News From The American Chemical Society, July 9, 2008

Detecting flu viruses in remote areas of the world



Researchers in Ohio and New Mexico are reporting an advance in the quest for a fast, sensitive test to detect flu viruses - one that requires no refrigeration and can be used in remote areas of the world where new flu viruses often emerge. Their new method, the first to use sugar molecules rather than antibodies, is in the July 2 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, a weekly publication.



In the new study, Jurgen Schmidt, Suri Iyer, and colleagues point out that conventional tests for flu viruses - including bird flu - rely on antibodies, proteins produced by the immune system, to recognize viruses. But antibody-based tests can be expensive and require refrigeration to remain stable.



Their solution involved development of artificial forms of sialic acid, a sugar molecule found on the surface of cells that flu viruses attach to when they attack humans. In laboratory tests, the researchers showed that their highly-selective artificial sugars could be used to quickly capture and recognize two common strains of influenza viruses, H1N1, which infects birds, and H3N2, which infects pigs and humans. They used the molecules to differentiate between 2 strains (Sydney and Beijing) commonly found in human infections without isolating the viral RNA or surface glycoproteins. The sugars remain stable for several months, can be produced in large quantities, and exhibit extended shelf life. - MTS



ARTICLE: "Detection of Intact Influenza Viruses using Biotinylated Biantennary /S-/Sialosides"



CONTACT:

Jurgen Schmidt, Ph.D.

Los Alamos National Laboratory

Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545



Suri S. Iyer, Ph.D.

University of Cincinnati

Cincinnati, OH 45221-0172



Marine worm's jaws say "cutting-edge new aerospace materials"



Researchers in California and New Hampshire report the first detailed characterization of the protein composition of the hard, fang-like jaws of a common marine worm. Their work could lead to the design of a new class of super-strong, lightweight materials for use as construction and repair materials for spacecraft, airplanes, and other applications. Their study is scheduled for the July 14 issue of ACS' Biomacromolecules, a monthly journal.



In the new study, Chris C. Broomell and colleagues note that Nereis virens, also known as the sandworm or ragworm, is a burrowing marine worm found in shallow waters in the North Atlantic region. Researchers remain intrigued by the remarkable hardness of its jaws and long pincers, which rivals that of human teeth and exceed the hardness of many synthetic plastics. But little is known about the exact chemical composition of these structures.
















Broomell and colleagues collected the jaws of 1,000 worms and analyzed their protein content using high-tech instrumentation. They found that the primary chemical in the jaws and pincers of the worm is a unique protein, named Nereis virens jaw protein-1 (Nvjp-1), which is rich in the amino acid histidine. The researchers also characterized the chemical conditions needed for its formation, such as the presence of zinc, which could allow researchers to create synthetic versions of this super-hard, lightweight material. - MTS



ARTICLE: "Cutting Edge Structural Protein from the Jaws of Nereis virens"



CONTACT:

Chris C. Broomell, Ph.D.

University of California at Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara, California 93106



New "scrubber" speeds removal of powerful anthrax clean-up agent



Researchers in New Jersey report discovery of a fast, efficient method for removing a powerful pesticide used to sterilize buildings and equipment following anthrax attacks. Their chemical "scrubber" removes 99 percent of the pesticide following fumigation and could pave the way for its broader use in anthrax clean-up efforts, the scientists say. Their study is scheduled for the July 18 issue of ACS' Organic Process Research & Development, a bi-monthly journal.



In the new study, Roman Bielski and Peter J. Joyce note that the commonly used pesticide, methyl bromide, is superior to chlorine dioxide for destroying anthrax-causing bacteria and their spores. However, it is highly toxic to humans and may harm the environment by destroying the ozone layer. Researchers thus have sought an efficient method for removing this promising anthrax decontamination agent.



