Category Archives: Physiology

Gene expression altered by direction of forces acting on cell | Illinois – University of Illinois News

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. Tissues and cells in the human body are subjected to a constant push and pull strained by other cells, blood pressure and fluid flow, to name a few. The type and direction of the force on a cell alters gene expression by stretching different regions of DNA, researchers at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and collaborators in China found in a new study.

The findings could provide insights into physiology and diseases such as fibrosis, cardiovascular disease and malignant cancer, the researchers said.

Force is everywhere in the human body, and both external and internal forces can influence your body far more than you may have thought, said study leader Ning Wang, a professor of mechanical science and engineering at Illinois. These strains profoundly influence cellular behaviors and physiological functions, which are initiated at the level of gene expression.

The effects of physical forces and signals on cells, tissues and organs have been less studied than those of chemical signals and responses, yet physical forces play an important role in how cells function and respond to their environment, Wang said.

Most studies seeking to understand the mechanics of cells apply force using a microscope cantilever probe to tap a cells surface or a focused laser beam to move a tiny particle across the surface. However, these techniques can only move in one dimension. This incomplete picture leaves fundamental questions unanswered, Wang said for example, the difference in the responses to shear stress from blood flow and stretching from blood pressure.

Wang and his collaborators developed a method that allows them to move a magnetic bead in any direction, giving them a picture of the ways forces act on a cell in 3D. They call it three-dimensional magnetic twisting cytometry.

They found that the force from the magnetic bead caused a rapid increase in expression for certain genes, but the amount of the increase depended on the direction the bead moved. When the bead rolled along the long axis of the cell, the increase was the lowest, but when the force was applied perpendicularly across the short axis of the cell gene activity increased the most. When the bead was moved at a 45-degree angle or rotated in the same plane as the cell to induce shear stress, the response was intermediate.

These observations show that gene upregulation and activation are very sensitive to the mode of the applied force, when the magnitude of the force remains unchanged, Wang said.

In further experiments, the researchers found that the reason for the difference lies in the method that the forces are relayed to the cells nucleus, where DNA is housed. Cells have a network of support structures called the cytoskeleton, and the main force-bearing elements are long fibers of the protein actin. When they bend due to a force, they relay that force to the nucleus and stretch the chromosomes.

These actin fibers run lengthwise along the cell. So when the force strains them widthwise, they deform more, stretching the chromosomes more and causing greater gene activity, the researchers found. They published their findings in the journal Nature Communications.

A stress fiber is like a tense violin string. When a stress is applied across the short axis of the cell, its just like when a person plucks a violin string vertically from the strings direction to produce a louder, more forceful sound, Wang said.

The researchers next step will be to create disease models to see how different forces might help explain the mechanism of certain diseases, and to identify possible therapeutic targets or applications.

In certain diseases, such as aortic valve calcification, arterial atherosclerosis, liver fibrosis or malignant tumors, these cellular responses and adaptation go awry, causing the tissues and organs to function abnormally, Wang said. This is the first time that the mechanism of living cells different biological responses to the direction of forces at the level of genes has been revealed, so perhaps with our three-dimensional approach we can understand these diseases better.

The U.S. National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation of China supported this work. Wang is affiliated with the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, the Cancer Center at Illinois, the Carle Illinois College of Medicine, the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, the department of bioengineering and the Holonyak Micro and Nanotechnology Lab at Illinois.

Read the original:
Gene expression altered by direction of forces acting on cell | Illinois - University of Illinois News

McMurry University announces annual alumni recognition awards – Abilene Reporter-News

McMurry University, in a news release, announced the selections made by theAlumni Association Board of Directors for the school's annual awards recognizing past graduates.

Dr. Paul E. Stubbs, who recently retired after50 years of owning and operating family dental practices in Austin and Georgetown, will receive the Distinguished Alumni Award.

Stubbs receiveda bachelor of arts degree in biology from McMurry in 1961. He also holds a master of science degree in physiology fromWayne State University College of Medicine and a doctor of dental surgery degree fromBaylor College of Dentistry.

In addition to serving on theon the faculty of McMurry College Biology Department, Stubbs, has served as presidentof both the Austin District Dental Society and Texas Dental Association board of directors. He also served the American Dental Association as chairman of theCouncil on Access, Prevention and Interprofessional Relations.

Stubbs was appointed by the governor to serve on the State Board of Dental Examiners, and was president of theWestern Regional Examining Board in 2008, and was the WREBChief Examiner for dental and dental hygiene board examinations until 2016. He received theGold Medal Service Award from the Texas Dental Association in 2013.

Stubbs, who is also a fellow in theAmerican College of Dentists and the International College of Dentists, served as ICD president in 2013, and was named a Master Fellow in 2018.

The board also namedShaun Martin, a 1999 graduate, as named the recipient of this year'sYoung Alumni Achievement Award.

Martin holds a bachelor of arts degree in communication and psychology (summa cum laude) from McMurry, and also received a master of science degree from Texas Tech University in Lubbock.

After 10 years working for Hendrick Health System, Martin served as executive director ofJunior Achievement of Abilene for three years before, in 2014,joining Atmos Energy as manager of public affairs.

Martin is servingas civic leader toGen. Maryanne Miller in the Air Force's Air Mobility Command and vice chairman of the Abilene Chamber of Commerce Military Affairs Committee. He is also on a variety of community boards, including those of the Abilene Industrial Foundation, Taylor County Expo Center and Civic Abilene.

TheAlumni Association also named five recipients of this year's Outstanding Alumni Awards. They are:Rochelle McSherry Johnson, 1986; Don Taylor, 1956;Sarah Sheppard Shaver, 2002;Tyler McCracken, 2008; andSara von Ende Orr, 1993.

The awards will be presented Oct. 17 in a closed ceremony, which will be livestreamed for theMcMurry Alumni Association.

