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Cancer drug slows muscular dystrophy in mice Invention: Triple-standard DVD Roxanne Khamsi Barry Fox An experimental cancer drug has slowed muscular dystrophy in mice with the Triple-standard disc disease, raising hopes that a simple pill could one day treat the fatal condition in The electronics industry is in a fine mess, with two blue-laser disc standards humans. (Blu-ray and HD-DVD) competing to succeed ordinary red-laser DVDs. “The results the researchers are reporting are very dramatic and impressive,” On 26 September, Warner will be the first studio to release a movie, Lake says Jeff Chamberlain at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seat- House, on all three disc standards simultaneously. tle, US. Meanwhile, however, two top Warner engineers, Alan Bell and Lewis Ostrover, The researchers caution that the results are preliminary, but say that the ap- have been working on a cheaper and more elegant solution. proach might offer advantages over other medicines for muscular dystrophy cur- Blu-ray uses a 405-nanometre wavelength laser to read data from tracks 0.1- rently in clinical trials. millimetres-deep on the top surface of a disc. HD-DVD, on the other hand, uses There are many forms of the muscle-wasting disease, but no cure for any of the same wavelength to read recordings at a depth of 0.6 mm. them. The most common form of the illness among children, known as Duchenne Warner’s plan is to create a disc with a Blu-ray top layer that works like a two- muscular dystrophy, involves a mutation for a muscle protein known as dys- way mirror. This should reflect just enough blue light for a Blu-ray player to read it trophin. okay. But it should also let enough light through for HD-DVD players to ignore the Without functioning copies of this protein, muscles weaken, leading to breathing Blu-ray recording and find a second HD-DVD layer beneath. problems and, ultimately, death in the victims' teens or early twenties. An ordinary DVD recording could be put on the other side, so that conventional Counteracted deterioration DVD players can read the disc as well. Pier Puri at the Burnham Institute in La Jolla, California and colleagues tried to Although the triple-standard disc will cost more to make, it should still be cheap- boost muscle function in mice carrying a mutation in the dystrophin gene, by er than pressing three, and shops should be pleased not to have their shelves treating the animals with a cancer drug called trichostatin A (TSA). overloaded with so many different discs. The compound, which is being tested as a treatment for melanoma, causes a The "bad hair day" brush change in certain proteins. Thanks to Japan's Kao Corporation you may soon be able to rate a "bad hair Puri says that these changes somehow affect the production of a molecule day" on a scale of 1 to 10. The company is developing a smart hairbrush, which known as follistatin, which can indirectly cause muscle growth and counteract the can quantify the damage caused by treatments such as hair dyes and bleaches. deterioration caused by faulty dystrophin. The hairbrush analyses sound as hair is brushed. This reveals a surprising Muscle-boost abolished amount about the state of the hair, according to five inventors from the company. The team gave the mutant mice a daily dose of TSA for three months, after To make the brush, an aluminium bar a few micrometers long is polished and which the rodents underwent a fitness test on a treadmill. Those on TSA managed sandblasted and then buried amongst the prongs of the brush. A microphone at- to last 20 minutes on the treadmill, compared to just 12.5 minutes for the control tached to the bar then picks up vibrations as hair is dragged over the bar. A built- group. in strain gauge also records the resistance caused by brushing. In a second part of the experiment, Puri’s team gave the mice a compound that A USB connection feeds these measurements to a PC which compares the sound blocks the effects of follistatin. This had the effect of abolishing the muscle-boost- and the pulling strain. Tests carried out in a Tokyo hair salon showed that hair in ing power of TSA, demonstrating that the cancer treatment works against the good condition makes far less noise than dirty hair with split ends. Loud sound at symptoms of muscular dystrophy by boosting follistatin, Puri says. high frequencies also indicates too much bleaching, the inventors say. The brush An advantage of TSA is that it can be taken in simple pill form, unlike some of could help hairdressers work out the appropriate treatment for a person in their the other treatments in development, such as those involving gene therapy. care. But experts stress that, unlike gene therapy, it would have to be continuously Enzyme sensor administered. “You would have to give this for the lifespan of the patient,” Cham- Intel has plans to move into medicine. A patent application from the world's big- berlain notes, adding that the potential side effects of long-term TSA use are un- gest microchip-maker reveals a method for using tried-and-tested silicon fabrica- known. Journal reference: Nature Medicine (DOI: 10.1038/nm1479) tion techniques to mass produce low cost biosensors for home or hospital use.

1 11/14/2017 Putting many sensors on a single chip should reduce the power needed to drive The volunteers heard noises such as a sheet of paper being torn, or of someone such a device. crunching potato chips. Then the same subjects were scanned again, this time To make the biosensors, identical pairs of piezoelectric electrodes are deposited whilst tearing a piece of paper, or eating potato chips. on a silicon wafer and some of the silicon beneath each electrode is etched away Vicarious crunching to create an identical pair of resonant cavities. When a current is passed through “We combined the data from listening and execution and looked to see if the ac- the electrodes, they vibrate with identical resonance. tivity in the brain overlaps,” says Gazzola’s colleague Christian Keysers, also at the An enzyme such as glucose oxidase is then attached to one of the two elec- University of Groningen. Sure enough, it did overlap. Motor neurons associated trodes. When the chip is exposed to blood sugar, this binds with the enzyme mak- with mouth actions (crunching) and hand actions (ripping) were activated in both ing the electrode underneath heavier. The two electrodes then vibrate differently, cases. which an on-chip sensor can easily detect. And comparing its resonance to a The overlap occurred in areas of the brain such as the bilateral temporal gyrus stored database provides a quick blood-sugar reading. and the superior temporal sulcus. If the electrodes are coated with antibodies or DNA instead of enzymes, the chip “The mirror system is a particular form of Pavlovian association,” says Keysers, could also provide early warning of an infection. referring to the classic behavioural experiments where dogs were trained to asso- Ancient Greeks invented 'quantum dot' dye ciate food with the noise of a bell. “Each time you crunch a potato chip you hear Ancient Greek hairdressers could teach us a thing or two about nanotechnology. yourself crunching the chip, and now when you hear someone else crunching it ac- When hair is dyed using a lead-based dye popular 2000 years ago, crystals of tivates your own action neurons.” lead sulphide just 5 nanometres across form within the microstructure of the hair Spectrum of difference fibres, according to a team led by Phillipe Walter at the French Museums' Research The phenomenon has been exploited by advertisers for years – think of the Co- and Restoration Centre in Paris. ca-cola commercials comprising of just the noise of a bottle of Coke being opened, A hair-like scaffold could be used to grow "quantum dots" - tiny crystals which the fizz of the drink and the sound of the drinking. And intriguingly, subjects in the confine a handful of electrons in a way that makes it possible to exploit their quan- study who scored higher in empathy tests also showed higher levels of mirror neu- tum properties, such as spin, for use in emerging quantum computing systems. ron activation. Existing methods for producing quantum dots create defects. The work will be re- Differences in empathy scores and mirror neuron activity have been observed ported in Nano Letters. between autistic and non-autistic people, says Keysers, but this is the first time a 'Spectrum of empathy' found in the brain spectrum of difference has been found in non-autistic people. “How empathetic we Rowan Hooper are seems to be related to how strongly our mirror neuron system is activated,” he Ever wondered how some people can “put themselves into another person's says. shoes” and some people cannot? Our ability to empathise with others seems to “It’s exciting because we can start to look at the diversity of experiences of oth- depend on the action of "mirror neurons" in the brain, according to a new study. er people. Some people see others through themselves, and some are more objec- Mirror neurons, known to exist in humans and in macaque monkeys, activate tive about it.” Journal reference: Current Biology (vol 16, p 1824) when an action is observed, and also when it is performed. Now new research re- Novel drug joins fight against drug-resistant malaria veals that there are mirror neurons in humans that fire when sounds are heard. In Roxanne Khamsi other words, if you hear the noise of someone eating an apple, some of the same A potential new drug against malaria has been identified, which has cured mice neurons fire as when you eat the apple yourself. with a drug-resistant form of the disease. So-called auditory mirror neurons were known only in macaques. To determine The synthetic compound, called XC11, works by preventing the malarial para- if they exist in humans Valeria Gazzola, at the school of behavioural and cognitive site, Plasmodium falciparum, from reproducing, researchers say. neurosciences neuroimaging centre at the University of Groningen, the Nether- Malaria claims more than one million lives each year, many of them children. lands, and colleagues, put 16 volunteers into functional magnetic resonance imag- The mosquito-borne disease is becoming increasingly resistant to treatment – the ing (fMRI) scanners and observed their brains as they were played different nois- affordable drug chloroquine is no longer effective throughout Africa, for example. es. Jun Liu at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, US, and colleagues screened 175,000 compounds before identifying XC11. The compound

2 11/14/2017 acts in a different way to other treatments, by disrupting the malarial parasite’s Ultimate goal ability to make certain proteins crucial to its replication. If the recipient tries to open the image, the executable installs a program on Completely cured their PC. This forwards the executable on to other contacts on their buddy list and The researchers gave XC11 to mice with a rodent form of chloroquine-resistant also enables connections to several remote computers. It then tries to download malaria. After four days of treatment, the average percent of parasite-infected red another program that allows an outsider control the infected machine. blood cells in the XC11-treated animals had dropped to 6% - about one-tenth the FaceTime's director of malware research Chris Boyd says the goal appears to be level seen in the control mice. And giving XC11 in combination with chloroquine re- creating a huge network of remote-controlled machines, known as a "botnet". As duced the parasite load to just 2%. of Thursday, Boyd estimates W32.pipeline had amassed botnet between 1000 and All of the mice that received the drug combination survived infection were still 2000 machines. alive three months later – whereas 40% of mice in the control group died. 80% of Botnets may be used to send out huge quantities of junk e-mail or attack busi- the mice that received XC11 were completely cured – meaning they were disease ness websites with an avalanche of data, in a so-called distributed "denial-of-ser- free and remained so for at least three months after treatment. vice" attack, which may be linked to extortion. David Sullivan, who collaborated in the study, says that while XC11 may not be Click fraud as effective as some other drugs, it has potential because it exploits a different Botnets can also be used to commit "click fraud", which involves ordering the pathway to other drugs so may not be as vulnerable to resistant strains. zombie machines to repeatedly click internet advertisements, to generate money Unlimited production for a company's that is paid per click. Artemisinin is the main weapon against chloroquine-resistant malaria, but be- "The ultimate goal of the W32.pipeline is to create a sophisticated botnet that cause it is plant derived there is the threat of shortage. Compounds derived from can be used for a range of malicious purposes," FaceTime said in a security alert XC11 would be synthetic and so potentially have unlimited, cheaper production. issued on Tuesday. Other drugs do exist to treat chloroquine-resistant malaria but many are very Boyd and other researchers posted details of the worm, including screenshots expensive, and experts fear that the organism will soon show resistance even to and "attack scenarios" to the company's blog – http://blog.spywareguide.com. these drugs. They note that the botnet created using the worm, which is controlled via Inter- “You might potentially find a strain of malaria for which no amount of money net Relay Chat (IRC) servers, is particularly sophisticated and uses a complicated can buy you a drug that works,” says Anthony James at the University of Califor- "install chain" to schedule file uploads to infected machines. nia, Irvine, US. “So, I think any new drug is a big deal.” Fish Used to Detect Terror Attacks The team is currently working towards a modified version of XC11 that works By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: September 19, 2006 with even greater effectiveness. Journal reference: Proceedings of the National Academy of SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A type of fish so common that practically every American Sciences (DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0604101103) kid who ever dropped a fishing line and a bobber into a pond has probably caught Instant messaging worm builds menacing 'botnet' one is being enlisted in the fight against terrorism. Will Knight San Francisco, New York, Washington and other big cities are using bluegills -- A computer worms that spreads via instant messaging is being used to build an also known as sunfish or bream -- as a sort of canary in a coal mine to safeguard extensive "botnet" of remote-controlled PCs, a US security firm has warned. their drinking water. Security experts at US company FaceTime identified the worm as "W32.pipeline" Small numbers of the fish are kept in tanks constantly replenished with water and warned that it spreads via AOL's instant messenger program. from the municipal supply, and sensors in each tank work around the clock to reg- The worm disguises a malicious executable program as a Jpeg image, which is ister changes in the breathing, heartbeat and swimming patterns of the bluegills attached to an instant message that appears to come from someone on the recipi- that occur in the presence of toxins. ent's AOL "buddy list". ''Nature's given us pretty much the most powerful and reliable early warning Typically, the picture is accompanied by the message, "hey would it be ok if I center out there,'' said Bill Lawler, co-founder of Intelligent Automation upload this picture of you to my blog?" although another similar message may also Corporation, a Southern California company that makes and sells the bluegill moni- be used. toring system. ''There's no known manmade sensor that can do the same job as the bluegill.''

3 11/14/2017 Since Sept. 11, the government has taken very seriously the threat of attacks on and prefer to associate only with individuals that smell like themselves. This find- the U.S. water supply. Federal law requires nearly all community water systems to ing may explain how social behavior operates in promiscuous animal societies. The assess their vulnerability to terrorism. new work is reported by Tim Hain and Bryan Neff of the University of Western On- Big cities employ a range of safeguards against chemical and biological agents, tario and appears in the September 19th issue of Current Biology, published by constantly monitoring, testing and treating the water. But electronic protection Cell Press. systems can trace only the toxins they are programmed to detect, Lawler said. Most animals, including humans, are able to recognize their relatives. This is Bluegills -- a hardy species about the size of a human hand -- are considered commonly accomplished by remembering the individuals one associates with dur- more versatile. They are highly attuned to chemical disturbances in their environ- ing early development, such as nest-mates. However, it is now well known that ment, and when exposed to toxins, they experience the fish version of coughing, many animals are also highly promiscuous and thus that nest-mates are not al- flexing their gills to expel unwanted particles. ways kin (that is, full siblings). A so-called self-referencing kin-recognition mecha- The computerized system in use in San Francisco and elsewhere is designed to nism, where individuals use some aspect of their own appearance, odor, or other detect even slight changes in the bluegills' vital signs and send an e-mail alert characteristic to recognize kin, had been proposed for several animals, but past when something is wrong. studies had not yet eliminated the possibility that such cases might involve kin San Francisco's bluegills went to work about a month ago, guarding the drinking recognition based on learning early in development. water of more than 1 million people from substances such as cyanide, diesel fuel, In the new work, the researchers studied the ability of bluegill sunfish larvae to mercury and pesticides. Eight bluegills swim in a tank deep in the basement of a recognize kin. Using in vitro fertilization techniques, the researchers created mixed water treatment plant south of the city. broods in which nest-mates were not reliably kin--some were full siblings and oth- ''It gave us the best of both worlds, which is basically all the benefits that come ers were unrelated. They then used behavioral experiments and DNA analysis to from nature and the best of high-tech,'' said Susan Leal, general manager of the show that offspring of the promiscuous "cuckolder" males actively sought and as- San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. sociated with the odor of siblings that they had never encountered previously. This New York City has been testing its system since 2002 and is seeking to expand ability to recognize unfamiliar relatives provides compelling evidence for the use of it. The New York City Department of Environmental Protection reported at least kin recognition through a process in which an individual matches its own physical one instance in which the system caught a toxin before it made it into the water characteristics to those of others, and it confirms the importance of kinship in so- supply: The fish noticed a diesel spill two hours earlier than any of the agency's cial behavior. other detection devices. Iowa Company Turns to Ammonia for Fuel They do have limitations. While the bluegills have successfully detected at least By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: September 19, 2006 30 toxic chemicals, they cannot reliably detect germs. And they are no use against DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- An Iowa alternative fuel engine manufacturer has reached other sorts of attacks -- say, the bombing of a water main, or an attack by com- an agreement with an irrigation pump maker in California to make the world's first puter hackers on the systems that control the flow of water. ammonia-powered irrigation pump system. Still, Lawler said more than a dozen other cities have ordered the anti-terror ap- The system will help meet California's new strict emissions requirements sched- paratus, called the Intelligent Aquatic BioMonitoring System, which was originally uled to go into effect in 2010, the companies said. developed for the Army and starts at around $45,000. Hydrogen Engine Center Inc., of Algona, said Tuesday its is working with Corco- San Francisco plans to install two more bluegill tanks. ran, Calif.-based Sawtelle & Rosprim Inc. to integrate HEC ammonia-powered en- ''It provides us an added level of detection of the unknown,'' said Tony Winnick- gines with Sawtelle's pumps ''to complete a prototype system for testing and eval- er, a spokesman for the city's Public Utilities Commission. ''There's no computer uation.'' The prototype system will be designed to run 24 hours a day. It will be that's as sophisticated as a living being.'' tested during California's 2007 irrigation season. Sniffing out relatives, bluegill sunfish use self-referencing to recog- If testing is successful, HEC plans to begin selling ammonia-powered irrigation nize kin systems in California in 2008. Many animal societies involve highly promiscuous mating behavior, making it ''We believe that the demonstration of this engine will complete years of devel- potentially complicated for individuals to recognize and preferentially help their rel- opment work and will allow the sale of our systems worldwide without concerns atives. Researchers have now shown that offspring of promiscuous male bluegill about hydrogen storage, cost, availability or permitting,'' says Ted Hollinger, HEC sunfish compare the odor of nest-mates to their own genetically determined odor, President. 4 11/14/2017 He said the company hopes to market ammonia-fueled engines into the genera- HEC shares were up 25 cents, or 6.3 percent, at $4.25 on the over-the-counter tor market. bulletin board. The engines developed by HEC run on anhydrous ammonia, or NH3, which has On the Net: Hydrogen Engine Center Inc.: http://www.hydrogenenginecenter.com been used by farmers for many years as a fertilizer. Sawtelle & Rosprim Inc.: http://www.sawtellerosprim.com Sawtelle & Rosprim President Terry Kwast said most of his customers who need Science Group Backs NASA Lunar Plans irrigation systems already are accustomed to handling, storing and working with By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: September 19, 2006 anhydrous ammonia, so it presents none of the problems that hydrogen would. WASHINGTON (AP) -- A panel of scientists strongly endorsed NASA's plans to return to Anhydrous ammonia contains no carbon, stores like propane and is the second the moon, saying in a report Tuesday that lunar exploration will open the way to- most prevalent chemical in the world, Hollinger said. Ammonia contains more hy- ward broader studies of the Earth and solar system. drogen per cubic foot than liquid hydrogen. Hollinger frequently refers to ammonia ''The moon is priceless to planetary scientists,'' declared the special National Re- as the other hydrogen. search Council panel of the National Academy of Sciences. He said using ammonia to power engines has advantages: The scientists were asked to evaluate and give guidance to the National Aero- --An infrastructure for storage and transportation is already in place. nautics and Space Administration's plans for robotic and human exploration of the --Usage and safety regulations for ammonia are already in place, therefore, the moon over the next two decades. process of obtaining a permit to use ammonia is usually relatively simple. President Bush two years ago vowed to return astronauts to the moon and es- --Ammonia pipelines can be found in many areas of the United States, including tablish an ''extended presence there'' in preparation for exploring Mars. He called Iowa, and distribution of the fuel is already established. on NASA to devote $12 billion over five years for the beginning of the program Kwast said he's been searching for years for alternatives to the diesel engines with a goal of landing on the moon between 2015 and 2020, and eventually land- currently used in irrigation systems. With federal and state air quality regulations ing on Mars. making it increasingly more expensive to reduce the engine emissions, alternative The Academy panel said the moon holds a deep geological record of early plan- fuels such as ammonia are becoming more cost effective. etary evolution and provides great opportunities for a sustained program of both ''The agriculture industry out here needs to do something to comply with the robotic and human exploration of space. new air emissions standards that will be coming,'' he said Tuesday. ''This ammonia ''Only by returning to the moon to carry out new scientific exploration can we system looks pretty promising because you don't have the emissions issues you hope to close the gaps in understanding and learn the secrets that the moon alone have with diesel, it's a green cycle. The only question at this point is whether eco- has kept for eons,'' the 15-member panel said. nomically, it will be a solution. I believe it will be.'' The committee was made up of academics, a journalist and retired members of Anhydrous ammonia is currently derived mostly from natural gas and as a re- private industry involved in space programs. The congressionally chartered Acade- sult, it's price is tied to natural gas prices, which have been high in the past few my advises the government on scientific and technical matters. years. The scientists urged NASA to stimulate lunar research along two programs: one However, new ways of extracting anhydrous from coal through a gasification for fundamental lunar research and the other focusing on analyzing lunar data to process, are becoming more common. advance research elsewhere in the solar system. Kwast said the engines provided by HEC will be tested to determine efficiency Among the priorities the panel outlined were determining the composition and and its combustion rates compared to diesel to determine how much more costly it structure of the lunar interior, better understanding the lunar atmosphere, evaluat- will be to run pumping systems on ammonia rather than diesel. ing the moon's potential as ''an observation platform'' for studying the Earth, the ''We're pretty excited about the prospects,'' he said. ''This is a real world solu- relationship of the sun and Earth, and broader astronomy and astrophysics. tion,'' The scientists said NASA should provide astronauts with the best possible tech- HEC manufactures and sells its brand named Oxx Power internal combustion en- nical systems for exploring the moon using both robotic, teleoperated systems and gines capable of running on a multitude of fuels, including ammonia, hydrogen, robot-assisted human exploration. propane, natural gas, ethanol and gasoline. Tuesday's report was described as interim, with a more detailed report to be re- The company's products are marketed to power generation, agricultural, indus- leased in mid-2007. trial, airport ground support, vehicular and home and business customers. The federal space agency and space enthusiasts outside of NASA long have hungered for a return to the moon. Bush's outline for exploration of the moon and

5 11/14/2017 later Mars represented the boldest space goal since President Kennedy called in The breakthrough was achieved by bonding a layer of light-emitting indium the early 1960s for landing Americans on the moon, a goal that was accomplished phosphide onto the surface of a stan- in 1969. dard silicon chip etched with special Two weeks ago, NASA announced it had awarded Lockheed Martin Corp. the channels that act as light-wave guides. multibillion-dollar contract to build the Orion manned lunar space craft. NASA an- The resulting sandwich has the poten- ticipates building eight of the reusable spaceships through 2019, replacing the tial to create on a computer chip hun- space shuttle. dreds and possibly thousands of tiny, On the Net: Copy of report at National Academies Press: http://www.nap.edu bright lasers that can be switched on National Aeronautics and Space Administration: http://www.nasa.gov and off billions of times a second. A Chip That Can Transfer Data Using Laser Light “This is a field that has just begun ex- By JOHN MARKOFF ploding in the past 18 months,” said Eli SAN FRANCISCO - Researchers plan to announce on Monday that they have created a Yablonovitch, a physicist at the Univer- silicon-based chip that can produce laser beams. The advance will make it possible sity of California, Los Angeles, a lead- to use laser light rather than wires to send data between chips, removing the most ing researcher in the field. “There is significant bottleneck in computer design. going to be a lot more optical commu- As a result, chip makers may be able to put the high-speed data communica- nications in computing than people tions industry on the same curve of increased processing speed and diminishing have thought.” costs - the phenomenon known as Moore’s law - that has driven the computer in- Indeed, the results of the develop- dustry for the last four decades. ment work, which will be reported in a The development is a result of research at Intel, the world’s largest chip maker, coming issue of Optics Express, an in- and the University of California, Santa Barbara. Commercializing the new technolo- ternational journal, indicate that a gy may not happen before the end of the decade, but the prospect of being able high-stakes race is under way world- to place hundreds or thousands of data-carrying light beams on standard industry wide. While the researchers at Intel chips is certain to shake up both the communications and computer industries. and Santa Barbara are betting on indi- Lasers are already used to transmit high volumes of computer data over longer um phosphide, Japanese scientists in a distances - for example, between offices, cities and across oceans - using fiber op- related effort are pursuing a different tic cables. But in computer chips, data moves at great speed over the wires inside, material, the chemical element erbium. then slows to a snail’s pace when it is sent chip-to-chip inside a computer. Although commercial chips with built- With the barrier removed, computer designers will be able to rethink computers, in lasers are years away, Luxtera, a packing chips more densely both in home systems and in giant data centers. More- company in Carlsbad, Calif., is already over, the laser-silicon chips - composed of a spider’s web of laser light in addition selling test chips that incorporate most to metal wires - portend a vastly more powerful and less expensive national com- optical components directly into silicon puting infrastructure. For a few dollars apiece, such chips could transmit data at and then inject laser light from a sepa- 100 times the speed of laser-based communications equipment, called optical rate source. transceivers, that typically cost several thousand dollars. The Intel-Santa Barbara work proves Currently fiber optic networks are used to transmit data to individual neighbor- that it is possible to make complete hoods in cities where the data is then distributed by slower conventional wire- photonic devices using standard chip- based communications gear. The laser chips will make it possible to send making machinery, although not entire- avalanches of data to and from individual homes at far less cost. ly out of silicon. “There has always They could also give rise to a new class of supercomputers that could share been this final hurdle,” said Mario Pan- data internally at speeds not possible today. iccia, director of the Photonics Technol-

