All posts by medical

Human Behavior

Digital Marketing: Innovations to Watch out for in 2020 – BOSS Magazine

Reading Time: 4 minutes

As technology became more affordable and started to integrate into our daily lives through smart devices, online stores, and numerous other technologies that facilitate and power businesses across the world, brand promotion shape-shifted and adapted to these new circumstances. Nowadays, digital marketing is the cornerstone of revenue growth and market expansion, providing business owners with a series of channels to interact with the audience.

Furthermore, digital marketing utilizes the analytical capabilities of modern software solutions to enhance the value of each dollar we invest in the promotion of our enterprises. The versatility of content, mobile and desktop platforms, audience targeting, and numerous marketing metrics are what makes digital marketing such a powerful tool thats steadily becoming the mainstream advertisement approach.

The evolution of digital marketing is a constant struggle to keep up with the development of current technology and market requirements, which is why we are going to let you in on the latest innovations in digital marketing that you should keep in mind for the year 2020.

AI predicting human behavior

Its one thing to have an AI-driven software taking care of your schedule, organizing traffic routes, or managing your storage, however, next year well have AI predicting consumer behavior to enhance the performance of your digital marketing strategy. Well no longer only know what our target audience is interested in but also how each of the followers reacts to different inputs.

The development of deep learning algorithm allows Artificial Intelligence to learn human languages, predict events based on previous trends, and thats just scratching the surface of possibilities of the latest tech. The benefits of this innovation include cost-efficiency, the potential for higher retention rate, and overall improvement of marketing strategy.

Well have the ability to contact an essay writing service and provide means to create marketing content that will provoke just the reaction we are looking for with our readers. If targeted ads were a jump to hyperspace of the advertisement industry, this innovation will transcend the future of digital marketing. The technology is already in use, however, for now, only the largest corporate entities have the infrastructure for it. Keeping in mind the pace in which technology is moving forward and the latest announcements of Google reaching quantum supremacy, we can expect 2020 to be the first year in which marketers can predict what youre going to say to their offer.

AR growing strong

The problem with online shopping is that you cant try on for size those shoes you found or test the firmness of the couch youre looking to buy for your living room. Still, the number of online shoppers is growing and is expected to reach a figure higher than 2 billion shoppers by 2021, according to research published on the Statista website. These numbers are high already, nevertheless, the issue at hand is how to battle through the unforgiving competition and you become the one that sells more products that the guy next to you?

Augmented reality (AR) is a technology that allows us to mix reality with digital content in real-time. Its the same technology that brought us Pokemon chasers a few years back if you remember that trend at all. Nowadays, AR evolved so much so that there are commercial real estate companies offering virtual tours of their assets during which you could change the furniture design and layout, change the paint, and add new features, all so that you could make the most informed purchasing decision.

Companies like Modiface are pushing forward AR implementation capabilities for digital marketing, providing customized commercial AR software that allows users to try on products in a mixed reality environment. Simply put, if you wanted to buy a piece of makeup, you could try it on even if youre on a bus, browsing the internet on your mobile while going to work.

Chatbots

Natural language processing and deep learning algorithms allowed software developers to improve chatbots effectiveness to an astonishing rate. Instead of supplying customers with predetermined answers to questions that include certain keywords, as it was the case in the old days, these new customer support software solutions can understand the client that interacts with them.

Moreover, the answers chatbots provide are not drawn from a database with previously set series of potential answers rather the result of analysis based on the question asked and the resources available online. Also, chatbots can serve multiple clients simultaneously, which we could expect, should render human customer service agents obsolete.

The benefits of these super-intelligent chatbots include increased quality of service at a lower price, which is a business model to which every business owner would subscribe to without a question.

Conclusion

Digital marketing, as well as any other software related industry is rapidly changing, bringing new potential for business scaling and customer satisfaction with each passing year. These are the innovations that will certainly plant deep roots next year and reshape the way we conduct online business. Its important to stay ahead of these events and implement every strategy that improves the cost-efficiency and effectiveness of our marketing endeavors.

Written by: Nicholas Smith, BOSS contributor

Nicholas Smith is a professional writer, editor, and essay reviewer engaged with a series of respectful online publishers. He is dedicated to his family, work and friends. He is keen on reading, playing the guitar and traveling. He is interested in educational, marketing and blogging issues. Feel free to connect with him by email: writernicholassmith5@gmail.com

See the original post:
Digital Marketing: Innovations to Watch out for in 2020 - BOSS Magazine

Human Behavior

Deep Sleep Reduces Anxiety Levels Considerably During The Day, UC Berkeley Study Shows – Gilmore Health News

Research out of the University of California, Berkeley has again emphasized the importance of restful nightly sleep with regards to emotions.

Woman in Deep Sleep

When a person is unable to sleep well at night, their anxiety levels can surge by up to 30 percent, according to the study. A night full of sleep, on the other hand, soothes the anxious brain.

Findings from the study appeared in Nature Human Behavior. They provide very strong evidence of the neural links of sleep to anxiety.

UC Berkeley researchers reported that the particular type of sleep that produced the most-restful effect was a deep sleep. This sleep state, also referred to as non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, is described as one of behavioral and physiological quiescence. While in it, neural oscillations become well synchronized, with both blood pressure and heart rates falling.

Deep sleep seems to be a natural anxiolytic (anxiety inhibitor), so long as we get it each and every night, said Matthew Walker, study senior author and a professor of neuroscience and psychology at UC Berkeley.

The study suggests sleep as a natural alternative to drugs for managing anxiety disorders, cases of which are rising in America.

