Thursday, May 31, 2012
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Globall Viral Forecasting
Dr. Nathan Wolfe:
http://www.gvfi.org/
Discovering new viruses:
http://www.ted.com/talks/nathan_wolfe_hunts_for_the_next_aids.html
Google Flu - global trending
http://www.google.org/flutrends/
http://www.gvfi.org/
Discovering new viruses:
http://www.ted.com/talks/nathan_wolfe_hunts_for_the_next_aids.html
Google Flu - global trending
http://www.google.org/flutrends/
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Biology: "Fasciation"-plant mutations happening world wide
Interesting video on plant mutations from polluted/irradiated water uptake.
I dont understand the whole concept, but seems to have to do with pollution/radiation and real plant mutations.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=9AupyLDGHKk
I dont understand the whole concept, but seems to have to do with pollution/radiation and real plant mutations.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=9AupyLDGHKk
Friday, May 18, 2012
Limbless Swimmer goes around the Globe: This takes balls period: stop whining and do what you need to do....follow through
Limblesss Frenchman Swimming Around the World......stunning personal goal
http://www.france24.com/en/20120517-limbless-frenchman-swims-first-leg-round-world-journey-philippe-croizon-papua-guinea-indonesia
http://www.france24.com/en/20120517-limbless-frenchman-swims-first-leg-round-world-journey-philippe-croizon-papua-guinea-indonesia
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Retinal Eye Implant
In respect to my father who is blind in one eye.....this is good/promising news.
http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/40405/
http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/40405/
A Retinal Prosthetic Powered by Light
A new type of eye implant requires less hardware and could restore more vision than existing devices.
Retinal implants powered by light could reverse some vision loss with simple surgery.
The new implant, which works like a combination digital imaging chip and photovoltaic array, requires much less bulky hardware than previous designs. The devices have yet to be tested in live animals or human patients, but the implants are creating excitement among researchers because they have greater pixel densities and may restore more vision than other retinal prosthetics being worked on.
People suffering from macular degeneration (the most common cause of blindness among older people) and some other forms of blindness have lost the light-sensing cells in the retina but still have the underlying nerve cells that convey visual information to the brain. Retinal implants use electrodes to stimulate those nerves. Typically, the prosthetics require bulky electronics that sit on the eye to supply power, image data, or both to a chip inside the retina. The more hardware that's installed in the body, the greater the risk to the patient. And the complexities of the electronics have typically limited the pixel counts of these systems.
The new design, described today in the journal Nature Photonics, gets around these problems by using light as both image and power source. The device, designed by researchers at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, combines infrared video-projection goggles with a small, wire-free chip implanted inside the retina.
A camera on the goggles transmits video to an image processor, which sends a signal back to infrared projection screens inside the goggles. Other researchers have tried to develop photovoltaic retinal implants in the past, but it didn't work. "The light that you get into the back of the retina at the equator on a sunny day is not enough to power a retinal implant," says James Loudin, a researcher at Stanford. So the Stanford system doesn't rely on the light that comes into the eye; it uses a projection system to make much more intense signals. The researchers selected infrared light because it won't damage or heat up any of the eye tissues and will not be picked up by any remaining light-sensitive cells and confuse the image, says Loudin.
The infrared image is picked up by a compact array of photovoltaic pixels implanted right where the light-sensing cells would be in a healthy eye. Each pixel contains three infrared-sensitive diodes facing the inside of the eye. The diodes convert light into electricity that's pulsed out to the nerve cells by electrodes facing the back of the eye.
The Stanford scientists have mapped the resulting nerve activity in mice. Now they're experimenting with various designs, including a flexible silicon array that can bend to the curvature of the eye. The most pixel-dense so far has 178 pixels per square millimeter. By comparison, the first retinal prosthesis to go to market (in Europe last March), made by Second Sight of Sylmar, California, has 60 pixels in total and requires bulkier hardware.