Bielski and Joyce documented the effectiveness of their removal method in experiments with an empty office trailer filled with air containing methyl bromide. They treated air exhausted from the trailer with a solution of sodium sulfide combined with a powerful catalyst. This chemical "scrubber" removed more than 99 percent of the methyl bromide from the air. - MTS



ARTICLE: "The Use of Methyltricaprylylammonium Chloride as a Phase Transfer Catalyst for the Destruction of methyl Bromide in Air Streams"



CONTACT:

Roman Bielski, Ph.D., and Peter J. Joyce, Ph.D.

Value Recovery, Inc.

Bridgeport, New Jersey 08014



Snake venom tells tales about geography



Just as people give away their origins by that southern drawl or New England twang, poisonous snakes produce venom that differs distinctly from one geographic area to another, the first study of the "snake venomics" of one of the most common pit vipers in Latin America has found. The study is scheduled for the August 1 issue of ACS' monthly Journal of Proteome Research.



In the new study, Juan J. Calvete and colleagues point out that researchers have known for decades that venom collected from snakes of the same species from different geographic locations can differ in terms of their biological effects and symptoms on snakebite victims. However, scientists know little about the chemical differences behind these geographically different venoms.



To find out, the scientists collected venom samples from adult and newborn specimens of the lancehead pitviper from two geographically isolated populations from the Caribbean and Pacific regions of Costa Rica. After a detailed laboratory analysis of the proteins found in the venom - so-called "snake venomics" - the researchers found major differences in the venoms collected from the two regions. They also found distinct differences in proteins collected from newborns and adult snakes. The study "highlights the necessity of using pooled venoms as a statistically representative venom for antivenom production" for human snakebite victims, the report states. - MTS



ARTICLE: "Snake Venomics of the Lancehead Pitviper Bothrops asper: Geographic, Individual, and Ontogenetic Variations"



CONTACT:

Juan J. Calvete, Ph.D.

Instituto de Biomedicina de Valencia

Valencia, Spain



'Electronic chemicals' pave the way for brighter, more energy-efficient future



From solar power to computer chips to advanced lighting, new materials developed by chemists are helping consumers reap the benefits of advanced electronics, according to an article scheduled for the July 15 issue of Chemical & Engineering News. Some of these electronics will soon appear on store shelves and offices near you.



In the C&EN cover story, writers Michael McCoy, Alexander Tullo, and Jean-Francois Tremblay point out that so-called 'electronic chemicals' play key roles in today's advanced electronics but go largely unnoticed by consumers. These unsung materials, part of a multibillion dollar electronic materials market, provide improved solar panels that crank out more fossil fuel-free electricity and new computer chips that are smaller and more energy efficient than ever. These materials also fuel the development of organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) that promise energy savings and could render today's incandescent light bulbs and fluorescent bulbs obsolete, according to the article.



But making advanced electronics comes with a steep price. Chemical companies now invest billions of dollars to build new manufacturing plants to produce raw materials for advanced electronics. Manufacturers are also spending heavily on research and development, as new electronic advances demand innovative new chemicals, the article states.



ARTICLE: "Electronic chemicals"







The American Chemical Society - the world's largest scientific society - is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.



Source: Michael Woods


American Chemical Society


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Spreading The Computational Load To Monitor Heart Patients Remotely

The possibility of remote monitoring for chronically ill patients will soon become a reality. Now, researchers in South Africa and Australia have devised a decentralized system to avoid medical data overload. They describe the peer-to-peer system in a forthcoming issue of the International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology.



People with a range of chronic illnesses, including diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart problems can benefit from advances in monitoring technology. Such devices could send data on a person's symptoms directly to a centralized computer server at their health center. This would allow healthcare workers to take appropriate action, whether in an emergency or simply to boost or reduce medication in response to changes in the patient's symptoms.



However, as tele-monitoring is set to become widespread, there will inevitably be an issue of data overload with which a centralized computer will not be able to cope. Computer scientists Hanh Le, Nina Schiff, and Johan du Plessis at the University of Cape Town, working with Doan Hoang at the University of Technology, Sydney, suggest a decentralized approach.