Read or Share this story: https://www.reporternews.com/story/news/2020/09/29/mcmurry-university-announces-annual-alumni-recognition-awards/3575051001/

Originally posted here:
McMurry University announces annual alumni recognition awards - Abilene Reporter-News

Keio University Research: Combating COVID-19: Nationwide genomic analysis to study possible reasons for the low COVID-19 mortality rate in Japan -…

https://research-highlights.keio.ac.jp/

On 21 May, 2020, the Joint Research Coronavirus Task Force was launched in Japan to promote the development of a mucosal vaccine for COVID-19 based on advanced genomic analysis.

"We will analyze 600 blood samples taken from Japanese COVID-19 patients located in approximately 100 hospitals throughout Japan," explains Takanori Kanai of the Keio University School of Medicine, who leads the task force. "One of the goals of the research is to try to understand why the mortality rate due to COVID-19 has remained significantly lower in Japan than the United States and European countries. We think it may be related to genetic differences. We want to resolve this issue and share our results with our colleagues around the world."

Background and goals

This research is being undertaken by experts affiliated with Keio University, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Osaka University, the Institute of Medical Science at the University of Tokyo, the National Center for Global Health and Medicine, the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Kitasato University, and Kyoto University.

"Our research team includes specialists in infectious diseases as well as other fields such as molecular genetics, computational science, and gastroenterology, which is my area of expertise, and is not directly related to epidemiology or infectious diseases," says Kanai. "This project was conceived by a small group of medical doctors and researchers without experience of handling infectious diseases. But the actual project is interdisciplinary, with members including ICU and medical care staff at university hospitals, community healthcare practitioners, immunologists, and even members of the general public. Ultimately, we want to contribute to society through medicine and science."

Working hypotheses for possible reasons for fewer COVID-19 deaths in Japan and Asia

The members of the task force compiled the following list of potential reasons for the low mortality rate in Japan: Japan's world-class medical system; a history of regular face mask use and attention to hygiene (including hand washing) in daily life; a culture of avoiding physical contact akin to social distancing; low expression of virus receptors; BCG vaccination; and differences in immune response due to differences in racial HLA and other polymorphisms.

Gathering samples and genetic information

The task force's goals are to establish a medical response system to predict who is at risk of contracting severe COVID-19 and develop a vaccine using proprietary technology. Genomic analysis technology is being employed to elucidate the genetic basis of the mechanisms that trigger COVID-19 infections to worsen, and thereby develop methods to fight the disease and develop a mucosal vaccine.

The team is focusing on the fact that the number of COVID-19 deaths per capita is far smaller in the Japanese population than it is in Western countries. The 600 blood samples are being studied by methods including high-resolution HLA analysis, SNP array and whole-genome sequence analysis, and T-cell repertoire analysis.

"Our analysis is being used to compare severe cases with mild and asymptomatic cases to identify genes that may be responsible for the exacerbation of COVID-19 in Japanese patients," explains Kanai. "Regarding vaccine development, predicting the target epitope is a major challenge. We are planning to use supercomputer simulations to identify potential antigens for SARS-CoV-2 based on our results for determining the genes that lead to severe cases of COVID-19 in Japanese patients."

Initial findings will be announced in September 2020

The task force plans to announce the initial findings of their research in September 2020. This will include the identities of the genes associated with triggering severe cases of COVID-19 among Japanese people that could be used to predict potential severity during early diagnostics.

"We want to use our results to produce guidelines to mitigate the dangers of overloading the medical care system during potential second or possibly third waves of COVID-19," says Kanai. "Furthermore, our immunological genetic information will be valuable for designing potential vaccines for SARS-CoV-2 for many Japanese people. We will share our results with colleagues in other countries so that they can use them to develop strategies to combat COVID-19 for their own populations."

About the researcher

Takanori Kanai Professor

Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, School of Medicine

Takanori Kanai graduated from the Keio University School of Medicine in 1988. Between 1989 and 2003 he held teaching positions at the Keio University School of Medicine, Keio Cancer Center, and Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU). He has also held distinguished positions including as a committee member of the Harvard Medical Institute Educational Program at TMDU; Section Editor of the journal Inflammatory Bowel Diseases; Associate Editor of Journal of Gastroenterology; Editorial Board Member, American Journal of Physiology and Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology; and Clinical Professor of Medicine (Visiting), TMDU. At the Keio University School of Medicine, he was appointed as an associate professor in 2007 and a professor in 2013, and he has been serving as a vice dean since 2017.

Links

COVID-19 taskforce https://www.covid19-taskforce.jp/en/home/

Takanori Kanai informationhttps://k-ris.keio.ac.jp/html/100002919_en.html

Further informationKeio UniversityOffice of Research Development and Sponsored Projects2-15-45 Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8345 JapanE-mail: [emailprotected]

WebsitesKeio Universityhttps://www.keio.ac.jp/en/

Keio Research Highlightshttps://research-highlights.keio.ac.jp/

About Keio University

Keio University is a private, comprehensive university with six major campuses in the Greater Tokyo area along with a number of affiliated academic institutions. Keio prides itself on educational and research excellence in a wide range of fields and its state-of-the-art university hospital.

Keio was founded in 1858, and it is Japan's first modern institution of higher learning. Over the last century and a half, it has evolved into and continues to maintain its status as a leading university in Japan through its ongoing commitment to producing leaders of the future. Founder Yukichi Fukuzawa, a highly respected educator and one of the most important intellectuals of modern Japan, aspired for Keio to be a pioneer of new discoveries and contribute to society through learning.

SOURCE Keio University

Read the rest here:
Keio University Research: Combating COVID-19: Nationwide genomic analysis to study possible reasons for the low COVID-19 mortality rate in Japan -...

Celebrity Chef Carla Hall and University Chancellor Dr. Robert Jones Elected to National 4-H Council Board of Trustees – PRNewswire

CHEVY CHASE, Md., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --National 4-H Council has announced the election of two new Trustees to its Board, Carla Hall and Dr. Robert Jones. Both Trustees and 4-H alums share a deep passion for diversity in agriculture and food equity, and will further support the organization's diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.

