FRIDAY, Oct. 28 (HealthDay News) -- Many Alzheimer's patients who take cholinesterase inhibitors to slow their brain disease also take drugs that counter the effects of those Alzheimer's medications, a new study says.
Clinical trials have shown that cholinesterase inhibitors such as Aricept (donepezil) have a modest impact on the functional and cognitive decline caused by Alzheimer's disease, noted the researchers at the Group Health Research Institute in Seattle.
"Cholinesterase inhibitors are today's primary therapy for slowing Alzheimer's disease," study leader Denise Boudreau said in an institute news release.
"Anticholinergic properties are often found in drugs commonly used to treat gastrointestinal disorders, allergies, urinary incontinence, depression and Parkinson's disease, and they can have negative effects on cognition and function in the elderly. There's concern that if someone is taking both types of drugs -- cholinesterase inhibitors and anticholinergic medications -- they will antagonize each other, and neither will work," she explained.
Common anticholinergic medications include Benadryl (diphenhydramine) and Ditropan (oxybutynin), which is prescribed for overactive bladders.
Boudreau and colleagues analyzed data from more than 5,600 patients aged 50 and older who had cholinesterase inhibitors prescribed to them for the first time between 2000 and 2007. Of those patients, 37 percent also took at least one anticholinergic drug and more than 11 percent took two or more anticholinergic drugs.
Among the patients who took both classes of drugs, dual use generally lasted three to four months, but one-quarter of the patients used both classes of drugs for more than a year.
The researchers also found that 23 percent of patients who received a new prescription for cholinesterase inhibitors were already using at least one anticholinergic drug, and 77 percent of those patients continued taking an anticholinergic drug after they began taking a cholinesterase inhibitor.
"It's reassuring that we did not observe an association between simultaneous use of the two types of drugs and increased risk of death or nursing home placement," Boudreau said in the release. "But concomitant use of these drugs is, at the very least, not optimal clinical practice."
The study was published online Oct. 22 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
Alzheimer's patients often have multiple health problems, which may help explain why doctors might prescribe conflicting medications for these patients, the researchers said.
More information
The U.S. National Institute on Aging has more about Alzheimer's medications.
A previously unknown portrait by Spanish artist Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velazquez has been unveiled in London.
Portrait of a gentleman, bust-length, in a black tunic and white collar, was previously owned by 19th Century British artist Matthew Shepperson.
It was discovered after a number of artworks by Shepperson were consigned for sale last year.
Further examination and an x-ray confirmed the work to be Velazquez.
The painting first came to attention when the current owner - a descendant of Shepperson - brought the works to Bonhams auction house in Oxford. In-house experts noticed the stylistic similarities to works by the Spanish master Velazquez.
It led to extensive research which was confirmed by Dr Peter Cherry - professor of art history at the University of Dublin and one of the world's foremost authorities on Velazquez - and by technical analysis.
"The brushwork is very cleverly done and has the full range of experience you'd expect from Velazquez from this period," Dr Cherry told the BBC.
The identity of the sitter is unknown but it is thought that it could be Juan Mateos, Philip IV's Master of the Hunt.
The painting is expected to fetch up to ?3 million when it is sold at auction in December.
"This is an extraordinarily beautiful portrait which, after extensive research, we believe to be by the hand of Velazquez," said Bonhams's Andrew Mckenzie.
"We expect there to be great interest from around the globe as works by this master so rarely come to auction."
Georgina Adam, editor-at-large of The Art Newspaper, told the BBC's Arts Correspondent Rebecca Jones that the newly discovered painting was very significant.
"It adds to our known number of pictures by Velazquez. There are 98 known of which only four of them are in private hands," Ms Adams said.
"It's also not in the catalogue raisonne, which is the authoritative list of all the artist's work, but that's presumably because the author just didn't know about this one - it's come out of nowhere."
CANBERRA, Australia ? Qantas Airways grounded its global fleet indefinitely Saturday imposing an employee lockout after weeks of disruptive strikes, and the Australian government sought emergency arbitration.
At least 60 flights were in the air and continued to their destinations, but a taxiing flight stopped on the runway, according to one flier. Booked passengers were being rescheduled at Qantas' expense, chief executive Alan Joyce said.
When the grounding was announced, 36 international and 28 domestic Australian flights were in the air, said a Qantas spokeswoman, who declined to be named citing company policy.
She could not confirm an Australian Broadcasting Corp. television report that 13,305 passengers were booked to fly Qantas international flights within 24 hours of the grounding.
Bookings already had collapsed after unions warned travelers to book with other airlines through the busy Christmas-New Year period. Joyce told a news conference in Sydney the unions' actions have caused a crisis for Qantas.
"They are trashing our strategy and our brand," Joyce said. "They are deliberately destabilizing the company and there is no end in sight."
Union leaders criticized the action as extreme. Qantas is the world's 10th largest airline and among the most profitable, but its unions worry a recent restructuring announcement would be a means to move some of Qantas' 35,000 jobs overseas.