The next step for the Stanford device is a few more years of safety testing before clinical trials.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Blood Pressure Tipping Point
Scientists find evidence of a biological trigger for high blood pressure
25 April 2012
Scientists have identified what could be a biological tipping point in the development of high blood pressure, in a discovery that could one day lead to new treatment.
High blood pressure affects around one in three adults, the equivalent of approximately 16million people in the UK. People with high blood pressure are at much greater risk of heart attack, heart failure and kidney disease, and it is the main risk factor for stroke.
It is well known that blood pressure is influenced by three biological factors – how fast the heart beats; how open and flexible the arteries are; and how much blood there is pumping through the blood vessels. High blood pressure is thought to be a result of an imbalance in certain chemicals that control these factors. Yet no one knows exactly what goes on within the body to influence these blood pressure controls.
Researchers from St George’s, University of London have discovered that reduced activity of a protein involved in keeping arteries relaxed – a potassium channel called Kv7.4 – may be a fundamental step in the development of high blood pressure. They found that this channel is present in the main artery supplying blood to the kidney – the renal artery – and believe that reduced levels of activity here could kick-start a chain reaction inside the body that is known to increase blood pressure.
Kv7.4 channels allow the passage of potassium out of the muscle cells in blood vessels and they have to be open and closed at the right times so that the vessel muscles can contract or relax when required. They are most commonly recognised for their role in instructing the blood vessels to expand in reaction to triggers, such as adrenaline, to allow more blood and oxygen to travel to the tissues when needed.
In laboratory studies, the St George’s researchers have shown that when the Kv7.4 channel is disabled the body does not react to triggers telling it to widen the artery and blood flow becomes constricted. The researchers explain that the impact of this in one artery or two arteries is unlikely to cause high blood pressure. But because they found that Kv7.4 channels were present in the renal artery they believe this could act as a “tipping point” for high blood pressure
Dr Iain Greenwood from St George’s, University of London, who led the study, said:
“Although we did not study how kidneys responded to arteries that are constricted due to deactivated Kv7.4 channels as part of this study, we do know that under-perfused kidneys, or more simply put, those that do not receive sufficient blood, respond by secreting an enzyme called renin. Once this has been produced, it travels around the body instructing blood vessels to constrict and consequently raising blood pressure.”
Although the researchers emphasise that more investigations are needed before treatment can be developed from their findings, they explain that this is a shift in how high blood pressure is known to develop and that this type of information could be the cornerstone of new treatment.
Dr Iain Greenwood said:
“As deaths from cardiovascular disease such as heart attack and stroke resulted in 50,000 premature deaths in the UK alone in 2008 and the financial burden is approximately £30billion, a better understanding of how these conditions develop is crucial.
“If the Kv7.4 channels dilate arteries to lower blood pressure in the way we think they do then the identification that they underlie the relaxation caused by naturally occurring hormones such as adrenaline means that, eventually, we may be able to target these channels to influence blood pressure. More investigations are needed before this will become a reality.”
This research was funded by the British Heart Foundation and the findings are published in the April edition of the journal Hypertension.
25 April 2012
Scientists have identified what could be a biological tipping point in the development of high blood pressure, in a discovery that could one day lead to new treatment.
High blood pressure affects around one in three adults, the equivalent of approximately 16million people in the UK. People with high blood pressure are at much greater risk of heart attack, heart failure and kidney disease, and it is the main risk factor for stroke.
It is well known that blood pressure is influenced by three biological factors – how fast the heart beats; how open and flexible the arteries are; and how much blood there is pumping through the blood vessels. High blood pressure is thought to be a result of an imbalance in certain chemicals that control these factors. Yet no one knows exactly what goes on within the body to influence these blood pressure controls.
Researchers from St George’s, University of London have discovered that reduced activity of a protein involved in keeping arteries relaxed – a potassium channel called Kv7.4 – may be a fundamental step in the development of high blood pressure. They found that this channel is present in the main artery supplying blood to the kidney – the renal artery – and believe that reduced levels of activity here could kick-start a chain reaction inside the body that is known to increase blood pressure.
