Preference for order rather than uncertainty related to brain anatomy – Bel Marra Health

July 10, 2017 medical

Home Brain Function Preference for order rather than uncertainty related to brain anatomy

There are people out there who prefer order in their lives rather than unpredictability. Feeling secure in their work and relationships is something most people take great comfort in. These concepts appear foreign to some people who reject stability in lieu of impulsiveness.

There are pros and cons to each. Certain medical conditions can even present with some of these traits, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder and autism.

A team of behavior neuroscientists believe they have identified changes in brain regions that may explain why some prefer order while others do not.

Studies in rats assessing their ability to work for a reward under both stable and variable conditions provided the researchers more insight into how the brain operates. The areas of the brain studied included the orbitofrontal cortex and the basolateral amygdala regions of the brain.

The experiment worked by using sugar pellets as a reward for choosing between two images side by side. The rats made selections by pressing their noses onto a touch sensitive screen. When a rat touched an image, a sugar pellet would be dispensed at a predictable range of timein this case, 10 seconds. Touching the other image produced a sugar pellet at a more varied amount of time. This second image would make the rat wait as little as five seconds or as long as 15 seconds.

The rat subjects performed this experiment for a month at a time for about 45 minutes a day.

After assessing all the data, the researchers discovered that the rats were able to detect fluctuations in wait times. Variations correlated with the amount of a brain protein called gephyrin in the basolateral amygdala regions, which doubled during unpredictable wait times.

To further test this correlation, they made one option better than the other, with the rats predictably choosing the faster option for the sugar pellet over a short period of time.

Interestingly, rats without a functional basolateral amygdala learned more slowly, but caught up in a day or two. However, rats without a functional orbitofrontal cortex did not learn at all. They treated each experience as brand new.

Its as if the rats had forgotten or had no record of the full range of possible outcomes. This singled out the orbitofrontal cortex as having a bigger role than previously thought.

Overall, all the rats chose the risky option more often, with the exception of the rats without a functional basolateral amygdala. These rats were risk-averse throughout the duration of the experiment.

Earlier research has shown that the orbitofrontal cortex and the basolateral amygdala share anatomical connections and are both involved in decision-making.

The researchers believe that changes in these brain regions and brain proteins may explain why a person prefers certain outcomes rather than others. The gephyrin gene has even been linked to autisma mental condition characterized by difficulty with communication but also repetitive behavior.

Related: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) questionnaire can also help determine the risk of depression and anxiety

Even in the era of fake news, facts can shape our opinions – Grist

July 9, 2017 medical

In a world wherepost-truth was 2016s word of the year, many people are starting to doubt the efficacy of facts. Can science make sense of anti-science and post-truthism? More generally, how can we understand what drives peoples beliefs, decisions, and behaviors?

Scientists have developed many theories to describehow people process and think about information. Unfortunately, theres an increasing tendency to see people as creatures whose reasoning mechanisms are largely dependent on a narrow set of processes. For example, one popular theory suggests that if we just communicate more accurate information to people, their behavior will change accordingly. Another suggests that people will reject evidence if it threatens their deeply held cultural worldviews and associated feelings.

Its more important than ever that our approach to communication is evidence-based and built on a strong, theoretical foundation. Many of these models contribute valuable insights and can help us design better communication, but each on its own is incomplete. And science communicators have a tendency to oversimplify, focusing on a single model and disregarding other theories.

We suggest that this is a dangerous practice and less effective thana more nuanced and holistic view. The apparent choice between fact and feeling, or between cognition and culture, is a false dilemma. In reality, both are related and address different pieces of the decision-making puzzle.

One well-known theory about how people absorb new facts is the information deficit model. The main idea here is straightforward: If you throw more facts at people, theyll eventually come around on an issue.

Most behavioral science scholars agree that this model of human thinking and behavioris clearly incomplete people rely on a range of other cues besides facts in guiding their attitudes and behavior. For example, sometimes we simply act based on how we feel about an issue. Unfortunately, the facts dont always convince.

But the term information deficit is problematic, too. People tend to have limited information in most areas of life. For example, we often dont know the thoughts and feelings of other people we trust and value. Similarly, we might have limited knowledge about appropriate cultural norms when traveling to a new country, and so on. Information deficit isnt a very meaningful term to use to theorize about human thinking.

Another theory about human thinking is called cultural cognition. In brief, it suggests that our cultural values and worldviews shapehow we think about science and society.

Its easy to be duped into thinking of the human brain as a sponge that soaks up only the information it wants to believe. For example, the theory suggests that peoples position on divisive issues such as climate change is not informed by scientific evidence, but rather by the strong commitment people have to their political groups and ideologies. The idea is that to protect our cultural worldviews, we actively reject evidence that threatens them think of someone who fears that government action on climate change undermines the free market.

In short, this narrative sounds appealing on the surface, as humans organize themselves in groups, and much psychological research has shown that we derive part of oursocial identities from the group affiliations we maintain.

Yet, its focus is overly narrow, and theres a logical fallacy in this conception of human thinking. We belong to many groups at any given time and we juggle many different public and private identities. The real question is about nuance; when and under what conditions is someone motivated to reject scientific facts in favor of their cultural worldview?

To throw all our fact-disseminating eggs into one or the other theoretical basket is oversimplistic and deprives us of important insights.

