UCLA addresses 'lost in translation' issues in Chinese medicine

Millions of people in the West today utilize traditional Chinese medicine, including acupuncture, herbs, massage and nutritional therapies. Yet only a few U.S. schools that teach Chinese medicine require Chinese-language training and only a handful of Chinese medical texts have so far been translated into English.
Given the complexity of the language and concepts in these texts, there is a need for accurate, high-quality translations, say researchers at UCLA's Center for East–West Medicine. To that end, the center has published a document that includes a detailed discussion of the issues involved in Chinese medical translation, which is designed to help students, educators, practitioners, researchers, publishers and translators evaluate and digest Chinese medical texts with greater sensitivity and comprehension.
"This publication aims to raise awareness among the many stakeholders involved with the translation of Chinese medicine," said principal investigator and study author Dr. Ka-Kit Hui, founder and director of the UCLA center.
The 15-page document, "Considerations in the Translation of Chinese Medicine" was developed and written by a UCLA team that included a doctor, an anthropologist, a China scholar and a translator. It appears in the current online edition of the Journal of Integrative Medicine.
Authors Sonya Pritzker, a licensed Chinese medicine practitioner and anthropologist, and Hanmo Zhang, a China scholar, hope the publication will promote communication in the field and play a role in the development of thorough, accurate translations.
The document highlights several important topics in the translation of Chinese medical texts, including the history of Chinese medical translations, which individuals make ideal translators, and other translation-specific issues, such as the delicate balance of focusing translations on the source-document language while considering the language it will be translated into.
It also addresses issues of technical terminology, period-specific language and style, and historical and cultural perspective. For example, depending on historical circumstances and language use, some translations may be geared toward a Western scientific audience or, alternately, it may take a more natural and spiritual tone. The authors note that it is sometimes helpful to include dual translations, such as "windfire eye/acute conjunctivitis," in order to facilitate a link between traditional Chinese medical terms and biomedical diagnoses.
The final section of the document calls for further discussion and action, specifically in the development of international collaborative efforts geared toward the creation of more rigorous guidelines for the translation of Chinese medicine texts.
"Considerations in the Translation of Chinese Medicine," was inspired by the late renowned translator and scholar Michael Heim, a professor in the UCLA departments of comparative literature and Slavic studies. A master of 12 languages, he is best known for his translation into English of Czech author Milan Kundera's "The Unbearable Lightness of Being." The new UCLA document is dedicated to him.
The document, the authors say, was influenced in large part by the American Council of Learned Societies' "Guidelines for the Translation of Social Science Texts," which are intended to promote communications in the social sciences across language boundaries. It was also influenced by Pritzker's longstanding anthropological study of translation in Chinese medicine, which is detailed in her new book, "Living Translation: Language and the Search for Resonance in U.S. Chinese Medicine," recently published by Berghahn Books.
Source:Journal of Integrative Medicine.

DBT to begin research on HPV prevention & control, calls for proposals from biotech cos

Even as the academia and industries worldwide are actively involved in finding a solution to the growing Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) infection in terms of new screening/diagnostic tests, vaccines and therapeutic options, the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) will soon begin research on HPV prevention and control. The DBT’s initiative in this regard is significant as HPV infection is the leading cause of cervical cancer in the world. India bears 30 per cent of the burden of cervical cancer worldwide. The lack of awareness in rural areas and the lifestyle of women in urban areas worsen the situation of cervical cancer in the country. Low-cost, e?ective solutions are required for the prevention and treatment of HPV infections.

The DBT will conduct this research programme under its Biotechnology Industry Partnership Programme (BIPP). The DBT has invited proposals from eligible biotech companies to conduct research on HPV prevention and control.

Some of the indicative priority areas for submitting proposals include simple, sensitive, accurate and affordable screening tests (standard self-screening methods that are independent of individual interpretation); simple, sensitive, specific and acceptable diagnostic tests (cost effective and applicable to low resource settings); vaccines covering additional number of HPV types; process optimization for cost effective vaccine production; development of vaccines with specified duration of protection; and development of new therapeutic options including products of natural origin.

A single or consortia of Indian companies small, medium or large having in-house R&D units, alone or in collaboration with a partner from another company, institute or organisation are eligible to participate in the research programme. The main industry applicant should have DSIR recognised in-house R&D unit; alternatively, the applicant should be incubated at an incubation centre/biotech park which has a valid SIRO/DSIR certificate.

The last date for submission of proposals under this regular call is July 31, 2014. BIPP is a government 
partnership programme with industry for support on a cost sharing basis targeted at development of novel and high risk futuristic technologies mainly for viability gap funding and enhancing existing R&D capacities of start-ups and SMEs in key areas of national importance and public good.

DBT is operating this scheme through BIRAC, a not-for-profit public sector undertaking set up by DBT to promote and nurture innovation research in biotech enterprises specially start-ups and SMEs. Major thrust of the programme is towards funding technologies which address a major national problem and/or involves high level of innovation.
Source:Pharmabiz

‘Designer Vagina' Surgery a New Trend Among Women

Nearly 1 in 5 women are now considering labiaplasty, a 'designer vagina' surgery, that involves reducing labia size so they do not protrude, finds a new Australian research.

 

The study also found women exposed to images of female genitalia are more likely to get tempted to consider the procedure. 

