Accumulation | SilverScorpio.Com

Semiconductor Industry Association Forecast Projects Industry Will Grow to $290.5 Billion in 2010

June 11, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

SAN JOSE, Calif.–(Business Wire)–
The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) today released an updated industry
forecast that projects worldwide chip sales will grow by 28.4 percent to $290.5
billion in 2010. The forecast projects 6.3 percent growth in 2011 to $308.7
billion, followed by 2.9 percent growth in 2012 to $317.8 billion.

“Healthy demand in all major product sectors and in all geographic markets drove
sales of semiconductors to record levels in the first four months of 2010,” said
SIA President George Scalise. “While the year-on-year growth rate will moderate
through the remainder of the year, we expect modest sequential sales growth in
line with historic seasonal patterns. The industry began the year with
inventories in balance and we do not see evidence of excess inventory
accumulation at this time.

“Economic forecasts project global economic growth rates of 4.6 percent in 2010
and 4.4 percent for 2011, with the fastest growth expected to be in emerging
economies. These emerging markets – especially China and India – are creating
demand for Information Technology products, which in turn fuels demand for
semiconductors,” Scalise concluded.

About SIA

The SIA is the voice of the U.S. semiconductor industry, America`s second
largest exporter. SIA seeks to continue U.S. leadership in this critical sector
that employs 185,000 people in the U.S., and provides the enabling technology
for America`s $1.1-trillion high-tech industries with a U.S. workforce of nearly
6 million people. More information about the SIA can be found at
www.sia-online.org

Semiconductor Industry Association
John Greenagel or Anne Craib, 408-436-6600
mailbox@sia-online.org

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: accumulation, Chip Sales, Critical Sector, Economic Forecasts, Economic Growth Rates, Emerging Economies, Emerging Markets, Enabling Technology, Excess Inventory, four months, Geographic Markets, George Scalise, global economic growth, Information Technology Products, inventories, largest exporter, Product Sectors, seasonal patterns, Semiconductor Industry Association, Sequential Sales Growth

Water was present during Earth’s birth

May 14, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Washington, May 14 (ANI): Volatile elements – most likely to include water – were present during the violent process of the Earth”s birth between 30 and 100 million years after the solar system was created – a minute period in geological terms, researchers have found.

The new research by the University of Manchester and the Carnegie Institution of Washington is to make scientists rethink their understanding of how Earth formed.

The findings mean that comets and asteroids were unlikely to have brought the bulk of volatile elements to Earth – as commonly thought.

Lead scientist Dr Maria Schonbachler from The University of Manchester, publishes her research in Science, the prestigious weekly American journal today.

The scientist based at the University”s School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences hit upon the findings by using high precision equipment to measure abundances of Silver isotopes contained in rocks.

The readings show that the moderately volatile element Silver was present in relatively large amounts towards the final stages of the Earth”s formation.

The radioactive isotope Palladium 107 decays to Silver 107, which was present during the formation of the solar system.

The decay of Palladium 107 creates anomalies in the abundances of Silver isotopes, which can be measured and used for dating, even though Palladium 107 is no longer present on Earth.

The findings give a new boost to a 30 year old model, which suggests that volatile elements were already present in the final stages of the Earth”s birth.

Dr Schonbachler said: “The sensitive equipment we use works in much the same way as when you might carbon date a rock or artifact – but on a scale which enables us to go back billions of years.

“And those measurements allow us to detect a transition from volatile-depleted to volatile-enriched building blocks as the accumulation of Earth proceeded.

“Because we know what happened to the moderately volatile Silver, it”s very likely that the same thing happened to the highly volatile water.

“Though I accept that about 85 per cent of the Earth”s mass was built without volatile elements the rest of it was- and that”s quite an important difference in our understanding of the Earth”s geological history.”

“We don”t now need any theories about how water came to Earth – such as comets and asteroids – it was most likely here almost from the beginning. And water is, what made Earth habitable for life. ” (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: 100 million years, accumulation, anomalies, artifact, building blocks, carnegie institution of washington, comets and asteroids, Element Silver, environmental sciences, Formation Of The Solar System, geological terms, isotopes, Minute Period, old model, palladium, Precision Equipment, radioactive isotope, sensitive equipment, university of manchester, Volatile Elements

Exercise can help fight ‘obesity’ gene

May 5, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Washington, May 5 (ANI): Physically active lifestyle during adolescence can reduce the effect of a mutation in a gene that predisposes someone to becoming overweight or obese, says a study led by Spanish researchers.

Among the genes correlated to obesity, the FTO (or fat mass gene) is one of the genes responsible for the accumulation of fat in humans.

“Each copy of the mutation of this gene is associated with an increase of 3.3 lbs. This means that people who have two copies can weigh 6.6 lbs more than those who have no copies”, said Jonatan Ruiz, study’s lead author and researcher at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm (Sweden).

The authors based their research on data collected in the European study HELENA, led by the University of Zaragoza, which analyses the effect of the FTO gene on weight and body fat in adolescents from nine European countries, among them, Spain.

“For young people, one hour of sport per day is enough to reduce the potential risk of this genetic mutation,” Ruiz said.

The study has been published in the journal Archives of Paediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: 3 Lbs, accumulation, adolescence, Adolescent Medicine, adolescents, body fat, european countries, Fight Obesity, fto gene, Gene Washington, genes, genetic mutation, Jonatan, Journal Archives, karolinska institute in stockholm, Obesity Gene, overweight, spanish researchers, stockholm sweden, University Of Zaragoza

The real culprit behind Alzheimer”s disease

April 28, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Washington, April 28 (ANI): Researchers at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine have found that the real culprit behind Alzheimer”s disease is the Amyloid-Beta (Abeta) oligomers in the brain, and not the Amyloid-Beta plaques as many believed.

“The buildup of amyloid plaques was described over 100 years ago and has received the bulk of the attention in Alzheimer”s pathology. But there has been a longstanding debate over whether plaques are toxic, protective, or inert,” said lead author Sam Gandy, Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry, and Associate Director of the Alzheimer”s Disease Research Center, Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

Several research groups had previously proposed that rather than plaques, floating clumps of amyloid (called oligomers) are the key components that impede brain cell function in Alzheimer”s patients.