A more nuanced perspective recognizes that facts and information are embedded in social and cultural contexts. For example, peoples perception of expert consensus matters a great deal, especially on contested issues, and is often described as agateway belief that influences a range of other attitudes about an issue. The near-unanimous consensus that vaccines do not cause autism or that climate change is human-caused are all scientific facts. At the same time, consensus information is also inherently social: It describes the extent of agreement within an influential group of experts.

People often want to beaccurate in their views, and, in an uncertain world bounded by limited time and effort, we make strategic bets on what information to take into account. Consensus acts as a natural heuristic, or mental shortcut, for complicated scientific issues.Numerousstudies have found that highlighting scientific agreement on human-caused global warming can help neutralize and reduce conflicting views about climate change.

Similarly, while some studies have found a limited effect of knowledge on judgment, when you dig deeper into the data, a more nuanced and insightful picture emerges. For example, some studies claim that adeficit in scientific knowledge does not explain why people are divided on contested issues such as climate change. But whats being measured in these experiments matters. Indeed, indicators such as how well people understand numbers or their scientific literacy which is what some of these studies actually quantify are categorically different from measuring specific knowledge people have about a topic such as climate change. In fact, a survey across six countries found that when peopleunderstand the causes of climate change, their concern increases accordingly, irrespective of their values. Similarly,otherstudies show that explanations about the mechanisms of climate change can reduce biased evaluations of evidence as well as political polarization.

In short, facts do matter.

Indeed, there is no need to throw outthe baby with the bathwater. Instead, we need to dispel false dichotomies and folk psychology about human thinking that currently dominate the media. Repeating the story that people dont care about facts runs the risk of becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. A holistic view acknowledges that people rely on cognitive shortcuts and emotions, care about social norms and group identities and are sometimes motivated in their reasoning, but it also recognizes the research showing that most people want to fundamentally hold accurate perceptions about the world.

This is particularly important as the public is currently hampered by misinformation and fake news. In two separatestudies, we each found that misinformation about climate change has a disproportionate influence on public attitudes and opinion. However, we also found that inoculating people against the false arguments neutralized misinformations influence, across the political spectrum. In essence, teaching people what false arguments might be deployed helped them overcome their cultural biases. Other work similarlyshows that the politicization of science can be counteracted with inoculation.

People are complex, social, and affected by a diverse range of influences depending on the situation. We want to hold accurate views, but emotion, group identities, and conflicting goals can get in the way. Incorporating these different insights into human thinking enriches our understanding of how people form opinions and make decisions.

Effective science communication requires an inclusive, holistic approach that integrates different social science perspectives. To simplistically focus on a single perspective paints a limited and increasingly inaccurate view of how humans form judgments about social and scientific issues.

Link:
Even in the era of fake news, facts can shape our opinions - Grist

Human Behavior

As ye sow, so shall ye reap – The Intelligencer

July 9, 2017 student

Recently, much hay has been made about a Guest Opinion that claimed people who display a Hate has no home here sign are hypocrites in that such signs are code for I hate Trump.

Although it is usually impossible to judge the intentions of actions, the display of such signs logically demands that the owners claim they hate no one, that they are sending a message to some who, in their opinion, do hate others, and that they are morally superior to such haters.

The problem is that the sentiment Hate has no home here can only be justified religiously under the rubric that humans are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights. Secularism has as its basis that religious beliefs are merely personal, biased world views. Even if God does exist, he, or at least his revelations to humanity, are irrelevant to the public square.

Secularism appears to be stuck in the Enlightenment, which claimed that morals could be justified by pure, detached reason, as if that overall project has not been discredited by academics for over 100 years.

So, without a religious basis, morality becomes a mere shouting match over who can scream the loudest or act the most indignant. Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche wrote all animals ... strive instinctively for an optimum combination of favourable (sic) conditions which allow them to expend all their energy and achieve their maximum feeling of power. Thus, if person A thinks it is to his or her advantage to discriminate against person B, who are you to judge? One could even argue this is perfectly Darwinian. Ironically, the quote comes from Nietzsches book, Beyond Good and Evil.

We have here a clear example of how the pen is mightier than the sword. The ideas that permeate a culture are far more dangerous than even going to war. Barack Obamas dissemination of his functional atheism (as he was labeled by famous atheist Richard Dawkins) has had a far more pernicious effect on our culture than Donald Trumps personal puerile and bellicose behavior ever could. For example, the Family Research Council (admittedly a Christian organization) claims in its report Hostility to Religion: The Growing Threat to Religious Liberty in America, that there has been a 76 percent increase in violations (might we say hate toward?) of legitimate religious freedoms that can be tied directly to Obama administration policies.

Additionally, the hatred of the political left toward the political right is on display daily. The lack of condemnation over Kathy Griffins bloodied Trump head has been deafening. The shutdown at universities of speakers not following politically correct orthodoxy only makes our divisions worse. (So much for diversity and dialogue.)

Furthermore, what greater hate can there be toward a fellow human being than to support his or her execution before he or she is even born?

