Brain imaging reveals clues about chronic fatigue syndrome

 

May 23 /2014

Emory Health Sciences

A brain imaging study showed differences in the basal ganglia when chronic fatigue syndrome patients (CFS) vs. healthy controls played a card game. The findings suggest that chronic fatigue syndrome is associated with changes in the brain involving brain circuits that regulate motor activity and motivation. This reduction of basal ganglia activity was also linked with the severity of fatigue symptoms.

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A brain imaging study shows that patients with chronic fatigue syndrome may have reduced responses, compared with healthy controls, in a region of the brain connected with fatigue. The findings suggest that chronic fatigue syndrome is associated with changes in the brain involving brain circuits that regulate motor activity and motivation.

Compared with healthy controls, patients with chronic fatigue syndrome had less activation of the basal ganglia, as measured by fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging). This reduction of basal ganglia activity was also linked with the severity of fatigue symptoms.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, chronic fatigue syndrome is a debilitating and complex disorder characterized by intense fatigue that is not improved by bed rest and that may be worsened by exercise or mental stress.

The results are scheduled for publication in the journal PLOS One.

"We chose the basal ganglia because they are primary targets of inflammation in the brain," says lead author Andrew Miller, MD. "Results from a number of previous studies suggest that increased inflammation may be a contributing factor to fatigue in CFS patients, and may even be the cause in some patients."

Miller is William P. Timmie professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Emory University School of Medicine. The study was a collaboration among researchers at Emory University School of Medicine, the CDC's Chronic Viral Diseases Branch, and the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia in Italy. The study was funded by the CDC.

The basal ganglia are structures deep within the brain, thought to be responsible for control of movements and responses to rewards as well as cognitive functions. Several neurological disorders involve dysfunction of the basal ganglia, including Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease, for example.

In previous published studies by Emory researchers, people taking interferon alpha as a treatment for hepatitis C, which can induce severe fatigue, also show reduced activity in the basal ganglia. Interferon alpha is a protein naturally produced by the body, as part of the inflammatory response to viral infection. Inflammation has also been linked to fatigue in other groups such as breast cancer survivors.

"A number of previous studies have suggested that responses to viruses may underlie some cases of CFS," Miller says. "Our data supports the idea that the body's immune response to viruses could be associated with fatigue by affecting the brain through inflammation. We are continuing to study how inflammation affects the basal ganglia and what effects that has on other brain regions and brain function. These future studies could help inform new treatments."

Treatment implications might include the potential utility of medications to alter the body's immune response by blocking inflammation, or providing drugs that enhance basal ganglia function, he says.

The researchers compared 18 patients diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome with 41 healthy volunteers. The 18 patients were recruited [not referred] based on an initial telephone survey followed by extensive clinical evaluations. The clinical evaluations, which came in two phases, were completed by hundreds of Georgia residents. People with major depression or who were taking antidepressants were excluded from the imaging study, although those with anxiety disorders were not.

For the brain imaging portion of the study, participants were told they'd win a dollar if they correctly guessed whether a preselected card was red or black. After they made a guess, the color of the card was revealed, and at that point researchers measured blood flow to the basal ganglia.

The key measurement was: how big is the difference in activity between a win or a loss? Participants' scores on a survey gauging their levels of fatigue were tied to the difference in basal ganglia activity between winning and losing. Those with the most fatigue had the smallest changes, especially in the right caudate and the right globus pallidus, both parts of the basal ganglia.

Ongoing studies at Emory are further investigating the impact of inflammation on the basal ganglia, including studies using anti-inflammatory treatments to reduce fatigue and loss of motivation in patients with depression and other disorders with inflammation including cancer.

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

The digital film reel

 

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Instead of heavy rolls of film, digital film copies are sent to movie theaters these days. With the easyDCP software, these digital packages can be easily created in the required standard so that the digital film can run in any theater.

For more than a hundred years, analog technology dominated the cinema. Moving pictures were captured on film made from celluloid or polyester, and uniform standards applied worldwide. Each film strip was 35 millimeters wide and perforated along the outside edges. This way, it could be shown in any theater. Distribution of digital movies has changed all that: instead of sending analog reels of film, movie theaters receive DCPs (Digital Cinema Packages) via hard drive or satellite that include not only the encoded digital video and audio data but also subtitles in multiple languages.

