Eat berries to keep your brain sharp

A new study by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) finds that a high intake of flavonoid rich berries, such as strawberries and blueberries, over time, can delay memory decline in older women by 2.5 years. This study is published by Annals of Neurology, a journal of the American Neurological Association and Child Neurology Society, on April 26, 2012.

The study subjects were a cohort of 121,700 female, registered nurses between the ages of 30 and 55—who completed health and lifestyle questionnaires beginning in 1976. From 1980 researchers collected details on the frequency of food consumption once every four years. Between 1995 and 2001, memory was measured in 16,010 subjects over the age of 70 years, at 2-year intervals. Women included in the present study had a mean age of 74 and mean body mass index of 26.

Researchers found that increased consumption of blueberries and strawberries was associated with a slower rate of memory decline in older women. Greater the intake of anthocyanidins and total flavonoids lesser was the memory decline. The reduction was moderate among women who consumed 2 or more servings of strawberries and blueberries each week It seems that the effect was attainable with relatively simple dietary modifications .The study was unique as it was of such a large scale and over a long period of time. Whether the beneficial effect of regular consumption of berries will be seen in men is not known. Berries are rich; it is worthwhile making it a part of every day diet. 

"Our findings have significant public health implications as increasing berry intake is a fairly simple dietary modification to reduce memory decline in older adults" Elizabeth Devore in the Channing Laboratory at BWH the lead researcher of the study noted.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-04/bawh-bky042512.php

Honorary and ghost authorship in high impact biomedical journals

Very often we tend to trust results in peer reviewed articles published by high impact biomedical journals. This confidence seems to be misplaced.Just over one in five (21%) of articles published in six leading medical journals in 2008 have evidence of honorary and ghost authorship, finds a study published on http://www.bmj.com today.

The article in the latest issue of the British Medical Journal describes honorary authors as individuals who are named as authors but have not contributed substantially to be able to take responsibility for the work. Ghost authors are individuals who have made substantial contributions to the work but are not named as authors.

During  the 1980s, the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) developed guidelines for responsible and accountable authorship. These criteria are updated regularly and have been adopted by more than 600 biomedical journals. However, studies have found the prevalence of honorary authors to be as high as 39%, and ghost authors as high as 11% across a range of journals.

The authors conclude that "increased efforts by scientific journals, individual authors, and academic institutions are essential to promote responsibility, accountability, and transparency in authorship, and to maintain integrity in scientific publication."

New technology pinpoints genetic differences between cancer and non-cancer patients

If this technology becomes commercially available, some persons may get discriminated against

 K S Parthasarathy

Genetic differences between cancer and non cancer patients

A group of researchers led by scientists from the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) at Virginia Tech have developed a new technology that detects distinct genetic changes differentiating cancer patients from healthy individuals and could serve as a future cancer predisposition test.
The multidisciplinary team, which includes researchers from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, has created a design for a new DNA microarray that allows them to measure the two million microsatellites (short, repetitive DNA sequences) found within the human genome using 300,000 probes.
Microsatellites, which tend to vary greatly among individuals and have traditionally been used in forensics and paternity tests, are also used to uncover information related to a number of other genetic diseases such as Fragile-X or Huntington's disease. This advancement aided the discovery of a unique pattern of microsatellite variation in breast cancer patients that were not present in the DNA of patients who are cancer-free. Through their evaluation of global changes in the genome, the researchers determined that this pattern change alludes to a new mechanism disrupting the genome in cancer patients and may represent a new breast cancer risk biomarker. The results of the work will be featured in an upcoming edition of the journal Genes, Chromosomes and Cancer. The study is available online (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21240973).
"We have now arrived at a new biomarker – an indicator that could be used to evaluate the amount of risk that you have for developing cancer in the future," explained Harold "Skip" Garner, VBI executive director who leads the institute's Medical Informatics and Systems Division (http://bit.ly/g280kb). "This is part of an effort to understand their (microsatellite) role in the genome and then proceed on directly towards something that is of utility in the clinic. What just came out in our paper is a description of the technology that allows us to very quickly and efficiently and inexpensively measure these two million places using a uniquely designed microarray… It's the pattern on that microarray that provides us the information we need."
Watch a video of Garner discussing the research and its implications (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0BOq5b5HnM).
Only a small percentage of microsatellites have been linked to cancer and other diseases because there hasn't been an effective method available for evaluating large numbers of these sequences. This technology is enabling scientists to understand the role of these understudied parts of our genome for the first time and may help explain the difference between the known genetic components in disease and those that have been explained by genomic studies. This tool can be used to identify and better understand genetic changes in many different types of cancer with the potential to serve as a universal cancer biomarker. It has already been instrumental in the discovery of a new biomarker (http://bit.ly/gPcJkC) in the estrogen-related receptor gamma (ERR-γ) gene, which indicates an individual's increased risk for breast cancer. The group is now pursuing a number of these cancer predisposition risk markers in colon, lung, and other cancers.

