Was Will Gompertz right when he said the arts had been subsidised to 'no great effect'?

A cock-eyed view? BBC arts editor Will Gompertz. Photograph: Christian Sinibaldi

My Twitter feed this morning was very cross, very cross indeed. My colleague Will Gompertz, arts editor of the BBC, had been on the Today programme talking about arts subsidy. Despite Arts Council England's best efforts since its foundation after the war, he argued, funding for the arts had been "it would appear, to no great effect". Under 8% of the population, he said, go to the ballet, opera, or classical music concerts, according to government figures. Was arts subsidy, pondered the report, really just supporting the tastes of the upper and middle classes? Have institutions such as the Royal Ballet and Royal Opera succeeded in attracting any but the privileged few?

I think – with all respect and a friendly tip of the hat, as ever, to Will – that the picture presented here was too bleak; and incomplete. Hence the irritation of my Twitter pals. The implication (though perhaps not the intention) of the piece was to suggest that classical music, opera and ballet "stood in for" the whole of the arts. That is, of course, a partial picture. It misses out whole swathes of cultural activity. Theatre, galleries, museums. Street theatre, carnival, festivals... whole chunks of stuff supported by the public purse. It didn't mention the incredible work done in the community by arts organisations; or by companies like Clean Break and Streetwise Opera that work with a very particular social purpose in view.

The report was perhaps too a rather incomplete picture of the work of the Royal Opera House. I would not for a moment suggest that its audience on an average night presents an accurate picture of British society, or that it is not a forbidding place in many ways, or there is not work to do: but you don't have to pay £115 to see the ballet; my two-second, random click around on the website threw up £4 tickets for a terrific-sounding evening at the ballet in February (you do have to snap 'em up in advance) – a sum for which you'd struggle to find London cinema tickets. The ROH puts on family performances (tickets £5-£20). Chance to Dance is a scheme that works with schools in Lambeth, Southwark and Thurrock to encourage kids – not the kids of the privileged – to access ballet and enjoy dancing themselves. But enough about the Royal Opera House. The ROH is not the arts in England. It's one arts organisation in England and it shouldn't dominate discussions about funding (I know, I'm doing it...).

"Great art for everyone" – a glib motto for Arts Council England, perhaps. But I'm not sure anyone need be apologetic about the aspiration. Through our schools, through the extraordinary outreach work done by arts organisations, through the committed work of artists and teachers, I don't see why every person (and importantly every child) shouldn't encounter great art. God knows enough people are doing their best to make it happen. And actually, I think it's working.

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Baloji takes hip-hop attitude to Congo

Congolese rapper Baloji. Photograph: Baloji

Baloji, the brilliant and innovative Congolese-born Belgian rapper and video producer, spoke to Addis Rumble about his recent performances in Kinshasa, recording with Konono No 1, the distinct visual side of his work and how to escape the 'African artist' label.

What is your tactic when integrating Congolese sounds with rap and hip-hop?

I've been listening to hip-hop since 1995-1996. It's the music I grew up with. It was through listening to hip-hop that I learned about Curtis Mayfield and Fela Kuti and also Mulatu Astatke. Now Congolese music is really diverse but I'm trying to bring a hip-hop attitude to it.

A lot of traditional Congolese music is based on improvisation and in Ethiopia we have the same tradition through the Azmari singers. How do you see the relationship between this tradition of improvisation and then hip-hop?

I think that it is connected, most music is. It is only when people give it names, that we see the differences. For me the music of Konono is close to Animal Collective. This doesn't sound obvious in a commercial way but musically the way it's based on trance and vibrations is the same. This is also true for rap and for the griot culture.

What was your experience collaborating with Konono in the recording of your new album, Kinshasa Succursale (released on Crammed in March)?

I learned a lot of things. I learned that some musicians don't give a fuck about the metronome. They just play. In Europe we try to make sure the rhythm is the same until the end of the song. They don't care and they don't think too much about the music. In Europe people think so much about what it means, how it's build up, the themes, the melodies, the harmonies. I think it's because of the Mozart tradition. It's not because Konono don't have harmonies or themes. It's just that it doesn't have a prescription. It's free.

Karibu ya Bintou on Vimeo

How was it for you to perform in Congo?

I just played there again two weeks ago and it was really great. I played in a venue called 'the Zoo.' I was really happy with this concert because the Kinshasa audience is really difficult. They are so proud of who they are and what they are doing. It's a bit like Cuba. They have their musical identity and nothing can change it.

Do you adjust your performance to your audiences?

No. A couple of years ago I did but now it is more like 'take it or leave it.' My inspiration is from Congo but also from Europe and I don't want to adjust or find excuses for not living there. My music is different because I am an outsider living in Europe. Congo is a country where there is no real music industry. Many people have been listening to the same music for the past 25 years. For musicians like Jupiter or Konono it's really difficult to get an audience in Kinshasa. Congolese are not really progressive. They are quite conservative. It's the culture and the way people listen to music.

The visual side of your work is very distinct and also quite similar to the work of old Congolese photographers like Jean Depara. Why did you choose this visual appearance?

Actually, the visuals are the reason people picked up my work. But I'm not sure they get the message. What I like about this period of time in the 50s is that you had a lot of Congolese trying to look European and they called themselves 'the evolved'. They dressed up and tried to look like the Belgian kings. There is something really interesting in that attitude. I like the fact that they care about elegance. For me the main idea behind these visuals is pretending to be 'evolved'. But it's all fake because your colour is going to bring you down anyway. But people don't really get it. Now the hairstyle is becoming stylish and I see a lot of people copying the whole thing. It's not just about having an African backdrop behind you. It's deeper than that.

So what is the real thing then?

The fascination and frustration among many African intellectuals at that time trying to look European, trying to copy the way the Europeans did politics or social life. That to me is very interesting. I'm really fascinated by it and not just because they wore some high-fashion clothes.

So for you it's much more than just visuals?

Yes, it's about playing with perceptions and giving codes new meanings. For example the song Independance Cha-Cha (from Kinshasa Succursale) is about something different than the original version. It's basically the first commercial song made in Congo in 1959. It's really a silly and hypocritical song and it's nice to play with these codes. Because the perception of people is that it's a dance song, it's cha-cha, but in the end it's just empty.

Le Jour d'apres / Siku ya baadaye (Independence cha-cha) on Vimeo

You were struggling a lot to secure the release of Kinshasa Succursale. Now that you have a platform and support, what ideas do you want to realise?

I have a new album in the can. I have an EP that I hope to put out soon with a lot of collaborations with African artists. I'm working on a film that I hope to shoot next year. And I have this crazy band (the Katuba Orchestra) that has followed me in the past two years on this amazing journey in realizing this album that nobody wanted.

