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Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Research teams from the universities of Georgia and Glasgow discovered the mechanism the Trypanosome parasite evolved for “sleeping sickness” disease to circumvent the human immune system. Their study follows a recent African outbreak of the disease this parasite causes. The discovery is expected to help develop a cure preventing future deaths.

The 1998–2001 sleeping sickness epidemics in South Sudan, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Uganda caused tens of thousands of deaths. The parasites are spread by tsetse flies. It is considered one of the worst epidemics in the last five decades. As WHO reported, subsequent recent introduction of population screening in rural areas and distribution of more effective drugs had potentially reduced the number of death incidents. However, the main effect of these measures being a decrease in spreading of the parasite and not in decrease of the death rate, the researchers decided to tackle the puzzle.

The scientists studied the molecules the human immune system activates in response to the attack. They were looking for the way the parasites inhibit it and lead to the death of the victim. Of the several known parasite species, the two that can infect humans were chosen to study, called Trypanosoma brucei gambiense and Trypanosoma brucei rhodensiense. Several others also exist, but they affect only animals.

Researchers knew that the Trypanosoma attacks typically are repelled by an HDL, more specifically trypanosome lytic factor-1 (TLF-1). It is generated in the humans’ immune system and is toxic to the parasites but not to humans. It was known that one of the parasites, T. b. rhodensiense, has evolved an inhibitor of the toxic chemical, called Serum Resistance Associated (SRA) protein. However the other one, T. b. gambiense, was responsible for over 95% of human deaths, and it had been previously unknown why.

The study showed that a gene mutation has lead to a change in the parasite’s surface protein receptor. It doesn’t bind to TLF-1 as well as for other species, leading to a substantial decrease in TLF-1 uptake by the parasite. The receptor is more strict, causing a lower nutrient intake as well, but it suffices, and the parasite defends against the human immune system.

As professor and head of the department of biochemistry and molecular biology at UGA (and one of the leaders of the research) Stephen Hajduk explained, “Humans have evolved TLF-1 as a highly specific toxin against African trypanosomes by tricking the parasite into taking up this HDL because it resembles a nutrient the parasite needs for survival. But T. b. gambiense has evolved a counter measure to these human ‘Trojan horses’ simply by barring the door and not allowing TLF-1 to enter the cell, effectively blocking human innate immunity and leading to infection and ultimately disease.”

Based on the results of the research, humans could possibly develop a defense mechanism to keep the parasites from evading the human defense system. Stephen Hajduk commented, “We believe this research represents a paradigm shift and causes us to think more broadly about how pathogens avoid host defense mechanisms. It turns out that African trypanosomes have evolved a diversity of ways to avoid human innate and acquired immune systems.”

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Former Salt Lake City mayor and human rights activist Rocky Anderson took some time to discuss his 2012 U.S. presidential campaign and the newly-created Justice Party with Wikinews reporter William S. Saturn.

Anderson served as mayor of Salt Lake City for eight years (2000–2008) as a member of the Democratic Party. During his tenure, he enacted proposals to reduce the city’s carbon emissions, reformed its criminal justice system, and positioned it as a leading sanctuary for refugees. After leaving office, Anderson grew critical of the Democratic Party’s failure to push for impeachment against President George W. Bush, and for not reversing policies on torture, taxes, and defense spending. He left the party earlier this year and announced that he would form a Third party.

Anderson officially established the Justice Party last week during a press conference in Washington D.C.. He proclaimed “We the people are powerful enough to end the perverse government-to-the-highest-bidder system sustained by the two dominant parties…We are here today for the sake of justice — social justice, environmental justice and economic justice.” The party promotes campaign finance reform and is attempting to appeal to the Occupy Wall Street movement. It is currently working on ballot access efforts, and will hold a Founding Convention in February 2012 in Salt Lake City.

Among other issues, Anderson discussed climate change, health care, education, and civil liberties. He detailed his successes as mayor of Salt Lake City, stressed the importance of executive experience, and expressed his views on President Barack Obama and some of the Republican Party presidential candidates. He spoke in depth about former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, with whom he worked during the 2002 Winter Olympics, and fellow Utahan, former governor and U.S. ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, Jr..

Friday, January 12, 2007

The iPhone only made its appearance as a prototype and there have been controversies aroused.

