Casa Nova Lima by Marcelo Montoro

 

Posted by Erin on October 24th, 2014

Architectural photographer Gustavo Xavier has sent us images of the recently completed Casa Nova Lima. The home located in Nova Lima, Brazil, was designed by architect Marcelo Montoro with interiors by Patricia Salles.

 

 

From the architects

Luxury and exuberance are the right words to describe this house in Nova Lima, 22 km from Belo Horizonte, capital of Minas Gerais, Brazil.

The project was developed by S+A Brazil, under the leadership of Architect Marcelo Montoro, and in partnership with Piantina Architecture, responsible for the interior design project. The house is divided in four distinct blocks, interconnected through a special steel material, coated with reflective glass. In the middle lays a large garden and a pool. Block 1 is divided in 8 suites, a studio and a restroom; on Block 2, the social area consists of a home cinema room and a heated swimming pool. Block 3 is composed by a kitchen, a spa and a playing area. Block 4 is reserved for home employees including an independent residence. Outside there is a swimming pool, a tennis court and a playground. The exterior walls are handmade with a local stone (Canga de Minérios) of intense red color that multiplies under sunlight.

Architect: Marcelo Montoro (S+A Brazil)
Interior design: Patrícia Salles (Piantina Architecture)

Photography by © Gustavo Xavier

Hidden truth about the health of homeless people

 

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As many as 4 million Europeans and 3•5 million people living in the USA experience homelessness every year, and the numbers are rising. Homeless people "are the sickest in our society," but just treating ill health might not be enough to help get people off the streets, according to a new two-part Series on homelessness in high-income countries, published in The Lancet.

The Series highlights that being homeless is not only bad for your physical and mental health but also has dramatic effects on life expectancy. Rates of tuberculosis infection, for example, are at least 20 times higher in the homeless population than the general population [page 5, table 2], while rates of depression are up to seven times higher in the homeless population and similar to levels of psychosis.

Homeless people are also two to five times more likely to die prematurely than the general population, especially from suicide and unintentional injuries. However, despite an expansion of services, this increased risk of death has remained similar over the past 20 years.

"Homeless people are the sickest in our society. The evidence on disease rates is very concerning not only for drug and alcohol abuse but also for a range of infectious diseases, heart disease and other age-related chronic conditions, and mental health disorders. The evidence shows that homeless people are old decades before the rest of the population because of their poor health," says Seena Fazel, lead author of the first paper and Professor of Forensic Psychiatry at the University of Oxford in the UK.

Across the European Union 400,000 individuals, and in the USA 600,000 people, are homeless on any given night. Figures from the past 5 years suggest that the number of homeless people is continuing to rise, and the number of children and families who are homeless has increased substantially. Therefore, the importance of tackling this issue is greater than ever, say the authors.

Homeless people use the most expensive acute health-care services, such as accident and emergency care, and need longer hospital stays than people with homes. In the UK, for example, homeless people are around four times more likely to use emergency hospital services than the general population, costing the National Health Service around £85 million a year.

So what can be done to prevent adverse health outcomes? While national and state-wide targets to improve the health of homeless people should be introduced (eg, for the identification and management of infectious diseases, mental illness, and diseases of old age), the Series also calls for health-care providers to advocate for changes to the social policies and structural factors that result in homelessness, including the lack of affordable housing and employment opportunities for low-skilled workers.

Examples of integrated services across high-income countries are already bridging the gap between homelessness and health services, showing what can be achieved. In the USA, for example, "Housing First" programmes that provide housing and support services for homeless individuals with severe mental illness or substance abuse problems not only improve lives but can also reduce health-care and social service costs. Medical respite programmes for homeless patients leaving hospital reduce the risk of readmission and the number of days spent in hospital [page 3, panel 1].

However, these examples are not the norm and much more needs to be done, says lead author of the second paper Dr Stephen Hwang from St Michael's Hospital in Toronto, Canada: "It needs to be recognised that preventing homelessness, by creating more opportunities for housing, work, education, and health care during high risk periods, such as being discharged from institutional care, psychiatric hospital or prisons to the community, could effectively reduce homelessness and makes sound economic sense."

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Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by The Lancet. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Stephen W Hwang, Tom Burns. Health interventions for people who are homeless. The Lancet, 2014; 384 (9953): 1541 DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(14)61133-8

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New methods for maintaining the quality of minimally processed potatoes for 14 days, without the use of sulphites

 

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A graduate in Food Science and Technology, has proposed alternatives to the use of sulphites in potatoes, one of the main preservatives currently used and which, among other properties, prevents the browning that appears after peeling and/or cutting certain foods.

Today, one speaks of fourth range or minimally processed products to refer to fresh fruit and vegetables that have been washed, cut up and packaged before they are marketed.

As this researcher explained, "a few years ago it was discovered that sulphites could cause health problems in certain sectors of the population, so their use was banned in foods that could be consumed directly, like fruit and vegetables. In the case of potatoes, which are not eaten raw, sulphites continue to be used, so my thesis has focussed on finding alternative substances."

The thesis is entitled "Estudio de estrategias para la conservación de patatas (cv.Monalisa) mínimamente procesadas" (Study of strategies to preserve minimally processed potatoes [cv. Monalisa]). The study assessed various preserving techniques as alternatives to the use of sulphites to maintain the quality of minimally processed potatoes stored for a fortnight at 4 degrees Celsius. To prevent the product turning brown, natural solutions and/or their by-products were used. When monitoring the browning, the results indicated that "both the solution combining 4-Hexylresorcinol with ascorbic acid and the extracts of green tea and garlic studied can be used as anti-browning agents for preservation purposes in a refrigerated state over a 14-day period." As regards the texture modifiers studied, used in combination with the selected anti-browning solution, "a short, low-temperature thermal shock was used which maintained product quality over at least 14 days."