Digital cinema needs universal standards too. Only then can digital films be shown in any cinema worldwide; In 2005, the six largest Hollywood studios defined the DCI standards, the technical specifications for digital cinema. At the studios' request, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS in Erlangen have created international test procedures for compliance with the specifications of the DCI standards. In order to ensure that digital film copies meet these standards, the experts at Fraunhofer IIS have developed a software for creating DCPs suitable for all playback devices that work reliably on all cinema systems.

Simple and clear operation

"While developing easyDCP, we really concentrated on keeping operation simple and clear," says Dr. Siegfried Foessel, director of the Moving Picture Technologies department at Fraunhofer IIS. That's a concept that users found persuasive. In very little time easyDCP became the market leader; more than 1000 customers already use the software. Meanwhile large companies have started integrating easyDCP software into their products including Quantel, Drastic, and Blackmagic Design.

"We've tested easyDCP-created cinema packages on any number of playback devices and continuously improved the software," explains Heiko Sparenberg, head of the Digital Cinema group at Fraunhofer IIS. As for why the software has established itself so successfully on the market, "Feedback from our users has played an important role," he explains. The software enables not only the largest studios, but also smaller, independent producers and film makers to create their own digital cinema packages. Post-production companies, film producers, distributors and film festivals -- all profit from the comprehensive software functions, such as the adding of subtitles and audio tracks in different languages or the support of 3D formats or 4K resolution. At the Berlin International Film Festival, the software is used to test the quality of digital film copies from around the world, so that flawed cinema packages can be quickly identified andprepared and validated for proper screening.

For their work on the topic "Digital cinema conquers the world -- software for creating digital cinema packages enables digital cinema's breakthrough" Dipl.-Inf. Heiko Sparenberg and Dr.-Ing. Siegfried Foessel received this year's Joseph von Fraunhofer Prize.

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

Inspecting letters with terahertz waves

 

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Is it a harmless parcel or a bomb, an innocent letter or a drug shipment? A new terahertz scanner is capable of detecting illicit drugs and explosives sent by post without having to open suspicious packages or envelopes.

Alert at Schloss Bellevue. A suspicious letter addressed to German President Joachim Gauck has been detected, which might contain a bomb. Not willing to take any risks, the bomb squad is called out to destroy the package. Later investigations revealed that the envelope did not contain any explosives, but better safe than sorry. A year ago, this event created turmoil in the mail sorting office in Berlin, because at the time there was no safe and simple way of reliably detecting the presence of explosives or drugs in letters and small packets.

A new solution is offered by the terahertz scanner developed by researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Physical Measurement Techniques IPM in Kaiserslautern in collaboration with Hübner GmbH & Co. KG in Kassel. Their T-COGNITION system is capable of detecting and identifying the hidden content of suspicious packages or envelopes without having to open them. One of this year's Joseph von Fraunhofer prizes was awarded to Prof. Dr. René Beigang of Fraunhofer IPM and Dipl.-Ing. Thorsten Sprenger, Head of Public Security and Photonics at Hübner, for their work on the terahertz scanner for the secure identification of hazardous materials and illicit drugs in postal consignments.

But why did the scientists choose to use terahertz waves for this application? Professor René Beigang explains: "The terahertz range lies midway between microwave and infrared in the electromagnetic spectrum, and thus combines the advantages of both." Like microwaves, these low-energy frequencies can easily penetrate paper, wood, lightweight fabrics, plastics, and ceramics. Moreover, terahertz waves generate characteristic spectra depending on the type of material they travel through, which can be analyzed quickly using intelligent software. A further significant advantage is that terahertz waves are non-ionizing and therefore safe to use in an unprotected environment, unlike X-rays. This makes the technology an interesting option for use in mail scanners.

Scaling up terahertz technology for industrial applications

Terahertz technology is still in its infancy, and until now it has found relatively few applications. The department of Material Characterization and Testing at the University of Kaiserslautern, sponsored jointly by Fraunhofer IPM and the Land of Rheinland-Pfalz, hopes to change this situation. "Our goal is to scale up terahertz technology and extend its range of use to include security applications," says Beigang. The engineers at Hübner were among the first to recognize the potential of the Fraunhofer researchers' work. The company's traditional line of business is manufacturing key components for the transportation industry (e.g. rail vehicles, buses, airport technology, automotive). A new division for public security was added in 2006, when the company first started to look for cooperation partners. The mail scanner project was launched four years later, based on previous joint development projects. In the meantime, the company has brought its T-COGNITION solution onto the market.