Australian researchers from the school of psychology at Flinders University conducted a survey among 351 women aged 18-69 of whom 17% expressed willingness to undergo labiaplasty. 

Nearly 13% of the survey participants had been negatively commented upon for their genital appearance by their romantic partners and 19% of them had had a discussion about genital appearance with their friends. 

Gemma Sharp, the study author, said: "Our study is the first to systematically examine the role of the media, romantic partners and friends on women's consideration of labiaplasty." 

She added, "Our findings suggest a worrying trend of women becoming dissatisfied with the appearance of their genitals. We think that if women and their partners were made aware of the large variation in normal genital appearance this might help to alleviate some of their concerns about their own genitals." 

The study revealed exposure to a variety of media sources such as television, internet, advertising and pornography that displayed images of female genitalia induced a desire in women to consider labiaplasty. 

Women who received negative comments from their romantic partners and those who discussed genital appearance with their friends also expressed interest in undergoing the cosmetic genital surgery. 

Dr David Veale, consultant psychiatrist at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and The Priory Hospital North London, said, "This study suggests that the media, romantic partners and friends are influential in shaping women's perceptions of their own genital appearance and decisions to undergo labiaplasty." 

It is possible that women (and their partners) don't realize women in porn may have had a surgical modification of their labia, observed Dr. Veale. Consequently, women with perfectly normal labia may think they look abnormal compared to women who have modified labia, he added. 

Dr.Veale is convening the genital surgery symposium at the Appearance Matters conference which will also feature research on visible difference, cosmetic surgery, body image, education, ethics, media, weight and provision of care. 
 Source:

Sensitive Management of Effects of Conflict of Women's Reproductive Health Required

Sensitivity and awareness of the unique challenges of women's reproductive health needs in times of conflict is required among clinicians, suggests a new review published today (4 July) in The Obstetrician & Gynaecologist (TOG).
 

Approximately 1.5 billion people are currently living in countries affected by conflict, fragility or large-scale violence. Women and children account for approximately 75% of those displaced by conflict and roughly 20% of those displaced are women of reproductive age and one in five will be pregnant. 

This new review looks at how conflict can negatively impact all aspects of reproductive health, directly through damage to services, gender-based violence and forced displacement of populations and indirectly through reductions in the availability of basic healthcare. 

The review states that gender-based violence, sexually transmitted infections (including HIV), and maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity all flourish in times of conflict. Furthermore, the loss of access to adequate family planning and basic health services also increases reliance on traditional or harmful methods, including unsafe termination of pregnancy. 

Looking at maternal mortality specifically, high rates are frequently encountered in conflict-affected populations; eight out of the ten countries with the highest maternal mortality ratios have experienced current or recent conflict. Moreover, the review notes that approximately 15% of displaced pregnant women will encounter a potentially life-threatening complication, such as haemorrhage, sepsis, obstructed labour or eclampsia. 

The authors of the review therefore emphasise the importance of appropriate and timely recognition of, and response to, obstetric emergencies as the key to saving lives. However, in the context of conflict and displacement, services are often scarce, resulting in delays in reaching the care required. Furthermore, the poor security conditions, exodus of healthcare providers, lack of transport and loss of facilities result in heightened vulnerability and reduced access to life-saving interventions. 

Clinicians in the UK may treat women migrating from conflict affected areas, and should therefore be sensitive to the reproductive health challenges faced by these women, the review states. The authors conclude by saying that awareness and recognition by medical staff to these issues may be beneficial to the women's care and aid them in accessing the appropriate services. 

Dr Benjamin Black, Specialist Trainee in Obstetrics and Gynaecology currently working with Medecins Sans Frontieres in Sierra Leone, and lead-author of the review said: 

"In an increasingly globalized world a working knowledge of reproductive health during conflict allows clinicians to approach subjects sensitively with women, building a relationship of trust and understanding, allowing women to gain access to services they need. 

"Recognition and response to the reproductive health needs of women during humanitarian emergencies has advanced. However, much more needs to be done around the time of the crisis and post-crisis, and more awareness is needed of these issues." 

Jason Waugh, TOG Editor-in-Chief added: 

"For twenty years, reproductive health has been formally recognized as a human right and this review highlights the importance of providing adequate services in conflict and displacement settings. 

"Clinicians working in the UK will come across women who have experienced conflict zones who may have certain health needs as a result. Therefore, an understanding of the difficulties they may have faced will enhance the care given."

 Source:TOG 

Stem Cells Have the Potential to Develop into Any Cell Type

Around the world, researchers have turned to stem cells, which have the potential to develop into any cell type in the body, for potential regenerative and disease therapeutics.

Now, for the first time, researchers at the Salk Institute, with collaborators from Oregon Health & Science University and the University of California, San Diego, have shown that stem cells created using two different methods are far from identical. The finding could lead to improved avenues for developing stem cell therapies as well as a better understanding of the basic biology of stem cells. 

The researchers discovered that stem cells created by moving genetic material from a skin cell into an empty egg cell-rather than coaxing adult cells back to their embryonic state by artificially turning on a small number of genes-more closely resemble human embryonic stem cells, which are considered the gold standard in the field. 

"These cells created using eggs' cytoplasm have fewer reprogramming issues, fewer alterations in gene expression levels and are closer to real embryonic stem cells," says co-senior author Joseph R. Ecker, professor and director of Salk's Genomic Analysis Laboratory and co-director of the Center of Excellence for Stem Cell Genomics. The results of the study were published today in Nature. 

