FROM MIT NEWS

Research update: Continuous medical monitoring

Tiny 'microworms' could be implanted under the skin to give readout of blood sugar levels or other biomedical information.


Researchers at MIT and Northeastern have come up with a new system for monitoring biomedical indicators — such as levels of sodium or glucose in the blood — that could someday lead to implantable devices that would allow, for example, people with diabetes to check their blood sugar just by glancing at an area of skin.

A number of researchers have developed microparticle-based systems — hollow, microscopic particles filled with specific chemicals — for monitoring biomedical conditions or for the selective delivery of drugs to certain organs or areas of the body. But one drawback of these systems is that the particles are small enough to be swept away from the initial site over time. The new system involves a different kind of microparticle that can avoid this problem.

While traditional particles are spherical, the new particles are shaped like long tubes. The tubes’ narrow width, which is comparable to that of the previously studied microparticles, keeps the tubes’ contents in close proximity to blood or body tissue, making it easy for the particles to sense and respond to chemical or other conditions in their surroundings. The tubes’ relatively greater length keeps the tubes very well anchored in place for long-term monitoring, perhaps for months on end.

The particles eventually could be used to monitor the glucose levels of diabetics or the salt levels of those with a condition that can cause swings in blood salt concentrations.

The new findings are being reported in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, in a paper published online in January and soon to appear in the print version. It was co-authored by Karen Gleason, the Alexander and I. Michael Kasser Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT; Heather Clark, professor of pharmaceutical science at Northeastern University; MIT postdoctoral researcher Gozde Ozaydin-Ince; and Northeastern doctoral student J. Matthew Dubach.

The process of creating the new nanoparticles is an offshoot of Gleason’s work on a method of coating materials by vaporizing the coating material and letting it deposit on a surface to be coated. In work published last month, she and her co-workers had shown that this technique — called chemical vapor deposition (CVD) — could be used to coat a material containing microscopic pores, thus making the pores even smaller and giving them a surface that could respond to the chemical properties of materials passing through them.


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Where have all the young girls gone?

The widespread availability of ultrasound scans in India is giving rise to abortions of female foetuses on an unprecedented scale, according to new research by Professor Sonia Bhalotra from the University’s Center for Market and Public Organization.

Her study of ‘sex-selective’ abortion in India reveals that nearly half a million girls are aborted each year, which is more than the number of girls born annually in Britain. The practice is concentrated among relatively rich and educated Hindu families. According to Professor Bhalotra, this is consistent with ‘modern’ women being more receptive to new technologies and their wanting to have fewer children. She also suggests that Muslim women may have a stronger abhorrence of abortion.

Before this study, there was considerable anecdotal evidence of girl abortion in India, but no direct records of the practice. Using information on half a million births in India over more than three decades, this research identifies a dramatic decrease in the ratio of girls to boys being born after, and only after, the arrival of ultrasound machines in India.

It finds that families with a firstborn son have less of an incentive to engage in sex selection than families with a firstborn daughter. The strategy of comparing the ratio of girl to boy births in the population before and after the arrival of ultrasound, and in families with and without a firstborn son takes out of the equation factors other than foeticide that might influence the sex ratio at birth.

Sex-selective abortion is illegal in India since 1996 but it is continuing at an increasing pace. Ultrasound scanners are getting smaller and more mobile and a scan costs about £10, which is inexpensive for the rich and affordable for the poor. Advertisements in rural areas highlight how small this sum is relative to the cost of dowry. Ultrasound technology is improving continuously, enabling more reliable resolution of the foetal image earlier in pregnancy.

The research also shows that parents are conducting prenatal sex selection even after they have one son. Indeed, the evidence suggests that the ideal family structure for Indian families is to have two boys and one girl.

Son preference is an old tradition in India and other parts of Asia. Previously, poor families with limited resources for food and health care prioritised their sons because sons deliver later-life advantages such as old-age security. This has, over the centuries, led to a gradual erosion of the share of girls and women in society through neglect. This research suggests a new characterisation of the problem: girls from richer families are now being eliminated before birth on an unprecedented scale.