To study this, the Mount Sinai team developed a mouse that forms only these oligomers, and never any plaques, throughout their lives.

The researchers found that the mice that never develop plaques were just as impaired by the disease as mice with both plaques and oligomers.

Moreover, when a gene that converted oligomers into plaques was added to the mice, the mice were no more impaired than they had been before.

“These findings may enable the development of neuroimaging agents and drugs that visualize or detoxify oligomers. New neuroimaging agents that could monitor changes in Abeta oligomer presence would be a major advance,” said Dr. Gandy.

“Innovative neuroimaging agents that will allow visualization of brain oligomer accumulation, in tandem with careful clinical observations, could lead to breakthroughs in managing, slowing, stopping or even preventing Alzheimer”s.

“This is especially important in light of research reported in March showing that 70 weeks of infusion of the Abeta immunotherapeutic Bapineuzumab cleared away 25 percent of the Abeta plaque, yet no clinical benefit was evident,” Dr. Gandy added.

The study appears in the journal Annals of Neurology. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: 100 years, accumulation, Alzheimer Disease, Alzheimer Research, Alzheimer S Disease, amyloid plaques, associate director, brain cell, clinical benefit, clinical observations, clumps, culprit, Gandy, Longstanding Debate, mice, mount sinai school, mount sinai school of medicine, Oligomers, research groups, school of medicine

IMF approves $160 million Iceland loan

April 17, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

The International Monetary Fund on Friday approved a long-delayed loan disbursement for Iceland, releasing $160 million to the crisis-hit country.

A dispute with Britain and the Netherlands over debts owed them by Iceland had delayed the IMF disbursement, and the Fund called on all parties to resolve it “expeditiously.”

Earlier, the Netherlands said it would not try to block the disbursement because Iceland had made certain promises in writing to the IMF related to the debt dispute.

The camps have been trying for months to resolve the dispute with the British and Dutch governments over debts related to failed online bank Icesave.

“The crisis has taken a heavy toll on Iceland and its citizens, but I am confident that the policies and financing now in place will ease the burden of adjustment and help Iceland’s economy stage a recovery in the second half of 2010,” IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said.

“Looking ahead, the IMF will continue to support Iceland’s efforts to address this crisis in any way it can.”

The IMF said Iceland’s monetary policy would continue to focus on preserving currency stability. If the krona appreciates further, stronger emphasis should be placed on reserve accumulation, it said.

“Iceland’s ability to fully implement the program is dependent on mobilizing bilateral external financing and regaining confidence of the markets,” Strauss-Kahn said.

“Iceland’s commitment to continue with best faith efforts to reach an agreement with the Netherlands and the United Kingdom regarding Icesave deposits is welcome, and all parties are called upon to come to a final agreement expeditiously.”

Iceland’s Economics Minister Gylfi Magnusson said the IMF’s completed review was a vote of confidence in the country’s ability to meet its goals.

“Although there has been a delay in the review we have achieved all our objectives and are well on our way with the tasks ahead of us — to further stabilize the economy, limit the impact of the negative growth on indebted families and to break further decrease in our (economic growth).”

(Editing by Andrew Hay)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: accumulation, citizens, Currency Stability, debts, Dominique Strauss Kahn, Dutch Governments, Economics Minister, Faith Efforts, IMF, International Monetary Fund, Krona, Loan Disbursement, Magnusson, managing director, monetary policy, Neg, Netherlands, promises, second half, vote of confidence

Scientists create Alzheimer”s rat for human research

March 30, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Washington, Mar 30 (ANI): A group of scientists has genetically manipulated rat to create ideal model for studying Alzheimer”s disease in humans.

Prof. Claudio Cuello at McGill University and his collaborators have genetically manipulated rats that can emulate Alzheimer”s disease in humans, enabling research that will include the development of new treatments.

Alzheimer”s is a brain condition leading to a progressive decline of memory and other brain functions. Although research mice have been developed in the past, rats are more intelligent than other rodents and the behavior of these rats is rich and predictable, which means that for the first time researchers will be able to detect and study the evolution of learning and memory deficits.

Moreover, researchers can now study a suspected “latent phase” of Alzheimer”s disease.

The disease is caused by the accumulation in the brain of molecules known as peptides. This accumulation has been repeated in lab mice, but the human condition develops through different stages and these rats enable this progression to be mimicked for the first time. Studies of this phase were previously impossible as humans do not have biochemical markers that would allow the development of Alzheimer”s to be predicted. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: accumulation, Alzheimer Disease, Alzheimer Research, Alzheimer S Disease, biochemical markers, Brain Condition, brain functions, Cuello, different stages, lab mice, Latent Phase, learning and memory, Mcgill University, memory deficits, peptides, progressive decline, rats, rodents, time researchers, Time Studies

Network problem harms brain in Alzheimer’s disease!

March 29, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Mon, Mar 29 12:02 PM

In what could pave the way for new strategies for early diagnosis and effective treatment of Alzheimer’s, scientists have found that the disease makes parts of the brain shrink “as messages fail to get through”.

The findings, published in the ‘Neurology’ journal, suggest a build-up of deposits of the protein amyloid-beta in a region of the brain known as temporal inferior cortex which is connected to the hippocampus involved in memory.

Alzheimer’s disease is characterised by two factors –a build-up of amyloid-beta plaques in the brain, and a loss of neurons.

Lead scientist Dr Cassandra Szoeke of CSIRO said the puzzle for them was that the parts of the brain that had shrunk (atrophied) due to neuron loss were not the same as those showing increased deposits of amyloid-beta.

Using MRI scans to study Alzheimer’s disease affected brain tissue, the scientists found that shrinking (atrophy) of the hippocampus was associated with plaque deposits in the temporal inferior cortex.

The results indicate that the increased accumulation of amyloid in temporal inferior cortex disrupts connections with the hippocampus, causing the neurons to die, say the scientists.

