Despite Two Deaths in Two Weeks, Elevators Are Still Safer Than Stairs [Death]

Yesterday a woman was killed when she tried to enter an elevator that suddenly shot upwards out-of-control. Just a week earlier, a woman was crushed by an elevator as she tried to crawl out of one that was in-between floors. Are you now terrified of elevators? More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/Ca59Bce5fkg/despite-two-deaths-in-two-weeks-elevators-are-still-safer-than-stairs

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Video: Family in crisis gets Christmas to remember

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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/45696285#45696285

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Blood test might predict how well a depressed patient responds to antidepressants

Public release date: 15-Dec-2011
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Contact: Jim Ritter
jritter@lumc.edu
708-216-2445
Loyola University Health System

MAYWOOD, Ill. -- Loyola University Medical Center researchers are reporting what could become the first reliable method to predict whether an antidepressant will work on a depressed patient.

The method would involve a blood test for a protein called vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). A Loyola study found that among depressed patients who had higher than normal blood levels of VEGF, more than 85 percent experienced partial or complete relief from depression after taking escitalopram (brand name Lexapro). By comparison, fewer than 10 percent of depressed patients who had low levels of VEGF responded to the drug.

"This would be the first time we would have a predictor for how well a patient would respond to an antidepressant," said Angelos Halaris, MD, PhD, first author of the study. Halaris presented results during the 2011 annual meeting of the Society of Biological Psychiatry and the 4th Annual Illinois Brain, Behavior and Immunity Meeting.

About 60 percent of depressed patients do not respond fully to the first prescribed medication. Consequently, doctors often must prescribe a different medication again and again before finding one that works. "It would greatly benefit our patients if we could predict ahead of time whether a given medication would be effective for a certain patient," Halaris said.

The Loyola study involved 35 patients who took escitalopram for major depressive disorder. Escitalopram belongs to a class of antidepressants called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Other common SSRIs are Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft.

Scientists aren't certain why SSRIs work in some patients but not in others. One possible mechanism is that SSRIs help restore a chemical balance in the brain. Some scientists recently have proposed a second possible mechanism, called neurogenesis -- SSRIs help to regenerate brain cells in specific parts of the brain that have atrophied in depressed patients.

The Loyola study supports the neurogenesis theory. It appears that escitalopram, the SSRI used in the Loyola study, jump-starts brain cells that have become inactive. This regeneration is fueled by VEGF. In the brain, VEGF stimulates the growth of blood vessels and works in other ways to keep brain cells healthy and active.

It appears that in patients with higher levels of VEGF, there was more regeneration, helping to reduce depression. Conversely, in patients with lower VEGF levels, there was less regeneration of brain cells and less relief from depression.

If the finding is confirmed by further studies, it could lead to a blood test that would help physicians tailor treatment. If, for example, a patient had low levels of VEGF, the physician might skip SSRIs and try alternative classes of antidepressants, such as bupropion, or alternative therapies, such as psychotherapy or Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMG). These treatments are all available at Loyola University Medical Center.

Currently, a VEGF blood test would be quite expensive if it were performed for a patient. But the cost likely would come down significantly if a VEGF test were to become widely used, Halaris said.

###

Halaris is a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and medical director of Adult Psychiatry at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. Other co-authors are Edwin Meresh, MD, MPH; Steven Kimmons, SJ, PhD; James Sinacore, PhD; Jawed Fareed, PhD; and Debra Hoppensteadt, PhD, all at Loyola; and Nathan Ontrop, MD, who was a medical student at Loyola at the time of the study.

---

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?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 15-Dec-2011
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jim Ritter
jritter@lumc.edu
708-216-2445
Loyola University Health System

MAYWOOD, Ill. -- Loyola University Medical Center researchers are reporting what could become the first reliable method to predict whether an antidepressant will work on a depressed patient.

The method would involve a blood test for a protein called vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). A Loyola study found that among depressed patients who had higher than normal blood levels of VEGF, more than 85 percent experienced partial or complete relief from depression after taking escitalopram (brand name Lexapro). By comparison, fewer than 10 percent of depressed patients who had low levels of VEGF responded to the drug.

"This would be the first time we would have a predictor for how well a patient would respond to an antidepressant," said Angelos Halaris, MD, PhD, first author of the study. Halaris presented results during the 2011 annual meeting of the Society of Biological Psychiatry and the 4th Annual Illinois Brain, Behavior and Immunity Meeting.