Read Also: Researchers May Have Found A New Cure For Anxiety

The researchers made their findings in a series of experiments involving a full night of sleep and a night of no sleep. They first recruited 18 young adults for their study. These subjects were made to view video clips that were emotionally moving after a full night of sleep and also after a wakeful night.

While the subjects view the clips, researchers scanned their brains. They also used the state-trait anxiety inventory, a questionnaire, to assess the anxiety levels of the participants after each session.

The sleepless night resulted in the failure of the medial prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain helping with anxiety control. There was also over-activity in the deeper emotional centers of the brain.

Walker described the effect of a sleepless night as almost as if the brain is too heavy on the emotional pedal, without enough brake.

A night of no sleep caused anxiety levels to spike by up to 30 percent, the researchers found.

The results showed, on the other hand, that a full night of sleep led to a considerable drop in anxiety levels. This effect was particularly marked in subjects who had better NREM sleep. The brain waves of the participants were evaluated with the aid of electrodes placed on their heads.

Deep sleep had restored the brains prefrontal mechanism that regulates our emotions, lowering emotional and physiological reactivity and preventing the escalation of anxiety, said Eti Ben Simon, study lead author and a postdoctoral fellow at UC Berkeleys Center for Human Sleep Science.

The scientists were also able to replicate their results in another study of 30 subjects. They observed that participants who had more deep sleep the previous night had the lowest anxiety levels during the day that followed.

Anxiety disorders are a big problem in the industrialized world. Around 40 million adults in the United States suffer from an anxiety disorder. The incidence of the conditions is rising among children and teenagers as well.

The UC Berkeley researchers also carried out an online study, in addition to their lab experiments. They assessed variations in sleep and anxiety levels of 280 people over a period of four days. Their findings showed that the amount of sleep participants got on any night determined their anxiety level the day after.

Slight changes in sleep still produced an effect on anxiety levels of the subjects.

According to Walker, the findings imply that the decimation of sleep throughout most industrialized nations is possibly a major contributor to the increasing incidence of anxiety disorders in those countries.

Yet, sleep is hardly considered a standard recommendation for combating anxiety, the researchers noted.

Simon said the study confirms the causal relationship between sleep and anxiety. Also, deep sleep appeared to be particularly useful for dealing with anxiety disorders.

Our study strongly suggests that insufficient sleep amplifies the levels of anxiety and, conversely, that deep sleep helps reduce such stress, he said.

Regulating Gut Bacteria May Help Treat Anxiety

Social Media: increasing anxiety among youths

Being Addicted to Your Smartphone Can Depress You

Study Shows That Living near an Airport Can Raise Blood Pressure

Stress May Cause Spontaneous Abortions of Male Fetuses According to Study

View post:
Deep Sleep Reduces Anxiety Levels Considerably During The Day, UC Berkeley Study Shows - Gilmore Health News

Human Behavior

Franklin Covey Co. Announces the Passing of Hyrum W. Smith, Renowned Speaker, Entrepreneur, Author, and Philanthropist – Business Wire

SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Franklin Covey Co. (NYSE:FC) is mourning the passing of Hyrum W. Smith, a renowned speaker, entrepreneur, author, and philanthropist, who co-founded the company nearly four decades ago. Smith died on Monday, after a courageous battle with terminal cancer. He was 76.

FranklinCovey CEO, Bob Whitman, said, We extend our deepest heartfelt sympathies and condolences to Gail and the family. The world lost a truly great and remarkable human being in Hyrum. He made significant contributions to our company, to our community, and to our lives. He truly achieved his deeply held desire to make a positive difference on this planet. His legacy will continue to influence the lives of millions around the world. And, his enduring impact will be missed, but not forgotten.

Of Smiths many successes and achievements, he counted his marriage to his loving wife Gail and his relationship with his six children, their spouses, and his 24 grandchildren as his greatest success in life.

A family reception will be held December 2, from 6-8 p.m. at The Tuacahn Center For The Arts, 1100 Tuacahn Dr., Ivins, Utah 84738 and the funeral will be held on December 3, at Noon at 260 East 1060 South, Ivins, Utah 84738. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Hyrum & Gail Smith Tuacahn Legacy Endowment. For additional details, visit http://www.metcalfmortuary.com.

ABOUT FRANKLIN COVEY CO.

Franklin Covey Co. (NYSE: FC) is a global, public company specializing in organizational performance improvement. We help organizations and individuals achieve results that require a change in human behavior. Our expertise is in seven areas: leadership, execution, productivity, trust, sales performance, customer loyalty and education. FranklinCovey clients have included 90 percent of the Fortune 100, more than 75 percent of the Fortune 500, thousands of small and mid-sized businesses, as well as numerous government entities and educational institutions. FranklinCovey has more than 100 direct and partner offices providing professional services in over 160 countries and territories.

More:
Franklin Covey Co. Announces the Passing of Hyrum W. Smith, Renowned Speaker, Entrepreneur, Author, and Philanthropist - Business Wire

Human Behavior

Tomorrow is good: 5 trends in consumer behavior that have a shadowy side – Innovation Origins

Consumers are the cornerstone of any organizations existence. As an organization, you must work on devising solutions for issues that the consumers of tomorrow may run into in order to improve the lives of these future consumers. But what are these issues? I set off on a journey into the magical land of trend analysis and came across five trends in consumer behaviour that have a shadowy side. That shadowy side is something that we should shed a little light on. And when there is a shadowy side to something, then theres something that needs to be polished up. As in, something can actually be done to make sure that tomorrow is good.