6 11/14/2017 ogy Lab at Intel. “We have now come up with a solution that optimizes both often with the original upholstery and padding underneath - and create a task sides.” force to study the issue and make recommendations within a year. In the past it has proved impossible to couple standard silicon with the exotic The International Sleep Products Association, the trade association for mattress materials that emit light when electrically charged. But the university team sup- manufacturers, said yesterday that it supported a ban on the sale of reconditioned plied a low-temperature bonding technique that does not melt the silicon circuitry. mattresses. “The filth from the used mattress that lies just beneath the new fabric The approach uses an electrically charged oxygen gas to create a layer of oxide cover of a reconditioned product can be astounding,” said Ryan Trainer, a lawyer just 25 atoms thick on each material. When heated and pressed together, the ox- for the association. ide layer fuses the two materials into a single chip that conducts information both Andrew Eiler, director of legislation for the city’s Department of Consumer Af- through wires and on beams of reflected light. fairs, however, expressed uncertainty about the bill. A twin-size mattress without a “Photonics has been a low-volume cottage industry,” said John E. Bowers, direc- box spring can be bought for $40 from the Salvation Army, or about $50 less than tor of the Multidisciplinary Optical Switching Technology Center at the University of a new mattress. “While $50 may not appear as a significant difference to some, it California, Santa Barbara. “Everything will change and laser communications will may be an unbridgeable gap to consumers with limited incomes,” he said. be everywhere, including fiber to the home.” Under a 1996 law, manufacturers of used bedding must certify that they have Photonics industry experts briefed on the technique said that it would almost sanitized the bedding, using standards developed by the state’s Department of certainly pave the way for commercialization of the long-sought convergence of State, in consultation with the Department of Health. The law was later expanded silicon chips and optical lasers. “Before, there was more hype than substance,” to cover sellers of used bedding - there are currently 261 registered with the state said Alan Huang, a former Bell Laboratories researcher who is a pioneer in the - as well. field and is now chief technology officer of the Terabit Corporation, a photonics The problem, Mr. Eiler said, is that the state has never published sanitization start-up company in Menlo Park, Calif. “Now I believe this will lead to future appli- standards. “Since there are no rules, the certifications are relatively meaningless,” cations in optoelectronics.” he said. Another Reason City Never Sleeps: More Bedbugs In a telephone interview after the hearing, Eamon Moynihan, a spokesman for By SEWELL CHAN the Department of State, confirmed that “there were no standards promulgated.” New York City is experiencing a dramatic resurgence in bedbugs - those pesky The reasons why were not entirely clear, he said, but it seems that when the staff oval insects that hide in the crevices of furniture and feast on human blood at looked at the 1996 law, they concluded that to enforce it would have made recon- night - and officials are confounded about how best to respond. ditioned mattresses so expensive as to effectively outlaw them. Moreover, city officials revealed yesterday that state regulators had failed to Mr. Moynihan said the department had no plan to revisit the issue. publish standards for sanitizing used mattresses and box springs before they can The city does not directly regulate the sale of used mattresses. It licenses 3,795 be resold - even though such standards were supposed to be developed years dealers in secondhand goods, not counting used-car dealers, Mr. Eiler said, but it ago. The proliferation of secondhand furniture is believed to be one factor in the has no way to know how many of those dealers sell used mattresses. There is just rise in bedbug infestations. not enough information, he said, to know whether banning the sale of used mat- Although bedbugs are not considered a major health threat because they do not tresses in the city would prevent the spread of the pests. transmit disease, they can cause itchy welts and often require expensive extermi- Richard J. Pollack, an expert in parasitic insects at the Harvard School of Public nations. In the last fiscal year, the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Health who testified at the hearing, said he doubted that the proposed ban would Development received 4,638 complaints about bedbugs in rental housing - nearly be effective. “As long as used mattresses have value, they will remain a commodi- five times as many as in the previous year. ty despite attempts to regulate their movements,” he said. At a City Council hearing yesterday on the issue, entomologists and extermina- The resurgence of bedbugs appears to be affecting the city as a whole. “There tors said that bedbugs have been proliferating at levels not seen in decades. The is no clear pattern, or neighborhood that’s particularly at risk, at least that I’m cause of the resurgence is not certain, but experts have speculated that increased aware of,” Daniel Kass, director of environmental surveillance and policy for the international travel, a recent ban on powerful pesticides and the market in used city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, said at the hearing. furniture have been factors. Exterminators have been grappling with how to suppress the infestations. Sev- A bill by Councilwoman Gale A. Brewer of Manhattan would ban the sale of re- eral of them testified yesterday, and Cindy Mannes, of the National Pest Manage- conditioned mattresses - old mattresses with a new fabric cover sewn onto them, ment Association, said in a telephone interview that it recorded a 71 percent in-

7 11/14/2017 crease from 2000 to 2005 in the number of exterminators who had received calls For an older woman I know who was suffering from “implacable depression” about bedbugs. that refused to yield to any medications, electroconvulsive therapy - popularly Councilman Leroy G. Comrie Jr. of Queens, who presided over the hearing, said called shock therapy - was a lifesaver. And Kitty Dukakis, wife of the former gover- that residents often blame themselves for infestations. The insects easily crawl be- nor of Massachusetts and 1988 Democratic presidential nominee, says ECT, as tween homes through walls, floors and ceilings. doctors call it, gave her back her life, which had been rendered nearly unlivable by Louis N. Sorkin, an entomologist at the American Museum of Natural History, unrelenting despair and the alcohol she used to assuage it. said there was an urgent need to raise public awareness. “In some cases, people Neither woman has experienced the most common side effect of ECT: memory are using old remedies that may be dangerous to one’s health, such as spraying a disruption, though Mrs. Dukakis recalls nothing of a five-day trip to Paris she took mattress with gasoline or kerosene to kill bedbugs,” he said. after her treatment. Dr. Pollack said, “We shouldn’t be too hysterical when dealing with bedbugs.” At The television host Dick Cavett, who also had the treatment, wrote in People one point, he showed a slide of a 1793 pamphlet on how to control bedbugs. ‘We magazine, “In my case, ECT was miraculous.” keep trying to throw things at them, but they are outwitting us,” he said. Mr. Cavett added, “It was like a magic wand.” Vital Signs But for a man I know who was suicidally depressed and given ECT as a last re- Temper Tracking: Angry Outbursts May Take a Toll on the Lungs sort, it did nothing to relieve his depression but destroyed some of his long-term By NICHOLAS BAKALAR memory. Men who are chronically hostile and angry may face a future of sharply dimin- Such differences in effectiveness and side effects are not unusual in medicine ishing lung function, new research suggests. and psychiatry, and they are not played down in a new book called “Shock,” which In 1986, scientists administered a questionnaire to 670 men ages 21 to 80 to Mrs. Dukakis wrote with Larry Tye, a former Boston Globe reporter. The book, in assess their hostility. Each then received a pulmonary exam within one year of which Mrs. Dukakis details her experience with depression and ECT, explores the completing the questionnaire. The men were tracked for an average of 8.22 years, history, effectiveness and downsides of this nearly 70-year-old treatment, a reme- with comprehensive physical examinations every 3 to 5 years, including an aver- dy that has been repeatedly portrayed in film and literature as barbaric, inhuman, age of three pulmonary function tests. even torturous. After controlling for age, weight, height, smoking status and other variables, the Few people seem to know that ECT has undergone significant changes in recent scientists found a consistent association between high hostility and lower levels of decades, placing it more in line with widely accepted treatments like those used to lung function. Among more hostile men, pulmonary function was worse at every restart a stopped heart or to correct an abnormal heart rhythm. After a rather pre- exam over a 10-year period when compared with less hostile subjects. The study cipitous decline in the 1960’s when effective antidepressant drugs became avail- appears online in Thorax. able, ECT since the 1980’s has experienced something of a comeback, and is used Since levels of lung function were in the normal range at the start of the study, primarily in these circumstances: the researchers say, the possibility that poor lung function led to hostility rather • When rapid reversal of a severe or suicidal depression is needed. than the other way around is unlikely. They acknowledge, however, that an un- • When depression is complicated by psychosis or catatonia. known factor could cause both hostility and poor lung function. • When antidepressants and psychotherapy fail to alleviate a crippling depression. Still, Dr. Rosalind J. Wright, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard and • the senior author of the study, said there was no doubt that emotions could cause When antidepressants cannot safely be used, such as during pregnancy. physical changes, some of which could be detrimental. • When mania or bipolar disorder do not respond to drug therapy. “When you experience physical symptoms around negative emotions, your heart Though there is no official count, experts estimate that more than 100,000 pa- rate goes up, you start sweating, and so on,” Dr. Wright said. “Changes in bodily tients undergo ECT each year in the United States. functions - nervous system, immune function - need to occur for you to feel these ECT was developed in the 1930’s by an Italian neurologist, Ugo Cerletti, who things. It is possible that similar processes are going on more locally, say in the “tamed” difficult mental patients with electric shocks to the brain after noting that lungs, which over many years may cause inflammation that affects lung function.” such shocks given to hogs before slaughter rendered them unconscious but did Personal Health not kill them. In its first decades of use, ECT was administered to fully conscious Shock Therapy Loses Some of Its Shock Value patients, causing them to lose consciousness and experience violent seizures and By JANE E. BRODY

8 11/14/2017 uncontrolled muscle movements that sometimes broke bones. It was sometimes plained that while she used to deny the early signs of a recurring depression, she used in patients without their consent, or at least without informed consent. now calls her doctor “as soon as I spot the gathering clouds.” And while evidence for its effectiveness did not extend much beyond depres- “ECT has wiped away that foreboding,” she wrote, and “given me a sense of sion, for a time ECT was applied to patients with all kinds of emotional distur- control, of hope.” It has also helped her get off antidepressants, which had side bances, including schizophrenia. It was also widely used in mental hospitals to effects like bowel, sexual and sleep disturbances and an inability to experience punish or sedate difficult patients, as was graphically depicted by Jack Nicholson in “the full range of my feelings.” the movie “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” ECT should not be administered without the patient’s (or the patient’s surro- Some people may also recall that Ernest Hemingway, who suffered from life- gate’s) fully informed consent, which includes consideration of all possible side ef- long and often self-medicated depression, committed suicide in 1961 shortly after fects. The most common side effects are headache, muscle soreness and confu- undergoing ECT. He had told his biographer: “Well, what is the sense of ruining sion shortly after the procedure, as well as short-term memory loss, which usually my head and erasing my memory, which is my capital, and putting me out of busi- improves over a period of days to months. ness? It was a brilliant cure, but we lost the patient.” But according to the American Psychiatric Association, there is no evidence that A Modified Treatment ECT causes brain damage. Abuse of the procedure has declined strikingly. Today Though the impression of ECT left in the public mind by such films and writings fewer than 2 percent of patients hospitalized in psychiatric facilities in New York persists, ECT today is a far more refined and limited therapy. Most important, per- State receive ECT. Properly used, it can be lifesaving. haps, is the use of anesthesia and muscle relaxants before administering the Though there is not nearly the money to be made from ECT that there is in sell- shock, which causes a 30-second convulsion in the brain without the accompany- ing antidepressants, work on improvements continues. Modern ECT is sometimes ing movements. Thus, there is no physical damage. The pretreatment also leaves delivered to only one side of the brain, reducing the chances of memory deficits. no memory of the therapy itself. Another new approach uses a magnetically induced current that can be aimed at The amount of current used today is lower and the pulse of electricity much specific regions of the brain, possibly altering them permanently. An advantage of shorter - about two seconds - reducing the risk of post-treatment confusion and this treatment, however, is that it does not require the use of anesthesia. memory disruption. While memory losses still occur in some patients, now the Observatory most serious risk associated with ECT is that of anesthesia. Finding a Feeding Frenzy Among Baby Leeches Most patients require a series of six to eight treatments, delivered over several By HENRY FOUNTAIN weeks. As my friend discovered, however, it is not universally effective. About Anyone who grew up in a large family knows the kinds of sibling competition three-fourths of patients are relieved of their debilitating symptoms at least tem- that can arise. Among these are dinner-table fights over who gets the extra piece porarily. The remaining one-quarter are not helped, and some may be harmed. of chicken, say, or the last potato. Despite its long history, no one knows how ECT works to ease depression and Sibling competition over food occurs in other animals as well, particularly birds, mania. There is some evidence that it reorders the release of neurotransmitters, and scientists suggest that food size can make a difference. If the pieces of food favoring an increase of substances like serotonin, which counters depression. are small, the most aggressive offspring can snatch most of them, to the detri- Some experts view it as a pacemaker for the brain that disrupts negative circuitry. ment (sometimes even the death) of the others. But if the pieces are large, no one The beauty of ECT is the speed with which it works. Antidepressants can take as sibling can monopolize the feedings. (To put it in dinner-table terms, it’s easy for long as six weeks to relieve serious depression. Mrs. Dukakis reported that she the older brother to swipe the last drumstick, but not a whole roast chicken.) had begun to feel better after the first in an initial series of five outpatient ECT Researchers in Australia have found the same behavior in a very different ani- treatments given over a two-week period. mal: a leech. A Stopgap Measure Martin Burd, a professor at Monash University in Melbourne, and colleagues But - and this is a big but - ECT is not a cure for depression. It is more like a studied Helobdella papillornata, a quarter-inch-long leech that does not live on stopgap measure that brings patients to a point where other approaches, including blood. Like some other leeches it tends to its young, carrying up to 60 juveniles on antidepressants and cognitive behavioral therapy, can work to stave off relapses. its underside and feeding them snails. Although some ECT patients never relapse, most are like Mrs. Dukakis, who over Dr. Burd wondered if the young leeches might be competing for the snail tissue, the course of four years has come back for seven more rounds of ECT. She ex- so he, Fredric R. Govedich and Laura Bateson carefully selected the size of the snails. Some leeches had only snails with large shell openings, while others had

9 11/14/2017 snails with small openings. The thinking was that more of the offspring could Titan’s Ethane reach into the large snails to eat, but that with the smaller snails, the most aggres- Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, is different. As with Earth, the largest component sive young leeches would crowd out the others. of its atmosphere is nitrogen. But after that things get weird. Methane is the sec- The animals are microscopic, so it was difficult to see what was going on. “We ond-most-abundant gas on Titan, and it is broken down by sunlight, creating lots can see that they don’t all get their heads into the snail at the same time,” Dr. of ethane. Burd said. “But we can’t be sure it’s the same ones getting the first crack at them.” That’s the idea, at least, but scientists have been puzzled by a basic mystery: So the researchers used an indirect method to determine if the young leeches Where is all the ethane? If methane has been breaking down for as long as Titan were competing: they weighed them. Their findings, published in Proceedings B of has existed (roughly 4.5 billion years), there should be oceans and clouds of eth- the Royal Society, showed a greater disparity of weights among those fed smaller ane everywhere. snails. Scientists still haven’t found any oceans, but there is now strong evidence of a Dr. Burd said they hadn’t expected to see such competitive behavior since, un- vast ethane cloud at Titan’s north pole. If this ethane condenses and freezes dur- like birds, leeches don’t have to eat immediately after hatching. “They can just ing the winters (and at the south pole, as well) that could help explain the lack of hang out and not grow,” he said. “But even when you leap across the boundaries ethane oceans elsewhere. into these indeterminate growers and cold-blooded things, you see the same com- Caitlin A. Griffith of the University of Arizona and other researchers found evi- petitive behavior.” dence of ethane at an altitude of 20 to 30 miles from 51 degrees to 68 degrees Synchronized Migration north latitude using data from a mapping spectrometer on board the Cassini Bird migrations are remarkable events, with thousands upon thousands of indi- spacecraft. The findings are reported in the journal Science. viduals of the same species departing for or returning from breeding grounds over The spectrometer has yet to obtain data from the pole itself, but the researchers the same periods year after year. say the evidence suggests that the band of ethane they are seeing is the fringe of While most migrating species are known for their consistent timetables as a an enormous cloud over the poles, created as the atmosphere subsides, or sinks, whole, less is known about how consistent individuals are from year to year in at high latitudes. their departures and arrivals. Winter polar temperatures are cold enough for ethane to freeze, so there could A study of bar-tailed godwits, a shorebird that makes one of the longest migra- be much ethane ice at the polar caps. But the northern cap has not been ade- tions of any bird, shows that they are quite consistent. Almost all the birds studied quately studied yet, and the data from the southern cap are inconclusive. So plen- left for their breeding grounds within the same week from year to year. ty of mystery remains. The bar-tailed godwits in the study breed in Alaska and spend winter in New Searching Mars Zealand and Australia, making for a migration of about 9,000 miles by way of the Mars has plenty of mystery, too, although it has been visited by many more Yellow Sea off China and the Korean Peninsula. spacecraft than Titan. Phil F. Battley of Otago University in New Zealand banded godwits in the Firth of The latest Martian probe, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, has now achieved Thames in New Zealand and watched roosts in March and April over three years to its working polar orbit, ranging from about 155 miles near the south pole to about determine departure dates for specific birds. His findings were published in Biology 200 miles near the north. That’s not bad given that about six months ago the Letters. highest point of the spacecraft’s orbit was 28,000 miles. Migration dates can be affected by external factors, like weather and food avail- The altitude was reduced using a combination of thrusters and atmospheric ability (since birds have to fuel up before heading off). But the study suggests that braking, slowing the spacecraft as it passed through the fringes of the Martian at- with godwits, at least, departure is set according to a strict internal schedule. Dr. mosphere over and over again. Battley also studied the birds’ appearance and found that males were very consis- The orbiter will begin its search for water on Mars in November. tent from year to year in how much they molted - lost their drab color for richer Really? breeding plumage - before taking off. If external factors were more important in The Claim: Never Remove a Barb From a Stingray Injury determining departure date, such consistency in appearance would not be expect- By ANAHAD O’CONNOR ed. THE FACTS The death of Steve Irwin, the famed “crocodile hunter,” this month came as a shock to his legions of fans. But for some, it also raised a question: What to do if attacked by a stingray?

10 11/14/2017 In general, attacks by venomous stingrays are rare and usually occur when a biological explanations of why they are sick, rather than hearing that they have person accidentally steps on one in shallow water. Most nonfatal injuries are to the bad genes or bad luck. legs or feet, and doctors recommend washing the wound in hot water to destroy But given the biological variability within given diseases, like cancer, and the any venom and to relieve pain. Then, seek medical help. fact that variable genetic makeup leads different individuals to respond differently But an attack in which a stingray’s barb not only pierces the heart but becomes to diseases and therapies, even better scientific knowledge will not eliminate the detached - as was the case with Mr. Irwin, who reportedly removed the barb - is role played by luck. Chance, the British physician R. J. Epstein wrote in the Quar- even more unusual, said Christopher Lowe, a stingray expert at California State terly Journal of Medicine, ensures different outcomes within given sick populations. University, Long Beach. A few examples? Roughly 1 percent of North American whites are highly resis- In that case, the potential for complications is so great that only a doctor should tant to H.I.V. infection because they lack a certain cell surface protein. Lucky. attempt removal. Because barbs are serrated, they tear at flesh when removed, Roughly 5 percent of people infected with the hepatitis B virus develop chronic ac- and it’s unlikely that pulling them out will lower exposure to any venom. Sharp ob- tive hepatitis, an often serious liver disease. Unlucky. jects can also act as plugs that stem excessive bleeding until help arrives, said Dr. This phenomenon can be seen in individual cases of disease as well. When the Adam E. Saltman, a cardiothoracic surgeon at Maimonides Medical Center in cyclist Lance Armstrong was given a diagnosis of testicular cancer in 1996, it had Brooklyn. already metastasized throughout his body, including his brain. His doctors gave Only two cases of people surviving cardiac stingray injuries are known; both him less than a 50 percent chance of survival. were described in a 2001 report in the Medical Journal of Australia. An adult swim- Mr. Armstrong’s subsequent cure can surely be attributed to the chemotherapy mer was struck in his right coronary artery. He was operated on quickly. In the he received, but the fact is that other men with similar cases of testicular cancer other case, a fisherman had a barb removed from his right ventricle. died despite the same regimen. He has noted his good fortune, saying that his THE BOTTOM LINE If embedded, a stingray barb should be removed by a doctor. survival was mostly “a matter of blind luck.” Essay But others shy away from identifying either good or bad luck. In her recent book In Science-Based Medicine, Where Does Luck Fit In? “The Year of Magical Thinking,” Joan Didion describes the death of her husband, By BARRON H. LERNER, M.D. John Gregory Dunne, from a heart attack. Noting that he had a long history of Several years ago, an obese, heart problems, she declined to attribute his death to bad luck. diabetic patient of mine insist- But it seems that Mr. Dunne was unlucky - twice. First, he had inherited heart ed on knee-replacement disease. And second, it had killed him at 71, even though others with his disease, surgery against the wishes of coronary atherosclerosis, now live into their 80’s and 90’s. Of course, those who her doctors, who believed that died of heart disease at ages even younger than Mr. Dunne’s were unluckier. it would be too dangerous. A more frank acknowledgment of the role luck plays has another virtue: elimi- She came through with flying nating the tendency to second-guess and blame patients. Medicine today puts a colors. huge emphasis on modifying risk factors for diseases, urging patients to take med- While everyone rightly ications for diabetes and high cholesterol, for example, and to improve their diets. praised the efforts of her surgeon and physical therapist, another factor in her re- But risk reduction is not risk elimination. Even well-established interventions, like covery was ignored: luck. Why are doctors and patients so reluctant to discuss a regular screening mammograms in women over 50 and antihypertensive pills for phenomenon that permeates medicine every day? high blood pressure, lower the risk of death by 30 percent at most. That means The likeliest reason that luck - good or bad - is so often disregarded is that at that plenty of patients who are 100 percent compliant with their doctors’ wishes first glance, it appears contrary to the scientific basis of medicine. That is, doctors will still die of breast cancer or complications of hypertension, like heart attacks or employ the best scientific knowledge available to diagnose and treat disease. How strokes. These are the unlucky ones. well patients do thus reflects this acumen. And then there are always those patients who constantly disregard medical rec- Luck seems to have become particularly anathema in an era of evidence-based ommendations and seemingly suffer no ill effects. You guessed it: lucky. medicine, in which physicians and patients are encouraged to learn the latest rele- This is not to say that patients might better spend their time wishing on stars vant data to guide decisions. Dr. Peter A. Ubel, a University of Michigan internist than taking pills. As the cases of Lance Armstrong and my knee-replacement pa- and author of “You’re Stronger Than You Think,” believes that his patients prefer

11 11/14/2017 tient demonstrate, seeking out the best medical care surely increases one’s Nor is the problem a lack of women in the academic pipeline, the report says. chances of doing well. There are just no guarantees. Though women leave science and engineering more often than men “at every ed- Even Joan Didion, who played down the role of bad luck in her husband’s death, ucational transition” from high school through college professorships, the number realized there was no value in revisiting what more might have been done to save of women studying science and engineering has sharply increased at all levels. his life. Multiple medical interventions, she wrote, had already postponed his For 30 years, the report says, women have earned at least 30 percent of the na- death. When he died in their living room, no action by her “could have given him tion’s doctorates in social and behavioral sciences, and at least 20 percent of the even one more day.” doctorates in life sciences. Yet they appear among full professors in those fields at And what of my patient? She did well for several months after her surgery. Then less than half those levels. Women from minority groups are “virtually absent,” it one day, while she was at the hospital getting a routine X-ray, she suddenly adds. slumped over from a heart attack, a complication of diabetes. The staff could not The report also dismisses other commonly held beliefs - that women are uncom- resuscitate her, and she died. Her luck had run out. petitive or less productive, that they take too much time off for their families. In- Dr. Barron H. Lerner teaches medicine and public health at Columbia University. stead, it says, extensive previous research showed a pattern of unconscious but Bias Is Hurting Women in Science, Panel Reports pervasive bias, “arbitrary and subjective” evaluation processes and a work environ- By CORNELIA DEAN Published: September 19, 2006 ment in which “anyone lacking the work and family support traditionally provided Women in science and engineering are hindered not by lack of ability but by by a ‘wife’ is at a serious disadvantage.” bias and “outmoded institutional structures” in academia, an expert panel reported Along with Dr. Shalala, the panel included Elizabeth Spelke, a professor of psy- yesterday. The panel, convened by the National Academy of Sciences, said that in chology at Harvard who has long challenged the “innate differences” view, and an era of global competition the nation could not afford “such underuse of pre- Ruth J. Simmons, the president of Brown University, who established a widely cious human capital.” Among other steps, the report recommends altering proce- praised program for aspiring engineers when she was president of the all-female dures for hiring and evaluation, changing typical timetables for tenure and promo- Smith College. tion, and providing more support for working parents. The report was dedicated to another panelist, Denice Denton, an electrical engi- “Unless a deeper talent pool is tapped, it will be difficult for our country to main- neer who until her suicide this summer was chancellor of the University of Califor- tain our competitiveness in science and engineering,” the panel’s chairwoman, nia, Santa Cruz, and a forceful advocate for women, gay men and lesbians, and Donna E. Shalala, said at a news conference at which the report was made public. minority members in science and engineering. The report, “Beyond Bias and Barriers: Fulfilling the Potential of Women in Aca- The 18-member panel had one man: Robert J. Birgeneau, chancellor of the Uni- demic Science and Engineering,” is online at www.nationalacademies.org. versity of California, Berkeley. But Dr. Shalala noted that the National Academy of Dr. Shalala, a former secretary of health and human services who is now presi- Sciences committee that reviewed the report had 10 men. dent of the University of Miami, said part of the problem was insufficient effort on “Nothing was a foregone conclusion,” she said, adding that the committee was the part of college and university administrators. “Many of us spend more energy surprised at the strength of evidence supporting the report’s conclusions. In an in- enforcing the law on our sports teams than we have in our academic halls,” she terview, Dr. Simmons of Brown said: “The data don’t lie. There are lots of argu- said. ments one could have mounted 30 years ago, but 30 years later we have incontro- The panel dismissed the idea, notably advanced last year by Lawrence H. Sum- vertible data that women do have the ability to do science and engineering at a mers, then the president of Harvard, that the relative dearth of women in the up- very high level.” per ranks of science might be the result of “innate” intellectual deficiencies, partic- She said the more relevant question was, “Why aren’t they electing these fields ularly in mathematics. when the national need and the opportunities in the fields are so great?” If there are cognitive differences, the report says, they are small and irrelevant. Leveling the playing field does not mean giving women an unfair advantage, an- In any event, the much-studied gender gap in math performance has all but disap- other panelist, Maria Zuber said yesterday. Dr. Zuber, a geophysicist at M.I.T., peared as more girls enroll in demanding classes. Even among very high achiev- said for example that scholarly journals might eliminate the identity of authors ers, the gap is narrowing, the panelists said. when they sent out manuscripts for pre-publication review. That way, she said, A spokesman for Mr. Summers said he was out of the country and could not be work would be judged on its merits, rather than by the prominence of its authors. reached for comment.