Kv7.4 channels allow the passage of potassium out of the muscle cells in blood vessels and they have to be open and closed at the right times so that the vessel muscles can contract or relax when required. They are most commonly recognised for their role in instructing the blood vessels to expand in reaction to triggers, such as adrenaline, to allow more blood and oxygen to travel to the tissues when needed.
In laboratory studies, the St George’s researchers have shown that when the Kv7.4 channel is disabled the body does not react to triggers telling it to widen the artery and blood flow becomes constricted. The researchers explain that the impact of this in one artery or two arteries is unlikely to cause high blood pressure. But because they found that Kv7.4 channels were present in the renal artery they believe this could act as a “tipping point” for high blood pressure
Dr Iain Greenwood from St George’s, University of London, who led the study, said:
“Although we did not study how kidneys responded to arteries that are constricted due to deactivated Kv7.4 channels as part of this study, we do know that under-perfused kidneys, or more simply put, those that do not receive sufficient blood, respond by secreting an enzyme called renin. Once this has been produced, it travels around the body instructing blood vessels to constrict and consequently raising blood pressure.”
Although the researchers emphasise that more investigations are needed before treatment can be developed from their findings, they explain that this is a shift in how high blood pressure is known to develop and that this type of information could be the cornerstone of new treatment.
Dr Iain Greenwood said:
“As deaths from cardiovascular disease such as heart attack and stroke resulted in 50,000 premature deaths in the UK alone in 2008 and the financial burden is approximately £30billion, a better understanding of how these conditions develop is crucial.
“If the Kv7.4 channels dilate arteries to lower blood pressure in the way we think they do then the identification that they underlie the relaxation caused by naturally occurring hormones such as adrenaline means that, eventually, we may be able to target these channels to influence blood pressure. More investigations are needed before this will become a reality.”
This research was funded by the British Heart Foundation and the findings are published in the April edition of the journal Hypertension.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Life Extension Research with worms: calorie restriction -Nematodes
Big results on worms using calorie restriction....300% longer lifespans
http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2007/03/life-extension-and-glycation-in-nematodes.php
http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2007/03/life-extension-and-glycation-in-nematodes.php
Chemotherapy : smart bomb
Chemotherapy breakthrough could dramatically reduce side-effects
Scientists have developed 'smart-bomb chemotherapy' which can isolate and destroy tumours without damaging healthy cells
Email
Kim Cattrall has chemotherapy in Sex and the City. Hair loss could be dramatically reduced with a 'smart-bomb' drug being developed. Photograph: Scope Features
Cancer researchers have developed a "smart bomb" treatment that can target tumours with drugs while leaving healthy body cells intact. The technique means that patients will suffer fewer side-effects from the toxic drugs used in chemotherapy.
The side-effects of cancer therapy – including hair loss, nausea and suppression of the immune system – can be debilitating. In many cases, the effects of the drugs can contribute to the ultimate cause of death.
In experiments on mice, Laurence Patterson of the University of Bradford found that he could localise a cancer drug to the site of tumours and thereby limit its toxic impact in the body. All the animals, which had been implanted with human cancer cells responded to the targeted treatment and saw their tumours shrink. In half the animals, the tumours disappeared altogether. Professor Patterson will present his work at the British Science Festival in Bradford on Monday.
"We've got a sort of smart bomb that will only be active in the tumour and will not cause damage to normal tissue," he said. "It's a new cancer treatment that could be effective against pretty much all types of tumour – we've looked at colon, prostate, breast, lung and sarcoma so far, and all have responded very well to this treatment."
The drug is based on a modified version of an existing drug called colchicine [see footnote]. In normal situations, this drug can kill healthy cells, too. "There are many agents currently used in the clinic for the treatment of cancer that are essentially poisons," said Patterson.