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Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by Basque Research. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Gloria Bobo-García, Gabriel Davidov-Pardo, Cristina Arroqui, Paloma Vírseda, María R Marín-Arroyo, Montserrat Navarro. Intra-laboratory validation of microplate methods for total phenolic content and antioxidant activity on polyphenolic extracts, and comparison with conventional spectrophotometric methods. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 2014; DOI: 10.1002/jsfa.6706

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15 Tweaks to Make Your Website More Appealing to Your Visitors

 

Wouldn’t it be awesome if a simple tweak on your website could gain you thousand more fans? Now imagine a few more tweaks and getting a hundred thousand fans! The good thing is, this happens for real and it can be done in a day.

Today, we will be learning some of these tricks to help you draw more traffic to your website.

 

Why Promotion and Visuals Matter

You can create great content, but if your website layout and visuals are not arranged well, you won’t see a large amount of traffic. However, by tweaking the design of your site, you have now started down a strategic path in your content marketing.

Tuning the site, optimizing the content and sharing strategically can do a lot for your conversions. Start with a simple plan and an achievable goal in mind. Once you start creating purposeful content that is featured on a well-thought out site, you will see everything improving.

 

15 Simple Tweaks

#1 Use a Relevant and Clean Header

A relevant and clean header implies professionalism. So skip the cheap freelancers and instead hire professional agencies to design your header and logos. Get rid of any unnecessary lines or visuals in your header. Make sure the font is readable as well.

Remember, the header is the aspect of your site that will establish a first impression. Here’s a simple and decluttered header and logo from laissez-faire. The header is clean and easy to look at and the logo tell the audience what they need to know about the company; you’re dealing with a website wherein food is its business.

Here’s an example from getorganizedwizard. The header itself contains everything one needs to know about the site. It’s clean with some varying styles used for the font. The use of a digitally drawn image of the website’s author also adds a bit of fun and character to the header.

#2 Offer a Live Chat or 24/7 Call Line

Live chat and 24/7 services can be tedious but it’s one way to draw in traffic. (Note: you don’t have to impliment every tweak we mention, just try the ones that are feasible for you).

Here’s an example from WardyIt , who offers a 24/7 global consulting service for immediate needs.

#3 Keep Navigation (Menus) Simple and Clear

Some navigation menus may try to be as creative and unique as possible by changing the usual format into new and different options. However, visitors are more likely to look for something familiar that they always encounter. For example, you may say “Hit Me Up” just to be a little different, but the simple and clear line “Contact Me” will still get the better convert. These are the specific words viewers will actively search for if trying to contact the site.

Also make sure that the menus at the top of your page are minimal and decluttered. Stick with 6-7 navigational pages so as to not to overwhelm visitors.

Our Xen main site has only 5 menus at the top. The text is readable and easy on the eyes. It only includes the essentials which are the Home, Services, Blog, About and Contact pages.

#4 Optimize your Home Page

Your homepage is your battle front. There are many things you can do to optimize it for better converts. Use the right font, and no more than 2 or 3 different types. Use readable text. The homg page should tell your visitors right away what’s in store for them.

#5 Use your Sidebar

Although sidebars aren’t a must for every website, they can be a lot of help in many situations. Sidebars can support your goal and get you a bit more traffic than usual. Include in your sidebar some lead generation tools and your most popular posts or services.

Here’s an ingenious way to use a sidebar from Health365. Here, it is utilized as an interactive chart. The visitors may choose the body part they are having problems with, then the list of conditions will appear. The conditions are linked to further detailed discussion. Under the interactive chart is the Newsletter Subscription call.

#6 Enhance your Other Pages

You can’t just focus on your homepage and expect it to do all of the work. Your succeeding pages should grab attention too. For each page, use headlines that will compel readers. Simple and clear is always the best for this. For your “About” page, add photos if appropriate to your company but make sure they’re professional ones. In the “Contact” page, make sure you exhaust all the possibilities and ways that they can contact you (email, phone, social media).

Laissezfaire has a good way of presenting their “About Us” page with fun yet professional photos, see it here.

#7 Add Video Content

Most audiences are looking for visual content. Encorporating videos on your site is a good way to get out of having too much text. Watch a video and you’ll get the whole point. Whether the videos are promotional or testimonial, it can draw in more traffic.

#8 Go Global

This tweak can get expensive, but what’s a couple of dollars for worldwide audience traffic? The usual websites we access are all in English. However, there’s a bigger potential among non-English speaking countries if you are able to venture into that. There are available translation management system on the web to get multilingual options. You can potentially increase your market by 200% once you cater translation needs.

Here is a sample of a multilingual site offering three languages.

#9 Make Load Time Faster

Load time can make or break your site. Websites that takes more seconds than necessary are often abandoned by visitors. You may test your speed with Google speed insight. It can also offer you ways to make your website “lose some weight” in order to run faster.

#10 Choose a Responsive Design

Responsive design means your viewers can view your website on any device but will still get the same quality. The responsiveness is available in your CMS features. However, some other themes can offer more. But of course you can choose yours to be coded directly.

#11 Post Consumer Reviews

Consumer reviews are a big factor in drawing traffic to your site. In the past, word of mouth was the best advertisement. Now, the word of an influencer and a big client can give your business the boost it needs.

