The Medical Thread

Cells can fight viruses, even when stimulated to combat bacteria: "Viruses pull a lot of dirty tricks to dodge our immune defenses and make us sick, but now scientists have come up with a trick of their own. Researchers have discovered that prompting cells to combat bacteria can also help them fight off viruses, even though the cells presumably wouldn’t have the right weapons to do so. “This would be analogous to, in a football game, arming the defense with baseball bats,” says Andrew Gewirtz, a mucosal immunologist at Georgia State University in Atlanta. The finding could solve a vaccine mystery, as well as lead to new ways to combat infectious diseases."

High Levels of Cancer-Causing Arsenic in Rice – So Why Isn’t It Regulated in Our Food?: "There are two sides to rice: the grain that feeds half the world – and the primary carcinogenic source of inorganic arsenic in our diet.

Arsenic is a natural occurring element that is ubiquitous in the environment. It is present primarily as inorganic arsenic, which is highly toxic.

What sets rice apart is that it is the only major crop that is grown under flooded conditions. It is this flooding that releases inorganic arsenic, normally locked up in soil minerals, which makes it available for the plant to uptake. Rice has, typically, ten times more inorganic arsenic than other foods and, as the European Food Standards Authority have reported, people who eat a lot of rice are exposed to worrying concentrations. Chronic exposure can cause a range of health problems including developmental problems, heart disease, diabetes and nervous system damage. However, most worrying are lung and bladder cancers."

New Alzheimer's-related memory disorder identified: "A multi-institutional study has defined and established criteria for a new neurological disease closely resembling Alzheimer's disease called primary age-related tauopathy (PART). Patients with PART develop cognitive impairment that can be indistinguishable from Alzheimer's disease, but they lack amyloid plaques. Awareness of this neurological disease will help doctors diagnose and develop more effective treatments for patients with different types of memory impairment."

Scientists find first evidence of 'local' clock in the brain: "A master clock found in part of the brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is thought to synchronise lots of 'local' clocks that regulate many aspects of our metabolism, for example in the liver. But until now scientists have not had sufficient evidence to demonstrate the existence of these local clocks in the brain or how they operate.

In a new study looking at mice, researchers including Professors Bill Wisden and Nick Franks at Imperial College London and Dr Mick Hastings' group at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge have investigated a local clock found in another part of the brain, outside the SCN, known as the tuberomamillary nucleus (TMN). This is made up of histaminergic neurons, which are inactive during sleep, but release a compound called histamine during waking hours, which awakens the body."

The science behind total recall: New player in brain function and memory: "Is it possible to change the amount of information the brain can store? Maybe, according to a new international study. The research has identified a molecule that puts a brake on brain processing and when removed, brain function and memory recall is improved."

Premature infants are exposed to unsafe levels of chemical in medical products used to save their lives: "Hospitalized premature infants are exposed to unsafe levels of a chemical found in numerous medical products used to treat them, raising questions about whether critically ill newborns may be adversely affected by equipment designed to help save their lives."

Re Viruses: The immune response is partially specific - some immune mechanisms only work one one pathogen but several work on several different pathogens. And the article talks about cytokines - these usually induce broad immune responses.

Re PART: Ah yes, it's fairly controversial even in regular Alzheimer's whether tau or Amyloid are the main damage inducers. And tau might be a prion on top of all else.

Chemical in coffee may help prevent obesity-related disease: "A chemical compound commonly found in coffee may help prevent some of the damaging effects of obesity. Scientists have found that chlorogenic acid, or CGA, significantly reduced insulin resistance and accumulation of fat in the livers of mice who were fed a high-fat diet."

Sonar-assisted human navigation: "The prototype is made up of several components. It is powered by an Arduino Lilypad microprocessor, runs JAVA-like code written by Janes, and is combined with the sonar distance sensors and two cellphone vibrating motors. It measures the distance of objects and provides feedback via vibrations to the user. The frequency of vibrations is proportional to the distance from the detected object, allowing the user to accurately discern an obstacle's proximity; they get faster as it draws near."

Having just read Chocolate Baby, I have to ask... Are there any plausible explanations for why a couple of dark-skinned, dark-haired ethnic background with pretty much zero light-skinned blonde-haired ethnicities in their recent ancenstry can have a blonde-haired, light-skinned child, like these British Nigerian parents? (And yes, they don't have any recent white-skinned, blonde-haired ancestors. It's what kept baffling the geneticists who were studying the case.)