And, of course, people who have honest doubts about climate change are not met with logical counterargument but simply insulted. Take Trumps pullout from the Paris agreement. As columnist Charles Krauthammer pointed out, the agreement was completely non-binding, non-enforceable and allowed China and India to continue to put our planet in jeopardy for another 13 years. Predictably, there was a cacophony of catcalls skewering Trump for his alleged scientific naivet.

However, science does not work as straightforwardly as we are taught in school. Consider Thomas S. Kuhns 1962 book, The Structures of Scientific Revolutions. Parade magazines capsule review calls it a book of science as explained by a physicist and philosopher who suggested that understanding is not merely a matter of gathering the facts. The book demonstrates how scientific advancements actually happen and undercuts the justification for any arrogance on the part of those who respond with mere disdain to those, for example, who may have their doubts about climate change or its causes.

Recently, this paper editorialized and lamented that the courtroom appears to be the last bastion of decorum in a society where most people seem to think the rules apply to everybody but them. But given that progressives have spent the last 50 years undermining traditional sexual mores while naively thinking their rejection of some moral standards would not spread like a cancer to the remainder of human behavior, how could we not but have arrived at this point?

As ye sow, so shall ye reap.

Charles D. Dern, Ph.D., Plumstead, is an adjunct teacher of philosophy and theology.

View original post here:
As ye sow, so shall ye reap - The Intelligencer

Genetics

Immunotherapy drug targets tumor’s genetics instead of body part – Monroe Evening News

July 9, 2017 medical

WASHINGTON (AP) Colon cancer. Uterine cancer. Pancreatic cancer.

Whatever the tumor, the more gene mutations lurking inside, the better chance your immune system has to fight back.

Thats the premise behind the recent approval of a landmark drug, the first cancer therapy ever cleared based on a tumors genetics instead of the body part it struck first.

Now thousands of patients with worsening cancer despite standard treatment can try this immunotherapy as long as genetic testing of the tumor shows theyre candidates.

Its like having a lottery ticket, said Johns Hopkins oncologist Dr. Dung Le, who helped prove the new use for the immunotherapy Keytruda. Weve got to figure out how to find these patients, because its such a great opportunity for them.

Today, doctors diagnose tumors by where they originate breast cancer in the breast, colon cancer in the colon and use therapies tested specifically for that organ.

In contrast, the Food and Drug Administration labeled Keytruda the first tissue-agnostic treatment, for adults and children.

Seemingly unrelated cancers occasionally carry a common genetic flaw called a mismatch repair defect. Despite small studies, the FDA found the evidence convincing that for a subset of patients, that flaw can make solid tumors susceptible to immunotherapy doctors otherwise wouldnt have tried.

We thought these would be the hardest tumors to treat, but its like an Achilles heel, said Hopkins cancer geneticist Bert Vogelstein.

Last month, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb told a Senate subcommittee his agency will simplify drug development for diseases that all have a similar genetic fingerprint even if they have a slightly different clinical expression.

Its too early to know if whats being dubbed precision immunotherapy will have lasting benefits, but heres a look at the science.

WHOS A CANDIDATE?

Hopkins estimates about 4 percent of cancers are mismatch repair-deficient, potentially adding up to 60,000 patients a year.

Widely available tests that cost $300 to $600 can tell whos eligible.

The FDA said the flaw is more common in colon, endometrial and gastrointestinal cancers but occasionally occurs in a list of others.

Say, have I been tested for this? is Les advice for patients.

MUTATIONS AND MORE MUTATIONS

Most tumors bear 50 or so mutations in various genes, Vogelstein said. Melanomas and lung cancers, spurred by sunlight and tobacco smoke, may have twice as many. Tumors with a mismatch repair defect can harbor 1,500 mutations.

Why? When DNA copies itself, sometimes the strands pair up wrong to leave a typo a mismatch. Normally the body spell checks and repairs those typos.

Without that proofreading, mutations build up, not necessarily the kind that trigger cancer but bystanders in a growing tumor.

THE PLOT THICKENS

Your immune system could be a potent cancer fighter except that too often, tumors shield themselves.

Mercks Keytruda and other so-called checkpoint inhibitors can block one of those shields, allowing immune cells to recognize a tumor as a foreign invader and attack. Until now, those immunotherapies were approved only for a few select cancers Keytruda hit the market for melanoma in 2014 and they work incredibly well for some patients but fail in many others.

Learning whos a good candidate is critical for drugs that can cost $150,000 a year and sometimes cause serious side effects.

In 2012, Hopkins doctors testing various immunotherapies found the approach failed in all but one of 20 colon cancer patients. When perplexed oncologists told Vogelstein, a light bulb went off.

Sure enough, the one patient who fared well had a mismatch repair defect and a mind-boggling number of tumor mutations. The more mutations, the greater the chance that at least one produces a foreign-looking protein that is a beacon for immune cells, Vogelstein explained.

It was time to see if other kinds of cancer might respond, too.

WHATS THE DATA?

The strongest study, published in the journal Science, tested 86 such patients with 12 different cancers, including some who had entered hospice. Half had their tumors at least shrink significantly and 18 saw their cancer become undetectable.

Its not clear why the other half didnt respond. Researchers found a hint, in three patients, that new mutations might form that could resist treatment.

But after two years of Keytruda infusions, 11 of the complete responders have stopped the drug and remain cancer-free for a median of eight months and counting.