Take a look at these testimonials on the Bulletproof site. The testimonials were from reputable people and organization and even a government department.

#12 Design Everything for Humans

This seems pretty straight-forward, right? Well, a lot of web sites are designed with search engine optimization in mind, rather than a human audience. Remember that your audience is still human. Use color and highlight clickable links. It should be easily navigatable and screen friendly.

#13 Use White Space

Taking up every space on your homepage or any page isn’t advisable. Giving your readers space to rest their eyes should be considered.  Minimize clutter and don’t cram everything into your sidebar. Opt out of tag cloud, other blogs you follow and insignificant ads.

See how Elcom has used white space.

#14 Place Opt-in Forms in the Right Places

Your opt-in forms should be placed at the top part of the site, under the each blog post, in the sidebar. Another options is a pop-up.

#15 Use the Right Colors

Website colors have a psychological effect on your visitors. You can’t just use any color and get away with it. Have you ever wondered why Facebook, PayPal and Twitter (not to mention countless other popular websites) all use blue? It’s because it cultivates trust. Here’s a few other examples of color meanings:

Green- call to action.

Orange- impulse.

Yellow- fun, friendly, playful.

black – luxury, value, power.

Indigo- sincerity, integrity.

So you see, most of these tricks are fairly reasonable and easy to do. Who’d have thought that simple colors can draw in more traffic? Or that simplifying everything can help in your conversion rates?

Human psychology works in complicated ways, and this is especially true on the Internet. Marketing and advertising fully rely on this to draw in consumers. In today’s digital world, human psychology has taken some complicated turns. As a marketer, however, there’s no need to worry if you have all the answers to successful website design at the tips of your fingers, or at the click of your mouse.

Growing a blood vessel in a week

 

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The technology for creating new tissues from stem cells has taken a giant leap forward. Two tablespoons of blood are all that is needed to grow a brand new blood vessel in just seven days.

The technology for creating new tissues from stem cells has taken a giant leap forward. Three tablespoons of blood are all that is needed to grow a brand new blood vessel in just seven days. This is shown in a new study from Sahlgrenska Acadedmy and Sahlgrenska University Hospital published in EBioMedicine.

Just three years ago, a patient at Sahlgrenska University Hospital received a blood vessel transplant grown from her own stem cells.

Suchitra Sumitran-Holgersson, Professor of Transplantation Biology at Sahlgrenska Academy, and Michael Olausson, Surgeon/Medical Director of the Transplant Center and Professor at Sahlgrenska Academy, came up with the idea, planned and carried out the procedure.

Missing a vein

Professors Sumitran-Holgersson and Olausson have published a new study in EBioMedicine based on two other transplants that were performed in 2012 at Sahlgrenska University Hospital. The patients, two young children, had the same condition as in the first case -- they were missing the vein that goes from the gastrointestinal tract to the liver.

"Once again we used the stem cells of the patients to grow a new blood vessel that would permit the two organs to collaborate properly," Professor Olausson says.

This time, however, Professor Sumitran-Holgersson, found a way to extract stem cells that did not necessitate taking them from the bone marrow.

"Drilling in the bone marrow is very painful," she says. "It occurred to me that there must be a way to obtain the cells from the blood instead."

The fact that the patients were so young fueled her passion to look for a new approach. The method involved taking 25 milliliter (approximately 2 tablespoons) of blood, the minimum quantity needed to obtain enough stem cells.

Blood willingly cooperates

Professor Sumitran-Holgersson's idea turned out to surpass her wildest expectations -- the extraction procedure worked perfectly the very first time.

"Not only that, but the blood itself accelerated growth of the new vein," Professor Sumitran-Holgersson says. "The entire process took only a week, as opposed to a month in the first case. The blood contains substances that naturally promote growth."

More groups of patients can benefit

Professors Olausson and Sumitran-Holgersson have treated three patients so far. Two of the three patients are still doing well and have veins that are functioning as they should. In the third case the child is under medical surveillance and the outcome is more uncertain.

They researchers have now reached the point that they can avoid taking painful blood marrow samples and complete the entire process in the matter of a week.

"We believe that this technological progress can lead to dissemination of the method for the benefit of additional groups of patients, such as those with varicose veins or myocardial infarction, who need new blood vessels," Professor Holgersson says. "Our dream is to be able to grow complete organs as a way of overcoming the current shortage from donors."

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Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by University of Gothenburg. The original article was written by Krister Svahn. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Michael Olausson, Vijay Kumar Kuna, Galyna Travnikova, Henrik Bäckdahl, Pradeep B. Patil, Robert Saalman, Helena Borg, Anders Jeppsson, Suchitra Sumitran-Holgersson. In vivo application of tissue-engineered veins using autologous peripheral whole blood: A proof of concept study. EBioMedicine, 2014; DOI: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2014.09.001

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+1 Bate-papo ao cair da noite

 

Essa quantidade de visualizações em termos comparativos,  não sei o que representa. Mas em termos absolutos é uma grande VITÓRIA. Palmas para mim……

Um bate papo ao cair da noite…

 

 

Pintei esta cabeça de cavalo em 1985, utilizando tinta PVA, (polivinyl acetato) aquela usada para pintar paredes.

É preciso ser esperto porque a tinta seca muito rápido, mais ainda do que tinta acrílica para pintura de quadros.  A vantagem é que se pode conseguir uma imensa variedade de tons, que se consegue no momento do trabalho. Só se pode trabalhar com pincéis de cerda dura, de várias larguras, para se conseguir um bom resultado.  Outra vantagem é que é utilizado somente tinta e água, e o resultado final é semelhante ao de uma pintura à óleo, depois de envernizado. 