Celebrity Chef, Cookbook Author and Tennessee 4-H alumna Carla Hall, who can currently be seen hosting Food Network's Halloween Baking Championship, was introduced to television audiences as a competitor on Bravo's "Top Chef" and "Top Chef: All Stars." She co-hosted ABC's Emmy award-winning lifestyle series, The Chew for over seven years and currently serves as a Culinary Contributor on "Good Morning America." She has an ongoing partnership with Food Network and will host additional series and specials with them this year and beyond. In addition to her television appearances, Hall hosts a podcast on the Wondery Platform called "Say Yes with Carla Hall." Hall's latest cookbook, "Carla Hall's Soul Food: Everyday and Celebration," was published in 2018, landing on annual "Best Cookbook" lists across the country and receiving an NAACP Image Awards nomination. Hall's passion for diversity in food culture, agriculture and equity in food access is rooted in her philosophy that food connects us all.

"As a chef, I have an opportunity to share my passion for food and mindful cooking with the world," says Carla Hall. "I'm excited to continue my work with 4-H in this new role and join their efforts to empower all young people as they navigate the effects of the ongoing pandemic, digital divide and widening opportunity gap," added Hall. "By providing youth and their communities across the country with access to hands-on learning experiences in food, nutrition and wellness, they'll all have an opportunity to develop healthy living skills for a lifetime, no matter their circumstances."

A Georgia native and 4-H alumnus, Dr. Robert Jones earned a bachelor's degree in agronomy from Fort Valley State College, a master's degree in crop physiology from the University of Georgia, and a doctorate in crop physiology from the University of Missouri, Columbia. He began his academic career as a faculty member at the University of Minnesota in 1978, where he spent 34 years before becoming the President of the University at Albany, one of SUNY system's leading research universities. Dr. Jones now serves as the first African-American Chancellor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

"It is no exaggeration to say that the first step in my career was joining my local 4-H club. Those meetings were the first organized events in my life outside of church or school and they set me on a course that changed the trajectory of my life," said Jones. "I found educational opportunities that opened up a world that I never knew existed. I believe that mission is even more vital and more critical today when limited access to childhood educational opportunities leads to unacceptable upper limits on a life and career. 4-H taught me to dream big. And it is my privilege to be able to pay that gift forward today," added Jones.

As Trustees, both Hall and Dr. Jones will support National 4-H Council's strategic priorities, which include growing investment and participation in Cooperative Extension's 4-H program from six million to 10 million youth by 2025 as well as a collaboration with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Given her focus on nutrition, Hall also plans to promote wellness, youth voice and hands-on skills development amongst young people.

"As passionate advocates for young people, agriculture and promoting diversity, equity and inclusion, both Dr. Jones and Ms. Hall will move us even closer to our goal of providing all children with the opportunities they deserve so they can reach their full potential," says Jennifer Sirangelo, president and CEO of National 4-H Council. "Our new Trustees' expertise will help us to drive National 4-H Council's new campaign, Opportunity4All, which aims to rally support for Cooperative Extension's 4-H program and eliminate the opportunity gap that affects 55 million kids across America," added Sirangelo.

Carla Hall: Chef and Author Washington, D.C.Hall first won over audiences when she competed on Bravo's Top Chef and Top Chef: All Stars, where she shared her philosophy to always cook with love. She spent seven years co-hosting ABC's Emmy award winning, popular lifestyle series The Chew, and she currently appears as a Culinary Contributor on Good Morning America. In addition to her television appearances, Hall hosts a podcast on the Wondery Platform, Say Yes with Carla Hall. Her latest cookbook, Carla Hall's Soul Food: Everyday and Celebration, landed on annual 'Best Cookbook' lists across the country and received an NAACP Image Awards nomination.

Born in Nashville, TN, Hall graduated from Howard University's Business School and worked as an accountant for two years, before deciding to switch gears to work as a runway model. It was during that time, as she traveled through Europe, that she realized her deep-rooted passion for food could be her career path. Hall is very active with a number of charities and not-for-profit organizations that reflect her passion for causes close to her heart, in particular advocating for the physical and mental well being of children.

Dr. Robert Jones: Chancellor, University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignIllinoisDr. Jones became Chancellor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2016, having previously served as President of the University at Albany, State University of New York (SUNY). A Georgia native who studied agronomy and crop physiology, Dr. Jones is an experienced and accomplished scientist and researcher, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a fellow of the American Society of Agronomy and the Crop Science Society of America.

During his distinguished, 34-year career at the University of Minnesota, amongst other duties, Dr. Jones had administrative and budgetary responsibilities for the offices for public engagement, equity and diversity, and played a leadership role in establishing the nation's first urban research and outreach/engagement center (UROC), which was designed to help find a solution to complex challenges in economically depressed urban communities. The center was named in Dr. Jones' honor in 2015.

About 4H4H, the nation's largest youth development organization, grows confident young people who are empowered for life today and prepared for career tomorrow. 4H programs empower nearly six million young people across the U.S. through experiences that develop critical life skills. 4H is the youth development program of our nation's Cooperative Extension System and USDA and serves every county and parish in the U.S. through a network of 110 public universities and more than 3000 local Extension offices. Globally, 4H collaborates with independent programs to empower one million youth in 50 countries. The research-backed 4H experience grows young people who are four times more likely to contribute to their communities; two times more likely to make healthier choices; two times more likely to be civically active; and two times more likely to participate in STEM programs.

Learn more about 4H at http://www.4H.org, find us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/4H and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/4H.

SOURCE National 4-H Council

Home Page

View original post here:
Celebrity Chef Carla Hall and University Chancellor Dr. Robert Jones Elected to National 4-H Council Board of Trustees - PRNewswire

Predictive Analytics Detects Breast Cancer Spread with 90% Accuracy – HealthITAnalytics.com

September 28, 2020 -A predictive analytics method was able to detect with 90 percent accuracy which stage 0 breast cancers are likely to spread and recur, according to a study published in the American Journal of Physiology-Cell Physiology.

Approximately one in five new breast cancers are caught at their earliest stages, the researchers noted, but physicians arent able to confidently predict which of these stage 0 breast cancers are likely to recur and spread after surgery, or which forms surgery is likely to cure.

Understanding which aggressive a stage 0 cancer is likely to be will help doctors and their patients decide on the best course of treatment, which consists of removal of the tumor and a small amount of tissue followed by radiation, or removal of the entire breast.