Finally, does it bother you being perceived now mainly as an African artist, not just an artist?

I'm an artist first, not an African artist. This is really difficult. You have to do something else, something non-African to not always being perceived as an African artist and always being put in the same box.

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UK Border Agency staff 'unfairly rejecting' African visas

UK Border Agency staff processing visa applications from Africa are "acting unfairly" and wrongly refusing entry to the UK, an independent report claims.

Chief inspector to the UKBA, John Vine, said many visas were incorrectly rejected after employees "disregarded or misinterpreted" evidence.

Some applicants were being refused for failing to provide information that had not been originally requested, he said. The agency said it took the findings "seriously" and would improve training.

Mr Vine's inspection ran between May and July 2011, examining the applications handled at four UKBA posts in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Croydon, south London - which deals with Algerian-based applications.

He reported claims by UK Embassy staff in Algeria that the visa delays had caused "reputational damage" to the UK.

And in a review of 135 visa applications from Nigeria, his report found the UKBA had made a "serious error" after 14 cases had accidentally received "indefinite leave to enter the UK" - rather than the usual 27-month limit. In some cases, it found UKBA staff had failed to retain documents backing up their decisions.

The UKBA said there were several routes of entry to the UK which can lead to settlement. The length of time a migrant has to complete before being eligible to apply for settlement depends on which route they enter, they said.

Visas to the UK enable some successful applicants to stay and work in the country for two years, with an option to apply for permanent residency at the end of that period. This relates only to spouses, civil partners, unmarried partners or same sex partners from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) of a British citizen or person who is settled in UK.

Various reasons for visa rejections were listed in the report. In one case, an applicant wishing to visit his uncle in the UK was turned down because they had different family names.

'Frustrating'

UKBA's visa bases in Abuja, Nigeria; in Pretoria, South Africa; and Nairobi, Kenya had "performed well" to meet customer service targets, Mr Vine found. But staff at Croydon's Visa Section in the UK had been "poor" in processing applications made in Algiers, Algeria.

Mr Vine said that little progress had been made by the UKBA in a number of areas, even though recommendations had been made in previous inspections.

"This is especially frustrating", he said, "considering the agency has accepted the recommendations, and yet I continue to identify the same issues.

"I would now like to see these recommendations being embraced by the agency without delay to ensure that there is a real improvement in the quality and consistency of decision making."

A UKBA spokesman said the agency was prioritising improvement.

He said: "We take the independent chief inspector's findings seriously and are making reforms, which include providing detailed guidance to applicants and improving the training for staff handling visa applications.

"The UKBA must offer a high quality service for genuine applicants while ensuring that those who do not meet the immigration rules are prevented from entering the UK," he added.

"We announced important changes to the family route on 11 June, including an increase to this probationary period.

"For those entering on or after 9 July this year the period will be five years. The migrant has permission to work in the UK during this period."

Those entering the UK under a work route need to complete a five-year period before being eligible to apply for settlement."

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Teenager shoots himself in protest over mother's boyfriend

Police in Gweru are investigating a case in which a 19-year-old boy allegedly shot and killed himself using a revolver and left behind a suicide note.

The revolver, which the now deceased boy used to kill himself, is said to belong to his mother’s boyfriend, a doctor by profession. Sources close to the tragic incident said yesterday that the boy had a long-standing dispute with his mother over her boyfriend, who was now co-habiting with them at their South View suburb house following the death in a traffic accident last year of the boy’s father.
They said the boy disapproved of the coming in of his mother’s boyfriend to their house.

“The boy has been at loggerheads with his mother since the coming in of her boyfriend but she has been refusing to budge.”
The sources said this resulted in the boy deciding to write a suicide note before taking his life using his mother’s boyfriend’s gun.
Acting police spokesperson for Midlands province, Asst Insp Emmanuel Mahoko confirmed the incident, which occurred on Monday afternoon. Police identified the now deceased boy as Darlian Jeremiah Tanaka Maramwidze who was doing O-Level at Ambassador College in Gweru.

“On Monday morning, the now deceased left home in the company of his mother, Ms Biula Maramwidze into the city. Ms Maramwidze dropped him at Ambassador College where he was supposed to sit for his Mathematics public examinations paper,” said Asst Insp Mahoko.
He said after being dropped at the college gate, the boy, instead returned home where he then wrote a suicide note before shooting himself in the chest using a revolver, which was kept in his bedroom drawer.

“His body was later found in a pool of blood in the bedroom. The matter was reported to the police who attended to the scene,” he said.
Asst Insp Mahoko said police recovered the suicide note and the revolver at the scene. Efforts to get a comment from Ms Maramwidze were fruitless yesterday as her mobile phone was being answered by a third party.
Meanwhile, police sources said the gun, which the boy used to commit suicide, had an expired licence. Asst Insp Mahoko said he was still to verify if the gun’s licence had expired or not.

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Woman shocked as two nude witches crash land in her garden

Police in Mashonaland West on Monday arrested two women and charged them with allegedly engaging in a practice commonly associated with witchcraft after they stormed a nearby compound while stark naked.

Mashonaland West provincial police spokesperson Inspector Clemence Mabgweazara identified the suspects as Rosemary Kamanga (48) and Esnath Maodza (56), both of Shackleton compound about 20km from Chinhoyi.

Police said the informant, Eneresi Mufunga (55), of Shackleton, was awakened around 4am by strange noises that resembled fighting dogs. When she went outside to investigate, she found two naked women and quizzed them on their mission.
Mabgweazara said the pair allegedly told Mufunga that they had fallen off a winnowing basket (rusero) on their way from a nearby compound in Alaska. They further told the woman that they wanted flesh from her. Mufunga raised alarm and alerted her neighbours who rushed to the scene baying for the duo’s blood. According to eyewitnesses, the incident ignited a frenzy in the usually sleepy former mine compound.

Ironically, the suspects’ husbands were among the crowd and upon seeing their naked wives, they whisked them to safety before taking them home where they were later clothed.

A report was made at Murereka Police Post leading to their arrest. Mabgweazara said when interviewed by police, the women confessed to practicing withcraft.
“They confessed to be witches and indicated they were coming from Alaska in a rusero and decided to get some human flesh at the informant’s house,” Mabgweazara said.
As of yesterday, the suspects were still detained at Chinhoyi Central Police Station and were expected to appear in court facing charges of contravening Section 98 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 9:23 pertaining to “engaging in practices commonly associated with witchcraft” or indecent exposure.