12 11/14/2017 Ana Mari Cauce, a psychologist at the University of Washington and another cosinolate foods included radicchio, endive, eggplant and spinach. Subjects with panelist, said at the news conference, “This is about more excellence; this is not the sensitive PAV/PAV form of the receptor rated the glucosinolate-containing veg- about changing the bar or lowering the bar.” etables as 60% more bitter than did subjects with the insensitive (AVI/AVI) form. Ben A. Barres, a neuroscientist at Stanford who was not connected to the effort The other vegetables were rated equally bitter by the two groups, demonstrating but who published a commentary on women in science last summer in the journal that variations in the hTAS2R38 gene affect bitter perception specifically of foods Nature, echoed the report’s assertion that small administrative changes could pro- containing glucosinolate toxins. duce big differences for women in science. Together, the findings provide a complete picture describing individual differ- He pointed to the Pioneer award program for young researchers run by the Na- ences in responses to actual foods at multiple levels: evolutionary, genetic, recep- tional Institutes of Health. Dr. Barres, who has been a judge for the awards, said tor, and perceptual. "The sense of taste enables us to detect bitter toxins within that even making it known that scientists could nominate themselves helped make foods, and genetically-based differences in our bitter taste receptors affect how we the pool of winners more diverse. each perceive foods containing a particular set of toxins," summarizes Breslin. Dr. Shalala began the report’s preface by recalling that when she was in gradu- Breslin notes, "The contents of the veggies are a double-edged sword, depend- ate school in political science in the 1960’s and as a young professor, she was told ing upon the physiological context of the individual eating them. Most people in in- that fellowships or tenure would never be hers because she was a woman. dustrialized cultures can and should enjoy these foods. In addition to providing es- Overt discrimination like that is now rare, she wrote, but progress has been too sential nutrients and vitamins, many are reported to have anti-cancer properties." slow. “We need overarching reform now,” she said yesterday. Lead author Mari Sandell comments on additional nutritional and practical impli- Bitter taste identifies poisons in foods cations of the study, "Taste has a great impact on food acceptability and choice. A Scientists at the Monell Chemical Senses Center report that bitter taste percep- comprehensive understanding how food components contribute to taste is neces- tion of vegetables is influenced by an interaction between variants of taste genes sary to develop modern tools for both nutritional counseling and food develop- and the presence of naturally-occurring toxins in a given vegetable. The study ap- ment." pears in the September 19 issue of Current Biology. Prostate cancer treatment increases risk of diabetes and heart dis- Scientists have long assumed that bitter taste evolved as a defense mechanism ease to detect potentially harmful toxins in plants. The Current Biology paper provides Physicians and patients should be aware of potential risks associated with the first direct evidence in support of this hypothesis by establishing that variants GnRH agonist therapy of the bitter taste receptor TAS2R38 can detect glucosinolates, a class of com- BOSTON -- A treatment mainstay for prostate cancer puts men at increased risk pounds with potentially harmful physiological actions, in natural foods. for diabetes and cardiovascular disease, according to a large observational study "The findings show that our taste receptors are capable of detecting toxins in published in the Sept. 20 Journal of Clinical Oncology. the natural setting of the fruit and vegetable plant matrix," said senior author Paul "Men with prostate cancer have high five-year survival rates, but they also have Breslin, a Monell sensory scientist. higher rates of non-cancer mortality than healthy men," says study author Nancy Glucosinolates act as anti-thyroid compounds. The thyroid converts iodine into Keating, MD, MPH, assistant professor of health care policy and of medicine at thyroid hormones, which are essential for protein synthesis and regulation of the Harvard Medical School. "This study shows that a common hormonal treatment for body's metabolism. Glucosinolates inhibit iodine uptake by the thyroid, increasing prostate cancer may put men at significant risk for other serious diseases. Patients risk for goiter and altering levels of thyroid hormones. The ability to detect and and physicians need to be aware of the elevated risk as they make treatment deci- avoid naturally-occurring glucosinolates would confer a selective advantage to the sions." over 1 billion people who presently have low iodine status and are at risk for thy- The principal systemic therapy for prostate cancer involves blocking testosterone roid insufficiency. production. This is done either by removal of the testes (bilateral orchiectomy), or In the study, 35 healthy adults were genotyped for the hTAS2R38 bitter taste more commonly, by regular injections of a gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor gene; the three genotypes were PAV/PAV (sensitive to the bitter-tasting (GnRH) agonist drug. GnRH agonists are the main therapy for metastatic prostate chemical PTC,) AVI/AVI (insensitive), and PAV/AVI (intermediate). cancer and may also improve survival for some men with locally-advanced can- Subjects then rated bitterness of various vegetables; some contained glucosino- cers. lates while others did not. Examples of the 17 glucosinolate-containing vegetables However, little is known about the efficacy of GnRH agonists in treating men include watercress, broccoli, bok choy, kale, kohlrabi, and turnip; the 11 non-glu- with less-advanced local or regional prostate cancer, many of whom receive this 13 11/14/2017 therapy. Earlier studies have found GnRH agonists to be associated with obesity Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Germany, and the Uni- and insulin resistance, a precursor to diabetes. versity of Rome. The papers appear in the September 19th issue of Current Biolo- "Our study found that men with local or regional prostate cancer receiving a gy, published by Cell Press. GnRH agonist had a 44 percent higher risk of developing diabetes and a 16 per- Mirror neurons were first identified in the cortex of macaque monkeys: A partic- cent higher risk of developing coronary heart disease than men who were not re- ular subset of these neurons fire when, for example, a monkey picks up a banana, ceiving hormone therapy," says Keating, who is also a physician at Brigham and and when the monkey observes a human picking up a banana in a similar way. Women's Hospital. Mirror-neuron activity appears to be highly specific, such that a somewhat differ- "Doctors should think twice about prescribing GnRH agonists in situations for ent set of mirror neurons would fire if a banana were poked, for example, rather which studies have not demonstrated improved survival until we better understand than picked up. There is also evidence that mirror neurons link actions not only the risks of treatment," says co-author Matthew Smith, MD, PhD, associate profes- with visual stimuli, but also with other types of sensory cues. Technical limitations sor of medicine at HMS and a medical oncologist at Massachusetts General Hospi- have impeded identification of individual mirror neurons in humans, but brain- tal. "For men who do require this treatment, physicians may want to talk with their imaging studies support the existence of these neurons. patients about strategies, such as exercise and weight loss, which may help to In the new work from Lisa Aziz-Zadeh and colleagues, researchers used a brain- lower risk of diabetes and heart disease." imaging technique to investigate how literal phrases describing actions performed Given the number of men receiving GnRH agonists, often for many months or by the mouth, hand, or foot influenced cortical neurons that are activated by the years, these increased risks can have important implications for the health of sight of actions being performed by mouth, hand, or foot. prostate cancer survivors, says Keating. Additional studies are needed to fully un- The researchers found a significant concordance between activation of certain derstand the biological mechanisms responsible for these increased risks. cortical areas in response to linguistic descriptions and observed actions relating to Prostate cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer among men, affecting the different body parts carrying out the actions. For example, when individuals more than 200,000 men in the United States every year. With prostate cancer's fa- read literal phrases such as "biting the peach" or "biting the banana," some brain vorable prognosis, however, decisions about treatments are particularly important areas activated that were also stimulated by videos of fruit being bitten. Similar because adverse effects and complications of treatments may impact overall findings were obtained for hand actions (for example, grasping a pen) and foot ac- health and quality of life more than prostate cancer itself. tions (for example, pressing a piano pedal). Together, the findings suggest that The study assessed whether androgen deprivation therapy was associated with mirror neurons play a key role in the mental "re-enactment" of actions when lin- an increased incidence of diabetes, coronary heart disease, myocardial infarction, guistic descriptions of those actions are conceptually processed. or sudden cardiac death by examining data from approximately 73,000 men age In the study reported by Christian Keysers, Valeria Gazzola, and colleagues, re- 66 or older who were diagnosed with local or regional prostate cancer. searchers investigated a different question: how mirror neurons might contribute Mirrors in the mind: New studies elucidate how the brain reflects to our understanding of auditory cues. Past work had shown that in monkeys, so- onto itself the actions of others called auditory mirror neurons activate when monkeys perform certain actions and In three new independent studies, researchers have deepened our understand- when they hear the same actions being performed. In the new work, the re- ing of the remarkable ability of some specialized areas of the brain to activate both searchers report new evidence for an auditory mirror system existing in humans as in response to one's own actions and in response to sensory cues (such as sight) well. of the same actions perpetrated by another individual. This ability is thought to be When subjects were presented with sounds corresponding to mouth actions based in the activity of so-called mirror neurons, which have been hypothesized to (such as crunching candy, kissing, or emptying a soda can with a straw) and hand contribute to skills such as empathy, socialized behavior, and language acquisition. actions (such as ripping a sheet of paper or opening a zipper), brain areas are ac- The new findings contribute to our understanding of how conceptually related in- tivated that overlap with areas activated by the execution of those actions by the stances of language and action, and sound and action, are linked in the brain, and subjects themselves. Within this area, a subregion was preferentially activated how the brain distinguishes actions perpetrated by "self" and by "other." The stud- when mouth actions were either heard or performed, and another subregion was ies are reported by three independent research groups: Lisa Aziz-Zadeh (now at preferentially activated when hand actions were heard or performed. In addition, USC) and colleagues at the University of Parma, Italy, UCLA; Christian Keysers and the researchers found that most of this mirror system was also responsive to the colleagues at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands and UC Berkeley; and sight of these actions being performed, suggesting that a particular area of the Simone Schütz-Bosbach and colleagues at University College London, the Max 14 11/14/2017 brain can respond similarly to execution of an action and its representation in dif- More than 1.6 million U.S. adults are estimated to use complementary and alter- ferent types of sensory cues. native therapies to treat insomnia or trouble sleeping, according to the results of a Intriguingly, the researchers also found that of the subjects taking part in the national survey published in the September 18 issue of Archives of Internal experiment, those that scored higher on tests for empathy activated the system Medicine, a theme issue on sleep. more strongly than those who scored lower on the empathy evaluation. While the Approximately 10 to 34 percent of Americans regularly experience difficulty relationship between motor mirror systems and empathy skills is far from clear, sleeping, also known as insomnia, according to background information in the arti- these findings are consistent with the existence of a link between the two. cle. Treatment options include prescription and non-prescription medications, an- Though mirror neurons appear to relate--and, potentially, equate--the actions tidepressants and cognitive behavioral therapy. Complementary and alternative of oneself with those of another, we are in fact highly adept at distinguishing our medicine (CAM) therapies, defined as those practices that are not scientifically own actions from those of someone else. The basis for this distinction is explored proven and are not currently considered part of conventional medicine, also are in the study reported by Simone Schütz-Bosbach, Patrick Haggard, and colleagues, used to treat insomnia. Such therapies include herbal medicines and relaxation who used an established method--the so-called rubber-hand illusion--for experi- techniques. mentally manipulating the sense of body ownership. This approach was useful be- Nancy J. Pearson, Ph.D., and colleagues at the National Center for Complemen- cause without such illusion, it is difficult to identify meaningful differences in how tary and Alternative Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md., ana- the brain responds to actions performed by oneself or others--the two scenarios lyzed data from a national survey of 31,044 adults conducted in 2002. Respon- involve significant differences in, for example, visual viewpoint and familiarity, and dents answered one question about whether they regularly had insomnia or trou- other sensory inputs. ble sleeping in the past 12 months and completed a 10-minute supplemental sur- Past work had used the rubber-hand illusion to show that when a rubber hand is vey on the use of 27 types of CAM therapies. The interview also included ques- seen being stroked at the same time that the viewer's own (unseen) hand is syn- tions on over 50 other health conditions. Four items assessed behavior and moti- chronously stroked, the viewer feels that the rubber hand becomes part of his or vation for using CAM therapies. her body. Of the adults interviewed, 17.4 percent reported that they regularly had insom- In the new work, the researchers used this illusion--though in this case, the rub- nia or trouble sleeping in the past year. Difficulty sleeping was more common in ber hand was replaced by a real hand of an experimenter--to control whether a women than men, most prevalent between ages 45 and 64, and was associated subject experienced that an experimenter's hand was the subject's own or not. with obesity, hypertension, congestive heart failure and anxiety or depression, but This allowed the researchers to investigate whether finger movements made by not diabetes. Of those with insomnia or trouble sleeping, 4.5 percent reported that the experimenter's hand were able to facilitate the subject's own finger move- they had used CAM to treat the condition, which is equal to about 1.62 million ments--this facilitation was measured by the ability of benign stimulation of a par- adults in the general population. Survey respondents who were younger and who ticular brain region to promote motor signals (corresponding to those finger move- had a higher level of education were more likely to use CAM to help them sleep. ments) in the subject's own hand. Among those who use CAM therapies for their insomnia, 60.7 percent told their The researchers found that such facilitation did occur, but, curiously, it occurred conventional physician. Sixty-five percent used biological methods, which include when the illusion was not effective, and subjects felt that the experimenter's hand herbal medicines, diet interventions and vitamin therapy, and mind-body therapies was not their own. Observing actions interpreted as one's own tended to suppress such as meditation were used by 39 percent. Fifty-six percent reported that the motor facilitation. Taken together, the findings indicate that the observation of therapy was very important to their health and well-being. others facilitates the motor system. The authors point out that the findings also Forty-nine percent of those who used herbal medicine and 48 percent of those suggest that the neural mechanisms that underlie action observation are intrinsi- who used relaxation therapy reported that CAM helped alleviate their condition. cally "social"--that the neural mechanisms map the actions of others onto one's "Although the question asking whether the CAM therapy helped provides useful in- own body, rather than initially treating all observed action (whether perpetrated by formation on the public's perception of effectiveness of CAM therapies for insomnia one's self or by others) as essentially neutral in ownership. These findings inform or trouble sleeping, it does not directly address the efficacy of the CAM therapy," our understanding of the motor system's role in social cognition, and support pre- the authors write. "A positive answer to this question could be due to a placebo ef- vious suggestions that the motor system may have strongly influenced develop- fect, the natural history of the condition or other unidentified influences rather ments in human social evolution. than efficacy of the CAM treatment." The survey results provide valuable informa- About 5 percent of adults with insomnia use alternative therapies 15 11/14/2017 tion about the use of CAM that can guide future studies of whether these therapies brain where the information is processed and often leads to a change in behavior, are effective, they conclude. such as the decision to eat or avoid. Psst! Coffee drinkers: Fruit flies have something to tell you about With fine tools, the research team recorded electrical currents in those cells caffeine known to contain the Gr66a caffeine taste receptor in the fly's equivalent of the In their hunt for genes and proteins that explain how animals discern bitter from taste buds - dubbed the taste bristles. sweet, a team of Johns Hopkins researchers began by testing whether mutant fruit Applying sugar to the taste bristles of normal flies, or to mutant flies missing the flies prefer eating sugar over sugar laced with caffeine. Using a simple behavioral Gr66a protein, causes the neurons to produce electrical current "spikes" at a fre- test, the researchers discovered that a single protein missing from the fly-equiva- quency of about 20 spikes per second. Other bitter compounds like quinine gener- lent of our taste buds caused them to ignore caffeine's taste and consume the caf- ated electrical current spikes at about the same frequency in the mutants. feine as if it were not there. Only flies missing the Gr66a taste receptor protein were unable to generate any "No, you won't see jittery Drosophila flitting past your bananas to slurp your current spikes when given caffeine. "This is a clear demonstration that Gr66a is morning java anytime soon," says Craig Montell, Ph.D., a professor of biological functioning in the taste receptor cells and is not a 'general sensor' for bitter com- chemistry in the Institute of Basic Biomedical Sciences at Hopkins. "The bottom pounds, but is required more specifically for the caffeine response," says Montell. line is that our mutant flies willingly drink caffeine-laced liquids and foods because "This indicates that flies have different receptors for the response to other types they can't taste its bitterness -- their taste receptor cells don't detect it." of bitter compounds," he says. The Hopkins flies, genetically mutated to lack a certain taste receptor protein, "We also tested whether the flies avoided the related bitter compounds found in have been the focus of studies to sort out how animals taste and why we like the tea and cocoa -- chocolate -- and found that Gr66a also is required for the re- taste of some things but are turned off by the taste of others. sponse to the compound in tea, but not for the one in chocolate," he says. By color-coding sweet and bitter substances eaten by fruit flies and examining Fruit flies often are used as experimental organisms because they grow quickly the coloring that shows up in their translucent bellies, the Hopkins team hoped to and are easy to manipulate genetically. Now that Montell and his colleagues have learn whether flies missing a specific "taste-receptor" protein changed their taste a mutant fly that is unable to taste caffeine, they hope to further examine the oth- preferences. er genes and molecules involved in the caffeine response and better understand "Normally," Montell explains, "when given the choice between sweet and bitter the biochemistry behind caffeine-induced behavior in other organisms, namely hu- substances, flies avoid caffeine and other bitter-tasting chemicals. But flies missing mans. this particular taste-receptor protein, called Gr66a, consume caffeine because their Brain's action center is all talk taste-receptor cells don't fire in response to it." Collaboration between USC, UCLA, UC Berkeley and Italian University finds The discovery, which is the first ever example of a protein required for both caffeine strong mental link between actions and words tasting and caffeine-induced behavior, will be published Sept. 19 in Current Biology. Neuroscience is tackling a problem that obsessed Hamlet: What is the difference For the study, Montell and his colleagues kept 50 fruit flies away from food in our minds between talk and action? overnight and for breakfast gave the starved flies 90 minutes to eat as much as Less than you would expect, an international research group reports in the Sept. they wanted of either or both of two concoctions: a blue-colored mixture of sugar 19 issue of Current Biology. and agar and a red-colored mixture of caffeine, sugar and agar. The researchers The brain's premotor cortex shows the same activity pattern when subjects ob- then flipped the flies onto their backs and looked at the color of their bellies to see serve an action as when they hear words describing the same action, the study's what they ate - blue indicating a preference for eating sugar, red indicating a pref- authors said. erence for bitter caffeine, and purple indicating no preference. "If you hear the word 'grasp,' it's actually the premotor cortex that's active, not Flies missing the critical taste receptor protein Gr66a consumed the bitter caf- just a separate, abstract semantic area in the brain," said lead investigator Lisa Az- feine solution to the same extent as the sugar-only solution. Montell and col- iz-Zadeh, assistant professor of occupational sciences with a joint appointment in leagues conclude that Gr66a is crucial for the normal caffeine avoidance behavior the Brain and Creativity Institute of the USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. and without it, flies are seemingly indifferent to the bitter taste. The premotor cortex has long been identified as a center of activity for actions. The researchers went on to examine whether this indifference to bitter was due The notion that it could also process verbal descriptions of those actions has met to the taste nerves on the fly's "tongue" or some malfunction in the fly's brain. some resistance. Chemical stimulants trigger taste receptor cells to send an electrical current to the 16 11/14/2017 "Neuroscience is coming around to this idea, but there hasn't been much data The paradoxical theory that carbon monoxide (CO), the colorless, odorless gas supporting it," Aziz-Zadeh said. often dubbed "the silent killer," could be used to prevent the onset of certain in- To change that, Aziz-Zadeh recruited 12 volunteers and used functional magnet- flammatory conditions was first proposed in 1998. Since then, numerous studies ic resonance imaging (fMRI) to compare the same areas of the premotor cortex in have shown that when administered at low, non-toxic concentrations prior to such the same subject as the person observed an action and heard language describing procedures as organ transplant surgery or balloon angioplasty, CO provides potent the action. protective effects against organ rejection or blockage of the carotid arteries. The premotor area involved during observation of a specific action, such as kick- But, with these latest findings, explains senior author Leo Otterbein, PhD, it now ing, also lit up when the subject heard the corresponding word. This was the first appears that carbon monoxide can also be used to treat and reverse existing dis- study to make such a direct comparison, Aziz-Zadeh said. ease. Other studies found activity in the same areas during execution of an action, Az- "Our results offer the exciting possibility that in extremely low concentrations iz-Zadeh added, offering indirect evidence for the existence of "mirror neuron" sys- and for brief intermittent exposures of one hour per day, CO gas might be effec- tems that activate both when a person performs a task and when the person tively used as a therapy to treat PAH in a clinical setting," says Otterbein, an inves- watches someone else perform the task. tigator in the Transplantation Center at BIDMC and Associate Professor of Surgery "The study does demonstrate the intimate linkage between the way we talk at Harvard Medical School. about actions and the neural machinery that supports those actions. That's very Pulmonary arteries – the blood vessels that carry blood from the heart's right intriguing," said USC University Professor Michael Arbib. ventricle to the small arteries in the lungs -- are made up primarily of endothelial Arbib also noted the sharp difference between the subjects' responses to literal cells and smooth muscle cells. PAH develops when, for unknown reasons, the action statements (such as "biting the peach") and metaphorical actions ("biting smooth muscle cells rapidly and uncontrollably proliferate, leading to "remodeling," off more than you can chew" or "kicking off"). in which blood vessel walls thicken and gradual stenosis of the arteries occurs. Ul- "Metaphor seems not to activate the action areas as much as a direct action timately, the vessels thicken to the point that blood can no longer be effectively statement," he said, predicting that in future studies the premotor cortex will re- pumped through them, resulting in serious cardiopulmonary complications and in spond more strongly to novel images than to "frozen metaphors," otherwise many cases, heart attack. There is no cure for the disease. known as clichés – a finding unlikely to floor anyone, knock their socks off or Based on CO's successful track record in helping to prevent vascular disease, Ot- cause their jaw to drop. terbein and first author Brian Zuckerbraun, MD, of the University of Pittsburgh, hy- Arbib carried out one of the first studies of mirror neurons in humans with Gia- pothesized that the gas might prove beneficial in treating pulmonary arterial hy- como Rizzolatti of the Universita di Parma in Italy. pertension. In 1998, he and Rizzolatti co-wrote "Language Within Our Grasp," a frequently To test this hypothesis, the scientists first exposed a PAH mouse model to a cited article that proposed mirror neurons are involved in language. (Arbib also short, daily regimen of CO (in a modest concentration, equivalent to what a ciga- edited "From Action to Language Via the Mirror System," an upcoming book from rette smoker might inhale) of one hour per day. As predicted, their results showed Cambridge University Press.) that the gas did indeed reverse PAH in the animals, resulting in the restoration of Rizzolatti, who discovered mirror neurons in 1996, collaborated with Aziz-Zadeh both normal pressures and heart weights (indicative of reversal of imminent heart on her current study. The other co-authors are Stephen Wilson and Marco Ia- failure). coboni from UCLA. The scientists next identified how this was happening. Therapeutic role found for carbon monoxide "We determined that CO was exerting these effects by both arresting growth of Gas is shown to reverse symptoms of pulmonary hypertension the vessels' smooth muscle cells and inducing apoptosis, or cell death," he adds. BOSTON – In a medical case of Jekyll and Hyde, carbon monoxide – the highly toxic Consequently, as the smooth muscle cells died, both the pulmonary blood vessels gas emitted from auto exhausts and faulty heating systems – has proven effective and right heart were restored to their normal size, what Otterbein describes as a in treating the symptoms of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), an extremely case of "retro-remodeling." debilitating condition that typically leads to right heart failure and eventual death. "However, what we found most intriguing was that CO did not induce the death The new findings, made in an animal study led by researchers at Beth Israel of all of the smooth muscle cells in the blood vessels, but rather selected out for Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and the University of Pittsburgh, are described destruction only the population that was problematic," he adds. in the September 2006 issue of The Journal of Experimental Medicine (JEM). 17 11/14/2017 It was in the final arm of their study that the authors discovered how CO was Brasseur, working with Anupam Pal, research associate, Penn State and Bertil able to selectively target the troublesome smooth muscle cells: It was relying on a Abrahamsson, AstraZeneca, was interested in how the stomach empties its con- second gas, nitric oxide (NO), for assistance. tents and how material passes from the stomach into the small intestines. "When we first started these experiments, we had the cells separated into two "The sphincter between the stomach and the small intestine is interactive," said separate culture dishes – endothelial cells in one, smooth muscle cells in the Brasseur. "The sphincter opens and closes in a controlled way to regulate the flow other," explains Otterbein. But, he adds, when they exposed these cultures to car- of nutrient to the small intestines. Sensor cells in the intestines modulate the bon monoxide, nothing happened. The cells behaved normally. opening and closing." "We eventually asked ourselves, 'What if we're not seeing results in these two Two types of muscle contractions control food movement in the stomach. One separate dishes because in the body, the two aren't separated. What if these two type of contraction, antral contractions, occur in the lower portion of the stomach cell types somehow act in concert and need to communicate with one another as and break down and mix stomach contents. The other type of contraction, fundic they otherwise would in vivo in order for CO to exert its beneficial effects?'" contractions, is over the upper surface of the stomach. It was thought that the To address this question, coauthor Beek Yoke Chin, PhD, developed a simulated fundic contractions move food from the top of the stomach where it enters from blood vessel by growing the cells on a semi-permeable membrane, which enabled the esophagus, to the bottom of the stomach where the chyme leaves and enters the two cell types to "communicate" with one another through pores. And that, the small intestine. The assumption was that particles left the stomach in the same says Otterbein, was when the scientists observed that in this "co-culture" setting, order they entered the stomach. CO was able to induce death of the smooth muscle cells without adversely affect- The researchers modeled the stomach contents and discovered that a narrow ing the viability of the endothelial cells. path forms in the center of the stomach along which food exits the stomach more "We discovered that endothelial cells must be present – and be able to generate rapidly than the regions near the walls of the stomach. They used MRI data from NO via nitric oxide synthase [NOS3] -- in order for CO to induce the death of the human subjects to create the proper geometry of the muscle contractions. smooth muscle cells and reverse the symptoms of PAH," explains Otterbein. To "We looked at a ten-minute window of digestion and we tagged all the particles further test the role of the nitric oxide, the co-culture was treated with a select in- as they left the virtual stomach," said Brasseur. "We then reversed the flow on the hibitor of NOS3. Under these conditions, he adds, CO was unable to induce death computer and saw where the particles came from." to the same degree as in control-treated co-cultures. In essence they ran the simulation backwards and were surprised to see a cen- "We concluded that the physical interaction between the two cell types plus the tral road appear. Those particles in the virtual stomach that were on the central ability to generate NO was crucial for the positive CO effects," he says, adding that road, exited the stomach in 10 minutes. The Magenstrasse extended all the way studies are now underway to determine the mechanism by which CO exposure from the stomach's exit up to the top of the stomach's fundus. Material that en- leads to the increase in NO generation. tered the stomach off this Magenstrasse could remain in the stomach a long time, "Our hope is that CO will find a place in the clinic as a therapeutic option for the even hours in the real stomach. treatment of disease," concludes Otterbein. "CO has been around since before life "This discovery might explain observed high variability in drug initiation time, began on earth and, in fact, it is thought to have contributed to the origin of life. and may have important implications to both drug delivery and digestion," the re- Perhaps this was a sign of its necessary role in biology." searchers report online in the Journal of Biomechanics. The paper will appear in a Road wends its way through stomach print edition in 2007. A computer model or "virtual stomach" revealed a central "road" in the human Because most drugs target the small intestines for absorption, a pill disinte- stomach, dubbed the Magenstrasse, that could explain why pharmaceuticals grates in the stomach and activates in the small intestines. With this new under- sometimes have a large variability in drug activation times, according to a team standing of how the stomach works, where in the stomach a pill or capsule disinte- creating computer simulations of stomach contractions. grates becomes very important. Drug delivery times may differ from 10 minutes to "We are predicting variables that we wish we could measure, but we cannot," hours depending on location. says Dr. James G. Brasseur, professor of mechanical engineering, bioengineering "Therefore, drugs released on the Magenstrasse will enter the duodenum rapidly and mathematics at Penn State. "Now that we know the Magenstrasse exists, we and at a high concentration," the researchers report. "Drug released off the gastric can look for it, but, it will not be easy to measure its existence and could require emptying Magenstrasse, however, will mix well and enter the duodenum much lat- expensive technology." er, at low concentration."