About 60 percent of depressed patients do not respond fully to the first prescribed medication. Consequently, doctors often must prescribe a different medication again and again before finding one that works. "It would greatly benefit our patients if we could predict ahead of time whether a given medication would be effective for a certain patient," Halaris said.

The Loyola study involved 35 patients who took escitalopram for major depressive disorder. Escitalopram belongs to a class of antidepressants called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Other common SSRIs are Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft.

Scientists aren't certain why SSRIs work in some patients but not in others. One possible mechanism is that SSRIs help restore a chemical balance in the brain. Some scientists recently have proposed a second possible mechanism, called neurogenesis -- SSRIs help to regenerate brain cells in specific parts of the brain that have atrophied in depressed patients.

The Loyola study supports the neurogenesis theory. It appears that escitalopram, the SSRI used in the Loyola study, jump-starts brain cells that have become inactive. This regeneration is fueled by VEGF. In the brain, VEGF stimulates the growth of blood vessels and works in other ways to keep brain cells healthy and active.

It appears that in patients with higher levels of VEGF, there was more regeneration, helping to reduce depression. Conversely, in patients with lower VEGF levels, there was less regeneration of brain cells and less relief from depression.

If the finding is confirmed by further studies, it could lead to a blood test that would help physicians tailor treatment. If, for example, a patient had low levels of VEGF, the physician might skip SSRIs and try alternative classes of antidepressants, such as bupropion, or alternative therapies, such as psychotherapy or Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMG). These treatments are all available at Loyola University Medical Center.

Currently, a VEGF blood test would be quite expensive if it were performed for a patient. But the cost likely would come down significantly if a VEGF test were to become widely used, Halaris said.

###

Halaris is a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and medical director of Adult Psychiatry at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. Other co-authors are Edwin Meresh, MD, MPH; Steven Kimmons, SJ, PhD; James Sinacore, PhD; Jawed Fareed, PhD; and Debra Hoppensteadt, PhD, all at Loyola; and Nathan Ontrop, MD, who was a medical student at Loyola at the time of the study.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-12/luhs-btm121511.php

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U.S. Nuclear Agency Suffers Leadership Meltdown

Enlarge Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Chairman Gregory Jaczko (center) speaks Wednesday during a meeting of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. His fellow commissioners, from bottom left: Kristine Svinicki, William Magwood IV and William Ostendorff.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Chairman Gregory Jaczko (center) speaks Wednesday during a meeting of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. His fellow commissioners, from bottom left: Kristine Svinicki, William Magwood IV and William Ostendorff.

The government organization charged with keeping nuclear power safe is having a meltdown. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission consists of five commissioners who direct the work of hundreds of nuclear engineers and other experts. They write the rules for how nuclear reactors operate.

Now four of those commissioners say the chairman of the NRC is a bully who's destroying their ability to do their job.

The feud at the NRC is long-standing, but it boiled over last week when a letter the four commissioners wrote to the White House was made public. In no uncertain terms, they said they simply can't stand NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko.

At a meeting of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Wednesday, all five sat down together in a House hearing room and listed their grievances:

"The chairman's continued outbursts of abusive rage directed at subordinates within the agency staff ? all members of the commission, including me, have been on the receiving end of this conduct," said Kristine Svinicki, one of the NRC commissioners.

"I'm most concerned that the chairman has made a regular practice of interfering with the ability of the commission to obtain information from the NRC staff," said Commissioner William Magwood. He also said that Jaczko once berated three female staff members to the point of tears.

And Commissioner William Ostendorff had this to say about Jaczko: "It's about bullying and intimidating behavior towards NRC career staff that should not and cannot be tolerated."

While they stopped short of calling for Jaczko's resignation, the commissioners said they feared for NRC's ability to function.

Congressional members of the committee were more blunt. Republican Jason Chaffetz of Utah read the charges the commissioners made in their letter to the White House and demanded answers from Jaczko:

Chaffetz: "True or false: Ignored the will of the majority of the commission contrary to the statutory functions of the commission."
Jaczko: "I have never ignored the will of the majority in an area that is a commission policy."
Chaffetz: "I'll take that as a false. True or false: Interacted with us, his fellow commissioners, with such intemperance and disrespect that the commission no longer functions as effectively as it should."
Jaczko: "Well, I'm a very passionate person about safety."

Jaczko's response wasn't enough for Chaffetz.

"We've got people who are suffering under this gentleman right here," Chaffetz said. "He is not living up to the duties. I don't believe you. I think the safety and security of this nation is too important. I think you should resign."