Whoa, we humans are slaves to addiction. Although some people are more susceptible to addiction than others, almost every person is sensitive to some form of addiction. For instance, we are sensitive to an addiction to media. Media outlets like Netflix are so quick in delivering the next episode, that its much more difficult for the average consumer to stop their media consumption than it is to maintain their media usage. You become addicted as a result.

Our social media consumption has often been associated with addiction in recent years. It has already been scientifically mapped out which personal characteristics fuel social media addiction. How social media addiction affects your satisfaction with your life. Or what the negative impact of social media addiction is on (school) performance. I could go on and on. Consequently, there are calls for us to regulate media consumption and to protect consumers from excessive media consumption.

Although our online world is characterized by words like connection and connectedness, in reality we are gradually becoming more and more lonely. Instead of heading into town with your girlfriends to find a new dress, you simply browse through webshops on your own. You no longer venture out on a pub crawl anymore to find an exciting new love interest. You simply swipe through Tinder profiles. Loneliness caused by the impact of social media and the digital world is starting to surface to such an extent, that it is being referred to as a loneliness epidemic. There is an increasing need to reconnect by seeking out actual physical and offline contact with each other again.

Then there is one more trend that goes against our evolutionary roots as hunters and gatherers. While hunting and gathering may act as an impetus for more consumerism, we are now seeing more and more signs directed towards downsizing and minimalism. We build tiny houses, we reuse furniture and we hardly own any books, music albums or films. Minimalism has become a way of life for many.

Some minimalists not only filter their own consumer pattern in excessive ways, but also do that on behalf of others. And thats where the shadowy side comes in. We are not talking about the minimalists who simply consider minimalism more aesthetically pleasing (e.g. fans of Scandinavian design). Nor the minimalists who for practical reasons aspire to a minimalist existence (e.g. which makes it easier for them to travel). But rather about the minimalists who aspire to nonconsumerism based on moral conviction with a focus on sustainability. Although, of course, there is nothing wrong with that moral conviction.

Many people share that conviction in principle. However, one may have some reservations about those minimalists who act as activists in their approach to others where flight shame, plastic shame or meat shame are concerned. There appears to be a razor-thin line between raising awareness or instilling feelings of shame on others. We should honestly ask ourselves whether we are making our society more appealing when we step over that line. Guilt and shame can certainly change behaviors. Nevertheless, the question remains whether there are not more charming roads to the Rome in question.

A trend associated with that of minimalism is that of nonmaterialism. Nonmaterialistic consumers consume without any tangible consequence of that consumerism. On the one hand, nonmaterialism is the result of a changing pattern of consumerism. We prefer to spend our money on experiences and adventures rather than on products. On the other hand, we are replacing some products with subscriptions. We no longer buy a CD, but a subscription to Spotify instead.

Especially this second development is beginning to take on such significant proportions that we now speak of a subscription economy. Subscription models are penetrating markets, meaning that the relationship between provider and consumer is undergoing considerable change. Not only does this relationship become more long-term and stable, but is also characterized by a higher level of dependence. The more subscriptions, the less diversification in the consumer pattern and the greater the dependence on a number of behemoth corporations. From research carried out by McKinsey, it appears that consumers are indeed buying subscriptions en masse, yet only about 11% of them are fans of the subscription model.

When it comes to consumers, we mean people. Its almost time to change that mindset. As the consumer robot is gaining ground. For example, a study by Ericsson shows that 70% of consumers think that within three years virtual assistants will be making purchasing decisions for them. Some researchers have even gone a step further and claim that in a few years time, 85% of shopping behaviour will take place without human interaction. It is impossible to pin an exact number on this in the future, but the trend is very clear.

Personally I find this the one of most cool trends. I am a huge fan of a society where artificial intelligence provides human intelligence with support wherever possible. Of course, there is also a shadowy side to this trend. How do we integrate ethics into the purchasing decisions of a consumer robot? And how do we ensure that consumers are happy to entrust their wallets to a robot? Together with my research group, Im working hard on designing solutions to these questions.

Tomorrow is good for our customers if we work on the shadowy side of these developments. When we brighten up something that is shadowy, turn negatives into positives and turn anything thats a grey area into something that shines!

Follow this link:
Tomorrow is good: 5 trends in consumer behavior that have a shadowy side - Innovation Origins

Genetics

The Genetic Link Between Asthma and Mental Health – Pulmonology Advisor

Asthmahas long been associated with lower quality of life as a result of reducedactivity and increased psychological stress.1 Indeed, any identifiedlinks between asthma and mental health have primarily been unidirectional, withasthma leading to mental illness. However, recent studies have revealed geneticlinks between asthma and mental health.

Research suggests that people with asthma are more likely to develop mental health problems compared with the general population. In a study conducted with school children, the prevalence of diagnosed mental health conditions among those with asthma was 8.2%, which was nearly double the prevalence among those without asthma (4.8%).2 Another study comprising adults showed that mood disorders were strongly associated with allergic asthma, late-onset asthma, and infection-based asthma.3 In addition, researchers discovered that mental health care services were more likely to be used by people after a diagnosis of asthma.4

Morestudies are underway to investigate the bidirectional connection between asthmaand mental health. One study has linked asthma severity to lifetime and currentanxiety, with asthma preceding anxiety in 48% of the patients and anxietypreceding asthma in 52% of the patients.5

Thereis growing evidence for the involvement of genetics in this asthma-mentalhealth connection. A Swedish study that identified self-report associationsbetween asthma and major depressive disorder (MDD), anxiety, and neuroticismalso found genetic correlations between asthma and MDD, but not between asthmaand anxiety or neuroticism.6

Anotherstudy, a large-scale genome-wide cross trait analysis, has shown a strongassociation between asthma and 3 mental disorders: attention-deficit/hyperactivitydisorder (ADHD), anxiety disorder, and MDD.7 A total of 7 loci werefound to be jointly associated with asthma and ADHD; 1 loci with asthma andanxiety disorder; and 10 loci with asthma and MDD.