The grounding of the largest of Australia's four national domestic airlines will take a major economic toll and could disrupt the national Parliament, due to resume in Canberra on Tuesday after a two-week recess. Qantas' budget subsidiary Jetstar continues to fly.
Qantas was to fly home 17 government leaders on Sunday after the Commonwealth summit in the west coast city of Perth ended, Australian Broadcasting Corp. TV reported.
British tourist Chris Crulley, 25, said the pilot on his Qantas flight informed passengers while taxiing down a Sydney runway that he had to return to the terminal "to take an important phone call." The flight was then grounded.
"We're all set for the flight and settled in and the next thing ? I'm stunned. We're getting back off the plane," the firefighter told The Associated Press from Sydney Airport by phone.
Crulley was happy to be heading home to Newcastle after a five-week vacation when his flight was interrupted. "I've got to get back to the other side of the world by Wednesday for work. It's a nightmare," he added.
Qantas offered him up to 350 Australian dollars ($375) a day for food and accommodation, but Crulley expected to struggle to find a hotel at short notice in Sydney on a Saturday night.
The government has called an emergency arbitration court hearing on Saturday night to rule on the strike action and the airline's response.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard said her center-left government, which is affiliated with the trade union movement, had "taken a rare decision" to call an emergency arbitration court hearing on Saturday night to terminate the strike action.
"I believe it is warranted in the circumstances we now face with Qantas ... circumstances with this industrial dispute that could have implications for our national economy," Gillard told reporters.
Transport Minister Anthony Albanese described the grounding as "disappointing" and "extraordinary." Albanese was angry that Qantas gave him only three hours' notice.
All 108 aircraft in as many as 22 countries will be grounded until unions representing pilots, mechanics, baggage handlers and caterers reach agreements with Qantas over pay and conditions, Joyce said.
"We are locking out until the unions withdraw their extreme claim and reach agreement with us," Joyce said, referring shutting staff out of their work stations.
"This is a crisis for Qantas. If the action continues as the unions have promised, we will have no choice but to close down Qantas part by part," he added.
Staff will not be paid starting Monday, and Joyce estimated the grounding will cost the airline $20 million a day. It already had reduced and rescheduled flights for weeks because of strikes and overtime bans as workers worry their jobs will move overseas.
Richard Woodward, vice president of the pilot's union, the Australian and International Pilots Association, accused Qantas of "holding a knife to the nation's throat" and said Joyce had "gone mad."
Steve Purvinas, federal secretary of the mechanics' union, Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association, described the grounding as "an extreme measure."
The recent strike action has most severely affected Qantas domestic flights.
In mid-October, Qantas grounded five jets and reduced domestic flights by almost 100 flights a week because aircraft mechanics had reduced the hours they were prepared to work.
Qantas infuriated unions in August when it said it would improve its loss-making overseas business by creating an Asia-based airline with its own name and brand.
The five-year restructure plan will cost 1,000 jobs.
Qantas announced in August that it had more than doubled annual profit to AU$250 million, but warned the business environment was too challenging to forecast earnings for the current fiscal year.
Cooler Master has recently released the NotePal U Stand, a multi-functional cooling pad/laptop stand for hassle-free cooling. ?It comes as a?ergonomically?designed five angle stand, has two removable 100mm fans, and has a three port USB hub. ?U Stand is firmly constructed of brushed aluminum and can?accommodate?up to a 17″ laptop. U Stand weighs 3.3 lbs [...]
PHILADELPHIA?? Two abortion clinic workers pleaded guilty Thursday to third-degree murder in deaths that occurred at a Philadelphia clinic where seven babies were allegedly born alive, then killed with scissors, and a patient died from an overdose of painkillers.
Andrea Moton, 34, admitted her involvement in the stabbing death of one late-term baby that she pulled from a toilet where it had been delivered.
Sherry West, 52, pleaded guilty in the February 2009 death of Karnamaya Mongar, a Bhutanese immigrant who was 19 weeks pregnant. Neither worker was trained or licensed for the work they did at the clinic run by Dr. Kermit Gosnell, authorities said.
Gosnell and nine employees, including his wife, were charged earlier this year after a grand jury report detailed the macabre conditions at the West Philadelphia clinic. Gosnell, the only doctor, and other staff are accused of performing illegal late-term abortions and killing babies born alive by severing their spinal cords with scissors.
Gosnell, who denies the allegations, is being held on $2 million bail.
Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams called the clinic a "house of horrors" in announcing the charges in January.
Moton, of Upper Darby, knew Gosnell through his niece. She worked evenings to assist with abortions, but, like the others, had no relevant training or license. She assisted with procedures and cut the spinal cords of aborted babies, the grand jury report said.
Moton and West each pleaded guilty to related charges, including taking part in a corrupt organization. West also pleaded guilty to drug delivery causing death.