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are directly pulled from unused embryos discarded from in-vitro fertilization, but ethical and logistical quandaries have restricted their access. In the United States, federal funds have limited the use of hESCs so researchers have turned to other methods to create stem cells. Most commonly, scientists create induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells by starting with adult cells (often from the skin) and adding a mixture of genes that, when expressed, regress the cells to a pluripotent stem-cell state. Researchers can then coax the new stem cells to develop into cells that resemble those in the brain or in the heart, giving scientists a valuable model for studying human disease in the lab. 

Over the past year, a team at OHSU built upon a technique called somatic cell nuclear transfer (the same that is used for cloning an organism, such as Dolly the sheep) to transplant the DNA-containing nucleus of a skin cell into an empty human egg, which then naturally matures into a group of stem cells. 

Ecker, holder of the Salk International Council Chair in Genetics, teamed up with Shoukhrat Mitalipov, developer of the new technique and director of the Center for Embryonic Cell and Gene Therapy at OHSU, and UCSD assistant professor Louise Laurent to carry out the first direct comparison of the two approaches. The scientists created four lines of nuclear transfer stem cells all using eggs from a single donor, along with seven lines of iPS cells and two lines of the gold standard hESCs. All cell lines were shown to be able to develop into multiple cell types and had nearly identical DNA content contained within them. 

But when they looked closer at the cells, the researchers spotted some differences: the patterns of methylation-chemical flags that are added to genes to control their expression-varied between the cell lines. This indicates a difference in how and when genes, despite having identical sequences, might be expressed. The methylation of nuclear transfer cells more closely resembled hESCs than the iPS cells did. And when the investigators looked at patterns of actual gene expression-by measuring the levels of particular RNA strands produced by each cell-the differences continued. Once again, nuclear transfer cells had RNA levels closer to embryonic cells, making them more accurate for basic research and therapeutic studies. 

"Both the DNA methylation and gene expression data show that nuclear transfer does a better job at erasing the signature of the original skin cell," says Laurent, who is co-senior author of the paper. 

"If you believe that gene expression is important, which we do, then the closer you get to the gene expression patterns of embryonic stem cells, the better," Ecker says. "Right now, nuclear transfer cells look closer to the embryonic stem cells than do the iPS cells." 

Ecker doesn't expect labs to race to make the switch to nuclear transfer protocols-after all, the method falls within those restricted for federal funding. But he thinks the new observation likely holds lessons that could help improve the protocols for making iPS cells. 

"What this is telling us is that you can use the standard mix of genes and they do a pretty good job of creating iPS cells," Ecker says. "But they're not perfect. The material in an egg does a better job than just those four genes alone." 

If researchers can pin down what it is within an egg that drives the production of pluripotent stem cells, they may be able to integrate that knowledge into iPS methods to improve stem cell therapy for disease. 
"At this point, nuclear transfer stem cells combine the key advantages of both hESCs and iPS cells and, as such, are ideal for clinical applications in regenerative therapy," adds Mitalipov. 
 Source:Oregon Health & Science University and the University of California, San Diego

 

New Discovery in Living Cell Signaling

A breakthrough discovery into how living cells process and respond to chemical information could help advance the development of treatments for a large number of cancers and other cellular disorders that have been resistant to therapy. An international collaboration of researchers, led by scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California (UC) Berkeley, have unlocked the secret behind the activation of the Ras family of proteins, one of the most important components of cellular signaling networks in biology and major drivers of cancers that are among the most difficult to treat.

“Ras is a family of membrane-anchored proteins whose activation is a critical step in cellular signaling, but almost everything we know about how Ras signals are activated has been derived from bulk assays, in solution or in live cells, in which information about the role of the membrane environment and anything about variation among individual molecules is lost,” says Jay Groves, a chemist with Berkeley Lab’s Physical Biosciences Division and UC Berkeley’s Chemistry Department. “Using a supported-membrane array platform, we were able to perform single molecule studies of Ras activation in a membrane environment and discover a surprising new mechanism though which Ras signaling is activated by Son of Sevenless (SOS) proteins.”

Jay Groves holds joint appointments with Berkeley Lab, UC Berkeley and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. (Photo by Roy Kaltschmidt)

Groves, who is also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) investigator, is the corresponding author of a paper in Science that reports this discovery. The paper is titled “Ras activation by SOS: Allosteric regulation by altered fluctuation dynamics.” The lead authors were Lars Iversen and Hsiung-Lin Tu, both members of Groves’ research group at the time of the study. See below for a complete list of co-authors and their institutional affiliations.

The cellular signaling networks of living cells start with receptor proteins residing on a cell’s surface that detect and interact with the environment. Signals from these receptors are transmitted to chemical networks within the cell that process the incoming information, make decisions, and direct subsequent cellular activities.

“Although cellular signaling networks perform logical operations like a computer microprocessor, they do not operate in the same way,” Groves says. “The individual computational steps in a standard computer are deterministic; the outcome is determined by the inputs. For the chemical reactions that compose a cellular signaling network, however, the molecular level outcomes are defined by probabilities only. This means that the same input can lead to different outcomes.”