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Smoking during radiation treatments reduces chance of overall survival

 A message to smokers who continue smoking during radiation treatment of cancer

Smoking during radiation treatments reduces chance of overall survival

Smokers who continue to smoke while undergoing radiation treatments for head and neck cancer fare significantly worse than those who quit smoking before therapy, according to a study in the February issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology•Biology•Physics, an official journal of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).

Although the association between tobacco smoking and head and neck cancers has long been established, there had been little data until now showing whether continued smoking during treatment affects prognosis.

"I've always told patients, 'You should really stop smoking,' but I had no tangible evidence to use to convince them that they would be worse off if they continued to smoke," Allen Chen, M.D., lead author of the study and residency training program director at the University of California, Davis, School of Medicine in Sacramento, Calif., said. "I wanted concrete data to see if smoking was detrimental in terms of curability, overall survival and tolerability of treatment. We showed continued smoking contributed to negative outcomes with regard to all of those."

Chen and colleagues reviewed medical records of 101 patients with newly diagnosed squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck who continued to smoke during radiation therapy and matched those patients to others who had quit prior to starting radiation therapy for their head and neck cancers. Matching was based on primary disease site, gender, smoking duration, stage of disease, radiation dose, other treatment (surgery and chemotherapy) and date of initiation of radiation therapy.

The researchers found that 55 percent of patients who had quit smoking prior to treatment were still alive five years later, compared with 23 percent of those who continued to smoke. The poorer outcomes for persistent smokers were reported for both patients who had surgery prior to radiation therapy and patients who had radiation alone. Similarly, Chen and his colleagues found that 53 of the patients who still smoked experienced disease recurrence, compared to 40 patients in the control group. Active smokers also experienced more complications of treatment, such as scar tissue development, hoarseness and difficulties with food intake.

Chen said additional research will be needed to explain these differences in outcomes for patients with head and neck cancers. One theory suggests that smoking deprives the body of much needed oxygen.

"Radiation therapy requires oxygenation for the production of free radicals, which attack cancer cells," he said.

He also emphasized that their findings are based on an observational study, which does not establish a cause-effect relationship between smoking during radiation therapy and poorer outcomes. For instance, they were unable to determine with certainty the actual cause of death of each patient, and active smokers may be at higher risk of death from other medical problems such as heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

"Patients unable to quit may also have non-cancer-related medical and psychosocial problems that could possible contribute to inferior survival," Chen said.

"Those who continue to smoke even after a diagnosis of head and neck cancer are likely to be at higher risk for alcohol abuse, have less social support and have lifestyles associated with high-risk health behaviors. A diagnosis of cancer is emotionally devastating, and a lot of patients are reluctant to entertain the idea of smoking cessation. Many patients can't or won't connect the dots, and unfortunately, our data is showing that by continuing to smoke, they are more likely to gamble away the possibility of cure."

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ASTRO is the largest radiation oncology society in the world, with more than 10,000 members who specialize in treating patients with radiation therapies. As the leading organization in radiation oncology, biology and physics, the Society is dedicated to improving patient care through education, clinical practice, advancement of science and advocacy. For more information on radiation therapy, visit www.rtanswers.org. To learn more about ASTRO, visit www.astro.org.

 

Radiation risks to women undergoing cardiac computed tomography (CT) angiography

Researchers from the department of radiology and radiological sciences, medical university of South Carolina, estimate that the average cancer induction risk for in a cohort of 100 patients (60 men and 40 women) in their study was 0.13 percent. According to them, the radiation risk to women is 2,6 times more than that in men. 

The latest issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR 2011; 196:W159-W165) published the results

Smokers beware DNA damage starts within minutes of smoking!!