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FROM THIS WEEK

Will junk food lower your child's IQ?A new study suggests that feeding kids too much fat and sugar at a young age can drag down their test scores later in childhood

Feeding toddlers a steady diet of processed foods could lead to more than just obesity — it could lower their IQs, according to a new study. Researchers at England's University of Bristol found that a child's eating habits at age 3 may influence his cognitive abilities at age 8. Toddler diets high in fat and sugar were associated with lower IQ scores, while healthier eating was tied to higher scores. The report, which appears in theJournal of Epidemiology and Community Health, is being billed as "the first study to suggest a direct link between the diet of young children and their brainpower" years later. Here, a brief guide to the findings:

How was the study conducted?
The researchers examined data on nearly 4,000 children born in the early 1990s, including detailed information from parents on what the kids ate and drank at specific ages. It also included the results of IQ tests performed when the children were 8.5 years old. The researchers sorted the kids into three categories based on whether they were given a "processed" diet full of fat and sugar; a "traditional" diet of "meat, potatoes, bread and vegetables"; or a "health-conscious" diet heavy on salad, fruit, rice, and fish. They also rated the kids' diets on a point scale, "which ranged from minus two for the most healthy to 10 for the most unhealthy."

What exactly did the researchers find?
At age 8.5, the kids who'd been fed the worst diet as toddlers had slightly lower IQs than the kids with the healthiest eating habits. Every one-point increase in the 12-point unhealthy food scale was associated with a 1.67-point drop in IQ. That correlation held even after researchers adjusted the data for other factors like socioeconomic status and parental education. Improving a child's diet after age 3 did not seem to correlate to a jump in IQ.

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FROM PHYORG

Adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder score high in creativity
February 11, 2011
(PhysOrg.com) -- Young adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder showed more creativity compared with those who did not have ADHD, a new study shows.


Researchers at the University of Michigan and Eckerd College also found that ADHD individuals preferred different thinking styles. They like generating ideas, but are not good about completing the tasks.

Lead author Holly White, an assistant professor of psychology at Eckerd, and Priti Shah, an associate professor at U-M, replicated their study from 2006, and those results found that ADHD individuals show better performance on standardized creativity tests.

Previous research regarding individuals with ADHD focused on laboratory measures of creativity.

"We knew that ADHD individuals did better at laboratory measures of divergent thinking, but we didn't know if that would translate to real-life achievement. The current study suggests that it does," Shah said.

Divergent thinking involves generating several possible solutions to a problem.

ADHD is neuropsychological disorder that involves inattentiveness, impulsiveness and hyperactivity. Most individuals get the disorder in childhood and it persists into adulthood. It has impaired the person's ability to adjust academically and socially.

Sixty college students (half with ADHD) completed a questionnaire about their level of achievement regarding creativity in 10 areas, such as humor, music, visual arts, culinary arts, invention and writing. Those with ADHD scored higher than individuals who didn't have the disorder.

Another questionnaire assessed the respondents' preferred creative style: clarifiers, who define and structure the problem; ideators, who like to generate ideas; developers, who elaborate or refine ideas and solutions; and implementers, who incorporate a refined idea into a final product or solution.

Non-ADHD participants preferred problem clarification and idea development. ADHD individuals liked the ideator style. Knowing the creative style can help identify careers suited to the strengths and weaknesses of individuals with ADHD, the researchers said.


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FROM POPULAR SCIENCE

Harvard Reverses Aging Process in Mice, Could Lead to Human Anti-Aging Treatments


Harvard scientists may be a step closer to a medical fountain of youth after figuring out how toreverse the aging process in mice. The breakthrough could lead to a way to slow the aging process in humans which in turn could extend quality of life by reducing the impact of age-related ailments like heart disease or dementia. That is, if it doesn’t kill them first.

Harvard Medical School scientists turned unhealthy old mice into youthful versions of themselves by tampering with an enzyme called telomerase. While the aging process is not totally understood, one of the many factors that causes the deterioration of the body’s tissues is tied to telomeres, which protect the end of each of the chromosomes in DNA. When cells divide, the telomeres are cut shorter and shorter until eventually they stop working altogether and the cell either dies or goes into a dormant state.

The researchers genetically engineered mice that lacked telomerase, an enzyme that stops telomeres from shortening. As such, the telomeres rapidly grew shorter and the mice aged quickly, developing all the signs of old age including damaged organs, a shrinking brain, and infertility. The researchers then injected the mice with a cocktail that reactivated their telomerase. This didn’t just slow the aging process, but actually reversed the effects of aging, essentially making the mice grow younger.


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FROM NEW AU

SCIENTISTS have developed a new tool in the fight against skin cancer by creating an iPhone device that detects skin cancer.