This is how the mail scanner works. Suspicious envelopes and packages are fed into the scanner on a retractable tray. They are then exposed to terahertz waves which are absorbed at different frequencies within the spectral range depending on the substance they travel through (characteristic absorption properties). Detectors at the output of the scanner record the transmitted wavelengths. "Within a few seconds, T-COGNITION produces a spectroscopic fingerprint that allows the detected hazardous material to be compared with database samples and definitively identified," says Thorsten Sprenger.

The system triggers an alarm if the consignment contains explosives or illicit drugs.The system is capable of examining the content of postal items up to C4 format with a thickness of up to two centimeters. Sprenger says: "It is the ideal mailroom solution for prisons, customs offices, government agencies, company headquarters, and embassies or consulates, because it helps to improve security and protect human lives."

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

Thefix roundup

 

Morning roundup- from thefix.com

 

Immune system precursor cells that fight infection discovered

 

May 26 / 2014

Universität Mainz

The innate immune system recognizes infectious agents such as viruses and bacteria. A group of lymphocytes known as "innate lymphoid cells" or ILCs plays a central role in the defense of the human body against infective agents, researchers have found. They have discovered previously unidentified ILCs that are able to protect epithelial surfaces, such as those of the intestinal mucosa, against infection. The results provide important additional insights into how the immune system functions.

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The innate immune system recognizes infectious agents such as viruses and bacteria. A group of lymphocytes known as "innate lymphoid cells" or ILCs plays a central role in the defense of the human body against infective agents.

Professor Andreas Diefenbach of the Research Center Immunology at the Mainz University Medical Center, working in collaboration with scientists at the University of Freiburg, has discovered previously unidentified ILCs that are able to protect epithelial surfaces, such as those of the intestinal mucosa, against infection. The results provide important additional insights into how the immune system functions. It is also possible that these findings, recently published in the international journal Cell, could result in the development of new vaccination strategies that would prevent intracellular infections.

ILCs are among the most important weapons of the innate immune system and help it to fight infections and prevent the development of cancer. However, ILCs are not only of critical importance when it comes to preventing infections. They also have important functions in non-immunological processes, such as organ homeostasis, i.e., the maintenance of the physiological functional status of vital organs. Professor Andreas Diefenbach, Director of the Department of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene at the Mainz University Medical Center, has now identified a previously unrecognized ILC population. Specifically, he has been able to identify previously unknown precursor cells from which all types of ILCs may originate and to describe a new ILC subgroup called type 1 ILCs.

"The fact that we have found the potential precursor cell for all ILCs has opened up completely new horizons for research in the field of immunology. We now have a realistic chance of identifying the signals controlling differentiation of such precursor cells into each of the various ILC types," said Diefenbach. "If we understand how distinct types of ILCs are involved in the development of inflammatory bowel diseases and autoimmune disorders, we may be able to precisely suppress this unwanted programming of ILCs in the future." Diefenbach succeeded in detecting the unknown ILCs and the precursor cell at the molecular genetic level with the aid of fluorescent proteins.

"A healthy immune system is the key to preventing illnesses. So it is all the more important for us to obtain a comprehensive understanding of how the immune system operates. With this discovery, Professor Andreas Diefenbach and his team have made additional important progress in understanding the immune system in all its facets," stated the Chief Scientific Officer of the Mainz University Medical Center, Professor Ulrich Förstermann.

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Story Source:

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Christoph S.N. Klose, Melanie Flach, Luisa Möhle, Leif Rogell, Thomas Hoyler, Karolina Ebert, Carola Fabiunke, Dietmar Pfeifer, Veronika Sexl, Diogo Fonseca-Pereira, Rita G. Domingues, Henrique Veiga-Fernandes, Sebastian J. Arnold, Meinrad Busslinger, Ildiko R. Dunay, Yakup Tanriver, Andreas Diefenbach. Differentiation of Type 1 ILCs from a Common Progenitor to All Helper-like Innate Lymphoid Cell Lineages. Cell, 2014; 157 (2): 340 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2014.03.030

Novel drug target linked to insulin secretion, type 2 diabetes treatment found

 

May 26 / 2014

Universite de Montreal

A signal that promotes insulin secretion and reduces hyperglycemia in a type 2 diabetes animal model is enhanced by the inhibition of a novel enzyme recently discovered researchers. Insulin is an important hormone in our body that controls glucose and fat utilization. Insufficient insulin release by the beta-cells of the pancreas and interference with the action of insulin lead to type 2 diabetes. The secretion in the blood of insulin is dependent upon the utilization of glucose and fat by the beta-cells and the production of a novel signal that they discovered named monoacylglycerol.