However, when the commissioners were asked whether, in fact, the turmoil at NRC had compromised safety at power plants, they said no.

And committee member John Tierney, a Massachusetts Democrat, noted that the four commissioners might share some blame. Jaczko's supporters in Congress ? and he has many, having worked there before he went to the NRC ? have accused the other commissioners of dragging their feet in releasing NRC's report on the Fukushima accident and what it meant for U.S. reactors:

Jaczko: "I think we have had some challenges with ..."
Tierney: "Did you feel that there was an attempt to slow down the release of that report on Fukushima?"
Jaczko: "There definitely was an attempt to prevent the release of the report."
Tierney: "It seems we've got a problem with everybody here."

Jaczko denied the accusations, except to say that he can be outspoken about safety. But advocates of nuclear power have targeted Jaczko because he helped deep-six the idea of putting a nuclear waste dump in Nevada, called Yucca Mountain.

A view from the outside of the Washington hothouse comes from Peter Bradford, who spent five years as an NRC commissioner. He says this isn't just about Republicans vs. Democrats.

"There is a sort of nuclear party that transcends Republican and Democratic labels," Bradford says. "The four signers of the letter are all very much in the nuclear party, and the chairman is not."

When asked at Wednesday's hearing if they could patch this up, all four commissioners said maybe. And in fact, according to the NRC website, the commission is described as a "collegial body" that regulates nuclear safety. On Thursday, a Senate Committee will query the witnesses again.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/12/14/143718170/a-leadership-meltdown-strickens-u-s-nuclear-agency?ft=1&f=1007

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RIM reports Q3 2011 earnings: $5.2b revenue, $265m net income and 14.1 million handsets shipped

News out of Waterloo isn't all bad today, as Research in Motion has revealed its financial results for the third quarter of 2011. While the company previously had to scale back its earlier earnings projections of $5.6 billion in the quarter, it's apparent the firm came close to meeting that mark. After close of the markets today, RIM reported $5.2 billion in revenue with $265 million in net income and 14.1 million handsets shipped. The company was only able to eke out 150,000 PlayBook tablets during this time frame, however, which no doubt contributed to these reduced numbers. Unfortunately, the market hasn't taken so kindly to the revelation, as RIM's stock has fallen seven-percent in after hours trading. In a small bit of positive news, the firm reports that its subscriber count is up 35-percent year-over-year, which now totals 75 million subscribers.

Looking forward, the company expects to bring in between $4.6 and $4.9 billion in revenue for the next quarter, where it hopes to ship between 11 and 12 million units. Co-CEO Jim Balsillie referred to the last few quarters as among the most trying in the company's history, and promised to re-evaluate RIM's product portfolio, R&D strategy and to "leave no stone unturned" as it seeks to regain prominence in the smartphone world. Meanwhile, co-CEO Mike Lazaridis reaffirmed the commitment to the PlayBook OS 2.0, which remains on track for a February launch. As for the QNX-based BlackBerry 10 smartphones that we've been looking forward to, Lazaridis said to not expect anything until late 2012. Apparently, its availability will be hampered by a critical chipset supply that's not expected to become available until mid-next year. In other words, unless consumers develop a love for BlackBerry 7 OS real quick, 2012 may sadly be another ugly year for the folks in Waterloo.

RIM reports Q3 2011 earnings: $5.2b revenue, $265m net income and 14.1 million handsets shipped originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/zLCiBsoiNDw/

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Unexpected signaling role for foul-smelling hydrogen sulfide in cell response to protein misfolding

Unexpected signaling role for foul-smelling hydrogen sulfide in cell response to protein misfolding

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Something rotten never smelled so sweet.

This is what members of a team of scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) are telling one another as they discuss a new finding they did not expect to make. They have discovered that hydrogen sulfide (H2S) ? the flammable, highly toxic gas that we usually associate with the smell of rotten eggs in landfills and sewers ? plays an important role in the regulation of a signaling pathway implicated in biological malfunctions linked to Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, among others.

"H2S comes under the category of things that people think of as toxic and nasty, but which can actually be harnessed to serve a useful purpose," says CSHL Professor Nicholas K. Tonks, FRS, who led the research team. In fact, H2S, which is produced naturally in small quantities in various tissues, is a gasotransmitter, one of a family of gaseous signaling molecules that includes nitrous oxide (NO) and carbon monoxide (CO). Unlike growth factors, cytokines and hormones that act through receptors in the cell membrane, these gasotransmitters are able to permeate membranes and enter freely the interior of living cells.