18 11/14/2017 For some drugs, rapid release is important, for others, slow release over long delivered in a final concentration of approximately 6% ethanol. It was found that periods of time is the desired outcome. Cabernet Sauvignon significantly reduced AD-type deterioration of spatial memory "If you do not know a Magenstrasse exists, you will not factor it into the de- function and Aâ neuropathology in mice relative to control mice that were treated signs," says Brasseur. "Now that we know, perhaps researchers can design pills with either a comparable amount of ethanol or water alone. Cabernet Sauvignon with higher densities to sit around at the bottom of the stomach, outside the Ma- was found to exert a beneficial effect by promoting non-amyloidogenic processing genstrasse, and let the drug out slowly." of amyloid precursor protein, which ultimately prevents the generation of AD â- Cabernet sauvignon red wine reduces the risk of Alzheimer's dis- amyloid neuropathology. ease "No time to exercise" is no excuse A new study directed by Mount Sinai School of Medicine has found that moder- A new study, published in The Journal of Physiology, shows that short bursts of ate red wine consumption in a form of Cabernet Sauvignon may help reduce the very intense exercise - equivalent to only a few minutes per day - can produce the incidence of Alzheimer's Disease (AD). The study entitled "Moderate Consumption same results as traditional endurance training. of Cabernet Sauvignon Attenuates â-amyloid Neuropathology in a Mouse Model of "The most striking finding from our study was the remarkably similar improve- Alzheimer's Disease" is in press, and will be published in the November 2006 issue ments in muscle health and performance induced by two such diverse training of The FASEB Journal. The breakthrough study will also be presented at the "Soci- strategies," says Martin Gibala, an associate professor of kinesiology at McMaster ety for Neuroscience Meeting" held in Atlanta, Georgia, October 14-18, 2006. University. "Our study is the first to report that moderate consumption of red wine in a Gibala's team made headlines last year when they suggested that a few minutes form of Cabernet Sauvignon delivered in the drinking water for ~7 months signifi- of high-intensity exercise could be as effective as an hour of moderate activity. cantly reduces AD-type â-amyloid neuropathology, and memory deterioration in However, their previous work did not directly compare sprint versus endurance ~11-month-old transgenic mice that model AD," reported researchers Dr. Giulio training. Maria Pasinetti and Dr. Jun Wang at Mount Sinai. "This study supports epidemio- The new study was conducted on 16 college-aged students who performed six logical evidence indicating that moderate wine consumption, within the range rec- training sessions over two weeks. Eight subjects performed between four and six ommended by the FDA dietary guidelines of one drink per day for women and two 30-second bursts of "all out" cycling separated by 4 minutes of recovery during for men, may help reduce the relative risk for AD clinical dementia." each training session. The other eight subjects performed 90-120 minutes of con- "This new breakthrough is another step forward in Alzheimer's research at tinuous moderate-intensity cycling each day. Total training time commitment in- Mount Sinai and across the globe for this growing health concern that has devas- cluding recovery was 2.5 hours in the sprint group, whereas the endurance group tating effects," say Giulio Maria Pasinetti, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Psychiatry and performed 10.5 hours of total exercise over two weeks. Despite the marked differ- Neuroscience, Director of the Neuroinflammation Research Center at Mount Sinai ence in training volume, both groups showed similar improvements in exercise School of Medicine and lead author of the study and Dr. Jun Wang, Assistant Pro- performance and muscle parameters associated with fatigue resistance. fessor of Psychiatry and co-Author of the study. "These findings give researchers "Our study demonstrates that interval-based exercise is a very time-efficient and millions of families a glimpse of light at the end of the long dark tunnel for fu- training strategy," said Gibala. “This type of training is very demanding and re- ture prevention of this disease." quires a high level of motivation. However, short bursts of intense exercise may be People with AD exhibit elevated levels of beta-amyloid peptides that cause an effective option for individuals who cite ‘lack of time’ as a major impediment to plaque buildup in the brain, which is the main characteristic of AD. An estimated fitness." 4.5 million Americans have AD. Presently, there are no known cures or effective Global view shows strong link between kidney cancer, sunlight ex- preventive strategies. While genetic factors are responsible in early-onset cases, posure they appear to play less of a role in late-onset-sporadic AD cases, the most com- Using newly available data on worldwide cancer incidence to map cancer rates mon form of AD. However, lifestyle factors such as diet and now moderate wine in relation to proximity to the equator, researchers at the Moores Cancer Center at consumption are receiving increasing attention for its potential preventative impact University of California, San Diego (UCSD) have shown a clear association between on AD. deficiency in exposure to sunlight, specifically ultraviolet B (UVB), and kidney can- Using mice, with AD-type â-amyloid (Aâ) neuropathology, researchers at Mount cer. Sinai tested whether moderate consumption of the red wine Cabernet Sauvignon UVB exposure triggers photosynthesis of vitamin D3 in the body. This form of vi- changes AD-type neuropathology and cognitive deterioration. The wine used was tamin D also is available through diet and supplements. Previous studies from this 19 11/14/2017 core research team have shown an association between higher levels of vitamin In the paper, the authors discuss and account for other possible variables such D3 and a lower risk of cancers of the breast, colon and ovary. as ozone, aerosols and obesity. "Kidney cancer is a mysterious cancer for which no widely accepted cause or "This was a study of aggregates, or countries, rather than individuals. Findings means of prevention exists, so we wanted to build on research by one of the co- that apply to aggregates may not apply to individuals," said co-author Edward D. authors, William Grant, and see if it might be related to deficiency of vitamin D," Gorham, M.P.H., Ph.D. said study co-author Cedric Garland, Dr. P.H., professor of Family and Preventive "Since ecological studies may not be able to control for all relevant confounding Medicine in the UCSD School of Medicine, and member of the Moores UCSD Can- factors, observational studies of the effect of vitamin D from sunlight, diet and cer Center. supplements on the risk of kidney cancer in individuals would be desirable," There will be approximately 208,500 cases and 101,900 deaths from kidney Gorham added. cancer worldwide in 2006, including 39,000 new cases and 12,700 deaths in the Early to bed, early to rise United States, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer and Genetics of the morning lark the American Cancer Society. In an upcoming G&D paper, a team of German scientists presents a genetic ba- The study, published in the International Journal of Cancer's online edition dat- sis for understanding human morning lark behavior. Dr. Achim Kramer (Charité ed September 15, is the research team's newest finding relating exposure to the Universitaetsmedizin Berlin) and colleagues have uncovered a genetic cause for sun as a source of vitamin D, and estimated vitamin D deficiency to higher rates of the human familial advanced sleep phase syndrome (FASPS), which causes people several major types of cancer. to both go to sleep and wake up very early. This paper used worldwide data only recently available through a new tool "Being a morning lark or a night owl is something encoded in people's genes called GLOBOCAN, developed by the World Health Organization's International and we here made substantial progress to uncover the molecular basis for that," Agency for Research on Cancer. GLOBOCAN is a database of cancer incidence, explains Dr. Kramer. mortality and prevalence for 175 countries. FASPS is a dominantly inherited circadian rhythm disorder in which patients' in- The researchers created a graph with a vertical axis for renal cancer incidence born biological clock (or circadian clock as it is known by scientists) runs ahead of rates, and a horizontal axis for latitude. The latitudes range from -90 for the normal. Circadian clocks are found in organisms ranging from bacteria to humans. southern hemisphere, to zero for the equator, to +90 for the northern hemi- They keep our bodies' daily activities, like sleeping and eating, on a roughly 24 sphere. They then plotted incidence rates for 175 countries according to latitude. hour schedule, or period. FASPS patients' periods are about 4 hours advanced, The resulting chart was a parabolic curve that looks like a smile (see accompany- causing the patients to retire at 6 or 7pm and rise by 4am. In 1999, it was discov- ing images). ered that a mutated gene, called PERIOD2 (PER2) is mutated in many cases of "The plot points created a curve roughly resembling a smile, with countries with FASPS. high incidence rates at the left and right, and those with low incidence rates in the Dr. Kramer and colleagues mapped phosphorylation sites on the PER2 protein. center, just a few degrees from the equator," said Garland. "Countries with the They identified 21 sites, one of which (Serine 659), was implicated in FASPS. By highest cancer rates were places like New Zealand and Uruguay in the southern monitoring the bioluminescence cycles of cell lines, the researchers demonstrated hemisphere and Iceland and the Czech Republic in the northern hemisphere. Clus- that mutation of Serine 659 causes a shortening of the luminescence period and tered at the bottom of the curve with lowest incidence rates were Guam, Indone- recapitulates the FASPS phenotype. The researchers determined that the mutated sia and other equatorial countries on most continents, including many varied equa- form of Serine 659, which does not get phosphorylated, leads to PER2's destabi- torial cultures." lization and earlier clearance from the cell nucleus. In addition to UVB, the researchers analyzed cloud cover and intake of calories The research team went on to show that mutations of other PER2 phosphoryla- from animal sources for their association to kidney cancer. The scientists were tion sites have differential effects on PER2 protein stability, circadian period able to determine the contributions of each independently. After accounting for length, and organismal behavior. In fact, using a simple mathematical algorithm cloud cover and intake of animal protein, UVB exposure still showed a significant modeled after their work, the researchers successfully explained how different PER independent association with incidence rates. phosphorylation defects result in the behaviors displayed by well-known circadian "Because the distinctive "smiley" parabolic curve is present for both sexes, it is mutants in hamsters and fruit flies. unlikely that the international differences are due to occupational exposures, which usually vary according to gender, " said co-author Sharif B. Mohr, M.P.H.

20 11/14/2017 Dr. Kramer adds that "This is the first example where the regulation of a com- On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 indicating mild weakness only in the tail, 4 indicating plex human behaviour could be really nailed down to its genetic basis and molecu- paralysis involving all four limbs, and 5, death from the disease), mice receiving lar mechanism." the highest doses of nicotinamide had neurologic scores between 1 and 2, while Can a vitamin alleviate chronic, progressive multiple sclerosis? control mice had scores between 3 and 4. All differences between treated groups Ongoing nerve-fiber damage, disability prevented in animal study and controls were statistically significant. Researchers have found a possible way to protect people with multiple sclerosis Mice with the greatest neurologic deficits had the lowest levels of NAD in their (MS) from severe long-term disability: increase nervous-system levels of a vital spinal cord, and those with the mildest deficits had the highest NAD levels. Mice compound, called nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD), by giving its chemical that had higher levels of an enzyme that converts nicotinamide to NAD (known as precursor – nicotinamide, a form of vitamin B3. Wlds mice) responded best to treatment. Current therapies for MS mainly address the relapsing-remitting phase of the Moreover, nicotinamide significantly reduced neurologic deficits even when disease, but some of these have severe side effects, and most patients eventually treatment was delayed until 10 days after the induction of EAE, raising hope that it enter a chronic progressive phase for which there is no good treatment. Using a will also be effective in the later stages of MS. "The earlier therapy was started, mouse model of MS, researchers in the Neurobiology Program at Children's Hospi- the better the effect, but we hope nicotinamide can help patients who are already tal Boston found strong evidence that nicotinamide may protect against nerve in the chronic stage," says Kaneko. damage in the chronic progressive phase, when the most serious disabilities occur. In other experiments, the researchers demonstrated that nicotinamide works by Their findings appear in a cover article in the September 20 Journal of Neuro- increasing levels of NAD in the spinal cord and that NAD levels decrease when ax- science. ons degenerate. Finally, they showed that giving NAD directly also prevented axon MS is a neurologic disorder in which nerve fibers, or axons, are damaged degeneration. through inflammation, loss of their insulating myelin coating, and degeneration. NAD is used extensively by cells to produce energy through the breakdown of This damage disrupts nerves' ability to conduct electrical impulses to and from the brain, causing such symptoms as fatigue, difficulty walking, pain, spasticity, and emotional and cognitive changes. Current treatments mainly protect against in- flammation and myelin loss, but do not completely prevent long-term axon dam- age. In mice with MS-like disease, nicotinamide delayed and reduced neurologic disability as indicated by behavioral scores (1 indicating mild weakness only in the tail; 4, paralysis involving all four limbs). Mice receiving placebo (saline) had the most disability, while mice receiving high-dose nicoti- namide had the least. Wlds mice (which more readily convert nicotinamide to NAD) benefited most from treatment. Credit: Courtesy Shinjiro Kaneko, MD, Neurobiology Program, Children's Hospital Boston A team led by Shinjiro Kaneko, MD, a research fellow at Children's, and senior investigator Zhigang He, PhD, also from Children's, worked with mice that had an MS-like disease called experimental autoimmune encephalitis (EAE). Through careful experiments, they showed that nicotinamide protected the animals' axons from degeneration – not only preventing axon inflammation and myelin loss, but also protecting axons that had already lost their myelin from further degradation. Intriguingly, mice with EAE who received daily nicotinamide injections under their skin had a delayed onset of neurologic disability, and the severity of their carbohydrates. Its chemical precursor, nicotinamide, has several characteristics deficits was reduced for at least eight weeks after treatment. The greater the dose that make it a promising therapeutic agent: it readily crosses the blood-brain barri- of nicotinamide, the greater the protective effect. [See accompanying figure.] er, is inexpensive and available in any drugstore, and its close relative, vitamin B3, is already used clinically to treat pellagra (vitamin B3 deficiency), high cholesterol, and other disorders. Although nicotinamide is thought to have few side effects, the 21 11/14/2017 doses used in mice would translate to much higher human doses than are normal- Chris Yesson and Alastair Culham, from the ly used clinically, so would need to be tested for safety. University of Reading in the UK built mathemati- "We hope that our work will initiate a clinical trial, and that nicotinamide could cal models based on the current distribution of be used in real patients," Kaneko says. "In the early phase of MS, anti-inflammato- the 21 different species of Cyclamen, in order to ry drugs may work, but long-term you need to protect against axonal damage." predict the impact of climate change on Cycla- Aromatase inhibitors: A treatment of choice for advanced breast men within the next 50 years. cancer patients Yesson and Culham identified distinct climatic Aromatase inhibitors improve the survival of advanced breast cancer patients niches – geographic areas with the ideal climate compared to standard hormone therapies like tamoxifen, a researchers report in - for different species of Cyclamen. Most Cycla- the September 20 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. men species thrive in a typical Mediterranean cli- Many advances in breast cancer research have improved therapy for early-stage mate, with hot, dry summers and cool, wet win- breast cancer patients, but more research is needed on therapeutic treatments for ters, but many are found in areas with much advanced breast cancer patients. Treatment with aromatase inhibitors in place of harsher climatic conditions. Yesson and Culham traditional hormonal therapies is being explored for advanced breast cancer pa- show that climatic niches are likely to decrease tients. for all species of Cyclamen, and by more than 60% for most species. John P.A. Ioannidis, M.D., of the University of Ioannina School of Medicine in Yesson and Culham conclude: "Many of these species are considered to be at Greece, and colleagues identified trials that examined the treatment of advanced high risk of extinction due to climate change." breast cancer patients with aromatase inhibitors or standard hormone therapies. Risks of gastrointestinal ulcers linked to aspirin use might out- They found 23 trials with a total of 8,504 patients: 4,559 received treatment with weigh its benefits for the heart aromatase inhibitors, and 3,945 received standard hormone therapy. Doctors should consider whether patients are at high risk of stomach ulcers be- The authors found that third-generation aromatase inhibitors--including voro- fore prescribing aspirin treatment. A study published today in the open access zole, letrozole, examestane, and anastrazole--increased the survival time for pa- journal BMC Medicine reveals that low-dose aspirin treatment may be responsible tients with advanced breast cancer. They suggest that aromatase inhibitors should for one extra case of gastrointestinal complications, which include ulcer bleeding be used as an initial therapy for these patients. or perforation, in every 50 aspirin users per year in susceptible groups, such as "The meta-analysis offers strong evidence for the use of third-generation aro- older men with a history of peptic ulcer. The authors conclude that for some pa- matase inhibitors and inactivators in the treatment of advanced breast cancer," tients taking aspirin to reduce their risk of heart attack, the risk of gastrointestinal the authors write. complications might outweigh the cardioprotective effects of the drug. In an accompanying editorial, Daniel F. Hayes, M.D., and Catherine H. Van Poz- Sonia Hernández-Díaz and Luis García Rodríguez analysed two anonymous data- nak, M.D., of the University of Michigan Health and Hospital System in Ann Arbor, bases of patient information, the General Practice Research Database in the UK write, "We believe that this study was well executed and that the results are ac- and the Base de Datos para la Investigación Farmacoepidemiológica en Atención ceptable. The statistical power of this meta-analysis is high because of the large Primaria in Spain, to characterise patients taking low-dose aspirin as a preventive amount of compiled data, and the results support what is already a strong bias in measure against heart attack, in terms of major gastrointestinal risk factors. Risk the clinical community." factors for upper gastrointestinal tract complications include advanced age, male Common garden plant threatened by climate change sex, prior ulcer history and use of other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs Cyclamen, a common, pretty garden flower, is at risk of extinction because of (NSAIDs). The researchers then estimated the excess gastrointestinal risk caused climate change. In a study published today in the open access journal BMC Evolu- by aspirin use in patients with and without these risk factors. tionary Biology (http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcevolbiol/), researchers show, Hernández-Díaz and García Rodríguez find that 88% of aspirin users are over 60 using mathematical modelling, that the ideal climate for Cyclamen will become in- and that 52-54% of them are male. From 3.8% to 5.9% of them have a history of creasingly rare and might have totally disappeared by the 2050's. Some species of gastrointestinal ulcer. Across all risk groups, aspirin use is responsible for an extra Cyclamen are adaptable enough and could survive climate change, but many 5-6 cases of upper gastrointestinal tract complications per 1,000 aspirin users per would probably disappear. year. This excess risk is larger in populations that are at high risk of gastrointesti- nal complications, such as older men or patients with a history of peptic ulcer. The 22 11/14/2017 authors estimate that aspirin use might be responsible for 20 extra cases per oxygen was removed, necessitating high doses of sedating drugs. He worried this 1,000 aspirin users per year in men older than 70 with a past history of peptic ul- might constitute a form of euthanasia. cer. On the other hand, the excess risk is smaller in populations that are at low Hansen-Flaschen received a similar request from an outpatient who suffered risk of gastrointestinal complications. from an advanced lung disease and was living at home. He could no longer get Penn critical-care physicians recommend strategies when facing out of bed and his quality of life had seriously deteriorated. The patient wanted to requests to end supplemental oxygen stop his oxygen therapy and asked Hansen-Flaschen to help him avoid a sense of New ethical dilemma emerges in medicine: Commentary in JAMA addresses suffocation afterwards. "I had to ask myself, is this participating in a patient's concerns of withdrawing this life-sustaining measure death or is it simply respecting a patient's request? Plus, there's no way to predict (Philadelphia, PA) - Critical care physicians with the University of Pennsylvania an individual's response to removing supplemental oxygen and how much they will Health System address a newly-emerging ethical dilemma in medicine - what suffer." should health care professionals do when faced with a request from a patient to Hansen-Flaschen notes "Two-thirds of critical care patients in this country are end the use of life-sustaining supplemental oxygen? Scott Halpern, MD, PhD, a fel- cared for by general physicians or others without special training in critical care." low in the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine and senior fel- In light of this, Halpern said he hoped that this commentary "will provide a place low with the Center for Bioethics at Penn, along with John Hansen-Flaschen, MD, for physicians to turn when faced with this particular dilemma. We hope that our chief of the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine at Penn, have recommendations may allow physicians to heed requests for the withdrawal of life- co-authored a guide for physicians faced with such requests. The commentary - sustaining oxygen as readily as they may heed requests for the withdrawal of oth- which examines concerns physicians may have in removing such a minimally inva- er life-sustaining therapies, such as mechanical ventilation and dialysis." sive and potentially palliative therapy, and suggests strategies for physicians to The commentary addresses specific concerns physicians may have about with- overcome them -- is in the September 20th issue of JAMA, the Journal of the drawing oxygen, including how to balance the burdens and benefits of supplemen- American Medical Association. tal oxygen; whether withdrawing oxygen might appear neglectful; how to deter- Halpern explains, "Informed patients with decision-making capacity have well- mine whether patients retain decision-making capacity; when it is acceptable to established rights to forgo any and all forms of life-sustaining therapy. However, use sedation in lieu of oxygen; and concerns about patients' motivations for dis- there is no clear definition of what constitutes a life-sustaining therapy. We tend to continuing oxygen. think of invasive medical therapies such as mechanical ventilation, kidney dialysis Halpern and Hansen-Flaschen offer this four-step approach to help physicians or tube feeding. When administered by face mask or nasal prongs, high flow oxy- overcome these concerns: gen is not at all invasive, yet it clearly serves a life-sustaining role for an increasing 1) Physicians should assure themselves, and other health care professionals in- number of patients with advanced lung, heart, or cancer-related diseases. Many of volved in the patient's care, as well as the patient's family members and close these patients would lose consciousness and die within hours or even minutes if friends that supplemental oxygen is a form of life-sustaining medical treatment. As their supplemental oxygen was withdrawn." such, requests to discontinue oxygen should be honored with the same judicious- Advances in medicine have made it so that many more patients with end-stage ness as requests to withdraw other forms of life support. diseases are living longer, and now the technology is available to provide high flow 2) Physicians should ensure that patients requesting the terminal withdrawal of supplemental oxygen both in the hospital and at home, often providing a limited oxygen are free from undue influences, including family member's wishes, eco- quality of life for patients. "So this is yet another ethical dilemma in medicine born nomic considerations or treatable depression. of technological advancements," adds Halpern. 3) Physicians should ensure that the patient has the capacity to make medical de- Both Halpern and Hansen-Flaschen have received requests from patients to stop cisions by documenting that patients show consistency, understanding, and ratio- their flow of supplemental oxygen, resulting in death. Halpern first grappled with nality in making such requests. the difficulty of withdrawing oxygen from an awake and alert patient when, as a 4) Physicians should ensure that patients and their family members understand first year medical resident, he was treating a hospitalized patient suffering from the difficulty of predicting patients' experiences after oxygen withdrawal. advanced lung disease and cancer. One morning, the patient said he'd "had This commentary is in the September 20th issue of Journal of the American Medi- enough" and tugged on his mask but was too weak to remove it and asked for cal Association (wwww.jama.ama-assn.org/). The article is titled "Terminal With- Halpern's help to do so. Halpern debated this request with the attending physician drawal of Life-Sustaining Supplemental Oxygen." who was concerned that the patient would experience air hunger and fear after Editor's Notes: 23 11/14/2017 For more information on the Penn Lung Center, go on-line to: The researchers studied 14 years of longitudinal data from the British Household www.pennhealth.com/lung/services Panel Survey (BHPS) which tracks 5,000 British households. For more information on the University of Pennsylvania Center for Bioethics, go on-line Note for editors: The full paper entitled "Money and Mental Wellbeing : A Longi- to: www.bioethics.upenn.edu tudinal Study of Medium-Sized Lottery Wins" is available online at:This link to full pa- John Hansen-Flaschen, MD -- on-line bio: http://pennhealth.com/Wagform/Main- per Page.aspx?config=provider&P=PP&ID=1183 First evidence that musical training affects brain development in Photos of Hansen-Flaschen and Halpern are available upon request. young children PENN Medicine is a $2.9 billion enterprise dedicated to the related missions of medical Researchers have found the first evidence that young children who take music education, biomedical research, and high-quality patient care. PENN Medicine consists lessons show different brain development and improved memory over the course of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (founded in 1765 as the nation's of a year compared to children who do not receive musical training. first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System. The findings, published today (20 September 2006) in the online edition of the Penn's School of Medicine is ranked #2 in the nation for receipt of NIH research funds; and ranked #3 in the nation in U.S. News & World Report's most recent ranking of top journal Brain [1], show that not only do the brains of musically-trained children re- research-oriented medical schools. Supporting 1,400 fulltime faculty and 700 students, spond to music in a different way to those of the untrained children, but also that the School of Medicine is recognized worldwide for its superior education and training the training improves their memory as well. After one year the musically trained of the next generation of physician-scientists and leaders of academic medicine. children performed better in a memory test that is correlated with general intelli- The University of Pennsylvania Health System includes three hospitals [Hospital of the gence skills such as literacy, verbal memory, visiospatial processing, mathematics University of Pennsylvania; Pennsylvania Hospital, the nation's first hospital; and Penn and IQ. Presbyterian Medical Center]; a faculty practice plan; a primary-care provider network; The Canadian-based researchers reached these conclusions after measuring two multispecialty satellite facilities; and home care and hospice. changes in brain responses to sounds in children aged between four and six. Over You don't need a big lottery win for long term happiness… but a the period of a year they took four measurements in two groups of children – few thousand helps those taking Suzuki music lessons and those taking no musical training outside Researchers at the University of Warwick and Watson Wyatt have been examin- school – and found developmental changes over periods as short as four months. ing just how much money one needs to win in the lottery to have a long term im- While previous studies have shown that older children given music lessons had pact on personal happiness. Unsurprisingly the researchers found that small wins greater improvements in IQ scores than children given drama lessons, this is the in tens or hundreds of pounds made little long term difference, but they also found first study to identify these effects in brain-based measurements in young children. one did not need to win the jackpot to gain a significant increase in long-term Dr Laurel Trainor, Professor of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour at Mc- mental wellbeing. Master University and Director of the McMaster Institute for Music and the Mind, In work to be published in the Journal of Health Economics, researchers Profes- said: "This is the first study to show that brain responses in young, musically sor Andrew Oswald from the University of Warwick and Dr Jonathan Gardner from trained and untrained children change differently over the course of a year. These Watson Wyatt showed that medium-sized lottery wins ranging from around just changes are likely to be related to the cognitive benefit that is seen with musical £1000 to £120,000 had a long term sustained impact in the overall happiness of training." Prof Trainor led the study with Dr Takako Fujioka, a scientist at Bay- those winners. On average, two years after their win medium-sized lottery winners crest's Rotman Research Institute. had a mental wellbeing GHQ score 1.4 points better than previously - meaning The research team designed their study to investigate (1) how auditory respons- loosely that two years after their win they were just over 10% happier than the es in children matured over the period of a year, (2) whether responses to mean- average person without a win or only a tiny lottery win. ingful sounds, such as musical tones, matured differently than responses to nois- Intriguingly the researchers also found that this increased happiness is not obvi- es, and (3) how musical training affected normal brain development in young chil- ous immediately after the medium-sized win and takes some time to show dren. through. Economist Professor Andrew Oswald from the University of Warwick said: At the beginning of the study, six of the children (five boys, one girl) had just "This delay could be due the short term disruptive effect on one's live of actually started to attend a Suzuki music school; the other six children (four boys, two winning, but a more plausible explanation of the delay is that initially many wind- girls) had no music lessons outside school. fall lottery funds are saved and spent later." The researchers chose children being trained by the Suzuki method for several reasons: it ensured the children were all trained in the same way, were not select- 24 11/14/2017 ed for training according to their initial musical talent and had similar support from musical training is having an effect on how the brain gets wired for general cogni- their families. In addition, because there was no early training in reading music, tive functioning related to memory and attention." the Suzuki method provided the researchers with a good model of how training in Dr Fujioka added: "Previous work has shown assignment to musical training is auditory, sensory and motor activities induces changes in the cortex of the brain. associated with improvements in IQ in school-aged children. Our work explores Brain activity was measured by magnetoencephalography (MEG) while the children how musical training affects the way in which the brain develops. It is clear that listened to two types of sounds: a violin tone and a white noise burst. MEG is a music is good for children's cognitive development and that music should be part non-invasive brain scanning technology that measures the magnetic fields outside of the pre-school and primary school curriculum." the head that are associated with the electrical fields generated when groups of The next phase of the study will look at the benefits of musical training in older neurons (nerve cells) fire in synchrony. When a sound is heard, the brain process- adults. es the information from the ears in a series of stages. MEG provides millisec- Making the grade: Immigrant children keep academic pace with ond-by-millisecond information that tracks these stages of processing; the stages peers show up as positive or negative deflections (or peaks), called components, in the TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Far from being a burden on the educational system, research MEG waveform. Earlier peaks tend to reflect sensory processing and later peaks, from Florida State University shows immigrant children perform as well or better perceptual or cognitive processing. than their same-race, American-born counterparts. The researchers recorded the measurements four times during the year, and FSU Sociology Professor Kathryn Harker Tillman found that first- and second- during the first and fourth session the children also completed a music test (in generation children are no more likely than their third-generation peers to have to which they were asked to discriminate between same and different harmonies, repeat a grade despite the many social and economic disadvantages they face. rhythms and melodies) and a digit span memory test (in which they had to listen The finding is true for immigrant youth of all racial and ethnic backgrounds or to a series of numbers, remember them and repeat them back to the experi- countries of origin. The study, co-authored by colleagues Guang Guo and Kathleen menter). Mullan Harris from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was published in Analysis of the MEG responses showed that across all children, larger responses the journal Social Science Research. were seen to the violin tones than to the white noise, indicating that more cortical "Immigrant children are more successful navigating the educational system than resources were put to processing meaningful sounds. In addition, the time that it would be expected," Tillman said. "Against the odds, these children are performing took for the brain to respond to the sounds (the latency of certain MEG compo- as well as or better than their same-race, third-generation peers." nents) decreased over the year. This means that as children matured, the electri- The researchers used both the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and the Nation- cal conduction between neurons in their brains worked faster. al Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to look at grade retention among a to- Of most interest, the Suzuki children showed a greater change over the year in tal of nearly 20,000 school-age children. They focused on grade retention rather response to violin tones in an MEG component (N250m) related to attention and than more traditional markers of educational performance, such as high school sound discrimination than did the children not taking music lessons. graduation, dropout rates or grades in order to see how immigrant children navi- Analysis of the music tasks showed greater improvement over the year in gate the educational system, not just the end result. melody, harmony and rhythm processing in the children studying music compared Not only are immigrant children no more likely to have to repeat a grade than to those not studying music. General memory capacity also improved more in the American-born children, first-generation boys are 54 percent less likely to be held children studying music than in those not studying music. back than their male peers of similar demographic, family background and Prof Trainor said: "That the children studying music for a year improved in musi- ability/language characteristics, according to the study. There is no such distinc- cal listening skills more than children not studying music is perhaps not very sur- tion among girls. Tillman found that girls of all generations and backgrounds have prising. On the other hand, it is very interesting that the children taking music the same rate of being held back. lessons improved more over the year on general memory skills that are correlated "Our findings run counter to expectations derived from traditional assimilation with non-musical abilities such as literacy, verbal memory, visiospatial processing, theory, which posits that outcomes should improve across time and generation mathematics and IQ than did the children not taking lessons. The finding of very spent in the United States," Tillman said. "The findings also run counter to expec- rapid maturation of the N250m component to violin sounds in children taking mu- tations based upon immigrant children's over-representation in high-risk back- sic lessons fits with their large improvement on the memory test. It suggests that ground categories and general public perceptions of immigrant students."

