Day: 09/03/2015

MRI scan can predict math ability of premature babies

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Researchers have identified the brain regions associated with working memory and mathematics abilities of children who are born prematurely.

Researchers have identified the brain regions associated with working memory and mathematics abilities of children who are born prematurely.

Researchers have identified the brain regions associated with working memory and mathematics abilities of children who are born prematurely.

The findings suggest that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans after birth can help predict cognitive impairment in premature babies.

“Our findings demonstrate that brain microstructure and increased tissue volumes in regions located around the insula and putamen during the neonatal period are associated with better early mathematics in preterm children,” said study co-author Henrik Ullman from Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.

  • M_Id_411576_Babies

School age children who are born prematurely are more likely to have low mathematical achievement, thought to be associated with reduced working memory and number skills.

The researchers assessed 224 premature Australian children at age five and age seven to examine the use of MRI after birth to identify infants at risk of later academic impairment.

Neonatal brain microstructure was positively associated with working memory scores in childhood, while increasing tissue volumes in the left insula and putamen regions were positively associated with higher number skills scores in childhood.

This meant they were able to identify brain microstructure and regions in the neonatal brain that are associated with childhood mathematical learning.

“This knowledge could assist in identifying infants at risk of mild academic impairments who would benefit from monitoring and referral to early intervention,” study co-author Megan Spencer-Smith from Karolinska Institutet noted.

‘Sugar gel’ helps premature babies

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A dose of sugar given as a gel rubbed into the inside of the cheek is a cheap and effective way to protect premature babies against brain damage, say experts.

Dangerously low blood sugar affects about one in 10 babies born too early. Untreated, it can cause permanent harm.

Researchers from New Zealand tested the gel therapy in 242 babies under their care and, based on the results, say it should now be a first-line treatment.

Their work is published in The Lancet.

Sugar dose

Dextrose gel treatment costs just over £1 per baby and is simpler to administer than glucose via a drip, say Prof Jane Harding and her team at the University of Auckland.

 premature baby

Current treatment typically involves extra feeding and repeated blood tests to measure blood sugar levels.

But many babies are admitted to intensive care and given intravenous glucose because their blood sugar remains low – a condition doctors call hypoglycaemia.

The study assessed whether treatment with dextrose gel was more effective than feeding alone at reversing hypoglycaemia.

Neil Marlow, from the Institute for Women’s Health at University College London, said that although dextrose gel had fallen into disuse, these findings suggested it should be resurrected as a treatment.

We now had high-quality evidence that it was of value, he said.

Andy Cole, chief executive of premature baby charity Bliss, said: “This is a very interesting piece of new research and we always welcome anything that has the potential to improve outcomes for babies born premature or sick.

“This is a cost-effective treatment and could reduce admissions to intensive care services, which are already working at high capacity levels.

“While the early results of this research show benefits to babies born with low blood sugars, it is clear there is more research to be done to implement this treatment.”

Magnetic ‘wormhole’ connecting two regions of space created for the first time

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“Wormholes” are cosmic tunnels that can connect two distant regions of the universe, and have been popularized by the dissemination of theoretical physics and by works of science fiction like Stargate, Star Trek or, more recently, Interstellar. Using present-day technology it would be impossible to create a gravitational wormhole, as the field would have to be manipulated with huge amounts of gravitational energy, which no one yet knows how to generate. In electromagnetism, however, advances in metamaterials and invisibility have allowed researchers to put forward several designs to achieve this.
(Left) 3D diagram of the magnetic wormhole, showing how the magnetic field lines (in red) leaving a magnet on the right pass through the wormhole. (Right) In terms of magnetism the wormhole is undetectable, which means that the magnetic field seems to disappear on the right only to reappear on the left in the form of a magnetic monopole.

“Wormholes” are cosmic tunnels that can connect two distant regions of the universe, and have been popularized by the dissemination of theoretical physics and by works of science fiction like Stargate, Star Trek or, more recently, Interstellar. Using present-day technology it would be impossible to create a gravitational wormhole, as the field would have to be manipulated with huge amounts of gravitational energy, which no one yet knows how to generate. In electromagnetism, however, advances in metamaterials and invisibility have allowed researchers to put forward several designs to achieve this.

Scientists in the Department of Physics at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona have designed and created in the laboratory the first experimental ‘wormhole’ that can connect two regions of space magnetically. This consists of a tunnel that transfers the magnetic field from one point to the other while keeping it undetectable — invisible — all the way.

The researchers used metamaterials and metasurfaces to build the tunnel experimentally, so that the magnetic field from a source, such as a magnet or a an electromagnet, appears at the other end of the ‘wormhole’ as an isolated magnetic monopole. This result is strange enough in itself, as magnetic monopoles — magnets with only one pole, whether north or south — do not exist in nature. The overall effect is that of a magnetic field that appears to travel from one point to another through a dimension that lies outside the conventional three dimensions.