Beetroot beneficial for athletes, heart failure patients, research finds

 

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Football teams are claiming it improves their athletic performance, and according to new research from Kansas State University, it also benefits heart failure patients. The special ingredient: beetroot.

Recently, the Auburn University football team revealed its pregame ritual of taking beetroot concentrate, or beet juice, before each game. The juice may have contributed to the team's recent winning season -- and one exercise physiologist who has been studying the supplement for several years says that may be the case.

"Our research, published in the journal Physiology in 2013, has shown that the nitrate found in beetroot concentrate increases blood flow to skeletal muscles during exercise," said David Poole, professor of exercise kinesiology and anatomy and physiology at Kansas State University.

The researchers' latest study, "Microvascular oxygen pressures in muscles comprised of different fiber types: Impact of dietary nitrate supplementation," was published in the Journal of Nitric Oxide, Biology and Chemistry. This work provides the basis for how beetroot juice may benefit football players by preferentially increasing blood flow to fast-twitch muscle fibers -- the ones used for explosive running. This work was performed by Poole; Scott Ferguson, doctoral student in anatomy and physiology; and Timothy Musch, professor of exercise kinesiology and anatomy and physiology, all at Kansas State University.

In addition to improving athletic performance, the research also found that beetroot juice can improve the quality of life for heart failure patients.

"Remember, for every one football player in the United States, there are many thousands of heart failure patients that would benefit from this therapy," Poole said. "It's a big deal because even if you can only increase oxygen delivery by 10 percent, that can be the difference between a patient being wheelchair-bound versus getting up and walking around and interacting with his or her family."

The benefits of beetroot come from the nitrate found within it. The amount of nitrate in one 70-milliliter bottle of beetroot juice is about the same amount found in 100 grams of spinach.

"When consumed, nitrate is reduced in the mouth by bacteria into nitrite," Ferguson said. "The nitrite is swallowed again and then reduced to nitric oxide, which is a potent vasodilator. The nitric oxide dilates the blood vessels, similar to turning on a water faucet, and allows blood to go where it needs to go."

The beetroot juice consumption resulted in a 38 percent higher blood flow to the skeletal muscles during exercise and was preferential to the less-oxygenated, fast-twitch muscles.

"Heart failure is a disease where oxygen delivery to particular tissues, especially working skeletal muscles, is impaired, decreasing the capacity to move the arms or legs and be physically active," Poole said. "The best therapy for these patients is getting up and moving around. However, that is often difficult. Increasing the oxygen delivery to these muscles through beetroot can provide a therapeutic avenue to improve the quality of life for these patients."

Clinical trials are currently underway.

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Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by Kansas State University. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Journal References:

1. Scott K. Ferguson, Daniel M. Hirai, Steven W. Copp, Clark T. Holdsworth, Jason D. Allen, Andrew M. Jones, Timothy I. Musch, David C. Poole. Effects of nitrate supplementation via beetroot juice on contracting rat skeletal muscle microvascular oxygen pressure dynamics. Respiratory Physiology & Neurobiology, 2013; 187 (3): 250 DOI: 10.1016/j.resp.2013.04.001
2. Scott K. Ferguson, Clark T. Holdsworth, Jennifer L. Wright, Alex J. Fees, Jason D. Allen, Andrew M. Jones, Timothy I. Musch, David C. Poole. Microvascular oxygen pressures in muscles comprised of different fiber types: Impact of dietary nitrate supplementation. Nitric Oxide, 2014; DOI: 10.1016/j.niox.2014.09.157

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Vou pensar nisso.

 

VICTOR HUGO

Victor Hugo viveu no século XIX. Será que isso ainda vale no presente século? 

That’s my work.

 

 

Beyond 3D printers and the coming of the home electronics factory

 

Squink is a miniature factory (Photo credit:Eric Mack/Gizmag.com)

Image Gallery (9 images)

When I saw BotFactory's Squink in action at MakerCon in New York last month, it was one of those innovations that took a few minutes to sink in. It looks like a modified 3D printer, but it does much more. In essence, it is a home factory in a single package.

Unlike most 3D printers, Squink has a detachable head that can be swapped out to allow it to move around its workspace to perform different functions. When I first approached the machine, it was in the process of building a circuit board independent of any human assistance in between steps (besides physically switching out the detachable heads). The machine head was picking up components, then hovering the part over a small camera that identified it and then gave the order for it to be placed on a piece of paper where the Squink had already printed conductive ink and laid down conductive glue to ready it for components.

If a 3D printer puts the power of a CNC mill and a few other machines into the hands of even amateur makers, then Squink could essentially put the power of an entire factory into one small corner of a home office. Forget soldering, cutting, etching or simply waiting forever to get your prototype back from an actual factory. BotFactory, which is a startup that grew out of the relationship between a few NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering graduates and their professor, sees Squink as a way to take the lag out of the traditionally long and laborious process of prototyping electronics.

“We see ourselves as members of the Agile Electronics Development wave,” they said in a recent release leading up to MakerCon. “As such we walk uncharted routes, creating new horizons for this newborn concept. In the upcoming years we'll continue evolving our products to provide the best experience on the market for this kind of technology.”

Those new horizons are where my mind went right away as I watched the Squink place each component on the circuit it recently printed. The amount of people out there with ideas that are at least worthy of making it to a prototype, but who don't possess the fabrication skills or background to ever dream of making their notions a reality, is surely larger than just me.

"It allows very easy entry into the world of electronics," BotFactory Co-Founder Michael Knox confirmed in an interview.