25 11/14/2017 The results suggest that immigrant children are able to overcome many of the “We were surprised to find that these droplets appear to be a mechanism for disadvantages that have been found to place children at high risk for grade reten- cleaning up excess proteins before they cause trouble,” said Gross, associate pro- tion, such as being a racial or ethic minority, having parents with very low levels of fessor of developmental and cell biology. “Obviously, everything in the body education, having low levels of English proficiency and attending schools in urban should be balanced. There is no doubt that huge amounts of fat tax your system areas. The researchers theorized that immigrant children may benefit from factors in a lot of ways. But there now appears to be growing evidence that fat is also im- such as higher than average levels of ambition and motivation, high parental ex- portant for keeping us healthy.” pectations, strong beliefs in the importance of education, and/or high levels of Researchers used fruit flies in their experiments because of strong similarities family and community support for educational achievement. between the fat droplets in the flies and in mammals. They purified the droplets in "Our finding that males tend to experience more of an immigrant advantage fruit fly embryos and used mass spectrometry to look at what, if any, proteins than females leads us to question, however, whether the family and community were associated with the droplets. They were surprised to find histones, a protein contexts of immigrant children are equally beneficial for girls and boys," Tillman that is used by the cell to fold DNA within the nucleus. Even though histones ap- said. "Given the traditional gender ideologies of many immigrant groups' native pear to serve no purpose outside the nucleus, the scientists found that 50 percent cultures, high expectations and high levels of encouragement and support for edu- of all the histones present in the cell were in the fat droplets. Interestingly, the cational endeavors may be aimed disproportionately at male children." amount of histones in the droplets dropped as the embryo moved from early de- Although other researchers have found that immigrant children generally do as velopment to later stages, indicating that the histones moved from the droplets to well as non-immigrants in school, this is the first nationally representative study to the nucleus as they were needed. In essence, the fat droplets acted as a ware- show that it is not achieved at the cost of additional years of schooling because of house where the proteins could be stored until needed by the nucleus of the cell. grade failure or policies that hold back students who are adjusting to a new lan- Gross and his colleagues believe the droplets serve this purpose not just for his- guage and culture, she said. Instead, immigrant students succeed while keeping tones, but for other excess proteins, as well. This has implications for how fat may pace with their American-born peers. be helping fight certain diseases when too much of certain proteins are produced. About one-fifth of the children in this country are either immigrants or the chil- “In prion diseases, such as Mad Cow Disease, for example, proteins in the brain dren of immigrants. This group is expected to account for more than 50 percent of are misshapen,” Gross said. “They become abnormal, clump together and accumu- the growth in the school-aged population between 1990 and 2010. late on brain tissue. Although we have no evidence yet that fat droplets could help "If we can gain a better understanding of the mechanisms that currently protect with this, prion diseases are one area in which we can explore further to see if socio-economically disadvantaged immigrant children from grade failure we could these droplets are helping keep excess bothersome proteins out of the way.” incorporate that knowledge into the curriculum, policies and intervention strategies Gross emphasized that clinical trials would be needed to evaluate whether stor- and enhance the academic success of all children," Tillman said. age of proteins on fat droplets is important for human health. UCI scientists discover a new healthy role for fat Collaborating on the study with Gross were Silvia Cermelli of UCI, and Michael Fat droplets play protective role inside cells Welte and Yi Guo of Brandeis University. The study was funded by National Insti- Too much body fat may be a bad thing, but there is increasing evidence that too tute of General Medical Sciences and the National Institutes of Health. little fat also may have some surprisingly negative consequences. A spicy solution for colon cancer? Researchers at UC Irvine have found that fat droplets – tiny balls of fat that ex- GALVESTON, Texas -- Looking for a cancer cure? Try the spice rack. ist in most cells – appear to have an intriguing role to play when it comes to regu- In the last few years, that tactic has proved productive for researchers investi- lating excess proteins in the body. In a study with fruit flies, developmental biolo- gating turmeric, a curry spice used for centuries in Indian traditional medicine. gist Steven Gross and colleagues found that these fat droplets served as storage They've found that turmeric's active ingredient, curcumin, works in the lab to depots for a type of protein used primarily by the cell to bind DNA and organize it fight skin, breast and other tumor cells. In fact, human clinical trials employing in the nucleus. The fat keeps this extra protein out of the way until it is needed so curcumin have already been launched. that it does not cause harm within the cell. The findings imply that fat droplets Now, working with cell cultures in a laboratory, scientists at the University of could also serve as storage warehouses for other excess proteins that might other- Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB) have discovered that curcumin blocks wise cause harm if not sequestered. The study appears in the current issue of Cur- the activity of a gastrointestinal hormone implicated in the development of col- rent Biology. orectal cancer, the country's second leading cancer killer with nearly 60,000 deaths annually. In a paper published in the current issue of Clinical Cancer Re- 26 11/14/2017 search, the UTMB researchers link the gastrointestinal hormone neurotensin, Microbiology, and graduate student Gerd Prehna solved the structure for one re- which is generated in response to fat consumption, to the production of IL-8, a po- gion of the YpkA protein, a “binding domain” where it interlocks with another pro- tent inflammatory protein that accelerates the growth and spread of a variety of tein on the host cell’s membrane. By looking at the crystal structure of this pro- human cancer cells, including colorectal and pancreatic tumor cells. tein-protein complex, Prehna discovered that the configuration looked just like one "We found that in colon cancer cells, neurotensin increases not just the rate of formed by some of the host’s own signaling proteins. And it’s this mimicry, he growth but also other critical things, including cell migration and metastasis," said found, that leads to a signaling shutdown and deregulation of the cell’s normal UTMB surgery professor B. Mark Evers, senior author of the article and director of structure. UTMB's Sealy Center for Cancer Cell Biology. "The fact that all that can be turned A plague's protein. A structural image of the protein-protein complex off by this natural product, curcumin, was really remarkable." formed when YpkA (green and pink) binds to the Rac1 protein of the host Evers' group, including lead author and UTMB research associate Xiaofu Wang, cell (yellow and purple) probed curcumin's effect on the process by which neurotensin stimulates colon After establishing this effect, Prehna set about disrupting it by mutation. Using cancer cells to generate IL-8 in detail. the structure to guide him, he changed three amino acids of YpkA that contacted Neurotensin's influence, they found, depends on biochemical signaling pathways host proteins, and then looked at how the mutated bacteria affected human cells inside the cell. Their experiments showed that curcumin damped down those sig- compared to the original wild-type Yersinia. His results confirmed the hypothesis nals, reducing the production of IL-8. Experiments also showed that neurotensin from the structural study: While the wild-type YpkA wreaked havoc on their host increased the migration of colorectal cancer cells, and that curcumin could sup- cells’ cytoskeletons, the mutant left the actin-based skeleton intact. press this migration -- possibly reducing the ability of colorectal cancer to spread Then, the researchers took it one step further. Stebbins and Prehna worked with to other locations in the body. collaborators at Stony Brook University, who created Yersinia bacteria with "Our findings suggest that curcumin may be useful for colon cancer treatment, Prehna’s mutations. The Stony Brook researchers then injected mice with the wild- as well as potential colon cancer suppression, in cells that respond to this gastroin- type and mutant strains of Yersinia. All the mice infected with the wild-type bacte- testinal hormone, neurotensin," Evers said. "About a third of all colorectal cancer ria died within nine days of exposure. But the group that received the YpkA mu- cells have the receptor for neurotensin. Thus, the concept would be sort of like tant had an 80 percent survival rate, showing that Prehna’s mutation drastically what we do for breast and prostate cancer, where the main therapy involves lowered Yersinia’s harmful effects. “Altering this binding site not only impairs the blocking hormones. We hope to do similar things with gastrointestinal cancers that bacteria’s ability to disrupt the host cytoskeleton,” Stebbins says, “but it decreases respond to this hormone." its virulence significantly.” A wolf in sheep’s clothing: plague bacteria reveal one of their viru- “It’s rare to find something that has such a strong effect that you can hit one lence tricks protein so specifically, knock out essentially half its activity, and have such a dra- The bacterium that causes the plague belongs to a virulent family of bacteria matic result,” he says. “Not only did we have a mechanistic explanation, but we called Yersinia, a group that also includes a pathogen responsible for food poison- could connect what we were seeing in animal studies all the way down to what ing. These bacteria insert into their host cells proteins and other virulence factors, was happening at the atomic level.” Cell 126: 869-880 (September 8, 2006) which kill by - among other things - disrupting the cells' normal structure. One of Red Is for Hummingbirds; Yellow for Moths these proteins, called YpkA, attacks a By Kim McDonald cell’s internal skeleton. Now, a study Biologists at the University of California, San Diego have discovered that the fu- published by Rockefeller University re- ture of red and yellow varieties of a San Diego wildflower searchers in the most recent issue of may depend on the fates of two different animals. They re- Cell shows exactly how YpkA does this, port in the current issue of the Journal of Evolutionary Biol- proving the protein’s mechanism from ogy that monkeyflowers have two different animal pollina- the atomic to the organismal level and tors. The red form, common along the coast, is strongly providing a potential target for new an- preferred by hummingbirds, while yellow monkeyflowers, tibiotic drugs. found east of I-15, are favored by hawkmoths. C. Erec Stebbins, associate professor The researchers suspect the recent increase in San Diego’s and head of the Laboratory of Structural hummingbird population, fueled by the growth of suburban 27 11/14/2017 developments and gardens, will eventually favor the red over the yellow variety. protective mechanism that fails with aging," wrote the researchers, and such fail- “Hummingbirds are now three times as dense inland as they were on the coast 50 ure may play a role in late-onset sporadic AD. years ago,” said Joshua Kohn, an associate professor of biology at UCSD, who Their test tube studies showed that CatB biochemically degrades Aß by snipping conducted the study with Matthew Streisfeld, now a researcher at Duke University. one end of the protein, called the C-terminal end. What's more, the enzyme also “This increase in hummingbirds may be tipping the balance of selection from fa- degrades the long strings of Aß that form amyloid plaque, they found. voring yellow to favoring red flowers.” Finally, they found that increasing levels of CatB in aging mice with human APP “The shift between the red- and yellow-flowered forms can be seen along any markedly reduced plaque deposits in the animals' brains. road running from the coast inland in San Diego county and is one of the sharpest Gan and colleagues concluded that "our findings suggest that inhibition or loss natural patterns residents can view while driving in the late spring,” he adds. “We of CatB function could interfere with its protective function and promote the devel- have shown that this shift is very likely due to selection by different types of polli- opment of AD, whereas overexpression of CatB could counteract Aß accumulation nators. The abundance of at least one of these pollinators, hummingbirds, has re- and aggregation. Thus, pharmacological activation of CatB could downregulate cently increased dramatically and may well favor an eastern expansion of the red- Aß1-42 assemblies through C-terminal truncation, offering an approach to the flowered form.” treatment of AD." “The striking geographic pattern of flower color-where we never see a red-flow- Moon 'priceless' for exploration ered plant in the east or a yellow-flowered plant along the coast-speaks wonders Nasa's lunar exploration plans have been strongly endorsed by an influential of the power of natural selection to maintain these differences,” said Streisfeld. panel of US scientists. Enzyme shreds Alzheimer's protein The Moon provided great opportunities for robotic and human space explo- An enzyme found naturally in the brain snips apart the protein that forms the ration, said a report by the National Academy of Sciences. sludge called amyloid plaque that is one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease The 15-member panel was asked to evaluate and give advice on Nasa's lunar (AD), researchers have found. They said their findings in mice suggest that the research programme. protein, called Cathepsin B (CatB), is a key part of a protective mechanism that President Bush vowed two years ago to return astronauts to the Moon, with the may fail in some forms of AD. Also, they said their findings suggest that drugs to eventual goal of landing on Mars. enhance CatB activity could break down amyloid deposits, counteracting one of He told the US space agency (Nasa) to devote $12.5bn (£9.5bn) over five years the central pathologies of AD. for the early stages of the programme, with a goal of landing astronauts on the Li Gan and colleagues published their findings in the September 21, 2006, issue of the Moon between 2015 and 2020. journal Neuron, published by Cell Press. Some scientists have criticised the plans, saying they divert funds from research Their experiments were prompted by previous studies showing that the cysteine programmes that have no direct bearing on long-distance human spaceflight. protease CatB--an enzyme that snips apart proteins--closely associated with the But a special National Research Council panel of amyloid-ß (Aß) protein that forms the amyloid plaques, a hallmark of AD. Howev- the National Academy of Sciences said in an interim er, those studies had not determined whether CatB was "good" or "bad"--that is, report that the Moon was "priceless to planetary whether it acted to produce Aß from a longer protein, called amyloid precursor scientists". protein (APP), or whether it broke down Aß. "Only by returning to the Moon to carry out new In their experiments, Gan and colleagues determined that CatB was the latter-- scientific exploration can we hope to close the gaps breaking down Aß, apparently to enable other enzymes to further degrade the in understanding and learn the secrets that the protein for the cell's protein "garbage deposal" system. Moon alone has kept for eons," it said. They found that knocking out the CatB gene increased plaque deposition in a Apollo 11 bootprint (Nasa) One of the first mouse model of AD in which mice expressed the human form of APP. They also steps taken on the Moon in 1969 found that CatB tended to accumulate within amyloid plaques and that it acted to Lunar 'platform' reduce Aß levels in neurons. And they found that introducing a pathological form The committee was made up of academics, a journalist and retired members of of Aß, called Aß1-42, into neurons increased CatB in young and middle-aged mice private industry involved in space programmes. with human APP, but not old mice. "Thus, upregulation of CatB may represent a The experts outlined a number of priorities, including: * determining the composition and structure of the interior of the Moon

28 11/14/2017 * gaining a better understanding of the Moon's "atmosphere", the very thin It will now be available for other specialists to study; but already Alemseged has whisps of gas at surface level made a number of startling discoveries. Although * evaluating the Moon's potential as a platform for studying Earth, the relation- the baby afarensis toddled on two feet like a hu- ship of the Sun and Earth, and astronomy and astrophysics in general man child, it also had many important ape-like fea- The final version of the report is due to be released in mid-2007. tures. Nasa announced in August that the Lockheed Martin Corporation will build the "The shoulder blades are very gorilla-like and it next US spaceship to take humans to the Moon. may ignite old questions about whether afarensis It awarded a multi-billion-dollar contract to the group to develop the Orion vehi- could climb trees or not. But what was really excit- cle, which will replace the space shuttle when it retires in 2010. ing was to find the tongue bone. We will, based on Ethiopia's pride in 'Lucy' find this bone, be able to understand what the voice By Pallab Ghosh Science correspondent, BBC News, Addis Ababa box was like and about the kind of sound this crea- A tropical storm beats against the national museum in Addis Ababa. The violent ture made," he explains. thunder and lashing rain contrasts with the serene activity within. Initial thoughts suggest the bone is ape-like and Inside a solitary figure is cleaning up a 3.3-million-year-old skull. that the creature probably sounded like a chimp. Dr Zeresenay Alemseged has spent five years removing sandstone, grain by 'On the cusp' grain, from his precious find. What really excites Alemseged, however, is his Illuminated by a single focussed beam of light, this is intricate, delicate work: study of the ape-girl's brain. one mistake and crucial scientific detail could be lost forever. He believes it is still developing. Slow and gradu- Alemseged showed me that what has emerged al development in an extended childhood is a are the delicate features of a creature that was uniquely human feature - probably to enable our part ape and part human. higher functions to fully develop. Zeresenay Alemseged and the skull of "Lucy's baby" So, according to Alemseged, this infant and her "What you have here is the backbone and the like may have been the first to show real human- thoracic and all the ribs, the shoulder blades the like characteristics collar bones. But in addition, what you have here is "It's the earliest girl ever found with a mix of fea- a compete face and the sandstone impression of tures that are ape-like and human-like at the same the brain of a 3.3-million-year-old infant." time, and this puts her in a special position to play Early sound a pivotal role. She is on the cusp of humanity," he Six years ago Alemseged set off toward the north-eastern deserts of Ethiopia. says. Working in the blistering heat, his team discovered what he thought was the skull HUMAN EVOLUTION of a creature that was one of the first apes to have walked on two feet. Complex hominid tree (BBC) The creature is the Unable to contain his excitement, the scientist called his friend Tefera Ghedamu. Different fossil in the 'human story' have been found latest of many recent "He said I think I got it! And he knew exactly what he'd got. He's a very cau- Not all will be a direct line to our Homo group fossil finds important tious person, a very shy person - but then he knew and told himself, 'this is the Scarce and fragmentary finds complicate the story to the understanding bone'," Ghedamu recalls. Scientists expect many more discoveries in Africa of human evolution - Alemseged had found the most complete skeleton to date of a species called the most famous of Australopithecus afarensis, thought to be an important pre-cursor to the first true which was the first Australopithecus afarensis humans. specimen - and adult nicknamed "Lucy" - in 1974. Not only was it in a fantastic state of preservation but the specimen was that of an infant. This combination makes the find a gold mine for those studying human evolution.

