission of HIV, a team from the University of Rochester Medical Center and the University of California, San Diego reports in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

The coating clings to fibrous strings and mats of protein called SEVI-for semen-derived enhancer of viral infection-which was first discovered just three years ago. SEVI seems to attract the virus and deposit it onto the surface of T-cells, components of the immune system that are the primary target of HIV infection, and may play an important role in sexual transmission of HIV.

Like the fibrous strings that bind senile plaques associated with Alzheimer's disease, SEVI is a kind of protein superstructure called an amyloid.

Jerry Yang, associate professor of chemistry at UC San Diego and his research group developed non-stick coatings for amyloids as a potential treatment for Alzheimer's disease in 2006. Their idea was to minimize damage by preventing amyloid proteins from interacting with other molecules in the brain.

When this new amyloid, SEVI, was discovered in 2007, Yang was interested in testing whether the coating strategy might interfere with SEVI's role in promoting HIV infection.

Yang's group teamed up with a researchers led by Stephen Dewhurst, chair of the microbiology and immunology department at the University of Rochester Medical Center, who studies HIV.

"We tested one of our molecules out on SEVI and found it was able to stop SEVI-enhanced infection of HIV in cells," Yang said. "It works in semen too. Something in semen enhances viral infection -- SEVI and maybe other things. This molecule stops that."

When the researchers added the molecule that forms non-stick coatings to a mix of SEVI, virus and cells, rates of infection dropped to levels observed when SEVI was absent. They saw a similar effect with semen as well, evidence that this potential microbicide supplement works to inhibit infection within a mixture of proteins and other molecules found in seminal fluid.

The coating molecule is a modified form of thioflavin-T, a dye that stains amyloid proteins. It fits in between the individual small proteins that cluster to form SEVI and blocks SEVI's interactions with both the virus and the target immune cells.

"Other people have tried to do the same thing by targeting the virus or the cells it infects. What we do is target the mediator between the virus and the cells," Yang said. "By neutralizing SEVI, we prevent at least one way for HIV to attach to the cells."

The new molecule has another advantage. Unlike many current microbicide candidates aimed at reducing HIV infection, this one doesn't cause inflammation in cervical cells.

"Recent studies have shown for the first time that a topical microbicide gel can protect women from HIV-1 infection. This is a huge step forward but not a perfect solution. We need to figure out ways to further improve protection -- and our studies suggest one way of doing so," said Dewhurst, who is the corresponding author of the report. "It may be possible to produce a next-generation microbicide that includes both an antiviral agent, as has been used in the past, and an agent that targets SEVI. We're very excited about exploring this idea."

The National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation funded this work.

Reference:

Amyloid binding small molecules efficiently block SEVI and semen mediated enhancement of HIV-1 infection.
Joanna S. Olsen, Caitlin Brown, Christina C. Capule, Mark Rubinshtein, Todd M. Doran, Rajesh K. Srivastava, Changyong Feng, Bradley L. Nilsson, Jerry Yang and Stephen Dewhurst
Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2010; DOI: 10.1074/jbc.M110.163659
Link to JBC abstract

Link to Science Daily article

One Percent of Global GDP -- And Growing

2010-09-23T08:23:00.000-07:00

King’s College London (September 21, 2010)

Massive Global Cost of Alzheimer's

A landmark report on the Global Economic Impact of Dementia finds that Alzheimer's disease and other dementias are exacting a massive toll on the global economy, with the problem set to accelerate in coming years. The Report was jointly authored by Professor Anders Wimo of the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; and Professor Martin Prince, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London.

The World Alzheimer Report 2010 -- issued on World Alzheimer's Day by Alzheimer's Disease International (ADI) -- provides the most current and comprehensive global picture of the economic and social costs of the illness.

'This is a wake-up call that Alzheimer's disease and other dementias are the single most significant health and social crisis of the 21st century,' said Dr Daisy Acosta, Chairman of ADI. 'World governments are woefully unprepared for the social and economic disruptions this disease will cause.'

Report Findings

· The worldwide costs of dementia will exceed 1% of global GDP in 2010, at US$604 billion.