Tonks and colleagues were intrigued by reports in the scientific literature suggesting that H2S was produced as part of the cell's response to what is called ER stress. The ER is the cellular organ called the endoplasmic reticulum. It is an extensive network of membranes spread throughout the cytosol, which is involved in protein synthesis and processing.

When the cell is placed under stress, specifically when newly formed proteins are being manufactured in the ER so rapidly that they do not fold properly, rendering them non-functional, the cell must make a decision either to slow down protein production to match its physiological requirements in the hope that proteins will begin to fold properly or, if that is not sufficient, to commit a form of suicide called apoptosis.

The surprise in the research performed by Tonks' team ? which is published online today in Science Signaling ? is that H2S plays a critical role in the exquisitely tuned signaling pathway through which cells make this fateful determination.

Navasona Krishnan, a postdoctoral fellow, performed an experiment to determine whether H2S could covalently modify an enzyme called PTP1B. Discovered by Tonks in 1988, PTP1B is a protein tyrosine phosphatase, or PTP ? an enzyme that specifically removes phosphate groups from amino acid residues called tyrosines. This function is critical in regulating cellular signaling in normal and disease conditions.

H2S did indeed modify PTP1B, specifically on a cysteine amino acid residue in the enzyme's active site, which inactivated the enzyme. A number of subsequent experiments performed in collaboration with CSHL Professor Darryl Pappin, who directs the proteomics Shared Resource at the Laboratory, identified this modification and revealed that it occurred in vitro and in vivo.

Because PTP1B is itself a signaling pathway regulator, this inactivation was immediately understood to be important and potentially useful. Further experimentation revealed that the H2S-induced modification to PTP1B prevented this phosphatase from inactivating an enzyme called PERK, which is a sensor of the presence of unfolded proteins and a critical regulator of the cell's response to ER stress.

The completed puzzle is as follows: small amounts of hydrogen sulfide are produced when the cell senses ER stress; PTP1B undergoes a unique covalent modification at its active site in response to the H2S that is produced, which in turn prevents the phosphatase from dephosphorylating PERK thereby allowing the latter protein to play its specific regulatory role in response to the stress. Importantly, the process is fully reversible, such that this previously undiscovered pathway can act like a switch, to help fine-tune a response to stress that potentially can lead to cell death.

"We hypothesize that the controlled production of H2S could have a profound impact on how this part of the ER stress pathway ? the PERK 'arm' ? is regulated. When proteins are misfolded in response to cellular stress, the inactivation and reactivation of PTP1B appears to be one means by which the cell regulates its protein synthesis machinery and can exert tight control over whether it lives or dies, ," says Tonks.

The linkage of such regulation with human disease is a subject that bears further exploration. ER stress is causally related to the protein-folding-related pathologies seen in such illnesses as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, Tonks says. "What we are trying to do is understand the structure of PTP1B in the presence and absence of its modification by H2S ? to define this modification in molecular detail and understand its importance to the control of this major signaling enzyme in normal and disease states."

###

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory: http://www.cshl.org

Thanks to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/115957/Unexpected_signaling_role_for_foul_smelling_hydrogen_sulfide_in_cell_response_to_protein_misfolding

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Planning Afghanistan's future beyond 2014 (AP)

BERLIN ? A global conference in Germany to discuss Afghanistan's future beyond 2014 comes as the country faces political instability, an enduring Taliban-led insurgency and possible financial collapse following the planned drawdown of international troops and foreign aid.

About 100 countries and international organizations will be represented at the Monday gathering, with some 60 foreign ministers in attendance, among them U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

But one of the most important countries for Afghanistan's future, its eastern nuclear-armed neighbor Pakistan, said it will boycott the conference to protest last month's NATO air assault carried out from Afghan territory that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

Pakistan is seen as a crucial player in the region because of its links and influence on insurgent groups that are battling Afghan government and foreign troops and that sometimes use Pakistan as a base for their operations.

The Bonn conference is expected to address the transfer of security responsibility from international forces to Afghan security forces over the next three years, long-term prospects for international aid and a possible political settlement with the Taliban.

"Our objective is a peaceful Afghanistan that will never again become a safe haven for international terrorism," German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said.

The U.S. had once hoped to use the Bonn gathering to announce news about the prospect for peace talks with the Taliban, but neither an Afghan nor a U.S. outreach effort has borne fruit.

