Cigarettes and heavy drinking have been known to cause premature aging – not just with skin wrinkles, but with internal organ deterioration. Now the damage to DNA caused by the stress can be measured and calculated, according to a team of geneticists from the University of Iowa.

The lab focused in on two specific locations in the genome. They found that the DNA methylation levels at the base pairs cg05575921 on the AHRR gene and cg23193759 on chromosome 10 provided a better measure of substance use and abuse than even the subjects’ self-reported usage, they reported Thursday at the American Society of Human Genetics meeting in Baltimore.

“These new tools allow us to monitor smoking and alcohol use in an objective way, and to understand their effects quantitatively,” said Meeshanthini Dogan, one of the researchers.

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- European Supplement 6.6. – 2.6.14: Bacterial endotoxins

- European Supplement: n.5.1.10. – Guidelines for using the test for bacterial endotoxins

An antiviral pill proved 100 percent effective in preventing new cases of HIV, according to a new Kaiser Permanente study.

Truvada was administered to 657 sexually-active people over 32 months – and there were no new cases of HIV reported, according to the study, published in the journalClinical Infectious Diseases this month.

“Our study is the first to extend the understanding of the use of PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) in a real-world setting and suggests that the treatment may prevent new HIV infections even in a high-risk setting,” said Jonathan Volk, physician and epidemiologist at Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Medical Center, and the lead author.

Ninety-nine percent of the subjects were men who have sex with men, according to the study. They were sexually active: within 12 months of the initiation of the Truvada regimen, 50 percent of the patients had contracted at least one kind of sexually-transmitted infection, like rectal infections, chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis.

But none contracted HIV.

A subset of the group reported not changing their number of sex partners over the time of treatment.

However, the researchers could not be sure if the antiviral treatments encouraged risky behaviors.

“Without a control group, we don’t know if these STI rates were higher than what we would have seen without PrEP,” said Julia Marcus, postdoctoral fellow at the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, and a co-author. “Ongoing screening and treatments for STIs, including hepatitis C, are an essential component of a PrEP treatment program.”

Truvada was approved by the FDA in in July 2012 for daily oral use.

The results could even prove to be a breakthrough, according to an editorial that accompanied the study, written by staff from the University of California at San Francisco and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.

“Given historical devastation wrought by HIV/AIDS within the city of San Francisco and elsewhere, this is tremendously good news,” they wrote. “The data published by Volk and colleagues demonstrates meaningful progress towards the goal of halting new infections.”

However, additional attention to growing rates of other STIs is necessary, they added.

“It is time for a vigorous conversation about sexually-transmitted infections, too long eclipsed by fear of HIV infection,” they added. “While HIV testing and trends are frequently in the news, notice of STI trends remain unnoticed in technical reports… Feeling safer from HIV infection while using PrEP creates spaces for a more robust discussion of STIs.”

Another potentially promising study was published last week in the journal Cell. Scientists from the California Institute of Technology have honed in on a particular antibody that naturally occurs in some patients who are naturally able to fend off HIV – and the researchers said it could prove to be a route to eradicate the infection.

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(Shutterstock)

Sleeping less means more colds, researchers warn.

Six hours or less per night means being four times more likely to get sick with the common cold virus, according to research published this week in the journal Sleep.

“Short sleep was more important than any other factor in predicting subjects’ likelihood of catching cold,” said Aric Prather, assistant professor of psychiatry at University of California at San Francisco and lead author. “It didn’t matter how old people were, their stress levels, their race, education of income. It didn’t matter if they were a smoker. With all those things taken into account, statistically, sleep still carried the day.”

The team, which included personnel from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, analyzed 164 volunteers from the Pittsburgh area.

Two months of health screenings, interviews and questionnaires led to the big test: the volunteers were all sequestered in a hotel, administered a cold virus directly via nasal drops. The subjects were monitored for a week afterward, including daily mucus screenings to see if the virus had taken.

Less than five hours of sleep nightly leading up to the virus exposure meant a 4.5 times greater chance of becoming infected than someone who slept seven or more hours of sleep. For those who slept six hours or less, the chances were 4.2 times greater of getting sick, according to the findings.