The dispute has come up between the manufacturer of the iPhone (which was resented on Wednesday for the first time) – Apple Inc. – and a leader in network and communication systems, based in San Jose – Cisco. The company claims to possess the trademark for iPhone, and moreover, that it sells devices under the same brand through one of its divisions.

This became the reason for Cisco to file a lawsuit against Apple Inc. so that the latter would stop selling the device.

Cisco states that it has received the trademark in 2000, when the company overtook Infogear Technology Corp., which took place in 1996.

The Vice President and general counsel of the company, Mark Chandler, explained that there was no doubt about the excitement of the new device from Apple, but they should not use a trademark, which belongs to Cisco.

The iPhone developed by Cisco is a device which allows users to make phone calls over the voice over Internet protocol (VoIP).

Thursday, February 24, 2005

A paste containing synthetic tooth enamel can seal small cavities without drilling. Kazue Yamagishi and colleagues at the FAP Dental Institute in Tokyo say that the paste can repair small cavities in 15 minutes.

Currently, fillers don’t stick to such small cavities so dentists must drill bigger holes. Hydroxyapatite crystals, of which natural enamel is made, bond with teeth to repair tiny areas of damage.

Yamagishi and colleagues have tested their paste on a lower premolar tooth that showed early signs of decay. They found that the synthetic enamel merged with the natural enamel. The synthetic enamel also appears to make teeth stronger which will improve resistance to future decay. As with drilling, however, there is still the potential for pain: The paste is strongly acidic to encourage crystal growth and causes inflammation if it touches the gums.

The paste is reported in the journal Nature.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

British Airways (BA), the flag carrier for the United Kingdom, announced record losses today. For the first quarter of the year ending March 31, the airline reported losses of £401 million before tax, despite revenues which rose to £9 billion over the previous year. The company’s finances have suffered from rising fuel costs and a weak pound. The loss also takes into account redundancy-related costs of £78 million: The company laid off 2,500 workers last year.

BA’s costs soared due to an unprecedented fuel bill of £3 billion following a 44.5% increase in the price of oil last year. The recent drop in oil prices has led the airline to announce an expected saving of £400 million in fuel by next year.

Company CEO Willie Walsh announced that employees will be offered the option of taking unpaid leave or working part time in order to ease the financial crisis. In order to set an example, he said that he himself would forego pay for the month of July, describing his move as “no stunt,” and added that he “saw no signs of recovery anywhere.”

Part of BA’s troubles over the last year could be due to the company’s dependence on the premium travel market. The company saw a drop of 13% in ‘Club’ and ‘First Class’ passengers. With two new aircraft on the way to operate a Club-only service from London, the company may struggle to fill the flights.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007File:Nadine Strossen 5 by David Shankbone.jpg

There are few organizations in the United States that elicit a stronger emotional response than the American Civil Liberties Union, whose stated goal is “to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States”. Those people include gays, Nazis, women seeking abortion, gun owners, SPAM mailers and drug users. People who are often not popular with various segments of the public. The ACLU’s philosophy is not that it agrees or disagrees with any of these people and the choices that they make, but that they have personal liberties that must not be trampled upon.

In Wikinews reporter David Shankbone’s interview with the President of the ACLU, Nadine Strossen, he wanted to cover some basic ground on the ACLU’s beliefs. Perhaps the area where they are most misunderstood or have their beliefs most misrepresented is their feelings about religion in the public sphere. The ACLU categorically does not want to see religion disappear from schools or in the public forum; but they do not want to see government advocacy of any particular religion. Thus, former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore’s placement of a ten ton monument to the Ten Commandments outside the courthouse is strenuously opposed; but “Lone Ranger of the Manger” Rita Warren’s placement of nativity scenes in public parks is vigorously defended. In the interview, Strossen talks about how certain politicians and televangelists purposefully misstate the law and the ACLU’s work in order to raise funds for their campaigns.

David Shankbone’s discussion with Strossen touches upon many of the ACLU’s hot button issues: religion, Second Amendment rights, drug liberalization, “partial-birth abortion” and whether or not George W. Bush should be impeached. It may surprise the reader that many ideas people have about the most visible of America’s civil libertarian organizations are not factually correct and that the ACLU often works closely with many of the organizations people think despise its existence.