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Highly Selective Anticancer Strategy That Specifically Targets Cancer Cells Without Significantly Affecting Normal Tissues

Main Category: Breast Cancer
Also Included In: Lymphoma / Leukemia / Myeloma
Article Date: 19 Oct 2012 - 0:00 PDT
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Highly Selective Anticancer Strategy That Specifically Targets Cancer Cells Without Significantly Affecting Normal Tissues

In what they say is a promising and highly selective treatment strategy, scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have safely shut down breast cancer and a form of leukemia in mice by targeting abnormal proteins to which the cancers are "addicted," according to a new study.

Even though the investigators genetically silenced the proteins or blocked them with a drug in normal as well as cancerous tissues, the animals remained healthy, they report in the journal Cancer Cell. Peter Sicinski, MD, PhD, of Dana-Farber is the paper's senior author.

The experiments targeted two related proteins, cyclin D1 and cyclin D3, that control cells' growth cycle. Many types of cancer have abnormal amounts of the proteins, spurring the cells to grow too rapidly and form tumors. The new results shown that the cancers' addiction to these proteins is an Achilles' heel that can be safely targeted with an inhibitor drug that halts cancer growth or causes cancer cells to die.

Based on the results, the Dana-Farber scientists are planning a clinical trial, using an experimental cyclin-inhibiting drug called PD0332991 that has already been tested in a form of lymphoma.

"It was impressive to find that you could target a single cyclin protein and completely clear the leukemia and the mouse remained healthy," said Yoon Jong Choi, PhD, the study's lead author. "We're excited because we think this approach is very promising" as a potential treatment for some cancer types, she added.

Some of the experimental mice had been engineered to develop a type of breast cancer driven by the ErbB2 oncogene. Others were modified to develop a type of T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) that is driven by an abnormal pathway known as Notch1. In one experiment, human T-ALL cells were infused into mice that then developed the disease.

Blocking cyclin D1 in the mice drove the breast cancer cells into a kind of permanent retirement called senescence, an irreversible halt to their growth cycle. Inhibiting cyclin D3 in the T-ALL leukemia mice caused the cancer cells to self-destruct -- a programmed death process called apoptosis.

In addition to these tests with mouse cancers, the scientists found that the cyclin-D-inhibiting drug had similar effects on human blood cancer cells in the laboratory.

Cyclin proteins act as "checkpoint" guards to control cell's cycle of rest, growth and division. The D-cyclins determine when a cell begins making DNA in preparation for dividing to form new cells. In many types of cancer, an excess of cyclins allows cells to grow too fast and form tumors. Abnormal cyclins D1, D2 and D3 are found in breast, lung, endometrial, pancreatic, and testicular cancers and in multiple myeloma and other blood cancers.

In a key report in Nature in 2001, Sicinski showed that mice engineered to lack cyclin D1 were resistant to developing breast cancer. It wasn't known for many years, however, whether knocking out cyclin D1 could halt an established cancer, or if breast cancer needed the protein long-term.

Also unknown was whether normal cells could get along without cyclin D1: If not, treating cancer by targeting the protein might be too dangerous.

To test these questions, Choi and her Dana-Farber colleagues developed a strain of mice with cyclin D proteins that could be inactivated at any time by treating the mice with the drug tamoxifen.

"By generating these 'conditional' knockout mice, we could address these questions for the first time," said Choi. The effect was global, affecting all the body cells, not just those that were cancerous. When the cyclin D proteins were turned off using this technique, the addicted cancer cells shut down while normal cells were unaffected.

The authors say the results show that blocking cyclin D "represents a highly selective anticancer strategy that specifically targets cancer cells without significantly affecting normal tissues."

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
Visit our breast cancer section for the latest news on this subject. Other authors of the report include Xiaoyu Li, MD, PhD, a co-first author, and Harald von Boehmer, MD, PhD, of Dana-Farber, and Andrew L. Kung, MD, PhD, formerly at Dana-Farber and now at Columbia University.

The research was supported in part by grants from the National Institutes of Health (R01 CA083688 and P01 CA080111 and P01 CA109901).

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

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Giving A Voice To Children With ADHD: Study Finds Medication Frees Them To Choose Between Right And Wrong

Main Category: ADHD
Article Date: 19 Oct 2012 - 0:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Giving A Voice To Children With ADHD: Study Finds Medication Frees Them To Choose Between Right And Wrong

Children living with ADHD tend to feel they benefit from medication to treat the condition and do not think the medication turns them into 'robots', according to a report just published. In fact, they report that medication helps them to control their behaviour and make better decisions. The study, which gives a voice to the children themselves, provides valuable insights into their experiences and the stigma they face.

The ADHD VOICES - Voices on Identity, Childhood, Ethics and Stimulants - study has worked with 151 families in the UK and the USA to examine ethical and societal issues surrounding attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), particularly the use of treatments such as methylphenidate (Ritalin). The project has been led by biomedical ethicist Dr Ilina Singh from King's College London and was funded by the Wellcome Trust.

Dr Singh and colleagues interviewed children and their families about ADHD, behaviour, medication and identity across four contexts: home, school, the doctor's office and peer groups. The findings of their study, just announced, are accompanied by a series of short films by award-winning animators The Brothers McLeod.

The report is intended not only to highlight ethical and social issues surrounding ADHD but also to help families, doctors, teachers and the children themselves to understand from a child's perspective what it is like to live with ADHD.

"ADHD is a very emotive subject, which inspires passionate debate. Everyone seems to have an opinion about the condition, what causes it, and how to deal with children with ADHD, but the voices of these children are rarely listened to," explains Dr Singh. "Who better to tell us what ADHD is like and how medication affects them than the children themselves?"

Dr Singh points out the controversies that surround providing medication to children with ADHD, which some people argue turns the children into 'robots'. She believes that in many cases and with a correct diagnosis, treatment using stimulants is appropriate and beneficial, particularly if it is complemented by other interventions. The evidence from the children she interviewed suggests that they think medication improves their ability to make their own moral choices.

Glenn (age 10), from the USA, says: "If you're driving in a car, and there's two different ways, and you usually always go this way...and then one day you want to go the other way, but...the ADHD acts as a blocker, so you can't.

"[The medicine] opens the blocker so that you can go [the right] way. But you still have the choice of going the wrong way... It's harder [without medication], that's what's the truth. But it's not like [on medication] you're a robot."

Dr Singh also found that children often did not understand their condition or why they were receiving medication, and many children in the study reported that they had little meaningful contact with their doctors. After the initial evaluation, clinic visits tended to focus on side-effect checks, during which children were weighed and measured. Most children were not asked any questions during these visits.

Roger (age 13), from the UK, says: "I've only just started going to the ADHD clinic, but I haven't actually been to it properly. I've seen the doctor and he's talked about [ADHD] and I get weighed. But...they'll just say parts of what it is but then they'll stop, so they will only say some of it and then change the subject."