“By helping to better understand the mechanisms involved in the progression of the disease, the study may guide the development of new strategies for early diagnosis,” Dr Szoeke said.
Agencies

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: accumulation, Alzheimer Disease, Alzheimer S Disease, atrophy, Brain Disease, brain tissue, cortex, csiro, diagnosis, Dr Cassandra, hippocampus, mechanisms, mri scans, Neurology Journal, Neuron, parts of the brain, Plaque Deposits, plaques, Protein Amyloid, scientist

Secrets behind sharp memory in ‘super-aged’ individuals revealed

March 24, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Washington, Mar 24 (ANI): The secret behind the super-sharp memory in elderly people—the so-called “super-aged” individuals—has now been unveiled.

Dr. Changiz Geula, and colleagues said that the “super-aged” individuals, actually somehow escaped formation of brain “tangles”, which consist of an abnormal form of a protein called “tau” that damages and eventually kills nerve cells.

Named for their snarled, knotted appearance under a microscope, tangles increase with advancing age and peak in people with Alzheimer”s disease.

“This discovery is very exciting. It is the first study of its kind and its implications are vast. We always assumed that the accumulation of tangles is a progressive phenomenon throughout the normal aging process. Healthy people develop moderate numbers of tangles, with the most severe cases linked to Alzheimer”s disease. But now we have evidence that some individuals are immune to tangle formation. The evidence also supports the notion that the presence of tangles may influence cognitive performance. Individuals with the fewest tangles perform at superior levels. Those with more appear to be normal for their age,” said Geula.

The findings are based on examination of the nine brains from super-aged individuals.

Subjects who volunteer for this study get a battery of memory and other tests and agree to donate their brains for examination after death. They are considered ”super- aged” because of their high performance on the tests.

The tests include memory exercises to evaluate their ability to recall facts after being told a story or their ability to remember a list of more than a dozen words and recall those words sometime later.

Geula said the new study is unique in its focus on what”s right with the brains of older people.

It looks for insights into what lifestyle, genetic, or other factors may protect super-aged individuals from the age-related memory loss that affects most other people.

The scientists found that super-aged people appear to fall into two subgroups— Those who are almost immune to tangle formation and those that have few tangles.

“One group of super-aged seems to dodge tangle formation. Their brains are virtually clean, which doesn”t happen in normal-aged individuals. The other group seems to get tangles but it”s less than or equal to the amount in the normal elderly. But for some reason, they seem to be protected against its effects,” explained Geula.

He said that the next step involves determining why one subgroup is immune to tangle formation and the other seems to be immune to its effects. Environment, lifestyle, and genetics may be key factors.

“Ultimately, chemistry is one of the keys to understanding what makes these tangles form. By understanding the specific anatomic, pathological, genetic, and molecular characteristics of high-performing brains, we may eventually be able to protect normal brains from age-related memory loss,” said Geula.

The study was presented at the 239th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS). (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: accumulation, aging process, brains, cognitive performance, colleagues, damages, Elderly People, Geula, High Performance, Memory Exercises, memory loss, microscope, Moderate Numbers, nerve cells, notion, Performance Individuals, phenomenon, protein, Tangles, tau

First GM bananas harvested

March 19, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Researchers say the first genetically modified (GM) bananas to be harvested in Australia are showing positive early results.

The crop was planted last year in the South Johnstone area, south of Cairns in far north Queensland, and the first fruit has now been harvested.

It is part of a trial to try to increase the vitamin and mineral content of bananas for consumption in East Africa.

Professor James Dale from the Queensland University of Technology says the initial results are exciting.

“This first planting is demonstrating that at least one of the combinations of genes we’re putting is working really well for pro vitamin A, and we’re concentrating on that,” he said.

“But we’ve still got a lot of fruit to assess. The next lot will be particularly around iron and the accumulation of iron in the fruit.”

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: accumulation, Australia, bananas, cairns, combinations, consumption, East Africa, far north queensland, First Fruit, genes, gm, initial results, Mineral Content, Pro Vitamin, Professor James, queensland university of technology, South Johnstone, university of technology, Vitamin And Mineral

Stem cell transplantation may correct rare genetic disorder in kids

September 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sep 18 (ANI): Scripps Research Institute scientists have offered new hope for parents whose children suffer from the rare genetic disorder ‘cystinosis’ by showing through an experiment on mice that stem cell transplantation can successfully correct the defect.

“After meeting the children who suffer from this disease, like an 18-year-old who has already had three kidney transplants, and the families who are desperately searching for help, our team is committed to moving toward a cure for cystinosis, a lysosomal storage disorder. This study is an important step toward that goal,” said principal investigator Stephanie Cherqui.

In the study, the researchers used bone marrow stem cell transplantation to address symptoms of cystinosis in a mouse model.

The procedure virtually halted the cystine accumulation responsible for the disease, and the cascade of cell death that follows.

Cystine is a by-product of the break down of cellular components the body no longer needs in the cell’s “housekeeping” organelles, called lysosomes.

Normally, cystine is shunted out of cells, but in cystinosis a gene defect of the lysosomal cystine transporter causes it to build up, forming crystals that are especially damaging to the kidneys and eyes.

Cystinosis is a rare but devastating disease affecting children as young as six months, who begin to suffer renal dysfunction, which grows progressively worse with time. Other symptoms include diabetes, muscular disease, neurological dysfunction, and retinopathy.

The only available drug to treat cystinosis, cysteamine, while slowing the progression of kidney degradation, does not prevent it, and end-stage kidney failure is inevitable.

In the new study, the researchers found that transplanted bone marrow stem cells carrying the normal lysosomal cystine transporter gene abundantly engrafted into every tissue of the experimental mice.

This led to an average drop in cystine levels of about 80 percent in every organ.

Not only it prevented kidney dysfunction, there was less deposition of cystine crystals in the cornea, less bone demineralization, and an improvement in motor function.

“The results really surprised and encouraged us. Because the defect is present in every cell of the body, we did not expect a bone marrow stem cell transplant to be so widespread and effective,” says Cherqui.