 

A stark warning:' Smoking causes genetic damage within minutes after inhaling

WASHINGTON, Jan. 15, 2011 — In research described as "a stark warning" to those tempted to start smoking, scientists are reporting that cigarette smoke begins to cause genetic damage within minutes — not years — after inhalation into the lungs.
Their report, the first human study to detail the way certain substances in tobacco cause DNA damage linked to cancer, appears in Chemical Research in Toxicology, one of 38 peer-reviewed scientific journals published by the American Chemical Society.
Stephen S. Hecht, Ph.D., and colleagues point out in the report that lung cancer claims a global toll of 3,000 lives each day, largely as a result of cigarette smoking. Smoking also is linked to at least 18 other types of cancer. Evidence indicates that harmful substances in tobacco smoke termed polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, are one of the culprits in causing lung cancer. Until now, however, scientists had not detailed the specific way in which the PAHs in cigarette smoke cause DNA damage in humans.
The scientists added a labeled PAH, phenanthrene, to cigarettes and tracked its fate in 12 volunteers who smoked the cigarettes. They found that phenanthrene quickly forms a toxic substance in the blood known to trash DNA, causing mutations that can cause cancer. The smokers developed maximum levels of the substance in a time frame that surprised even the researchers: Just 15-30 minutes after the volunteers finished smoking. Researchers said the effect is so fast that it's equivalent to injecting the substance directly into the bloodstream.
"This study is unique," writes Hecht, an internationally recognized expert on cancer-causing substances found in cigarette smoke and smokeless tobacco. "It is the first to investigate human metabolism of a PAH specifically delivered by inhalation in cigarette smoke, without interference by other sources of exposure such as air pollution or the diet. The results reported here should serve as a stark warning to those who are considering starting to smoke cigarettes," the article notes.

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LHC Update protons to lead ions in four days flat

 

November 8, 2010

Geneva

. Four days is all it took for the LHC operations team at CERN* to complete the transition from protons to lead ions in the LHC. After extracting the final proton beam of 2010 on 4 November, commissioning the lead-ion beam was underway by early afternoon. First collisions were recorded at 00:30 CET on 7 November, and stable running conditions marked the start of physics with heavy ions at 11:20 CET today.
"The speed of the transition to lead ions is a sign of the maturity of the LHC," said CERN Director General Rolf Heuer. "The machine is running like clockwork after just a few months of routine operation."

Operating the LHC with lead ions – lead atoms stripped of electrons - is completely different from operating the machine with protons. From the source to collisions, operational parameters have to be re-established for the new type of beam. For lead-ions, as for protons before them, the procedure started with threading a single beam round the ring in one direction and steadily increasing the number of laps before repeating the process for the other beam.

Once circulating beams had been established they could be accelerated to the full energy of 287 TeV per beam. This energy is much higher than for proton beams because lead ions contain 82 protons. Another period of careful adjustment was needed before lining the beams up for collision, and then finally declaring that nominal data taking conditions, known at CERN as stable beams, had been established. The three experiments recording data with lead ions, ALICE, ATLAS and CMS can now look forward to continuous lead-ion running until CERN's winter technical stop begins on 6 December.

"It's been very impressive to see how well the LHC has adapted to lead ions," said Jurgen Schukraft, spokesperson of the ALICE experiment. "The ALICE detector has been optimised to record the large number of tracks that emerge from ion collisions and has handled the first collisions very well, so we are all set to explore this new opportunity at LHC."

"After a very successful proton run, we're very excited to be moving to this new phase of LHC operation," said ATLAS spokesperson Fabiola Gianotti. "The ATLAS detector has recorded first spectacular heavy-ion events, and we are eager to study them in detail."

"We designed CMS as a multi-purpose detector," said Guido Tonelli, the collaboration's spokesperson, "and it's very rewarding to see how well it's adapting to this new kind of collision. Having data collected by the same detector in proton-proton and heavy-ion modes is a powerful tool to look for unambiguous signatures of new states of matter."
Lead-ion running opens up an entirely new avenue of exploration for the LHC programme, probing matter as it would have been in the first instants of the Universe's existence. One of the main objectives for lead-ion running is to produce tiny quantities of such matter, which is known as quark-gluon plasma, and to study its evolution into the kind of matter that makes up the Universe today. This exploration will shed further light on the properties of the strong interaction, which binds the particles called quarks, into bigger objects, such as protons and neutrons.
Following the winter technical stop, operation of the collider will start again with protons in February and physics runs will continue through 2011.