The team claims that Squink is simple enough to operate that there's no reason even a child couldn't design and create a circuit with a little guidance. They imagine uses for their technology that might include integrating circuits into glass, wearables and even artwork, just for starters.

A crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter successfully raised US$100,000 to get Squink off the ground, and now the team is gearing up to begin selling the early units for somewhere around $3,500, which is what a few dozen backers pledged to be first in line for the fully-functional version of the system.

Check out the video below to see a quick demonstration of the alpha version of Squink in action.

Source: BotFactory

 

Masters of Photography–Nat Geo

 

Great photography has long been associated with National Geographic. Now we offer you unparalleled access to 12 of our top photographers through an exclusive course available on DVD or online. Delve into the creative process, boost your confidence and your know-how, and gain insight into the techniques of true artists during 24 photographer-led lessons that will forever change the way you approach the craft.

 

Link : http://bitly.com/1rtPBa9

Powerful new class of weapons found in the war on cancer

 

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An interdisciplinary team of researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch, and Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University have identified small molecules that can represent a new class of anticancer drugs with a novel target for the treatment of lung cancer. These findings are detailed in Nature Communications. A PCT patent (WO 2013028543 A1) was jointly documented by these two Institutes for the invention.

Survival outcomes remain poor for lung cancer patients in large part because of lung cancer's resistance to conventional therapies. Programmed cell death, or apoptosis, is a natural process within cells that scientists are learning to successfully exploit in cancer therapies. The Bax molecule is required for the decision-making stage for programmed cell death. This research team has previously identified the serine184 site of the Bax molecule as a critical functional switch in controlling its cell death activities. Therefore, the researchers sought to learn how manipulate the Bax molecule at S184 to devise a new strategy for cancer treatment.

In the present study, researchers used the structural pocket around S184 as a docking site to screen about 300,000 small 'drug-like' compounds from the National Cancer Institute's library of small molecules to discover compounds that activate Bax and trigger apoptosis in lung cancer cells. They identified three small-molecule Bax activators that target the S184 site of Bax, activate the cell death machineries of Bax and potently repress lung tumor growth. The researchers also found that application of these compounds to Bax-positive lung cancer tumors did not have any toxic effects on nearby noncancerous tissues.

"These compounds hold potential as an entirely new class of anticancer drugs with a unique therapeutic target for the treatment of cancers expressing Bax, including lung cancer," said Dr. Jia Zhou, lead UTMB author and associate professor at Department of Pharmacology and Center for Addiction Research. "They induce high levels of cell death in lung cancer cells without triggering cell death in noncancerous cells."

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Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Meiguo Xin, Rui Li, Maohua Xie, Dongkyoo Park, Taofeek K. Owonikoko, Gabriel L. Sica, Patrick E. Corsino, Jia Zhou, Chunyong Ding, Mark A. White, Andrew T. Magis, Suresh S. Ramalingam, Walter J. Curran, Fadlo R. Khuri, Xingming Deng. Small-molecule Bax agonists for cancer therapy. Nature Communications, 2014; 5: 4935 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms5935

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Bullying in schools still prevalent, american national report finds

 

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Despite a dramatic increase in public awareness and anti-bullying legislation nationwide, the prevalence of bullying is still one of the most pressing issues facing our nation's youth, according to a report by researchers from Clemson University and Professional Data Analysts Inc., and published by the Hazelden Foundation.

"Bullying continues to affect a great number of children in all age groups, with the highest prevalence observed in third and fourth grades, where roughly 22 percent of schoolchildren report that they are bullied two or three times or more per month," said Sue Limber, co-author of the report and professor in the Institute on Family and Neighborhood Life at Clemson.

Research shows that bullying affects individuals across ethnicity, gender, grade and socioeconomic status, whether they live in urban, suburban or rural communities. Bullying can have serious effects during the school years and into adulthood.

Using data collected from the Olweus Bullying Questionnaire, they analyzed a representative sample of more than 200,000 questionnaires administered to students at schools that intended to, but had not yet implemented, the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, an internationally respected anti-bullying program.

The sample included 1,000 girls and 1,000 boys from each grade between third and 12th -- and the results were broken down by grade level and gender.

"We found that 18 percent of all students surveyed were involved in bullying others, were bullied by others or both, and that cyberbullying was one of the least common forms of bullying experienced," Limber said.

A substantial proportion of bullied students did not confide in anyone about being bullied, and boys were less likely to confide in others than girls. Although more than 90 percent of girls and 80 percent of boys said they felt sorry for students who are bullied, far fewer reached out to help them.

"Many students also lacked confidence in the administrative and teaching staff to address bullying and, by high school, less than one-third of bullied students had reported bullying to adults at school," she said. "Although half of students in grades three to five believed that school staff often tried to put a stop to it when a student was being bullied, this percentage dropped to just 36 percent by high school."

The researchers say that one of the best tools that schools have for decreasing the problems associated with bullying behavior is to implement evidence-based prevention programs.

"We hope that this report helps teachers, administrators, parents, policymakers and concerned citizens raise national awareness about bullying and improve school environments so every child can feel safe at school," said Limber.

The report can be found online at: http://newsstand.clemson.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/OBPPbullyingtrends_2014_final2.pdf

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Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by Clemson University. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Shorter tuberculosis treatment not a successful alternative, clinical drug trial shows

 

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A clinical drug trial conducted in five Sub-Sahara African countries shows that a shortened (four month) treatment for tuberculosis (TB) is well tolerated and may work well in subsets of TB patients, but overall could not be considered as an alternative to the current six month standard treatment. The results of the study were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

TB remains a significant public health problem worldwide. There were an estimated 8.6 million people who developed TB and 1.3 million died from the disease in 2012. The study was designed to verify whether replacing one of the four drugs of the standard regimen with gatifloxacin could shorten the overall treatment duration of TB from six to four months.