The ‘wormhole’ in this experiment is a sphere made of different layers: an external layer with a ferromagnetic surface, a second inner layer, made of superconducting material, and a ferromagnetic sheet rolled into a cylinder that crosses the sphere from one end to the other. The sphere is made in such a way as to be magnetically undetectable — invisible, in magnetic field terms — from the exterior.

The magnetic wormhole is an analogy of gravitational ones, as it “changes the topology of space, as if the inner region has been magnetically erased from space,” explains Àlvar Sánchez, the lead researcher.

These same researchers had already built a magnetic fibre in 2014: a device capable of transporting the magnetic field from one end to the other. This fibre was, however, detectable magnetically. The wormhole developed now, though, is a completely three-dimensional device that is undetectable by any magnetic field.

This means a step forward towards possible applications in which magnetic fields are used: in medicine for example. This technology could, for example, increase patients’ comfort by distancing them from the detectors when having MRI scans in hospital, or allow MRI images of different parts of the body to be obtained simultaneously.

Children under ten ‘should not own smartphones’

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Survey finds that majority of parents believe that young children should not own smartphones

Cyberbullying spreads through digital means such as text messages and social networking sites (picture posed by model)

Cyberbullying spreads through digital means such as text messages and social networking sites Children under the age of ten should not be allowed to own a smartphone, a majority of parents believe, according to a new survey

Internet Matters, a non-for-profit organisation working to keep the internet safe, found that 85 per cent of parents of primary school children want an age requirement enforced.

Currently, as many as 65 per cent of children aged between eight and 11 years old own a smartphone.

Newcastle has been nicknamed the “smartphone capital of Britain” – more than 90 per cent of eight to 11 year olds own a device.

Second is Nottingham at 90 per cent. London sees fewer young children owning smartphones at just 55 per cent. In Brighton just four out of ten children in that age bracket own such a device.

“With such a huge amount of young people owning smartphones and the acceptable age of doing so being 10, parents need to be more aware than ever of what their children are doing online,” Carolyn Bunting, General Manager at Internet Matters, told the Mirror.

Children are increasingly falling foul of aggressive marketing tactics that encourage them to buy added extrasSome experts have suggested apps should come with health warnings

“That’s why we have launched our brand new online safety guide, so that parents remember these safety precautions in their back to school shopping list for their children.

“We would urge parents to ensure they have the conversation with their children about how to be responsible on their phones and ensure that the safety settings are in place across all their devices and search engines.”

The survey was produced by Internet Matters as part of its Back to School e-safety advertising campaign, that includes a new online safety guide which helps parents keep their children safe online.

Planned Parenthood harvested baby parts without patient consent; whistleblower says they just “took what they wanted”

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An anti-abortion organization that has released a slew of undercover videos showing a seedy side of Planned Parenthood, including officials who were caught allegedly negotiating the for-profit sale of aborted baby body parts, continues to make headlines with new revelations and allegations against the nation’s largest abortion provider.

In one of those videos, a young woman who was an eyewitness to the daily practice of harvesting fetal body parts in PP clinics recounted what she saw. A press release from the Center for Medical Progress – the group that conducted the undercover sting that resulted in several videos – said that the woman described the coordination tissue procurement workers had with the abortion providers, the pressure put upon patients and PP’s disregard for patient consent.

The center notes:

The “Human Capital” documentary web series, produced by The Center for Medical Progress, integrates expert interviews, eyewitness accounts, and real-life undercover interactions to explore various themes connected to Planned Parenthood’s sale of aborted fetal tissue.

Holly O’Donnell is a former Blood and Tissue Procurement Technician for the firm StemExpress, a start-up biotech company based in northern California that partners with Planned Parenthood clinics to buy aborted body parts for resale to scientific researchers. In the video, she provides a disturbing narrative of what she saw daily.

“It’s not an option”

As a procurement tech, the center noted, her function was to identify pregnant patients who matched the specifications provided to StemExpress by its customers and then harvest the fetal body parts after the babies were aborted.

“It’s not an option, it’s a demand,” StemExpress supervisors told O’Donnell regarding approaching pregnant women at Planned Parenthood for fetal tissue “donations.”

She went onto say that the company technicians working in PP clinics often harvested fetal parts without even obtaining consent from patients.

“If there was a higher gestation, and the technicians needed it, there were times when they would just take what they wanted,” she said. “And these mothers don’t know. And there’s no way they would know.”

Federal laws regarding the procurement and use of human fetal tissue require that patients consent to the tissue donation subsequent to consenting to the abortion procedure (42 U.S.C. 289g-1).

The former technician also said Planned Parenthood gave StemExpress techs access to patient records and schedules so that the biotech company could plan around days when patient “supply” would be greatest.

Violations of patient privacy rights?

“They give you a sheet, and it’s everybody for that day, who’s coming in for an ultrasound, who’s coming in for an abortion, medical or a late-term abortion,” O’Donnell said.

