#Potential of blue LEDS as novel chemical-free food preservation technology A team of scientists from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has found that blue light emitting diodes (LEDS) have strong antibacterial
effect on major foodborne pathogens, and are most effective when in cold temperatures (between 4°C and 15°C) and mildly acidic conditions of around ph 4. 5. This opens up novel possibilities of using blue LEDS as a chemical-free food preservation method.
Acidic foods such as fresh-cut fruits and ready-to-eat meat can be preserved under blue LEDS in combination with chilling temperatures without requiring further chemical treatments that are needed commonly for food preservation.
These findings were published recently in the Food microbiology journal in June 2015 Enhancing blue LEDS'ability to deactivate bacteria
While LEDS are most commonly known as an energy saving light source, they have also been known to have an antibacterial effect.
In this study, the team placed three major foodborne pathogens--Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli o157: H7 and Salmonella typhimurium--under blue LED illumination,
#How the lung repairs its wounds Our lungs are exposed permanently to harmful environmental factors that can damage
According to the World health organization (WHO), lung diseases are the third most common cause of death worldwide:
toxic particles, infections, and chronic inflammatory responses pose a permanent threat to our lungs. To date, the regenerative mechanisms leading to healing of lung injury remain incompletely understood.
Since few to no causal therapies are in place for most lung diseases, it is important to understand how these healing processes,
which involve initial inflammation, fibrosis, and then resolution thereof, occur in the lung. Using novel mass spectrometry techniques,
an interdisciplinary team of scientists led by Prof. Matthias Mann, Director at the MPI of Biochemistry, and Prof.
Oliver Eickelberg, Chairman of the Comprehensive Pneumology Center (CPC) at the Helmholtz Zentrum München and University Hospital of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität
The findings of the research team will provide an important basis for further translational research on the development of pulmonary fibrosis*and chronic lung diseases in general,
and abundance of proteins in patients with lung fibrosis and healthy individuals and will therefore likely lead to new approaches for the treatment of chronic lung diseases in general and lung fibrosis in particular,
toxic or required a high temperature that was not accessible in the lab.""We had to discard many candidate compounds,
However, recent data from the research group led by Markus Hengstschläger of the Institute for Medical Genetics of the Medical University of Vienna now suggest that another protein complex,
and may also be relevant for developing new tumour therapies in the future, "explains Markus Hengstschläger g
#Nanospheres shield chemo drugs, safely release high doses in response to tumor secretions Scientists have designed nanoparticles that release drugs in the presence of a class of proteins that enable cancers to metastasize.
so that the very enzymes that make cancers dangerous could instead guide their destruction.""We can start with a small molecule
and build that into a nanoscale carrier that can seek out a tumor and deliver a payload of drug,
The system takes advantage of a class enzymes called matrix metalloproteinases that many cancers make in abundance.
The shell fragments form a ragged mesh that holds the drug molecules near the tumor.
builds on his group's earlier sucess using a similar strategy to mark tumors for both diagnosis and precise surgical removal.
and also toxicity, made for a good attachment point. That means the drug was inactivated as it flowed through the circulatory system until it reached the tumor.
The protection allowed the researchers to safely give a dose 16 times higher than they could with the formulation now used in cancer clinics,
in a test in mice with grafted in fibrosarcoma tumors. In additional preliminary tests, Callmann and colleagues were able to halt the growth of the tumors for a least two weeks,
using a single lower dose of the drug. In mice treated with the nanoparticles coated with peptides that are impervious to MMPS or given saline,
the tumors grew to lethal sizes within that time. Gianneschi says they will broaden their approach to create delivery systems for other diagnostic and therapeutic molecules."
"This kind of platform is not specific to paclitaxel. We'll test this in other models--with other classes of drug and in mice with a cancer that mimics metastatic breast cancer, for example."