Dr Singh argues that children need to be better informed and able to discuss their condition. "Given the ethical concerns that arise from ADHD diagnosis and stimulant drug treatment, it is imperative that children are able to openly discuss the value of diagnosis and different treatments with a trusted professional."

The report concludes with a series of recommendations for how parents, doctors and teachers can help children cope with and better understand the condition, and begin to tackle the stigma that currently exists around it.

Professor Peter Hill, a child and adolescent psychiatrist, says: "We hope that the VOICES Study and the ADHD and Me animations will inspire people to think differently about ADHD, drug treatments and children with behavioural difficulties.

"Behaving differently around these children is the main challenge. We hope that the strategies we have outlined will help improve the interactions with these children and help improve their lives."

Clare Matterson, Director of Medical Humanities and Engagement at the Wellcome Trust, comments: "It is refreshing to hear the voices of children included in the debate about ADHD.

"It is a very emotive subject and despite the fact that these children are at the centre of this debate, they are too often ignored. This report sends a clear message to doctors, teachers and parents about the importance of talking to children about their condition - and more importantly, listening to what they have to say."

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
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Improved Understanding Of Microglia Biology In The Developing And Injured Adult Brain

Main Category: Neurology / Neuroscience
Also Included In: Immune System / Vaccines
Article Date: 19 Oct 2012 - 0:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Improved Understanding Of Microglia Biology In The Developing And Injured Adult Brain

In many pathologies of the nervous system, there is a common event - cells called microglia are activated from surveillant watchmen into fighters. Microglia are the immune cells of the nervous system, ingesting and destroying pathogens and damaged nerve cells. Until now little was known about the molecular mechanisms of microglia activation despite this being a critical process in the body. Now new research from the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital - The Neuro - at McGill University provides the first evidence that mechanisms regulated by the Runx1 gene control the balance between the surveillant versus activated microglia states. The finding, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, has significant implications for understanding and treating neurological conditions.

As surveillant watchmen, microglial cells wait for something bad to happen in the nervous system. They have a small cell body and long branches that monitor the local environment. As soon as there are signs of injury or disease, microglia are activated into fighters. The branches retract and the microglia morph into a large rounded body in order to attack and ingest pathogens: bacteria, viruses, and diseased or injured nerve cells (for example in head trauma). If microglia activation is not precisely controlled, however, it can become harmful to the body as microglia can start to attack healthy cells. For example, after epileptic seizures, the brain responds by regenerating new nerve cells. The microglia help in this process of regeneration, but they can also negatively influence the survival of the new born nerve cells if their activation persists for too long. The research team at The Neuro therefore asked important questions: How can we learn how the process of activating microglia from watchmen to fighter is controlled? What can we do to ensure that the beneficial effects of microglia activation predominate over their potentially deleterious effects?

It turns out that the process of microglia activation in the adult brain is almost a recapitulation in reverse of mechanisms that occur during nervous system development. Microglia in the developing brain are already in an early form of fighter mode and have the capacity to eliminate cell debris and redundant nerve cell connections. Pruning of the nerve cell network is a normal process during development. Soon after birth microglia are gradually deactivated from early fighters to surveillant watchmen, a state that they will maintain until there is injury or trauma in the adult brain, which causes them to revert from watchmen back to fighters. "So the approach we took was to study the normal process of microglia deactivation during brain development on the premise that understanding this process might also help us understand adult brain microglia activation in response to injury or disease," says Dr. Stefano Stifani, lead investigator and neuroscientist at The Neuro. "Our study provides evidence for a previously unrecognized role of a particular gene, termed Runx1, in promoting the transition of microglia from an early form of activated fighter to surveillant watchmen in the postnatal mouse brain. We show that Runx1 is expressed in these early fighter microglia during the first two postnatal weeks and that if Runx1 function in these cells is inhibited they tend to persist longer and their transition into watchmen microglia is delayed. We also looked at an experimental animal model in which an artificial injury causes surveillant microglia to be activated into fighters. This showed that Runx1 expression is induced in microglia when they become activated following injury in the adult mouse nervous system, suggesting that Runx1 might be important for controlling how long fighter microglia remain activated in the adult nervous system, as it does in the developing brain."

These findings improve our understanding of microglia biology in the developing and injured adult brain. Moreover, they have potential therapeutic implications for several neurological conditions - further research could lead to the development of treatment strategies by pharmacologically targeting key modulators of microglia activation.

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
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Safe Gun Storage And Legislation To Prevent Gun Injuries In Children

Main Category: Public Health
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Article Date: 18 Oct 2012 - 6:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Safe Gun Storage And Legislation To Prevent Gun Injuries In Children

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is renewing its call to reduce the destructive effects of guns in the lives of children and adolescents, including counseling parents about safe gun storage as well as supporting legislation to prevent firearm injuries and deaths.

According to the AAP, the safest home for children and teens is one without guns. If there are guns in the home, scientific evidence shows the risk of injury or death is greatly reduced when they are stored unloaded and locked, with the ammunition locked in a separate place. Pediatricians routinely offer this injury-prevention counseling as part of their guidance to families at health care visits.

"Firearm injuries are often fatal - there are few second chances," said Marion Burton, MD, FAAP, immediate past president of the AAP. "Young children are curious, and are often unable to remember or follow safety rules. Older children and teens naturally tend to be moody and impulsive. When you combine these traits with access to guns, the consequences can be tragic and permanent."

The policy statement, "Firearm-Related Injuries Affecting the Pediatric Population," was published online in Pediatrics in advance of the AAP National Conference and Exhibition Oct. 20-23 in New Orleans. The policy will appear in the November 2012 print issue of Pediatrics. The statement updates a previous policy statement published in 2000.

While the rate of firearm-related deaths has declined over the past two decades, it is still one of the top three causes of death in American youth, far exceeding the rates in other high-income countries. An estimated 38 percent of American households own guns; in gun-owning households with children under age 18, many of those guns are stored loaded and/or unlocked. The presence of guns in the home increases the risk of death from suicide or homicide.

Strong scientific evidence suggests that the presence of a gun in the home of an adolescent increases the risk of suicide, even in the absence of a psychiatric diagnosis, said pediatrician Denise Dowd, MD, FAAP, one of the lead authors of the statement who will be discussing the recommendations in a session at the AAP meeting in New Orleans Oct. 20.

"Adolescents often experience very strong emotions and have difficulty seeing past a temporary setback," Dr. Dowd said. "Their brains have not matured fully, which makes them impulsive, and relatively more likely to attempt suicide. When those attempts are made with a gun, there is little chance for them to change their minds. The odds of suicide are particularly high if the gun is kept loaded. It is absolutely critical that families who own guns follow safe-storage practices."