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A signal that promotes insulin secretion and reduces hyperglycemia in a type 2 diabetes animal model is enhanced by the inhibition of a novel enzyme discovered by CHUM Research Centre (CRCHUM) and University of Montreal researchers. The team is part of the Montreal Diabetes Research Center and their study, published recently in Cell Metabolism, was directed by researchers Marc Prentki and Murthy Madiraju.

Insulin is an important hormone in our body that controls glucose and fat utilization. Insufficient insulin release by the beta-cells of the pancreas and interference with the action of insulin lead to type 2 diabetes. The secretion in the blood of insulin is dependent upon the utilization of glucose and fat by the beta-cells and the production of a novel signal that they discovered named monoacylglycerol.

"Despite significant research on the mechanisms implicated in insulin secretion, the signal molecules involved in this process remained enigmatic; the identification of these signals is necessary to develop better therapeutics against diabetes," explains Marc Prentki, Director of the Montreal Diabetes Research Centre and Professor at the University of Montreal. Marc Prentki holds the Canada Research Chair in Diabetes and Metabolism.

"When sugar is being used by the insulin secreting pancreatic beta-cell, it produces monoacylglycerol, a fat-like signal and this is associated with insulin release into blood; we found that the production of monoacylglycerol is essential for glucose-stimulated insulin secretion by the beta-cell," says Murthy Madiraju, Researcher at the CRCHUM. Importantly, the research team discovered that an enzyme called alpha/beta hydrolase domain-6 (in short ABHD6) breaks down monoacylglycerol and thus negatively controls insulin release.

These researchers said that "an ideal drug for type-2 diabetes would increase insulin levels in blood by enhancing the beta cells response to glucose only when it is elevated and also increase the sensitivity of body tissues to insulin; this is precisely what ABHD6 inhibition does and thus we have identified a unique new target for type 2 diabetes."

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Story Source:

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Shangang Zhao, Yves Mugabo, Jose Iglesias, Li Xie, Viviane Delghingaro-Augusto, Roxane Lussier, Marie-Line Peyot, Erik Joly, Bouchra Taïb, Matthew A. Davis, J. Mark Brown, Abdelkarim Abousalham, Herbert Gaisano, S.R. Murthy Madiraju, Marc Prentki. α/β-Hydrolase Domain-6-Accessible Monoacylglycerol Controls Glucose-Stimulated Insulin Secretion. Cell Metabolism, 2014; DOI: 10.1016/j.cmet.2014.04.003

Immunotherapy for prostate cancer in sight

 

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An international study carried out with involvement of the MedUni Vienna is giving hope to patients with advanced prostate cancer. In just a few years' time, Ipilumumab could be approved as a treatment for the world's third-most common type of cancer.

The immunotherapeutic agent Ipilumumab has been shown to have a markedly positive effect in the treatment of patients who are resistant to conventional hormone treatments and chemotherapy. These are the words of a core statement from a study, recently published in the journal The Lancet Oncology, which was set up based on collaboration between the world's leading centres for the research and treatment of prostate cancer.

The scientists investigated the extent to which immunotherapy with this agent is also suitable for the more common type of advanced prostate cancer. The medication is already being successfully used as immunotherapy for advanced melanoma -- a comparatively rare type of cancer.

Major success in the immunotherapy of carcinomas

Michael Krainer, Head of the Urological Tumours Working Group within the Department of Oncology (University Department of Internal Medicine I) at the MedUni Vienna, which played a key role as the lead recruitment centre for Germany and Austria, had this to say about the study results: "For us, it is virtually a miracle that immunotherapy demonstrates such a clear effect at such a late stage of the disease. The results of our study must be regarded as a further major success in the immunotherapy of carcinomas." The substance's mechanism of action is as follows: the Ipilumumab antibodies disable "inhibitors," giving the body's immune system a boost.

