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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 1, 2015 at 9:49am

Individuals with Type 2 Diabetes have difficulty regulating their glucose – or blood sugar – levels, particularly after meals. Now, University of Missouri researchers have found that Type 2 diabetics can eat more protein at breakfast to help reduce glucose spikes at both breakfast and lunch.

“People often assume that their glucose response at one meal will be identical to their responses at other meals, but that really isn’t the case,” said Jill Kanaley, professor and associate chair in the MU Department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology. “For instance, we know that what you eat and when you eat make a difference, and that if people skip breakfast, their glucose response at lunch will be huge. In our study, we found those who ate breakfast experienced appropriate glucose responses after lunch.”

Kanaley and her colleagues monitored Type 2 diabetics’ levels of glucose, insulin and several gut hormones – which help regulate the insulin response – after breakfast and lunch. The participants ate either high-protein or high-carbohydrate breakfasts, and the lunch included a standard amount of protein and carbohydrates.

The researchers found eating more protein at breakfast lowered individuals’ post-meal glucose levels. Insulin levels were slightly elevated after the lunch meal, which demonstrated that individuals’ bodies were working appropriately to regulate blood-sugar levels, Kanaley said.

“The first meal of the day is critical in maintaining glycemic control at later meals, so it really primes people for the rest of the day,” Kanaley said. “Eating breakfast prompts cells to increase concentrations of insulin at the second meal, which is good because it shows that the body is acting appropriately by trying to regulate glucose levels. However, it is important for Type 2 diabetics to understand that different foods will affect them differently, and to really understand how they respond to meals, they need to consistently track their glucose. Trigger foods may change depending on how much physical activity people have gotten that day or how long they have waited between meals.”

Kanaley said that although it would be helpful for individuals with high blood sugar to eat more protein, they do not need to consume extreme amounts of protein to reap the benefits.

“We suggest consuming 25 to 30 grams of protein at breakfast, which is within the range of the FDA recommendations,” Kanaley said.
http://jn.nutrition.org/content/145/3/452

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 30, 2015 at 9:49am

HIV-positive men dramatically reduce virus spreading after circumcision but not while wound healing
The World Health Organization recommends male circumcision (the surgical removal of foreskin from the penis) which reduces HIV acquisition by 50-60% for teh control of HIV. However, scientists report that a new study of HIV-infected men in Uganda has identified a temporary, but potentially troublesome unintended consequence of the procedure: a possible increased risk of infecting female sexual partners while circumcision wounds heal.

In a study by researchers from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health and Rakai Health Sciences Program, 223 HIV-positive Ugandan men were medically circumcised. Health workers poured 5 milliliters (about a teaspoon) of saline solution over the circumcision site near the neck of the penis and collected the solution for testing just before surgery, during the operation, and once a week for 12 weeks.

Data showed that among the 183 men not taking anti-retroviral drugs, less than 10 percent were shedding HIV before circumcision, but nearly 30 percent were shedding the virus two weeks after surgery. The percentages dropped sharply as the men's wounds healed, to less than three percent at six weeks and less than two percent at 12 weeks.

Circumcision reduced the number of HIV-positive men who were shedding the virus more than five-fold over the long term, but it had the opposite effect in the weeks right after the surgery.
""HIV Shedding from Male Circumcision Wounds in HIV-Infected Men: A Prospective Cohort Study""
http://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pm...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 30, 2015 at 8:33am

Scientists Launch Investigation into Climate Data “Adjustments”

http://www.thenewamerican.com/tech/environment/item/20762-scientist...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 29, 2015 at 9:49am

Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology have developed a new technique that extends the time that donor organs last and can also resuscitate organs obtained after cardiac arrest. The work published in Scientific Reports details a procedure that cools organs down to 22°C (71.6°F) and slows down organ function while still supplying oxygen, resulting in more successful transplants than the current standard methods. Team leader Professor Tsuji Takashi notes that this system should quickly increase the pool of available donor organs and could even be used to grow whole 3D organs in the future.
"Hypothermic temperature effects on organ survival and restoration"
http://www.nature.com/srep/2015/150422/srep09563/full/srep09563.html

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 29, 2015 at 9:47am

How orchid petals get their shape:
Model for perianth formation in orchids

Orchid flowers are well-known for their unique shape and the beautiful patterns on their petals. A team of researchers from Taiwan have discovered that an orchid flower's unique perianth (shape) is the result of competition between two groups of proteins. In a study published in the journal Nature Plants, Professor Yang Chang-Hsien and colleagues from the National Chung Hsing University in Taiwan showed that the shape of orchids is determined by a competition between two protein complexes, a phenomenon they named the perianth (P) code.