"Normal chemotherapy can often be the cause of death of the patient as opposed to dying from the tumour growth itself. Any treatment that is a poison that can be retained and is only active in the tumour is clearly very attractive." Patterson's team has designed a way to make the colchicine active only when it comes into contact with a tumour. They did this by attaching a string of specific amino acids to the colchicine, which made the drug inert. In this state, it can wander through the body freely and will not kill any cells it comes into contact with. But when the drug reaches the site of a solid tumour, the chain of amino acids is removed by an enzyme present on the surface of the cancer, called MMP-1. At this point, the colchicine becomes active and can do its work in killing nearby cells.
MMP1 is used by tumours to break down the cellular environment around itself and to enable the tumour to dig a path through normal tissue. It also gives the tumour access to nutrients and oxygen by encouraging the normal blood supply of a person to grow towards it. "If you can starve that tumour of that blood supply, then you shut off its ability to grow and move around the body," said Patterson.
In the experiments, he said, all the mice responded to the treatment. "Sometimes, the treatment is so effective, you remove the ability of that tumour to grow – you appear to cure the mouse. In some studies, we were able to cure half the mice: these animals no longer had any tumour growing in them and they appeared healthy for the 60 or so days of the trial."
An important use of the technique is that it can reach tumours that have spread throughout the body.
Paul Workman, head of cancer therapeutics at the Institute of Cancer Research, said: "This is an interesting new approach to targeting tumour blood vessels that solid cancers need for their growth. The project is still at quite an early stage, but the results so far look promising in the laboratory models that have been studied. If confirmed in more extensive laboratory studies, drugs based on this approach could be very useful as part of combination treatments for various cancers."
The Bradford scientists hope that, with adequate funding, their drug delivery system could enter phase 1 clinical trials on people within 18 months.
• This article was amended on 12 September 2011 to correct the original statement that the drug is based on a modified version of an existing cancer drug called coltrazine, and which in normal situations is administered as part of chemotherapy. To clarify: the drug is based on colchicine, which is used in the treatment of gout and although it has been used in cancer research, it is not licenced or approved for cancer treatment.
Doctors Rewire Hands of Paralysed man
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/may/15/doctors-rewire-hands-paralysed-man
Doctors 'rewire' hands of paralysed man
Man, 71, regains some use of hands after surgeons use healthy nerves to bridge damaged area between brain and forearm
Surgeons say the operation may prove to be a breakthrough for some patients paralysed by spinal cord injuries. Photograph: Antonio Olmos
A man who was paralysed in a car crash four years ago has regained some use of his hands after doctors rewired the nerves in his arms.
In a pioneering operation, US doctors took healthy nerves from the man and used them to bridge the damaged wiring that stopped signals getting from the man's brain to his hands.
Surgeons at Washington University's school of medicine said the operation may prove to be a breakthrough for some patients paralysed by spinal cord injuries.
The 71-year-old broke his neck in a car crash in 2008 that left him unable to walk. Though he could still move his arms, he had lost the ability to grasp or hold things in either hand.
In the operation surgeons used healthy nerves to bypass the damaged area and connect working nerves above the spinal breakage to those in the anterior interosseous nerve in the forearm that ultimately controls hand movement.
The man received extensive therapy after the operation and began to move the thumb and fingers of his left hand eight months after surgery. He could move the fingers of his right hand 10 months afterwards.
The patient can now feed himself and write to some extent. Though slight, his improvement is nonetheless remarkable, given the severity of the injury and the 22 months that passed before surgery.
"To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of thumb and finger flexor reinnervation after a spinal cord injury. While the results in this patient are usually modest, due to the severe joint stiffness, his function has improved significantly with his ability to feed himself," the team writes in the Journal of Neurosurgery.
"The use of nerve transfers may represent a significant breakthrough toward improved independent function in select patients with cervical spinal cord injuries," the authors said.
Despite their success, doctors said the procedure would never restore normal function to patients. The limited improvement came after the patient learned to use a nerve that normally bends the arm at the elbow to make hand grasping movements.
Mark Bacon, director of research at the charity Spinal Research, told the BBC: "One of the issues with techniques such as this is the permanence of the outcome – once done it is hard to reverse.