"They'll also continue to modify the shell, to provide even greater protection and avoid uptake by organs such as liver, spleen and kidneys,
he said.""We want to open up this therapeutic window.""Additional authors include Matthew Thompson in Gianneschi's chemistry research group and Christopher Barback, David Hall and Robert Mattrey in UC San diego's Moores Cancer Center.
All animal procedures were approved by UC San diego's institution animal care and use committee. Callmann holds a fellowship through the Cancer Researchers in Nanotechnology Program at UC San diego. The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging
and Bioengineering provided financial support. This novel approach to using enzyme-directed assembly of particle theranostics (EDAPT) is patent pending g
#Investigational drug prevents life-threatening side effects of kidney disease treatment A yearlong study of more than 300 patients found that the investigational drug patiromer can reduce elevated blood-potassium levels--a common side effect of drugs
essential in the treatment of chronic diabetic kidney disease. The drug, given in this trial at one of four doses based on disease severity,
returned blood potassium levels to normal when measured at four weeks and kept them under control for one year, the length of the trial.
The Journal of the American Medical Association, is the first to follow patients taking patiromer for more than a few weeks.
a huge deal,"said George Bakris, MD, professor of medicine and director of the Comprehensive Hypertension Center at the University of Chicago Medicine."
Patients most at risk are those with chronic kidney disease combined with diabetes and hypertension or heart failure.
patients with hyperkalemia, hypertension, type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease. All patients were taking RAAS inhibitors to treat their CKD prior to and during study treatment.
Thirty-five percent of patients also suffered from heart failure. Depending on the severity of their hyperkalemia
The combination of chronic kidney disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, hyperkalemia and, in about one-third of cases, heart failure, can be deadly.
and worsening of hypertension, plus constipation and diarrhea. Events related to patiromer primarily involved low magnesium, mild to moderate constipation and diarrhea.
Forty-four patients, 14.5 percent of the total, had serious adverse events. None of the serious events was attributed by the investigator to patiromer.
and evaluate aldosterone blockade in heart failure patients.""Previous research demonstrated the short-term benefits of patiromer,
The findings"have the potential to fundamentally change the current treatment approach to hyperkalemia,"according to an accompanying editorial by nephrologist Wolfgang Winklemayer, MD, Scd, of Baylor College of Medicine.
Mason Freeman, Massachusetts General Hospital; David Bushinsky, University of Rochester; and Martha Mayo, Dahlia Garza, Yuri Stasiv, Rezi Zawadzki and Lance Berman, from Relypsa a
#Noninvasive device could end daily finger pricking for people with diabetes A new laser sensor that monitors blood glucose levels without penetrating the skin could transform the lives of millions of people living with diabetes.
Currently, many people with diabetes need to measure their blood glucose levels by pricking their fingers,
This could help improve the lives of millions of people by enabling them to constantly monitor their glucose levels without the need for an implant.
this technology opens up the potential for people with diabetes to receive continuous readings, meaning they are alerted instantly
or readings directly to doctors, allowing them to profile how a person is managing their diabetes over time."
and funded by the University of Leeds and Netscientific plc, a biomedical and healthcare technology group specialisingin commercialising transformative technologies from leading universities and research institutes.
"Diabetes is a growing problem, with the need for noninvasive glucose monitoring becoming ever more critical.
This unique technology could help empower millions of people to better manage their diabetes and minimise interventions with healthcare providers.
The ultimate development of two distinct products--a finger-touch and a wearable--could give people with different types of diabetes the option of a device that best suits their lifestyle."
"The results of a pilot clinical study, carried out at the Leeds Institute of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine under the supervision of Professor Peter Grant,
Professor Grant, Professor of Medicine at the University of Leeds and Consultant diabetes specialist, said:"
"Noninvasive monitoring will be particularly valuable in young people with Type 1 diabetes. Within this group, those who are attempting very tight control such as young women going through pregnancy
including investigators from the University of Mississippi Medical center (UMMC), has identified a gene that underlies healthy information processing--a first step on a complicated road to understand cognitive aging and age-related diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease.