Catherine Katie Rosenbaum, 67, is one of those successes. The retired teacher had her uterus removed when endometrial cancer struck, but five years later tumors returned, scattered throughout her pelvis and colon.

She tried treatment after treatment until in 2014, her doctor urged the Hopkins study.

Rosenbaum took a train from Richmond, Virginia, to Baltimore for infusions every two weeks and then, after some fatigue and diarrhea side effects, once a month. Then the side effects eased and her tumors started disappearing.

A year into the study she was well enough to swim a mile for a Swim Across America cancer fundraiser.

Nothing else had worked, so I guess we could say it was a last hope, said Rosenbaum, who now wants other patients to know about the option.

Original post:
Immunotherapy drug targets tumor's genetics instead of body part - Monroe Evening News

Immunology

A few drops of blood lead to a breakthrough in immunology – Radio Canada International

July 9, 2017 medical

Not the sun, but a microscopic look at a specific gene in a specific cell that has led to a major advance in our understanding and treatment of auto-immune diseases. Photo Credit: Ciriaco Piccirillo, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre

It was one of those tragic cases in medicine.

A newly born child, just weeks old, had a severe auto-immune condition that could not be treated and which led irrevocably to his death.

With just a few drops of the childs blood, researchers led by a team in McGill University and the Research Institute-McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) in Montreal, have painstakingly discovered the cause in a subset of so-called T-cells, and have created a solution that has major disease treatment implications.

Dr. Ciriaco Piccirillo led an international research team with input from the USA and Japan. He is an immunologist and senior scientist with the Infectious Diseases and Immunity in Global Health Programat the Research Institute-McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC), and a Professor of Immunology and Medicine at McGill University. He is also the Director of the newly created Centre of Excellence in Translational Immunology (CETI) at the RI-MUHC.

The baby boy died in 2009 of a rare and often fatal inherited genetic immune disorder called IPEX. The case involved the childs T-cells, and specifically the Treg cell, the immunosuppressive cells of the immune system.

These latter are a special kind of white blood cells or lymphocytes that regulate the bodies auto-immune response. They prevent other immune cells from attacking the bodys own tissues, as well as controlling immune responses against microbes and other non-pathogenic agents, such as pollen, dust or benign food groups. This is an important self-check built into the immune system to prevent excessive reaction.

When the immune response is not controlled it can cause damage to the body in diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, Lupus, and Crohns disease as well as broader conditions such as asthma, allergies and cancer.

Through meticulous molecular research and availability of new highly sophisticated technology at the RI-MUHC, the team was able to determine a defect in a particular gene in the Treg cell which prevented it from properly acting in its regulatory role in dampening the immune system response.

Certain genes, but especially the FOXP3 gene are responsible for programming so-to-speak a T-cell to become a Treg cell.

What the team found from the babys blood was a rare mutation of the FOXP3 gene which negatively impacted its capacity to promote Treg cell development and function in humans.

After the intense research to detect the genetic defect in the specific FOXP3 gene, they developed a drug which appears able to correct the genetic defect resulting in an almost completely normally functioning Treg cell.

The teams research was published in the online journal Science-Immunology under the title Suppression by human FOXP3+ regulatory T cells requires FOXP3-TIP60 interactions (abstract HERE)

Further, while this should work in those rare patients with IPEX, professor Piccirillo says the team in now working on improving the drug to bolster its effects on the FOXP3 gene and developing Treg cells in other inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.

He says this likely will have far greater treatment possibilities in relation to a number of auto-immune diseases which are typically very difficult to treat.

The study was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Canada Research Chair Program, National Institutes of Health and the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute.

Go here to see the original:
A few drops of blood lead to a breakthrough in immunology - Radio Canada International

Embryology

Jana Schwartz leads local 4-H’ers – Scottsbluff Star Herald

July 9, 2017 student

For Jana Schwartz, no two days are alike. Schwartz is a 4-H associate at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension Center and helps coordinate 4-H projects within Scotts Bluff County.

One day, Schwartz may be helping with entries for the Scotts Bluff County Fair and spend all day in the office and another day, she may be out doing projects or at the Wildcat Hills teaching children about trees.

Schwartz said projects she coordinates vary from helping 4-H members with their own projects, helping them join clubs or entering students in the fair to the extension center taking part in teaching classrooms about agriculture and animal science, agricultural literacy and more.

One of the many projects Schwartz takes to classrooms is an embryology life cycle project where the students hatch chicken eggs within a classroom. They also teach about electricity, robotics and wearable technology.

Ive been in extension for 15 years now and I was a part of the 4-H program for about 8 years as a child. I really loved what the 4-H program did for me, Schwartz said. It gave me the opportunity to try new things and find out what I was good at.

Schwartz said she didnt go to college expecting to go into extension. Schwartz grew up in Chase County on a cattle ranch and thought shed go into something related to agriculture or veterinary medicine.

I started as a vet tech and ended up on this path, Schwartz said. I started with an internship in Dawes County and that lead to the job here in Scotts Bluff County.

Every state has an extension program that is tied to a university, here in Nebraska it is the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The extension is an outreach program which takes any discoveries by the university that are applicable to the public.

For example, in Nebraska agriculture is the biggest portion of extension and producers are able to learn about the best practices for producing different agricultural products. However, the program also does a lot outside of agriculture such as youth development, 4-H, healthy living and nutrition.