"There is an inevitable sacrifice of some healthy function above the injury in order to provide more useful function below. This may be entirely acceptable when we are ultimately talking about providing function that leads to a greater quality of life.
"For the limited number of patients that may benefit from this technique this may be seen as a small price to pay."
The operation is only suitable for those patients who suffered damaged spines at the base of the neck.
When injuries are higher, there are no nerves to tap into to bypass the damage. And if the spinal cord is severed lower down, the patients are unlikely to lose the use of their hands.
Doctors said further research was needed to work out how reliable the procedure was in patients and the best time to perform surgery.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Personal Body Burden Contamination - plastic chemicals in the American bloodstream
http://www.chemicalbodyburden.org/whatisbb.htm
Very interesting idea on testing myself for plastic chemical byproducts in my bloodstream.
Interesting Documentary:
"Bag It"
http://www.bagitmovie.com/
Mt Sinai Hospital - NYC
Environmental Health Dept.
http://www.mountsinai.org/patient-care/service-areas/children/areas-of-care/childrens-environmental-health-center/cehc-in-the-news/news/chemical-in-personal-care-products-may-contribute-to-childhood-obesity
Very interesting idea on testing myself for plastic chemical byproducts in my bloodstream.
Interesting Documentary:
"Bag It"
http://www.bagitmovie.com/
Mt Sinai Hospital - NYC
Environmental Health Dept.
http://www.mountsinai.org/patient-care/service-areas/children/areas-of-care/childrens-environmental-health-center/cehc-in-the-news/news/chemical-in-personal-care-products-may-contribute-to-childhood-obesity
Chemical In Personal Care Products May Contribute To Childhood Obesity
Chemicals found in some personal-care products may contribute to childhood obesity, according to research from the Mount Sinai Children's Environmental Health Center.
NEW YORK, NY
– January 19, 2012 /Press Release/ ––
Researchers from the Children's Environmental Health Center at The Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York have found an association between exposure to the chemical group known as phthalates and obesity in young children – including increased body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference.
Phthalates are man-made, endocrine-disrupting chemicals that can mimic the body's natural hormones. They are commonly used in plastic flooring and wall coverings, food processing materials, medical devices, and personal-care products. While poor nutrition and physical inactivity are known to contribute to obesity, a growing body of research suggests that environmental chemicals – including phthalates – could play a role in rising childhood obesity rates.
This study was the first to examine the relationship between phthalate exposure and measurements used to identify obesity in children. The paper is available online in the journal Environmental Research. The project was funded by the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, the National Cancer Institute, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Mount Sinai researchers measured phthalate concentrations in the urine of 387 black and Hispanic children in New York City, and recorded body measurements including BMI, height, and waist circumference one year later. The urine tests revealed that greater than 97 percent of study participants had been exposed to phthalates typically found in personal care products such as perfume, lotions, and cosmetics; varnishes; and medication or nutritional supplement coatings. The phthalates included monoethyl phthalate (MEP) and other low molecular-weight phthalates. The team also found an association between concentrations of these phthalates with BMI and waist circumference among overweight children. For example, BMI in overweight girls with the highest exposure to MEP was 10 percent higher than those with the lowest MEP exposure.
"Research has shown that exposure to these everyday chemicals may impair childhood neurodevelopment, but this is the first evidence demonstrating that they may contribute to childhood obesity," said the study's lead author Susan Teitelbaum, PhD, Associate Professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. "This study also further emphasizes the importance of reducing exposure to these chemicals where possible."
Approximately 12.5 million children ages 2 through 19 are obese, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the New York City public school system, an estimated 40 percent of children are either overweight or obese.
Dr. Teitelbaum and the team at the Children's Environmental Health Center plan to further evaluate the impact of these chemicals on childhood obesity. "While the data are significant, more research is needed to definitively determine whether phthalate exposure causes increases in body size," she said.