Cherqui said that adult bone marrow stem cell therapy is particularly well suited as a potential treatment for cystinosis because these cells target all types of tissues.

In addition, stem cells reside in the bone marrow for the duration of a patient’s life, becoming active as needed, a particular benefit for a progressive disease like cystinosis.

The study has been published in the journal Blood. (ANI)

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: accumulation, addition, adult, ANI, benefit, blood, body, bone, Bone Marrow Stem Cell Transplantation, break, cascade, cell, cell organelles, cellular components, cornea, cure, cysteamine, cystine, Cystine Levels, Cystinosis, death, defect, degradation, demineralization, deposition, diabetes, disease, disorder, drop, drug, duration, dysfunction, experiment, experimental mice, failure, function, gene, gene defect, Goal, help, hope, Housekeeping, improvement, institute, institute scientists, investigator, journal, kidney, kidney failure, Kidney Transplants, life, lysosomal, Lysosomal Storage Disorder, Marrow, Meeting The Children, model, motor, mouse, Muscular Disease, neurological dysfunction, organ, patient, percent, procedure, progression, Rare Genetic Disorder, Renal Dysfunction, Research, retinopathy, Scripps, scripps research institute, Sep, stem, stem cell transplantation, stem cells, step, Stephanie Cherqui, storage, study, team, therapy, time, tissue, transplant, transplantation, transporter, treatment, Washington

Climate change mitigation strategies ignore carbon cycling processes of inland waters

September 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sept 2 (ANI): In a new report, scientists have determined that climate change mitigation strategies ignore carbon cycling processes of inland waters.

Scientists from the University of Vienna, Uppsala University in Sweden, University of Antwerp, and the US based Stroud Water Research Center, authored the report, which is published in the September issue of Nature Geoscience.

They argue that current international strategies to mitigate manmade carbon emissions and address climate change have overlooked a critical player – inland waters.

Streams, rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and wetlands play an important role in the carbon cycle that is unaccounted for in conventional carbon cycling models.

According to Dr. Tom J. Battin of the department of Freshwater Ecology at the University of Vienna and lead author of the report, “While inland waters represent only 1 percent of the Earth’s surface, their contribution to the carbon cycle is disproportionately large, underestimated, and not recognized within the models on which the Kyoto protocol was based.”

The team of scientists points out that all current global carbon models consider inland waters static conduits that transfer carbon from the continents to the oceans.

In reality, inland waters are dynamic ecosystems with the potential to alter the fates of terrestrial carbon delivered to them including: burial in sediments leading to long-term storage or sequestration; and metabolism in rivers and subsequent outgassing of respired carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

“Twenty percent of the continental carbon sequestration actually occurs as burial in inland water sediments,” said Dr. Lars Tranvik, Professor of Limnology at Uppsala University in Sweden.

“River outgassing of respired carbon, contributes carbon to the atmosphere in an amount equivalent to 13 percent of annual fossil fuel burning,” said Dr. Anthony K. Aufdenkampe, a scientist at the Stroud Water Research Center.

Because the amount of atmospheric carbon is well known and conservation of matter requires a balanced global carbon budget, this previously unaccounted for source of carbon to the atmosphere implies the existence of an additional continental carbon sink such as higher rates of biomass accrual in forests.

“A larger accumulation of carbon in forest ecosystems that could offset the outgassing from rivers would be more consistent with current independently-derived estimates of carbon sequestration on the continents,” said Dr. Sebastian Luyssaert of the department of Biology at University of Antwerp in Belgium. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: accrual, accumulation, Address Climate Change, amount, ANI, antwerp, atmosphere, Aufdenkampe, author, Battin, Belgium, biology, budget, burial, burning, carbon, carbon emissions, carbon sequestration, center, change, climate, Climate Change Mitigation, conservation, contribution, critical player, cycle, cycling, department, dioxide, Dr. Lars Tranvik, Dr. Sebastian Luyssaert, Dr. Anthony K, Dr. Tom J, Dynamic Ecosystems, Earth, ecology, existence, forest, freshwater, fuel, geoscience, Global Carbon Models, Inland Waters, International Strategies, issue, kyoto, kyoto protocol, Lakes Reservoirs, Limnology, long term storage, Manmade, matter, metabolism, mitigation, mitigation strategies, Nature, percent, player, potential, professor, protocol, reality, report, report scientists, Research, river, role, scientist, Sept, September, sequestration, sink, source, storage, Streams, Stroud, surface, Sweden, Sweden University, team, transfer, University, university in sweden, university of antwerp, university of vienna, Uppsala, uppsala university in sweden, US, Vienna, Washington, water, Water Research Center

Bird flu virus strain leaves survivors at increased Parkinson’s disease risk

August 20, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, August 20 (ANI): An animal study conducted by experts at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has suggested that at least one strain of the H5N1 avian influenza virus leaves survivors at significantly increased risk for Parkinson’s disease, and possibly other neurological problems later in life.

In their study report, the researchers write that mice that survived infection with an H5N1 flu strain were found to be more likely than uninfected mice to develop brain changes associated with neurological disorders like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases.

Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s involve loss of brain cells crucial to a variety of tasks, including movement, memory and intellectual functioning.

The researchers say that their study has shown that the H5N1 flu strain causes a 17 percent loss of the same neurons lost in Parkinson’s as well as accumulation in certain brain cells of a protein implicated in both diseases.

“This avian flu strain does not directly cause Parkinson’s disease, but it does make you more susceptible,” said Dr. Richard Smeyne, associate member in St. Jude Developmental Neurobiology.

“Around age 40, people start to get a decline in brain cells. Most people die before they lose enough neurons to get Parkinson’s. But we believe this H5N1 infection changes the curve. It makes the brain more sensitive to another hit, possibly involving other environmental toxins,” Smeyne added.

Smeyne revealed that the study focused on a single strain of the H5N1 flu virus, the A/Vietnam/1203/04 strain, and that the threat posed by other viruses, including the current H1N1 pandemic flu virus, was still being studied.