Accordingto Dr Zhaozhong Zhu, a lead researcher, Mendelianrandomization a method of using measured variation in genes of known function was used to inferputative causal relationshipsbetween asthma and mental health disorders in both directions, with our resultssuggesting that ADHD and MDD might increase the risk for asthma. Dr Zhu makesit clear that the mechanismof the association is unknown. Thecausal relationship found in the study is only based on genetic variables, heexplains. The epidemiologic association includes 2 key components: genetics(ie, genes and biological mechanisms) and environment (ie, social factors,exposure to certain conditions [asthma], and medication use).

The study findings indicate geneticcausality in the direction of mental illness causing asthma. However, theenvironmental causality is in the reverse direction and outweighs the geneticcausality; thus, the overall epidemiologic causality is in the direction ofasthma causing mental health disorders.

Compared with other mentaldisorders, depression appears to have the strongest link to asthma. In additionto the 10 loci found by Dr Zhu and his team, a single-nucleotide polymorphism(SNP) known as rs4672619, located on the Erb-B2 receptor tyrosine kinase 4gene, has been implicated in the comorbidity of depression and asthma.8The researchers who discovered the SNP evaluated the relationship between thedepressive status of the individuals and the rs4672619 genotypes on asthmasymptom severity. In childhood asthmatics, severe depression was related toless severe asthma symptoms, while in those with heterozygous and homozygousvariant alleles, severe depression was related to more severe asthma symptoms.

In elderly patients with asthma, thereverse was true. Those with the homozygous reference allele had a positivecorrelation between depression and asthma symptom severity, while a negativecorrelation was seen in those with heterozygous and homozygous variant alleles.Further studies on the relationship between the conditions could lead to thedevelopment of personalized therapies for the simultaneous treatment of bothconditions.

Few studies have established thegenetic link between asthma and anxiety. A Chinese investigation demonstratedthe effect of interactions between serotonin transporter (5-HTT), brain-derivedneurotrophic factor (BDNF), and the neuropeptide S receptor 1 gene, NPSR1-AS1 polymorphisms on anxiety and depression.9Interactions between 5-HTT (LL alleles) and BDNF (A+ allele) led to anincreased anxiety score, while interactions between BDNF (A+, GG) and NPSR1(AA, T+) increased the depression score.

While the genetic link betweenasthma and ADHD was strongly revealed in Dr Zhus study, most other studieshave been anecdotal. A large Swedish study found a significant associationbetween asthma and ADHD, even after removing possible confounding variables.10It has been hypothesized that because asthma and ADHD both have large geneticcomponents, people who are genetically susceptible to one condition may besusceptible to the other.11

Studying genetic variants raises thequestion of whether any genetic links have cross-cultural implications. Whilethe participants in Dr Zhus research were mainly European, Dr Zhu expectsthat, Asthma and mental health disorders should be genetically similar, butnot the same across major populations, such as African American, Hispanic, orAsian. He points out that one of the shared genetic loci between asthma andMDD, the human leukocyte antigen region on chromosome 6, has a pervasivegenetic effect in many diverse populations.

Currently, corticosteroids areconsidered the most effective long-term treatment for asthma. However, chroniccorticosteroid use has been associated with psychosis, depression, anxiety, andmania in people with asthma.12,13 Psychological treatments are being exploredas alternative interventions for asthma and while no psychotherapy has beenscientifically proven to improve asthma and comorbid mental illness, there hasbeen an increased interest in the use of cognitive behavioral therapy.14,15

Understanding the geneticassociation between asthma and mental health creates an opportunity for thedevelopment of more effective drugs and therapeutic approaches that could treatasthma and associated mental health disorders together. In Dr Zhus study, functionalanalysis revealed that the identified variants regulated gene expression intissues of various body systems, including the respiratory and immune system.Thus, further understanding of these variants may lead to treatments thataddress the respiratory and immune system problems often seen in people asthma.

According to Dr Zhu, In the short term,we aim to inform the general population that mental health disorders can haveshared genetic factors with asthma. Therefore, controlling environmentalfactors, such as eating healthy, enjoying a happy life, and being careful withthe potential adverse effects of medication, will help to prevent asthma andmental health disorders. In the long term, with more mechanistic studies, wehope to provide direction in the development of drugs for preventing andtreating both conditions at the same time.

References

1. American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology. Increased mental health care use in adults after asthma diagnosis. http://www.aaaai.org/global/latest-research-summaries/New-Research-from-JACI-In-Practice/mental-health. April 7,2017. Accessed November 5, 2019.

2. Lawson J, Rennie D, Dyck R, Cockcroft D, Afanasieva A. The relationship between childhood asthma and mental health conditions.Eur Respir J. 2017;50(suppl 61):PA595.

3. Labor M, Labor S, Juri I, Fijako V, Grle S, Plavec D. Mood disorders in adult asthma phenotypes.J Asthma. 2017;55(1):57-65.

4. To T, Ryckman K, Zhu J, et al. Mental Health Services Claims and Adult Onset Asthma in Ontario, Canada.J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract. 2017;5(5):1388-1393.e3.