The study, published online and expected to come out this fall in a print edition of the journal Molecular Psychiatry,
is one of the the largest genetics study to date to link a specific genetic mutation and information processing speed."
"said Dr. Tom Mosley, director of the Memory Impairment and Neurodegenerative Dementia (MIND) Center at UMMC and senior scientist on the study."
"The effort was conducted through the Cohorts for Heart and Aging research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) consortium, in
which researchers from around the world work together to search for genetic causes of disease in the general aging population.
"said Dr. Carla Ibrahim-Verbaas, a resident in neurology at Erasmus University Medical center in Rotterdam, The netherlands,
It is of interest that the gene has also been suggested in other studies to be involved in autism and personality traits."
and analytic resources, is significantly enhancing our ability to identify genes related to complex brain functions and disease."
#Nanoparticles used to prevent inflammatory acne through slow-released nitric oxide GW researcher and dermatologist, Adam Friedman, M d,
and prevent acne through nanotechnology. This research, published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, identified that the nanoparticles were effective at killing Proprionobacterium acnes,
the gram positive bacteria associated with acne, and even more importantly, they inhibited the damaging inflammation that result in the large,
painful lesions associated with inflammatory acne.""Our understanding of acne has changed dramatically in the last 15-20 years,
"said Friedman, associate professor of dermatology at the GW School of medicine and Health Sciences and co-author of the study."
"Inflammation is really the driving force behind all types of acne. In this paper, we provide an effective a way to kill the bacterium that serves as a stimulus for Acne without using an antibiotic,
and demonstrate the means by which nitric oxide inhibits newly recognized pathways central to the formation of a pimple,
present in the skin even before you can see the acne.""While the body makes nitric oxide for many purposes, its impact,
such as anti-inflammatory effects, are lived short. Because nitric oxide interacts with its environment so quickly and is active for only a few seconds,
it was crucial to find a way to release nitric oxide over time to be used effectively.
Friedman and his research team at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and University of California Los angeles explored the mechanisms by
which the nanoparticles could be a new way to tackle Acne, one of the most common dermatologic diseases affecting between 40-50 million people each year.
Acne develops due to an inappropriate immune system response to various factors, including bacteria on the skin such as P. acnes.
The focus of this study was on a new pathway that was highlighted recently by the team at UCLA,
involving what is known as an inflammasome, responsible for the activation of the inflammatory process in Acne."
"Many current medications focus only on one or two part of this process,"said Friedman.""By killing the bacterium and blocking multiple components of the inflammasome,
this approach may lead to better treatment options for acne sufferers, and possibly treatments for other inflammatory skin conditions
"Those tornadoes result in approximately 80 deaths and 1, 500 injuries each year. Our goal was to develop new technology that would help protect individuals against the impact of debris during natural disasters,
#HIV uses immune system's own tools to suppress it The study's goal was to determine how HIV manages to compromise antiviral responses in the initial period of infection,
also called the acute infection stage, during which the virus establishes itself in the body.
The acute infection is considered a critical period in determining the complexity, extent and progression of the disease.
It is also during this stage that HIV establishes latent infection in long-lasting cellular reservoirs.
represent the primary barrier to a cure.""An important component in this process is a group of proteins collectively called type 1 Interferons,
which are the immune system's first line of defence against viral infections and are known to have a beneficial role in the early stages of HIV infection,
"says Dr. Cohen, Director of the Human Retrovirology research unit at the IRCM.""The problem is that HIV has developed mechanisms to suppress the Interferon response and, until now,
"Most of the Interferon is produced by a very small population of immune cells called pdcs (plasmacytoid dendritic cells), responsible for providing immediate defence against infections.
when they recognize the presence of a pathogen, they secrete Interferon. The Interferon then triggers a large array of defence mechanisms in nearby cells, creating an antiviral state that prevents the dissemination and, ultimately,
and leads to persistent infection, "adds Dr. Bego.""We found that HIV, through Vpu, takes advantage of the role played by BST2 by maintaining its ability to activate ILT7 and limit the production of Interferon,
""The hope for a definitive cure and an effective vaccine has been frustrated by HIV's endless propensity to subvert the host's defences
despite antiretroviral therapy,"describes Dr. Cohen, who also leads Cancure, a team of leading Canadian researchers working towards an HIV cure."