West, of Newark, Del., may have administered at least some of the fatal dose of Demerol that killed 41-year-old Mongar in November 2009, defense lawyer Michael Wallace said after the hearing. However, he noted that she was the only clinic employee to accompany Mongar to the hospital as she was dying.
According to the grand jury report, West and co-defendant Lynda Williams overmedicated the 4-foot-11, 110-pound Mongar when Gosnell was not at the clinic. West then grabbed her medical file and rode to the hospital with Mongar's family, who spoke little or no English.
"West told them that Mrs. Mongar was unconscious, but not to worry," the grand jury report said.
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The medical file was altered by the time hospital doctors got it, and "grossly underestimated" the amount of drugs the woman had received, the report said.
"She's very sorry about the death of that young lady," Wallace said Thursday. "She got caught up in a series of things (at the clinic) that probably she did not realize the significance of."
West was a longtime patient who sought work at the clinic after 22 years with the Veterans Administration, he said. She lost her job there after contracting hepatitis C, the grand jury report said.
She started at Gosnell's clinic in October 2008, making $8 to $10 an hour in cash to perform ultrasound exams, administer anesthesia and monitor patients in the medical room. Prosecutors said she was not licensed or trained to perform those duties, but Wallace disputed that.
"She was doing the same things she was doing at the VA," he said.
West has been in custody on $2 million bail since her arrest in January. She has been cooperating and will continue to do so, even if it means testifying against Gosnell, Wallace said. Gosnell's lawyer did not return a call for comment.
West faces up to 140 years in prison but would likely get far less time given that cooperation.
"She knows she will do time," Wallace said.
Staff had warned Gosnell that West and Williams were sloppy and careless with their work, the grand jury report said. Despite her hepatitis, West often did not wear gloves or take other precautions, and they were haphazard about the amount of drugs given to patients, the report said.
Moton faces up to 120 years in prison. She was one of three employees who were so startled by the size of a nearly 30-week fetus allegedly born alive and killed that they each took pictures of the infant. Moton gave her cellphone photo to the FBI, the grand jury report said.
Neither prosecutors nor her lawyer, Thomas L. McGill Jr., commented after the hearing, citing a gag order.
Ten clinic workers were charged in all in the case. In addition to the pleas entered Thursday, clinic worker Elizabeth Hampton has pleaded guilty to a perjury charge.
Seven others are still awaiting trial, including Gosnell and several others charged with murder.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
"There's a good reason why Street View is done in cars." That's a quote from Mat Bisher, associate creative director at McCann, who is teaming up with granola connoisseur Nature Valley in order to deliver a "Street View-style tour" of America's National Parks. Fast Company reports that the two have embarked on quite the ambitious initiative (dubbed Trail View), sending a cadre of well-trained hikers to some of America's most gorgeous locales with specially-rigged camera setups in tow. The goal? To capture views from near-limitless hiking trails, and bring them to your web browser starting in February 2012. Sadly, it won't be integrated into any of the platforms already in existence; it'll be its own standalone thing, but hopefully the likes of Microsoft or Google will take notice and either contribute or convert it. We're told that "layers for user-generated content, social networking and mobility, and perhaps form partnerships with travel sites" are on tap, and yes, Woodrow Wilson's ghost has purportedly approved.
Update: We've added a few shots of the actual capturing in the gallery below.
Amy Winehouse's father Mitch, center and his partner Jane, right, arrive at St Pancras Coroner's Court for a hearing into the singer's death in London, Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011. A British coroner will hear about the final hours of Amy Winehouse's life at the inquest into the soul diva's death. The singer, who had fought drug and alcohol problems for years, was found dead in bed at her London home on July 23 at age 27. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
Amy Winehouse's father Mitch, center and his partner Jane, right, arrive at St Pancras Coroner's Court for a hearing into the singer's death in London, Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011. A British coroner will hear about the final hours of Amy Winehouse's life at the inquest into the soul diva's death. The singer, who had fought drug and alcohol problems for years, was found dead in bed at her London home on July 23 at age 27. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
Amy Winehouse's mother Janis, left, arrives at St Pancras Coroner's Court for a hearing into the singer's death in London, Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011. A British coroner will hear about the final hours of Amy Winehouse's life at the inquest into the soul diva's death. The singer, who had fought drug and alcohol problems for years, was found dead in bed at her London home on July 23 at age 27. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
Amy Winehouse's mum Janis, left, arrives at St. Pancras Coroner's Court for a hearing into the singer's death in London, Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011. A British coroner will hear about the final hours of Amy Winehouse's life at the inquest into the soul diva's death. The singer, who had fought drug and alcohol problems for years, was found dead in bed at her London home on July 23 at age 27. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
Amy Winehouse's mum Janis, left, arrives at St. Pancras Coroner's Court for a hearing into the singer's death in London, Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011. A British coroner will hear about the final hours of Amy Winehouse's life at the inquest into the soul diva's death. The singer, who had fought drug and alcohol problems for years, was found dead in bed at her London home on July 23 at age 27. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
Amy Winehouse's father Mitch, left, and his partner Jane, second left, arrive at St Pancras Coroner's Court for a hearing into the singer's death in London, Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011. A British coroner will hear about the final hours of Amy Winehouse's life at the inquest into the soul diva's death. The singer, who had fought drug and alcohol problems for years, was found dead in bed at her London home on July 23 at age 27. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
LONDON (AP) ? Soul diva Amy Winehouse died with empty vodka bottles in her room and lethal amounts of alcohol in her blood ? more than five times the British drunk driving limit, a British coroner ruled Wednesday.