The new treatment was found to be safe and cleared the lungs from TB bacteria rapidly, but a proportion of patients relapsed within months after treatment ended. The shortened treatment appeared beneficial to patients with no TB cavitation in their lungs, undernourished patients, and people living with HIV, but it was less effective among other groups. Therefore, this shortened regimen could not be recommended to replace the current treatment, though the difference in effectiveness between the two treatments varied considerably across the different countries where the study took place.

"The standard treatment is very effective if taken for the full six months," says Dr Christian Lienhardt, who initiated the study while at the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD) and who now works at the World Health Organization. "But in reality, many do not do this. Poor patient adherence to treatment may increase the risk of TB becoming drug resistant and thus potentially fatal. Shortening treatment duration remains, therefore, a global priority, as it would lead to more patients following the complete treatment."

The study enrolled over 1,800 patients in five African countries (Benin, Guinea Conakry, Kenya, Senegal and South Africa). Half of the patients received the standard six month treatment (rifampicin, isoniazid, pyrazinamide and ethambutol); the other half received the shortened four month treatment with gatifloxacin replacing ethambutol.

"While, unfortunately, the results do not support a much-needed shortened TB regimen," says Dr Piero Olliaro, an author and head of TDR's intervention and implementation research, "this study will teach us a lot about TB treatment response. For example, three of the African partners were TB national programmes, showing that high-level clinical research can be embedded in national control programmes, which is one of our goals."

The trial is the result of broad collaboration between two sponsors, three national African TB programmes (Benin, Guinea Conakry and Senegal), two African research institutes (Kenyan Medical Research Institute in Nairobi, Kenya and Medical Research Council in Durban, South Africa) and four European institutions: Assistance Publique -- Hôpitaux de Paris (France), St Georges Hospital Medical School (UK), the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp (Belgium), and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (UK).

"The study will help improve the way future studies of TB will be conducted, due to the investments made in strengthening capacities for quality clinical trials in highly endemic TB countries," said Dr Corinne Merle, the study coordinator from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. "Given the variety of TB drugs that are currently in the development pipeline, these skills will continue to be needed."

This was a large study with 1,356 patients from five countries, noted the trial statistician Dr Katherine Fielding from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. "Additional analyses of our data and combining data from other trials will be essential to continue the search for new and improved TB treatments."

"We have ethical, scientific and economic obligations to make the best out of this and other recent TB trials," says Olliaro. "Sharing data will help shorten the journey to the next TB regimen." TDR is organising consultations with stakeholders on the establishment of a TB clinical data sharing platform and community of practice.

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Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Corinne S. Merle, Katherine Fielding, Omou Bah Sow, Martin Gninafon, Mame B. Lo, Thuli Mthiyane, Joseph Odhiambo, Evans Amukoye, Boubacar Bah, Ferdinand Kassa, Alimatou N'Diaye, Roxana Rustomjee, Bouke C. de Jong, John Horton, Christian Perronne, Charalambos Sismanidis, Olivier Lapujade, Piero L. Olliaro, Christian Lienhardt. A Four-Month Gatifloxacin-Containing Regimen for Treating Tuberculosis. New England Journal of Medicine, 2014; 371 (17): 1588 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1315817

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Reminiscing can help boost mental performance

 

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“The prevailing view is that activating brain regions referred to as the default network impairs performance on attention-demanding tasks because this network is associated with behaviors such as mind-wandering,” said Spreng. “Our study is the first to demonstrate the opposite – that engaging the default network can also improve performance.”

To solve a mental puzzle, the brain’s executive control network for externally focused, goal-oriented thinking must activate, while the network for internally directed thinking like daydreaming must be turned down to avoid interference – or so we thought.

New research led by Cornell University neuroscientist Nathan Spreng shows for the first time that engaging brain areas linked to so-called “off-task” mental activities (such as mind-wandering and reminiscing) can actually boost performance on some challenging mental tasks. The results advance our understanding of how externally and internally focused neural networks interact to facilitate complex thought, the authors say.

“The prevailing view is that activating brain regions referred to as the default network impairs performance on attention-demanding tasks because this network is associated with behaviors such as mind-wandering,” said Spreng. “Our study is the first to demonstrate the opposite – that engaging the default network can also improve performance.”

There are plenty of neuroimaging studies showing that default network activation interferes with complex mental tasks – but in most, Spreng explained, the mental processes associated with default network conflict with task goals. If you start thinking about what you did last weekend while taking notes during a lecture, for example, your note-taking and ability to keep up will suffer.

Spreng and his team developed a new approach in which off-task processes such as reminiscing can support rather than conflict with the aims of the experimental task. Their novel task, “famous faces n-back,” tests whether accessing long-term memory about famous people, which typically engages default network brain regions, can support short-term memory performance, which typically engages executive control regions.

While undergoing brain scanning, 36 young adults viewed sets of famous and anonymous faces in sequence and were asked to identify whether the current face matched the one presented two faces back. The team found participants were faster and more accurate when matching famous faces than when matching anonymous faces and that this better short-term memory performance was associated with greater activity in the default network. The results show that activity in the default brain regions can support performance on goal-directed tasks when task demands align with processes supported by the default network, the authors say.