29 11/14/2017 It has prompted the Ethiopia's culture minister, Mahmud Dirr Gade, to invite reflects how the voice box is built and perhaps what sounds a species can pro- more scientists to come to the African nation to help unearth humankind's origins. duce. "We welcome researchers to delve into the secrets and mystery of the creation Judging by how well it was preserved, the skeleton may have come from a body of man in Ethiopia; the 'home of humanity'," he tells me. that was quickly buried by sediment in a flood, the researchers said. Home grown "In my opinion, afarensis is a very good transitional species for what was before Zeresenay Alemseged is the first Ethiopian to lead a research team that has four million years ago and what came after three million years," Dr Alemseged told made such an important discovery. BBC science correspondent Pallab Ghosh. He is a bright young scientist who has studied in the US and Europe and is cur- "[The species had] a mixture of ape-like and human-like features. This puts rently attached to the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in afarensis in a special position to play a pivotal role in the story of what we are and Leipzig, Germany. where we come from." Human anthropology is a cut-throat field, even for those who have established Climbing ability themselves and have the backing of big funding bodies. This early ancestor possessed primitive teeth and a small brain but it stood up- So, according to Tefera Ghedamu, it is especially remarkable that an outsider right and walked on two feet. like Alemseged has worked his way up and to win the respect of the scientific There is considerable argument about whether the Dikika girl could also climb community - and the pride of his nation. trees like an ape. "From my angle, from an ordinary Ethiopian's point of view, they think it is quite This climbing ability would require anatomical equipment like long arms, and the a heritage. They are proud that the discovery has been made in Ethiopia and they "Lucy" species had arms that dangled down to just above the knees. It also had are proud that it's been made by one of their own," he says. gorilla-like shoulder blades which suggest it could have been skilled at swinging 'Lucy's baby' found in Ethiopia through trees. The 3.3-million-year-old fossilised remains of a human-like child have been un- But the question is whether such features indicate climbing ability or are just earthed in Ethiopia's Dikika region. "evolutionary baggage". The female Australopithecus afarensis bones are from the same species as an The Dikika girl had an estimated brain size of 330 cubic centimetres when she adult skeleton found in 1974 which was nicknamed "Lucy". died, which is not very different from that of a similarly aged chimpanzee. Howev- Scientists are thrilled with the find, reported in the journal Nature. er, when compared to the adult afarensis values, it forms 63 - 88% of the adult They believe the near-complete remains offer a remarkable opportunity to study brain size. growth and development in an important extinct human ancestor. This is lower than that of an adult chimp, where by the age of three, over 90% Juvenile Australopithecus afarensis remains are vanishingly rare. of the brain is formed. This relatively slow brain growth in the Dikika girl appears The skeleton was first identified in 2000, locked inside a block of sandstone. It to be slightly closer to that of humans. has taken five years of painstaking work to free the bones. Slow, gradual development in an extended childhood is regarded as a very hu- The juvenile specimen is wonderfully preserved man trait - probably to enable our higher functions to develop. "The Dikika fossil is now revealing many secrets about Australopithecus afaren- Professor Fred Spoor of University College London said the find would give sci- sis and other early hominins, because the fossil evidence was not there," said dig entists a "detailed insight into how our distant relatives grew up and behaved... at leader Zeresenay Alemseged, of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthro- a time of human evolution when they looked a good deal more like bipedal chim- pology in Leipzig, Germany. panzees than like us." Delicate bones Dr Jonathan Wynn of the University of St Andrews, UK, and colleagues at the The find consists of the whole skull, the entire torso and important parts of the University of South Florida dated the sediments surrounding the remains and came upper and lower limbs. CT scans reveal unerupted teeth still in the jaw, a detail up with an age of 3.3 million years. that makes scientists think the individual may have been about three years old The "Lucy" skeleton, discovered in Hadar, Ethiopia, in 1974 belongs to the same when she died. species as the Dikika girl. For more than 20 years it was the oldest human ances- Remarkably, some quite delicate bones not normally preserved in the fossilisa- tor known to science. tion process are also present, such as the hyoid, or tongue, bone. The hyoid bone

30 11/14/2017 Mosquitoes' sweet tooth targeted However, he said the research would have to be replicated before any firm con- Mosquitoes' thirst for sugar could prove to be the answer for eliminating malaria clusions could be drawn. and other mosquito-transmitted diseases, say scientists. New visage for Red Planet 'face' A Hebrew University team was able to devastate a local mosquito population by The Mars Express probe has photographed the spraying acacia trees with a sugar solution spiked with an insecticide. classic surface feature on the Red Planet's surface While blood is the main element of a female mosquito's diet, it also likes to feed known as "The Face". on plant nectar between meals. The mountain, which looks just like a human head The study features in the International Journal for Parasitology. with eyes, mouth and nostrils, was first pictured by Malaria kills over a million people a year and is second only to tuberculosis in its the US Viking 1 Orbiter in 1976. impact on world health. The formation instantly became the stuff of myth and conspiracy theories, with some claiming it was MALARIA It is spread by female mosquitoes evidence of an ancient Martian civilisation. 300 million clinical cases each year which need a meal of blood before Mars Express reveals the structure in a striking new pose 1 million deaths world-wide per year laying their eggs, but derive much of The new European images of The Face were taken in July this year. A child dies of malaria every 30 seconds their persistent energy from nectar It has been something of a struggle for scientists Biggest number of deaths occur among snacks, taken from flowers and nec- to get a decent shot of the area in mid-northern young children in Africa taries on plant leaves and stems. latitudes referred to as Cydonia. Isolated oasis The probe was either at too high an altitude when The Israeli team sprayed acacia trees in an oasis in the southern desert region making a pass or had its view degraded by dust of the country with a sugar solution containing the insecticide Spinosad. and haze in the atmosphere. A 22 July fly-over fi- They chose the oasis because there were few other plants in the area from nally provided perfect conditions. which mosquitoes could obtain their favourite tipple. The skull (Esa/DLR/FUBerlin/G.Neukum) It was also home to a distinct and isolated mosquito population, so the effect The new images even reveal a feature that could be monitored closely with only a minor risk of mosquitoes from neighbouring looks like a skull areas contaminating the results. The probe used its High Resolution Stereo Camera to picture The Face and oth- After spraying, almost the entire local population of mosquitoes was wiped out. er geological structures around it in 3D. The few mosquitoes that were trapped after spraying were thought to be newly This requires imaging experts at the German space agency to post-process es- emerging adults. sentially flat, overhead shots to produce perspective images that give the viewer Lead researcher Professor Yosef Schlein said planting mosquito-attracting trees the impression they are flying over the surface in a light aircraft. or bushes in suitable habitats, and spraying them with oral insecticide, could pro- The results are some of the most spectacular views of the Red Planet ever seen. vide a relatively easy and cheap way to tackle the problem of malaria. "These images of Cydonia on Mars are truly spectacular," said Dr Agustin Chi- He said the technique had particular potential in areas of limited plant growth, carro, project scientist for the European Space Agency's Mars Express mission. such as desert and savannah regions, particularly sub-Saharan Africa, where "They not only provide a completely fresh and de- malaria is becoming a bigger threat. tailed view of an area famous to fans of space It might also have some use in areas with a greater variety of flowers, as mos- myths worldwide, but also provide an impressive quitoes are very fussy, and only visit a limited number of species. close-up over an area of great interest for plane- Spinosad is an environmental "reduced-risk" oral insecticide that has little effect tary geologists, and show once more the high ca- on other insects, birds and mammals. pability of the Mars Express camera." Pierre Guillet, of the World Health Organization's global malaria programme, Scientists are interested in Cydonia because it said any strategy that could effectively kill, or the reduce the life expectancy of tells them about erosive processes on Mars. adult female mosquitoes, had potential as a way to control the spread of malaria. Cydonia tells scientists about erosion on the surface of Mars

31 11/14/2017 Cydonia is located in the Arabia Terra region and belongs to the transition zone Dr. Tracey and his team of researchers discovered that the brain sends chemical between the southern highlands and the northern plains. This transition is charac- messages through the vagus nerve to specific sites on immune cells in the body to terised by wide, debris-filled valleys and isolated remnant mounds of various block TNF release. In other words, the vagus nerve is the conduit through which shapes and sizes. the brain directly controls the immune system -- and prevents excessive TNF, Mars Global Surveyor images taken at the turn of the century proved beyond shock and death. This is the inflammatory reflex. any doubt that The Face pictured by Viking 1 was nothing more than a trick of the By studying patients with chronic inflammatory diseases, Dr. Tracey is trying to light; there was no evidence there of structures built by an ancient civilisation, as ascertain whether raising their vagus nerve activity with biofeedback decreases in- some Red Planet fans had hoped. flammation. The implication is that people with inflammatory diseases such as Mars Express imaged another popular surface feature earlier this year: the Crohn's, rheumatoid arthritis and peripheral vascular disease may be able to 230km-wide (143 miles) impact crater that looks like a smiley face. "think" their way to feeling better. Feinstein Institute's top scientist weighs in on mind-body Altering brain activity may one day be a strategy to prevent disease, improve medicine at conference with Dalai Lama health and promote longevity. The inflammatory reflex has diverse applications for PHOENICIA, NY – Because he discovered a key link between the mind and the body, therapeutically targeting systemic inflammation in illnesses ranging from postoper- Kevin J. Tracey, MD, The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research's director and ative sepsis to autoimmune diseases to biological threat agents such as anthrax CEO, was invited to speak this morning at "Longevity and Optimal Health: Inte- and plague. Because vagus nerve activity can be measured, researchers now have grating Eastern and Western Perspectives." This conference, co-hosted by the Co- a way to scientifically test the effects of many ancient concepts and Indo-Tibetan lumbia University Integrative Medicine Program and Tibet House, has brought to- practices such as meditation and yoga on longevity. gether leading scientists, scholars and practitioners to discuss how recent ad- New research puts 'killer La Palma tsunami' at distant future vances in the Western science of aging may reveal how the Indo-Tibetan traditions The volcanic island of La Palma in the Canaries is much more stable than is gen- of meditation, diet and yoga extend life. The XIVth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is erally assumed, Dutch scientists working at the TU Delft have found. The south- the guest of honor and will deliver a summary response integrating the discussions western flank of the island isn't likely to fall into the sea (potentially causing a at the conclusion of the conference. tsunami) for at least another 10,000 years, professor Jan Nieuwenhuis states in Through years of painstaking research on the immune system's response to in- the September edition of the university's science magazine Delft Integraal. jury, Dr. Tracey and his colleagues worldwide made several incremental discover- The TU Delft research findings should be a relief for people living at or near the ies that led to a new theory he coined "the inflammatory reflex." The inflammatory Atlantic coasts of the US, Africa and Europe. Six years ago, geologists proposed reflex is the foundation for the mind-body connection, as it provides a direct link that La Palma is so unstable that it might lose one of its flanks during a volcanic between the nervous system and that which normally keeps people healthy -- the eruption in the near future. This would cause a 'mega tsunami' with massive immune system. This morning Dr. Tracey shared his findings and the latest appli- waves up to hundreds of meters in height. Cities like New York, Boston, Lisbon cations of this theory during the panel discussion on "Protection," moderated by and Casablanca would be all but wiped from the face of the planet, according to Erin Olivo, PhD, MPH, director of the Columbia Integrative Medicine Program. the more pessimistic estimates. First published in the journal Nature in December 2002, Dr. Tracey's ground- But according to the new TU Delft research, the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the is- breaking discovery that the brain controls the immune system via the vagus nerve land simply isn't large enough to fall apart… yet. In a first of its kind study, the -- the largest nerve in the body that wanders through the major organs -- has Dutch researchers modelled the inside of the flank and then simulated several vol- gained international acclaim, including a Nobel Conference dedicated to the topic canic eruptions and watery 'steam explosions'. In every simulation, the volcanic hosted by the renowned Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, in September flank stayed firmly in its place. 'This is simply a very stable island', says team lead- 2004, which he co-chaired. er professor Jan Nieuwenhuis in the September edition of the TU Delft science One of the immune system's weapons against foreign invaders is a molecule magazine Delft Integraal. called tumor necrosis factor, or TNF. A "big gun," TNF can cause a local response According to Nieuwenhuis' calculations, it would take the strength of about 600 to an injury or infection, such as pain and redness. This is good to a point, but in million modern fighter jet engines to pull the flank apart: at least 12,000 to 28,000 excessive amounts TNF and other like molecules can be so toxic as to cause shock billion Newton. That is much more than can be expected from a volcanic outburst and death. on La Palma, the team concludes. Only under very extreme conditions, the flank could become unstable, Nieuwenhuis has calculated. This would require unusually 32 11/14/2017 heavy rainfall during an exceptionally strong magmatic outburst, or some other The University of Alberta study put the popularized pedometer-friendly 10,000- highly unlikely combination of circumstances. 'Based on what we know now, so step exercise program to the test against a traditional fitness program which incor- many things must go wrong that a disaster seems very, very unlikely', says Jan- porated cardio-based activities on equipment such as treadmills and stationary bi- neke van Berlo, who recently graduated in the group of prof. Nieuwenhuis. cycles. The traditional group was asked to complete exercise at a moderate inten- The researchers calculate that the surest way to cause a landslide is to wait for sity, a level allowing for one or two sentences of conversation with ease. Intensity at least another 10,000 years. The Cumbre Vieja volcano steadily grows and this was not set for the walking group; they completed their daily exercise at a self-se- causes the flanks of the volcano to become steeper and less stable. 'A combination lected pace. of substantial vertical growth and eruption forces will most probably act to trigger "When we matched the two programs for energy expenditure, we found that failure. To reach substantial growth, a time span in the order of 10,000 years will the traditional fitness program improved aerobic fitness and reduced systolic blood be required', Van Berlo states. pressure, more than the 10,000-step lifestyle program," Dr. Harber said. Of the At a glance, La Palma doesn't look very solid even today. It has lost chunks of 128 sedentary men and women who completed the six-month research program, its flanks at least twice in prehistoric times already. And during the last eruption, in those who took part in a more active traditional fitness regimen increased their 1949, a two kilometer long rip appeared at the top of Cumbre Vieja's southwestern peak oxygen uptake, an indicator of aerobic fitness, by 10 per cent. Those who flank. But the Delft researchers point out that the cut is nothing more than the re- took part in the walking program experienced a four per cent increase. Systolic sult of an innocent, shallow phenomenon, for example local adaptive settlements blood pressure also dropped by 10 per cent for the traditional fitness group, com- of the volcano. What's more, the ancient collapses are good evidence La Palma is pared to four per cent for the group who just walked. stable now: the collapses only occurred when La Palma was much higher than to- Other markers of overall health, such as fasting plasma glucose levels, response day, at least 2,000 and 2,500-3,000 meter respectively. to a two-hour glucose tolerance test and various blood lipids were unaffected by Even if the volcanic flank did become critically unstable, it isn't likely it will go either exercise program. with a splash. 'Of course the flank won't go in one piece, but break up first', "Our concern is that people might think what matters most is the total number Nieuwenhuis said. 'And it could very well slide down a little and then settle in a of daily steps accumulated, and not pay much attention to the pace or effort in- more stable configuration, just like our dykes in Holland often do when they go vested in taking those steps," Dr. Harber said. "The 10,000-step or pedome- unstable.' The plunge won't be a fast and sudden event, Nieuwenhuis stresses. 'It ter-based walking programs are great for people--they are motivating, and provide will more be like a steam locomotive powering up. The first meter of movement an excellent starting point for beginning an activity program, but to increase the should take several days.' effectiveness, one must add some intensity or "huff and puff" to their exercise. Now that they have calculated the improbability of this I’m sure Nature will Across your day, while you are achieving those 10,000 steps, take 200 to 400 of do Her best to confound the scientists! And the wildly contrasting compar- them at a brisker pace." isons are interesting – 600 million fighter jets versus a steam locomotive. "You've got to do more than light exercise and move towards the inclusion of May I suggest an equivalent number of Back To The Future DeLoreans? regular moderate activity, and don't be shy to interject an occasional period of Walking not enough for significant exercise benefits time at the vigorous level." Walking is a popular form of exercise, but may not be enough to experience sig- 'Egg on your face' may be more dangerous than you think nificant health benefits, a University of Alberta study shows. 'Here's egg in your eye': a prospective study of blunt ocular trauma result- "Generally, low-intensity activity such as walking alone is not likely going to give ing from thrown eggs anybody marked health benefits compared to programs that occasionally elevate As the party conference season gets under way in the UK, research in Emergen- the intensity," said Dr. Vicki Harber, lead author on the Health First study, which cy Medicine Journal shows that lobbing raw eggs at people as a harmless form of was presented recently at the American College of Sports Medicine annual confer- protest or prank can actually result in serious eye injury. ence. Between November 2004 and December 2005 researchers at one specialist de- Dr. Harber and her colleagues, Dr. Wendy Rodgers, Dr. Gordon Bell and Dr. Ker- partment monitored more than 18,000 patients requiring eye treatment. ry Courneya of the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation at the University Of these, 13 patients had sustained injuries as a result of being assaulted by a of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, were concerned that while people with health is- raw egg. Twelve of the patients were men, whose average age was 27. sues are encouraged to increase their volume of activity such as walking, there Most of the cases were clustered in October, during the period around Hal- didn't seem to be much focus on the effort that needed to go into the activity. loween.

