Researchers found a prospective way to regenerate nerves by stimulating a gene and they hope their work in worms may some day help people with spinal cord injuries. The gene is part of a network or pathway of 4 genes that appear to be essential for nerve repair. In humans, nerve fibers in the arms and legs can regenerate, but in the brain and spinal cord, they do not. Many teams are working to understand why. They found a gene called dlk-1 was essential to the process at every stage of the worm's life. When they used genetic engineering to block this gene network, the worms were unable to repair nerve damage. But when they stimulated the gene making it more active than normal worms with damaged nerves recovered much more quickly.Curiously, this network of genes is not used by the nervous system during normal development in the embryo, but it is essential for nerve repair after birth. Many teams have been working on finding ways to block proteins that inhibit nerve repair in adults. Last year, a team at Children's Hospital Boston reported in the journal Science they were able to stimulate nerve regeneration in mice with damaged optic nerves by turning off proteins that keep adult nerve cells from growing. A separate team from the biotechnology firm Genentech Inc was able to stimulate nerve regeneration by blocking chemical signals that create a hostile environment for nerve repair.
Actress Eva Mendes was crowned as the most desirable woman of 2009 in a online poll by by men's magazine AskMen.com that organisers swear is not all about looks but overall qualities.
Mendes, 34 topped the online magazine's 9th annual list of "Top 99 Most Desirable Women" after AskMen.com readers cast more than 10 million votes to rank the women with the best qualities for the ideal girl friend or wife.
She took the top slot from actress Katherine Heigl after placing fourth last year while actress Megan Fox ranked second and Victoria's Secret model Marisa Miller came in third place.
James Bassil, editor-in-chief of AskMen.com, said the list was a "pulse-check" of the women that readers were not only following but also perceived as more than just a pretty face.
"Obviously good looks are one quality but intelligence, ambition and humor also count," Bassil told Reuters.
"There are women in their mid to late 30s on this list who may be old by industry standards but you see more mature women on this list. The younger women getting a lot of play on gossip sites haven't had the time to accumulate the achievements that a lot of these women have."
Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and Nicole Richie were not on the list while Britney Spears, in the midst of staging a comeback, was back after dropping off the list for a couple of years. She was ranked at No. 90.
The list by AskMen.com, a unit of News Corp's NSWa.N Fox Interactive Media, included perennial favorites like Beyonce at No. 50 & Jessica Simpson at 70 but also some newcomers such as Australian actress Isla Fisher (31) and singer Katy Perry (38).
French singer Carla Bruni, the wife of French president Nicolas Sarkozy, made her debut on the list in 76th place while comedian Tina Fey, who was widely praised for her Sarah Palin impression this past election season, made the list at No. 97.
Bassil said readers could have voted for the U.S.'s new First Lady Michelle Obama or Republican vice-presidential contender Sarah Palin but they did not garner enough support to make the list with the poll largely conducted before the U.S. election.
Brooke Burke, a former model-turned-TV personality who won the seventh season of TV show "Dancing with the Stars," rose to No. 14 in the list from No. 32 last year.
Burke, 37, who has four children, said it was a compliment to be included and to have jumped a few slots.
"It is great to get that attention. I do think it is more of an intelligence vote and people are looking at who they would like to have as an ideal mate and not just their average pinup," Burke told Reuters. Rounding out the top 10, in the following order, were:
4. Keeley Hazell 5. Anne Hathaway 6. Alessandra Ambrosio 7. Scarlett Johansson 8. Rihanna 9. Kristen Bell 10. Kate Beckinsale
Lexapro may ease anxiety in older adultsUS researchers said, the popular antidepressant Lexapro showed promise at easing anxiety symptoms in older adults, but the effect was "modest" & would need to be studied further. They said antidepressants like Lexapro, made by Forest Laboratories Inc and known generically as escitalopram, may be useful as a new treatment option for older adults with generalized anxiety disorder, a disabling condition that can also cause muscle tension, insomnia and fatigue.
Dr. Eric Lenze of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, whose study appears in the Journal of the American Medical Association, said in a statement that "We found improvements not only in anxiety and level of worry but also in functioning." He also said many people who took the drug were better able to carry out their daily activities. But for most people, he said, the drug alone is likely not enough.
Lenze's team did uncover an unexpected benefit: the drug helped people get their blood pressure under control.
While the study looked only at Lexapro, Lenze thinks the benefits would extend to all antidepressants in the class, which are known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs. Older patients with anxiety typically get no treatment or are given sedatives such as Valium or Xanax. And while these drugs can relieve anxiety, they can also impair thinking ability and can even lead to falls.
In the study, Lenze and colleagues evaluated 177 people aged 60 or older with generalized anxiety disorder who got either Lexapro or a dummy pill for 12 weeks.
They found 69% of patients got better, compared with 51% of those whose symptoms improved simply by taking a placebo. Those who took the drug showed greater improvement in both anxiety symptoms and in social functioning. In a more conservative analysis that included people who had dropped out of the study, the drug showed no benefit over the placebo arm. Side effects in the drug arm included fatigue, insomnia and urinary symptoms.
Lenze is now studying the long-term effects of treatment and is also studying the drug in combination with a goal-oriented type of talk therapy called cognitive behavioral therapy.
South Korean scientists found a new way to remove dangerous heavy metals like lead from blood by using specially designed magnetic receptors. The receptors bind strongly to lead ions and can be easily removed, along with their lead cargo, using magnetsl.
Detoxification could theoretically work like hemodialysis: the blood is diverted out of the body and into a special chamber containing the biocompatible magnetic particles. By using magnetic fields, the charged magnetic particles could be fished out. The purified blood is then reintroduced to the patient.
Lead is a dangerous heavy metal and is especially toxic to children. Safe and effective detoxification processes are especially important.
The South Korean team, lead by Jong Hwa Jung at the Gyeongsang National university's department of chemistry, managed to remove 96% of lead ions from blood samples using these magnetic particles.
Exposure to lead in developed countries is mostly a result of occupational hazards, from lead used in paint and gasoline. Outside of occupational hazards, children sometimes fall victim to lead poisoning. A child who swallows large amounts of lead may develop anemia, muscle weakness and brain damage. Where poisoning occurs, it is usually gradual, with small amounts of the metal accumulating over a long period of time.
worm's life. When they used genetic engineering to block this gene network, the worms were unable to repair nerve damage. But when they stimulated the gene making it more active than normal worms with damaged nerves recovered much more quickly.Curiously, this network of genes is not used by the nervous system during normal development in the embryo, but it is essential for nerve repair after birth. Many teams have been working on finding ways to block proteins that inhibit nerve repair in adults.