On a related note, can a purely "white" parent and a purely "black" parent give birth to a purely "white" child?

edited 15th Nov '14 12:04:29 PM by MarqFJA

Both things can happen, yes. Converging recessive factors can play a role in the former.

... "Converging recessive factors"?

Plainly, two dark-skinned parents may be carrier of a recessive alelle that can give white skin. A child of them could get two copies of it and get white skin.

There's also the chance of just a random mutation.

This happens in South Africa even among families who haven't had any mixing for a good nine generations or more.

Over the years, a number of shipwrecks occurred up and down the coastline. Some of the sailors survived and successfully integrated into various tribes when they had no hope of reaching the Cape overland, what with the places being usually rather remote (if they even had a clear idea where they ended up to point themselves in the right direction to get back to "civilisation"). The recessives can crop up giving either blue eyes or very light skin at random intervals in people staunchly of amaZulu or amaXhosa decent, for example.

My parents knew a guy called "China" as a nickname for his China-blues. When he had the darkest skin you can get as amaXhosa as a result of both sides of his family stemming back to one Dutch sailor in about the C16th. <shrugs>

edited 15th Nov '14 2:07:16 PM by Euodiachloris

There was a case about a women in South Africa getting darker skin over night. Since this was during the Apartheid, it didn't end well for her.

Cassidy The Devil: The differences between the abilities of men and women is could just be social‽ Well my mind is blown.

Researchers create synthetic muscles that are capable of retaining memory and motion control: "The ‘muscles’, made from smooth plastic, could eventually be used in a wide range of applications where mimicking the movement of natural muscle would be an advantage, such as robotics, aerospace, exoskeletons and biomedical applications.

Although artificial muscles (actuators) and polymers that can remember shapes exist, movement and memory have not yet been incorporated in the same material. Now, University of Cambridge researchers have produced such a material, known as polymeric electro-mechanical memory (EMM). Details are published in the journal Materials Chemistry C."

Regenerative Medicine Has Huge Potential But It Does Not Come Cheap: "So although it is in everybody’s interest to develop these materials, who is going to pay for it? Private companies might develop the technology but in countries like the UK, for example, where the NHS is publicly funded, is it affordable?

This may prove difficult as the ageing population increases. In the long run, governments will have to ensure that these new expensive technologies are available. While scientists and bio-engineers are driven to design better solutions, everyone will need to make these technologies more affordable and more efficient."

Teens with earlier school start times have higher crash rates: "Teen drivers who start class earlier in the morning are involved in significantly more motor vehicle accidents than peers with a later high school start time, a study shows. The results underscore the importance of the 'Awake at the Wheel' campaign of the National Healthy Sleep Awareness Project."

Up to 80 million bacteria sealed with a kiss: "As many as 80 million bacteria are transferred during a 10 second kiss, according to new research. The study also found that partners who kiss each other at least nine times a day share similar communities of oral bacteria."

Study suggests home cooking is a main ingredient in a healthier diet: "People who frequently cook meals at home eat healthier and consume fewer calories than those who cook less, according to new Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health research.

'When people cook most of their meals at home, they consume fewer carbohydrates, less sugar and less fat than those who cook less or not at all - even if they are not trying to lose weight,' says Julia A. Wolfson, MPP, a CLF-Lerner Fellow at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future and lead author of the study.

The findings also suggest that those who frequently cooked at home - six-to-seven nights a week - also consumed fewer calories on the occasions when they ate out."

Calorie-restricting diets slow aging, study finds: "Neuroscientists have shown that calorie-reduced diets stop the normal rise and fall in activity levels of close to 900 different genes linked to aging and memory formation in the brain."

Re calorie-restricting diets: Pretty Much As Expected. For those who don't know, in animals calorie restriction is a major risk factor for longevity.

The 'dirty' side of soap: Triclosan, a common antimicrobial in personal hygiene products, causes liver fibrosis and cancer in mice: "Triclosan is an antimicrobial commonly found in soaps, shampoos, toothpastes and many other household items. Despite its widespread use, researchers report potentially serious consequences of long-term exposure to the chemical."

Viruses impaired if their targets have diverse genes: "When a viral infection spread through five genetically identical mice in a row, the virus replicated faster and became more virulent or severe. But when the infection spread one-by-one through five genetically diverse mice, the virus had trouble adapting and became less virulent.

By showing this long-suspected mechanism holds true within a single species of vertebrate animal, namely, mice, the University of Utah study suggests that increased genetic diversity should be promoted in livestock and in captive-bred endangered species so as to limit their risk of getting deadly infections."