To help providers better forecast the aggressiveness of these cancers, researchers developed a predictive analytics tool using samples from 70 patients who had stage 0 breast cancer. These patients had all undergone a mastectomy, and each had at least ten additional years of medical records available. Twenty of the 70 patients experienced a recurrence of their cancer, while 50 did not.

The team stained these tissue samples so that the proteins of interest would fluoresce under the microscope. Then, using a computer vision application, researchers created a library of microscope images associated with either aggressive or non-aggressive ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) based on what had happened to that patient.

Researchers then showed the program roughly 100 micrographs it hadnt seen before, known as holdout images, to see how well it could accurately predict whether that patients cancer was likely to recur.

The computer is looking for patterns in the images that humans cant readily discern, from the level of individual pixels up to an entire image of a million pixels, said Howard Petty, PhD, a professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences, and of microbiology and immunology at Michigan Medicine, the University of Michigans academic medical center.

The program is now able to correctly identify aggressive and non-aggressive disease 96 percent of the time, the researchers noted.

Thats pretty impressive when you consider that a human looking at these images would get the answer right about 70 percent of the time, Petty said. And weve continued to work on reducing the level of false negatives.

The tool also reported false positives in four percent of cases, meaning it identified aggressive disease in patients who did not experience recurrence.

We believe many of these examples speak to the skill of the patients surgeon, who effectively cured them of more aggressive disease in the operating room, Petty said.

Researchers plan to continue to refine the approach using additional samples, and the team expects that with further validation the tool could be approved for clinical use by the FDA within the next few years. The approach could also help providers predict the aggressiveness of similar types of cancer.

We started with a hypothesis about the biochemical mechanisms that drive cancer recurrence, tested the role of the movement of key proteins to the cell membrane in cancer recurrence and then confirmed our understanding of the underlying biology by assessing how well our explanation predicted what we actually see in patients, Petty said.

This improved understanding of the biology of cancer recurrence could also inform the development of new anti-cancer drugs.

By determining that the location of key proteins can predict a cancers aggressiveness, researchers could enhance treatment of stage 0 breast cancers.

Scientists dont really understand what leads to cancer recurrence at the molecular level and that has made it impossible to accurately predict which patients will experience a recurrence and which wont, said Petty.

What we found is that certain key enzymes collect near the cell membrane in these early breast cancers that end up being aggressive, but they dont in the cancers that are non-aggressive.

Read the rest here:
Predictive Analytics Detects Breast Cancer Spread with 90% Accuracy - HealthITAnalytics.com

This is what happens to your body over months in isolation – WXII The Triad

Since the pandemic officially began in March, we've been told staying home is the best way to avoid catching COVID-19. And it is. But life in confinement can cause physical ailments on its own.Being homebound for so long contorts the body, weakens the heart and lungs and even impairs brain function. The effects of life in isolation may stay with us beyond the pandemic's end whenever that may be.This is what half a year of isolation, staying home and staying sedentary can do to your body.You start losing muscleA week homebound, whether you're working, eating or sleeping, may feel comforting and necessary. But all the inactivity can undo hard-won progress.That's because it can take months to build muscle and just one week to lose it. Humans, for all of our hardiness, also lose muscle more quickly the older we get, said Keith Baar, a professor of molecular exercise physiology at the University of California-Davis.When you lose muscle, you're not necessarily losing bulk, but you are losing strength, which Baar said is one of the "strongest indicators" of how long you'll live."The stronger we stay, the easier it is for us to maintain our longevity."Your heart and lungs get weakerIf you're not exercising, you're not raising your heart rate. And when your heart isn't pumping as hard, it gets weaker, Baar said.The same thing happens to your lungs when you're inactive, said Dr. Panagis Galiatsatos, a pulmonologist from Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. He said many of his patients have felt their breathing function deteriorate because they're no longer conditioned to exercise.People with poor lung health are already considered more susceptible to coronavirus because it's a respiratory illness, so they're likely staying home to reduce their risk of infection. But if they're not moving and increasing blood flow to their lungs, then their preexisting condition might harm them anyway.Exercise is the only key to improve both heart and lung function "Not a single medication can do that," Galiatsatos said. If it's not safe to leave the house, Baar recommends dancing or finding household objects for home strength training think milk jug deadlifts.You gain fatIf you're home all day, every day, you're likely feet away from your pantry. Depending on your perspective, that's either convenient or dangerous.With such easy access, your "feeding" window, or the period of time during which you eat most of your meals, might widen from 10 or 12 hours every day to 15 hours a day more than half the day, which could cause your insulin levels to spike. Insulin encourages fat storage and converting other fat molecules to fat, said Giles Duffield, an associate professor of anatomy and physiology at the University of Notre Dame who studies circadian rhythms and metabolism, among other subjects.Excessive eating is also an issue because, at the beginning of the pandemic, many people stocked up on nonperishable foods in case of supply shortages, Duffield said. Many nonperishable foods are highly processed and rich in sugars and starches.Weight gain during periods of intense stress is normal, and 2020 has been unrelentingly stressful. Weight gain becomes dangerous, though, when it turns into obesity. Then, your body might start to resist insulin, and chronic health issues like metabolic illness or diabetes may develop, Duffield said.Your posture is affectedWe all have a seated position we subconsciously sink into slumped forward, shoulders hunched; spine curled, neck bent; on your chest, elbows up.But sitting and lying down all day can seriously affect your posture and strain your back, neck, shoulders, hips and eyes, said Brandon Brown, an epidemiologist and associate professor in the Center for Healthy Communities at the University of California-Riverside.Brown suggests getting up from your seat once an hour, walking around and stretching for a moment. You might even lie on the floor and "let your back readjust," he said.Your sleep suffersAt least half of all Americans are skimping on vitamin D, which sustains bone density and keeps fatigue at bay. You're definitely one of them if you spend most of your day at home, curtains drawn, Duffield said.Getting enough sunlight in the morning helps synchronize your body's circadian rhythm, Duffield said. So if you're shut in all week or working in the dark, your sleep might suffer, too.Brown said as long as you're going on walks or exercising, doing yard work or other activities that drag you outside for a bit, you won't need to worry about getting enough sunlight. If you're unable to get out of the house or the weather won't permit you to, an artificial bright light can help your body retune in the morning, Duffield said, as can avoiding blue lights at night.Your brain slowsA sedentary lifestyle can slow your brain, too.Exercise produces certain chemicals in the brain that break down toxins in the blood and even prevent them from going to the brain, where they can kill brain cells, Baar said.Not exercising means you won't as efficiently break down amino acid byproducts that wind up as neurotoxins in the brain.The effects of isolation are insidious like the pandemic, the physical symptoms after months of seclusion often aren't obvious until they become harmful or extreme.It's possible, too, to stave off those symptoms before they set in for good.Prioritizing your mental and physical health while staying home requires some work, but it's a healthier coping mechanism for uncertainty than staying stationary until COVID-19 is no longer a threat, health experts say. And when it's safe to live fully again, you'll be prepared.