Coroner Suzanne Greenaway gave a verdict of "death by misadventure," saying the singer died of accidental alcohol poisoning when she resumed drinking after weeks of abstinence.
"The unintended consequence of such potentially fatal levels (of alcohol) was her sudden and unexpected death," Greenaway said.
The singer, who had fought a very public battle with drug and alcohol problems for years, was found dead in bed at her London home on July 23 at age 27. An initial autopsy proved inconclusive, although it found no traces of illegal drugs in her system or signs of injury.
Pathologist Suhail Baithun told the inquest into the singer's death that blood and urine samples indicated that Winehouse had consumed a "very large quantity of alcohol" prior to her death. The level of alcohol in her blood was 416 milligrams per 100 milliliters, he said ? a blood alcohol level of 0.4 percent.
The British and U.S. legal drunk-driving limit is 0.08 percent.
Such levels of alcohol intake could have stopped her breathing and sent her into a coma, Baithun added.
Police Detective Inspector Les Newman, who was called after a security guard found Winehouse, said three empty vodka bottles ? two large and one small ? were found in her bedroom.
Winehouse's doctor, Dr. Christina Romete, said the singer had resumed drinking in the days before her death. Prior to that, Winehouse had stayed away from drink for most of July, she said, although she had been swerving between abstinence and heavy alcohol use for a long time.
"She's made tremendous efforts over the years," Romete said, adding that alcohol became Winehouse's main problem after the singer gave up illicit drugs in 2008.
Romete, who saw Winehouse the night before she died, described the singer as "tipsy" but calm. She said Winehouse had not spoken of suicide, and had talked about her upcoming birthday.
The doctor said Winehouse had been prescribed drugs including the sedative Librium to help her cope with the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal, but the coroner said these had played no role in her death.
Winehouse was last seen by her live-in security guard, Andrew Morris, who said he had heard her laughing and listening to music the night before she died.
He said he knew she had resumed drinking, but did not notice anything unusual until he found that she had stopped breathing in bed the next afternoon.
"She did it moderately... she wasn't drinking to get drunk," Morris told the coroner's court.
Doctors say acute alcohol poisoning is usually the result of binge drinking ? the human body can only process about one unit of alcohol, or about half a glass of wine, an hour. Having too much alcohol in the body can cause severe dehydration, hypothermia, seizures, breathing problems, and a heart attack, among other difficulties.
There is no minimum dose for acute alcohol poisoning and the condition varies depending on a person's age, sex, weight, how fast the alcohol is drunk and other factors such as drug use.
Dr. Joseph Feldman, chief of emergency services at Hackensack University Medical Center, New Jersey, said that Winehouse likely developed tolerance to larger quantities of alcohol than one would expect after drinking heavily for years. He also said that the sedative Winehouse was on, Librium, wouldn't have stopped someone from having seizures if they were in alcohol withdrawal.
"It's easier to withdraw from heroin than it is from alcohol ... withdrawal (from alcohol) can cause anxiety, tremors, hallucinations, the sensation of things crawling all over you," he said.
He said those symptoms sometimes push people back to alcohol, which can result in poisoning.
"It's possible she could have been saved if she had been found (or treated) earlier," he said. "A lot of treatment is supportive care, like IV fluids and making sure they don't vomit."
The singer's parents attended the hearing, but did not speak to reporters. In a statement, Winehouse family spokesman Chris Goodman said it was a relief to the family "to finally find out what happened to Amy."
"The court heard that Amy was battling hard to conquer her problems with alcohol and it is a source of great pain to us that she could not win in time," he said.
Winehouse's breakthrough "Back to Black" album, released in 2006, was recently certified as the best-selling disc in Britain so far during the 21st century. The updated take on old-time soul also earned five Grammy Awards.
Although the singer was adored by fans worldwide for her unique voice and style, praise for her singing was often eclipsed by lurid headlines about her destructive relationships and erratic behavior.
In June, the singer abruptly canceled her European comeback tour after she swayed and slurred her way through barely recognizable songs in her first show in the Serbian capital, Belgrade. She was booed and jeered off stage and had to return to Britain to recover.
Her last public appearance came three days before her death, when she briefly joined her goddaughter, singer Dionne Bromfield, on stage at The Roundhouse in Camden, near her home.
___
Associated Press Medical Writer Maria Cheng contributed to this report.