5. Del Giacco S, Cappai A, Gambula L, et al. The asthma-anxiety connection.Respir Med. 2016;120:44-53.

6. Lehto K, Pedersen N, Almqvist C, Lu Y, Brew B. Asthma and affective traits in adults: a genetically informative study.Eur Respir J. 2019;53(5):1802142.

7. Zhu Z, Zhu X, Liu C et al. Shared genetics of asthma and mental health disorders: a large-scale genome-wide cross-trait analysis [published online October 17, 2019].Eur Respir J. doi:10.1183.13993003.01507-2019

8. Park H, Song W, Cho S, et al. Assessment of genetic factor and depression interactions for asthma symptom severity in cohorts of childhood and elderly asthmatics. Exp Mol Med. 2018;50(7):77.

9. Yang Y, Zhao M, Zhang Y, Shen X, Yuan Y. Correlation of 5-HTT, BDNF and NPSR1 gene polymorphisms with anxiety and depression in asthmatic patients. Int J Mol Med. 2016;38(1):65-74.

10. Cortese S, Sun S, Zhang J, et al. Association between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and asthma: a systematic review and meta-analysis and a Swedish population-based study. Lancet Psychiatry. 2018;5(9):717-726.

11. Rapaport L. Links seen between asthma and ADHD. Reuters website. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-adhd-asthma/links-seen-between-asthma-and-adhd-idUSKBN1L12FZ. August 15, 2018. Accessed November 14, 2019.

12. Kewalramani A, Bollinger M, Postolache T. Asthma and mood disorders.Int J Child Health Hum Dev. 2008;1(2):115-123.

13. University of Newcastle Australia. Severe Asthma Toolkit. Asthma and Mental Health. https://toolkit.severeasthma.org.au/living-severe-asthma/mental-emotional-health/. Updated February 12, 2019. Accessed November 5, 2019.

14. Kew K, Nashed M, Dulay V, Yorke J. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for adults and adolescents with asthma.Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2016;9:CD011818.2

15. Pateraki E, Morris P. Effectiveness of cognitive behavioural therapy in reducing anxiety in adults and children with asthma: a systematic review.J Asthma. 2018;55(5):532-554.

View post:
The Genetic Link Between Asthma and Mental Health - Pulmonology Advisor

Genetics

Camel Milk and Autism: Connecting the Genetic Dots | DNA Science Blog – PLoS Blogs

After reading Christina Adamss new book Camel Crazy: A Quest for Miracles in the Mysterious World of Camels(New World Library), I may have a new favorite animal (sorry, cats and hippos).

Most of us know camels as curiosities at zoos. As beasts of burden highly adapted to hot and dry climates, theyve served the trade routes that helped build civilizations, and may indeed flourish in our increasingly hot and dry world. We value their hide, meat, and especially their milk.

Camels are unusual, biologically speaking. And that may be why their milk can alleviate some aspects of autism.

Camel milk sounds weird to American ears, but camels are a domestic fact of life elsewhere. Although the US classifies them as exotic animals, they actually have early origins here; fossils have been found in Los Angeles. But the true reservoir of knowledge on camels is found in rural cultures and universities in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, Christina told me.

Got Camel Milk?

In 2005, Christina met a camel at a childrens book fair in Orange County CA. Rather than hauling kids around, the animal was standing near a display of lotions and soaps made with camel milk. When the owner started to tell Christina how the milk is hypoallergenic and helps premature babies in the Middle East, she glanced over at 7-year-old Jonah. Hed already had four years of costly treatments for autism.

Might it help reboot my sons immune system and help his autism symptoms? she recalls thinking, aware of a link to immune dysfunction. Cow milk and cheese made him hand-flap and walk in circles, which he described as feeling like having dirt in my brain. Vegan substitutes like rice, nut, or soy increased his allergic response.

Camel Crazy details Christinas two-year journey to find the milk. Once she started giving it to Jonah, four ounces at a time, mixed in with food like cereal, his behavior changed quickly.

He became calm. Inquisitive. Caring. His language became more emotional and focused. He held his head straight instead of rolling it. Eating became neat, not a mess fest. He dressed himself and began making eye contact. He even got his shoes and backpack on and was calmer in the car going to school.

By the third dose, Jonah was sleeping through the night. He became more fluid, social, and attuned. Within days he could cross the street without me holding on to him. Within weeks his skin grew smoother. The milk also reversed his skin irritation, agitation, mental distraction, hyperactivity, and stomach pain, Christina recalled.

So she did research and spread the word, first in an article Got Camel Milk? that went viral, then in a peer-reviewed case report, Autism Spectrum Disorder Treated With Camel Milk, published in Global Advances in Health and Medicine. After describing Jonahs early difficulties, she wrote on October 10, 2007, two weeks before my sons tenth birthday, he drank his first half cup (4 oz) of thawed raw unheated camel milk. The case report documents Jonahs sustained symptom improvements associated with drinking half a cup a day from 2007 to 2013.

Christina then began traveling the world, giving presentations on camel milk and autism, and consulting with scientists and vets. Camel Crazy details her immersion into the world of camels and cameleers, from Tuareg, Amish and Somali people in America to herders in India, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. She serves on the editorial board of the new International Journal of Camel Science.

I was a beta reader for Camel Crazyand loved it. Being a nerd I searched for the science, and wasnt disappointed. The milk indeed has some startling differences from other milks, yet tastes, Christina says, like cows milk.

Camels drink a lot, pee a little, exhale minimal vapor, have insulating coats, and their red blood cells balloon and shrink as the water content in the bloodstream shifts. Natural selection has favored persistence of these traits that provide adaptation to heat, aridity, and exposure to intense ultraviolet radiation and choking dust. Body temperature ranges from 93.2-104F (3440C).