Even patients who were at PP clinics merely seeking a pregnancy test were considered part of the supply.

“Pregnancy tests are potential pregnancies, therefore potential specimens. So it’s just taking advantage of the opportunities,” she said.

Providing patient information could be a violation of federal HIPAA privacy rules. According to the Department of Health and Human Services website, there are a number of ways patient information is required to be protected:

The Office for Civil Rights enforces the HIPAA Privacy Rule, which protects the privacy of individually identifiable health information; the HIPAA Security Rule, which sets national standards for the security of electronic protected health information; the HIPAA Breach Notification Rule, which requires covered entities and business associates to provide notification following a breach of unsecured protected health information; and the confidentiality provisions of the Patient Safety Rule, which protect identifiable information being used to analyze patient safety events and improve patient safety.

“Experiences like Holly O’Donnell’s show that Planned Parenthood’s abortion and baby parts business is not a safe place where vulnerable women can be cared for, but a harvesting ground for saleable human ‘product,'” said the center’s project lead, David Daleiden.

“Taxpayer subsidies to Planned Parenthood’s barbaric abortion business should be revoked immediately, and law enforcement and other elected officials must act decisively to determine the full extent of Planned Parenthood’s offensive practices and hold them accountable to the law,” he added.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/051024_Planned_Parenthood_fetal_harvesting_patient_consent.html#ixzz3kkXPE5I1

Approximately 94% of corn grown in U.S. is coated with bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides

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Bee-On-Honeycomb

A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that neonicotinoid pesticides, a relatively new class of insecticides, negatively affect the immune system of honeybees by helping a viral pathogen propagate.

In an effort to find out how neonicotinoid pesticides harm bees, research scientists injected bees with a pathogen known as the deformed wing virus. Exposing bees to neonicotinoid pesticides similar to the concentrations in fields weakened the immune system of the bees. Usually, the immune system of bees is able to keep the deformed wing virus in check. However, the researchers found that the virus replicated more rapidly in bees exposed to neonicotinoid pesticides than in bees who were not exposed to neonicotinoid pesticides.

Pesticides weaken bees immune system

The authors of the study discovered that neonicotinoid pesticides increased the expression of a protein called leucine-rich repeat protein (LRR), which can weaken the immune system of bees. Bees have an immune system that can keep various pathogens at bay. However, increased levels of LRR makes bees more susceptible to various pathogens and viruses.

Bee populations have been in rapid decline in recent years. Beekeepers in the United States have reported an annual beehive loss of 30 percent or more per year for the last 10 years, which is higher than usual. However, in recent years, some beekeepers have experienced losses of 50 percent of more.

On the importance of bees

Bees play an integral role in agriculture for reasons other than honey. Approximately 87 percent of plants are pollinated by bees. Furthermore, bees perform approximately 80 percent of pollination worldwide. Pollination is the transfer of pollen from the anther (male part) to the stigma (female part), which causes fertilization and, in turn, the production of seeds. Bees are particularly excellent pollinators. If a bee colony collapses, it has a rippling effect on the whole environment. Even Albert Einstein is often attributed with the quote: “If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, man would have only four years to live.”

In May 2015, the European Commission issued a two-year ban on neonicotinoids thought to be harmful to bee populations. The three pesticides banned included nicotine-based clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam. Biotech companies that manufacture the pesticides, including Bayer and Syngenta, sued the European Commision over the ban, arguing that the pesticide poisoning of bees was the farmers’, rather than the products’, fault. The companies have since spent millions of dollars lobbying in an effort to prevent similar bans from occurring the U.S.

Molecular Biologist Explains How THC Completely Kills Cancer Cells.

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Not long ago, we published an article examining a case study recently published where doctors used cannabis to treat Leukemia, you can read more about that here. To read more articles and view studies about how cannabis is an effective treatment and cure for cancer, click here.

Cannabinoids refer to any group of related compounds that include cannabinol and the active constituents of cannabis. They activate cannabinoid receptors in the body. The body itself produces  compounds called endocannabinoids and they play a role in many processes within the body that help to create a healthy environment. I think it’s also important to note that cannabis has been shown to treat cancer without any psychoactive effects.

Cannabinoids have been proven to reduce cancer cells as they have a great impact on the rebuilding of the immune system. Although not every strain of cannabis has the same effect, more and more patients are seeing success in cancer reduction in a short period of time by using cannabis. Contrary to popular  belief, smoking cannabis does not assist a great deal in treating disease within the body as therapeutic levels cannot be reached through smoking. Creating oil from the plant or eating the plant is the best way to go about getting the necessary ingredients, the cannabinoids.

The world has come a long way with regards to accepting this plant as a medicine rather than a harmful substance. It’s a plant that could benefit the planet in more ways than one. Cannabis is not something offered in the same regard as chemotherapy, but more people are becoming aware if it, which is why it’s so important to continue to spread information like this. Nobody can really deny the tremendous healing power of this plant.