Nokia's latest "super" hydrophobic coating doesn't take half-measures. This new technology binds a layer of nanotech magic to the surface of its devices that literally bounces liquids away. Although we've been told the nanotubes at work here are most effective with water, other liquids (and smudgy fingerprints) should also find the treated surface difficult to latch onto. Due to the thinness of this waterproofing solution, a spokesperson told us here at Nokia World that even the inner workings of a phone could be treated in the same way. No more incidents in the bathroom? Count us in. Check the video after the break for some slo-mo water slippage.
Popular tablet computers and the red feathered star of a leading video game played on them are bound for the International Space Station aboard two upcoming Russian space launches.
Two?Apple iPads are packed?on board the next unmanned resupply vehicle to fly to the space station, set for launch later this month. And a stuffed toy doll of the red bird from Rovio Mobile's "Angry Birds" puzzle game will accompany the?next three crewmembers?to depart Earth for the ISS next month.
The?iPads?will augment Apple iPod music players already aboard the station, while the red Angry Bird toy will help by signaling to the launching cosmonauts and NASA astronaut that they have made it to space, when it starts to float.
Entertainment only, for now
"The Russians are flying two iPads on the next Progress. They're going to be used for entertainment purposes only," NASA spokesman Kelly Humphries told?collectSPACE.com?on Tuesday (Oct. 25).
The next Progress M-13M (45P) launch, ?scheduled to lift off Oct. 30 at 6:11 a.m. EDT (1011 GMT) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, will mark the return to flight for the unmanned resupply spacecraft, after the previous vehicle was lost during a launch failure in August.?
Should it reach the space station as expected, M-13M will deliver needed propellant, oxygen, water and thousands of pounds of crew equipment, including the two iPads, to the orbiting complex. [9 Weird Things Flown on NASA Space Shuttles]
The tablets will be the first of their type on the International Space Station, which is otherwise equipped with laptop computers, Apple iPods and even an iPhone. NASA is, however, assessing tablets for their possible future use in space.
"The [U.S. operating segment] folks in the station program are taking a look at a number of different tablets and kind of comparing and contrasting them," Humphries said. "They are hoping to be able to fly one or more them next year, but as yet the evaluation is not complete."
Zero-g indicator
There's no word whether the iPads will arrive at the station pre-loaded with?Angry Birds, the video game, but the space station crew will only need to wait a couple more weeks to be able to stage their own zero-g version.
As revealed on Monday (Oct. 24) by cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, a red Angry Bird doll will be aboard when he and two crewmates, Anatoli Ivanishin and Dan Burbank,?lift off in the Soyuz TMA-22?spacecraft on Nov. 13 at 11:14 p.m. EST (0414 GMT Nov. 14).
"According to the existing tradition, we take with us small charms," Shkaplerov said at a pre-flight press conference in Russia. He explained the custom of flying a toy as a "zero-g indicator."
"This indicator we start on Earth, hung on a string, just behind the door between the landing module and living compartment," he said. "At a time when [we] start weightlessness, about 10 minutes after launch, it will begin to float. So we understand that the start of our flight was a success and we are already in space."
Continuing with custom, Shkaplerov allowed his 5-year-old daughter to choose the toy.
"This little red birdie [was an] interesting fun toy that my daughter liked. She asked me to fly it ? and be sure of its return!" Shkaplerov said laughing.
Continue reading at collectSPACE.com?about the history of iPads and Angry Birds in space.
Follow collectSPACE on?Facebook?and Twitter @collectSPACEand editor Robert Pearlman @robertpearlman. Copyright 2011 collectSPACE.com. All rights reserved.
GENEVA ? A United Nations panel has given governments a target of connecting half the world's poor citizens to broadband Internet by 2015.
The U.N.'s Broadband Commission for Digital Development also says at least 40 percent of households in developing countries should be hooked up to broadband within four years.
The panel representing industry, academia and governments issued the challenge Tuesday. It said broadband access needs to be affordable even in the most impoverished nations.
The head of the U.N.'s International Telecommunications Union in Geneva, Hamadoun Toure, says the targets are "ambitious but achievable" if governments work together with the private sector.
A research team led by scientists from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have discovered four new "ZIP codes" in their quest to map the vast blood vessel network of the human body.
The study, published online the week of Oct. 24 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, brings science one step closer to the goal of using the vascular system to personalize cancer therapy, as well as fight obesity, heart disease and other disorders. Researchers also found that some addresses are shared in vasculature across the board instead of always being organ-specific.
The study is part of ongoing research to identify specific and unique addresses, or ZIP codes, within the body's vascular system and use them to develop diagnostic, imaging and therapeutic strategies. Husband-and-wife research team Wadih Arap, M.D., Ph.D., and Renata Pasqualini, Ph.D., professors at the David H. Koch Center for Applied Research of Genitourinary Cancers at MD Anderson, pioneered the concept and were senior authors of the paper.