Being specifically a genetics nerd, I delved deeper into the DNA that encodes the unusual versions of proteins that might explain the magic of camel milk, as well as other details of the physiology. Much of the info below comes from the article Desert to Medicine: A Review of Camel Genomics and Therapeutic Products, from three researchers at United Arab Emirates University.

Fighting an Opioid Released from Casein Breakdown

The first technical paper Christina found was The etiology of autism and camel milk as therapy, from Ben Gurion University researchers Reuven Yagil and Yosef Shabo. Parent reports inspired their work.

They zeroed in on an opiate-like effect. Casein, the most abundant milk protein, breaks down into peptide pieces. And one of them, beta-casomorphin-7, is an opioid. It can slip through the leaky gut of a person with autism and enter the brain. Could an opiate bathing the brain affect social interactions and lack of interest in surroundings?

Other breakdown peptides of casein (-casein and no -lactoglobulin), which are more abundant in cows milk, may spike milk allergies.

Upping Anti-Oxidants

Camel milk delivers potent anti-oxidants that might temper autism symptoms, wrote King Saud University researchers Laila Al-Ayadhi and Nadra Elyass Elamin in a2013 report. People with autism are more sensitive to oxidative stress, which is damage from unstable forms of oxygen called oxygen free radicals.

The researchers measured levels of three anti-oxidants in the blood of 60 kids with autism: superoxide dismutase, myeloperoxidase, and an enzyme needed to make glutathione. Over a two-week period, 24 children drank raw camel milk, 25 drank boiled camel milk, and 11 drank cows milk. The trial was double-blinded and randomized, but it wasnt a crossover, in which each child would have had all three milk experiences. Nevertheless, raw camel milk was superior in anti-oxidant levels and a behavioral rating scale.

Special Tiny Antibodies

Camels share with only their camelid brethren (llamas, alpacas, vicunas, and guanacos) tiny antibodies in milk, called nanobodies. Most antibodies have one or more Y-shaped subunits; a nanobody is one arm of one Y, the variable region that distinguishes species. A student discoveredcamel nanobodies in a lab course at the University of Brussels in 1993, analyzing a dromedarys blood serum. Camels make large antibodies too.

Nanobodies can squeeze into places more bulbous antibodies cannot, vanquishing a wider swath of viruses and bacteria. They look strikingly like monoclonal antibodies, and so have become darlings of pharma, particularly in cancer drug discovery.

A camels streamlined nanobodies arose from a mutation that removed the hinges that connect the Y-shaped arms of more conventional antibodies. Sometimes a mutation is a good thing!

Further infection protection comes from the milk protein lactoferrin, which fights hepatitis C.

Tolerating High Blood Sugar

A camel-herding people in India, the Raika, drink camel milk and dont get diabetes. Thats because camels tolerate high blood glucose levels, and some of that ability seeps into their milk.

P. Agrawal, at the SP Medical College, Bikaner, India and colleagues have conducted clinical trialsthat show that camel milk decreases blood glucose and hemoglobin A1c (a three-month-measure of blood glucose), and, in people with type 1 diabetes, reduces the insulin requirement by up to 30 percent .

How can camels have high blood sugar yet low HbA1C? In most animals, the beta chains of hemoglobin bind glucose at several points, upping HbA1C. This doesnt happen in camels. If glucose binding to hemoglobin in us is like Velcro, then in camels, its like contact between a boot and slippery ice.

Conserving Water

Milk requires water, and camels are masters at conserving it. A self-contained cooling system, as Christina describes it, cycles body water from a camels nostrils to its mouth. The multi-layered eyelids and double row of eyelashes keep out blowing sand. Their unique oval blood cells compress as camels safely dehydrate, then swell up again as they refill with water, keeping their blood flowing in extreme conditions.

Camels dont dry out in the desert, as we would, thanks to variants of the genes that encode the cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes. They enable camels to resorb lots of water while tolerating high salt conditions, without their blood pressure spiking. Their kidneys are keenly attuned to taking back water.

Camel milk is also high in the calming neurotransmitter GABA, low in lactose, and has more vitamin C than cows milk.

Beyond Milk

The astonishing adaptations of the camel arent restricted to its milk. Here are a few more that have their roots in the animals genes.

Variations on the Camel Theme

About 94% of the worlds 35 million camels are the domesticated, one-humped dromedaries (Camelus dromedaries) of northern and eastern Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and southwest Asia. A feral branch lives in Australia. Wild dromedaries are extinct and are in a separate genus, Camelops hesternus. They dwelled in western North America.

About 2 million two-humped domesticated Bactrian (Camelus bactrianus) camels live on the steppes of central Asia, and each weighs about 1,000 pounds. Fewer than 100 wild Bactrian camels remain; they split from a shared ancestor about 700,000 years ago. Today they live in Mongolia and in northwest Chinas Xinjiang Province, in an area that was a nuclear testing site for 45 years. In 2008 the wild Bactrians were designated a distinct species, Camelus ferus.

When bactrian and dromedary camels interbreed, most offspring have one hump, some with a dip in the middle.

Camel Genomics

Camel genomes are remarkably diverse with many mutations, perhaps because people havent controlled their breeding. Doing so is challenging.

The jelly-like consistency of camel semen complicates both freezing and using artificial insemination. Still, researchers from Oman and France recently published a report about possible genetic improvements: selecting for traits that ease of using milking machines, provide resistance to infections, improve racing ability, and enhance beauty. Camels are, after all, gorgeous creatures.