The 4-H program started over 100 years ago in 1902 and its main purpose was to take research that scientists discovered to help producers have higher yields from corn.

They tried to teach the discoveries to the adults, but as adults, we dont maybe want to change the ways we are doing things, so people from the university started the first 4-H youth club and taught them new ways to produce crops, Schwartz said. The kids actually started to out-yield their parents.

Schwartz also said that the main purpose of 4-H is to teach kids life skills, but she said the life skills they taught 100 years ago are quite different from skills youth need to know now. Although things such as responsibility, trust, communication and leadership are still important to the organization, lessons and project categories have been tweaked to fit the times.

There are still projects that have to do with agriculture as well as cooking, sewing, robotics, photography, lots of science, technology, art and math, Schwartz said. Thats what youth are needing today.

Right now, Schwartz and members of the 4-H portion of the extension center are making sure that they are prepared for the Scotts Bluff County Fair.

Its kind of the 4-H members Super Bowl, so were making sure all of the details are taken care of so people and families have the best experience possible, Schwartz said.

Schwartz said her favorite thing about her job is the people and volunteers that she gets to work with.

The kids are amazing to work with and to see them grow and change and meet their potential is great, Schwartz said. Volunteers mean a lot to me because of how much they give to the program and what they do for the kids in their community.

Projects will be shown and judged from Saturday, July 22 through Sunday, Aug. 8 at the Scotts Bluff County Fairgrounds in Mitchell.

Call 308-632-1480 for more information on or questions about the local 4-H program.

Introductory Offer

Get All Access for only $11 per month. That's print, e-edition and website for only $132 a year!

Want just Digital Access? Get it today for only 99 cents a week!

Call 308-632-9010 or email circ@starherald.com to get started.

Visit link:
Jana Schwartz leads local 4-H'ers - Scottsbluff Star Herald

Embryology

Tick-Tock: Men Also Have a Biological Clock – – Vital Updates – Vital Updates

July 9, 2017 medical

The biological clock ticks not just for women, suggests new research that may overturn conventional thinking about mens virility as they age.

Whereas women undergo menopause as a clear indicator of decreased fertility, a similar biological mechanism in men was previously unknown. But new research into delivery rates among couples undergoing in vitro fertilization found that men hear the clock ticking, too.

The study, assessing nearly 19,000 cycles of in vitro fertilization, showed that, as a mans age increased, the success rate of fertilization went in the opposite direction.

Generally, we saw no significant decline in cumulative live birth when women had a male partner the same age or younger, said study author Dr. Laura Dodge, researcher with the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, who presented her findings at the 33rd annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) in July.

But the success rate changed when looking at men of different ages, with younger men conferring a significant fertility benefit to their partners.

Related:Smartphone App Claims to Accurately Test Male Fertility

Women aged 35-40 did significantly benefit from having a male partner who is under age 30, in that they see a nearly 30% relative improvement in cumulative incidence of live birth when compared to women whose partner is 30-35 from 54% to 70%, said Dodge.

That trend reverses when women in that age group are paired with similar-aged men.

Where we see significant decreases in the cumulative incidence of live birth is among women with male partners in the older age bands. For women age 30-35, having a partner who is older than they are is associated with approximately 11% relative decreases in cumulative incidence of live birth from 70% to 64% when compared to having a male partner within their same age band, explained Dodge.

While the study results add some nuance to the question of mens impact on fertility, the researchers note that women still add the most to the mix.

Both the results of this study and prior work show that female age has a larger effect on fertility than male age. While the effect of female age on fertility is overwhelmingly due to increased rates of chromosomal abnormality, the proposed mechanisms in the effect of male age on pregnancy are more subtle, said Dodge.

When we looked at the effect of female age alone, we saw a 46% relative decrease from ages under 30 to 40-42, but when we looked at male age alone, we saw a 20% relative decrease over the same age span, she added.

The study raises questions about what, if anything, aging men can do to boost conception rates when pairing with younger or same-aged women.

Its hard to say without knowing the precise mechanisms involved, said Dodge. Most preconception advice for men focuses on semen quality, though studies suggest that this likely cannot fully ameliorate the effects of male reproductive ageing. So in the absence of clear evidence of the mechanisms, the best preconception advice we can offer is to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Related:Old Wives Fertility Treatment Proves to Be Scientific Marvel

Richard Scott is a health care reporter focusing on health policy and public health. Richard keeps tabs on national health trends from his Philadelphia location and is an active member of the Association of Health Care Journalists.

Visit link:
Tick-Tock: Men Also Have a Biological Clock - - Vital Updates - Vital Updates

Anatomy

The anatomy of Caliphate colonialism (8) – Vanguard

July 9, 2017 medical

By Douglas Anele

Caliphate colonialists from the north would not have succeeded in their schemes for so long without using southerners, more disappointingly the Igbo, to do their dirty work. We have already noted that during the regime of Gen. Murtala Mohammed, Justice Akinola Aguda from the south-west chaired the committee that recommended Abuja as the new capital of Nigeria. Karl Maier, in This House has Fallen, wryly noted the spectacle of two former Biafran wartime propagandists, Comrade Uche Chukwumerije and Walter Ofonagoro, plying their trade on behalf of the Babangida and Abacha dictatorshipsand the young pro-military campaigner, Daniel Kanus comical YEAA, for Youths Earnestly Ask for Abacha . Now, as Gen. Abacha was consolidating his grip on power with Machiavellian tactics, events unfolded in an extraordinary sequence that, if novelised, would make an absorbing piece of fiction focusing on the precariousness of human existence and everything associated with it.