"By identifying vascular ZIP codes, we bring medicine closer to the ultimate goal of targeted therapies," Pasqualini said.
Innovative methods help investigation
This study supports the Arap-Pasqualini lab's ongoing research to show blood vessels are more than a uniform and ubiquitous "pipeline" that serves the circulatory system.
More than a decade ago, the group pioneered a screening technique that employs billions of viral particles, called phage, to discover, validate and use blood vessel diversity. The particles are packaged with small fragments of proteins called peptides that act as ligands. When injected into the body, they bind to specific receptors in the blood vessels and organs.
"This process is like a 'molecular mass mailing' to all addresses in the body," Arap said. "The peptides travel until they find a target and bind to it, then with our novel technology we recover and identify them. Knowing the characteristics of the peptides and where they attach can help us understand the vascular system's molecular makeup and develop therapies focusing on disease sites."
This new study was the first in which researchers evaluated the molecular repertoire of protein diversity in several patients, targeting multiple organs at once.
In three cancer patients, serial rounds of peptide collection were followed by biopsies from various tissues to determine where and how the peptides homed, which enabled the enrichment of targeting peptides for identifying ligand-receptors. After systemic delivery of a peptide library to the first patient, phage were recovered from organs, pooled and serially screened in two subsequent patients. Large-scale sequencing was then performed.
"This uncovered a new twist for the vascular map," Pasqualini said. "To this point, we had seen mainly addresses that were organ and tissue specific. Because of this synchronized method, we discovered some markers are vascular-associated at multiple sites."
Shared addresses surprise researchers
Analysis revealed four native ligand-receptors, three of which were previously unrecognized.
Two are shared among multiple tissues (integrin a4/annexin A4 and cathepsin B/apolipoprotein E3) and the other two have a restricted and specific distribution in normal tissue (prohibitin/annexin A2 in white fat tissue) or cancer (RAGE/leukocyte proteinase-3 in bone metastases).
The discovery of shared addresses especially intrigued researchers.
"No one knew about the novel aspect surrounding these particular proteins, and the fact that they can interact and come together to serve a common purpose," Pasqualini said. "There are likely to be many more."
A tissue-specific vascular-targeting system, comprising ANXA2 and prohibitin, was found as a ligand-receptor in human white adipose (fat) tissue vasculature. In earlier research, targeting of prohibitin with an apoptotic agent caused dramatic weight loss in obese rodents. The lab is applying to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to conduct a clinical trial for a new drug that will test this principle for weight loss in humans.
Moving the impact forward
This project establishes that large-scale study of the human vasculature can uncover many unidentified or unique molecular networks that can contribute to the treatment of many diseases.
"This endeavor and the applications of our findings are exciting," Arap said. "There are going to be many more receptors and many levels of diversity. We've just scratched the surface."
Translational applications, such as first-in-man clinical trials, have started within MD Anderson. The FDA has granted a safe-to-proceed status for the first vascular-targeted Investigational New Drug (IND). Three other drugs are in pre-IND stage, and several others are in pre-clinical laboratory phase.
"I believe these strategies to identify therapeutic targets on the vasculature are truly innovative both from a scientific and clinical perspective," said David Cheresh, Ph.D., associate director for Translational Research at the University of California, San Diego Cancer Center and noted authority on angiogenesis and cancer metastasis. "Identifying such targets will ultimately pave the way for the next generation of smart/targeted cancer therapies."
MD Anderson and some of its researchers, including Arap and Pasqualini, have equity positions in drug-development companies Alvos Therapeutics and Ablaris Therapeutics, which are subjected to certain restrictions under institutional policy. MD Anderson manages and monitors the terms of these arrangements in accordance with its conflict-of-interest policy.
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University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center: http://www.mdanderson.org
Thanks to University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center for this article.
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(Reuters) ? Janet Jackson is putting her Australian tour on hold and returning to the United States to be with her family in the midst of the trial of her brother Michael's doctor.
A statement on Jackson's website said that "after private discussions with her family regarding her late brother Michael Jackson, it became necessary" that Jackson leave Australia, where she had scheduled various stops on her Number Ones tour, for several days.
Dr. Conrad Murray is on trial charged with involuntary manslaughter in Jackson's 2009 death from an overdose of the drug propofol and sedatives.
"When I planned these shows, the schedule in California was completely different. After talking with my family last night, I decided we must be together right now," Jackson said in the statement posted on Sunday.
"I'm looking forward to being with you for the Gold Coast, Sydney, and the Melbourne concerts," she added in a message to fans in Australia.
Concerts slated for Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday in Melbourne have been rescheduled at the Rod Laver Arena for one night on November 3.
Gold Coast and Sydney concerts are unaffected by her travels.
The statement quoted the tour's promoter, Paul Dainty, as saying: "It is important that Janet is with her family at this critical point in the hearing.
"While Janet and our company apologize for any inconvenience for the reschedule of the Melbourne shows, we thank Janet for the great and successful concerts in Perth and Adelaide and eagerly await her return."