Since the pandemic officially began in March, we've been told staying home is the best way to avoid catching COVID-19. And it is. But life in confinement can cause physical ailments on its own.

Being homebound for so long contorts the body, weakens the heart and lungs and even impairs brain function. The effects of life in isolation may stay with us beyond the pandemic's end whenever that may be.

This is what half a year of isolation, staying home and staying sedentary can do to your body.

A week homebound, whether you're working, eating or sleeping, may feel comforting and necessary. But all the inactivity can undo hard-won progress.

That's because it can take months to build muscle and just one week to lose it. Humans, for all of our hardiness, also lose muscle more quickly the older we get, said Keith Baar, a professor of molecular exercise physiology at the University of California-Davis.

When you lose muscle, you're not necessarily losing bulk, but you are losing strength, which Baar said is one of the "strongest indicators" of how long you'll live.

"The stronger we stay, the easier it is for us to maintain our longevity."

If you're not exercising, you're not raising your heart rate. And when your heart isn't pumping as hard, it gets weaker, Baar said.

The same thing happens to your lungs when you're inactive, said Dr. Panagis Galiatsatos, a pulmonologist from Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. He said many of his patients have felt their breathing function deteriorate because they're no longer conditioned to exercise.

People with poor lung health are already considered more susceptible to coronavirus because it's a respiratory illness, so they're likely staying home to reduce their risk of infection. But if they're not moving and increasing blood flow to their lungs, then their preexisting condition might harm them anyway.

Exercise is the only key to improve both heart and lung function "Not a single medication can do that," Galiatsatos said. If it's not safe to leave the house, Baar recommends dancing or finding household objects for home strength training think milk jug deadlifts.

If you're home all day, every day, you're likely feet away from your pantry. Depending on your perspective, that's either convenient or dangerous.

With such easy access, your "feeding" window, or the period of time during which you eat most of your meals, might widen from 10 or 12 hours every day to 15 hours a day more than half the day, which could cause your insulin levels to spike. Insulin encourages fat storage and converting other fat molecules to fat, said Giles Duffield, an associate professor of anatomy and physiology at the University of Notre Dame who studies circadian rhythms and metabolism, among other subjects.

Excessive eating is also an issue because, at the beginning of the pandemic, many people stocked up on nonperishable foods in case of supply shortages, Duffield said. Many nonperishable foods are highly processed and rich in sugars and starches.

Weight gain during periods of intense stress is normal, and 2020 has been unrelentingly stressful. Weight gain becomes dangerous, though, when it turns into obesity. Then, your body might start to resist insulin, and chronic health issues like metabolic illness or diabetes may develop, Duffield said.

We all have a seated position we subconsciously sink into slumped forward, shoulders hunched; spine curled, neck bent; on your chest, elbows up.

But sitting and lying down all day can seriously affect your posture and strain your back, neck, shoulders, hips and eyes, said Brandon Brown, an epidemiologist and associate professor in the Center for Healthy Communities at the University of California-Riverside.

Brown suggests getting up from your seat once an hour, walking around and stretching for a moment. You might even lie on the floor and "let your back readjust," he said.

At least half of all Americans are skimping on vitamin D, which sustains bone density and keeps fatigue at bay. You're definitely one of them if you spend most of your day at home, curtains drawn, Duffield said.

Getting enough sunlight in the morning helps synchronize your body's circadian rhythm, Duffield said. So if you're shut in all week or working in the dark, your sleep might suffer, too.

Brown said as long as you're going on walks or exercising, doing yard work or other activities that drag you outside for a bit, you won't need to worry about getting enough sunlight. If you're unable to get out of the house or the weather won't permit you to, an artificial bright light can help your body retune in the morning, Duffield said, as can avoiding blue lights at night.

A sedentary lifestyle can slow your brain, too.

Exercise produces certain chemicals in the brain that break down toxins in the blood and even prevent them from going to the brain, where they can kill brain cells, Baar said.

Not exercising means you won't as efficiently break down amino acid byproducts that wind up as neurotoxins in the brain.

The effects of isolation are insidious like the pandemic, the physical symptoms after months of seclusion often aren't obvious until they become harmful or extreme.

It's possible, too, to stave off those symptoms before they set in for good.

Prioritizing your mental and physical health while staying home requires some work, but it's a healthier coping mechanism for uncertainty than staying stationary until COVID-19 is no longer a threat, health experts say. And when it's safe to live fully again, you'll be prepared.

The rest is here:
This is what happens to your body over months in isolation - WXII The Triad

What happens to your body over months in isolation – 9News

Since the pandemic officially began in March, we've been told staying home is the best way to avoid catching COVID-19.

And it is. But life in confinement can cause physical ailments on its own.

Being homebound for so long contorts the body, weakens the heart and lungs and even impairs brain function. The effects of life in isolation may stay with us beyond the pandemic's end (whenever that may be).

This is what half a year of isolation, staying home and staying sedentary can do to your body.

A week homebound, whether you're working, eating or sleeping, may feel comforting and necessary. But all the inactivity can undo hard-won progress.

That's because it can take months to build muscle and just one week to lose it.