The first camel genome sequence, published in 2012, revealed 20,821 genes splayed out among 37 chromosome pairs. Some 2,730 genes have evolved faster in camels than in their cattle relatives, many involved in carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. Perhaps the unusual variants contribute to the camels ability to conserve water.

Researchers from Kuwait University report in PLOS Onethat they analyzed DNA from the blood, spit, and hair of nine camels, concluding that tail hair follicle DNA is the best tissue source to create a biobank.The International Camel Consortium for Genetic Improvement and Conservation promotes camel genetic conservation.

Bring on the Camel Fro-Yo!

The milk isnt cheap. Camel Milk Cooplists $36.99 for a weeks supply. And as Christinas book explains, theres little to no incentive to conduct a clinical trial or to attempt to replicate natures magical mix of milk ingredients. Camel Crazy includes a users guide and directory of global sources.

The milk is available in liquid, frozen, and powdered form. Camel-milk-containing products include skin cream, cheeses, ice cream pops, chocolate milk, and a delectable-looking sweet called barfi, which means snow in Persian (not vomit).

When will camel milk come to Starbucks?

More:
Camel Milk and Autism: Connecting the Genetic Dots | DNA Science Blog - PLoS Blogs

Biochemistry

This is one place on Earth where no life can exist – WBAP News/Talk

Life exists in extreme environments on Earth, from arid deserts and frozen tundras to thermal, toxic vents in the deepest reaches of the ocean floor. But it cant exist on every inch of the planet and scientists have discovered a place in Ethiopia where life cant find a way, according to a new study.

In contrast with previous research, scientists conducted multiple tests and found that there is no life, not even microorganisms, in Dallol. One of Earths most extreme environments, Dallol is incredibly hot, salty and acidic. Its ponds extend across a volcanic crater, in the Ethiopian Danakil depression, filled with salt, toxic gases and boiling water in response to extreme hydrothermal activity.

Even in winter, daytime temperatures can exceed 113 degrees Fahrenheit. Some of the hyper acidic and saline pools have negative pH values.

The findings published Friday in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.

After analysing many more samples than in previous works, with adequate controls so as not to contaminate them and a well-calibrated methodology, we have verified that theres no microbial life in these salty, hot and hyperacid pools or in the adjacent magnesium-rich brine lakes, said Purificacin Lpez Garca, study author and biologist at the French National Centre for Scientific Research.

However, outside of the ponds, its a different story.

What does exist is a great diversity of halophilic archaea (a type of primitive salt-loving microorganisms) in the desert and the saline canyons around the hydrothermal site, but neither in the hyperacid and hypersaline pools themselves, nor in the so-called Black and Yellow lakes of Dallol, where magnesium abounds, said Lpez Garca. And all this despite the fact that microbial dispersion in this area, due to the wind and to human visitors, is intense.

The researchers performed mass sequencing of genetic markers meant to find and classify any microorganisms that may be present, as well as cultures to find microbes, cytometry for detecting individual cells, brine chemical analysis and electron microscopy combined with X-ray spectroscopy.

At first glance, minerals rich in silica may mimic microbial cells, the researchers said. But their analysis revealed the difference.

In other studies, apart from the possible contamination of samples with archaea from adjacent lands, these mineral particles may have been interpreted as fossilized cells, when in reality they form spontaneously in the brines, even though there is no life, Lpez Garca said.

Scientists have used evidence of life in extreme environments on Earth as an analog for the conditions where life may exist on other planets in our solar system or beyond it. The researchers warned that in this case, just because there is liquid water present or because something resembles cells or other biological aspects beneath a microscope, does not mean there is life present.

Our study presents evidence that there are places on the Earths surface, such as the Dallol pools, which are sterile even though they contain liquid water, Lpez Garca said.

The Dallol ponds actually prevent life from forming because they contain chemical barriers like chaotropic magnesium salts that help break down hydrogen. Combined with the salty, acidic and hot environment, life receives no encouragement in the pools.

We would not expect to find life forms in similar environments on other planets, at least not based on a biochemistry similar to terrestrial biochemistry, said Lpez Garca.

The researchers will continue studying the pools to determine more about the limits of life.

Click here to read full story

See the original post here:
This is one place on Earth where no life can exist - WBAP News/Talk

Biochemistry

Global Automated Biochemistry Analyzers Market 2019 by Manufacturers, Regions, Type and Application, Forecast to 2025 – The Industry Press Releases

The global "Automated Biochemistry Analyzers Market" research report comprises of the basic insights that are relevant to the global market. The report being an all-inclusive one will be of great help to the users in order to understand not only the market trends, but also the size, forecast trends, production, share, demand, sales, and many such aspects.

Ask for sample link here: http://www.marketresearchstore.com/report/global-automated-biochemistry-analyzers-market-2018-by-manufacturers-391926#RequestSample

What Global Automated Biochemistry Analyzers Market Research Report Consists?