(Reporting by Chris Michaud; Editing by Jerry Norton)
Contact: Jessa Netting jnetting@ccny.cuny.edu 212-650-7615 City College of New York
Glacial melt cycle could become self-amplifying, making it difficult to halt
The Greenland ice sheet can experience extreme melting even when temperatures don't hit record highs, according to a new analysis by Dr. Marco Tedesco, assistant professor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at The City College of New York. His findings suggest that glaciers could undergo a self-amplifying cycle of melting and warming that would be difficult to halt.
"We are finding that even if you don't have record-breaking highs, as long as warm temperatures persist you can get record-breaking melting because of positive feedback mechanisms," said Professor Tedesco, who directs CCNY's Cryospheric Processes Laboratory and also serves on CUNY Graduate Center doctoral faculty.
Professor Tedesco and his team collected data for the analysis this past summer during a four-week expedition to the Jakobshavn Isbr glacier in western Greenland. Their arrival preceded the onset of the melt season.
Combining data gathered on the ground with microwave satellite recordings and the output from a model of the ice sheet, he and graduate student Patrick Alexander found a near-record loss of snow and ice this year. The extensive melting continued even without last year's record highs.
The team recorded data on air temperatures, wind speed, exposed ice and its movement, the emergence of streams and lakes of melt water on the surface, and the water's eventual draining away beneath the glacier. This lost melt water can accelerate the ice sheet's slide toward the sea where it calves new icebergs. Eventually, melt water reaches the ocean, contributing to the rising sea levels associated with long-term climate change.
The model showed that melting between June and August was well above the average for 1979 to 2010. In fact, melting in 2011 was the third most extensive since 1979, lagging behind only 2010 and 2007. The "mass balance", or amount of snow gained minus the snow and ice that melted away, ended up tying last year's record values.
Temperatures and an albedo feedback mechanism accounted for the record losses, Professor Tedesco explained. "Albedo" describes the amount of solar energy absorbed by the surface (e.g. snow, slush, or patches of exposed ice). A white blanket of snow reflects much of the sun's energy and thus has a high albedo. Bare ice being darker and absorbing more light and energy has a lower albedo.
But absorbing more energy from the sun also means that darker patches warm up faster, just like the blacktop of a road in the summer. The more they warm, the faster they melt.
And a year that follows one with record high temperatures can have more dark ice just below the surface, ready to warm and melt as soon as temperatures begin to rise. This also explains why more ice sheet melting can occur even though temperatures did not break records.
Professor Tedesco likens the melting process to a speeding steam locomotive. Higher temperatures act like coal shoveled into the boiler, increasing the pace of melting. In this scenario, "lower albedo is a downhill slope," he says. The darker surfaces collect more heat. In this situation, even without more coal shoveled into the boiler, as a train heads downhill, it gains speed. In other words, melting accelerates.
Only new falling snow puts the brakes on the process, covering the darker ice in a reflective blanket, Professor Tedesco says. The model showed that this year's snowfall couldn't compensate for melting in previous years. "The process never slowed down as much as it had in the past," he explained. "The brakes engaged only every now and again."
The team's observations indicate that the process was not limited to the glacier they visited; it is a large-scale effect. "It's a sign that not only do albedo and other variables play a role in acceleration of melting, but that this acceleration is happening in many places all over Greenland," he cautioned. "We are currently trying to understand if this is a trend or will become one. This will help us to improve models projecting future melting scenarios and predict how they might evolve."
Additional expedition team members included Christine Foreman of Montana State University, and Ian Willis and Alison Banwell of the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge, UK.
Professor Tedesco and his team provide their preliminary results on the Cryospheric Processes Laboratory webpage. They will will be presenting further results at the American Geophysical Union Society (AGU) meeting in San Francisco on December 5 at 9 a.m. and December 6 at 11:35 a.m.
###
The research was supported by the National Science Foundation and the NASA Cryosphere Program. The World Wildlife Fund is acknowledged for supporting fieldwork activities.
Online:
2011 Melting in Greenland report
http://greenland2011.cryocity.org
Marco Tedesco profile
http://www1.ccny.cuny.edu/prospective/gsoe/ese/directory/profile-record.cfm?customel_datapageid_1237265=1252241
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Contact: Jessa Netting jnetting@ccny.cuny.edu 212-650-7615 City College of New York
Glacial melt cycle could become self-amplifying, making it difficult to halt
The Greenland ice sheet can experience extreme melting even when temperatures don't hit record highs, according to a new analysis by Dr. Marco Tedesco, assistant professor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at The City College of New York. His findings suggest that glaciers could undergo a self-amplifying cycle of melting and warming that would be difficult to halt.
"We are finding that even if you don't have record-breaking highs, as long as warm temperatures persist you can get record-breaking melting because of positive feedback mechanisms," said Professor Tedesco, who directs CCNY's Cryospheric Processes Laboratory and also serves on CUNY Graduate Center doctoral faculty.