“Outside the laboratory, pursuing goals involves processing information filled with personal meaning – knowledge about past experiences, motivations, future plans and social context,” Spreng said. “Our study suggests that the default network and executive control networks dynamically interact to facilitate an ongoing dialogue between the pursuit of external goals and internal meaning.”

The study, “Goal-congruent default network activity facilitates cognitive control,” published in October in the Journal of Neuroscience, was funded in part by the National Institutes of Health and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

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Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by Cornell University. The original article was written by Melissa Osgood. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. R. N. Spreng, E. DuPre, D. Selarka, J. Garcia, S. Gojkovic, J. Mildner, W.-M. Luh, G. R. Turner. Goal-Congruent Default Network Activity Facilitates Cognitive Control. Journal of Neuroscience, 2014; 34 (42): 14108 DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2815-14.2014

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Paper-based synthetic gene networks could enable rapid detection of ebola and other viruses

 

October 23, 2014

Cell Press

Synthetic gene networks hold great potential for broad biotechnology and medical applications, but so far they have been limited to the lab. A study reveals a new method for using engineered gene circuits beyond the lab, allowing researchers to safely activate the cell-free, paper-based system by simply adding water. The low-cost, easy-to-use platform could enable the rapid detection of different strains of deadly viruses such as Ebola.

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Synthetic gene networks hold great potential for broad biotechnology and medical applications, but so far they have been limited to the lab. A study published by Cell Press October 23rd in the journal Cell reveals a new method for using engineered gene circuits beyond the lab, allowing researchers to safely activate the cell-free, paper-based system by simply adding water. The low-cost, easy-to-use platform could enable the rapid detection of different strains of deadly viruses such as Ebola.

"Our paper-based system could not only make tools currently only available in laboratory readily fieldable, but also improve the development of new tools and the accessibility of these molecular tools to educational programs for the next generation of practitioners," says senior study author James Collins of the Wyss Institute for Biological Inspired Engineering at Harvard University.

The field of synthetic biology aims to re-engineer the molecular components of the cell to harness the power of biology. To accomplish this goal, researchers have designed synthetic gene networks that can control the activity of genes and recognize nucleic acids and small molecules. However, this technology has been restricted to the lab, in part because of biosafety concerns associated with cell-based systems and because the reactions involved have not been practical for field use.

Collins and his team overcame these hurdles by developing a cell-free, paper-based system suitable for use outside the lab. To test the clinical relevance of their method, the researchers developed sensors capable of detecting RNA molecules made from genes that allow bacteria to survive antibiotics, as well as RNA molecules encoding proteins from two different strains of the highly deadly Ebola virus. When freeze-dried onto paper, the sensors quickly detected the presence of these RNA molecules, demonstrating the usefulness of the approach for diagnostic purposes.

"Considering the projected cost, reaction time, ease of use, and no requirement for laboratory infrastructure, we envision paper-based synthetic gene networks significantly expanding the role of synthetic biology in the clinic, global health, industry, research, and education," Collins says.

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Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by Cell Press. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Keith Pardee, Alexander A. Green, Tom Ferrante, D. Ewen Cameron, Ajay DaleyKeyser, Peng Yin, James J. Collins. Paper-Based Synthetic Gene Networks. Cell, October 2014 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2014.10.004

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First protein microfiber engineered: New material advances tissue engineering and drug delivery

 

October 23, 2014

New York University Polytechnic School of Engineering

Researchers have broken new ground in the development of proteins that form specialized fibers used in medicine and nanotechnology. For as long as scientists have been able to create new proteins that are capable of self-assembling into fibers, their work has taken place on the nanoscale. For the first time, this achievement has been realized on the microscale -- a leap of magnitude in size that presents significant new opportunities for using engineered protein fibers.

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Researchers at the New York University Polytechnic School of Engineering have broken new ground in the development of proteins that form specialized fibers used in medicine and nanotechnology. For as long as scientists have been able to create new proteins that are capable of self-assembling into fibers, their work has taken place on the nanoscale. For the first time, this achievement has been realized on the microscale -- a leap of magnitude in size that presents significant new opportunities for using engineered protein fibers.

Jin Kim Montclare, an associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at the NYU School of Engineering, led a group of researchers who published the results of successful trials in the creation of engineered microfiber proteins in the journal Biomacromolecules.

Many materials used in medicine and nanotechnology rely on proteins engineered to form fibers with specific properties. For example, the scaffolds used in tissue engineering depend on engineered fibers, as do the nanowires used in biosensors. These fibers can also be bound with small molecules of therapeutic compounds and used in drug delivery.

Montclare and her collaborators began their experiments with the intention of designing nanoscale proteins bound with the cancer therapeutic curcumin. They successfully created a novel, self-assembling nanoscale protein, including a hydrophobic pore capable of binding small molecules. To their surprise, after incubating the fibers with curcumin, the protein not only continued to assemble, but did so to a degree that the fibers crossed the diameter barrier from the nanoscale to the microscale, akin to the diameter of collagen or spider silk.

"This was a surprising and thrilling achievement," said Montclare, explaining that this kind of diameter increase in the presence of small molecules is unprecedented. "A microscale fiber that is capable of delivering a small molecule, whether it be a therapeutic compound or other material, is a major step forward."

Montclare explained that biomaterials embedded with small molecules could be used to construct dual-purpose scaffolds for tissue engineering or to deliver certain drugs more efficiently, especially those that are less effective in an aqueous environment. Using microscopy, the team was able to observe the fibers in three dimensions and to confirm that the curcumin, which fluoresces when bound to structural protein, was distributed homogeneously throughout the fiber.