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*CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is the world's leading laboratory for particle physics. It has its headquarters in Geneva. At present, its Member States are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. India, Israel, Japan, the Russian Federation, the United States of America, Turkey, the European Commission and UNESCO have Observer status.

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Scientists trace nano particles' journey from the lungs to the body

November 8, 2010 
Boston
Naotechnology is attracting the attention of all types of specialists. Researchers hope that  their findings could help investigators develop agents for delivering drug in to lungs and provide key information for use in air pollution control.

Using a novel, real-time imaging system, scientists have tracked a group of near-infrared fluorescent nanoparticles from the airspaces of the lungs, into the body and out again, providing a description of the characteristics and behavior of these minute particles which could be used in developing therapeutic agents to treat pulmonary disease, as well as offering a greater understanding of the health effects of air pollution.
Led by investigators at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and the Harvard School of Public Health, the findings are described in the November 7 Advance Online issue of the journal Nature Biotechnology.
At a scale of one to 100 nanometers (nm) – one billionth of a meter – nanoparticles are too small to be visible through a traditional microscope. But this extremely small scale makes them potential candidates for targeted drug delivery, capable of precisely pinpointing disease sources with increased efficiency and minimal side effects to surrounding tissues.
"Nanoparticles hold promise as therapeutic agents for a number of diseases," explains co-senior author John V. Frangioni, MD, PhD, of the Division of Hematology/Oncology at BIDMC and Associate Professor of Medicine and of Radiology at Harvard Medical School (HMS), whose laboratory specializes in the development of imaging systems and of contrast agent development for molecular imaging. The anatomy of the lung, with its large surface area and minimal barriers limiting access to the body, makes this organ a particularly good target for nanoparticle drug delivery.
"We have been interested in the fate of small particles after they deposit deep in the gas exchange region of the lung," adds co-senior author Akira Tsuda, PhD, a research scientist in the Molecular and Integrative Physiological Sciences Program in the Department of Environmental Health at the Harvard School of Public Health. "Determining the physicochemical characteristics of inhaled nanoparticles on their ability to cross the [lungs'] alveolar epithelial surface is an important step in understanding the biological effects associated with exposure to these particles."
Previous work by Frangioni and first author Hak Soo Choi, PhD, an Instructor of Medicine at HMS, had established the characteristics of nanoparticles that regulate clearance from the body. "To be of value clinically, nanoparticles must be able to either biodegrade into biologically inert compounds, or be efficiently cleared from the body," says Choi, explaining that accumulation of nanoparticles can be toxic.
The aim of this new study was to determine the characteristics and parameters of inhaled nanoparticles that mediate their uptake into the body -- from the external environment, across the alveolar lung surface and into the lymphatic system and blood stream and eventually to other organs. To do this, the scientists made use of the FLARE™ (Fluorescence-Assisted Resection and Exploration) imaging system, systematically varying the chemical composition, size, shape and surface charge of a group of near-infrared fluorescent nanoparticles to compare the physiochemical properties of the various engineered particles. The investigators then tracked the movement of the varying nanoparticles in the lungs of rat models over a period of one hour, and also verified results using conventional radioactive tracers.
"The FLARE system enabled us to cut the number of experiments in half while performing direct comparisons of nanoparticles of different sizes, shapes and rigidities," explains Frangioni, whose laboratory developed the FLARE system for use in image-guided cancer surgery as well as other applications.
Their results established that non-positively charged nanoparticles, smaller than 34 nm in diameter, appeared in the lung-draining lymph nodes within 30 minutes. They also found that nanoparticles smaller than 6 nm in diameter with "zwitterionic" characteristics (equal positive and negative charge) traveled to the draining lymph nodes within just a few minutes, subsequently being cleared by the kidneys into urine.
"These new findings can be applied to design and optimize particles for drug delivery by inhalation therapy," notes Tsuda. "This research also guides us in the assessment of the health effects of various particulate pollutants, as the data suggest the importance of distinguishing specific subclasses of particles [based on surface chemistry and size] that can rapidly cross the alveolar epithelium and may disseminate in the body."
Adds Frangioni, "This study complements our earlier work in which we defined the characteristics of nanoparticles that regulate efficient clearance from the body. With these new findings, which define the characteristics that regulate uptake into the body, we've now described a complete 'cycle' of nanoparticle trafficking --from the environment, through the lungs, into the body, then out of the kidneys in urine and back to the environment."

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