Biology of Emergent Salmonella Exposed: Deadly Bug Targets Vulnerable Children and Adults of Africa

A new strain of Salmonella has been introduced to many regions in Africa. This new virus is called Salmonella Typhimurium or ST313. This virus has built a block of genes that are immune to antibiotics and are multi-drug resistant, which makes the virus more difficult to destroy. The ST313 strain has become a life threatening invasive disease in Africa. The new strain has a high mortality rate; one out four people infected will die. The disease prefers to infect children and adults with immune problems such as anemia, malnutrition, or malaria (common throughout Africa). Two health facilities are studying the ST313 strain. Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme and the Kemri-Wellcome Trust Programme, have been studying the genetic changes that the virus undergoes. The strain of ST313 has evolve to be better suited in the host's body and the drugs which are taken to become well. Dr. Robert Kingsley from Sanger Institute says that the ST313 is "a new form of pathogen," which causes other diseases or illnesses to infect the host. The ST313 can also be passed from human to human and rapidly infect the the body.

A major concern for all mankind is the threat of bacteria and viruses becoming a plaque. It has happened before and it can happen again, but this time our drugs and antibiotics will be useless. The H1N1 and the ST313 are threatening people across the globe. The ST313 may become the virus which many scientist will begin to study more thoroughly. This new drug resistant virus is killing hundreds of people in Africa. The African societies are already fighting immune deficiency problems and with this new disease introduced to the populations the mortality rate will surely increase. More health care help must attend the suffering people in the African societies.

Link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091130192919.htm

Special Ultrasound Accurately Identifies Skin Cancer

High-frequency ultrasound with elastography can help differentiate between cancerous and benign skin conditions, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). Elastography was found to distinguish between benign and malignant lesions not by their visible appearance but by measuring their elasticity or stiffness. Since malignancies are stiffer than benign growths, elastography, when added to high-frequency ultrasound imaging of the skin, has potential to improve the accuracy of traditional clinical diagnosis of skin cancers and, in some cases, eliminate unnecessary biopsies of benign skin lesions. The procedure is noninvasive, convenient and inexpensive. High-frequency ultrasound with elastography allows for accurate characterization of the extent and depth of the lesion below the surface, which can aid physicians in treatment. This article is relevant to my life because I have pale skin which makes the chances of skin cancer higher. Also, my mom has had cancer spots removed and this ultrasound could possibly be used on her and other patients.

Mammography May Increase Breast Cancer Risk in Some High-Risk Women

Low-dose radiation from annual mammography screening may increase breast cancer risk in women with genetic or familial predisposition to breast cancer, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). Results showed that among all high-risk women in the study, average increased risk of breast cancer due to low-dose radiation exposure was 1.5 times greater than that of high-risk women not exposed to low-dose radiation. High-risk women exposed before age 20 or with five or more exposures were 2.5 times more likely to develop breast cancer than high-risk women not exposed to low-dose radiation. I found this article interesting because they thought my mom had breast cancer and knowing this may help other women not get it.

Jefferson researchers identify new mechanism of blocking HIV-1 from entering cells

Researchers at from the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson have found a novel mechanism by which drugs block HIV-1 from entering host cells. Cellular invasion by HIV-1 requires the concerted action of two proteins on the viral surface: gp120 and gp41. The function of gp41 is to get the viral contents into the interior of the host cells. This requires the association of two distinct regions of gp41 called N-HR and C-HR. Anti-HIV-1 agents known as fusion inhibitors target the N-HR or C-HR and disrupt their association, which prevents the virus from entering into the host cell. When the inhibitors bind to the gp41 C-HR, the protein rapidly deactivates before inhibitors have time to dissociate. But when the inhibitors bind to the gp41 N-HR, deactivation takes a very long time, and many inhibitors can readily unbind. To potently inhibit HIV-1 entry, a C-HR targeting fusion inhibitor can have a relatively low affinity, but an N-HR targeting fusion inhibitor must bind extremely tightly.

Do Physically Fit Children Do Better In The Classroom?

Does being physically fit affect you mentally? According, to a recent study published in the Journal of School Health it does. Children who are physically fit scored higher on standardized Math and English than children who were less fit. Researchers examined the relationship between physical fitness and academic achievement in a racily and economically diverse public school system. Students between the grades of 4 -8 during the 2004-2005 school year were examined during the study.

The study found that there is a significant relationship between student's academic achievement and physical fitness. The odds of passing both of the Math and English standardized tests increased as physical fitness test passed increased, even when they are controlling for gender, race/ethnicity and social economical status. During school hours children have recess and a physical education class, this study showed that children who do well on physical fitness tests also do well on standardized Math and English tests. This study showed that a student doing sports in school could improve their academic achievement and is beneficial with success in a core subject.

I believe in this study I played sports throughout High School and did well on physical fitness tests and did well on Math and English standardized tests. Being healthy and fit is beneficial when coming to academic achievement and physical education classes should be longer and mandatory.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090128113246.htm

Research Sheds Light on Workings of Anti-Cancer Drug

A copper drug called tetrathiomolybdate (TM) has been shown to be effective in the treatment of Wilson Disease. Wilson disease is caused by an overload of copper and mestastic cancers which spread through the body. a study at Northwestern University. The structure consists of TM combined with copper chaperone proteins. "Based on the structure and additional experiments, the scientists propose that the drug inhibits the traffic of copper within the cell because of its ability to sequester copper chaperones and their cargo in clusters, rendering the copper inactive." The inorganic elements such as zine, copper, and iron are benficial to the function of cells but too much can be harmful for the body, the bodies inability to dispose of the extra copper can lead to liver problems, which is a mjor cause of Wilson Disease.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091126173033.htm

"Jefferson researchers identify new mechanism of blocking HIV-1 from entering cells"

Researchers from the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson have found new drugs which block HIV-1 from entering the bodies cells. in the article it says cellular invasion by HIV-1 requires the planned action of two proteins on the viral surface. "This requires the association of two distinct regions of gp41 called N-HR and C-HR. Anti-HIV-1 agents known as fusion inhibitors target the N-HR or C-HR and disrupt their association, which prevents the virus from entering into the host cell. One drug that works like this is Fuzeon (Roche), and there are other agents in the pipeline. " after these drugs come together they lead into a dead conformation from which the protein cannot spread. This means that if the drug is released into the body it can kill the proteins that are responsible for HIV-1. the drugs have not been fully studied to the point where there might be an extension of the study to understand the limitation of the drugs.
http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2009/11/30/jefferson_researchers_identify_new_mechanism_of_blocking_hiv1_from_entering_cells.html