For cellular signaling networks involving large numbers of protein molecules, the outcome can be directly determined by the process of averaging. Even though the behavior of an individual protein is intrinsically variable, the average behavior from a large group of identical proteins is precisely determined by  molecular level probabilities. Ras activation in a living cell, however, involves a relatively small number of SOS molecules, making it impossible to average the variable behavior of the individual molecules. This variation is referred to as stochastic “noise” and has been widely viewed by scientists as an error a cell must overcome.

“Our study showed that, in fact, an important aspect of the SOS signal that activates Ras is encoded in the noise,” says Groves. “The protein’s dynamic fluctuations between different states of activity transmit information, which means we have found a regulatory coupling in a protein signaling reaction that is entirely based on dynamics, without any trace of the signal being seen in the average behavior.”

The Ras Enigma

Ras proteins are essential components of signaling networks that control cellular proliferation, differentiation and survival. Mutations in Ras genes were the first specific genetic alterations linked to human cancers and it is now estimated that nearly a third of all human cancers can be traced to something going wrong with Ras activation. Defective Ras signaling has also been cited as a contributing factor to other diseases, including diabetes and immunological and inflammatory disorders. Despite this long history of recognized association with cancers and other diseases, Ras proteins have been dubbed “un-druggable,” largely because their activation mechanism has been poorly understood.

A roadblock to understanding Ras signaling is that the membranes to which Ras proteins are anchored play a major role in their activation through SOS exchange factors. SOS activity in turn was believed to be allosterically regulated through protein and membrane interactions, but this was deduced from cell biological studies rather than direct observations. For a better understanding of how Ras activation by SOS is regulated, scientists need to observe individual SOS molecules interacting with Ras in a membrane environment. However, membrane environments have traditionally presented a stiff experimental challenge.

In this supported membrane array experimental setup, nanofabricated chromium metal lines (10 nm high and 100 nm wide) partition a supported bilayer into micrometer-scale corrals that trap Ras proteins activated by SOS molecules.

Groves and his research group overcame this challenge with the development of supported membrane arrays constructed out of lipid layers embedded with fixed patterns of metal nanostructures and assembled onto a silica substrate. The metal structures allow for the controlled spacing of proteins and other cellular molecules placed on the membranes. This makes it possible for the membranes to serve as a platform for assays that can be used to observe in real-time the activity of single molecules.

“In this case, our supported membrane allowed us to corral individual SOS molecules into nanofabricated patches that trapped all the membrane-associated Ras molecules they activated,” Groves says. “This in turn allowed us to monitor the individual contribution of every molecule in the ensemble and reveal how the dynamic transitions of individual molecules encoded information that is lost in the average.”

What the collaboration discovered is that SOS regulation is based on the dynamics of distinct stochastic fluctuations between different activity states that last approximately 100 seconds but do not show up in ensemble averages. These long-lived fluctuations provide the mechanism of allosteric SOS regulation and Ras activation.

“The allosteric regulation of SOS deduced from cell biological and bulk biochemical studies is conspicuously absent in direct single molecule studies,” Groves says. “This means that something that was inferred to exist proved to be missing when we did an experiment that explicitly measured it. The dynamic fluctuations we observed within the system correlated with the expected allosteric regulation, and subsequent theoretical modeling confirmed that such stochastic fluctuations can give rise to known bulk effects.”

Understanding the role of stochastic dynamic fluctuations as signaling transduction mechanisms for Ras proteins, could point the way to new and effective therapies for Ras-driven cancers and other cellular disorders. In their Science paper, the collaborators also express their belief that the dynamic fluctuations mechanism they discovered is not unique to Ras proteins but could be applicable to a broad range of other cellular signaling proteins.

“The reason this mechanism has not been reported before is that no previous experiment could have revealed it,” Groves says. “All previous experiments on this system – and most others for that matter – were based on average behavior.  Only single molecule measurements that can look at all the molecules in the system are capable of revealing this type of effect, which we think may prove to be very important in the function of living cell signaling systems.”

Other co-authors of the Science paper were Wan-Chen Lin, Rebecca Petit, Scott Hansen, Peter Thill and Christopher Rhodes with UC Berkeley; Jeff Iwig and Jodi Gureasko, HHMI; Sune Christensen and Dimitrios Stamou, University of Copenhagen; Steven Abel, University of Tennessee; Hung-Jen Wu, Texas A&M; Cheng-Han Yu, National University of Singapore; Arup Chakraborty, MIT; and John Kuriyan, who also holds joint appointments with Berkeley Lab, UC Berkeley and HHMI. This study was primarily supported by the National Institutes of Health, and leveraged collaborations with the Mechanobiology Institute in Singapore as part of the Berkeley Educational Alliance for Research in Singapore, and the Singapore CREATE program.