Despite the enormity of the jump from nano- to microscale, the research team believes they can devise even larger fibers. The next step, Montclare says, is developing proteins that can assemble on the milliscale, creating fibers large enough to see with the naked eye. "It's even possible to imagine generating hair out of cell assembly," she says.

Researchers from three institutions collaborated on this work. In addition to Montclare, NYU School of Engineering doctoral candidate Jasmin Hume, graduate student Rudy Jacquet, and undergraduate student Jennifer Sun co-authored the paper. Richard Bonneau, an associate professor in NYU's Department of Biology and a member of the computer science faculty at NYU's Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, and postdoctoral scholar P. Douglas Renfrew also contributed, along with M. Lane Gilchrist, associate professor of chemical engineering at City College of New York and master's degree student Jesse A. Martin, also from City College. Their work was supported by the Army Research Office and the National Science Foundation.

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Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by New York University Polytechnic School of Engineering. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Jasmin Hume, Jennifer Sun, Rudy Jacquet, P. Douglas Renfrew, Jesse A. Martin, Richard Bonneau, M. Lane Gilchrist, Jin Kim Montclare. Engineered Coiled-Coil Protein Microfibers. Biomacromolecules, 2014; 15 (10): 3503 DOI: 10.1021/bm5004948

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Experimental breast cancer drug holds promise in combination therapy for Ewing sarcoma

 

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Ewing sarcoma tumors disappeared and did not return in more than 70 percent of mice treated with combination therapy that included drugs from a family of experimental agents developed to fight breast cancer, reported St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists. The study will appear in the November 6 edition of the scientific journal Cell Reports.

The treatment paired two chemotherapy drugs currently used to treat Ewing sarcoma (EWS) with experimental drugs called poly-ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors that interfere with DNA repair. PARP inhibitors are currently in clinical trials for the treatment of certain breast and ovarian cancers as well as other solid tumors. EWS is a cancer of the bone and soft tissue that strikes primarily adolescents and young adults.

A clinical trial using the three-drug combination therapy detailed in this research is expected to open later this year for adolescents and young adults with EWS whose tumors have not disappeared with standard therapy or have returned after treatment. The trial is a collaboration of researchers at St. Jude and the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center in Boston. The therapy will pair the PARP inhibitor olaparib with the chemotherapy drugs irinotecan (IRN) and temozolomide (TMZ).

The study is one of two clinical trials St. Jude plans to open soon combining IRN and TMZ with PARP inhibitors for the treatment for EWS. The tumor is diagnosed in about 250 U.S. residents each year, making it the second most common bone tumor in children and adolescents.

Long-term survival for EWS patients whose disease has not spread remains stalled at about 75 to 80 percent, and the outcome for patients with metastatic disease is dismal. "During the past 20 years there has been no significant improvement in the cure rate for Ewing sarcoma, and survival is just 15 to 20 percent for patients whose disease has spread or comes back after treatment," said co-corresponding author Michael Dyer, Ph.D., a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) investigator and a member of the St. Jude Department of Developmental Neurobiology. The other corresponding author is Anang Shelat, Ph.D., an assistant member of the St. Jude Department of Chemical Biology and Therapeutics.

This study builds on earlier research from other investigators who reported that EWS cells growing in the laboratory were sensitive to the PARP inhibitor olaparib. A clinical trial of olaparib for treatment of adults with EWS that had spread or returned opened a short time later.

The latest report includes the St. Jude discovery that EWS cells have a defect in DNA damage repair. DNA is the molecule contained in nearly every cell that carries the instructions needed to assemble and sustain life.

Working with EWS cells grown in the laboratory and mice, investigators showed the EWS defect could be exploited to help patients by combining DNA-damaging chemotherapy with a PARP inhibitor. PARP inhibitors work by interfering with activity of an important DNA-repair enzyme.

St. Jude researchers conducted a series of mouse experiments designed to mirror the human phase I, II and III studies that gauge the safety and effectiveness of experimental treatment in humans. The research showed that PARP inhibitors work synergistically with IRN and TMZ to kill EWS. The Phase III study included 274 mice with EWS treated in a double-blind, placebo controlled, randomized study. The study included 15 different treatment groups using different combinations and doses of IRN, TMZ and three PARP inhibitors currently in development for pediatric cancer treatment.

EWS disappeared and had not returned in more than four months in 71 percent of mice treated with IRN, TMZ and the PARP inhibitor olaparib. The results were even better when IRN and TMZ were combined with the PARP inhibitor talazoparib. The combination led to a durable, complete remission in 88 percent of the 16 mice treated.

"Our preclinical results suggest Ewing sarcoma is particularly sensitive to this combination therapy, a possible indication that the tumor's DNA repair defect provides us with a much needed advantage to knock out tumor cells," Shelat said. "There is some evidence that this type of defect is present in other pediatric tumors, and we are actively investigating drug sensitivity in those cancers."

Researchers used the low-dose, protracted IRN treatment schedule pioneered at St. Jude to reduce IRN toxicity. Adult cancer patients receive fewer, but higher doses of IRN. The adult treatment regimen led to higher toxicity in mice. "The only way to move forward was using the irinotecan approach proven in earlier St. Jude solid tumor clinical research," Dyer said.

One of the planned St. Jude-led clinical trials will combine talazoparib and IRN for the treatment of patients age 1 and older. The other will involve triple drug therapy for treatment of patients age 16 and older.

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Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Elizabeth Stewart et al. Targeting the DNA Repair Pathway in Ewing Sarcoma. Cell Reports, October 2014 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2014.09.028

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