New test can warn patients at high risk of heart attack

,TNN | Nov 28, 2013, 04.23 AM IST
READ MORE Jehangir hospital|heart|Cancer|positron emission tomography|heart attack
PUNE: Lives of patients at the risk of a heart attack can now be saved with a non-invasive test that can identify high-risk unstable blockages that may rupture to cause a heart attack or other serious coronary event.

Unlike the traditional diagnostic techniques that have so far revolved around finding the tightest narrowing of the arteries supplying blood to the heart, the new test identifies narrowing that does not cause severe blockage, but can rupture and cause a heart attack. The test is a combination of a radioactive tracer and scanning technique, and will take at least five to 10 years to come in the public domain.

British medical journal Lancet published the new study on November 11, 2013 on the use of radioactive tracer 18 f-sodium fluoride (18F-Naf), a known tracer in bone imaging, to accurately identify the blockages that may cause a heart attack.

The research was conducted by a team led by Ahmednagar-born cardiologist Nikhil Joshi at the British Heart Foundation Centre for Cardiovascular Science in Edinburgh, UK, which found that the use of the radioactive tracer with a scanning technique known as positron emission tomography (PET) and computed tomography (CT) could identify the risk of a heart attack and how this would eventually help in initiating early treatment to prevent it.

The test technique is simple: inject the tracer into the patient's veins, followed by a special PET-CT scan, which is commonly used in cancer diagnosis. The fatty plaques in the arteries pumping blood into the heart 'light up' if the plaque (a fatty deposit inside an arterial wall) is at the risk of rupturing. Experts call it detecting the 'ticking time bomb' inside the body.

The new test will mark a paradigm shift in cardiac diagnostics. "Until now, there were no non-invasive imaging techniques available that can identify high-risk and ruptured coronary plaques in patients of heart disease. For the first time, we have shown this is possible and this new technique that can identify high-risk or ruptured coronary plaques, has the potential to transform how we identify, manage and treat patients with stable and unstable heart disease. The next step will be to conduct larger-scale trials of 18F-NaF imaging to assess whether increased coronary 18F-NaF activity is ultimately predictive of future adverse effects," Joshi told TOI in an interview on email.

Elaborating, Joshi said, "The technique is primarily aimed at targeting unstable plaques irrespective of the degree of obstruction. Hence it is possible to diagnose even smaller levels of obstruction, like say 20- 30%, that can rupture if unstable, even in younger patients leading to severe heart attack."

While the technique can be used anywhere in the world, Joshi says it is more relevant in India because of high prevalence of diabetes and coronary disease owing to changing lifestyles.

"However, this is not a screening test for the general population. Its utility is for patients at risk of coronary disease, and patients with angina and previous heart attacks. Moreover, this is an evolving area of research and future studies will determine which patient population will benefit from this type of a scan," Joshi said.

Peer appreciation for the research is pouring in. "It is commendable to have an Indian do such a brilliant research and that too as a principal investigator. The diagnostic method will help identify vulnerable patients," said cardiac surgeon Chandrashekhar Kulkarni of Jehangir Hospital.
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    Voyager Captures Sounds of Interstellar Space

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Space sounds like chirping of birds

PTI | Nov 18, 2013, 04.55 AM IST

READ MORE Sun|sound of deep space|scientists|dawn chorus of birds singing
LONDON: For the first time, scientists have captured the sound of deep space in stunning new recordings — and it sounds like the dawn chorus of birds singing in spring interspersed with deep bass pulses from the Sun.

Andrew Williams from Leicester's Space Research Centre used data collected by satellites and spacecraft to generate the sound you would hear if you tuned a radio in to outer space. The most compelling recording is the 'dawn chorus' of electrons hitting our upper atmosphere. They sound like starlings tweeting above a bubbling brook, interrupted by the Sun's pulses.

The sound was recorded by the Cluster II satellite in 2001 using a long-wave receiver. Williams said the signals were outside the range of human hearing so he had to lower the pitch and filter them to make them audible.

Another recording is of the rhythmic pulses of the Sun, but Williams had to overcome many difficulties for this one. The sounds picked up by the Soho spacecraft are so deep that Williams had to magnify their pitch by 40,000 times. Because the sound occurs once every five minutes, Williams accelerated the recording 42,000 times to provide 40 days of pulses in just a few seconds.



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Is there an afterlife? Science can prove there is, quantum physicist claims

John Hall, The Independent | Nov 15, 2013, 10.45 PM IST
READ MORE Professor Robert Lanza|Life After Death|Biocentrism|Afterlife|Wake Forest University
Is there an afterlife? Science can prove there is, quantum physicist claims
Professor Robert Lanza says biocentrism explains that the universe only exists because of an individual’s consciousness of it — essentially life and biology are central to reality, which in turn creates the universe; the universe itself does not create life.
LONDON: It's a question pondered by philosophers, scientists and the devout since the dawn of time: is there an afterlife?