During the study, the researchers infected some mice with an H5N1 flu strain isolated in 2004 from a patient in Vietnam, which is still considered to be the most virulent of the avian flu viruses.

About two-thirds of the mice developed flu symptoms, primarily weight loss. After three weeks, there was no evidence of H5N1 in the nervous systems of the mice that survived.

However, the inflammation triggered by the infection within the brain continued for months, and it was found to be quite similar to inflammation associated with inherited forms of Parkinson’s.

Although the tremor and movement problems disappeared as flu symptoms eased, the researchers reported that 60 days later, mice had lost roughly 17 percent of dopamine-producing cells in SNpc, a structure found in the midbrain.

They also found evidence that the avian flu infection led to over-production of a protein found in the brain cells of individuals with both Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

“The virus activates this protein,” Smeyne said.

The study has been reported in the online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (ANI)

Filed Under: Health News Tagged With: academy, accumulation, age, alzheimer, ANI, animal, animal study, August, avian, avian flu, bird, bird flu virus, bird-flu, brain, brain cells, brain changes, children, curve, decline, developmental, developmental neurobiology, disease, disease risk, Dr. Richard Smeyne, edition, environmental toxins, evidence, Flu, flu strain, Flu Symptoms, flu viruses, functioning, h5n1 avian influenza, h5n1 avian influenza virus, H5n1 Flu Virus, h5n1 infection, hospital, infection, inflammation, influenza, intellectual, jude, jude children, life, loss, member, memory, midbrain, movement, national, neurobiology, neurological problems, Online, Pandemic Flu, parkinson, patient, percent, proceedings, protein, report, Research, risk, SNpc, strain, structure, study, threat, Tremor, variety, Vietnam, virulent, virus, Virus Strain, Washington, weight

Mozart ‘killed by superbug like MRSA, not poison’

August 18, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Aug 18 (ANI): Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was killed by a bacterial infection akin to MRSA, claim Dutch researchers.

Mozart died at age 35 – young by even 18th century standards. His untimely death has remained a mystery ever since he passed away in the early hours of 5 December 1791.

Some claimed he was poisoned, others said he simply wore himself out by composing more than 600 pieces during his short life.

Now, a group of boffins has suggested that he died from a bacterial infection spread by soldiers which was rife in Vienna at the time, reports The Telegraph.

The researchers, who studied the city’s death register, found that the three most common causes of death among men of his age were tuberculosis, severe weight loss and a condition called ‘oedema’ or ‘dropsy’ – an accumulation of fluids causing the body to swell up.

And, Mozart’s symptoms match the last of the three, according to Dr Richard Zeger, from the Academic Medical Centre in Amsterdam, who said it could have been caused by a bacterial infection.

He said: “I think you can compare this to a superbug like MRSA or C.difficile.”

Mozart’s sister-in-law Sophie Haibel, who saw him days before he died, said he was covered in a rash – consistent with a bacterial infection – and severely swollen – consistent with oedema or dropsy.

At the time Vienna was full of soldiers from the Austro-Turkish war who had been struck down by disease.

Zeger said: “Austria was at war at the time so people were living in a bad condition and most of the deaths were among soldiers. You can see there was clearly an epidemic and we found that it started in a military hospital. There was some kind of inflammatory disease that almost everyone contracted and some people died. It was an epidemic of oedema, which is a collection of fluid.

“When your kidneys fail, they can’t secrete body fluids so fluid accumulates in your body, which causes people to swell up and get worse and worse.”

This kind of a condition could have been caused by being infected with bacteria from the Staphylococcus aureus (SA) family, or which MRSA is a more recent member.

“Mozart’s body had swollen up so badly he was not able to turn around any more in his bed, showing he had post-streptococcal complications,” said Zeger.

In those times, antibiotics like penicillin were nowhere present, so strictly speaking the bacteria would not have been a ‘super’ bug as it could not have developed any resistance in the way that methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has done.

Zeger postulated: “We still see the streptococcal infection today in close communities like schools and armies so that would be a good reason behind the epidemic.

“In Mozart’s time, several soldiers in the army were also musicians who might have performed in Vienna, where Mozart might have contracted it.” (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: 18th century, academic, Academic Medical Centre, accumulation, age, Amsterdam, ANI, army, Aug, aureus, Austria, Austrian Composer, Austro, bacterial infection, bed, body, Body Fluids, boffins, bug, Causes Of Death, centre, century, city, claim, collection, composer, condition, death, December, difficile, disease, dr richard, Dr Richard Zeger, dropsy, dutch researchers, epidemic, everyone, family, fluid, group, hospital, infection, Inflammatory Disease, kidneys., kind, last, life, London, loss, medical, member, military hospital, mozart, mrsa, mystery, oedema, penicillin, poison, rash, reason, register, resistance, secrete, sister-in-law, Sophie Haibel, Staphylococcus, streptococcal, superbug, Telegraph, time, today, Turkish War, untimely death, Vienna, war, way, weight, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Wolfgang Mozart, Zeger

Signalling pathway operational in intra-abdominal fat identified

July 15, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, July 15 (ANI): Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) researchers and Germany-based University of Leipzig experts have announced the identification of a signalling pathway that is operational in intra-abdominal fat, the fat depot that is most strongly tied to obesity-related morbidity.

“Fat tissue in obesity is dysfunctional, yet, the processes that cause fat tissue to malfunction are poorly understood-specifically, it is unknown how fat cells ‘translate’ stresses in obesity into dysfunction,” said Dr. Assaf Rudich, senior lecturer from the Department of Clinical Biochemistry at Ben-Gurion University.

Fat tissue is no longer considered simply a storage place for excess calories, but in fact is an active tissue that secretes multiple compounds, thereby communicating with other tissues, including the liver, muscles, pancreas and the brain.

Normal communication is needed for optimal metabolism and weight regulation, but in obesity, fat (adipose) tissue becomes dysfunctional, and mis-communicates with the other tissues.