Source:Science

Nutrition screenings should be regular part of geriatric health assessment

As older adults typically have one or more chronic health conditions that can affect dietary intake, malnutrition has been identified as a serious problem in older adults. This has given rise to the recommendation that nutrition screenings be a mandatory part of the comprehensive geriatric analysis (CGA).
The CGA, first developed in the 1930s, is a multidimensional diagnostic process that looks at a frail elderly person's medical, psychosocial, and functional capabilities in order to develop an overall plan for treatment and follow-up. While it has been used across health settings, the CGA is typically used in a geriatric specialty unit by a team that includes physicians, nurses, dietitians, pharmacists, therapists, and social workers.
In a special review article published today in the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition's (A.S.P.E.N.) Nutrition in Clinical Practicejournal, Dr. Rose Ann DiMaria-Ghalili, an Associate Professor of Nursing at Drexel University, examines each component of the CGA and outlines how nutrition screenings would fit into each individual domain: physical/medical, mental, functional, and social.
Dr. DiMaria-Ghalili notes that healthcare providers should look for signs of malnutrition, such as including loss of subcutaneous fat, muscle loss, and fluid accumulation, as part of the physical examination portion of the CGA. In regards to mental health status, she identifies how changes in cognition and dementia can affect nutrition.
In the examination of the functioning of older adults, Dr. DiMaria-Ghalili highlights that malnutrition leads to a loss of muscle strength and mass, which will affect a patient's functional status. As for older adults' social domains (social networks and economic status), she points out that older adults on fixed and limited incomes often need to make decisions regarding paying for medications, housing costs, and food purchases, leading them to purchase food that is cheaper, less nutritious, and less healthy or skip meals altogether.
Beyond identifying potential nutrition problems, Dr. DiMaria-Ghalili stresses that any problems identified should be addressed and interventions implemented in a timely fashion. For this to be successful, she encourages the delivery and management of nutrition interventions be undertaken using a team approach, involving all of the patient's healthcare providers, including doctors, nurses, dietitians, pharmacists and social workers.
Source:Nutrition in Clinical Practicejournal

UCLA addresses 'lost in translation' issues in Chinese medicine

Millions of people in the West today utilize traditional Chinese medicine, including acupuncture, herbs, massage and nutritional therapies. Yet only a few U.S. schools that teach Chinese medicine require Chinese-language training and only a handful of Chinese medical texts have so far been translated into English.
Given the complexity of the language and concepts in these texts, there is a need for accurate, high-quality translations, say researchers at UCLA's Center for East–West Medicine. To that end, the center has published a document that includes a detailed discussion of the issues involved in Chinese medical translation, which is designed to help students, educators, practitioners, researchers, publishers and translators evaluate and digest Chinese medical texts with greater sensitivity and comprehension.
"This publication aims to raise awareness among the many stakeholders involved with the translation of Chinese medicine," said principal investigator and study author Dr. Ka-Kit Hui, founder and director of the UCLA center.
The 15-page document, "Considerations in the Translation of Chinese Medicine" was developed and written by a UCLA team that included a doctor, an anthropologist, a China scholar and a translator. It appears in the current online edition of the Journal of Integrative Medicine.
Authors Sonya Pritzker, a licensed Chinese medicine practitioner and anthropologist, and Hanmo Zhang, a China scholar, hope the publication will promote communication in the field and play a role in the development of thorough, accurate translations.
The document highlights several important topics in the translation of Chinese medical texts, including the history of Chinese medical translations, which individuals make ideal translators, and other translation-specific issues, such as the delicate balance of focusing translations on the source-document language while considering the language it will be translated into.
It also addresses issues of technical terminology, period-specific language and style, and historical and cultural perspective. For example, depending on historical circumstances and language use, some translations may be geared toward a Western scientific audience or, alternately, it may take a more natural and spiritual tone. The authors note that it is sometimes helpful to include dual translations, such as "windfire eye/acute conjunctivitis," in order to facilitate a link between traditional Chinese medical terms and biomedical diagnoses.
The final section of the document calls for further discussion and action, specifically in the development of international collaborative efforts geared toward the creation of more rigorous guidelines for the translation of Chinese medicine texts.
"Considerations in the Translation of Chinese Medicine," was inspired by the late renowned translator and scholar Michael Heim, a professor in the UCLA departments of comparative literature and Slavic studies. A master of 12 languages, he is best known for his translation into English of Czech author Milan Kundera's "The Unbearable Lightness of Being." The new UCLA document is dedicated to him.

The document, the authors say, was influenced in large part by the American Council of Learned Societies' "Guidelines for the Translation of Social Science Texts," which are intended to promote communications in the social sciences across language boundaries. It was also influenced by Pritzker's longstanding anthropological study of translation in Chinese medicine, which is detailed in her new book, "Living Translation: Language and the Search for Resonance in U.S. Chinese Medicine," recently published by Berghahn Books.

Source:Journal of Integrative Medicine

BIRAC invites research proposals from start-up biotech cos under BIG scheme

The Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) has invited research proposals from potential entrepreneurs from academia, start-ups or an incubatee (researchers, PhDs, medical degree holders, biomedical engineering graduates) who have an exciting idea which may be in the nascent and planning stage and there is an unmet need for mentorship and initial funding. 

Being implemented under the department of biotechnology (DBT)’s Biotechnology Ignition Grant (BIG) scheme, the main objective of the scheme is to establish and validate proof-of-concept and also to enable creation of spin-offs. The scheme is aimed for high level of innovation in the biotechnology sector and will support only up-to proof-of-concept stage. The scheme would help to support and nurture these high risk early starters and their concepts. 

Under this scheme, funding will be in the form of grant-in-aid limited up-to Rs.50 lakh and funding may also be used for conducting limited market research, patenting costs, working capital during the period, travel, salary etc. The period for the study would not exceed 18 months.

Biotechnology start-ups which are registered company incorporated on/after July 1, 2011 with a functional R&D laboratory can apply under this scheme. If the registered company does not have a functional laboratory of its own, then it should be incubated in an Incubator which has a functional laboratory.