On June 8, 1998, Abacha died of heart attack in controversial circumstances, and was replaced about twenty-four hours later by the relatively unknown chief of army staff, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar. As at that time, the June 12 issue was still unresolved. The new military ruler evoked the assistance of Kofi Annan and Chief Emeka Anyaoku, former secretaries-general of the United Nations and Commonwealth of Nations, respectively, among others, to meet Abiola and try to convince him to relinquish his mandate.

On July 7, in what seems like a well-planned clandestine elimination plot by both local and international actors, Chief Abiola took ill while having a meeting with United States officials led by the undersecretary of state, Thomas Pickering. He was taken to a medical clinic where he died ninety minutes later. Once again, with Abdulsalami Abubakar as head of state, the caliphate has triumphed; but there was growing apprehension because of the increasing feeling in the south, in Yorubaland particularly, that application of the born-to-rule theory of Maitama Sule by Babangida, Abacha and Abdulsalami Abubakar was the main reason Abiola was denied the presidency. Probably because of the brief period at his disposal, Gen. Abubakar could not do much for caliphate colonialism. However, the unexplained but massive reduction in the countrys foreign exchange reserves within six months meant that Abubakar presided over a hideously larcenous interregnum.

Chief Olusegun Obasanjos contrived emergence as President in 1999 demonstrates the audacity of caliphate colonialists in determining the oscillations of power pendulum in Nigeria. Obasanjo was serving a fifteen-year jail sentence slammed on him by the late Abacha for allegedly plotting to overthrow him. To retired senior military officers from the north, including Babangida, Abubakar, Danjuma and others who still wielded enormous economic and political power in the Animal Farm called Nigeria, Obasanjo, a southern agent of the northern ruling establishment and former head of state who handed over power to a democratically elected northerner, can be trusted not to rock the boat of caliphate colonialism. As a result, Babangida and others ensured that Obasanjo emerged victorious in the February 1999 presidential election under the umbrella of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Chief Obasanjo, smarting from the humiliation of imprisonment and torture by Abacha, retired what he called politically exposed military officers, most of whom were from the north and loyal to the hegemonist vision of the caliphate. Expectedly, some prominent caliphate colonialists were not happy with Obasanjo. In response, they launched what might be called sharianisation of the core northern states, a move that tended to challenge the purported secularity of Nigeria. Unfortunately, Obasanjo naively believed that the sharia movement will fizzle out. He was wrong. Chinweizu reports that on March 28, 2005, the emirs met in Kaduna under the auspices of the supreme council of Islamic affairs with the sultan of Sokoto as chairman. At the meeting, retired Major Mustapha Jokolo, emir of Gwandu then and, ipso facto, second in command to the sultan, lamented that northern muslims have been marginalised by Obasanjo. Therefore, we must decide what to do nowLet our people withdraw from the confabMuslims are not afraid and they will come out to say the truth. Jokolo continued: We [muslims] have been pushed to the wall and it is time to fightObasanjo is trampling on our rights and muslims must rise and defend their rights. The more we continue to wait, the more we will be marginalised.

Obasanjos failure to recognise at the initial stage the dangers posed by the introduction of sharia and boko haram and deal with them decisively was a serious blunder that has actually strengthened the grip of caliphate loyalists on power at the centre. By the time Alhaji Umaru Musa YarAdua was elected President in 2007, several other states in the north had joined Zamfara state in proclaiming sharia. Moreover, boko haram had mutated into a well-funded instrument of terror and destruction with links to Al Qaeda. YarAdua was a scion of the caliphate, a mild-mannered gentleman whose capacity to perform in office, including dealing with the boko haram insurgency, was hampered by ill health. It has been alleged in certain quarters that Obasanjo deliberately picked YarAdua knowing that he might not finish his tenure so that power would be transferred to the non-caliphate Vice-President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.

Of course, the allegation might be true, but there is no evidence to back it up. The demise of YarAdua paved the way for Jonathan to become the first President from the south-south geopolitical zone. Like YarAdua, Jonathan is a cool-headed humble man lacking the military aggressivity and bullying tactics of Obasanjo. There are clear indications that caliphate colonialists were not comfortable with his presidency, although we must admit that Jonathan himself played into their hands by his failures, which were magnified in the media by opposition politicians and their hired lackeys. Frist, several prominent members of the northern establishment kicked against Jonathans decision to ignore the zoning policy of the PDP and contest in 2011 after serving out the remaining period of his joint ticket with YarAdua. As early as October 2010, Alhaji Lawal Kaita stated that The north is determined, if that happens, to make the country ungovernable for President Jonathan or any other southerner who finds his way to the seat of power on the platform of the PDP against the principle of the partys zoning policy. Two years later, in Katsina, he threatened that We hear rumours all over that Jonathan is planning to contest in 2015. Well, the north is going to be prepared if the country remains one.