According to the researchers, this places fat tissue at a central junction in mechanisms leading to common diseases attributed to obesity, like type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

The researchers highlight the fact that fat tissue dysfunction is believed to be caused by obesity-induced fat tissue stress: Cells over-grow as they store increasing amounts of fat. They say that this excessive cell growth may cause decreased oxygen delivery into the tissue; individual cells may die (at least in mouse models), and fat tissue inflammation ensues.

Excess nutrients, they add, may also lead to increased metabolic demands, and cause cellular stress.

The BGU and Leipzig teams collected fat tissue samples from people undergoing abdominal surgery, and identified a signalling pathway that is operational in intra-abdominal fat, the fat depot that is most strongly tied to obesity-related morbidity.

They say that the degree of activation of a signalling pathway from these individuals was compared with those of leaner people, those with obesity predominantly characterized by accumulation of “peripheral” fat, and those with obesity with predominant accumulation of fat within the abdominal cavity.

They found that the signalling pathway was more active depending on the amount of fat accumulation in the abdomen, and that it correlated with multiple biochemical markers for increased cardio-metabolic risk.

In their study report, they have revealed that the expression of one of the upstream signaling components, a protein called ASK1, predicts whole-body insulin resistance (an endocrine abnormality that is strongly tied to diabetes and cardiovascular disease), independent of other traditional risk factors.

The researchers have also shown that although non-fat cells within adipose tissue express most of this protein in lean persons, the adipocytes themselves increase its expression by more than four-fold in abdominally-obese persons.

“The importance of this study is not only in contributing to the understanding of adipose tissue dysfunction in obesity, but as a consequence, may provide important leads for novel ways to prevent the dangerous consequences, such as type 2 diabetes, of intra-abdominal fat accumulation,” states Dr. Iris Shai, a BGU researcher at the S. Daniel Abraham International Center for Health and Nutrition and Soroka University Medical Center in Beer-Sheva, Israel.

The study has been published in the Endocrine Society’s the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. (ANI)

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: abdomen, abdominal, abdominal surgery, abnormality, accumulation, activation, adipose, adipose tissue, amount, ANI, ASK, Assaf, beer, ben, ben gurion university, ben gurion university of the negev, BGU, biochemistry, brain, Cardiovascular Diseases, cavity, cell, cells, center, clinical, clinical biochemistry, common diseases, communication, consequence, degree, delivery, department, depot, diabetes, disease, Dr. Iris Shai, dysfunction, dysfunctional, Endocrine, Endocrinology, excess, excess calories, excess nutrients, expression, fact, fat, fat cells, growth, Gurion, Health, highlight, identification, importance, inflammation, insulin, Israel, journal, July, junction, lecturer, leipzig, liver, malfunction, medical, metabolic demands, metabolism, morbidity, mouse, mouse models, Negev, normal, novel, nutrition, obesity, optimal, oxygen, oxygen delivery, pancreas, pathway, place, predominant, protein, regulation, report, researcher, resistance, risk, Rudich, S. Daniel Abraham International, senior lecturer, Sheva, signalling, society, Soroka, storage, storage place, stress, study, surgery, tissue, Tissue Inflammation, type, type 2 diabetes, understanding, University, University Of Leipzig, university of the negev, Washington, weight

How plants use nitrogen to invade and take over native plants

July 8, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, July 7 (ANI): A research at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), US, gives important new information on how plants can change “nitrogen cycling” to gain nitrogen and how this allows plant species to invade and take over native plants.

In the research, UNL biologist Johannes Knops has demonstrated how one invasive plant species replaces native species because of its ability to take up and hold on to nitrogen.

Biologists know that nitrogen is crucial to plant growth that invasive species often grow better and acquire more nitrogen, but have been uncertain about which mechanism allows invasive species to gain an advantage.

Over seven years’ study at the Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve in central Minnesota, Knops and PhD candidate Ramesh Laungani studied the nitrogen pool and fluxes in the ecosystem that included seven grassland and forest species, including the Eastern white pine, a species that is rapidly invading Minnesota prairies.

Over time, they discovered that the pine had accrued nearly twice as much biomass as the next most productive species, and more than three times as much biomass relative to the other species.

“The higher productivity of the white pine is caused by an increased biomass nitrogen pool that was not driven by increased ecosystem level nitrogen inputs,” Knops said.

“But we found the white pine takes up nitrogen and holds on to it much longer, with leads to an accumulation of much more nitrogen in the plant and a depletion of nitrogen in the soil. We concluded high nitrogen residence time was the key mechanism driving the significantly higher plant nitrogen pool and the high productivity of that species,” he added.

In other words, pines mine the soil for organic nitrogen, decrease soil fertility and use this nitrogen to outcompete other species.

According to Knops, the higher nitrogen residence time creates a positive feedback that redistributes nitrogen from the soil into the plant’s nitrogen cycling, and this strengthened the species to support its invasion.

“What this higher nitrogen residence time means is that the plant is taking nitrogen from the soil and using it to make the plant grow more efficiently, and it also gives them an upper hand in being able to invade other species,” he said.

This study is the first to study all together and pinpoint the mechanism that explains why this pine is a successful invader. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: ability, accumulation, advantage, ANI, biologist, biologists, candidate, Cedar, central Minnesota, creek, cycling, depletion, eastern, ecosystem, feedback, fertility, forest, grassland, growth, hand, information, invader, invasion, Johannes Knops, July, level, lincoln, mechanism, minnesota, Nebraska, nitrogen, outcompete, PhD, plant, pool, productivity, Ramesh Laungani, Research, reserve, residence, Science, soil, study, time, University, UNL, US, Washington

How whales evolved to dive in the sea

June 29, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, June 29 (ANI): A new study has explained how marine mammals like seals and whales evolved to dive in the sea, and cope with the needs of a life in the aquatic environment.

An aquatic lifestyle imposes serious demands for the organism, and this is true even for the tiniest molecules that form our body.

When the ancestors of present marine mammals initiated their return to the oceans, their physiology had to adapt radically to the new medium.