"Our findings can provide tools to enhance antiviral responses during the early stages of infection.
By blocking Vpu's action, we could prevent early viral expansion and dissemination, while also allowing pdcs to trigger effective antiviral responses.
We believe that such interventions during primary infection have the potential to limit the establishment and complexity of viral reservoirs,
or wiped out during early periods of infection, will bring us closer to ending HIV/AIDS,
this new study will advance research for an HIV cure
#Metal foams capable of shielding X-rays, gamma rays, neutron radiation Research shows lightweight composite metal foams are effective at blocking X-rays, gamma rays and neutron radiation,
The finding means metal foams hold promise for use in nuclear safety, space exploration and medical technology applications."
Better, cheaper and more effective drugs to combat cancer, arthritis and many other disorders. This is the result of a ground-breaking new technique developed by a group of researchers from the Faculty of health and Medical sciences at the University of Copenhagen.
The method can improve a large number of so-called glycoprotein-based pharmaceuticals used to treat a variety of diseases.
The technique has recently been described in one of the world's most distinguished scientific journals
the protein must be provided with a special sugar structure for enhanced therapeutic effect and duration.
Longer-lasting and improved therapeutic effect and not least, faster and cheaper production.""We have seen previously examples of optimised sugar structures making pharmaceuticals up to a hundred times more effective.
One example is antibodies for cancer patients, which--by the way--is a very expensive form of therapy,
"says Zhang Yang g
#Simulations lead to design of near-frictionless material While reviewing the simulation results of a promising new lubricant material,
#'Cancer Driver Gene'reduces metastasis in prostate cancer A gene that is responsible for cancer growth plays a totally unexpected role in prostate cancer.
and the Ludwig Boltzmann Institiute for Cancer Research (LBI-CR) discovered a missing link for an essential role of Stat3
and IL-6 signalling in prostate cancer progression. Interleukin 6 (IL-6) is an important cytokine that controls the cell survival and tumor growth.
Hyperactive IL-6 may support cancer growth particularly as it controls STAT3, which was shown to have an oncogenic role in most tumours.
Many therapies are designed therefore to suppress IL-6 or STAT3. But the situation is different in prostate cancer.
Lukas Kenner's research group has shown that, contrary to expectations; active STAT3 suppresses cell growth in prostate tumours.
It activates the gene p14arf, which blocks cell division and thus inhibits tumour growth.""Using knockout mice,
which are preclinical model organisms, we can link IL-6/Stat3 signalling to ARF, an important gene for cell cycle control and decisions to grow or to arrest.
These findings have consequences for prostate cancer metastasis, "explained Jan Pencik, a Phd fellow in the lab, headed by Lukas Kenner.
For this reason, STAT3 and p14arf are suited ideally to act as biomarkers for the prognosis of this disease.
As only about 10%of patients with prostate cancer die from the disease, this can help to prevent unnecessary therapeutic interventions with severe side effects such as incontinence and impotence.
A noninvasive nuclear medical test based on these findings might soon be able to replace the painful removal of tissue samples to be examined.
Receptor blockers can enhance prostate cancer The reversed role of interleukin 6 as an inhibitor of prostate cancer has an additional significance.
Blockade of interleukin 6 is used to treat other diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. According to Kenner, this means that therapies that block the IL-6 pathway may enhance the growth of prostate cancer.
Thus, the drug that is used to treat inflammatory disease may exacerbate malignancies.""Applying IL-6/Stat3 blockers to clinical practice might be dangerous for patients with cancerous lesions,
further studies are mandatory to assess the possibility of increased cancer risk right now, "says coauthor of this study, Helmut Dolznig, also from the Medical University of Vienna.