Approval of the medication in sight

Despite this good effect, it's not all plain sailing: the "revved up" immune system can also attack the body's own tissues. According to the study, Ipilumumab is therefore not suitable -- in view of its side effects -- for treating patients with advanced prostate cancer who are in poor general health. For this reason, a further study is currently underway and is expected to be completed in 2015. This follow-on study is limited to patients with a better prognosis and who are in better overall health. Krainer expresses his expectations thus: "Based on our results, I anticipate that this study will bring approval for Ipilumumab for patients with advanced prostate cancer."

European Centre of Expertise for urological tumours

The Urological Tumours Working Group at the MedUni Vienna is regarded across Europe as one of the most highly respected study support centres in the field of prostate cancer. Since 2002, several hundred patients have been included in 17 clinical studies. The spectrum covers all modern treatment options and ranges from chemotherapy and hormone therapy to immunotherapy.

Prostate cancer: the third-most common form of cancer

Worldwide, prostate cancer is the third-most common form of cancer and is globally the sixth-most common cause of death from cancer among men. Each year, around 300,000 men are diagnosed with the condition within the European Union, and around two million men in the EU are currently living with the condition.

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Story Source:

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Eugene D Kwon, Charles G Drake, Howard I Scher, Karim Fizazi, Alberto Bossi, Alfons J M van den Eertwegh, Michael Krainer, Nadine Houede, Ricardo Santos, Hakim Mahammedi, Siobhan Ng, Michele Maio, Fabio A Franke, Santhanam Sundar, Neeraj Agarwal, Andries M Bergman, Tudor E Ciuleanu, Ernesto Korbenfeld, Lisa Sengeløv, Steinbjorn Hansen, Christopher Logothetis, Tomasz M Beer, M Brent McHenry, Paul Gagnier, David Liu, Winald R Gerritsen. Ipilimumab versus placebo after radiotherapy in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer that had progressed after docetaxel chemotherapy (CA184-043): a multicentre, randomised, double-blind, phase 3 trial. The Lancet Oncology, 2014; 15 (7): 700 DOI: 10.1016/S1470-2045(14)70189-5

A new solution for storing hydrogen fuel for alternative energy

 

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Turning the "hydrogen economy" concept into a reality, even on a small scale, has been a bumpy road, but scientists are developing a novel way to store hydrogen to smooth out the long-awaited transition away from fossil fuels. Their report on a new solid, stable material that can pack in a large amount of hydrogen that can be used as a fuel appears in the ACS journal Chemistry of Materials.

Umit B. Demirci and colleagues explain that storing hydrogen in solids is a recent development and a promising step toward building a hydrogen economy. That's the idea originated in the 1970s and promoted by former President George W. Bush that we replace fossil fuels with hydrogen, which can serve as a clean fuel. Although a promising alternative to conventional energy sources, hydrogen has posed a number of technological challenges that scientists are still overcoming. One of those issues has to do with storage. Previously, researchers were focused on developing hydrogen-containing liquids or compressing it in gas form. Now, solid storage is showing potential for holding hydrogen in a safe, stable and efficient way. In the latest development on this front, Demirci's team looked to a new kind of material.

They figured out a way to make a novel crystal phase of a material containing lithium, boron and the key ingredient, hydrogen. To check how they could get the hydrogen back out of the material, the scientists heated it and found that it released hydrogen easily, quickly and only traces of unwanted by-products.

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Story Source:

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Romain Moury, Umit B. Demirci, Voraksmy Ban, Yaroslav Filinchuk, Takayuki Ichikawa, Liang Zeng, Kiyotaka Goshome, Philippe Miele. Lithium Hydrazinidoborane: A Polymorphic Material with Potential for Chemical Hydrogen Storage. Chemistry of Materials, 2014; 140515111242000 DOI: 10.1021/cm500980b

Fighting cancer with dietary changes

 

May 26 / 2014

Thomas Jefferson University

Calorie restriction during treatment for breast cancer changes cellular programming in a way that lowers the chance of metastases in mice. Breast cancer patients are often treated with hormonal therapy to block tumor growth, and steroids to counteract the side effects of chemotherapy. However, both treatments can cause a patient to have altered metabolism which can lead to weight gain. In fact, women gain an average of 10 pounds in their first year of treatment. Recent studies have shown that too much weight makes standard treatments for breast cancer less effective, and those who gain weight during treatment have worse cancer outcomes.

