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Physical Activity Reduces Prostate Carcinogenesis In A Transgenic Model
UroToday.com - A recent European study demonstrated that 10-year mortality from cardiovascular disease and cancer was decreased in a population of 70 to 90 year olds who adhered to a Mediterranean diet, were physically active, had moderate alcohol consumption and did not smoke. There are also reports suggesting an inverse association between physical activity and risk of prostate cancer (CaP). Yet mechanisms linking lifestyle and longevity are not well investigated. This report in The Prostate investigates an animal model for the association between physical activity and development of CaP.

Groundbreaking Artificial Heart Implanted At UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School And Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School jointly announce the successful implant of the AbioCor® Total Replacement Heart, the world"s first completely self-contained, fully implantable artificial heart, as well as the first internal artificial organ. The surgery was led by Mark Anderson, MD, associate professor of surgery at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and chief of the section of cardiac surgery at both the medical school and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, and assisted by Juan Plate, MD, assistant professor of surgery at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and an attending surgeon at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital is one of only three centers nationwide approved to perform the surgery and the only one in the New York and Philadelphia areas. Dr. Anderson is one of a handful of physicians nationwide trained to perform this procedure. This is the first time the AbioCor has been implanted in a patient since the completion of clinical trials and approval by the Food and Drug Administration.
News of the day
Former President Clinton, U.N. Advisor Douste-Blazy Announce Voluntary Airline Ticket Donation
Former President Clinton has joined efforts to raise money for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria from travelers purchasing electronic airline tickets, the New York Times reports. At a press conference in Paris with United Nations special advisor Philippe Douste-Blazy, Clinton said, "If you provide a user-friendly, efficient way of giving, the contributors will use this system."The U.N. is behind the effort, which will enable travelers to voluntarily add a $2 donation for projects to fight malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS when buying an airline ticket, the Times reports. Both Clinton and Douste-Blazy are working with a newly formed group - Leading Innovative Financing for Equity, or LIFE. LIFE is comprised of eight different groups working to raising money for health aid. According to Douste-Blazy, efforts targeting small donors will begin in January 2010. He added that "the idea is that the citizens of the world are connected by the Internet and credit cards and can show their solidarity."The groups also hope to reach people renting cars, booking hotels or buying train tickets, the Times reports (Carvajal, New York Times, 5/21). Clinton said U.S. air passengers will be able to voluntarily participate in the program, adding, "There is no question that huge numbers of people will participate in this. They understand that it doesn"t cost much and that 100% will go to save lives." (AFP/Google.com, 5/20).
Health Insurance

Individual Bacterial Cells Are Capable Of Quorum Sensing When Confined In Small Volumes

Infections of wounds, pneumonia, etc. in hospitals in particular are often caused by bacteria called Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Once they reach a certain density, colonies of Pseudomonas aeruginosa produce virulence factors and can enter into a slimy state, a biofilm, which prevents antibiotics from penetrating. The process of quorum sensing, which cells use to "sense" cell density, is triggered when the concentration of certain signaling compounds generated by the bacteria reaches a threshold level. A team working with Rustem F. Ismagilov at the University of Chicago has now demonstrated that the absolute number of cells is irrelevant; only the number of bacteria in a given volume plays a role. As the researchers report in the journal Angewandte Chemie, they were even able to trigger quorum-sensing processes in single cells when these were confined in extremely small volumes. The term, quorum sensing, is derived from the Latin quorum; in politics, this is the number of votes that must be cast for an election or referendum to be valid. In biology, quorum sensing is defined as a process by which cells are able to detect the accumulation of a released signal and then change their behavior when the signal concentration exceeds a threshold level. Traditionally, quorum sensing is thought to help microorganisms to coordinate processes that would be inefficient in single cells, such as the formation of biofilms. Quorum sensing can also prevent too many bacteria from colonizing too small an area. However, the work of Ismagilov"s team has shown that quorum sensing is also activated by a single cell if the cell finds itself in an extremely enclosed space, which raises questions as to how quorum-sensing-regulated processes are relevant both to large colonies of cells and to single cells in confined spaces. In order to investigate this phenomenon, two different approaches can be taken: either seed a macroscopic volume with bacteria and wait for them to reach the required population through cell division, or enclose a few cells in an extremely tiny volume. The necessary signaling compounds can also become sufficiently concentrated by this route because the released signals cannot diffuse far away from the cell but instead accumulate around the cell. "In the past, the first strategy has dominated. This has led to the general view that quorum sensing is a process to coordinate the behavior of large groups of cells," says Ismagilov. "This overlooks the possibility that small groups of cells could also initiate quorum sensing if they are confined to a sufficiently small volume. The quorum-sensing metabolic processes are relevant to a number of cellular functions, including the growth of small numbers of cells at the early stages of biofilm formation or the early stages of an infection." By using a microfluidic experimental array, the team was able to isolate droplets with a volume of about 100 femtoliters (100 quadrillionths of a liter), each containing only one or very few cells of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Even with these extremely low cell counts, the researchers were able to observe that quorum sensing was triggered in many cases. "This unambiguously refutes the notion that millions of cells are required for quorum sensing," says Ismagilov. Rustem F. Ismagilov Wiley-Blackwell


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