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Showing posts with label NEWS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NEWS. Show all posts
Thursday, 3 February 2011
Sunday, 19 December 2010
Researchers on a Completely fearless woman, Do you belive !!
It has been known since the 1930s that when a certain part of monkeys’ brains were removed, the animals became fearless. Now similar effects are being seen in humans according to a study in the journal Current Biology. Justin Feinstein, the study’s lead author and a clinical neuropsychologist at the University of Iowa said, “There’s not very many humans with this sort of brain damage… Luckily for us, we had access to a patient, SM, and we studied her different fear behaviours and we read her personal diaries.”
SM due to a rare condition called lipoid proteinosis does not have her amygdala. The amygdala is an almond-shaped structure that studies have shown plays a role in processing fear and other emotions, though experts say its exact role is unclear. Her condition is termed Urbach-Wiethe disease. This has made her fearless to all normally fear evoking stimuli like snakes, spiders etc. This has also made her put her life at risk a few times. Now the team is trying to coach the patient to behave in a more cautious manner.
Dr. Jon Shaw, professor of psychiatry at the University of Miami School of Medicine said, “It’s very striking that she has only a rational response, not a physiological one… The body is not prepared for a physiological response because the amygdala has been taken out of the loop.” Ruben Gur, professor in the Departments of Psychiatry, Radiology & Neurology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia was said, “If you look at past neuroimaging studies, there is clear evidence that the amygdala is extremely sensitive to fearful stimuli.”
Researchers believe that her condition may offer clues for therapy of people with excessive fear like war veterans. This condition is known as post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. Feinstein said, “We may be able to dampen the effects of the amygdale… We can do that through psychotherapy and possibly through medication.”
Not all are convinced. Elizabeth Phelps, professor of psychology and neural science at New York University said, “You have to interpret case studies with caution since there’s been contradictory work done.” She pointed out that there is one study that found an unusual emotional response in monkeys whose brains were experimentally damaged, but only during specific stages of development. She explained there was another patient HM who had part of his brain, including the amygdala, removed to treat severe epilepsy. His main problem, according to experts, was his memory loss.
SM due to a rare condition called lipoid proteinosis does not have her amygdala. The amygdala is an almond-shaped structure that studies have shown plays a role in processing fear and other emotions, though experts say its exact role is unclear. Her condition is termed Urbach-Wiethe disease. This has made her fearless to all normally fear evoking stimuli like snakes, spiders etc. This has also made her put her life at risk a few times. Now the team is trying to coach the patient to behave in a more cautious manner.
Dr. Jon Shaw, professor of psychiatry at the University of Miami School of Medicine said, “It’s very striking that she has only a rational response, not a physiological one… The body is not prepared for a physiological response because the amygdala has been taken out of the loop.” Ruben Gur, professor in the Departments of Psychiatry, Radiology & Neurology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia was said, “If you look at past neuroimaging studies, there is clear evidence that the amygdala is extremely sensitive to fearful stimuli.”
Researchers believe that her condition may offer clues for therapy of people with excessive fear like war veterans. This condition is known as post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. Feinstein said, “We may be able to dampen the effects of the amygdale… We can do that through psychotherapy and possibly through medication.”
Not all are convinced. Elizabeth Phelps, professor of psychology and neural science at New York University said, “You have to interpret case studies with caution since there’s been contradictory work done.” She pointed out that there is one study that found an unusual emotional response in monkeys whose brains were experimentally damaged, but only during specific stages of development. She explained there was another patient HM who had part of his brain, including the amygdala, removed to treat severe epilepsy. His main problem, according to experts, was his memory loss.
Thursday, 16 December 2010
Nanomaterials Used in Vivo Applications
A handful of nanomaterials are being studied in clinical trials or have already been approved by the FDA for use in humans and many proof-of-concept studies of nanomaterials in cell-culture and small-animal models for medical applications are under way.
Many of these nanomaterials are designed to target tumors in vivo and are intended for use either as drug carriers for therapeutic applications or as contrast agents for diagnostic imaging.
Nanomaterials infused into the bloodstream can accumulate in tumors owing to the enhanced permeability and retention effect when the vasculature of immature tumors has pores smaller than 200 nm, permitting extravasation of nanoparticles from blood into tumor tissue. The infusion of antineoplastic drugs with nanomaterials as carriers results in an increased payload of drugs to the tumor, as compared with conventional infusion. With nanomaterials, the high ratio of surface area to volume permits high surface loading of therapeutic agents; in the case of organic nanomaterials, their hollow or porous core allows encapsulation of hundreds of drug molecules within a single carrier particle.
When the carrier particle degrades, the drug molecules are released, and the rate of degradation can even be controlled and fine-tuned according to the polymer composition. These nanomaterial delivery vehicles can also be coated with polymers, such as polyethylene glycol, to increase their half-life in the blood circulation, prevent opsonizing proteins from adhering to the nanomaterial surface, and reduce rapid metabolism and clearance. Moreover, the use of nanomaterials for drug delivery may minimize adverse effects by preventing the nonspecific uptake of therapeutic agents into healthy tissues.