About The Mount Sinai Medical Center
The Mount Sinai Medical Center encompasses both The Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Established in 1968, Mount Sinai School of Medicine is one of the leading medical schools in the United States. The Medical School is noted for innovation in education, biomedical research, clinical care delivery, and local and global community service. It has more than 3,400 faculty in 32 departments and 14 research institutes, and ranks among the top 20 medical schools both in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding and by US News and World Report.
The Mount Sinai Hospital, founded in 1852, is a 1,171-bed tertiary- and quaternary-care teaching facility and one of the nation's oldest, largest and most-respected voluntary hospitals. In 2011, US News and World Report ranked The Mount Sinai Hospital 16th on its elite Honor Roll of the nation's top hospitals based on reputation, safety, and other patient-care factors. Of the top 20 hospitals in the United States, Mount Sinai is one of 12 integrated academic medical centers whose medical school ranks among the top 20 in NIH funding and US News and World Report and whose hospital is on the US News and World Report Honor Roll. Nearly 60,000 people were treated at Mount Sinai as inpatients last year, and approximately 560,000 outpatient visits took place.
For more information, visit http://www.mountsinai.org/.
Find Mount Sinai on:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mountsinainycTwitter: @mountsinainycYouTube: http://www.youtube.com/mountsinainy
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mountsinainycTwitter: @mountsinainycYouTube: http://www.youtube.com/mountsinainy
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Medical Mistakes: coming clean
I Do Remember: great talk on physician errors
http://www.ted.com/talks/brian_goldman_doctors_make_mistakes_can_we_talk_about_that.html
http://www.ted.com/talks/brian_goldman_doctors_make_mistakes_can_we_talk_about_that.html
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Amazing Heart Surgery Hospital in India
Dr Shetti Health City
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MqC6ga034U&feature=relmfu
Dr Shetty - bio
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devi_Prasad_Shetty
Narayana Hrudayalya Hospital: Bangalore India
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narayana_Hrudayalaya
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MqC6ga034U&feature=relmfu
Dr Shetty - bio
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devi_Prasad_Shetty
Narayana Hrudayalya Hospital: Bangalore India
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narayana_Hrudayalaya
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Superhuman People
These are some amazing people.....they have some abilities that very interesting.
Superhuman People: (by Stan Lee)
Dean Karnasas: world's greatest marathoner (Super Fast Lactic Acid Metabolism Clearing Ability)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JibG1LmcaQ&feature=related
Superhuman People: (by Stan Lee)
Dean Karnasas: world's greatest marathoner (Super Fast Lactic Acid Metabolism Clearing Ability)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JibG1LmcaQ&feature=related
Conservation: Waste Not, Want Not - Efficient Hand Drying Lesson
Great lesson on efficient use of resources: (Waste Not, Want Not)
Perfectly Drying Your hands with One Paper Towel:
http://www.ted.com/talks/joe_smith_how_to_use_a_paper_towel.html
Japanese Automatic Butt Washing Toilets + Hand Washer (I used to have one in my house...works great)
Toto Brand Toilets are great -like the NASA space shuttle of toilets..no paper needed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=fvwrel&NR=1&v=gJazvumHNyk
Public Automatic Toilet (completely self cleaning)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=km3xt49fHq4&feature=related
Perfectly Drying Your hands with One Paper Towel:
http://www.ted.com/talks/joe_smith_how_to_use_a_paper_towel.html
Japanese Automatic Butt Washing Toilets + Hand Washer (I used to have one in my house...works great)
Toto Brand Toilets are great -like the NASA space shuttle of toilets..no paper needed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=fvwrel&NR=1&v=gJazvumHNyk
Public Automatic Toilet (completely self cleaning)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=km3xt49fHq4&feature=related
Friday, May 4, 2012
Atom Animation: just cool
Good animation giving a sense of scale of a real atom and nucleus.
http://www.ted.com/talks/just_how_small_is_an_atom.html
http://www.ted.com/talks/just_how_small_is_an_atom.html
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
MIT and Harvard Courses Free: High Level Online Learning
120,000 students taking courses online through Harvard / MIT:
http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/editors/27814/?p1=blogs
http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/editors/27814/?p1=blogs
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