The study was financed mainly by the LBI-CR and the FWF. These results have just been published in the distinguished scientific journal Nature Communications s
#Device keeps donor livers healthy outside the body until transplant The technique and device are part of a Phase 1 clinical trial at Toronto General Hospital (TGH),
University Health Network assessing the safety of the device, with subsequent phases examining its efficacy.
who was able to walk around the unit two days after his transplant. Mills says he was happy to volunteer to become the first patient to receive a liver that was improved by the new technology."
We will know how healthy that organ is before the transplant operation, "says Dr. Markus Selzner, a transplant surgeon in the Multi-Organ transplant Program at TGH,
co-investigator of the clinical trial and the transplant surgeon who performed the donor operation.
Dr. Selzner is also a clinician-scientist at the Toronto General Research Institute who modified the Steen preservation solution used in the device at TGH
The new preservation solution decreases inflammation and protects the liver from injury. The liver is the second organ in the body
The medical device encloses the liver in a sterile environment, circulating oxygenated blood and nutrients into the liver at body temperature, allowing it to improve
"says Dr. David Grant, Surgical Director of the Multi-Organ transplant Program, co-investigator of the clinical trial who also transplanted the donor liver,
which had been placed on the medical device, into the recipient.""This new technology can help us answer critical questions such as,
and predict organ function before the transplant occurs?'"'"Dr. Grant also praised the strong support and efforts of Trillium Gift of Life,
which coordinates organ and tissue donation across Ontario, in helping to ensure that the transplant team could begin their clinical trials with this new technique.
The technique of warm organ perfusion outside the body was pioneered by the Toronto Lung Transplant Program at TGH in 2008 by Drs.
Since 2012, there has been unprecedented an 28%increase in lung transplants at TGH as a result of this system.
500 patients waiting for a transplant in Ontario. More than 200 of these wait for a liver,
chair of the Canadian Pediatric & Perinatal AIDS Research Group (CPARG) which runs the CPHSP.
"Women who receive combination antiretroviral therapy (cart) during pregnancy do not pass HIV on to their baby.
preventing the disease in infants as well as opportunities to improve care. They determined which populations are at greatest risk
and how public health officials are working with those groups. Since the 1990s about half of women with HIV delivering babies in Canada were born foreign.
Aboriginal women and women who use injection drugs were also at greater risk of having HIV in pregnancy
"The database has allowed us to assess the national burden of HIV infection through vertical transmission throughout the HIV/AIDS epidemic
"said Joel Singer, professor in the School of Population and Public health at UBC, who is presenting at IAS 2015."
"The researchers say this recent success stems largely from public health initiatives to ensure women in these high-risk populations are tested
and infants is to engage hard-to-reach populations in health care and allow them to access prenatal care,
#Long-sought discovery fills in missing details of cell'switchboard'A biomedical breakthrough, published in the journal Nature, reveals never-before-seen details of the human body's cellular switchboard that regulates sensory and hormonal responses.
and effective drugs with fewer side effects to treat conditions including high blood pressure, diabetes, depression and even some types of cancer.
"This work has tremendous therapeutic implications, "Benovic said.""The study is a critical first step and provides key insight into the structural interactions in these protein complexes."
#Discovery about brain protein causes rethink on development of Alzheimer's disease Researchers at the University of Melbourne have discovered that a protein involved in the progression of Alzheimer's disease also has properties that could be helpful for human health.
The discovery helps researchers better understand the complicated brain chemistry behind the development of Alzheimer's disease, a condition that affects hundreds of thousands of Australians.
Researchers have been interested intensely in the role of beta-amyloid in the development of Alzheimer's disease. This is because clumps of the protein are formed in brains of people with the illness.