Computer users are familiar with the concept of peer-to-peer (P2P) networks in which individual users share the workload across equivalent personal computers on a network. This avoids overloading any single server or swamping bandwidth on individual connections. The P2P approach is commonly employed by software companies and others to distribute large digital files, such as operating system updates, and high-definition movies.



A P2P network overlays a network on the individual peers, known as nodes, without a central control point and uses their idle processing cycles, storage, and bandwidth via the internet.



Le and colleagues have developed an application to demonstrate proof of principle of how a P2P network could incorporate patient sensors including thermometers, blood-pressure units and electrocardiograms (ECG). It is the latter on which the team has focused to build a P2P heart-monitoring network.



The system builds on the team's concept of a physically-aware reference model (a PARM). Their PARM acts as a small-scale, but scalable model of the kind of network overlay that could be built on the internet. Tests have already demonstrated that a continual and unintrusive heart monitoring application could be developed into a working e-health system quickly and simply at low cost using P2P.


Notes:



"A pervasive tele-health system for continual and low intrusive monitoring using peer-to-peer networks" in Int. J. Computer Applications in Technology, 2009, 34, 330-334.



Source: Hanh Le


Inderscience Publishers


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Medicine From Tobacco

Tobacco isn't famous for its health benefits. But now scientists have succeeded in using genetically modified tobacco plants to produce medicines for several autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, including diabetes. The research is published in the open access journal BMC Biotechnology.



A large team of scientists from several European research organizations have participated in the study as part of the Pharma-Planta project (pharma-planta/). Led by Professor Mario Pezzotti at the University of Verona, they set out to create transgenic tobacco plants that would produce biologically-active interleukin-10 (IL-10), a potent anti-inflammatory cytokine. They tried two different versions of IL-10 (one from a virus, one from the mouse) and generated plants in which this protein was targeted to three different compartments within the cell, to see which would work most effectively.



The researchers found that tobacco plants were able to process both forms of IL-10 correctly, producing the active cytokine at high enough levels that it might be possible to use tobacco leaves without lengthy extraction and purification processes. The next step will be to feed the plants to mice with autoimmune diseases to find out how effective they are.



The authors are keen to use the plants to see whether repeated small doses could help prevent type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), in combination with other auto-antigens associated with the disease. The team has a particular auto-antigen in its sights - the 65-kDa isoform of the enzyme glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD65) - which they have also produced in transgenic tobacco plants.



According to Pezzotti, "Transgenic plants are attractive systems for the production of therapeutic proteins because they offer the possibility of large scale production at low cost, and they have low maintenance requirements. The fact that they can be eaten, which delivers the drug where it is needed, thus avoiding lengthy purification procedures, is another plus compared with traditional drug synthesis."



Notes:



1. Viral and murine interleukin-10 are correctly processed and retain their biological activity when produced in tobacco

Luisa Bortesi, Marzia Rossato, Flora Schuster, Nicole Raven, Johannes Stadlmann, Linda Avesani, Alberto Falorni, Flavia Bazzoni, Ralph Bock, Stefan Schillberg and Mario Pezzotti

BMC Biotechnology (in press)


Article available at journal website: biomedcentral/bmcbiotechnol/


All articles are available free of charge, according to BioMed Central's open access policy.



2. BMC Biotechnology is an open access journal publishing original peer-reviewed research articles in the manipulation of biological macromolecules or organisms for use in experimental procedures or in the pharmaceutical, agrobiological and allied industries. BMC Biotechnology (ISSN 1472-6750) is indexed/tracked/covered by PubMed, MEDLINE, BIOSIS, CAS, Scopus, EMBASE, Thomson Reuters (ISI) and Google Scholar.