33 11/14/2017 In nine people, the left eye was injured. In only one person was eyesight unaf- sion. Foster-Miller's Sword is a variant of Talon in which the manipulator arm has fected by the incident. been replaced by a rotating machinegun carrier. "It's for urban combat and Three people's injuries were classified as "minor," amounting to bruising and perimeter security and it's fully controlled by the soldier," Quinn says. Touted uses bloodshot eyes. The injuries were classed as moderate in a further two cases; the include checking out a potential ambush. remainder were classified as serious. Both companies stress that there is always a human in control of the robots. The serious injuries included tears and severe bruising to the retina, disruption Apart from a planned autonomous "return home" function, neither Sword nor the of the light receptor cells in the eye, and raised internal pressure, which can dam- iRobot prototype operates autonomously. age the optic nerve and cause permanent loss of eyesight, and damage to the Nevertheless, more complex machines may soon be on the drawing board. A re- macula. search request issued in August by the Pentagon's Office of Naval Research (ONR) Twelve patients recovered, one of whom needed major surgery to do so. shows that military robots are one day going to be asked to make some important The authors comment that damage to the eye as a result of being hit by a blunt decisions on their own. The ONR wants to engineer mobile robots to "understand object, referred to as "blunt ocular trauma," makes up around a third of injuries cooperative and uncooperative" people, and inform their operator if they seem a seen in primary care eye clinics. threat. It hopes to do this using artificial intelligence software fed with data from a "The dimensions of an egg are similar to those of a squash ball, with a consider- "remote physiological stress monitoring" system, and by using speech, face and ably greater weight, meaning that eggs as missiles can easily fit into the orbital gesture recognition. From this it would draw inferences about the threat that per- rim, causing severe blunt injury even when thrown by hand," write the authors. son poses. The belief that this prank is harmless, is misplaced, they warn. It's a prospect that is causing some concern. "It is ethically problematic to use Robot infantry ready for the battlefield software that may work in lab conditions but not under a whole range of extreme "PLEASE put down your weapon. You have 20 seconds to comply." So said the conditions, such as when you suspect someone might be a suicide bomber," says armed robot in Paul Verhoeven's 1987 movie RoboCop. Kirsten Dautenhahn, an AI expert at the University of Hertfordshire in the UK. The suspect drops his weapon but a fault in the robot's software means it opens Lucy Suchman, an expert in human-computer interaction at Lancaster Universi- fire anyway. Nearly two decades later, such fictional weapon-toting robots are ty, UK, is even more critical: "This plan is just ridiculous. It involves the worst kind looking startlingly close to reality – and New Scientist has discovered that some of simplistic profiling. It's a fantasy on the part of technology enthusiasts within may eventually help to decide who is friend and who is foe. the Pentagon." Quinn, however, disagrees. The ONR is not known for wasting re- Sometime in the coming months, chances are that we'll be seeing TV reports search dollars, he says, and what it funds usually happens – even if it is 10 years that an armed remote-controlled robot has been used in anger for the first time. away. "Recognition technology is progressing fast. I think it will separate the "They will appear when they appear. I can't talk about when that may be," says wheat from the chaff," he predicts. Bob Quinn, genera manager at Foster-Miller of Waltham, Massachusetts, whose Let’s hope they aren’t carrying machine-gun-equipped robot, called Sword, was certified safe for use by the US eggs! forces in June. Squid Skin Reveals Hidden Messages Robots have already shown their mettle in defensive roles, detonating impro- MBL scientists find anatomical evidence for a hidden communication chan- vised bombs in the UK, Israel, Iraq and Afghanistan. Foster-Miller's Talon robot nel that remains masked during camouflage and its rival PackBot, from the Massachusetts-based company iRobot, are the MBL,WOODS HOLE, MA-In the animal world, squid are masters of disguise. Pigmented lightweight robots now used for these tasks. These tracked machines, controlled skin cells enable them to camouflage themselves-almost instantaneously-from by an operator sitting in an armoured vehicle, are capable of being driven at high predators. Squid also produce polarized skin patterns by regulating the iridescence speed and use manipulator arms and grippers to place a small explosive charge to of their skin, possibly creating a “hidden communication channel” visible only to disable a suspected bomb. animals that are sensitive to polarized light. Now versions of these robots are being developed that will allow troops to ma- In research published today in the journal Biology Let- noeuvre and fire a variety of weapons. iRobot has built a prototype equipped with ters, MBL (Marine Biological Laboratory) researchers Ly- a 20- round shotgun. "It will be able to fire over four dozen different kinds of shot- dia Mäthger and Roger Hanlon present evidence that gun ammunition, everything from large slugs that would kill an elephant, to buck- the polarized aspect of the skin of the longfin inshore shot that would cover a wide area," says Joe Dyer, head of iRobot's military divi- 34 11/14/2017 squid, Loligo pealeii, is maintained after passing through the pigment cells respon- responsible for, among other things, the creation of antibodies that tag foreign sible for camouflage. particles and microbes for destruction. Mammals have phagocytic cells, but they While the notion that a few animals produce polarization signals and use them are a specialized few cells identified apart from the complex interactions that drive in communication is not new, Mäthger and Hanlon’s findings present the first other white blood cells. anatomical evidence for a “hidden communication channel” that can remain Sunyer and his colleagues discovered this previously unsuspected B cell activity masked by typical camouflage patterns. Their results suggest that it might be pos- while examining the immune cells of rainbow trout and catfish. The researchers sible for squid to send concealed polarized signals to one other while staying cam- determined that these attack B cells account for more than 30-40% of all immune ouflaged to fish or mammalian predators, most of which do not have polarization cells in fish, while phagocytic cells only make up a small portion of the total num- vision. ber of immune cells in mammals. Further research also showed that a significant squid skin portion of amphibian B cells retained their digestive traits. Mäthger notes that these messages could contain information regarding the "The immune systems of amphibians and fish are far less advanced than ours," whereabouts of other squid, for example. “Whether signals could also contain in- Sunyer said. "When you only have a rudimentary adaptive immune system, it formation regarding the presence of predators (i.e., a warning signal) is specula- helps to have more phagocytic cells to compensate, which is what has served fish tion, but it may be possible,” she adds. so well over the last 400 million years." Mäthger and Hanlon maintain that the mechanism behind the transmission of In the past, research on the immune systems of more primitive species has polarized light through squid pigment cells warrants further study. Likewise, inves- paved the way to the discovery of new molecules and pathways that are critical to tigation of this masked polarization signaling system in squid and other the immune response in humans and other mammals. B cells themselves, for ex- cephalopods in natural environments would provide insight into animal camouflage ample, were first discovered in chickens in the 1960s. According to Sunyer, the mechanisms and may uncover similar examples in other species. Penn findings are not only important for understanding the evolution and function University of Pennsylvania Researchers Discover “Killer” B Cells; of immune cells in fish but also may point out to novel roles of B cells in mammals. New Link in the Evolution of Immunity At this point, we cannot rule out the possibility that small subpopulations of PHILADELPHIA -- Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veteri- phagocytic B cells, perhaps remnants of those present in fish, are still present in nary Medicine have discovered a unique evolutionary link between the immune mammals, Sunyer said. systems of fish and mammals in the form of a primitive version of B cells, white Their findings also have an agricultural implication. The current vaccines given blood cells of the immune system. Their studies link the evolution of the adaptive to farmed salmon, for example, appeal to the fish's adaptive immune response, immune system in mammals, where B cells produce antibodies to fight infection, which this research has now shown to be a smaller part of the overall fish immune to the more primitive innate immunity in fish, where they found that B cells take system than previously thought. part in phagocytosis (literally: cell eating), the process by which cells of the im- "If we work to create vaccines that encourage phagocytic B cell to respond to mune system ingest foreign particles and microbes. infection, then we would play to the strengths of fish immunity," Sunyer said. "In The finding, which appears in the online version of Nature Immunology and will the long term, farming is a better, more environmentally sound approach to fish- be featured on the cover of the October issue, represents a sizeable evolutionary ing, so better vaccines may make the practice more financially attractive to fisher- step for the mammalian immune system and offers a potential new strategy for man and less destructive to fish populations." developing much-needed fish vaccines. There is little doubt that, despite the behavioral differences, the fish B cells rep- "When examining fish B cells we see them actively attacking and eating foreign resent a less advanced version of mammalian B cells. Sunyer found the very cellu- bodies, which is a behavior that, according to the current dogma, just shouldn't lar structures that medical science has used to define B cells in humans to be happen in B cells," said J. Oriol Sunyer, a professor in Penn Vet's Department of present in fish B cells, which is why they are able to label them as B cells in the Pathobiology. "I believe it is evidence for a very real connection between the most first place. primitive forms of immunological defense, which has survived in fish, and the "Here we have a clear picture of where one part of the immune system, primi- more advanced, adaptive immune response seen in humans and other mammals." tive phagocytes, adapted over time to serve a more complex role as part of the About 400 million years ago, the earliest ancestors of modern fish split off of the immune system that humans enjoy today, Sunyer said. There is still much we can evolutionary pathway that became the earliest ancestors of modern mammals. In learn about our own health through the ongoing study of immune system evolu- modern mammals, the B cell is a highly adapted part of the immune system chiefly tion among all organisms. 35 11/14/2017 Funding for this research was provided by the National Science Foundation and United ary Theory for the Shape of the Ideal Dripping Icicle," in the August 2006 issue of States Department of Agriculture. Physics of Fluids. The National Science Foundation funded the research. Activating the feeling of being followed As residents of cold climates know, icicles form when melting snow begins drip- Ever had the feeling you're being followed? Neuroscientists have accidentally in- ping down from a surface such as the edge of a roof. For an icicle to grow, there duced this creepy feeling in a woman with epilepsy while electrically stimulating must be a constant layer of water flowing over it. the left side of her brain. The growth of an icicle is caused by the diffusion of heat away from the icicle by The woman described how a shadowy man clasped her in his arms when she a thin fluid layer of water and the resulting updraft of air traveling over the sur- hugged her knees, and tried to pull cards out of her hands as she read them (Na- face. The updraft of air occurs because the icicle is generally warmer than its sur- ture, vol 443, p 287). Olaf Blanke at the University Hospital in Geneva, Switzer- rounding environment, and thus convective heating causes the air surrounding the land, and his colleagues realised that the "man" was in fact mimicking her own ac- icicle to rise. As the rising air removes heat from the liquid layer, some of the wa- tions. ter freezes, and the icicle grows thicker and elongates. They believe the stimulated area, which is known to process information about "At first, we focused only on the thin water layer covering the icicle, just like we where our body is, may be affected in psychiatric patients who suffer feelings of did with stalactites," said Short. "It was only later that we examined the layer of paranoia, persecution and alien control. rising air, which is technically more correct. Strangely though, both methods lead The point of icicles to the same mathematical shape for icicles." Contemplating some of nature's cool creations is always fun. Now a team of sci- The resulting shape turns out to be described by the same mathematical equa- entists from The University of Arizona in Tucson has figured out the physics of tion that describes stalactites. One could call it the Platonic form. how drips of icy water can swell into the skinny spikes known as icicles. The team wanted to compare the predicted shape to real icicles. Because icicles Deciphering patterns in nature is a specialty of UA researchers Martin B. Short, are scarce in Tucson, the scientists naturally turned to the Internet. They were James C. Baygents and Raymond E. Goldstein. In 2005, the team figured out that able to compare pictures of actual icicles with their predicted shape. stalactites, the formations that hang from the ceilings of caves, have a unique un- The team found that it doesn't matter how big or small the actual icicles were, derlying shape described by a strikingly simple mathematical equation. they could all fit to the shape generated by the mathematical equation. However, stalactites aren't the only natural formations that look like elongated "Fundamentally, just like in the early stalactite work, it's a result that implies carrots. Once the researchers had found a mathematical representation of the sta- that the shape of an icicle, at least in its ideal, pristine form, ought to be described lactite's shape, they began to wonder if the solution applied to other similarly by this mathematical equation. And we found, examining images of icicles, that it shaped natural formations caused by dripping water. is a very good fit," senior author Goldstein said. So the team decided to investigate icicles. Although other scientists have studied The team's next step will be to solve the problem of how ripples are formed on how icicles grow, they had not found a formula to describe their shape. the surfaces of both stalactites and icicles. Surprisingly, the team found that the same mathematical formula that describes Better training needed to reduce emergency caesareans the shape of stalactites also describes the shape of icicles. Editorial: Caesarean delivery in the second stage of labor "Everyone knows what an icicle is and what it looks like, so this research is very Many emergency caesareans could be prevented by the attendance of a more accessible. I think it is amazing that science and math can explain something like skilled obstetrician, say senior doctors in this week's BMJ. this so well. It really highlights the beauty of nature," Short said. They call for better training in instrumental vaginal delivery (use of forceps or The finding is surprising because the physical processes that form icicles are ventouse) for obstetric trainees to help reduce rates. very different from those that form stalactites. Whereas heat diffusion and a rising A recent UK study found that decisions made by senior (consultant) obstetric air column are keys to an icicle's growth, the diffusion of carbon dioxide gas fuels staff are important in determining whether a second stage caesarean section is the a stalactite's growth. best method of delivery for women with delay in advanced labour. It found that a Short, a doctoral candidate in UA's physics department, Baygents, a UA asso- consultant obstetrician who performed a vaginal assessment was more likely to re- ciate professor of chemical and environmental engineering, and Goldstein, a UA verse a decision made by an obstetric trainee for a caesarean and proceed to a professor of physics and the Schlumberger Professor of Complex Physical Systems safely conducted instrumental delivery. at the University of Cambridge in England, published their article, "A Free-Bound- The authors warn that, without increases in junior doctors' experience and re- cruitment into the specialty, the problems with second stage caesareans will rise. 36 11/14/2017 According to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists audit figures, Over both periods, the data show an increase in the overall incidence of stab- about 35% of caesareans for singleton pregnancies are performed because of fail- bings. The increased need for surgical intervention may also reflect increasing ure to progress in labour, of which a quarter occur at full cervical dilatation. In severity of injury, they say. 55% of these cases no attempt was made to achieve a vaginal birth with either These data therefore seem to support the general perception that knife injuries forceps or ventouse. In those births where instrumental delivery was attempted, are increasing, they conclude. the audit noted a "failed" rate of 35% for ventouse and 2% for forceps. So this is another new issue of worldwide concern. I wonder what the ori- Breech and twin deliveries can also lead to second stage caesareans. In the ab- gins of this could be… sence of an experienced and skilful obstetrician to perform assisted vaginal breech Insulin receptor stops progression of Alzheimer's disease delivery, women are advised to undergo an emergency caesarean. Patients could be treated in early phases of disease For twin deliveries, currently about 10% of second twins are delivered by cae- Providence, RI – Stimulation of a receptor in the brain that controls insulin responses sarean section after the first has been delivered vaginally: 10 years ago, the rate has been shown to halt or diminish the neurodegeneration of Alzheimer's disease, was 5%. As many as two thirds of these caesareans are preventable, say the au- providing evidence that the disease can be treated in its early stages, according to thors. a study by researchers at Rhode Island Hospital and Brown Medical School. Despite problems relating to the inexperience of obstetric trainees, the United Researchers have found that peroxisome-proliferator activated receptor (PPAR) Kingdom is making great strides in terms of structured training, assessment of agonists prevent several components of neurodegeneration and preserve learning competencies, and consultant delivered intrapartum care, they write. Nevertheless, and memory in rats with induced Alzheimer's disease (AD). They found that an ag- it is essential to recognise the need for obstetricians to maintain and develop their onist for PPAR delta, a receptor that is abundant in the brain, had the most overall skills if women are to be offered safe alternatives to caesarean section when com- benefit. plications arise in labour. "This raises the possibility that you can treat patients with mild cognitive impair- Stabbings are increasing ment who have possible or probable Alzheimer's disease. This is really amazing Letter -- Stabbing: Data support public perception because right now, there's just no treatment that works," says lead author Serious knife injuries are increasing, say trauma experts at the Royal London Suzanne M. de la Monte, MD, MPH, a neuropathologist at Rhode Island Hospital Hospital in a letter to this week's BMJ. and a professor of pathology and clinical neuroscience at Brown Medical School in Several recent deaths have fuelled the perception that forensic knife injuries Providence, RI. have become an epidemic, resulting in a knife amnesty and government discussion The study appears in the September issue (Volume 10, Issue 1) of the Journal of new punitive measures, write Charles Knowles and colleagues. of Alzheimer's Disease (www.j-alz.com). An increase in such injuries is supported by data from regional police forces and In previous studies, the researchers demonstrated that Alzheimer's is a brain- the Home Office, with 1200 reported attacks in London last year and 30% of specific neuroendocrine disorder, or a Type 3 diabetes, distinct from other types of homicides caused by knife injury. Crimes defined as "more serious wounding or diabetes. They showed that insulin and IGF-I receptors are produced separately in other act endangering life" almost doubled nationally from 1995 to 2005. the brain, and begin to disappear early in Alzheimer's and continue to decline as The authors audited knife injuries at their east London hospital, one of Europe's the disease progresses. As insulin signaling breaks down, it leads to increased ox- busiest emergency departments, to establish the size of this problem in a repre- idative stress, impaired metabolism and cell death – all causing neurodegenera- sentative urban area. tion. They analysed data on forensic knife injuries (excluding deliberate self harm) Scientists were also previously able to replicate Alzheimer's in rats with Strepto- from a database of all trauma calls from July 2004 to June 2006. Overall there zotocin (STZ), a compound that is known to destroy insulin producing cells in the were 309 forensic knife injuries; 259 patients were admitted, 184 were operated pancreas and cause diabetes. When injected into the brains of rats, the compound on, and eight died. The chest was the most common area injured, most patients mimicked the neurodegeneration of Alzheimer's disease – plaque deposits, neu- were men, and mean age was 28. rofibrillary tangles, diminished brain size, impaired cognitive function, cell loss and To give a measure of changing incidence over a longer time, they also per- overall brain deterioration. formed an audit of all cases coded as "stabbing" during the 10 year period from Having created an animal model for Alzheimer's, researchers in this study in- July 1997 to June 2006. duced Alzheimer's with STZ and then administered treatment with three classes of PPAR agonists – alpha, gamma and delta. All are found in various tissues and or- 37 11/14/2017 gans in the body, including the brain, and PPAR gamma is already FDA approved Video games: Medicine for the body as a treatment for Type 2 diabetes, or adult-onset diabetes. The two other classes New game prototype released at Games for Health conference of PPAR agonists have not yet been approved for clinical use. WASHINGTON DC – The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) will present the new- Following treatment, many of the abnormalities associated with Alzheimer's est prototype of its educational game Immune Attack on Friday, 29 September were reduced or nearly disappeared. The agonists affected different regions of the 2006, at 10:00 a.m. at "The Body is a Game,"part of the Games for Health Confer- brain, with PPAR delta producing the most striking effect in preserving the hypo- ence at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore. thalamus and temporal lobes, areas of the brain responsible for memory, learning, Immune Attack is a new generation video game that engages students and and behavior. In these brain regions, PPAR alpha and PPAR gamma were effective teaches complex biology and immunology topics in a manner different from the in reducing amyloid gene expression. PPAR delta had the most benefit for reducing traditional classroom approach. The goal is to immerse the student in immunology oxidative stress and improving learning and memory. concepts to make learning fun and exciting. "That was the most spectacular," de la Monte says, "because everybody wants "Immunology is a complicated and difficult subject to learn, which is precisely something for cognitive impairment, and that was the most improved with the why it makes such an interesting basis for a video game," said Eitan Glinert, FAS PPAR delta agonist." Project Coordinator of Immune Attack. "The challenges in Immune Attack give Researchers were not able to stop the deterioration of insulin and its receptors. those who might not otherwise be interested in biology the chance to learn in a However, by administering PPAR, they were able to bypass the defects in insulin fun, hands-on manner they won't find in a text book." signaling and preserve the cells that need insulin to thrive. PPAR molecules go di- Human body tissue structures serve as the playing field in this first person strat- rectly to the nucleus of cells and tell DNA to turn on or off genes that are normally egy game where immune cells face off against bacterial and viral infections. A regulated by insulin, thus preventing them from dying and allowing them to com- teenaged prodigy with a unique immunodeficiency must teach his immune system municate with each other. The major effects of the PPAR treatments were to in- how to function properly, or die trying. Using a nanobot and aided by a helpful crease brain size, preserve insulin and IGF-II receptor bearing neurons, and pre- professor, the teenager explores biologically accurate and visually detailed settings serve learning and memory. in pursuit of this goal. "The trigger for dementia is the loss of insulin and IGF producing cells. The cells "The video game experience is a wonderful complement to the learning that that need those growth factors subsequently die. This study shows you can block happens in the classroom. The game allowed students to use sights, sounds, and the second phase, which is responsible for dementia. This is great news for pa- touch to get better acquainted with the immune system. Students also interacted tients since you treat early stages of disease," de la Monte says. with each other, having problem-solving discussions to enhance their game-play, Another promising result for Alzheimer's patients is that these drugs could be and ultimately learning of the subject," said Angelique Bosse, a teacher at Mont- given in the form of a pill, de la Monte says. In the study, the drugs were injected gomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, MD. to control the amounts administered. Each subsequent level of Immune Attack features a different infection with a "One of the most exciting findings was that peripheral (intraperitoneal) injection new type of immune cell for the player to train. The player zooms among red of the PPAR agonists either partially or completely rescued the brains from neu- blood cells, squeezes through blood vessel walls, and scans and interacts with var- rodegeneration," the authors write. ious objects to train his immune system to fight off the invading pathogens. Alzheimer's appears to be caused by parallel abnormalities – impaired insulin "Clearly, computer games hold special interest to a generation who has grown signaling and oxidative stress, which is regulated by the genes NOS and NOX. The up with them, and as such, they show promise as educational tools. Our educa- PPAR agonists treatments target both problems. They preserve the cells regulated tional games program is undertaking research to better understand what features by insulin and IGF, and they decrease oxidative stress, resulting in fewer lesions in of games can be used to improve learning and to develop guidelines based on that the brain. research," said Kay Howell, Vice President of Information Technologies at FAS. "If the diagnosis is suspected or patients are in the early phases of AD, there's a As video games have become a common part of society, FAS is looking for ways good possibility they could get treatment that will help them. It's possible that in to produce complex games that provide an environment for learning about history, the moderate phase, treatment will also help, but more work needs to be done to problem-solving, and managing systems. Games and 3-D interactive simulations show that," de la Monte says. will one day revolutionize education and how people learn. FAS educational games Treatment is not likely to work in the late stages of the disease, she says, be- help students and workers learn globally competitive skills in demand by employ- cause the cells have already died. ers. 38 11/14/2017 "Games increase motivation, but it is not entirely clear why. For example, games In support of their hypothesis for a biological origin of the gases, the re- typically include competition - either against a human opponent or a computer- searchers point to several clues: "First, the sampling locations are remote from generated one. They are often story-based, feature strong characters, and typical- reservoirs of oil and natural gas, so that this source can be eliminated," Hinrichs ly 'keep score.' The research challenge is to determine how these features contrib- says. "Moreover, the abundance of stable isotopes of carbon are markedly differ- ute to learning," said Howell. ent from those in gases formed at high temperature," adds co-author John Hayes, Lucky find off Galapagos a geochemist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). Ocean scientists discover how bacteria produce propane in the deep Co-author Wolfgang Bach, geochemist and professor at the Bremer Research seafloor Center points out, "We also were able to demonstrate that under the conditions During an expedition off the South American coast, an international team of prevailing at depth, these processes could yield just enough energy for growth of ocean scientists discovered that the gases ethane and propane are widespread, bacterial communities." and are being produced by microorganisms in deeply buried sediments. Prof. Kai- The paper leads to several new questions that will be addressed in future work. Uwe Hinrichs (Research Center Ocean Margins, University of Bremen), co-author In a current PhD project in the Organic Geochemistry Group at the Research Cen- Prof. John Hayes (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), and colleagues report ter Ocean Margins, experiments are being conducted to locate the sedimentary new findings on the production of energy-laden gases in a paper in this week's on- sites where the gases are hidden. "Interlayer spaces of clay minerals are the best line edition of the renowned Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of candidates right now," Hinrichs says. Other experiments are currently being de- the U.S.A. (PNAS). The findings suggest that microbes in the deeply buried, vast signed to find out more about how the gases are being formed. He adds, "One im- ecosystem below the seafloor carry out hitherto unrecognized processes, which portant goal right now is to study these processes under controlled conditions in are highly relevant to both our understanding of global element cycles and the the lab to verify or refine the proposed mechanism." Hinrichs knows that it may metabolic abilities of Earth's microbial biosphere. not be easy to simulate processes from the deep biosphere, but the geochemist "In a way, the finding was coincidental," Hinrichs states. Onboard the research hopes to identify and replicate the conditions needed to stimulate the microbes to drilling vessel JOIDES Resolution, the geochemist, now at the University of Bremen produce a lot of these energy carriers. but then at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), analyzed the gases in Ancient birds flew on all-fours sediments buried up to 400 meters in the Equatorial Pacific off Peru. "We were Bird flight evolved using front and hind limbs as wings, new fossil study ar- swamped with samples: in nearly a thousand samples of up to 40 million-year-old gues sediment, we analyzed the gas content." Despite work shifts of up to 14 hours, the The earliest known ancestor of modern-day birds took to the skies by gliding shipboard scientists soon had a backlog of unanalyzed samples, which turned out from trees using primitive feathered wings on their arms and legs, according to to be lucky. "When we later looked at the samples, we noticed that concentrations new research by a University of Calgary paleontologist. In a paper published in the of ethane and propane were suspiciously high," Hinrichs adds. Soon the scientists journal Paleobiology, Department of Biological Sciences PhD student Nick Longrich realized that these gases were not artifacts or contaminants, but that they must challenges the idea that birds began flying by taking off from the ground while have slowly escaped from the sediment. running and shows that the dinosaur-like bird Archaeopteryx soared using wing- The researchers began to wonder how to account for the presence of these gas- like feathers on all of its limbs. es. Normally, ethane and propane are known as typical products of fossil fuel gen- "The discussions about the origins of avian flight have been dominated by the eration at elevated temperatures and pressure, without direct involvement of mi- so-called 'ground up' and 'trees down' hypotheses," Longrich said. "This paper crobes. In the PNAS article, the team argues that microbes played a key role in the puts forward some of the strongest evidence yet that birds descended from arbo- formation of these hydrocarbons. real parachuters and gliders, similar to modern flying squirrels." "Sediments contain organic material (the fossil remnant of oceanic plants and The first fossil of the Jurassic-era dinosaur Archaeopteryx lithographica was dis- animals)," Hinrichs explains. "This material, a key ingredient in the carbon cycle, is covered in Germany in 1861, two years after Charles Darwin published his theory the major food used by the deep biosphere. During its decomposition by microbes, of evolution in On The Origin of Species. Since then, eight additional specimens acetate--the ionic form of acetic acid--is formed. We think that bacteria use hydro- have been unearthed and Archaeopteryx is considered the best evidence that birds gen to convert acetate into ethane. Addition of inorganic carbon and hydrogen evolved from dinosaurs since it had both feathers and a bird-like wishbone, along provides a route to propane." with classic reptilian features of a long bony tail, claws and teeth.

39 11/14/2017 Although scientists immediately noticed feather-like structures on the hind material – that rendered it incapable of using song, its sexual signal, to attract fe- limbs, they were dismissed as insulating body feathers that didn't play a role in the male crickets, according to a new study by UC Riverside evolutionary biologists. animal's flight. It wasn't until several four- In addition, the researchers found that although the new male crickets' wings winged dinosaurs in China were described lack the file and scraper apparatus required for producing sound, the males are in 2002 that researchers began to re-ex- able to mate successfully with females, thus ensuring evolutionary success. They amine Archaeopteryx's legs. accomplish this by simply altering their behavior in an ingenious manner, suggest- "The idea of a multi-winged Ar- ing that behavior can help what may seem like a harmful mutation spread. chaeopteryx has been around for more The research team, led by Marlene Zuk, a professor of biology, found that than a century, but it hasn't received greater than 90 percent of male field crickets (Teleogryllus oceanicus) on Kauai much attention," Longrich said. "I believe shifted in less than 20 generations from having normal wings to mutated "flat one reason for this is that people tend to wings" that inhibit the crickets from calling. The mutation occurred, the re- see what they want or expect to see. Ev- searchers conclude, to protect male crickets from a deadly parasitic fly (Ormia erybody knows that birds don't have four ochracea) that uses the cricket song to locate crickets as hosts. wings, so we overlooked them even when Upon finding a male cricket, the fly deposits larvae onto it; these then burrow they were right under our noses." into the cricket, develop inside, and subsequently kill the cricket when they Under the supervision of professor Anthony Russell, Longrich examined Ar- emerge from its body. Of three Hawaiian Islands (Oahu, the Big Island of Hawaii, chaeopteryx fossils and determined that the dinosaur's leg feathers have an aero- and Kauai) where the cricket and fly co-occur, Kauai, where the rapid spread of dynamic structure that imply its rear limbs likely acted as lift-generating "winglets" this wing mutation in male crickets was observed, has the highest prevalence of that played a significant role in flight. the parasitic fly. Farmers Find a 4-Legged Chicken Study results appear in Biology Letters, a scientific journal of the Royal Society SOMERSET, Pa. (AP)-Henrietta the chicken was living inconspicuously among 36,000 in the United Kingdom, publishing short papers from across the biological sciences. other birds at Brendle Farms for 18 months-until a foreman noticed she had four "With each visit we made to Kauai since 1991, we observed fewer crickets," said legs. Zuk, the first author of the paper. "In 2001, we heard only one calling male. But "It's as healthy as the rest,'' the farm's owner, Mark Brendle, told The Daily then in 2003, although we heard none of the male crickets calling, we found they American. were not only in high abundance but nearly all of them also had female-like wings, Brendle's 13-year-old daughter, Ashley, named the chicken Henrietta after the lacking the fine structures needed to produce song." discovery Thursday. The bird has two normal front legs and, behind those, two The researchers also found that male cricket populations in Oahu and the Big Is- more feet. They are of a similar size to her front legs but don't function. The chick- land, as well as descendants from eggs collected on Kauai before 2003, continued en drags her extra feet behind her. to show normal wings. Only on Kauai were the mutated wings seen in male crick- In 30 years of farming, Brendle said, he's never before seen a chicken with four ets in 2003. legs. "Loss of calling clearly seems to be protecting the male crickets from the deadly There's no definitive reason why such deformities happen, said Cliff Thompson, fly," Zuk said. "But this protection has a heavy price: the loss of its sexual signal. a retired professor of genetics at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. He This is obviously a huge loss for the cricket, akin to, say, finding that all peacocks said it could be an accident of development, akin to a sixth toe on a cat. in a forest have lost their tails. One might Brendle said he jokingly suggested to his family that it sell Henrietta in an Inter- ask how then do female crickets locate net auction, but Ashley objected. silent flatwing males?" Crickets on Hawaiian Island develop silent wings in response to Zuk and colleagues propose that on parasitic attack Kauai, the flatwings – a term they use to Male crickets use ingenious means to mate with females after loss of sexual identify male crickets with mutated wings signal, UCR biologists find – behave as 'satellites' to the few remain- RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- In only a few generations, the male cricket on Kauai, one of the Hawaiian Islands, underwent a mutation – a sudden heritable change in its genetic 40 11/14/2017 ing male crickets that can call. By congregating near the callers, the flatwings en- Among its many effects in the body, IGF stimulates cells in the shaft of long able females to find and mate with them. bones to grow. Previous studies have demonstrated that people with short stature Parasitized male cricket. Credit: J. Rotenberry, UCR have significantly lower levels of IGF. Countries with taller women have higher To test their hypothesis, the biologists performed a field experiment that rates of twinning compared to countries with shorter women. demonstrated that the flatwings are using the callers as female attractors (for de- In the current study, Dr. Steinman compared the heights of 129 women who tails, see below). gave birth to identical or fraternal twins or triplets -- 105 had twins and 24 had "While we were surprised by the extraordinary speed at which the mutation triplets -- with the average height of women in the United States, as reported by spread, what is more interesting is that, ordinarily, you would expect such a the National Center for Health Statistics. The multiple-birth mothers averaged 5 change in wing morphology to quickly disappear, because males couldn't attract feet 5 inches tall, more than an inch taller than the U.S. average for adult females mates," Zuk said. "Instead, the behavior of the flatwings allows them to capitalize of about 5 feet 3 ¾ inches. While the effect of IGF on the ovaries likely involves on the few callers that remain, and thus escape the fly and still reproduce. This is fraternal, or dizygotic, twins, they were not distinguished from identical, or seeing evolution at work." monozygotic, pregnancies in this study. Dizygotic twin pregnancies account for Field experiment details: about two-thirds to three-quarters of all spontaneous multiple pregnancies in a The researchers performed experiments in which 2-meter radius circles were de- random population, therefore the results of this study predominantly, but not ex- lineated within the habitat of crickets on Oahu, the Big Island of Hawaii, and clusively, represent fraternal twins. Kauai. After removing and noting the sex, the wing type and the number of all In the previous study in his series on the mechanisms of twinning, Dr. Steinman crickets inside the circle, the researchers played an island-specific calling song found that women who consume animal products, specifically dairy, are five times from a speaker placed in the circle's center. After 20 minutes, the researchers not- more likely to have twins. Cows, like humans, produce IGF in response to growth ed the position, sex and wing structure of all crickets inside the circle, and mea- hormone and release it into the blood, and the IGF makes its way into their milk. sured the distance from all crickets to the speaker. Dr. Steinman has been invited to speak next month about IGF and twinning at the three- Comparing their observations made on the three islands, the researchers found day workshop "Milk, Hormones and Human Health." The meeting, to be held in Boston that on Kauai, the flatwings arrived much more quickly, and settled closer to the from Oct. 23-25, is sponsored by the Harvard Center for Cancer Prevention at the Harvard speaker, than normal-winged males on the other two islands, supporting the no- School of Public Health and the McGill University Centre for Cancer Prevention. tion that the new morphs are using the callers as female attractors. Dinosaurs' climate shifted too, reports show Study by LIJ obstetrician confirms taller women are more likely to BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Ancient rocks from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean suggest have twins dramatic climate changes during the dinosaur-dominated Mesozoic Era, a time once thought to have been monotonously hot and humid. NEW HYDE PARK, NY -- An obstetrician who specializes in multiple-birth pregnancies has confirmed that taller women are more likely to have twins. The suspected cul- In this month's Geology, scientists from Indiana University Bloomington and the prit is insulin-like growth factor, which has been positively linked to both height Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research present new evidence that ocean and twinning. By comparing the heights of women who had given birth to twins or surface temperatures varied as much as 6 degrees Celsius (about 11 degrees triplets with the average height of women in the United States, Gary Steinman, Fahrenheit) during the Aptian Epoch of the Cretaceous Period 120 million years MD, PhD, an attending physician at Long Island Jewish (LIJ) Medical Center, found ago. that the multiple-birth mothers averaged more than an inch taller. The study was The finding is relevant to the ongoing climate change discussion, IUB geologist published in the September issue of the Journal of Reproductive Medicine. Simon Brassell says, because it portrays an ancient Earth whose temperatures "Any circumstance that affects the amount of available insulin-like growth factor shifted erratically due to changes in carbon cycling and did so without human in- so as to modify the sensitivity of the ovary to follicle-stimulating hormone appears put. to govern the rate of spontaneous twinning," said Dr. Steinman. "Combined with data from the Atlantic, it appears clear that climate changes Insulin-like growth factor (IGF) is a protein that is released from the liver in re- were taking place on a global scale during this time period," said Brassell, who led sponse to growth hormone. It increases the sensitivity of the ovaries to follicle the study. stimulating hormone, thereby increasing ovulation. Some studies also suggest that A previous study from an Atlantic Ocean site had suggested a changeable cli- IGF may help embryos survive in the early stages of development. mate around the same time period. But it was not known whether the Atlantic data indicated regional climate change unique to the area or something grander.