Humans, for all of our hardiness, also lose muscle more quickly the older we get, said Keith Baar, a professor of molecular exercise physiology at the University of California - Davis.

When you lose muscle, you're not necessarily losing bulk, but you are losing strength, which Baar said is one of the "strongest indicators" of how long you'll live.

"The stronger we stay, the easier it is for us to maintain our longevity."

Your heart and lungs get weaker

If you're not exercising, you're not raising your heart rate. And when your heart isn't pumping as hard, it gets weaker, Baar said.

The same thing happens to your lungs when you're inactive, said Dr Panagis Galiatsatos, a pulmonologist from Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Centre.

He said many of his patients have felt their breathing function deteriorate because they're no longer conditioned to exercise.

People with poor lung health are already considered more susceptible to coronavirus because it's a respiratory illness, so they're likely staying home to reduce their risk of infection.

But if they're not moving and increasing blood flow to their lungs, then their preexisting condition might harm them anyway.

Exercise is the only key to improve both heart and lung function.

"Not a single medication can do that," Galiatsatos said.

If it's not safe to leave the house, Baar recommends dancing or finding household objects for home strength training - think milk jug deadlifts.

If you're home all day, every day, you're likely feet away from your pantry.

Depending on your perspective, that's either convenient or dangerous.

With such easy access, your "feeding" window, or the period of time during which you eat most of your meals, might widen from 10 or 12 hours every day to 15 hours a day- more than half the day, which could cause your insulin levels to spike.

Insulin encourages fat storage and converting other fat molecules to fat, said Giles Duffield, an associate professor of anatomy and physiology at the University of Notre Dame who studies circadian rhythms and metabolism, among other subjects.

Excessive eating is also an issue because, at the beginning of the pandemic, many people stocked up on nonperishable foods in case of supply shortages, Duffield said.

Many nonperishable foods are highly processed and rich in sugars and starches.

Weight gain during periods of intense stress is normal, and 2020 has been unrelentingly stressful. Weight gain becomes dangerous, though, when it turns into obesity.

Then, your body might start to resist insulin, and chronic health issues like metabolic illness or diabetes may develop, Duffield said.

We all have a seated position we subconsciously sink into - slumped forward, shoulders hunched; spine curled, neck bent; on your chest, elbows up.

But sitting and lying down all day can seriously affect your posture and strain your back, neck, shoulders, hips and eyes, said Brandon Brown, an epidemiologist and associate professor in the Center for Healthy Communities at the University of California - Riverside.

Brown suggests getting up from your seat once an hour, walking around and stretching for a moment.

You might even lie on the floor and "let your back readjust," he said.

At least half of all Americans are skimping on vitamin D, which sustains bone density and keeps fatigue at bay.

You're definitely one of them if you spend most of your day at home, curtains drawn, Duffield said.

Getting enough sunlight in the morning helps synchronize your body's circadian rhythm, Duffield said.

So if you're shut in all week or working in the dark, your sleep might suffer, too.

Brown said as long as you're going on walks or exercising, doing yard work or other activities that drag you outside for a bit, you won't need to worry about getting enough sunlight.

If you're unable to get out of the house or the weather won't permit you to, an artificial bright light can help your body retune in the morning, Duffield said, as can avoiding blue lights at night.

A sedentary lifestyle can slow your brain, too.

Exercise produces certain chemicals in the brain that break down toxins in the blood and even prevent them from going to the brain, where they can kill brain cells, Baar said.

Not exercising means you won't as efficiently break down amino acid byproducts that wind up as neurotoxins in the brain.

The effects of isolation are insidious - like the pandemic, the physical symptoms after months of seclusion often aren't obvious until they become harmful or extreme.

It's possible, too, to stave off those symptoms before they set in for good.

Prioritising your mental and physical health while staying home requires some work, but it's a healthier coping mechanism for uncertainty than staying stationary until COVID-19 is no longer a threat, health experts say.

GALLERY: One last look at Melbourne's deserted streets

And when it's safe to live fully again, you'll be prepared.

Excerpt from:
What happens to your body over months in isolation - 9News

AlzeCure Pharma provides a scientific update on Alzheimer’s disease and the Alzstatin project platform – BioSpace

STOCKHOLM, Sept. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- AlzeCure Pharma AB (publ) (FN STO: ALZCUR), a pharmaceutical company that develops a broad portfolio of drug candidates for diseases affecting the central nervous system, with projects in both Alzheimer's disease and pain, will hold a live business update focused on the company's Alzheimer's platform Alzstatin on Wednesday, September 30 at 10:00. The presentation will be followed by a Q&A session led by Vator Securities' analyst Felicia Rittemar.

CEO Martin Jnsson and CSO Johan Sandin will, among other things, present the pharmaceutical platform Alzstatin and the research behind it. Within the Alzstatin platform, AlzeCure develops disease-modifying and preventive drugs for Alzheimer's disease that focus on reducing the production of toxic amyloid beta (A) in the brain.

Henrik Zetterberg, chief physician and professor at the Department of Neuroscience and Physiology at Sahlgrenska Academy and professor at University College of London (UCL), will participate and provide a deeper review of disease development in Alzheimer's and the amyloid hypothesis, as well as provide an update on developments in biomarkers and diagnostics in Alzheimer's.

Watch the live broadcast on September 30 from 10:00am - 11:30am CET via: https://youtu.be/3QBa97Ue75o.

The business update will be held in English and will be available on the company's website afterwards.

The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above at 10:00am CET on September 28, 2020.

About AlzeCure Pharma AB (publ)

AlzeCure is a Swedish pharmaceutical company that develops new innovative drug therapies for the treatment of severe diseases and conditions that affect the central nervous system, such as Alzheimer's disease and pain - indications for which currently available treatment is extremely limited. The company is listed on Nasdaq First North Premier Growth Market and is developing several parallel drug candidates based on three research platforms: NeuroRestore, Alzstatin and Painless.