The ‘Handyscope’ which launched yesterday, plugs into the iPhone and acts as a “dermatascope” – a tool which doctors use when they are investigating skin cells for melanoma.

Using a polarising light, the device can detect if a mole is cancerous, takes a photo of it and sends it off to a doctor for inspection.

Users can even upload their photos to a second opinion service which allows melanoma specialists to consult on the diagnosis.

Of course, the device comes at a pretty significant cost – the Handyscope is currently priced at £995 ($1600) – about 20 times more than the costs of a consultation with a melanoma specialist.

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Read more: http://www.news.com.au/technology/now-your-iphone-can-detect-skin-cancer/story-e6frfro0-1226002864311#ixzz1DWFcvU7Y

FROM THE GUARDIAN

Flu breakthrough promises a vaccine to kill all strains
British team's success with jab that targets proteins common to every type of flu virus


A team at Oxford University has had success testing a vaccine that can neuter any strain of flu virus. Photograph: Science Photo Library
Scientists at Oxford University have successfully tested a universal flu vaccine that could work against all known strains of the illness, taking a significant step in the fight against a disease that affects billions of people each year.

The treatment – using a new technique and tested for the first time on humans infected with flu – targets a different part of the flu virus to traditional vaccines, meaning it does not need expensive reformulation every year to match the most prevalent virus that is circulating the world.

Developed by a team led by Dr Sarah Gilbert at Oxford's Jenner Institute, the vaccine targets proteins inside the flu virus that are common across all strains, instead of those that sit on the virus's external coat, which are liable to mutate.

If used widely a universal flu vaccine could prevent pandemics, such as the swine flu outbreaks of recent years, and end the need for a seasonal flu jab.

"The problem with flu is that you've got lots of different strains and they keep changing," said Adrian Hill, director of the Jenner Institute. "Occasionally one comes out of wildfowl or pigs and we're not immune to it. We need new vaccines and we can't make them fast enough."

A universal vaccine would save the time and money now needed to create vaccines to fight whatever particular virus has emerged in any year. The government spent an estimated £1.2bn in preparing for the swine flu outbreak of last winter.

The process of developing a seasonal vaccine takes at least four months and if the flu strain is highly pathogenic – as in 1918 when millions of people died – the delay means more people get sick and die before the vaccine is ready.

This winter the government was criticised for its handling of the annual winter flu outbreak. Shortages of the seasonal flu vaccine became so acute in some areas that GPs were told to use old stocks of swine flu vaccine instead.

"If we were using the same vaccine year in, year out, it would be more like vaccinating against other diseases like tetanus," said Gilbert. "It would become a routine vaccination that would be manufactured and used all the time at a steady level. We wouldn't have these sudden demands or shortages – all that would stop."

While traditional vaccines prompt the body to create antibodies, Gilbert's vaccine boosts the number of the body's T-cells, another key part of the immune system. These can identify and destroy body cells that have been infected by a virus.

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Why male fertility could be in decline
by ROSALIND RYAN, femail.co.uk

Numerous studies have found that, on average, male sperm counts around the world have more than halved in the past 50 years and are still falling at a rate of two per cent every year.

Reasons for this decline range from our increasingly stressful lifestyles, poor diet and environmental factors.
Now a new study by America's University of California has also found that men's fertility declines as they age.

Here, femail.co.uk has investigated some of the reasons for declining male fertility. And follow the link at the bottom of the page for six tips on boosting male fertility.

High lead levels
A new report released this week found conclusive evidence that lead is linked to male infertility. Experts from America's Fertility Research Laboratories in New York discovered that exposure to lead damages the way sperm functions.

Researchers measured metal levels and sperm function in men whose partners where going through their first cycle of IVF treatment. They found there was a 'significant association' between high lead levels and low fertilisation rates.

The effect of lead on sperm is so great, that Dr Susan Benoff, who lead the research, says doctors should routinely measure lead levels in sperm samples when they are investigating causes of male infertility.

Because of the clear link between lead and low sperm function, researchers involved in the study are now calling for safety authorities to review the limits set for environmental exposure to lead.

However, none of the men involved in the study, reported in the journal Human Reproduction, had such high levels of lead that they were at risk of lead poisoning.

It is believed that the lead found in the samples was associated with drinking and smoking, or a lack of exercise - according to health experts, lead can build up in the body if no exercise is carried out. Researchers found that a diet high in animal fats can also encourage lead accumulation in the body.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-158463/Why-male-fertility-decline.html#ixzz1Cs5FyUul