study published in the journal Nature Plants
Unlike most flowers with star-shaped (actinomorphic) symmetry, orchid flowers typically have mirror-image (zygomorphic) symmetry with a striking well-differentiated lip that acts as the main pollinator attractant by employing visual, fragrance and tactile cues. These lips attract insects and enable the orchids to be pollinated. The researchers found that two competing protein complexes serve different functions in perianth formation. The higher-order heterotetrameric SP (sepal/petal) complex specifies sepal/petal formation, whereas the L (lip) complex is exclusively required for lip formation. The authors also found that orchid species from many subfamilies with different types of lips and petals all obey this perianth code. They were also able to convert lips into petals in two orchid species by reducing the activity of the L complex using gene silencing. This study adds to the current knowledge of how orchid petals develop and the evolutionary changes that orchids have undergone to ensure pollination.

http://www.nature.com/articles/nplants201546

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 28, 2015 at 6:52am

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 26, 2015 at 11:55am

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 25, 2015 at 8:20am

Mitochondrial diseases are maternally inherited genetic disorders that cause a wide spectrum of debilitating conditions and which currently have no cure. In a study published April 23 in the journal Cell, Salk Institute researchers report the first successful attempt using gene-editing technology to prevent mutated mitochondrial DNA associated with multiple human mitochondrial diseases from being passed from mothers to offspring in mice.

"This technique is based on a single injection of mRNA into a mother's oocytes or early embryos and therefore could be easily implemented in IVF [in vitro fertilization] clinics throughout the world," said senior study author Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. "Since mutations in mitochondrial DNA have also been implicated in neurodegenerative disorders, cancer, and aging, our technology could potentially have broad clinical implications for preventing the transmission of disease-causing mutations to future generations."

Mitochondria are known as the powerhouse of the cell because they generate most of the cell's supply of energy. Each cell in the body contains anywhere from 1,000 to 100,000 copies of mitochondrial DNA, which is exclusively transmitted through maternal inheritance. In most patients with mitochondrial disease, mutated and normal mitochondrial DNA molecules are mixed together in cells. A high percentage of mutated mitochondrial DNA can lead to the degeneration and catastrophic failure of various organs, resulting in serious health problems such as seizures, dementia, diabetes, heart failure, liver dysfunction, vision loss, and deafness.
In the new study, Belmonte and his team demonstrated the therapeutic promise of an alternative approach that allows the direct correction of the mutated DNA in mitochondria by using DNA-cutting enzymes called restriction endonucleases and TALENs. This gene-editing approach might be safer, simpler, and more ethical than mitochondrial replacement therapy because it does not require donor eggs. The enzymes are designed to target a specific mutated DNA sequence and introduce a precise cut that destroys the mutated mitochondrial DNA while leaving the normal mitochondrial DNA intact, thereby shifting the balance toward a healthy genetic state in mitochondria.
''Selective Elimination of Mitochondrial Mutations in the Germline by Genome Editing''
http://www.cell.com/cell/abstract/S0092-8674%2815%2900371-2?_return...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 25, 2015 at 7:26am

The Lancet: Scientists announce final trial results of the world's most advanced malaria vaccine
The first malaria vaccine candidate (RTS,S/AS01) to reach phase 3 clinical testing is partially effective against clinical disease in young African children up to 4 years after vaccination, according to final trial data, published in The Lancet. The results suggest that the vaccine could prevent a substantial number of cases of clinical malaria, especially in areas of high transmission. The findings reveal that vaccine efficacy against clinical and severe malaria was better in children than in young infants, but waned over time in both groups. However, protection was prolonged by a booster dose, increasing the average number of cases prevented in both children and young infants.
In children who received 3 doses of RTS,S/AS01 plus a booster, the number of clinical episodes of malaria at 4 years was reduced by just over a third (36%). This is a drop in efficacy from the 50% protection against malaria seen in the first year.

Importantly, without a booster dose, significant efficacy against severe malaria was not shown in this age group. However, in children given a booster dose, overall protective efficacy against severe malaria was 32%, and 35% against malaria-associated hospitalisations.

In infants who received 3 doses of RTS,S/AS01 plus a booster, the vaccine reduced the risk of clinical episodes of malaria by 26% over 3 years follow-up. There was no significant protection against severe disease in infants.
- The Lancet

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 25, 2015 at 7:13am

Labs are not boring places.  Apart from searching for and spreading knowledge they have aesthetic values too! See for yourself :

http://gizmodo.com/these-are-the-most-beautiful-science-labs-in-the...

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