3. BioMed Central (biomedcentral/) is an STM (Science, Technology and Medicine) publisher which has pioneered the open access publishing model. All peer-reviewed research articles published by BioMed Central are made immediately and freely accessible online, and are licensed to allow redistribution and reuse. BioMed Central is part of Springer Science+Business Media, a leading global publisher in the STM sector.



Source: Charlotte Webber


BioMed Central


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Significant Health Benefits Result From Improving Doctor-Patient Communication

A UCSF research team has developed a simple tool that can improve the effectiveness of communication between doctors and patients about prescribed medications and result in dramatic improvements in health and safety.



The new communication tool involves a computer-generated weekly calendar with color images of the medication to be taken each day, combined with instructions written in English and in a patient's native language if the patient does not speak English. The researchers call it a VMS, for visual medication schedule.



"Improving communication has often been thought of as soft science, but our study shows significant clinical benefits when the information gap between physician and patient is bridged in the right way," says co-lead investigator Edward Machtinger, MD, assistant professor of medicine and director of the Women's HIV Program at UCSF.



Machtinger and co-lead investigator, Dean Schillinger, MD, associate professor of medicine at UCSF and director of the UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations at San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center, developed the tool and conducted a study on its effectiveness. Research findings are reported in the October 2007 issue of the Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, published by Joint Commission Resources (jcrinc/).



The research team selected patients taking an anticoagulant (clot preventing or blood thinning) medication for stroke prevention known as warfarin. Most patients in the study suffered from atrial fibrillation, a common heart condition in which the heart pumps irregularly, leading to formation of clots in the heart that travel to the brain and result in stroke.



Atrial fibrillation affects over 2.5 million adults in the US and is responsible for 20 percent of all strokes. Treatment with warfarin, if taken correctly, can reduce the likelihood of stroke by 80 percent.



However, warfarin is a notoriously challenging medication for doctors and patients to manage, and complications from warfarin are the most common cause of adverse medication events in community settings, according to the lead investigators.



In previous studies, Schillinger and Machtinger found that nearly one half of patients on anticoagulants were not taking their medication accurately, but did not realize it. When describing the dose and frequency of the medication, patients and doctor often had two completely different understandings. These misunderstandings were more frequent among patients with limited literary skills, those for whom English was not their first language, and those with memory problems. Patients who had misunderstood their prescriptions were more likely to be under-anticoagulated and at risk for stroke, as well as over-anticoagulated and at risk for life-threatening bleeding.
















Based on these findings, the researchers developed a three-step communication approach for their current study and selected patients whose lab tests showed that their blood was not in the target range of anticoagulation. The three-step approach involves



1. Having the patient describe how much medication he/she is taking and how often (to identify misunderstanding),


2. Giving the patient a VMS along with written instructions both in English and the patient's native language, and


3. Asking the patient to "teach back" what he/she has just learned so as to ensure common understanding.



The study involved 147 patients, with half of the participants being randomized to receive the VMS along with brief, scripted medication counseling each time they came to clinic over 90 days, in addition to their standard care in an anticoagulation clinic. The other half received standard care, which includes medication counseling using non-standardized verbal and written instructions.



Study findings showed that the blood anticoagulation status of patients in the VMS group reached the target, safe level almost twice as fast as those patients who were in the standard group -- 28 vs. 42 days. In addition, the researchers found that the effect of the VMS tool was principally among those patients who, at the start of the study, had misunderstood their prescription instructions.



Among this "at-risk" subset of patients, the VMS worked even faster (28 vs. 49 days), presumably by helping to correct the original misunderstanding that led to them initially being out of target range, the researchers say. One notable finding, they add, was that the VMS tool was especially effective among Spanish-speaking patients, again suggesting that the tool is most effective for those with communication barriers.



Miscommunication between doctors and patients with regard to medication is common and often goes unnoticed, according to Schillinger. He and Machtinger began looking at the link between miscommunication and poor health about eight years ago when they realized that miscommunication could be a key, remediable cause of poor health outcomes and medication errors among vulnerable populations of patients.