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Calorie restriction, a kind of dieting in which food intake is decreased by a certain percentage, has been touted as way to help people live longer. New research suggests that there may be other benefits, including improving outcomes for women in breast cancer. According to a study published May 26th in Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, the triple negative subtype of breast cancer -- one of the most aggressive forms -- is less likely to spread, or metastasize, to new sites in the body when mice were fed a restricted diet.

"The diet turned on a epigenetic program that protected mice from metastatic disease," says senior author Nicole Simone, M.D., an associate professor in the department of Radiation Oncology at Thomas Jefferson University. Indeed, when mouse models of triple negative cancer were fed 30 percent less than what they ate when given free access to food, the cancer cells decreased their production of microRNAs 17 and 20 (miR 17/20). Researchers have found that this group of miRs is often increased in triple negative cancers that metastasize.

Breast cancer patients are often treated with hormonal therapy to block tumor growth, and steroids to counteract the side effects of chemotherapy. However, both treatments can cause a patient to have altered metabolism which can lead to weight gain. In fact, women gain an average of 10 pounds in their first year of treatment. Recent studies have shown that too much weight makes standard treatments for breast cancer less effective, and those who gain weight during treatment have worse cancer outcomes. "That's why it's important to look at metabolism when treating women with cancer," says Dr. Simone.

In earlier studies, Dr. Simone and colleagues had shown that calorie restriction boosted the tumor-killing effects of radiation therapy. This study aimed to examine which molecular pathways were involved in this cooperative effect.

The investigators noticed that microRNAs -- a type of RNA that regulates other genes in the cell -- specifically miR 17 and 20, decreased the most when mice were treated with both radiation and calorie restriction. This decrease in turn increased the production of proteins involved in maintaining the extracellular matrix. "Calorie restriction promotes epigenetic changes in the breast tissue that keep the extracellular matrix strong," says Dr. Simone. "A strong matrix creates a sort of cage around the tumor, making it more difficult for cancer cells to escape and spread to new sites in the body."

Understanding the link to miR 17 also gives researchers a molecular target for diagnosing cancers that are more likely to metastasize and, potentially, for developing a new drug to treat the cancers. In theory, a drug that decreased miR 17 could have the same effect on the extracellular matrix as calorie restriction. However, targeting a single molecular pathway, such as the miR17 is unlikely to be as effective as calorie restriction, says Dr. Simone. Triple negative breast cancers tend to be quite different genetically from patient to patient. If calorie restriction is as effective in women as it is in animal models, then it would likely change the expression patterns of a large set of genes, hitting multiple targets at once without toxicity.

In order to test that this hypothesis is true in humans, Dr. Simone is currently enrolling patients in the CaReFOR (Calorie Restriction for Oncology Research) trial. As the first trial like it in the country, women undergoing radiation therapy for breast cancer receive nutritional counseling and are guided through their weight loss plan as they undergo their treatment for breast cancer.

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Story Source:

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Lianjin Jin, Meng Lim, Shuping Zhao, Yuri Sano, Brittany A. Simone, Jason E. Savage, Eric Wickstrom, Kevin Camphausen, Richard G. Pestell, Nicole L. Simone. The metastatic potential of triple-negative breast cancer is decreased via caloric restriction-mediated reduction of the miR-17~92 cluster. Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, 2014; DOI: 10.1007/s10549-014-2978-7

Europe’s Landscape Is Still Scarred by World War I

 

 

(Michael St. Maur Sheil )

Ten thousand men were killed within seconds when the British exploded 19 mines under German lines during the Battle of Messines in Belgium. (Michael St. Maur Sheil )

100 years after the Battle of Verdun, its land—once a quiet stretch of French farmland—remains scarred from explosions. (Michael St. Maur Sheil)

On the Chemin des Dames, German soldiers took refuge in a former limestone quarry, which they called the Dragon’s Cavern. (Michael St. Maur Sheil)

Nearly 70 feet deep, the Lochnagar Crater was formed after an explosive-packed mine was detonated during the Battle of the Somme. (Michael St. Maur Sheil)

The tiny village of Butte de Vaquois once stood on a hilltop, and was destroyed after three years of furious mining blew away its summit. (Michael St. Maur Sheil)

A series of 12 bloody battles were fought between Austro-Hungrarian and Italian troops along the Isonzo River in Italy. (Michael St. Maur Sheil)