Firearm-related injuries and deaths can be prevented when guns are stored safely away from children and adolescents in a locked case. Because of the severe, permanent nature of gun injuries in children, the AAP supports the strongest-possible legislative and regulatory approaches to reduce the accessibility of guns to children and adolescents: Consumer product regulations regarding child access, safety and design of guns Child access prevention laws that enforce safe storage practices including the use of trigger locks, lock boxes, and gun safes Regulation of the purchase of guns, including mandatory waiting periods, closure of the gun show loophole, mental health restrictions for gun purchases, and background checks Restoration of the ban on the sale of assault weapons to the general public Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
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Romantic Outcomes In Adulthood Predicted By First Sexual Experience

Main Category: Psychology / Psychiatry
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health;  Sexual Health / STDs
Article Date: 19 Oct 2012 - 1:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Romantic Outcomes In Adulthood Predicted By First Sexual Experience

It's a common lament among parents: Kids are growing up too fast these days. Parents worry about their kids getting involved in all kinds of risky behavior, but they worry especially about their kids' forays into sexual relationships. And research suggests that there may be cause for concern, as timing of sexual development can have significant immediate consequences for adolescents' physical and mental health.

But what about long-term outcomes? How might early sexual initiation affect romantic relationships in adulthood?

Psychological scientist Paige Harden of the University of Texas at Austin wanted to investigate whether the timing of sexual initiation in adolescence might predict romantic outcomes - such as whether people get married or live with their partners, how many romantic partners they've had, and whether they're satisfied with their relationship - later in adulthood.

To answer this question, Harden used data from the National Longitudinal Study on Adolescent Health to look at 1659 same-sex sibling pairs who were followed from adolescence (around 16) to young adulthood (around 29). Each sibling was classified as having an Early (younger than 15), On-Time (age 15-19), or Late (older than 19) first experience with sexual intercourse. Her findings are reported in a new research article published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

As expected, later timing of first sexual experience was associated with higher educational attainment and higher household income in adulthood when compared with the Early and On-Time groups. Individuals who had a later first sexual experience were also less likely to be married and they had fewer romantic partners in adulthood.

Among the participants who were married or living with a partner, later sexual initiation was associated with significantly lower levels of relationship dissatisfaction in adulthood. The association held up even after taking genetic and environmental factors into account and could not be explained by differences in adult educational attainment, income, or religiousness, or by adolescent differences in dating involvement, body mass index, or attractiveness.

These results suggest that the timing of first experience with sexual intercourse predicts the quality and stability of romantic relationships in young adulthood.

Although research has often focused on the consequences of early sexual activity, the Early and On-Time participants in this study were largely indistinguishable. The data suggest that early initiation is not a "risk" factor so much as late initiation is a "protective" factor in shaping romantic outcomes.

According to Harden, there are several possible mechanisms that might explain this relationship.

It's possible, for example, that people who have their first sexual encounter later also have certain characteristics (e.g., secure attachment style) that have downstream effects on both sexual delay and on relationship quality. They could be pickier in choosing romantic and sexual partners, resulting in a reluctance to enter into intimate relationships unless they are very satisfying.

It's also possible, however, that people who have their first sexual encounter later have different experiences, avoiding early encounters with relational aggression or victimization that would otherwise have detrimental effects on later romantic outcomes.

Finally, Harden explains that it's possible that "individuals who first navigate intimate relationships in young adulthood, after they have accrued cognitive and emotional maturity, may learn more effective relationship skills than individuals who first learn scripts for intimate relationships while they are still teenagers."

Future research can help to tease apart which of these mechanisms may actually be at work in driving the association between timing of first sexual intercourse and later romantic outcomes.

In previous studies, Harden and her colleagues have found that earlier sexual intercourse isn't always associated with negative outcomes. For example, using the same sample from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, she found that teenagers who experienced their first sexual intercourse earlier, particularly those who had sex in a romantic dating relationship, had lower levels of delinquent behavior problems. She explains, "We are just beginning to understand how adolescents' sexual experiences influence their future development and relationships."

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
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Myasthenia Gravis, A Rare Neuromuscular Disorder, Likely Preceded By Impaired Sense Of Smell

Main Category: Neurology / Neuroscience
Also Included In: Ear, Nose and Throat;  Alzheimer's / Dementia;  Parkinson's Disease
Article Date: 19 Oct 2012 - 1:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Myasthenia Gravis, A Rare Neuromuscular Disorder, Likely Preceded By Impaired Sense Of Smell

Changes in the ability to smell and taste can be caused by a simple cold or upper respiratory tract infection, but they may also be among the first signs of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. Now, new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has revealed an association between an impaired sense of smell and myasthenia gravis (MG), a chronic autoimmune neuromuscular disease characterized by fluctuating fatigue and muscle weakness. The findings are published in the latest edition of PLOS ONE.

"This study demonstrates, for the first time, that myasthenia gravis is associated with profound dysfunction of the olfactory system - dysfunction equivalent to that observed in Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease," said senior study author Richard Doty, PhD, director of the Smell and Taste Center at Penn. "The results are the strongest evidence to date that myasthenia gravis, once thought of as solely a disorder of the peripheral nervous system, involves the brain as well."

The general notion that MG is strictly a peripheral nervous system disease stems, in part, from early observations that the disorder is not accompanied by obvious brain pathology. Behavioral and physiological evidence that has been presented in support of MG's involvement in the central nervous system (CNS) has frequently been discounted due to lack of replicability of findings. For example, while some studies have found MG-related deficits in verbal memory, relative to controls, others have not. Nevertheless, scientists have continued to report CNS-related dysfunctions in MG, including visual and auditory deficiencies in this disease. Further, EEG tests have shown abnormalities in MG patients and MG-related antibodies have been detected in cerebrospinal fluid of patients.

In order to further explore the role of the central nervous system in MG, Doty and colleagues employed a smell test that has been used to assess the underlying connection between sense of smell and other neurodegenerative diseases.
"Our sense of smell is directly linked to numerous functions of the brain," says Doty, one of the original researchers who made the connection between loss of smell and Parkinson's disease. "Olfaction is a good model system for other, more complicated, brain circuits. Understanding our sense of smell, or lack thereof, offers broader insights into brain functions and diseases stemming from the brain."

In the current study, 27 MG patients were individually matched for age and sex to 27 normal controls. Eleven patients with polymyositis, a disorder with debilitating muscle symptoms similar to those of MG, also were tested. All participants were administered the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT) and the Picture Identification Test (PIT), a picture test that is equivalent in content and form to the UPSIT designed to control for non-olfactory cognitive deficits. The research team also monitored each patient during the UPSIT and found no impaired ability to inhale, ruling out physical impediments to sniffing the odors.