If dementia care were a country, it would be the world's 18th largest economy. If it were a company, it would be the world's largest by annual revenue exceeding Wal-Mart (US$414 billion) and Exxon Mobil (US$311 billion).
The number of people with dementia will double by 2030, and more than triple by 2050.
The costs of caring for people with dementia are likely to rise even faster than the prevalence -- especially in the developing world, as more formal social care systems emerge, and rising incomes lead to higher opportunity costs.
Reports from individual countries such as the UK suggest that dementia is one of the costliest illnesses -- and yet research and investment is at a far lower level than for other major illnesses.

'The scale of this crisis cries out for global action,' said Marc Wortmann, Executive director of ADI. 'History shows that major diseases can be made manageable -- and even preventable -- with sufficient global awareness and the political will to make substantial investments in research and care options.'

'This new Report gives us the clearest, most comprehensive picture yet of the global economic and social costs of dementia,' said Prof Anders Wimo. 'In this World Alzheimer Report 2010, we merged the best available data and the most recent insights regarding the worldwide economic cost of dementia. This enabled us to provide more detailed estimates than before, by making use of recently available data that considerably strengthens the evidence base.'

The Report combines the most current prevalence data from the World Alzheimer Report 2009 with improved data on low and middle-income countries from the 10/66 Dementia Research Group studies in Latin America, India and China. The Report uses representative population-based samples from developing countries to better quantify the cost of informal care systems that have previously been excluded from impact estimates.

Co-author Professor Martin Prince urged nations to develop better plans for caring for the millions who have the disease. 'The care of people with dementia is not just a health issue -- it is a massive social issue,' said Prof Prince. 'This is particularly true in low and middle income countries which lack adequate systems of formal care. Governments must show greater leadership, working with all stakeholders, to drive solutions to the long term care issue.'

Recommended Actions

The Report urges the global community to take the following immediate actions:

Governments worldwide should act urgently to make Alzheimer's disease a top priority and develop national plans to deal with the social and health consequences of dementia. Several countries have moved forward to develop national plans, including France, Australia and England. It is critical for other governments to follow suit.
Governments and other major research funders must increase research funding to a level more proportionate to the economic burden of the condition. Recently published data from the UK suggests that a 15-fold increase is required to reach parity with research into heart disease, and a 30-fold increase to achieve parity with cancer research.
Governments worldwide must develop policies and plans for long-term care that anticipate and address social and demographic trends and have an explicit focus on supporting family caregivers and ensuring social protection of vulnerable people with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias.
The scale of what is facing us elevates this to a global challenge, which must be addressed as a top WHO priority and on the G-20/G-8 agenda.

Ruth Sutherland, Interim Chief Executive of Alzheimer's Society, said: 'These shocking statistics provide yet more proof that we cannot afford to ignore the growing global dementia crisis. These sky high figures represent not only a huge economic burden but also reflect the immeasurable impact dementia has on the lives of millions of people across the world. There are 750,000 people living with dementia in the UK and this number is set to reach a million within a generation. If we are to transform lives and reduce costs we need to act now. The government must lead the way in ensuring national dementia strategies are fully implemented and dementia research is given the funding it so desperately needs. '

Dementia is a syndrome that can be caused by a number of progressive disorders that affect memory, thinking, behavior and the ability to perform everyday activities. Alzheimer's disease is the most common type of dementia. Approximately 0.5% of the world's total population live with dementia and this will grow exponentially. After age 65, the likelihood of developing Alzheimer's roughly doubles every five years. At the age of 85, the odds of a person developing it are close to 50 percent. In the World Alzheimer Report 2009, ADI estimated that there are 35.6 million people living with dementia worldwide, increasing to 65.7 million by 2030 and 115.4 million by 2050.

Link to the World Alzheimer Report

Link to KCL news release

Bill Gates Sr takes it for1098

2010-09-22T21:29:00.000-07:00

No Joke: Al Franken

2010-09-22T19:18:00.000-07:00

Ghostwatch

2010-09-22T19:17:00.000-07:00

Nilsson - Without You

2010-09-22T19:16:00.000-07:00

A Ballroom in Ebbw Vale

2010-09-22T19:13:00.000-07:00

Worst Person

2010-09-22T19:10:00.000-07:00

2010-09-22T15:20:00.000-07:00

Dissemination of resistance?