New computer model sets new precedent in drug discovery: "A major challenge faced by the pharmaceutical industry has been how to rationally design and select protein molecules to create effective biologic drug therapies while reducing unintended side effects - a challenge that has largely been addressed through costly guess-and-check experiments. Researchers at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University offer a new approach, in a study published today in Biophysical Journal.

Merging expertise from computer science and synthetic drug design, the new model reveals that the drug efficacy of fusion-protein therapies depends on the geometric characteristics of a drug's molecular components. Use of the model could potentially replace the need to physically make and test new biologic drug designs, cutting down timelines and costs associated with drug development."

Training can lead to synesthetic experiences: Does learning the 'color of' specific letters boost IQ?: "A new study has shown for the first time how people can be trained to 'see' letters of the alphabet as colors in a way that simulates how those with synesthesia experience their world."

Biologists explore link between memory deficit and misfiring circadian clock in Siberian hamsters: "By disrupting Siberian hamsters' circadian rhythms, scientists have identified a part of the brain that, when misfiring, inhibits memory. The work could lead to therapies for neurodegenerative diseases in humans."

Mother's soothing presence makes pain go away, changes gene activity in infant brain: "A mother's 'TLC' not only can help soothe pain in infants, but it may also impact early brain development by altering gene activity in a part of the brain involved in emotions, according to a new study."

Finding 'lost' languages in the brain: Far-reaching implications for unconscious role of infant experiences: "An infant's mother tongue creates neural patterns that the unconscious brain retains years later even if the child totally stops using the language, as can happen in cases of international adoption, according to a new joint study. The study offers the first neural evidence that traces of the "lost" language remain in the brain."

Memory problems caused by sleep deprivation prevented: "Scientists have found that a particular set of cells in a small region of the brain are responsible for memory problems after sleep loss. By selectively increasing levels of a signaling molecule in these cells, the researchers prevented mice from having memory deficits."

Cells' natural response to chronic protein misfolding may do more harm than good: "'Protein misfolding' diseases such as cystic fibrosis and Alzheimer's may be seriously exacerbated by the body's own response against that misfolding, according to a new study led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI).

The researchers examined patient cells and animal models of several diseases that feature chronic protein misfolding and found that in each case, a cellular defense system against protein misfolding, called the "heat shock response," was overactive. Reducing its activity lessened the signs of disease and enhanced the effects of existing therapeutics."

Could magnets in helmets reduce football concussions?: "Roughly 60% of concussions in football are caused by head-to-head collisions. The material now packed inside traditional helmets reduces concussions by deflecting some of the energy after a collision occurs. According to Colello, magnets could extend the impact zone beyond the hard shell of players’ helmets, slowing the collision down before it occurs, thus reducing the overall g-force that a player experiences—just like brakes on a car. If a driver slams on the brakes just before it smashes into a wall, the impact will still occur, but at a slower speed, decreasing the g-forces that the driver experiences.

Colello wants to add palm-sized magnet inserts, made from the rare earth element neodymium, into the front and sides of helmets. The removable inserts follow the curvature of the helmet, so players can’t accidentally hit the field with the wrong pole facing outwards. According to Colello, they could increase the price per helmet by as little as $100."

Research suggests intermittent fasting provides health benefits: "Intermittently restricting food intake could help prevent obesity and associated diseases prevalent in modern society, according to an analysis by Mark P. Mattson of the National Institute on Aging in Baltimore and colleagues. The researchers, who also included the BBC's Michael Mosley, a proponent of the 5:2 intermittent fasting diet, reviewed previous studies on intermittent fasting and concluded that this eating pattern could be healthier than eating three meals per day or eating at will. The review appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."

Unique sense of 'touch' gives a prolific bacterium its ability to infect anything: "New research has found that one of the world's most prolific bacteria manages to afflict humans, animals and even plants by way of a mechanism not before seen in any infectious microorganism—a sense of touch. This unique ability helps make the bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa ubiquitous, but it also might leave these antibiotic-resistant organisms vulnerable to a new form of treatment.

Pseudomonas is the first pathogen found to initiate infection after merely attaching to the surface of a host, Princeton University and Dartmouth College researchers report in the journal the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This mechanism means that the bacteria, unlike most pathogens, do not rely on a chemical signal specific to any one host, and just have to make contact with any organism that's ripe for infection.

The researchers found, however, that the bacteria could not infect another organism when a protein on their surface known as Pil Y 1 was disabled. This suggests a possible treatment that, instead of attempting to kill the pathogen, targets the bacteria's own mechanisms for infection."