Researchers found that the UPSIT scores of the MG patients were significantly lower than those of the age- and sex-matched normal controls, as well as the patients with polymyositis. Of the MG patients, only 15 percent were even aware of a smell problem before testing.

"The marked difference in smell dysfunction between the MG patients and the controls cannot be explained by any other physical or cognitive differences," says Doty. "Although we are still exploring the physiological basis of this dysfunction in MG, it's important to note that the extent of the diminished ability to identify odors found in this study is of the same magnitude as that observed in a range of CNS-related diseases, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's."

Based on these results, the authors believe larger studies are warranted to further explore the CNS underpinnings of MG and possibly utilize smell tests to aid in better classifying this disease and in monitoring its progression. They also suggest that clinicians should discuss smell dysfunction with MG patients to alert them of their heightened vulnerability to such environmental hazards as spoiled food, leaking natural gas, and fire, as well as the potential nutritional consequences of lessened flavor sensations.
Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
Visit our neurology / neuroscience section for the latest news on this subject. Funding for the study came from the United States Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity (W81XWH-09-1-0467) and the National Institutes of Health (P30 ES013508).
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New Way To Image Brain-Cell Activity Could Shed Light On Autism And Other Psychiatric Disorders

Main Category: Autism
Also Included In: Psychology / Psychiatry;  Medical Devices / Diagnostics
Article Date: 19 Oct 2012 - 1:00 PDT Current ratings for:
New Way To Image Brain-Cell Activity Could Shed Light On Autism And Other Psychiatric Disorders

A team led by MIT neuroscientists has developed a way to monitor how brain cells coordinate with each other to control specific behaviors, such as initiating movement or detecting an odor.

The researchers' new imaging technique, based on the detection of calcium ions in neurons, could help them map the brain circuits that perform such functions. It could also provide new insights into the origins of autism, obsessive-compulsive disorder and other psychiatric diseases, says Guoping Feng, senior author of a paper appearing in the journal Neuron.

"To understand psychiatric disorders we need to study animal models, and to find out what's happening in the brain when the animal is behaving abnormally," says Feng, the James W. and Patricia Poitras Professor of Neuroscience and a member of the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT. "This is a very powerful tool that will really help us understand animal models of these diseases and study how the brain functions normally and in a diseased state."

Lead author of the Neuron paper is McGovern Institute postdoc Qian Chen.

Performing any kind of brain function requires many neurons in different parts of the brain to communicate with each other. They achieve this communication by sending electrical signals, triggering an influx of calcium ions into active cells. Using dyes that bind to calcium, researchers have imaged neural activity in neurons. However, the brain contains thousands of cell types, each with distinct functions, and the dye is taken up nonselectively by all cells, making it impossible to pinpoint calcium in specific cell types with this approach.

To overcome this, the MIT-led team created a calcium-imaging system that can be targeted to specific cell types, using a type of green fluorescent protein (GFP). Junichi Nakai of Saitama University in Japan first developed a GFP that is activated when it binds to calcium, and one of the Neuron paper authors, Loren Looger of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, modified the protein so its signal is strong enough to use in living animals.

The MIT researchers then genetically engineered mice to express this protein in a type of neuron known as pyramidal cells, by pairing the gene with a regulatory DNA sequence that is only active in those cells. Using two-photon microscopy to image the cells at high speed and high resolution, the researchers can identify pyramidal cells that are active when the brain is performing a specific task or responding to a certain stimulus.

In this study, the team was able to pinpoint cells in the somatosensory cortex that are activated when a mouse's whiskers are touched, and olfactory cells that respond to certain aromas.

The researchers are now developing mice that express the calcium-sensitive proteins and also exhibit symptoms of autistic behavior and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Using these mice, the researchers plan to look for neuron firing patterns that differ from those of normal mice. This could help identify exactly what goes wrong at the cellular level, offering mechanistic insights into those diseases.

"Right now, we only know that defects in neuron-neuron communications play a key role in psychiatric disorders. We do not know the exact nature of the defects and the specific cell types involved," Feng says. "If we knew what cell types are abnormal, we could find ways to correct abnormal firing patterns."

The researchers also plan to combine their imaging technology with optogenetics, which enables them to use light to turn specific classes of neurons on or off. By activating specific cells and then observing the response in target cells, they will be able to precisely map brain circuits.

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
Visit our autism section for the latest news on this subject. The research was funded by the Poitras Center for Affective Disorders Research, the National Institutes of Health and the McNair Foundation.
Written by Anne Trafton, MIT News Office
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Researchers Clarify Process Controlling Night Vision

Main Category: Eye Health / Blindness
Article Date: 19 Oct 2012 - 1:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Researchers Clarify Process Controlling Night Vision

On the road at night or on a tennis court at dusk, the eye can be deceived. Vision is not as sharp as in the light of day, and detecting a bicyclist on the road or a careening tennis ball can be tough.

New research reveals the key chemical process that corrects for potential visual errors in low-light conditions. Understanding this fundamental step could lead to new treatments for visual deficits, or might one day boost normal night vision to new levels.

Like the mirror of a telescope pointed toward the night sky, the eye's rod cells capture the energy of photons - the individual particles that make up light. The interaction triggers a series of chemical signals that ultimately translate the photons into the light we see.

The key light receptor in rod cells is a protein called rhodopsin. Each rod cell has about 100 million rhodopsin receptors, and each one can detect a single photon at a time.

Scientists had thought that the strength of rhodopsin's signal determines how well we see in dim light. But UC Davis scientists have found instead that a second step acts as a gatekeeper to correct for rhodopsin errors. The result is a more accurate reading of light under dim conditions.

A report on their research appears in the October issue of the journal Neuron in a study entitled "Calcium feedback to cGMP synthesis strongly attenuates single photon responses driven by long rhodopsin lifetimes."

Individual rhodopsin errors are relatively small in magnitude - on the order of a few hundredths of a second - but even this much biological noise can affect how well the signal gets transmitted to the rest of the brain, the researchers said.

The gatekeeper protects us from "seeing" more light than is actually there - a misreading that would have endangered an ice-age hunter, as it would a driver at dusk today. The correction may prevent the photon receptor from swamping the intricate chemical apparatus that leads to accurate light perception.

"The rhodopsin receptor is the site where physics meets biology - where a photon of light from the physical world must get interpreted for the nervous system," said Marie Burns, professor of ophthalmology and vision science at UC Davis School of Medicine and lead author of the study. "Biology is messy. Rhodopsin does a remarkable but not perfect job."

Burns and her colleagues studied rod cells in the laboratory and discovered that calcium plays the gatekeeper role.