That is, if the country remains one we are going to fight for it. If not, everybody can go his way. Jokolo and Kaita were not the only prominent northerners that used bellicose language to express their demand that the presidency must return to the north, especially in 2015. Alhaji Muhammadu Buhari, in May 2012, warned that should what happened in 2011 election repeat itself in 2015, the dog and the baboon would all be soaked in blood. But why are northerners so obsessed with political power at the federal level to the extent of threatening violence if one of their own did not become the President in 2015? Answer: because they are convinced beyond any iota of doubt that Allah had destined Nigeria to be ruled by the descendants of Uthman Dan Fodio, as enunciated in 1960 by Sir Ahmadu Bello and reaffirmed thirty-two years later by Maitama Sule.

In economic terms, this means that the north must control oil revenue from the south in a manner that benefits mostly members of the northern ruling elite, both military and civilian. In that regard, the Biafran conflict was fundamentally a war by northern region against the eastern region for the control of oil. It is remarkable that after more than forty-seven years since the war ended, members of the northern establishment are still fixated about control of oil proceeds from the south. The Guardian of May 28, 2009, contains a statement by Alhaji Bala Ibn NAllah, then a member of the House of Representatives and now in the Senate, to the effect that What is happening in the Niger Delta is pure criminality of the highest order, arising from total disregard for constituted authority. In Iraq, thousands of people lost their lives because of an insurrection against the government during the reign of former Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein. We can do away with 20 million militants for the rest of 120 million Nigerians to live. Similarly, Usman Farouk, former military governor of north-western state during the regime of Gen. Gowon, in his reply to Asari Dokubo who threatened that his group would trigger secession of the Niger Delta from Nigeria, boasted that We subdued the Yorubas and conquered the Ijaws; we will do it again.

Go here to see the original:
The anatomy of Caliphate colonialism (8) - Vanguard

Anatomy

Anatomy of a murder: Innocent youth became target of friends’ greediness – Geo News, Pakistan

July 9, 2017 student

KARACHI: Mohammad Bilal had big dreams. The ambitious youth wanted to become an anchor and make a name for himself. However, the 22-year-old university student became an innocent target of his friends' greediness.

On the eve of November 4, 2015, Bilal was at home reading unaware that in a few hours he will be taking his last breath. While reading, Bilal received a call on his mobile phone from his neighbour Adeel, who asked his help in transporting some equipment to a mutual friend, Noman's, gym.

After getting permission from his parents, Bilal went with his neighbour. However, when they reached the gym, located two streets away from Bilals house, they found Noman and another friend, Danish, waiting for them.

As soon as Bilal entered the gym, Noman, Danish and Adeel began to beat him up. Danish, who works as a male nurse, gave anaesthesia to Bilal, and wrapped a cloth laced with it around his face.

Their plan was to threaten Bilal and demand ransom for him. However, Bilal was not able to survive and died shortly.

The young men started freaking out and decide to wrap the body in a big plastic bag and keep it on the gyms roof.

Adeel returned home at 10pm, but Bilals parents kept waiting for their son all night.

Bilals father, Rizwan, went to Adeels house but his family said he was fast asleep.

A tired, helpless Rizwan then went looking for his son. After continuous failed attempts, he went to Adeels house once again. Adeel opened the door and claimed to be unaware of Bilals whereabouts.

Rizwan then lodged a missing person complaint at Shah Faisal police station. The unsuspecting father thought his son had been picked up by security personnel over a misunderstanding. The will to reunite with son encourage him to try harder to find him.

Rizwan also mentioned that Bilal had left with Adeel, who then returned alone. But the police investigated Adeel and gave him a clean chit.

Adeel, however, let his sister in on the murder after which she helped the boys, changing the bags in which the body was kept [to counter the stench] after every three to four days. The accomplices kept doing this for more than month to ensure suspicion is not aroused. The body was also moved to another nearby gyms roof.

On December 12, the accomplices were no longer able to tolerate the stench and decide burn the body.

Adeel, Nida, Noman and Danish wrapped the body in a red carpet, sprinkled petrol on it and set it on fire. The burnt body was eventually thrown in a trash box.

When the body was found, it was difficult to identify it. The Al-Falah police handed over the body to Edhi Foundation and they buried it in Mowach Goth Edhi Graveyard.

On the other hand, Bilals family members spent many sleepless nights, praying for his safe recovery. Time went by but they still had no clue where Bilal was.

In May 2016, Adeel and his sister, Nida, flew to Dubai.

As Noman and Danish were going through financial troubles; Noman had to close his gym while Danish was fired from his job. Desperate for money, the two sold Bilals mobile phone at a shop in Gulshan-e-Iqbals mobile market on May 15 this year.

As the phone was switched on, Counter-Terrorism Department officials got the alert message. The personnel went to the shop owner and asked him about who sold him the mobile phone.

The shopkeeper revealed Nomans name, who the police detained and interrogated. Noman eventually revealed the names of all his accomplices. Danish was also arrested but Adeel and Nida are still absconding.

After the details were revealed to Bilals family, they went to the Edhi Foundation to get more information about the deceaseds grave and were provided a grave number.

However, the number proved to be futile as the grave markings have disappeared now and the family has no idea which one is Bilals grave.