“It goes beyond feeling groggy or irritable,” Prather added. “Not getting sleep fundamentally affects your physical health.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called insufficient sleep a “public health epidemic” last year amid a series of studies. The federal agency said car crashes, industrial disasters, and other accidents are linked to the lack of rest – but so too are depression, obesity, diabetes, hypertension and even cancer.

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A new study published in Biophysical Journal explains the venom found in a species of wasp called Polybia paulista has a potent anti-cancer peptide named Polybia-MP1 (MP1).

Researchers from the University of Leeds in England and Brazil’s Sao Paulo State University found that MP1 “selectively targets and destroys tumour cells without harming normal cells,” writes The Guardian.

The study explains how this process works. MP1 starts by binding to fatty molecules known as lipids entrenched on the outside of the cancer cell membranes.

MP1 can blow gaping holes through this cell membrane once the binding procedure is complete.

Coauthor Dr. Joao Neto from Sao Paolo State University told The Guardian, “Formed in only seconds, these large pores are big enough to allow critical molecules such as RNA and proteins to easily escape cells.”

A series of lab tests had shown MP1 was able to inhibit bladder and prostate cancer cells along with various forms of drug-resistant leukemia.

Interest in harnessing the poison from snakes, bees, and scorpions has grown because of the toxin’s ability to efficiently kill cancer cells.

However, CNN notes these chemicals have also traditionally attacked healthy cells in a manner similar to chemotherapy. The key to creating a successful drug derived from this venom entails finding a way to successfully deliver the medication to cancer cells, while leaving the healthier counterparts unscathed.

Although the lab tests suggested MP1 did not harm healthy cells, the researchers will continue their study of the molecule to gain more insight into its potential applications.

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The Hantavirus is a very dangerous and very deceiving illness that mimics the symptoms of the common flu. This infographic from USC, Master of Public Health Online shows that within the first few days all symptoms appear as the flu would, but after the four day mark symptoms elevate, and become more strenuous. Carried by rodents, the Hantavirus is spread through their waste, which becomes airborne when their living space is disturbed. Any home or place of business should take premeditated actions against the virus by fixing holes around the building, as well as by dealing with the rodents currently inside. If anyone has been exposed to infested areas and starts to show flu-like symptoms, get help as soon as possible, because early treatment greatly increases your chance of survival.

Fonte: Genengnews

http://www.who.int/whr/2006/en/

Report by chapter

- Overview
- Chapter 1: Health workers: a global profile
- Chapter 2: Responding to urgent health needs
- Chapter 3: Preparing the health workforce
- Chapter 4: Making the most of existing health workers
- Chapter 5: Managing exits from the workforce
- Chapter 6: Formulating national health workforce strategies
- Chapter 7: Working together, within and across countries

In guidelines on training WHO 2006, it is clearly mentioned that each training has to be evaluated for competency. Even for SOPs, which can be read and understand, competency has to be evaluated by solving questionnaires.passing % has to be set in your Training SOP and retraining has to be done for those who scores below that .Skills assessment is also used for important shop floor and testing activities, and personnel assessed shall be certified to do that particular job.

Smita P.

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Some of the big breakthroughs of 2013, including genome-editing techniques—CRISPR in particular—and methods to reprogram stem cells, were built upon in 2014. But this year also saw spectacular achievements in synthetic biology, imaging approaches, and space exploration. Here—in no particular order—are some of the most impressive accomplishments of the year.

Fonte: The Scientist

The spread of the Ebola virus in West Africa dominated headlines during the second half of the year. To date, more than 18,000 people have been infected with Ebola, and nearly 7,000 have died, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). While grim, these statistics are lower than the dire predictions released by the WHO and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) earlier this year. And a recent epidemiological analysis suggested that the number of unreported cases is lower than previous estimates.

In September, the United Nations Security Council declared the Ebola epidemic a “threat to international peace and security,” spurring large-scale international aid efforts, which have helped to curb the spread of the disease, particularly in Liberia. “But the outbreak continues to surge in Sierra Leone, and there has been a troubling spread in Guinea’s capitol city,” CDC director Thomas Frieden said in a statement this week (December 22). “We’ve got a long way to go and this is no time to relax our grip on the response.”

Fonte: The Scientist