"It was amazing to us that the final crucial step in a long pipeline of science and disease intervention--communication around the actual taking of medications--was being largely ignored," says Machtinger.



Their previous studies showed that problems at this final step were far more serious than the field had realized. These early studies were among the first to show a direct link between miscommunication and poor health, Schillinger says.



This approach, says Schillinger, provides the clinician with immediate feedback on the patient's understanding of his medication and the opportunity to correct misinformation, along with a visual aid-the take-home calendar and verbal reinforcement.



The idea for the visual part of the communications tool is not novel, the researchers say. For decades, doctors and pharmacists have often taped actual pills to hand-written sheets of paper to help educate their most vulnerable patients. This approach, however, is too time-consuming and impractical to carry out for every patient at every appointment.



The VMS is fast and inexpensive, can be printed in any language, and facilitates communication that happens naturally in the doctor's office, the researchers emphasize, and can be adapted to other clinical settings, including pharmacies.



The next step for the research team is to find ways to integrate the VMS and 3-step approach into everyday practice. "Having health systems adopt this communication tool on a long-term basis for anticoagulant care could translate into lots of strokes being avoided and lots of bleeding being prevented," says Schillinger.



"We hope, in the near future, that all vulnerable patients will have a VMS tacked to the refrigerator so they, and their caregivers, will know which pills they should be taking and how they should take them," says Machtinger.



In the meantime, the researchers emphasize that patients should be educated about the dangers associated with medication miscommunication and discuss how they are taking their medications with their doctor at every visit. While there are other reasons besides miscommunication that might affect whether a patient takes medication as prescribed, Schillinger believes that "for high-risk medications, we need to focus our energies on implementing standardized visual communication tools that accompany any prescription to ensure safety and quality."







The study was funded by the Academic Senate of UCSF, the American Heart Association, the Agency for Health Research and Quality, the National Center for Research Resources, and the Hellman Early Career Research Award.



Study co-authors were Frances Wang, MA, senior biostatistician; Lay-Leng Chen, MD, research consultant; Maytrella Rodriguez, research assistant, and Sandy Wu, RN, research assistant, all of the UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations.



UCSF is a leading university that advances health worldwide by conducting advanced biomedical research, educating graduate students in the life sciences and health professions, and providing complex patient care.



Source: Vanessa deGier


University of California - San Francisco



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Commentaries Discuss Evidence-Based Medicine; Report Examines States' Efforts To Insure Young Adults

Improving Patient Care by Linking Evidence-Based Medicine and Evidence-Based Management," Journal of the American Medical Association: In the commentary, Stephen Shortell of the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health and colleagues discuss the need for policy recommendations and interventions to create an integrated evidence-based approach to health care (Shortell et al., JAMA, 8/8).


Rite of Passage? Why Young Adults Become Uninsured and How New Policies Can Help," The Commonwealth Fund: The report examines health care coverage trends for young adults and finds that young adults continue to represent the largest uninsured age group in the U.S. The report also discusses state laws to improve health coverage of young adults by allowing them to remain on their parents' health plans, as well as federal efforts that would allow states to increase access to SCHIP and Medicaid up to age 25 (The Commonwealth Fund release, 8/8).

"Toward Evidence-Based Policy Making and Standardized Assessment of Health Policy Reform," JAMA: In the commentary, J. Frank Wharam of the Department of Ambulatory Care and Prevention at Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Norman Daniels of the Department of Population and International Health at Harvard School of Public Health discuss the need for a framework for the structured assessment of health care initiatives. Such a framework should include standards in the areas of health outcomes, access and income spent on health care, according to Wharam and Daniels (Wharam/Daniels, JAMA, 8/8).



Reprinted with kind permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

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Study Supports Seasonal Influenza Vaccine For Young Infants

Vaccination against seasonal influenza is safe and produces a protective immune response in infants as young as 6 to 12 weeks, concludes a study in the February issue of The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading provider of information and business intelligence for students, professionals, and institutions in medicine, nursing, allied health, and pharmacy.