They found that rhodopsin activity changed calcium levels in the cells and that over-active rhodopsins changed calcium levels at a faster rate than normal. This faster change led calcium to trigger a series of chemical steps to counter the over-active rhodopsin signal by producing an equal and opposite signal, thereby correcting false information before it gets sent on to the rest of the visual system.

They uncovered this fundamental new level of control by measuring how long individual rhodopsin receptors remained active in response to flashes of light, and then determining how much calcium's gatekeeping function modified the rhodopsin signals.

"Basic research like ours often doesn't translate to immediate clinical treatments for known diseases, but understanding fundamental processes has long-term significance," Burns said. "In the case of our research, this understanding can prove essential for progress on a range of vision deficits that are currently poorly understood and untreatable."

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
Visit our eye health / blindness section for the latest news on this subject. Colleagues in the research and co-authors on the paper include Owen Gross, a former doctoral student at UC Davis who is now at Oregon Health Sciences University, and Edward N. Pugh Jr., a professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Human Anatomy and Department of Physiology and Membrane Biology at the UC Davis School of Medicine.
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Restoring The Ovulation Function

Main Category: Fertility
Also Included In: Endocrinology;  Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 19 Oct 2012 - 1:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Restoring The Ovulation Function

One of the most frequent problems is the existence of tumours that induce an over-secretion of a hormone. These women present with chronic infertility due to anovulation. Thanks to the work of the Inserm researchers from unit 693 "Steroid receptors: endocrinian and metabolic physiopathology", the intimate mechanism of the hyperprolactinaemia alterations affecting reproduction in mice has been discovered.

This work has been published in the journal JCI.

Hyperprolactinaemia is a major cause of anovulation and is responsible for menstruation disorders and infertility. However, not much was know in detail of the mechanisms that cause this pathology. All that was known was that an increase in prolactin in women disturbed one of the most important hormones affecting reproduction and fertility: GnRH .

Up until now, we had been unable to understand this inhibition of prolactin in the GnRH neurons, because most of these neurons did not express the prolactin receptor.

So the researchers put forward another hypothesis: what if it was due to the indirect action of other molecules?

The team led by Jacques Young and Nadine Binart from Inserm unit 693 "Steroid receptors: endocrinian and metabolic physiopathology" at the Bicêtre hospital, discovered that prolactin had an indirect effect on GnRH. Using mice as models, they demonstrated that prolactin effectively inhibits the secretion of neurons situated upstream the GnRH neurons and that are essential to their functioning. They secrete a neurohormone known as kisspeptin.

Kisspeptin: the key to infertility?

In mice, hyperprolactinaemia directly inhibits the secretion of kisspeptin and by preventing the secretion of GnRH, effectively blocks ovarian cyclicity. By administering kisspeptin, we can restore the release of GnRH and restart ovarian cyclic functioning and ovulation despite hyperprolactinaemia.

The effect of hyperprolactinaemia on the ovulation cycle (credit: J Young/Inserm)

This is both a physiopathological discovery that for the first time explains the link between infertility and hyperprolactinaemia, and a new approach opening the way to an original therapy. On-going studies are aiming to validate the concept in women, so that we can provide a therapeutic alternative when the subject is resistant to the available medication.

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
Visit our fertility section for the latest news on this subject. Hyperprolactinaemia-induced ovarian acyclicity is reversed by kisspeptin administration Charlotte Sonigo, 1 Justine Bouilly,1 Nadège Carré,1 Virginie Tolle,2 Alain Caraty,3 Javier Tello,4 Fabian-Jesus Simony-Conesa,4 Robert Millar,4,5,6 Jacques Young,1,7 and Nadine Binart1,7
1INSERM U693, Université Paris-Sud, Faculté de Médecine Paris-Sud, Le Kremlin-Bicêtre,
2INSERM U894, Centre de Psychiatrie et Neurosciences, Université Paris Descartes Sorbonne Paris, Paris, France.
3UMR 6175 INRA–CNRS–Université Tours, Nouzilly, France.
4Centre for Integrative Physiology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
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Risk For Pediatric ALL Likely Increases With Prolonged Formula Feeding, Delay In Solid Foods

Main Category: Lymphoma / Leukemia / Myeloma
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Article Date: 19 Oct 2012 - 1:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Risk For Pediatric ALL Likely Increases With Prolonged Formula Feeding, Delay In Solid Foods

Results of one study indicate that the risk for developing pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia increased the longer a baby was fed formula and the longer solid foods were delayed.

"For every month that a child was fed formula, taking into account other feeding practices, we found that the risk for this type of cancer was higher," said Jeremy Schraw, a graduate student at The University of Texas at Austin, who presented the findings of an epidemiological study at the 11th Annual AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research, held Oct. 16-19, 2012. "If a baby is fed only formula, he or she will not be getting any immune factors from the mother, which could be leading to this greater risk."

Schraw and colleagues surveyed 284 controls and 142 children from the Texas Children's Cancer Center and the National Children's Study in Houston, San Antonio and Austin, Texas, who had been diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

Compared with controls, children diagnosed with ALL started solid foods significantly later, more of their mothers smoked during pregnancy and they had a longer duration of formula feeding.

Researchers found that the risk for developing ALL increased by 16 percent for every month of formula feeding. In addition, for each month the introduction of solid foods was delayed, the risk increased by 14 percent.

"One explanation for this co-risk may be that it's the same effect being picked up twice," said Schraw. "Children being given solid foods later may be receiving formula longer."

Future research should address the factors influencing prolonged formula feeding and delay in solid food introduction, according to the researchers.

Abstract:

A102 Longer formula feeding and later age at introduction of solids increase the odds ratio of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Jeremy Schraw1, Yong Q. Dong1, Michael E. Scheurer2, Steven Hirschfeld3, M Fatih Okcu2, Michele R. Forman1. 1University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 2Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 3National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, MD.

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common form of childhood cancer. The literature suggests multiple points of interaction between infant feeding patterns and leukemogenesis whereby diet may influence normal development of the immune system and levels of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) in the serum. Thus the intent of the current study is to examine the association between infant feeding practices and age at introduction of solids, on risk of ALL. Incident cases of infant and childhood ALL (N=142, ages 0 to 14 years) were approached and enrolled in a case-control study at Texas Children's Cancer Center (TCCC). Controls (N=284) were recruited at TCCC and satellite clinics, as well as from participants in formative research for the National Children's Study in Houston, San Antonio and Austin, Texas. Cases and controls were frequency matched on age, sex, race and ethnicity.