41 11/14/2017 "We had virtually no data from the middle of the largest ocean at that time peri- specializes in the study of mummies. ''They have their own grave and in some cas- od," Brassell said. "The data we collected suggest significant global fluctuations in es they are buried with blankets and food.'' temperature." Guillen, director of the Centro Mallqui, the Bioanthropology Foundation of Peru, As part of the National Science Foundation's Ocean Drilling Project, the geosci- said the dogs are known as Chiribaya shepherds for their herding abilities. entists voyaged in 2001 to Shatsky Rise, a study site 1,600 kilometers (1,000 She and her team are trying to prove the Chiribaya dogs have Peruvian descen- miles) east of Japan and 3,100 meters below the ocean surface. Shatsky Rise is dants that can be classified as an original South American breed. known to have formed at the end of the Jurassic Period immediately prior to the ''This shepherd is still among us,'' she said. ''We have found very similar animals beginning of the Cretaceous, the last period of the Mesozoic Era. with the same characteristics in Peru's southern valleys and we are starting inves- The scientists' vessel, the JOIDES Resolution, is specially outfitted with a drill tigations to determine if we are dealing with a Peruvian dog.'' that can be lowered to the sea floor for the collection of rock samples. But some dog experts expressed caution. The drill bit was driven 566 meters into Shatsky Rise. Rocks freed by the drill Ermanno Maniero, who in 1985 achieved international recognition of the Peru- were transported directly to the surface for analysis. The rocks corresponding to vian hairless as a distinct breed that evolved over more than 2000 years from early Aptian time were extremely rich in organic material. By analyzing the carbon Asian ancestors brought across the Bering Strait, said Peru is full of breeds that ar- and nitrogen content of the samples, the geochemists found evidence for changes rived in recent centuries. in carbon cycling and in nitrogen fixation by ocean biological communities associ- ''We have found similar dogs'' to the Chiribaya shepherds, he said. ''But it is bet- ated with changing climate. A special analysis method targeting certain complex ter to take precautions before confirming the existence of a type of original ani- carbon-containing molecules provided values for a measurement called TEX86 that mal.'' revealed mean temperature variations between 30 deg C (86 deg F) and 36 deg C Ricardo Fujita, a genetics researcher at Lima's San Martin University, said the (97 deg F) with two prominent cooling episodes of approximately 4 deg C (7 deg physical traits suggests a link between today's' short-snouted, long-haired dogs F) in tropical surface temperatures during the early Aptian. By comparison, today's and their possible Chiribaya ancestors. But the jury is still out. tropical sea surface temperatures typically lie between 29 and 30 deg C. ''We are conducting DNA analysis on the ancient dogs to compare them to the Brassell says that findings of a changeable climate during the Cretaceous, a time new ones, but it will be months before there are results for a final verdict,'' he period dominated by dinosaurs and noted for the spread of flowering plants, could said. influence the current climate change debate. Rocket Set to Launch From N.M. Spaceport "One of the key challenges for us is trying to predict climate change," Brassell EL PASO, Texas (AP) -- After several delays, the first space-bound rocket is set to said. "If there are big, inherent fluctuations in the system, as paleoclimate studies launch from a southern New Mexico spaceport. are showing, it could make determining Earth's climatic future even harder than it UP Aerospace plans to launch a SpaceLoft XL rocket early Monday from Space- is. We're learning our climate, throughout time, has been a wild beast." port America in Upham, N.M., about 95 miles northwest of El Paso. The 13-minute Ancient Pet Cemeteries Found in Peru suborbital flight, among the first from a commercial spaceport in the United LIMA, Peru (AP) -- Even in ancient Peru, it seems dogs were a man's best friend. Pe- States, will hurtle 50 experimental and other payloads about 70 miles above Earth. ruvian investigators have discovered a pre-Columbian culture of dog lovers who SpaceShipOne was the first privately manned rocket to reach space in a 2004 built pet cemeteries and buried their pets with warm blankets and even treats for suborbital flight from the Mojave Desert Airport in California. the afterlife. The rocket to be launched Monday is expected to land at White Sands Missile ''They are dogs that were thanked and recognized for their social and familial Range, about 33 miles northeast of the Upham launch site. contribution,'' anthropologist Sonia Guillen said. ''These dogs were not sacrificed.'' Eric Knight, Connecticut-based UP Aerospace CEO, said Monday's flight will also Since 1993, researchers have unearthed 82 dog tombs in pet cemetery plots, mark the first time the public has ''direct access to space.'' laid alongside human mummy tombs of the Chiribaya people in the fertile Osmore He said payload space on one of his rockets range in price from a few hundred River valley, 540 miles southeast of Lima. The Chiribaya were farmers who lived dollars to tens of thousands of dollars, depending on the size. Each SpaceLoft XL from A.D. 900 to 1350 before the rise of Peru's Inca Empire. rocket can hold about 110 pounds of cargo. ''We have found that in all the cemeteries, always, in between the human tombs Several other UP Aerospace flights have been scheduled for later this year, in- there are others dedicated to the dogs, full-grown and puppies,'' said Guillen, who cluding an Oct. 21 flight that is expected to carry the ashes of James Doohan, who gained worldwide notoriety for his portrayal of chief engineer Montgomery 42 11/14/2017 ''Scotty'' Scott on the original ''Star Trek'' TV series, Mercury astronaut Gordon Also, as with many proposals for cell therapy, the replacement cells are liable to Cooper, and several other people. be damaged in time by whatever disease process killed the patient’s cells. Dr. The Upham launch site is also the planned home of a state-built $225 million Adams said macular degeneration was probably caused by a mix of environmental spaceport. Richard Branson, the British billionaire founder of the Virgin Group, an- and genetic factors. Even if replacement cells should also fall victim to the disease, nounced plans last year to headquarter his space tourism company, Virgin Galac- he said, they may buy the patient extra time and be a valuable treatment. tic, in New Mexico and launch flights from the spaceport by the end of this Tan stimulant may bronze even the fairest skins decade. John Pickrell Human Stem Cells Are Found to Help Rats’ Vision Could it be goodbye to the porcelain-skinned English Rose? A paint-on treat- By NICHOLAS WADE ment has been developed that may one day allow a real tan without sun, for even Pointing the way to a possible clinical use of human embryonic stem cells, re- very fair skins. The key chemical, a plant extract called forskolin, protected mice searchers have improved vision in rats suffering from a disease similar to age-re- against UV rays and allowed them to develop a natural tan by stimulating pigmen- lated macular degeneration. t-producing cells called melanocytes. The scientists, at Oregon Health and Science University, used human embryonic The ability to tan is largely controlled by a hormone called melanocyte-stimulat- stem cells that had spontaneously converted into the special cells that line the ing hormone, which binds to the melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R) on the outside of base of the retina. The cells, which support the light-sensing rod and cone cells melanocytes. Many people with with red hair and fair skin have a defect in this re- above them, are damaged in some forms of macular degeneration. ceptor, meaning they find it almost impossible to tan and are prone to skin cancer. A group led by Raymond Lund says members injected these human cells into John D'Orazio of the University of Kentucky College of Medicine in Lexington, the retina of a special breed of rat in which the retina degenerates shortly after US, used depilated mice with defective MC1Rs to show that applying forskolin to birth. The cells rescued the rats’ vision, as judged by several tests, for three the skin can restore their ability to produce the skin pigment melanin. When it was months after birth, the researchers report today in the journal Cloning and Stem applied for four weeks before mice were exposed to UV light, they were subse- Cells. quently able to tan. The injected human cells seemed to behave as retinal cells should, and the In a second experiment, a particularly cancer-prone strain of mice, also bred to treated rats retained some six layers of rods and cones in their retinas, as much as lack effective MC1Rs, were exposed to the equivalent of 1 to 2 hours of midday half the normal value. Florida sunlight each day for 20 weeks. Nine control mice developed 11 tumours The human retinal lining cells, derived from different cultures of embryonic stem and showed other evidence of skin damage, while nine mice treated with forskolin cells, were supplied by Advanced Cell Technology, a company with laboratories in developed just six tumours. Their skin also showed less evidence of damage (Na- Worcester, Mass. Dr. Neal Adams of the Wilmer Eye Institute in Baltimore said the ture, vol 443, p 340). development was important and “shows us some of the hope that regenerative "We see no logical reason why it shouldn't work in humans too," says D'Orazio, medicine possesses.” But many more stages lie ahead before any clinical test of although no clinical trials have yet taken place. Because forskolin stimulates the cells in patients with macular degeneration could be tried, Dr. Adams added. melanin production, it could give fair-skinned people a natural tan that would also Macular degeneration is a good candidate for embryonic stem cell therapy, at afford some protection from the sun. Unlike UV-blocking creams, the forskolin tan least in principle, because the eye is not closely monitored by the immune system. would have the added benefit of not washing off. So cells from another individual could be grafted with lesser risk of rejection than Since forskolin has also been shown to cause a degree of tanning in mice with at other sites. normal MC1Rs, it might allow sunless tanning for all skin types, says D'Orazio. A bank of retinal cells derived from 100 embryonic stem cells of different im- NASA officials to make historic trip to China munological backgrounds should suffice to provide a good match to most of the Kelly Young American population, said Robert Lanza of Advanced Cell Technology. A group of NASA officials is about to begin a historic trip to China in an effort to Although the experiment suggests a possible treatment for age-related macular establish preliminary ties between the Chinese and US space programmes. degeneration, a disease that affects one-third of the population older than 75, "No NASA administrator has been to China," NASA Administrator Michael Griffin many uncertainties remain to be addressed. The disease treated in the rats is said after the recent launch of the space shuttle Atlantis. "We have never had any caused by a genetic defect and is not exactly the same as the human disease. significant discussions with China about space."

43 11/14/2017 China joined the space elite when it became the third nation to launch its own Scientists examining mastodon skeletons found a type of bone damage in sever- crewed rocket in 2003 (see Confident China joins space elite). al of the animal's foot bones that is unique to sufferers of tuberculosis. The dis- Laiyan Sun, the administrator of the China National Space Administration, invit- ease would have weakened and crippled the animals, making them more vulnera- ed Griffin to make the trip, which lasts from Saturday to Thursday. Griffin will visit ble to humans and climate change, two factors that scientists have long speculat- Beijing and Shanghai and tour aerospace facilities around the country. ed were behind their extinction in North America. It is not clear exactly what sort of cooperation will come of the trip, however. Mastodons were ancient elephants that resembled mammoths, but were shorter Despite the fact that China has repeatedly asked to participate in the International and less hairy. Both species lived in North America and disappeared mysteriously, Space Station, the US has always refused. along with other large mammals, around the time of the last major Ice Age about Some have argued this is because of a reluctance to share technologies that 10,000 years ago. might be co-opted for military purposes, but others say it is simply down to poli- A crippling disease tics, with space the last bastion of Cold War thinking. Researchers Bruce Rothschild of the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of For his part, Griffin is keeping expectations low. "This is a get-acquainted ses- Medicine and Richard Laub of the Buffalo Museum of Science in New York looked sion, and it is nothing more, and to characterise it as anything more would be to at 113 mastodon skeletons and found signs of tuberculosis in 59 of them. That's create expectations that would be possibly embarrassing to us or embarrassing to 52 percent. China, and none of us wants to do that," Griffin said about a week ago. Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection that commonly infects the lungs. It can also "We want to use this visit to get acquainted and look for and maybe consider affect other parts of the body, including organs and bones. In humans, only about opportunities where we could work together," he said. 1 to 7 percent of infected individuals develop bone damage. The fact that more NASA's Associate Administrator for Space Operations, Bill Gerstenmaier; Assis- than half of the mastodon skeletons examined had the bone lesions suggests tu- tant Administrator for External Relations, Michael O'Brien and astronaut Shannon berculosis was a "hyperdisease" that afflicted a large percentage of the North Lucid will join Griffin on the journey. American mastodon population. Snooze your way to high test scores When tuberculosis infects bone, it creates a tell-tale type of damage in which If you are trying to commit something to memory, take a nap. Even a short day- bone beneath cartilage is carved out, or "excavated." time snooze could help you learn. The infected mastodons were different ages and sizes and came from all over A good night's sleep is known to improve people's ability to learn actions such North America. They lived at different times, too. The disease appears to have as mirror writing. REM sleep, when most dreaming occurs, is thought to be partic- struck the creatures as early as 34,000-years-ago and persisted in the species until ularly important. as recently as 10,000- years-ago. The role of sleep in factual learning has been less clear. Now Matthew Tucker at That the disease was widespread and yet persisted for so long in the species The City University of New York and his colleagues have shown that even a nap suggests it was not immediately lethal, Rothschild said. Instead, it was probably a with no REM sleep can help. chronic disease, one that gradually weakened rather than killed the animals. Volunteers were told to memorise pairs of words (a test of factual learning) and Mastadon stressors to practise tracing images in a mirror (action learning). When they were tested In humans, tuberculosis can lay dormant for several years after initial infection, straight afterwards and 6 hours later, those who had been allowed a nap of up to repressed by the body's own immune system. But it can flare up into full-blown 1 hour before the re-test scored 15 per cent better in the factual test than the disease during times of stress. A similar flare-up probably happened with the non-nappers, but no better in the action test (Neurobiology of Learning and Mem- mastodons during times of stress, Rothschild said. ory, vol 86, p 241). Mastadons living at the end of the last Ice Age had reasons to be stressed. They "Traditionally, time devoted to daytime napping has been considered counter- faced not only a drastically changing world brought about by rapid climate change, productive," the researchers say. It now seems sleep is "an important mechanism but also the arrival of a new threat: weapon-wielding humans that hunted them for memory formation". for food. Tuberculosis Helped Bring Down Mastodons Together, these three factors-disease, climate change and humans-might have By Ker Than LiveScience Staff Writer been too much for the creatures. Weakened by tuberculosis, the beasts would A tuberculosis pandemic among an ancient mammoth-like creature probably have been less able to ward off other diseases, and the crippling bone damage contributed to the great beasts' demise, a new study suggests. would have affected their ability to walk. 44 11/14/2017 "Extinction is usually not a one-phenomenon event," Rothschild told LiveScience. These stem cells performed normally on a series of tests, Stojkovic said in a A route of infection telephone interview. But how did North American mastodons first get tuberculosis, a disease whose He said he did not know whether the result indicated a solution to ethical con- first known documentation is in a 500,000-year-old buffalo in China? cerns about embryonic stem cells. The point of the research was to show that Rothschild thinks he knows the answer. In a separate study, he and Larry Martin such embryos provide an additional source of the cells beyond healthy embryos, from the Natural History Museum in Kansas found similar tuberculosis-caused bone rather than to set up any kind of a competition, he said. Both sources should be damage in North American bovids, a group of animals that included bison, musk used, he said. oxen and bighorn sheep. Dr. Donald W. Landry, director of the division of experimental therapeutics at Tuberculosis appears to have been just as prevalent in the bovids as in the the Columbia University Medical Center in New York, who proposed the idea of mastodons, but the record of infection for this group of animals stretches back getting stem cells from arrested embryos in 2004, called the work an important much further-at least 75,000 years. addition to the field. Bison and other bovids are believed to have originated in Asia and crossed into "Regardless of how you feel about personhood for embryos, if the embryo is North America using the Bering Land Bridge, which connected the two continents. dead, then the issue of personhood is resolved," Landry said. Humans made the same journey much later. "This then reduces the ethics of human embryonic stem cell generation to the The researchers speculate that some of the bovids were probably already infect- ethics of, say, organ donation. So now you're really saying, `Can we take live cells ed with tuberculosis when they migrated into the New World. Once in North Amer- from dead embryos the way we take live organs from dead patients?'" ica, the bovids could have spread to mastodons and other species, possibly even Landry is part of a consortium that is pursuing the approach. humans, Rothschild said. But others said the approach fails to solve the ethical problems. Both the mastodon and bovid studies will be detailed in upcoming issues of the There is no way to prove that an arrested embryo would have stopped growing science journal Naturwissenchaften. if it had been put into a woman's womb rather than a lab dish, said Robin Lovel- Stem Cells Made From 'Dead' Human Embryo l-Badge of the Medical Research Council's National Institute for Medical Research By MALCOLM RITTER in London. So that leaves open the possibility that it was the lab conditions that NEW YORK - Scientists say they have created a stem cell line from a human embryo halted their growth, he said. that had stopped developing naturally, and so was considered dead. Using such The Rev. Tad Pacholczyk, director of education for the National Catholic embryos might ease ethical concerns about creating such cells, they suggested. Bioethics Center in Philadelphia, said he believed an embryo may not be dead if in- One expert said the technique makes harvesting stem cells no more ethically dividual cells are still alive and able to create stem cell lines. troublesome than organ donation. But others said it still carries scientific and ethi- Landry says an embryo is dead if its cells irreversibly stop working together to cal problems. function as a single organism. But even under that definition, Pacholczyk said, sci- Scientists want to use human embryonic stem cells to study diseases and create entists know too little about early embryos to discern when one is truly dead. transplant tissue for treating illnesses such as diabetes and Parkinson's disease. Dr. George Daley of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute said the new paper's ap- Such cells are taken from human embryos that are a few days old, and the har- proach also raises a scientific concern: Stem cells from arrested embryos might vesting process destroys the embryo. That raises ethical objections. carry the risk of some undetected defect. The new work, published online Thursday by the journal Stem Cells, comes from "If there was something wrong with the embryo that made it arrest, isn't there Miodrag Stojkovic of the Prince Felipe Research Center in Valencia, Spain, with col- something wrong with these cells?" that could cause problems with their use, he leagues there and in England. asked. "We don't know." They studied embryos donated by an in vitro fertilization clinic with consent of On the Net: Stem Cells journal: http://stemcells.alphamedpress.org the patients. Part of the work focused on 132 "arrested" embryos, those that had NASA Chief in China to Discuss Space Cooperation stopped dividing for 24 or 48 hours after reaching various stages of development. By WARREN LEARY Thirteen of these embryos had developed more than the others, reaching 16 to WASHINGTON - The leader of NASA arrives in China on Sunday for a tour of space 24 cells before cell division stopped. Scientists were able to create a stem cell line agency sites, making him the most senior American space official to go to China to from just one of these embryos. discuss possible cooperation between the countries’ programs.

45 11/14/2017 Michael D. Griffin, the administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Ad- sending a robotic orbiter next year, a lunar rover in 2012 and a lander that would ministration, has repeatedly cautioned that the tour, which will include Beijing, return a moon sample to Earth in 2017. While there are no immediate plans to do Shanghai and a desert launching site in Gansu Province, will be an exploratory visit so, Chinese officials also have expressed interest in sending humans to the moon. that will not result in any bilateral space agreements or formal partnerships. Vincent G. Sabathier, a senior fellow on space issues at the Center for Strategic “This is a get-acquainted visit that has no preconditions to it,” he said recently. and International Studies in Washington, said that in the past, the United States “We are going to see things and meet people, and see where that takes us.” had tried to contain Chinese ambitions in space but that this was no longer possi- China is the third country, after the United States and Russia, to have sent hu- ble. China has major space agreements with Russia, Europe and most other na- mans into space. It has been seeking more international cooperation in aerospace tions with space programs, and is clearly striving to have a major role in the area, projects, but the United States has been reluctant. Much of China’s program is run he said. by the military, raising concerns about possible technology transfers or other na- “The Chinese are going their way and have a strategy in place,” Mr. Sabathier tional security issues for any such cooperation. said. “They want to work with the United States and be accepted as a major play- Working with China in space has also been hampered by other issues under dis- er, and the U.S. is obviously now seeing some potential in working with them, cussion by the two nations, like weapons proliferation, trade agreements, patent which explains Mr. Griffin’s trip.” and trademark enforcement, and human rights, said a senior adviser at NASA, Mr. Sabathier and other experts said the composition of Mr. Griffin’s team, in- who spoke on condition that he not be identified. cluding the head of NASA’s human space flight program and Ms. Lucid, whose five Recently, though, the American position has begun to shift. When Chinese trips to space included a long stay aboard the Russian Mir space station, suggests space officials invited the previous NASA administrator, Sean O’Keefe, to visit their that some type of cooperation in space may be under consideration. operations two years ago, nothing came of the overture. However, when President Hu Jintao of China visited the United States in April and made the same request of Mr. Griffin, President Bush accepted the invitation. “There has been a policy decision by the Bush White House to do this,” said John Logsdon, the director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University. “It’s part of an effort to engage China, to open a dialogue that may in- fluence their policies in other areas. But it’s starting slowly and deliberately.” Accompanying Mr. Griffin on the trip is William Gerstenmaier, the associate ad- ministrator for space operations, Michael F. O’Brien, the assistant administrator for external relations, and Shannon Lucid, a veteran astronaut. Ms. Lucid, who is the daughter of Baptist missionaries, was born in Shanghai and is returning to China for the first time since her childhood. The group will meet Sun Laiyan, the administrator of the China National Space Administration in Beijing and tour aerospace operations and science centers there before going to Shanghai to visit space manufacturing plants there. Also scheduled on the five-day trip is a visit to the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Cen- ter, an extensive rocket-launching complex from which the Chinese prepare and fly their manned spacecraft. The Chinese launched their first manned spacecraft, Shenzhou, in October 2003, sending one astronaut into orbit for a day. In 2005, a Shenzhou with a two-person crew spent five days in orbit. Chinese authorities said their third mission, set for fall 2007, will send up three astronauts and will include spacewalks. This year, Chinese officials visiting the United States outlined their plans for an extensive program of manned and unmanned programs, including orbiting a small, staffed space station by 2015 and establishing a moon program that includes

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