In the late 1990s, high levels of copper were discovered within these clumps. Copper is essential to health,
Many scientists began to suspect that this copper might be contributing to the disease. They found that beta-amyloid can bind to copper indiscriminately
"So far, therapies aimed at lowering the production of beta amyloid have shown only a modest ability to slow cognitive decline
and the number of people affected by the Alzheimer's disease continues to grow. Dr Drew and the team from Poland are now working to develop a method for identifying the copper-bound form of the short beta amyloid in the body.
and how this may change in aging and disease.""If a beneficial role in copper balance can be established,
"As the amount of beta amyloid in the brain increases during Alzheimer's disease, the shorter form can also clump together
PCR is used in the early diagnosis of hereditary and infectious diseases, and for analysis of ancient DNA samples of mummies and mammoths.
so it can be used in biomedical applications. For their experiments, the researchers used thin films of gold that were 120 nanometers thick,
#New cancer marker identified; possible therapeutic target for breast cancer A new way to detect --and perhaps treat--one of the deadliest types of breast cancer has been found.
Led by researchers at Boston University School of medicine (BUSM), the study appears online in Breast cancer Research. Basal-like breast cancer (BLBC) is an aggressive form of breast cancer
"which means it is not responsive to the common medical therapeutics. BLBC is more likely to metastasize
Researchers from BUSM and the University of Cyprus compared the markers on the surface of the cancer cells to gene expression profile of breast tumors deposited by researchers in international public databases
they found that the tumor growth was significantly slower in models. Furthermore, models that received the altered cancer cells had very small or no metastasis to the lungs,
which suggested that IL13RA2 was involved in cancer growth and spread.""This discovery offers a glimmer of hope for patients stricken with BLBC.
Personalized cancer therapies could be developed by targeting breast cancer cells that express copious levels of IL13RA2,
"explained corresponding author Sam Thiagalingam, Phd, associate professor of genetics & genomics, medicine and pathology & laboratory medicine at BUSM.
Other deadly cancers, including brain, pancreatic, ovarian, and colonic cancers also can have high levels of IL13RA2
which suggests its importance.""Studies directed at this biomarker will be of high significance to improve the quality of life of all cancer patients harboring this alteration,"added Thiagalingam.
While this is hopeful news for some patients, more research is needed to further understand not only IL13RA2, but other molecules in breast cancers that may guide diagnosis, prognosis,
and ultimately drug development and therapy y
#Paper Test Quickly Detects Ebola, Dengue, And Yellow fever Researchers in the US have developed a silver nanoparticle-based paper test to simultaneously detect dengue, yellow fever and Ebola.
This could provide a cheap and reliable diagnosis for all three diseases, that as quick as a home pregnancy test.
The Ebola epidemic in West Africa underscores an urgent need for rapid diagnostics; quick identification and patient isolation can benefit the sick and the healthy.
However, dengue, yellow fever and Ebola all initially manifest as a fever and headache, so are mixed easily up.
Now, this huge problem has a tiny solution an 8×3cm lateral flow test. Lee Gehrke and his team at the Massachusetts institute of technology and Harvard Medical school adapted the traditional single marker lateral flow test to diagnose several diseases at once.
It costs $2, takes 10 minutes, and there is no need for a power supply, trained specialist or expensive equipment.
The test is made from strips of paper containing antibodies attached to triangular silver nanoparticles of varying size according to the disease they recognize
and bind to. Silver nanoparticles appear as different colours according to their size, so when a patient serum sample migrates through the device,
distinctive colored lines appear on the paper to indicate positive results for Ebola, dengue or yellow fever.
This pattern of lines can be analysed by eye but the team are also working on a mobile phone application to aid diagnosis. n app could be very useful for diseases that are mosquito-spread,
says Gehrke. t adds a date and geographical stamp to the test results so the spread of disease can be followed in real-time.
Warren Chan, an expert in nanomaterials-based diagnostics at the University of Toronto in Canada
hey have solved the immense problem of detecting multiple disease targets at the same time. The next step will be to clinically validate the technology.
Overtext Web Module V3.0 Alpha
Copyright Semantic-Knowledge, 1994-2011