Inquire about the report here: http://www.marketresearchstore.com/report/global-automated-biochemistry-analyzers-market-2018-by-manufacturers-391926#InquiryForBuying

Additional Points Covered In The Report

Set of Chapters:

1. Automated Biochemistry Analyzers Market outline

2. International Automated Biochemistry Analyzers market Followed by makers

3. world Automated Biochemistry Analyzers Market capability, Generation, Sales (Worth ) by Region (2019-2028)

4. world Automated Biochemistry Analyzers Market provide (Production), Presence, Export, printed by Region (2019-2028)

5. International Automated Biochemistry Analyzers market Production, Revenue (Worth ), value Trend by kind

6. International Automated Biochemistry Analyzers marketing research by Application

7. Automated Biochemistry Analyzers Market makers Profiles/Analysis

8. Automated Biochemistry Analyzers Market producing analysis

9. Industrial Chain, Best Sourcing Strategy and Down-stream consumers

10. Marketing-strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders

11. Market result sides designation

12. World Wide Automated Biochemistry Analyzers Market Forecast (2019-2028)

13. Automated Biochemistry Analyzers research Findings and call

14. Appendix

Research Objective :

Our panel of trade contributors moreover as trade analysts across the worth chain have taken vast efforts in doing this group action and heavy-lifting add order to produce the key players with useful primary & secondary data concerning the world Automated Biochemistry Analyzers market. additionally, the report additionally contains inputs from our trade consultants that may facilitate the key players in saving their time from the interior analysis half. firms WHO get and use this report are going to be completely profited with the inferences delivered in it. except this, the report additionally provides an in-depth analysis of Automated Biochemistry Analyzers sales moreover because of the factors that influence the shoppers moreover as enterprises towards this method.

Thanks for reading this article; you'll be able to additionally get individual chapter wise sections or region wise report versions like North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, geographic area and continent.

Sorry! The Author has not filled his profile.

Excerpt from:
Global Automated Biochemistry Analyzers Market 2019 by Manufacturers, Regions, Type and Application, Forecast to 2025 - The Industry Press Releases

Biochemistry

Scientists unravel mysteries of cells’ whiplike extensions | The Source – Washington University in St. Louis Newsroom

Cilia, or flagella whiplike appendages on cells perform diverse tasks required to keep the body healthy. When cilia malfunction, the consequences can be devastating, causing a range of problems, from blindness, to lung and kidney diseases, to congenital heart defects. Now, scientists have revealed the firstdetailed lookat the inner structure of cilia.

The newly revealed structure offers a starting point to begin exploring how cilia are assembled during development, how they are maintained over a cells life span, and how they might become dysfunctional if some of the cogs in these complex molecular machines are mutated or missing. The structure of these microscopic molecular machines common to cells in organisms from algae to people potentially will answer questions about human health and disease.

The research, by investigators at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Harvard Medical School, was published recently in the journal Cell.

This new study is exciting because it fills in a lot of missing information about the structure of cilia, said senior authorRui Zhang, assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biophysics at Washington University. When cilia dont work properly, bad things happen. We need to know details of the structure in order to develop treatments for diseases, or strategies to prevent the developmental defects that can occur in the early embryo if the cilia are not functioning as they should.

In the respiratory tract, cilia move mucus and protect against viral and bacterial illnesses. In the reproductive tract, they propel sperm to fertilize an egg. Cilia also perform vital tasks in the brain, the kidney, the pancreas and in bone growth. And in the earliest stages of development, the rotational motion of specialized cilia in the embryo defines the bodys left-right asymmetry and where organs are placed. Without properly functioning cilia, the heart may not end up on the left side, where it should be, and it may not function properly.

Cilia are implicated in multiple human disorders, including polycystic kidney disease, which affects some 600,000 Americans and requires dialysis; primary ciliary dyskinesia, which causes chronic lung disease, misplaced organs and infertility; Bardet-Biedl syndrome, which causes patients to become blind in childhood and leads to diabetes, kidney disease and extreme obesity; and many congenital heart defects, which occur when left-right asymmetry goes awry and require complex surgeries to repair.

In the new study, the researchers used a technique called single particle cryo-electron microscopy to get a first look at 33 specific proteins arranged inside cilia within structures called ciliary microtubule doublets in a strict repeating pattern.

Before this work, everyone assumed these proteins inside cilia just stabilize the structure, which is true for a subset of the proteins, especially when you consider the forces produced by the continuous beating of the cilia, Zhang said. But based on how they are arranged inside this structure, we believe these proteins are doing many more things.

Since many of the proteins protrude through the cilia, Zhang and his colleagues speculate that they may allow for communication between the inside and the outside of the ciliary microtubule doublets; govern the function of enzymes that make important biochemical reactions possible; and sense changes in the calcium concentration of the environment, which plays a role in triggering the cilia to beat.

Among the proteins identified, five are associated with diseases that have been studied in mice and people, said co-authorSusan K. Dutcher, professor of genetics at Washington University. But until now, no one knew that these proteins were found inside cilia. We are just beginning to understand their roles in normal and disease states.

The researchers studied cilia in a type of algae calledChlamydomonas reinhardtii, which are single-celled organisms that have cilia structurally and biochemically similar to those of more complex organisms, including people. One question Dutcher is interested in answering is how the proteins making up cilia structure govern the type of motion that the cilia perform. The cilia of single-celledC. reinhardtiiare capable of more than one type of motion.

In some situations, the cilia are doing what you might consider a breast stroke, Dutcher said. In others, the motion is more of an S-shaped wave. The cilia of many cells in mammals can only produce one of these motions. But the single-celledC. reinhardtii, perhaps to help it adapt to its environment, can switch between them. Thats why were studying algae at a medical school the genetic problems we can study in the cilia of these organisms are similar to the ones that can occur in people, often with devastating consequences.

Zhang, Dutcher and their colleagues have plans to use the latest techniques of cryo-electron microscopy to study theChlamydomonas mutants of each of the 33 proteins inside cilia to seek answers to many questions that have arisen from this new and detailed knowledge of the structure.

Originally published by the School of Medicine

Go here to see the original:
Scientists unravel mysteries of cells' whiplike extensions | The Source - Washington University in St. Louis Newsroom