Bilals mother, teary-eyed, shared that he wants her sons murderers to be taken to task and police should send a team to Dubai to arrest Nida and Adeel.

Speaking about the murder, psychologist Dr Anila Amber said that any criminal incident does not occur in a vaccum. There is always history behind a crime, she said.

She shared that the kidnapping and the way Bilal was killed shows that the criminals had anti-social personalities.

All the four suspects had some history of violence in their lives. They were likely beaten up in their childhood and internalised that violence.

Original post:
Anatomy of a murder: Innocent youth became target of friends' greediness - Geo News, Pakistan

Physiology

Baum named chair of APS Nutrition Physiology Research Interest Group – Newton County Times (subscription)

July 9, 2017 medical

FAYETTEVILLE Jamie I. Baum, assistant professor of nutrition for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, has been named chair of the of the Nutrition Physiology Research Interest Group for the American Physiological Society.

kAmq2F> 😀 5:C64E@C @7 E96 }FEC:E:@? 2?5 |6E23@=:D> {23@C2E@CJ 2D A2CE @7 E96 r6?E6C 7@C wF>2? }FEC:E:@? 2?5 x?DE:EFE6 @7 u@@5 $4:6?46 2?5 t?8:?66C:?8 😕 E96 56A2CE>6?E @7 7@@5 D4:6?46 😕 3@E9 E96 s:G:D:@? @7 p8C:4F=EFC6 2?5 E96 s2=6 qF>A6CD r@==686 @7 p8C:4F=EFC2=[ u@@5 2?5 {:76 $4:6?46D]k^Am

kAmq2F> 3682? 96C 5FE:6D 2D 492:C yF=J `] %96 AFCA@D6D @7 E9:D :?E6C6DE 8C@FA 2C6 E@ik^Am

kAmu24:=:E2E6 E96 8C@HE9 2?5 5:DD6>:?2E:@? @7 EC2?D=2E:@?2= C6D62C49 H:E9 2 7@4FD @? A9JD:@=@8J 2?5 ?FEC:E:@?[ :?4=F5:?8 E96 C@=6D @7 G2C:@FD ?FEC:6?ED @? @36D:EJ[ 5:236E6D 2?5 >6E23@=:4 DJ?5C@>6[k^Am

kAmq6 2G2:=23=6 E@ 2== >6>36CD @7 E96 D@4:6EJ H:E9 2? :?E6C6DE 😕 A9JD:@=@8J 2?5 ?FEC:E:@? C6D62C49 😕 2?J 2C62 @7 A9JD:@=@8J @C A2E9@A9JD:@=@8J[k^Am

kAmpDD:DE E96 D@4:6EJ E9C@F89 C6AC6D6?E2E:@? @? E96 y@:?E !C@8C2> r@>>:EE66 Wy!rX E@ D6=64E 2?5 AC@>@E6 2E =62DE @?6 A9JD:@=@8J^?FEC:E:@?C6=2E65 C6D62C49 DJ>A@D:F> @C 762EFC65 E@A:4 2E E96 2??F2= tIA6C:>6?E2= q:@=@8J >66E:?8[k^Am

kAmp4E:G6=J :?E6C24E H:E9 @E96C D4:6?E:7:4 D@4:6E:6D H9@ 2C6 A2CE @7 tIA6C:>6?E2= q:@=@8J 2D H6== 2D D64E:@?D 2?5 @E96C :?E6C6DED 8C@FAD H:E9:? p!$ H9@D6 >6>36CD 92G6 2? :?E6C6DE 😕 A9JD:@=@8J 2?5 ?FEC:E:@?C6=2E65 C6D62C49[k^Am

kAm}@>:?2E6 :?5:G:5F2=D 7@C >6>36CD9:A @? D@4:6EJ 4@>>:EE66D[ 2?5k^Am

kAm#64@8?:K6 >6>36CD H9@ 92G6 >256 D:8?:7:42?E 4@?EC:3FE:@?D E@ E96 2772:CD @7 E96 :?E6C6DE 8C@FA 2?5 E96 p!$]k^Am

kAmq2F>D C6D62C49 255C6DD6D 32D:4 2?5 2AA=:65 C6D62C49 492==6?86D C6=2E65 E@ 5:6E2CJ AC@E6:? :?E2<6 2?5 :ED :>A24E @? 3@5J 4@>A@D:E:@?[ 6?6C8J >6E23@=:D> 2?5 >6E23@=:4 962=E9 FD:?8 2 >@=64F=6E@>2? 2AAC@249]k^Am

kAmw6C C6D62C49 8@2=D :?4=F56 56E6C>:?:?8 E96 C@=6 @7 5:6E2CJ AC@E6:? 😕 D<6=6E2= >FD4=6 6?6C8J >6E23@=:D> 2?5 567:?:?8 E96 C@=6 @7 5:6E2CJ AC@E6:? 😕 >6E23@=:4 962=E9 E9C@F89@FE E96 =:764J4=6] $96 5:DD6>:?2E6D C6D62C49 7:?5:?8D E9C@F89 E96 5:G:D:@?D r@@A6C2E:G6 tIE6?D:@? $6CG:46]k^Am

Excerpt from:
Baum named chair of APS Nutrition Physiology Research Interest Group - Newton County Times (subscription)