While the religious would argue that life on earth is a mere warm up for an eternity spent in heaven or hell, and many scientists would dismiss the concept for lack of proof — one expert claims he has definitive evidence to confirm once and for all that there is indeed life after death.

The answer, Professor Robert Lanza says, lies in quantum physics — specifically the theory of biocentrism. The scientist, from Wake Forest University School of Medicine in North Carolina, says the evidence lies in the idea that the concept of death is a mere figment of our consciousness.

Professor Lanza says biocentrism explains that the universe only exists because of an individual's consciousness of it — essentially life and biology are central to reality, which in turn creates the universe; the universe itself does not create life. The same applies to the concepts of space and time, which Professor Lanza describes as "simply tools of the mind".

In a message posted on the scientist's website, he explains that with this theory in mind, the concept of death as we know it is "cannot exist in any real sense" as there are no true boundaries by which to define it. Essentially, the idea of dying is something we have long been taught to accept, but in reality it just exists in our minds.

Professor Lanza says biocentrism is similar to the idea of parallel universes — a concept hypothesised by theoretical physicists. In much the same way as everything that could possibly happen is speculated to be occurring all at once across multiple universes, he says that once we begin to question our preconceived concepts of time and consciousness, the alternatives are huge and could alter the way we think about the world in a way not seen since the 15th century's "flat earth" debate.

He goes on to use the so-called double-slit experiment as proof that the behaviour of a particle can be altered by a person's perception of it. In the experiment, when scientists watch a particle pass through a multi-holed barrier, the particle acts like a bullet travelling through a single slit. When the article is not watched, however, the particle moves through the holes like a wave.

Scientists argue that the double-slit experiment proves that particles can act as two separate entities at the same time, challenging long-established ideas of time and perception.

Although the idea is rather complicated, Professor Lanza says it can be explained far more simply using colours. Essentially, the sky may be perceived as blue, but if the cells in our brain were changed to make the sky look green, was the sky every truly blue or was that just our perception?

In terms of how this affects life after death, Professor Lanza explains that, when we die, our life becomes a "perennial flower that returns to bloom in the multiverse". He added: "Life is an adventure that transcends our ordinary linear way of thinking. When we die, we do so not in the random billiard-ball-matrix but in the inescapable-life-matrix."

Professor Lanza's theory is explained in full in his book Biocentrism: How Life and Consciousness are the Keys to Understanding the True Nature of the Universe.

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'robot suicide',[SOON MURDER BY ROBOT NEWS]


Robot kills itself over tedious household chores!

PTI | Nov 14, 2013, 07.10 AM IST
READ MORE Helmut Kniewasser|US Federal reserve|robot suicide|Robot kills itself over tedious household chores!
Robot kills itself over tedious household chores!
LONDON: In what is being touted as the world's first case of 'robot suicide', a house bot fed up of its tedious job of cleaning has ended its life by climbing onto a kitchen hotplate and destroying itself in a blaze.
The android in an Austrian household had to clean up some spilt cereal when it climbed onto a kitchen hotplate and was destroyed.
It had grown tired of being forced to clean the same house every day, according to reports in Austria.
"Somehow it seems to have reactivated itself and made its way along the work surface where it pushed a cooking pot out of the way and basically that was the end of it," explained fireman Helmut Kniewasser, who was called to tackle the blaze at Hinterstoder in Kirchdorf, Austria.
"It pretty quickly started to melt underneath and then stuck to the kitchen hotplate. It then caught fire. By the time we arrived, it was just a pile of ash," Kniewasser said.
The entire building had to be evacuated and there was severe smoke damage particularly in the flat where the robot had been in use, 'metro.co.uk' reported.
"It's a mystery how it came to be activated and ended up making its way to the hotplate. I don't know about the allegations of a robot suicide but the homeowner is insistent that the device was switched off," Kniewasser said.
The homeowner plans to sue the robot's manufacturer.
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New drug combo causes cancer cells to 'eat themselves'

PTI | Nov 6, 2013, 03.59 PM IST
READ MORE Pathways|Virginia Commonwealth University|oncology|hematology|combo causes cancer
WASHINGTON: A new drug combination therapy could effectively kill colon, liver, lung, kidney, breast and brain cancer cells without affecting the healthy cells, scientists say.

The results from a recent preclinical study at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center lays the foundation to plan a future phase 1 clinical trial to test the safety of the therapy in a small group of patients.

"It is still too premature to estimate when a clinical trial will open to further test this drug combination therapy, but we are now in the planning phase and encouraged by the results of these laboratory experiments," said Andrew Poklepovic, assistant professor in the Division of Hematology, Oncology and Palliative Care at VCU School of Medicine.

The study led by Paul Dent demonstrated that the drugs sorafenib and regorafenib synergise with a class of drugs known as PI3K/AKT inhibitors to kill a variety of cancers.