The reconciliation efforts suffered a major setback after the September assassination of former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani, who was leading the Afghan government's effort to broker peace with the insurgents.

But Washington and other partners are still trying to arrange an interim step toward talks ? the opening of a Taliban diplomatic office where its representatives could conduct international business without fear of being arrested or killed. Such a deal would be a minor accomplishment for the Bonn gathering.

"Right now we don't know their address. We don't have a door," to knock on, said Afghanistan's ambassador to the U.S., Eklil Hakimi.

The final declaration of the Bonn conference is expected to outline broad principles and red lines for the political reconciliation with the Taliban, a project that several leading participants in the conference increasingly predict will outlast the NATO timeline for withdrawal in 2014.

The Bonn conference also seeks to agree on a set of "mutual binding commitments" under which Afghanistan would promise reforms and policy goals such as good governance, with donors and international organizations pledging long-term assistance in return to ensure the country's viability beyond 2014, a senior German diplomat said.

"It's about not repeating the mistakes of 1989, when the Soviet troops left and the West also forgot about Afghanistan," he said, referring to the bitter civil war that unfolded soon after the sudden withdrawal that was followed by the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will formally open the one-day conference of about 1,000 delegates. Afghanistan's western neighbor Iran also joins the conference, represented by Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi.

Afghan civil society groups are meeting on the sidelines, and some 5,000 protesters were out in Bonn's streets Saturday, urging an end to the Afghan war.

While the conference is nominally run by the Afghans and organized by Germany, the United States is the key participant because it's the country that has by far invested the most blood and treasure in Afghanistan since 2001.

The NATO coalition of 49 countries currently has 130,000 troops in the country, including about 72,000 Americans. The U.S. military footprint in Afghanistan, however, totals more than 101,600 because other American forces operate under a separate command. The vast majority are set to withdraw from Afghanistan over the next three years, leaving only a small force focused on training and counterterrorism missions beginning in 2015.

President Barack Obama announced this summer that 10,000 U.S. troops will come home by the end of the year. Another 23,000 will be pulled out by the end of September 2012. Those troops represent the 33,000 reinforcements that Obama sent in to help reverse the Taliban's momentum, leaving a force of about 68,000 U.S. forces, which will gradually shrink as the deadline for withdrawal approaches.

That deadline was set a year ago, by agreement between NATO and Afghanistan. There is little chance it will be extended.

The U.S. had also hoped to use this opportunity to unveil an agreement with the Afghan government establishing operating rules for the small number of remaining U.S. forces and other issues after international forces withdraw. But talks on the deal have bogged down over the past several months.

Although the Bonn gathering is not a donors' conference where specific pledges are expected, the U.S. is seeking agreement among other nations that they will not rush to the exits and commit to long-term financial assistance to avoid seeing Afghanistan slip back into chaos.

The international troops' withdrawal could indeed cause the Afghan economy to collapse, the World Bank warned last month, stressing that the war-ravaged nation will need billions of dollars in aid for another decade or more.

Afghanistan this year received $15.7 billion in aid, representing more than 90 percent of its public spending, it said.

In a report published ahead of the conference, the Afghan government said that despite expected revenue increases from a growing mining industry, customs and taxes, foreign donors will have to finance about half of the country's economic output in 2015, equivalent to aid worth $10 billion.

Despite the international troops' presence for more than a decade, Afghanistan still ranks among the world's poorest and most corrupt nations.

Without foreign help, Afghanistan won't be able to pay for basic services needed by its security forces which are slated to increase to 352,000 personnel by the end of 2014. Those expenses will have grown to twice the size of revenues and will result in a shortfall of about $7.8 billion annually, or about 25 percent of the country's gross domestic product in 2021.

"There will be a gap from when international forces withdraw, and we want to see a plan," for filling it, Hakimi said.

Although the United States has spent $444 billion in Afghanistan since it invaded the country in late 2001 after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and plans to spend $101 billion in fiscal 2011, most of that money "does not reach Afghanistan because it primarily funds salaries of international soldiers, purchases of military hardware, and the like," the World Bank said.

Despite improvements to security in Afghanistan, militants operating from safe havens in Pakistan and chronic problems with the Kabul government pose significant risks to a "durable, stable Afghanistan," according to a recent Pentagon progress report on the country.

___

Deb Riechmann in Kabul contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111204/ap_on_re_eu/afghanistan_conference

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