Many of these nanomaterials are designed to target tumors in vivo and are intended for use either as drug carriers for therapeutic applications or as contrast agents for diagnostic imaging.
Nanomaterials Used as Drug Carriers or Contrast Agents for In Vivo Cancer Applications.Tumors have poor lymphatic drainage, and their vessels are highly porous. This enables nanomaterials to diffuse and accumulate in the tumor matrix. Nanomaterials that carry chemotherapeutic agents can target and kill tumor cells, whereas nanomaterials that are magnetic or fluorescent are used as imaging agents for detecting tumors.
Nanomaterials infused into the bloodstream can accumulate in tumors owing to the enhanced permeability and retention effect when the vasculature of immature tumors has pores smaller than 200 nm, permitting extravasation of nanoparticles from blood into tumor tissue. The infusion of antineoplastic drugs with nanomaterials as carriers results in an increased payload of drugs to the tumor, as compared with conventional infusion. With nanomaterials, the high ratio of surface area to volume permits high surface loading of therapeutic agents; in the case of organic nanomaterials, their hollow or porous core allows encapsulation of hundreds of drug molecules within a single carrier particle.
When the carrier particle degrades, the drug molecules are released, and the rate of degradation can even be controlled and fine-tuned according to the polymer composition. These nanomaterial delivery vehicles can also be coated with polymers, such as polyethylene glycol, to increase their half-life in the blood circulation, prevent opsonizing proteins from adhering to the nanomaterial surface, and reduce rapid metabolism and clearance. Moreover, the use of nanomaterials for drug delivery may minimize adverse effects by preventing the nonspecific uptake of therapeutic agents into healthy tissues.
Thursday, 11 November 2010
Canadian scientists make blood from human skin
Canadian scientists have transformed pinches of human skin into petri dishes of human blood — a major medical breakthrough that could yield new sources of blood for transfusions after multiple rounds of surgery or chemotherapy.
Lead scientist Mick Bhatia, head of McMaster University’s Stem Cell and Cancer Research Institute, said Sunday the first people to benefit may be leukemia patients, whose blood cells have a genetic mutation.
“Their skin cells don’t have that mutation,” he said.
“If we took skin cells from that patient and we converted it into blood in a Petri dish, we would be giving ourselves healthy blood cells we could transplant back into the patient. There would be no rejection because the cells are their own.”
It could mean saving the lives of patients suffering from the deadly blood cancer.
“The scenario I’m talking about would be where the patient can’t find a donor,” he said. “And that happens a lot.”
A similar treatment could help cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, which adversely affects the blood and can limit treatment.
To switch skin to blood, researchers took a tiny sample — less than a millimetre — of human skin and put it in a Petri dish. There, it turned into cells called fibroblasts. The scientists then added a protein that turned on or off sets of genes, bathed the mixture in more proteins necessary for human blood cells to survive and waited 30 days. By the end of the month they were then left several blood cells.
The discovery was published this month in the science journal Nature. Early clinical trials could begin as in 2012.
But researchers still have a couple of hurdles — they need to be able to make enough blood and they need to be sure it’s sterile and stable enough for transfusion. But Bhatia’s hopeful.
“We think we would have enough to put into a full grown adult,” he said.
Bhatia added the discovery opens up a whole host of treatment possibilities for various diseases.
“We have some encouraging evidence that there’s more than just blood you can convert skin cells to,” he said.
Lead scientist Mick Bhatia, head of McMaster University’s Stem Cell and Cancer Research Institute, said Sunday the first people to benefit may be leukemia patients, whose blood cells have a genetic mutation.
“Their skin cells don’t have that mutation,” he said.
“If we took skin cells from that patient and we converted it into blood in a Petri dish, we would be giving ourselves healthy blood cells we could transplant back into the patient. There would be no rejection because the cells are their own.”
It could mean saving the lives of patients suffering from the deadly blood cancer.
“The scenario I’m talking about would be where the patient can’t find a donor,” he said. “And that happens a lot.”
A similar treatment could help cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, which adversely affects the blood and can limit treatment.
To switch skin to blood, researchers took a tiny sample — less than a millimetre — of human skin and put it in a Petri dish. There, it turned into cells called fibroblasts. The scientists then added a protein that turned on or off sets of genes, bathed the mixture in more proteins necessary for human blood cells to survive and waited 30 days. By the end of the month they were then left several blood cells.
Mick Bhatia, science director at the McMaster Stem Cell and Cancer Research Institute, was the lead investigator in the research.
The discovery was published this month in the science journal Nature. Early clinical trials could begin as in 2012.
But researchers still have a couple of hurdles — they need to be able to make enough blood and they need to be sure it’s sterile and stable enough for transfusion. But Bhatia’s hopeful.
“We think we would have enough to put into a full grown adult,” he said.
Bhatia added the discovery opens up a whole host of treatment possibilities for various diseases.
“We have some encouraging evidence that there’s more than just blood you can convert skin cells to,” he said.
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