This is the fifth call for proposals from BIRAC since the BIG scheme was launched in 2012 for igniting new ideas in biotechnology. Entrepreneurs or potential entrepreneurs from academia, research institute, or researchers, Ph.Ds; and medical degree holders and biomedical engineering graduates can apply under this scheme. The biotechnology start-ups incubated in a technology business, incubator with an exciting idea which may be in the nascent and planning stage can also apply under this scheme. The last date for submission of proposals is August 16, 2014.
Source:Pharmabiz

WHO Urges Nations to Wipe Out TB by 2050

World Health Organization have urged over 30 countries -including some of the world's richest- to recognize the continued danger of tuberculosis (TB) and try to wipe it out by 2050.

 Although TB is preventable and curable, a total of 155,000 people still fall ill with the disease every year in the 33 developed nations listed and 10,000 die, the WHO said. 

The number of recorded new cases per year in the countries concerned -- ranging from Australia to France and Germany, and New Zealand to the United States -- is around 100 per million inhabitants. 

Millions are also unknowingly infected with the TB bacillus, which can be spread by sneezing, and therefore risk falling ill at some point, the WHO underlined. 

"If you talk to the general public of these countries, (they think) it is a disease of the past, that they don't have it anymore," said Marco Raviglione, head of the WHO's anti-TB programme. 

All told, TB claimed 1.3 million lives worldwide last year, making it the deadliest disease after AIDS to be caused by a single infectious agent, according to WHO. 

The 33 countries have been singled out precisely because they have relatively low levels of tuberculosis, notably compared with hotspots such as China, India and the former communist countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. 

"We are at an historical point now in control of tuberculosis worldwide and there are number of countries, we count 33, that are really at the low level of incidence that allows them to truly target elimination," Raviglione told reporters. 

"We want them as trailblazers, they are the ones that really have to show the world that we can do it," he said. 

- 'Bold decisions' needed - 

The WHO is putting a series of anti-TB measures on the table at an international conference in Rome this Friday and Saturday. 

They include tackling infections among the most vulnerable groups, including the poor or homeless, migrants, and ethnic minorities. 

People who use drugs or are in prison, and those with compromised immune systems -- including people living with HIV, malnutrition, diabetes, smokers and heavy drinkers -- all have a much greater risk of falling ill with TB. 

Many of these vulnerable groups face barriers in accessing health services, the WHO said. 

Raviglione said that "bold decisions" by governments could by 2035 pull TB rates down from the current 100 new cases per million per year to 10 per million. 

"Therefore by 2050 we could really see the elimination of tuberculosis, which means less than one case per million people per year," he said. 

The WHO also wants countries to ensure funding for high-quality TB services, improve screening for the disease, and boost the fight against drug-resistant forms of the infectious disease, which are seen as a huge emerging threat. 

"Powerful antibiotics and better living standards have almost pushed the disease out of many high-income countries," said Professor Giovanni Battista Migliori of the European Respiratory Society. 

"But we still have not succeeded. And if we do the wrong things now, TB could rebound, including with more drug-resistant forms," he warned, adding that "if we get it right, and recommit to fighting the disease, both at home and abroad, TB will eventually no longer be a public health threat." 

 Source:WHO

Maharashtra Set to Penalize Public Tobacco Chewing and Spitting

The Maharashtra health department is all set to penalize people who chew smokeless tobacco and spit out in public. 

The new law to this effect will be rolled out on August 1.The list of public places included are hospitals, railway stations, airports, educational institutions, public offices, court premises, libraries, canteens, amusement centers and banks, and according to COTPA, public places are those visited by people frequently. 

People tend to spit out in public after chewing tobacco and pan, which is unhygienic and leads to fatal diseases such as TB, and that is the main reason for imposing the ban, said government sources. 

The health department will soon issue a resolution to impose a fine on people chewing tobacco/pan in public places. 

State principal health secretary, Sujata Saunik, said "We are in the process of creating a penalty system for people found chewing tobacco or spitting it in public." 

She added, "Since gutka and paan masala are banned in Maharashtra, even they will be included under the purview." 

A ban on manufacture, sale and consumption of gutka, paan masala, kharra and scented tobacco is already in place in the state.

Public smoking is also a punishable offence in India with a penalty of up to Rs. 200. 

Statistics reveal India to be the second largest consumer of tobacco products in the world. About 275 million people are tobacco addicts, and TB bacteria have infected nearly 40% of the total population in India. 

The Global Adult Tobacco Survey carried out in India in 2009-2010 found 42.5% tobacco consumers in Maharashtra of which 30% chewed smokeless tobacco. 
 Source:COTPA

Bringing the bling to antibacterials

Shanghai researchers develop new way to combat bacterial biofilm formation with titanium encrusted with gold nanoparticles

		IMAGE: This image depicts destructive electron extraction from bacterial membranes by plasmonic gold nanoparticles.