NeuroRestore consists of three symptomatic drug candidates where the unique mechanism of action allows for multiple indications, including Alzheimer's disease, as well as cognitive disorders associated with traumatic brain injury, sleep apnea and Parkinson's disease. Alzstatin comprises two disease-modifying and preventive drug candidates for early treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Painless is the company's research platform in the field of pain and contains two projects: ACD440, which is a clinical candidate for the treatment of neuropathic pain, and TrkA-NAM, which targets severe pain in conditions such as osteoarthritis. AlzeCure aims to pursue its own projects through preclinical research and development to an early clinical phase and is continuously working with business development to find suitable out-licensing solutions with other pharmaceutical companies.

FNCA Sweden AB, +46(0)8 528 00 399 info@fnca.se, is the company's Certified Adviser. For more information, please visit http://www.alzecurepharma.se.

About Alzstatin

AlzeCure's disease-modifying research platform, Alzstatin, consisting of disease-modifying and preventive drug candidates, focuses on reducing the production of toxic amyloid beta (A) in the brain. A plays a key pathological role in Alzheimer's and begins to accumulate in the brain years before clear symptoms develop. The drug candidates in the Alzstatin platfrom modulate the function of the enzyme gamma secretase. Gamma secretase acts like a pair of scissors and cuts A42 out from a longer protein known as APP. The sticky A42 clumps together giving rise to the amyloid plaque so typical of Alzheimer's disease. The candidates in the Alzstatin platform affect enzyme function so that it instead cuts out shorter forms of the A peptide, A37 and A38, which in addition to them not being sticky and not forming aggregates, also have a restrictive effects on A42 aggregates already formed. This means the drug candidates in the Alzstatin platform have two separate but synergistic effects that together contribute to a stronger anti-amyloidogenic - and thus more potent - disease-modifyning effect.

About Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia, affecting approximately 45 million people worldwide. Alzheimer's disease is a lethal disorder that also has a large impact on both relatives and the society. Today, preventive and disease modifying treatments are missing. The main risk factors to develop Alzheimer's are age and genetic causes. Even though the disease can start as early as between 40 and 65 years of age, it is most common after 65 years. Significant investments in Alzheimer research are being made because of the significant unmet medical need and the large cost of this disease for healthcare and society. The total global costs for dementia related diseases is estimated to about 1,000 billion USD globally in 2018. Given the lack of both effective symptomatic treatments and disease modifying treatments, the need for new effective therapies is acute.The few approved drugs on the market today have only a limited symptomatic effect and can produce dose limiting side effects. A disease modifying treatment for Alzheimer's disease is estimated to reach more than 10 billion USD in annual sales. In Sweden, approximately 100,000 people suffer from Alzheimer's disease with a healthcare cost of about 63 billion SEK yearly, which is more than for cancer and cardiovascular diseases combined.

For more information, please contactMartin JnssonCEOTel: +46-707-86-94-43martin.jonsson@alzecurepharma.com

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

The following files are available for download:

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/alzecure-pharma-provides-a-scientific-update-on-alzheimers-disease-and-the-alzstatin-project-platform-301138830.html

SOURCE AlzeCure Pharma AB

Go here to read the rest:
AlzeCure Pharma provides a scientific update on Alzheimer's disease and the Alzstatin project platform - BioSpace

Proper funding for women’s health research could save lives during pandemic – Policy Options

Womens health research is chronically underfunded, and womens health receives little attention across the spectrum of health research, from funding to academic opportunities. Although steps have been taken to incorporate sex and gender-based analysis (SGBA) into research in Canada, there is a continued lack of analyses of sex and gender across health research areas. This lack of attention paid to SGBA and to womens health research has led to misdiagnoses, minimized symptoms and poorly targeted treatment in women.

Indeed, if we had provided more funding and resources to womens health research, one could make the argument that we would be closer in our search for a treatment and cure for COVID-19. Why?

Mortality from COVID-19 follows from attacks on the immune and vascular system, and both systems have striking sex differences. Yet, there is little research on how female-specific factors affect immune and vascular systems. If we knew more about how these systems work in women, we would be in a better position to understand why female physiology offers some protection against COVID-19-related mortality as shown in higher mortality rates in males. We would also be further ahead in our quest for an effective COVID-19 treatment for both men and women.

A sex and gender-focused approach and targeted consideration of womens health issues in health science research, policy and practice will ensure we do not deepen sex and gender disparities in COVID-19 research and outcomes and promote an inclusive and balanced path for the future health of all Canadians. And it will save lives, faster.

Sex differences matter in health research

Womens health research may seem like a niche research area; however, many diseases disproportionately affect women compared to men. For instance: depression and anxiety-related diseases are more prevalent in women than in men; heart attack symptoms manifest differently between the sexes; and treatments for certain diseases are more effective in one sex versus the other.

It is essential to understand these sex differences and how female-specific factors, such as contraceptive use, pregnancy and menopause, may contribute to disease susceptibility, symptoms and treatment. These unique aspects of womens health are compounded by a range of intersectional factors such as gendered societal norms, race and socioeconomic status, which can accumulate to negatively affect womens health, and are often ignored in health literature.

Womens health research is chronically underfunded. In a 2019 report commissioned by B.C. Womens Health Foundation, we found that over the past ten years, one percent of salary awards went to womens health researchers in Canada, and in B.C., womens health grants made up only eight percent of Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) grants. Given that women make up over 50 percent of the population, these percentages are dishearteningly low.

Furthermore, the amount of funding per grant was $50,000 lower per year for womens health grants compared to others. Perhaps unsurprisingly, more women than men researchers study womens health and conduct research analysing sex and gender. Women, on average, have lower funding success rates at CIHR, and receive less money (over $100,000 less per CIHR grant).

Inequities exacerbated by COVID-19

COVID-19 has amplified these inequities in womens health research affecting funding, authorship, data acquisition and analysis. Health research suffered a serious blow when CIHR cancelled their 2020 spring competition one month after grants were submitted. Thankfully, the decision was reversed; however, the subsequent delay and resulting interim funding gap will have a cascading negative impact on health researchers, disproportionately affecting those with less funding, including womens health researchers. Unpredictability of funding opportunities and low funding levels greatly impede research progress according to a survey of Canadian health researchers.