Differences in proportions of breast and bottle feeding between cases and controls were assessed by chi square test. Differences in the mean durations of feeding practices and age at introduction of solids were assessed by Student's t test. The odds ratios (OR) of ALL were calculated using multiple logistic regression analysis in two models with the infant feeding group (independent variables) characterized as follows and a reference group of exclusively breastfed: in the first model, ever formula fed; in the second model, exclusively fed formula or fed both breast milk and formula. A third addressed the effects of durations of breast and formula feeding and age at the introduction of solid foods on the odds of ALL. Each model was calculated before and after adjustment for race, ethnicity, child's age and maternal smoking during pregnancy. Cases started solid foods significantly later than controls. More mothers of cases than controls smoked during pregnancy. Compared to the controls, cases had longer duration of formula feeding, and upon analysis of the exclusive formula versus mixed breast and formula fed, mixed feeding groups had a longer duration of formula intake. In a preliminary multivariate model, each additional month of formula feeding was associated with a 16% (OR: 1.16, 95% CI 1.08-1.25) increased odds of ALL; and likewise each additional month of delaying the age at introduction of solids was also associated with a 14% (OR1.14, 95% CI: 1.04 -1.26) increased odds of ALL after adjustment for covariates.

In this ethnically diverse population, duration of formula feeding and age at introduction of solid foods were directly associated with increased odds of ALL. Further research needs to address the factors influencing duration of formula feeding and delay in introduction of solids. Our results highlight the role of energy balance in early life as critical contributors to risk for pediatric ALL.

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
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Social Judgment Impaired In Children With Autism: They Can Identify Misbehavior But Have Trouble Putting It In Words

Main Category: Autism
Article Date: 19 Oct 2012 - 1:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Social Judgment Impaired In Children With Autism: They Can Identify Misbehavior But Have Trouble Putting It In Words

Children with autism have difficulty identifying inappropriate social behavior, and even when successful, they are often unable to justify why the behavior seemed inappropriate. New brain imaging studies show that children with autism may recognize socially inappropriate behavior, but have difficulty using spoken language to explain why the behavior is considered inappropriate, according to research published Oct. 17 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Elizabeth Carter from Carnegie Mellon University and colleagues.

The authors say the results of their functional MRI studies support previous behavioral studies that reached similar conclusions about language impairment in children with autism. In the current study, the researchers asked children with autism and children with typical development to identify in which of two pictures a boy was being bad (social judgment), or which of two pictures was outdoors (physical judgment). Both groups successfully performed the task, but the children with autism showed activity in fewer brain regions involving social and language networks while performing the task. Even though language was not required for the task, the children with typical development recruited language areas of the brain while making their decisions.

According to the authors, their results support the hypothesis that children with autism may recognize socially inappropriate behavior, but have difficulty using spoken language to explain why the behavior is considered wrong. They suggest that this decreased use of language may also make generalization of the knowledge more difficult.

"These results indicate that it is important to work with these children on translating their knowledge into language", says Carter.

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
Visit our autism section for the latest news on this subject.
Citation: Carter EJ, Williams DL, Minshew NJ, Lehman JF (2012) Is He Being Bad? Social and Language Brain Networks during Social Judgment in Children with Autism. PLoS ONE 7(10): e47241. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0047241

Financial Disclosure: This work was supported by a National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Autism Center of Excellence grant (P50HD055748, PI: NJM) and a National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders K23 award (DC006691, PI: DLW). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Competing Interest Statement: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

URL: http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0047241

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Virus Behavior Insight Offers Hope For New Drugs

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Main Category: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses
Article Date: 19 Oct 2012 - 13:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Virus Behavior Insight Offers Hope For New Drugs

An important stage in the life-cycle of viruses such as the common cold and polio has been discovered by experts at the University of Leeds. This breakthrough may pave the way for new methods of battling viral diseases.

According to the study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the researchers were the first to notice, at anatomic level, how the genome that creates the core of a single-strand RNA virus particle accumulates in its outer shell of proteins.

Accepted thinking about the process has been overturned by these results, lead researcher Professor Peter Stockley said. This could be a way into exploiting a chink in the armor of several types of viruses.

Stockley said, "If we can target this process, it could lead to a completely new class of anti-virals that would be less likely to create resistant viruses than existing drugs, which tend to target individual proteins."

Certain viruses, such as polio and the common cold have genetic material made up of ribonucleic acid (RNA) instead of DNA. The recent findings have discovered that the RNA in the viruses have considerably more volume than the virus particles made after they are "packed" inside their protein shell.

Dr Roman Tuma commented:

"We realized that the RNA genome must have to be intricately folded to fit into the final container, just like when you pack to go on holiday and need to fold your clothes to fit into the space in your suitcase."

When proteins were added to the viral RNA by the researchers, they observed an instant fall in the RNA's volume.

"It seems that viral RNAs have evolved a self-folding mechanism that makes closing the 'viral suitcase' very efficient. It's as though 'the suitcase' and the clothes' work together to close the lid and protect the content," Tuma said.

Stockley added, "The viral RNAs, and only the viral RNAs, can do this trick of folding up to fit as soon as they see the 'suitcase' coming. That's the important thing. If we can interfere in that process we've got a completely novel drug target in the lifecycle of viruses."

He continued:

"At the moment there are relatively few antiviral drugs and they tend to target enzymes that the virus encodes in its genome. The problem is that the drugs target one enzyme initially and, within the year, scientists are identifying strains that have become resistant. Individual proteins are extremely susceptible to this mutation. A fundamental process like the one we're looking at opens the possibility of targeting the collective behavior of essential molecules, which could be much less susceptible to developing resistance.

The report adds that the same effect is seen in plant and bacterial viruses as well. Stockley said, "While we have not proved it yet, I would put money on animal viruses showing the same mechanism too."

Researchers utilized state of the art machinery tailor-made at the University which let them to produce the first single-molecule measurements of viral assembly ever. This allowed the experts to analyze the viral particles individually. "The specific collapse, which can only be seen in such assays, was totally unexpected and overturns the current thinking about assembly," said Stockley.

Stockley concluded:

"We're now perfectly positioned to pursue questions about how this mechanism works in other viruses and we're already thinking about ways to start designing new antiviral drugs that would target this newly recognized feature of viral lifecycles."

Written by Christine Kearney
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

Visit our infectious diseases / bacteria / viruses section for the latest news on this subject. Evidence that viral RNAs have evolved for efficient, two-stage packaging
Alexander Borodavka, Roman Tuma, and Peter G. Stockley
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'Virus Behavior Insight Offers Hope For New Drugs'

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Why Skipping Breakfast Increases Appeal Of High Calorie Foods

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Main Category: Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness
Also Included In: Nutrition / Diet;  Neurology / Neuroscience
Article Date: 19 Oct 2012 - 3:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Why Skipping Breakfast Increases Appeal Of High Calorie Foods


Scientists presenting a new study at a conference this week suggest the reason skipping breakfast makes high calorie food more appealing later in the day is because our brain circuits may be primed toward seeking it when fasting.