WASHINGTON D.C., July 1, 2014 – Bacteria love to colonize surfaces inside your body, but they have a hard time getting past your rugged, salty skin. Surgeries to implant medical devices often give such bacteria the opportunity needed to gain entry into the body cavity, allowing the implants themselves to act then as an ideal growing surface for biofilms.
A group of researchers at the Shanghai Institute of Ceramics in the Chinese Academy of Sciences are looking to combat these dangerous sub-dermal infections by upgrading your new hip or kneecap in a fashion appreciated since ancient times – adding gold. They describe the results of tests with a new antibacterial material they developed based on gold nanoparticles in the journal Applied Physics Letters, from AIP Publishing.
"Implant-associated infections have become a stubborn issue that often causes surgery failure," said Xuanyong Liu, the team's primary investigator at the Shanghai Institute of Ceramics. Designing implants that can kill bacteria while supporting bone growth, Liu said, is an efficient way to enhance in vivo osteointegration.
Titanium dioxide is able to kill bacteria itself due to its properties as a photocatalyst. When the metal is exposed to light, it becomes energetically excited by absorbing photons. This generates electron-hole pairs, turning titania into a potent electron acceptor that can destabilize cellular membrane processes by usurping their electron transport chain's terminal acceptor. The membrane is gradually destabilized by this thievery, causing the cell to leak out until it dies.
The dark conditions inside the human body, however, limit the bacteria-killing efficacy of titanium dioxide. Gold nanoparticles, though, can continue to act as anti-bacterial terminal electron acceptors under darkness, due to a phenomenon called localized surface plasmon resonance. Surface plasmons are collective oscillations of electrons that occur at the interface between conductors and dielectrics – such as between gold and titanium dioxide. The localized electron oscillations at the nanoscale cause the gold nanoparticles to become excited and pass electrons to the titanium dioxide surface, thus allowing the particles to become electron acceptors.
Liu and his team electrochemically anodized titanium to form titanium dioxide nanotube arrays, and then further deposited the arrays with gold nanoparticles in a process called magnetron sputtering. The researchers then allowed Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli to grow separately on the arrays -- both organisms were highly unsuccessful, exhibiting profuse membrane damage and cell leakage.
While silver nanoparticles have been previously explored as an antibacterial agent for in vivo transplants, they cause significant side effects such as cytotoxicity and organ damage, whereas gold is far more chemically stable, and thus more biocompatible.
"The findings may open up new insights for the better designing of noble metal nanoparticles-based antibacterial applications," Liu said.
Source:journal Applied Physics Letters

Chinese Herbal Extract May Help Kill Off Pancreatic Cancer Cells

Bethesda, Md. (July 1, 2014) — A diagnosis of pancreatic cancer—the fourth most common cause of cancer death in the U.S.—can be devastating. Due in part to aggressive cell replication and tumor growth, pancreatic cancer progresses quickly and has a low five-year survival rate (less than 5 percent).

GRP78, a protein that protects cells from dying, is more abundant in cancer cells and tissue than in normal organs and is thought to play a role in helping pancreatic cancer cells survive and thrive. Researchers at the University of Minnesota have found triptolide, an extract of the Chinese herb thunder god vine (Tirpterygium wilforii), suppresses GRP78, eventually leading to pancreatic cancer cell death.

For mammals to use the proteins in our bodies, a process called protein folding must occur in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of cells. If proteins are not folded fast enough, unfolded proteins begin to build up and the cell becomes stressed. Prolonged ER stress activates a cellular process called the “unfolded protein response (UPR)”. Initially, the UPR helps kick-start the cell’s protein-folding ability, allowing it to function properly again. But if the problem doesn’t resolve, the UPR triggers cell death.  

GRP78 helps cells survive long enough for the UPR to kick in and correct protein-folding problems. However, GRP78 is available in higher quantities in pancreatic cancer cells, which assists the cancer cells in evading cell death, allowing them to live and multiply.

Triptolide has previously been shown to have a negative effect on pancreatic cancer cell viability and to block growth and spread of these cells. In this study led by Ashok Saluja, Ph.D., researchers observed the effects of triptolide on human pancreatic cancer cells and tissue. They found that the UPR worked properly in triptolide-treated cells to allow cell death in malfunctioning cells. 

“Our study shows that although increased expression of GRP78 confers a survival advantage to the tumor cells, prolonged exposure to triptolide induces chronic ER stress, which eventually leads to cell death,” the authors stated. “In this context, inhibition of GRP78 by activation of the ER stress pathway by triptolide offers a novel mechanism for inhibiting the growth and survival of pancreatic cancer cells.”

The article “Triptolide activates unfolded protein response leading to chronic ER stress in pancreatic cancer cells” is published in the American Journal of Physiology—Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology. It is highlighted as one of this month’s “best of the best” as part of the American Physiological Society’s APSselect program. View the full study here: ow.ly/yxpMq. Read all of this month’s selected research articles at apsselect.physiology.org/.