Emerging data indicates that women researchers are being surpassed by their male counterparts in COVID-19 scientific outputs, likely linked to the increased volume of caregiving and domestic responsibilities falling on women during the pandemic. Females are conducting less research on COVID-19, as depicted by publications, registered reports and awarded grants.

Furthermore, fewer female researchers as first authors are submitting and publishing during the pandemic compared to the year prior and these trends appear to be getting worse as time goes on. From the CIHR funding decisions database, of the initial 99 grants awarded for the CIHR Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Rapid Research Funding Opportunity, only 23 percent of the grant awardees had a woman as the nominated principal investigator.

In the latest round of CIHR COVID-19 grants, which included grants on mental health, clinical management and social policy, the percentage of grants lead by a woman as principal investigator increased to 40 percent.

Yet the general picture is still worrying. Studies indicate that diversity breeds discovery. We need more minds with diverse interests and multidisciplinary research to solve the many health, economic and societal issues related to the pandemic. If women are missing from the equation, diversity is compromised, and we will continue to lag in our efforts to solve the pandemic crisis for all.

Worse yet, commitment to SGBA for COVID-19 research grants is not evident. Only four percent of awarded grants met SGBA criteria, and only two percent went specifically to studying womens health. Two months after the funding announcements, a supplement to understand the effect of sex as a biological variable (SABV) was awarded and currently 11 percent of the COVID-19 grants consider SGBA.

This is still not enough. If we ignore sex and gender as a variable in COVID-19 research, we miss crucial information to propel the research forward.

Disaggregated data is a critical tool

Additionally, despite the Canadian governments commitment to applying a GBA+ policy lens in its decisions, it is difficult to find Canadian data on COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations and deaths disaggregated by sex and age.

Canada is one of the countries now providing the Global Health 50/50 program with sex-disaggregated data. However, the troubling lack of commitment to SGBA in the CIHR COVID-19 funding decisions, makes it evident that little work in Canada is underway to investigate the known sex and gender differences of this disease.

To rectify these biases and inequities, first and foremost, funding for womens health research needs to increase by creating dedicated funding sources specifically for womens health research, both for COVID-19 and for womens health research in general.

Second, Canada needs to create a national open repository where all federally funded research must be submitted with mandatory recording of sex, gender and age data. Doing so will enable secondary analyses of sex and gender and allow for new health initiatives that benefit women, men and gender diverse peoples.

Third, while federal funding agencies such as CIHR are to be applauded for making gender metrics public, granting bodies must consistently demonstrate a commitment to gender equity in funding awards, terms and amounts. One method is to employ modular budgets, which have eliminated sex differences in funding amounts for the National Institute of Health in the United States and reduced sex differences in funded grant amounts to less than $5000 under the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada system.

These steps will improve health research both in response to this pandemic and more widely. It will also help us better respond to future pandemics. The solution is simple: fund more womens health research.

This article is part of theTackling inequality as part of Canadas post-pandemic recoveryspecial feature.

Photo: Shutterstock/By Gorodenkoff

Read the rest here:
Proper funding for women's health research could save lives during pandemic - Policy Options

Animal Model Market research gain impetus due to the growing demand over (2020 2027) – The Daily Chronicle

Global Animal model market report provides geographic analysis covering regions such as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of World. The Animal model market for each region is further segmented for major countries including U.S., Canada, Germany, UK, France, Italy, China, India, Japan, Brazil, South Africa and others.

FYI, You will get latest updated report as per the COVID-19 Impact on this industry. Our updated reports will now feature detailed analysis that will help you make critical decisions.

Browse Full Report: https://www.marketresearchengine.com/animal-model-market

The Global Animal Model market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8% during the forecast period. Scientist and research professionals perform biological and pathological experiments on animals, which is called animal model as animals and human beings share common biological structure. The model is chosen usually because it meets the determined taxonomic equivalency to a human for the research and investigation purpose so as to get the better understanding of the human disease.

The growing innovation in genetic engineering that helps in evaluating the drugs mechanisms of action is again boosting the demand for the drug discovery thereby raising the demand for the animal model.

Global Animal model market is segregated on the basis of application as toxicology, biomedical research, physiology, cancer research, genetic research, neurological research, xenotransplantation. Based on animal type, the global Animal model market is segmented in rabbits, dogs, cats, rats, mice and others. The report also bifurcates global Animal model market based on end user in research institutes, pharmaceutical companies, and educational institutes.

Competitive Rivalry

Envigo, SAGE Labs, Transgenic, Inc. are among the major players in the global Animal model market share. The companies are involved in several growth and expansion strategies to gain a competitive advantage. Industry participants also follow value chain integration with business operations in multiple stages of the value chain.

The Animal Model Market has been segmented as below:

Animal Model Market, by Application

Animal Model Market, by Animal Type

Animal Model Market, by End User

Animal Model Market, By Region

The report covers:

Report scope:

Global Animal model market report scope includes detailed study covering underlying factors influencing the industry trends.

The report covers analysis on regional and country level market dynamics. The scope also covers competitive overview providing company market shares along with company profiles for major revenue contributing companies.

The report scope includes detailed competitive outlook covering market shares and profiles key participants in the global Animal model market share. Major industry players with significant revenue share include SAGE Labs, Envigo, Transgenic, Inc., Charles River Laboratories etc.

Reasons to Buy this Report:

Request Sample Report from here: https://www.marketresearchengine.com/animal-model-market

Table of Contents:

Other Related Market Research Reports:

Marine Composites Market 2019 2024 Trends, Analysis, Market Forecast

About MarketResearchEngine.com

Market Research Engine is a global market research and consulting organization. We provide market intelligence in emerging, niche technologies and markets. Our market analysis powered by rigorous methodology and quality metrics provide information and forecasts across emerging markets, emerging technologies and emerging business models. Our deep focus on industry verticals and country reports help our clients to identify opportunities and develop business strategies.

Media Contact

Company Name: Market Research Engine

Contact Person: John Bay

Email: [emailprotected]

Phone: +1-855-984-1862

Country: United States

Website: https://www.marketresearchengine.com/

More:
Animal Model Market research gain impetus due to the growing demand over (2020 2027) - The Daily Chronicle