Brain Pathway Rediscovered After 100 Years: "Modern magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques are giving scientists unprecedented insight into the inner workings of the human brain. When neuroscientist Jason Yeatman of the University of Washington noticed a large fiber bundle that was unfamiliar to him and did not exist in modern scientific literature, he couldn’t believe he was actually the first person to discover the structure.

It turns out that he was right; the structure had been described before. However, the book that contained the last known mention of the fiber bundle had not been read in over 100 years. Yeatman and Kevin Wiener of Stanford University are co-authors of the paper, which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The structure is now officially named the vertical occipital fasciculus (VOF). It is a tract of white matter that defies convention and connects areas of the brain vertically, rather than horizontally like most other white matter pathways. The pair used advanced MRI techniques and found that the pathway originates in a region at the back of the brain where visual processing occurs called the occipital lobe. Signals then spread out to many other regions in the brain, depending on what is required by the visual input."

People with hand transplants can gain near-normal sense of touch: "Rapid changes unfold in the brain after a person's hand is amputated. Within days—and possibly even hours—neurons that once processed sensations from the palm and fingers start to shift their allegiances, beginning to fire in response to sensations in other body parts, such as the face. But a hand transplant can bring these neurons back into the fold, restoring the sense of touch nearly back to normal, according to a study presented here this week at the annual conference of the Society for Neuroscience."

Imagination, reality flow in opposite directions in the brain: "Van Veen, along with Giulio Tononi, a UW-Madison psychiatry professor and neuroscientist, and collaborators from the University of Liege in Belgium, published results recently in the journal NeuroImage. Their work could lead to the development of new tools to help Tononi untangle what happens in the brain during sleep and dreaming, while Van Veen hopes to apply the study's new methods to understand how the brain uses networks to encode short-term memory.

During imagination, the researchers found an increase in the flow of information from the parietal lobe of the brain to the occipital lobe—from a higher-order region that combines inputs from several of the senses out to a lower-order region."

Body's bacteria may keep our brains healthy: "The microbes that live in your body outnumber your cells 10 to one. Recent studies suggest these tiny organisms help us digest food and maintain our immune system. Now, researchers have discovered yet another way microbes keep us healthy: They are needed for closing the blood-brain barrier, a molecular fence that shuts out pathogens and molecules that could harm the brain.

The findings suggest that a woman's diet or exposure to antibiotics during pregnancy may influence the development of this barrier. The work could also lead to a better understanding of multiple sclerosis, in which a leaky blood-brain barrier may set the stage for a decline in brain function."

Quantum mechanical calculations reveal the hidden states of enzyme active sites: "Enzymes carry out fundamental biological processes such as photosynthesis, nitrogen fixation and respiration, with the help of clusters of metal atoms as 'active' sites. But scientists lack basic information about their function because the states thought to be critical to their chemical abilities cannot be experimentally observed. Now, researchers have reported the first direct observation of the electronic states of iron-sulfur clusters, common to many enzyme active sites."

New view of mouse genome finds many similarities, striking differences with human genome: "Looking across the genomes of humans and mice, scientists have found that, in general, the systems that are used to control gene activity in both species have many similarities, along with crucial differences. The results may offer insights into gene regulation and other systems important to mammalian biology, and provide new information to determine when the mouse is an appropriate model to study human biology and disease. They may also help explain its limitations."

Why some people may be immune to HIV-1: Insight: "Doctors have long been mystified as to why HIV-1 rapidly sickens some individuals, while in others the virus has difficulties gaining a foothold. Now, a study of genetic variation in HIV-1 and in the cells it infects has uncovered a chink in HIV-1's armor that may, at least in part, explain the puzzling difference — and potentially open the door to new treatments."

Unwinding the mysteries of the cellular clock: "Underlying circadian rhythms is a clock built of transcription factors that control the oscillation of genes, serving as the wheels and springs of the clock. But, how does a single clock keep time in multiple phases at once? A genome-wide survey found that circadian genes and regulatory elements called enhancers oscillate daily in phase with nearby genes – both the enhancer and gene activity peak at the same time each day."

Though I am super late for the party, I have to say something about the Chocolate Baby question back there.

I was born blonde but now I have black hair. Like, really really blonde. No idea where that came from since no one, not even close from my immediate family has blonde hair. I would have to look at like, my Grandpa's brother's second marriage's sons to find some sort of blondness, and even then, a blonde much unlike the one I used to have. Huh.

Also, I have heard that one of the worst pains possible to suffer was the renal colics that come with kidney stones. There any sort of source for this? Like. Being one of if not THE most painful thing?