Professor Tedesco and his team collected data for the analysis this past summer during a four-week expedition to the Jakobshavn Isbr glacier in western Greenland. Their arrival preceded the onset of the melt season.
Combining data gathered on the ground with microwave satellite recordings and the output from a model of the ice sheet, he and graduate student Patrick Alexander found a near-record loss of snow and ice this year. The extensive melting continued even without last year's record highs.
The team recorded data on air temperatures, wind speed, exposed ice and its movement, the emergence of streams and lakes of melt water on the surface, and the water's eventual draining away beneath the glacier. This lost melt water can accelerate the ice sheet's slide toward the sea where it calves new icebergs. Eventually, melt water reaches the ocean, contributing to the rising sea levels associated with long-term climate change.
The model showed that melting between June and August was well above the average for 1979 to 2010. In fact, melting in 2011 was the third most extensive since 1979, lagging behind only 2010 and 2007. The "mass balance", or amount of snow gained minus the snow and ice that melted away, ended up tying last year's record values.
Temperatures and an albedo feedback mechanism accounted for the record losses, Professor Tedesco explained. "Albedo" describes the amount of solar energy absorbed by the surface (e.g. snow, slush, or patches of exposed ice). A white blanket of snow reflects much of the sun's energy and thus has a high albedo. Bare ice being darker and absorbing more light and energy has a lower albedo.
But absorbing more energy from the sun also means that darker patches warm up faster, just like the blacktop of a road in the summer. The more they warm, the faster they melt.
And a year that follows one with record high temperatures can have more dark ice just below the surface, ready to warm and melt as soon as temperatures begin to rise. This also explains why more ice sheet melting can occur even though temperatures did not break records.
Professor Tedesco likens the melting process to a speeding steam locomotive. Higher temperatures act like coal shoveled into the boiler, increasing the pace of melting. In this scenario, "lower albedo is a downhill slope," he says. The darker surfaces collect more heat. In this situation, even without more coal shoveled into the boiler, as a train heads downhill, it gains speed. In other words, melting accelerates.
Only new falling snow puts the brakes on the process, covering the darker ice in a reflective blanket, Professor Tedesco says. The model showed that this year's snowfall couldn't compensate for melting in previous years. "The process never slowed down as much as it had in the past," he explained. "The brakes engaged only every now and again."
The team's observations indicate that the process was not limited to the glacier they visited; it is a large-scale effect. "It's a sign that not only do albedo and other variables play a role in acceleration of melting, but that this acceleration is happening in many places all over Greenland," he cautioned. "We are currently trying to understand if this is a trend or will become one. This will help us to improve models projecting future melting scenarios and predict how they might evolve."
Additional expedition team members included Christine Foreman of Montana State University, and Ian Willis and Alison Banwell of the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge, UK.
Professor Tedesco and his team provide their preliminary results on the Cryospheric Processes Laboratory webpage. They will will be presenting further results at the American Geophysical Union Society (AGU) meeting in San Francisco on December 5 at 9 a.m. and December 6 at 11:35 a.m.
###
The research was supported by the National Science Foundation and the NASA Cryosphere Program. The World Wildlife Fund is acknowledged for supporting fieldwork activities.
Online:
2011 Melting in Greenland report
http://greenland2011.cryocity.org
Marco Tedesco profile
http://www1.ccny.cuny.edu/prospective/gsoe/ese/directory/profile-record.cfm?customel_datapageid_1237265=1252241
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
KINGSTON, Jamaica ? Jamaica's new prime minister has left two prominent ministries unchanged and says he will announce the rest of his Cabinet later in the week.
Andrew Holness was sworn in Sunday as Jamaica's leader. The 39-year-old lawmaker took over from Bruce Golding, who stepped down after four years as prime minister.
On Monday, Holness announced that Finance Minister Audley Shaw and National Security Minister Dwight Nelson have retained their posts. He says his government could not afford to "have any gaps at all" in those ministries.
Holness says the rest of his Cabinet will be appointed before the week is up.
During his inaugural address, Holness said he intended to keep the education portfolio as prime minister. He had served as education chief under Golding.
ASHLAND, Kentucky?? A Kentucky theater says Loretta Lynn has been hospitalized with pneumonia.
The country singer was scheduled to perform Saturday at the Performing Arts Center in Ashland, Kentucky, but the center issued a release saying she is in the hospital and will be unable to do the concert. The center says the show will be rescheduled.
Marketing director Jenny Holmes confirmed the statement to WOWK-TV. She didn't elaborate on Lynn's condition.
Calls by The Associated Press to representatives of Lynn were not immediately returned Saturday.
In August, Lynn canceled shows because of knee surgery. Before that, the 76-year-old returned to live performances with a show at the Grand Ole Opry after being forced to cancel shows in Ohio and Connecticut because she was hospitalized for heat exhaustion.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Public release date: 25-Oct-2011
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