Although confirmatory studies are needed, the results suggest that seasonal flu vaccine could be included in the standard vaccinations for infants less than 6 months old, according to Dr. Janet A. Englund of University of Washington, Seattle, and colleagues.


Flu Shots Yield Good Immune Response with Few Adverse Events


In the study, 1,375 healthy U.S. infants were randomly assigned to receive two doses of the standard trivalent seasonal flu vaccine or an inactive placebo vaccine. ("Trivalent" means that the vaccine offers protection against three strains of circulating influenza virus.) The vaccines were given one month apart, in combination with standard recommended vaccines.


With close follow-up, the researchers found no differences in side effects or adverse events between infants receiving the active influenza vaccine versus placebo. In both groups, about 11 percent of infants developed a fever within three days after vaccination. Through one month, serious adverse events related to the study vaccine were rare.


Immunologic tests showed significant antibody responses to seasonal flu vaccine. Nearly half of infants receiving the trivalent vaccine developed protective antibodies against at least two of the three influenza virus strains covered. There was no evidence that influenza vaccine interfered with responses to the other routine childhood vaccinations.


Seasonal influenza vaccine is effective in preventing influenza, but no vaccine has been approved for prevention of influenza in infants less than 6 months old-a group at high risk for influenza and related complications. Trivalent influenza vaccine has been found safe and effective in infants over 6 months old, but very few studies have evaluated its use in younger babies.


The new study, in a large sample of American infants, suggests that seasonal influenza vaccines can safely be given to 6- to 12-week-old infants, in combination with routine childhood vaccines. The results show high rates of protective immune responses, which are likely to be effective in fighting influenza viruses.


"Based on the results of this study, potential protection against influenza could be safely obtained in infants less than 6 months of age who receive a standard infant dose of inactivated influenza vaccine," Dr. Englund and co-authors conclude. More research will be needed to confirm that vaccination is actually effective in preventing influenza in this young and vulnerable age group.


About The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal


The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal® is a peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary journal directed to physicians and other health care professionals who manage infectious diseases of childhood. The journal delivers the latest insights on all aspects of infectious disease in children, from state-of-art diagnostic techniques to the most effective drug therapies and other essential treatment protocols. The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal is official journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society and the European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases.


Source
Wolters Kluwer Health: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

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Premiums Rise 18% For Non-employer Health Insurance, USA

People who buy their own health insurance saw their average annual premiums rise 18 percent between 2002 and 2005, a modest increase compared to the 34 percent jump in average premiums for people insured through their employers, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.


But the annual cost of these non-employer policies are paid entirely out of pocket. Average annual premium for a one-person policy was $2,835 in 2005, up from $2,531 in 2002. Annual premiums for family policies were $5,568 in 2005, up from $4,442 in 2002.


The new AHRQ analysis also found that:


- Among those under age 65, about 12 million Americans, or less than 5 percent, were covered by policies purchased in the non-employer market in 2005. That compared to 174 million, or 67 percent, covered by employer-based health insurance.


- For people with company-sponsored insurance, average annual premiums paid out of pocket rose from $1,231 to $1,655 between 2002 and 2005.


- About 70 percent of non-employer policies were single coverage and 30 percent were for family coverage.


- Premiums for non-employer policies differ by age of policyholders. One-person premiums were $1,580 for policyholders under age 40 and $4,288 for policyholders aged 55-64.



AHRQ, which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, works to enhance the quality, safety, efficiency, and effectiveness of health care in the United States. The data in this AHRQ News and Numbers summary are taken from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, a detailed source of information on the health services used by Americans, the frequency with which they are used, the cost of those services, and how they are paid. For more information, go to Premiums in the Individual Health Insurance Market for Policyholders under Age 65: 2002 and 2005.


ahrq

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