Dr. Michael Berenbrink and his colleagues at Liverpool University, UK, have been studying how myoglobin, the molecule responsible for delivering oxygen to the muscles during locomotion, has been modified in seals and whales to help them cope with the needs of a life at sea.

The researchers have found evidence indicating that the net positive charge of this protein is increased in marine mammals compared with terrestrial relatives, and they have speculated that this may help improving the solubility of the molecule.

This is important as divers may contain 10 times more myoglobin in their muscles than terrestrial animals.

The team has also found a conspicuous increase of the amino acid histidine in the myoglobin of strong divers, which may allow the animal to deal better with the accumulation of lactic acid that is frequent during long dives.

In order to confirm that this was indeed the result of evolutionary pressure, they went on to study the molecular sequence of myoglobin in small aquatic mammals such as beavers, muskrats and water shrews, which only dive for considerably shorter periods of time, to see if they could also find evidence for the same trend.

Indeed, the net charge of the myoglobin molecule in aquatic rodents was twice as high compared to their strictly terrestrial relatives, and the trend was also verified for some semi-aquatic species of insectivores.

“This work will contribute to our understanding of protein solubility in general”, explained Dr. Berenbrink.

“It will also allow the analysis of natural selection on protein structure/function in multiple parallel cases in which a high muscle myogobin content evolved, such as in divers but also in burrowing animals that normally experience hypoxia,” he said. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: accumulation, acid, Analys, Analysis, ANI, animal, Aquatic Environment, Aquatic Lifestyle, Aquatic Mammals, Aquatic Rodents, aquatic species, body, charge, content, dive, Dives, dr michael, Dr. Berenbrink, Dr. Michael Berenbrink, environment, evidence, evolutionary pressure, experience, form, function, histidine, hypoxia, increase, June, life, Lifestyle, Liverpool, liverpool university, locomotion, Marine Mammals, medium, Molecular Sequence, molecule, muscle, Muskrats, myoglobin, myogobin, order, organism, oxygen, physiology, pressure, protein, Protein Solubility, result, return, sea, selection, sequence, Shorter Periods, solubility, structure, study, team, Terrestrial Animals, time, trend, U.K, understanding, University, Washington, water, Water Shrews, whales, work

Castor-oil plants genetically altered to produce new bio-lubricants

June 28, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, June 28 (ANI): Scientists of the University of Almeria have genetically altered the castor-oil plant so as to use it as a factory to produce bio lubricants.
The scientists identified and provided a series of genes that are responsible of the biosynthesis of lipids that can be used to obtain transgenic castor-oil plants with an acid profile appropriate for the different requirements of bio lubricants.
The idea is to obtain an oil with a higher concentration of monounsaturated fatty acids (oleic and palmitic), which are the compounds required to classify an oil as a bio lubricant.

Another one of the objectives to be attained is the identification and characterization of specific regulatory genetic sequences, called promoters, which drive the expression of such genes to the seeds of castor-oil transgenic plants.

A promoter is a specific part of the gene responsible for the creation or accumulation of a desired product in certain tissue or organ.

With such modification, in the case of castor-oil plants, the idea is for fatty oils to get accumulated in the seed without affecting other parts of the plant, thus avoiding negative agronomic effects.
Almeria experts have already managed to isolate and clone the desired promoters and their behaviour is currently being checked – with good results- in tobacco plants.

The use of this species to validate the developed method is due to the fact that they are a traditionally used model system.

The team of scientists is also working on the introduction of genes into castor-oil plants with a technique that is effective and reproducible for the production of generally applicable bio lubricants.
That is, they aim to make a great battery of bio lubricants with different applications: automobile industry, aero generators, industrial engines and motors, etc. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: accumulation, automobile industry, biosynthesis, castor oil plant, characterization, genes, genetic sequences, industrial engines, lipids, lubricant, lubricants, model system, Monounsaturated Fatty Acids, oil plants, oleic, palmitic, promoter, promoters, Seeds Plants, tobacco plants, transgenic plants

Civic body employees’ strike disrupts normal life in Uttarakhand

June 20, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Dehradun, June 19 (ANI): Normal life has been badly disrupted following an indefinite strike by civic body employees, causing acute water shortage and leading to growing garbage dumps in various parts of Uttarakhand.
Tourists and local residents are bearing the brunt of the ongoing strike as there is acute water shortage and accumulation of garbage dumps in the city.

“We are facing lot of problems. Water comes in the morning and that too for one hour. After one hour it stops coming and the water pressure is also very less. We don’t get any water to drink. There is growing garbage dump and no cleanliness. Also, there is power shortage. What should we do in such condition?” said Sushma, a local resident in Dehradun.

Even the supply of drinking water bottles in the market has run out due to heavy demand.

On Thursday, striking employees gathered at Gandhi Park in Dehradun city and raised anti-government slogans.

The agitating employees demanded implementation of Sixth Pay Commission recommendations and pledged to continue the strike until their demands were met.

“Our demands are first, that there should be no disparity in the payments or salaries of employees and recommendations of sixth pay commission should be implemented. Second, daily wage workers and PTC workers should be regularised. Third, pension and other allowances of all civic body workers should be at par with the state employees. Fourth, appointment should be made for all vacant posts that are vacant for past several years,” said Bhupindar, State President of Local Bodies Association.

The employees belonged to Uttarakhand civic bodies Dehradun Municipal Corporation, Jal Sansthan, and Panchayats. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: accumulation, acute water shortage, ANI, appointment, association, Bhupindar, bodies, body, brunt, city, civic, civic bodies, civic body, cleanliness, commission, commission recommendations, condition, corporation, dehradun, demand, disparity, dump, Gandhi Park, garbage, garbage dump, Garbage Dumps, hour, implementation, indefinite strike, Jal Sansthan, June, life, local, lot, market, morning, municipal, normal, panchayats, par, pay, pension, power, Power Shortage, president, pressure, ptc, resident, shortage, sixth, state, state employees, state president, strike, striking employees, supply, Sushma, third, Thursday, tourists, Uttarakhand, vacant posts, wage, water, water bottles, Water Pressure

Spring agricultural fires can accelerate Arctic melting

May 27, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, May 27 (ANI): A research has found that agricultural fires during spring have an adverse impact on the melting Arctic, because the black carbon or soot produced by the fires can lead to accelerated melting of snow and ice.