FICCI asks govt to recast adverse rules of 2013-14 to revive clinical trial industry

The Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has asked the Union health ministry to recast the adverse regulations introduced in the year 2013-14 as there is an urgent need to revive the clinical trial sector in the country to address the burden of existing and new diseases. According to the FICCI, India has witnessed heightened activism and media sensationalism targeting clinical research resulting in a slew of new regulations. While these regulations have been well-intentioned, they have proved to be disastrous for clinical research in the country and the long-term future of pharmaceutical innovation in India.  “There is an urgent need to revive the sector to address the burden of existing and new diseases. This would include recasting of adverse regulations introduced in 2013-14”, the FICCI said in its wish-list submitted recently to the new Union health ministry Dr Harsh Vardhan. It further said that a framework of internal operating procedures should be put in place for the efficient functioning of the regulatory authority in order to maintain a high level of documentation, probity, and transparency. The functioning of the regulatory authority should be subject to regular audits. Summary audit data in appropriate format should also be available in the public domain.  The regulatory authority should function at a high measurable standard of customer service with regards to research applicants. This should include time-bound review and disposal of applications. Customer service metrics should be available in the public domain in a timely manner. Besides, the CDSCO should be strengthened through a comprehensive programme of up-gradation of qualifications, skills and experience of personnel dealing with the review of research applications within the regulatory authority. Several issues pertaining to BA-BE studies, compensation packages, long processing time due for approvals etc. needs to be streamlined for reviving clinical trials in the country. The FICCI also demanded to the government to create awareness amongst judiciary, media and civil societies in order to enable them to take informed decisions. Source:Pharmabiz

Crocodile Egg Ice-Cream a New Favorite Among Filipinos

Ice cream made from crocodile egg has quickly become the best-selling product at an ice-cream shop in Philippines.The Sweet Spot Artisan Ice Cream Shop in Davao Crocodile park, Davao City, sells three crocodile egg flavors: Durian, Pandan, and Vanilla. The Durian flavor, ABC News reported. 

According to a shop representative, that the Durian flavour sells the most, despite the terrible smell of the fruit and that the ice cream tastes exactly like the fruit minus the 

Located in the in Davao city, the shop, a told ABC News, is the best seller despite, a fruit native to Davao. "It," said Bianca Dizon. 

The process for making the crocodile egg ice cream is similar to the process for making any kind of ice cream, and as crocodile eggs contain more yolk than white, it gives a better viscosity and texture, making it creamier and thicker than normal ice cream.

 Source:ABC News 

Study Finds Sugar-coated Cells are Deadly for Cancer Patients

A new study has showed how the 'sugar coating' in a living cell's surface gets thick and pronounced on cancer cells and is a crucial determinant of the cell's survival.
Every living cell's surface has a protein-embedded membrane that's covered in polysaccharide chains - a literal sugar coating. A new study by a Cornell University researcher found this coating is especially thick and pronounced on cancer cells and is a crucial determinant of the cell's survival. 

Consisting of long, sugar-decorated molecules called glycoproteins, the coating causes physical changes in the cell membrane that make the cell better able to thrive - leading to a more lethal cancer. 

Matthew Paszek, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Cornell and Valerie Weaver, at the University of California, San Francisco, led the study on glycoprotein-induced cancer cell survival, published online in Nature. 

The researchers found that long glycoprotein chains on a cancer cell's surface cause the cell membrane to push away from its environment and bend inward. This physical change causes adhesion receptors on the cell surface called integrins to clump together. Integrins bind to protein scaffolds in their environment and regulate pretty much everything a cell does - movement, change and growth. 

This clustering mechanism causes the integrins to alter the cell's normal signaling, leading to unchecked growth and survival. 

"Changes to the sugar composition on the cell surface could alter physically how receptors are organized," he said. "That's really the big thing: coupling the regulation of the sugar coating to these biochemical signaling molecules." 

The paper, "The cancer glycocalyx mechanically primes integrin-mediated growth and survival," was the subject of a "News and Views" feature in Nature. 
Source: Nature.
 

Common herbal supplement can cause dangerous interactions

St. John's wort, the leading complementary and alternative treatment for depression in the United States, can be dangerous when taken with many commonly prescribed drugs, according to a study by researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.
The researchers reported that the herbal supplement can reduce the concentration of numerous drugs in the body, including oral contraceptive, blood thinners, cancer chemotherapy and blood pressure medications, resulting in impaired effectiveness and treatment failure.
"Patients may have a false sense of safety with so-called 'natural' treatments like St. John's wort," said Sarah Taylor, M.D., assistant professor of dermatology at Wake Forest Baptist and lead author of the study. "And it is crucial for physicians to know the dangers of 'natural' treatments and to communicate the risks to patients effectively."
The study is published in the current online issue of The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.
To determine how often S. John's wort (SJW) was being prescribed or taken with other medications, the team conducted a retrospective analysis of nationally representative data collected by the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey from 1993 to 2010. The research team found the use of SJW in potentially harmful combinations in 28 percent of the cases reviewed.
Possible drug interactions can include serotonin syndrome, a potentially fatal condition that causes high levels of the chemical serotonin to accumulate in your body, heart disease due to impaired efficacy of blood pressure medications or unplanned pregnancy due to contraceptive failure, Taylor said.
Limitations of the study are that only medications recorded by the physician were analyzed. However, she said the rate of SJW interactions may actually be underestimated because the database did not include patients who were using SJW but did not tell their doctor.
"Labeling requirements for helpful supplements such as St. John's wort need to provide appropriate cautions and risk information," Taylor said, adding that France has banned the use of St. John's wort products and several other countries, including Japan, the United Kingdom, and Canada, are in the process of including drug-herb interaction warnings on St. John's wort products.
"Doctors also need to be trained to always ask if the patient is taking any supplements, vitamins, minerals or herbs, especially before prescribing any of the common drugs that might interact with St. John's wort."
Co-authors are Steven Feldman, M.D., and Scott Davis, M.A., of Wake Forest Baptist.
Funding was provided by the Center for Dermatology Research at Wake Forest Baptist.