Sorafenib and regorafenib work by blocking the production of enzymes called kinases, which are vital to the growth and survival of cancer cells.

Sorafenib is currently approved by the FDA to treat kidney and liver cancers, and regorafenib is currently approved for the treatment of colorectal cancer.

However, sorafenib and regorafenib do not directly affect PI3K and AKT kinases, which are also very active in promoting cancer cell survival.

The addition of a PI3K/AKT inhibitor to the combination of sorafenib and regorafenib dramatically increased cell death and was even effective against cells with certain mutations that make one or the other drug less effective.

"We know that there are certain cellular processes that are frequently dysregulated in cancers and important to cell proliferation and survival, but if you shut down one, then cells can often compensate by relying on another," said Dent.

"We are blocking several of these survival pathways, and the cancer cells are literally digesting themselves in an effort to stay alive," Dent said.

Results showed that the combination therapy killed the cells by physically interacting with molecules to block the survival pathways and induce a toxic effect known as autophagy.

Autophagy is a protective process where cells metabolise themselves when starved of the resources needed to survive.

The study was published in the journal Molecular Pharmacology.
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sight is really as much a function of our brains as our eyes,RELATED People born blind can see during a near-death experience


Brain can 'see' in the dark: Study

PTI | Nov 3, 2013, 06.06 AM IST
READ MORE University of Rochester|darkness|brain
Brain can 'see' in the dark: Study
At least 50 per cent of people can see the movement of their own hand even when it is pitch dark, a new study said.

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People born blind can see during a near-death experience

www.near-death.com/experiences/evidence03.html‎
 
 
Yet, she appears to have been able to see during her NDE. ... roof of the building itself, during which time she had a brief panoramic view of her surroundings.
WASHINGTON: At least 50 per cent of people can see the movement of their own hand even when it is pitch dark, a new study, that used computerised eye-trackers, has found.


Even in the absence of all light, the brain keeps track of the body, researchers said.

Neuroscientists and psychologists discovered that the mind continues to perceive motion in complete darkness. Their findings suggest that 50 per cent of the population sees in the dark without realising it.

"Seeing in total darkness? According to the current understanding of natural vision, that just doesn't happen," says Duje Tadin, a professor of brain and cognitive sciences at the University of Rochester who led the investigation.

"But this research shows that our own movements transmit sensory signals that also can create real visual perceptions in the brain, even in the complete absence of optical input," said Tadin.

Through five separate experiments involving 129 individuals, the authors found that this eerie ability to see our hand in the dark suggests that our brain combines information from different senses to create our perceptions.

The ability also "underscores that what we normally perceive of as sight is really as much a function of our brains as our eyes," said first author Kevin Dieter, a post-doctoral fellow in psychology at Vanderbilt University.

For most people, this ability to see self-motion in darkness probably is learned, the authors conclude.

"We get such reliable exposure to the sight of our own hand moving that our brains learn to predict the expected moving image even without actual visual input," said Dieter.

The study was published in journal Psychological Science.

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Left or right wagging tail means different things among dogs

, TNN | Nov 1, 2013, 04.01 PM IST
READ MORE tail wagging|dog wagging tail
There is more to the dog wagging its tail than meets the eye, scientists have found. The rightward wag and the leftward wag mean different things to dogs. This happens because dogs, like humans, have asymmetrically organized brains, with the left and right sides playing different roles, thescientific study published in the journal Current Biology on Thursday, suggests.

The Italian research team led by Giorgio Vallortigara of the Center for Mind/Brain Sciences of the University of Trento had earlier found that dogs wag to the right when they feel positive emotions (upon seeing their owners, for instance) and to the left when they feel negative emotions (upon seeing an unfriendly dog, for example). That biased tail-wagging behavior reflects what is happening in the dogs' brains. Left-brain activation produces a wag to the right, and right-brain activation produces a wag to the left.

But does that tail-wagging difference mean something to other dogs? Yes it does, the new study shows.

While monitoring their reactions, the researchers showed dogs videos of other dogs with either left- or right-asymmetric tail wagging. When dogs saw another dog wagging to the left, their heart rates picked up and they began to look anxious. When dogs saw another dog wagging to the right, they stayed perfectly relaxed.

"The direction of tail wagging does in fact matter, and it matters in a way that matches hemispheric activation," says Vallortigara.

A right wag means the left hemisphere of the brain is activated in the dog. That means it is experiencing some positive response. So, another dog observing it would feel a relaxed response. In contrast, a dog showing a left wag activated by the right hemisphere is feeling a negative or withdrawal response. To the observing dog, this would induce an anxious and targeting response as well as increased cardiac frequency.

Vallortigara doesn't think that the dogs are necessarily intending to communicate those emotions to other dogs. Rather, he says, the bias in tail wagging is likely the automatic byproduct of differential activation of the left versus the right side of the brain. But that's not to say that the bias in wagging and its response might not find practical uses; veterinarians and dog owners might do well to take note.
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