The two-year international field campaign known as POLARCAT was conducted most intensively during two three-week periods last spring and summer and focused on the transport of pollutants into the Arctic from lower latitudes.

One surprise discovery was that large-scale agricultural burning in Russia, Kazakhstan, China, the US, Canada, and the Ukraine is having a much greater impact than previously thought.

A particular threat is posed by springtime burning – to remove crop residues for new planting or clear brush for grazing – because the black carbon or soot produced by the fires can lead to an increased melting of snow and ice.

Soot, which is produced through incomplete combustion of biomass and fossil fuels, may account for as much as 30 percent of Arctic warming to date, according to recent estimates.

Soot can warm the surrounding air and, when deposited on ice and snow, absorb solar energy and add to the melting process.

In addition to soot, other short-lived pollutants include ozone and methane.

Although global warming is largely the result of excess accumulation of carbon dioxide (CO2), the Arctic is highly sensitive to short-lived pollutants.

During the UNH workshop, a report by the Clean Air Task Force detailing some of the campaign’s findings on agricultural burning and transport to the Arctic will be officially released.

“Targeting these emissions offers a supplemental and parallel strategy to carbon dioxide reductions, with the advantage of a much faster temperature response, and the benefit of health risk reductions,” said Ellen Baum, senior scientist of the Clean Air Task Force.

“In addition, we have the know-how to control these pollutants today,” she added.

The report notes that during April, at the beginning portion of the field campaign in Northern Alaska, aircraft-based researchers were surprised to find 50 smoke plumes originating from fires in Eurasia more than 3,000 miles away.

Analysis of the plumes, combined with satellite images, revealed the smoke came from agricultural fires in Northern Kazakhstan-Southern Russia and from forest fires in Southern Siberia.

The emissions from fires far outweighed those from fossil fuels, the report states.

“These fires weren’t part of our standard predictions, they weren’t in our models,” said Daniel Jacob, a professor of atmospheric chemistry and environmental engineering at Harvard University. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: accumulation, addition, advantage, adverse impact, air, Analysis, ANI, April, arctic, beginning, benefit, Black Carbon, brush, burning, campaign, Canada, carbon, carbon dioxide, chemistry, China, clean, Clean Air Task Force, combustion, Combustion Of Biomass, crop, crop residues, Daniel Jacob, date, dioxide, discovery, Ellen Baum, energy, engineering, Eurasia, field, force, forest, fossil fuels, grazing, harvard, Health, health risk, ice, impact, Incomplete Combustion, International Field Campaign, Kazakhstan, know-how, last spring, latitudes, May, melting, methane, Northern Alaska, northern Kazakhstan, ozone, part, percent, planting, POLARCAT, pollutants, portion, process, professor, report, Research, response, result, risk, Risk Reductions, Russia, satellite, scientist, smoke, snow, snow and ice, soot, Southern Russia, Southern Siberia, spring, spring and summer, springtime, strategy, summer, surprise, Surprise Discovery, targeting, task, temperature, Temperature Response, threat, today, transport, Ukraine, UNH, University, US, warming, Washington, workshop

Ghrelin hormone increases appetite, favours build up of abdominal fat

May 21, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, May 21 (ANI): In a new study, scientists the University Hospital of Navarra have found that the ghrelin hormone not only increases appetite, but also favours the accumulation of lipids in visceral fatty tissue, located in the abdominal zone and considered to be the most harmful.

Ghrelin is a hormone produced in the stomach and its function is to tell the brain that the body has to be fed. Thus, the level of this secretion increases before eating and decreases after.

However, Amaia Rodríguez Murueta-Goyena, doctor in biology and main researcher of the study, and colleagues discovered that, besides stimulating the hypothalamus to generate appetite, ghrelin also acts on the tabula rasa cortex.

They observed how this hormone favoured the accumulation of lipids in visceral fatty tissue. In concrete, it causes the over-expression of the fatty genes that take part in the retention of lipids, Rodríguez said.

It is precisely this accumulated fat in the region of the abdomen that is deemed to be most harmful, as it is accompanied by comorbilities, visceral obesity being related to higher blood pressure or type 2 diabetes.

Moreover, being located in the abdominal zone and in direct contact with the liver, this type of fatty tissue favours the formation of liver fat and increases the risk of developing resistance to insulin.

The researcher pointed out that normally, on being associated with hypertension, high levels of triglycerides, resistance to insulin and hypercholesterolemia, visceral fat favours the metabolic syndrome.

Rodriguez said that ghrelin can show itself in acylated or deacylated form, the difference being in the octanoic acid present in the composition of the former.

Previously it was thought that only the acylated form was active in the process of weight increase, but many studies point to both hormones being biologically functional.

Researchers pointed out that this discovery of the twin action of ghrelin on the organism opens the door to future treatment for obesity and which, for the time being, is limited to in vitro studies in cell and animal models.

The study was published recently in the International Journal of Obesity. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: abdomen, abdominal, accumulation, acid, Acid Present, action, Amaia, ANI, animal, appetite, biology, blood, body, brain, cell, composition, contact, cortex, diabetes, difference, direct contact, discovery, doctor, door, fatty, fatty tissue, form, formation, former, function, ghrelin, Ghrelin Hormone, Goyena, high triglycerides, hormone, hospital, hypercholesterolemia, Hypertension, hypothalamus, increase, insulin, international, journal, level, lipids, liver, May, metabolic syndrome, Murueta, Navarra, obesity, organism, part, pressure, process, rasa, region, researcher, resistance, retention, risk, rodriguez, secretion, Secretion Increases, stomach, study, syndrome, tabula, Tabula Rasa, time, tissue, treatment, triglycerides, type, type 2 diabetes, University, visceral, Visceral Fat, Visceral Obesity, vitro, Washington, weight, zone