2010-09-22T15:18:00.001-07:00

Science Daily (September 20, 2010)

Seagulls Harbor Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria

Analysis of seagull droppings has revealed that one in ten carry 'superbug' bacteria, resistant to the last-resort antibiotic Vancomycin. Researchers writing in BioMed central's open access journal Proteome Science investigated 57 migratory seagull samples recovered from an island off the coast of Portugal.

Gilberto Igrejas from the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Portugal, worked with a team of researchers to carry out the study. He said, "We used a novel technique called proteomics to detect the maximum number of bacterial proteins which are thought to be connected in some, as yet unknown, way to antibiotic resistance. Our comprehensive description of the proteins that we found may provide new targets for development of antimicrobial agents. This knowledge may also help to identify new biomarkers of antibiotic resistance and virulence factors."

The seagulls studied (Larus cachinnans) are migratory birds that can be found across Europe. They are opportunistic marine feeders, and will readily eat the food sources provided by humans, especially garbage. It is thought that they may represent one way that antibiotic resistance genes can be spread from place to place.

According to Igrejas, "Migrating birds that fly and travel long distance can act as transporters, or as reservoirs, of antibiotic resistant bacteria and may consequently have a significant epidemiological role in the dissemination of resistance."

Reference:

Proteomic characterization of vanA-containing Enterococcus recovered from Seagulls at the Berlengas Nature Reserve, W Portugal.
Hajer Radhouani, Patrícia Poeta, Luís Pinto, Júlio Miranda, Céline Coelho, Carlos Carvalho, Jorge Rodrigues, María López, Carmen Torres, Rui Vitorino, Pedro Domingues and Gilberto Igrejas.
Proteome Science, 2010 8:48 (21 September 2010) doi:10.1186/1477-5956-8-48
Link to Proteome Sci abstract

Link to Science Daily article

Emergence of drug resistance

2010-09-22T15:14:00.000-07:00

Emergence of drug resistance

Kelly Safreed-Harmon for Aidsmap (22 September 2010 )

Early warning indicators for drug resistance in resource-limited settings piloted in Namibia

A pilot project using “early warning indicators” (EWIs) to minimize antiretroviral (ART) resistance in Namibia has provided further evidence of the potential value of this strategy in settings where routine viral load monitoring is not feasible.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has encouraged resource-limited countries to integrate EWIs into their monitoring activities. EWIs measure how well ART programs are performing in terms of factors associated with the emergence of drug resistance, such as clinic appointment-keeping and loss to follow-up.

With more than four million people in the developing world now receiving antiretroviral therapy, but few of those people able to access the relatively costly laboratory tests that are a standard component of HIV medical care in wealthy countries, there is ongoing concern that high rates of undetected treatment failure could cause widespread drug resistance.

In Namibia, which has an 18% adult HIV prevalence rate, ART is free of charge at public-sector clinics. Namibia has one of the highest ART coverage rates in sub-Saharan Africa, with treatment being provided to 88% of people for whom treatment is indicated. That figure represents 40,000 public-sector patients and 12,000 private-sector patients.

Public health planners in Namibia implemented the EWI approach using data from a sample of 3,240 patients attending nine public-sector HIV treatment centers. Their analysis, presented as an advance online publication of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, highlighted strengths and weakness of the national ART treatment program. It also called attention to data gaps that hampered program monitoring.

WHO describes the use of EWIs as a key element in the global HIV drug resistance strategy it introduced in 2008.

WHO has selected six core EWIs and two optional EWIs partly on the basis of how feasible it is thought to be for countries to use existing electronic and paper-based records for monitoring.

Reference

Population-based monitoring of HIV drug resistance in Namibia with early warning indicators.
Hong, Steven Y; Jonas, Anna; Dumeni, Efraim; Badi, Alfons; Pereko, Dawn; Blom, Abraham; Muthiani, Victor S; Shiningavamwe, Andreas N; Mukamba, James; Andemichael, Ghirmay; Barbara, Rony; Bennett, Diane E; Jordan, Michael R
JAIDS Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, published in advance, 10 September 2010 doi: 10.1097/QAI.0b013e3181f5376d
Link to JAIDS abstract

Link to WHO’s H IV Drug Resistance Early Warning Indicators [pdf]

Link to Aidsmap article