/////////////TOPHATS
//////////////PED RESUS-WETFAGS
//////////////////Middle age is when you've met so many people that every new person you meet reminds you of someone else.'
Ogden Nash
////////////////////Wealth, democratisation and tolerance
Among the 52 countries and territories for which long-term comparative data were available, India, Ireland, Mexico, Puerto Rico and South Korea showed steep upticks in happiness last year, while the happiness quotient in 14 other countries, including nine in Europe, also rose, though less sharply.
Those 14 countries are: Argentina, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, South Africa, Spain and Sweden.
/////////////////Gene makes Africans more susceptible to HIV
Wednesday, 16 July 2008
Cosmos Online
Anopheles mosquito
Higher risk: A gene which confers some protection against malaria - carried by this Anopheles mosquito - has been found to increase susceptibility to HIV.
Credit: Wikimedia
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SYDNEY: A genetic variation, which evolved to protect people of African descent against malaria has, now been shown to increase their susceptibility to HIV infection by up to 40 per cent.
Conversely, according to a new study, the same variation also appears to prolong survival of those infected with HIV by approximately two years.
The discovery marks the first genetic risk factor for HIV found only in people of African descent, and sheds light on the differences in genetic makeup that play a crucial role in susceptibility to HIV and AIDS.
25-year study
The research, published today in the journal Cell Host & Microbe, was the product of an international research project led by Sunil K. Ahuja, from the University of Texas Health Science Centre in San Antonio, USA.
Researchers there, and at University College London (UCL) in the U.K., analysed data from a 25-year study of thousands of Americans of different ethnic backgrounds.
The gene that the research focused on encodes a binding protein found on the surface of cells, called Duffy Antigen Receptor for Chemokines (DARC). The variation of this gene, which is common in people of African descent, means that they do not express DARC on red blood cells.
DARC influences the levels of inflammatory and anti-HIV blood factors called chemokines and is not the gene related to the disease sickle cell anaemia, which also confers some malaria resistance.
"In sub-Saharan Africa, the vast majority of people do not express DARC on their red blood cells and previous research has shown that this variation seems to have evolved to protect against a particular form of malaria," said co-author Robin Weiss a virologist at UCL in London. "However, this protective effect actually leaves those [people] with the variation more susceptible to HIV."
"The big message here is that something that protected against malaria in the past is now leaving the host more susceptible to HIV," said Weiss.
"Double-edged sword"
"It turns out that having this variation is a double-edged sword," added lead author Ahuja. "The finding is another valuable piece in the puzzle of HIV-AIDS genetics."
HIV affects 25 million people in sub-Saharan Africa today, an HIV burden greater than any other region of the world. Around 90 per cent of people in Africa carry the DARC genetic variation, meaning that it may be responsible for an estimated 11 per cent of the HIV burden there, said the researchers.
They noted that sexual behaviour and other social factors do not fully explain the large discrepancy in HIV prevalence in populations around the world, which is why genetic factors are a vital field of study.
With University College London.
////////////////////Don't forget to bring the good experiences of meditation into your daily
activities. Instead of acting and reacting impulsively and following your
thoughts and feelings here and there, watch your mind carefully, be aware,
and try to deal skillfully with problems as they arise. If you can do this
each day, your meditation will have been successful. (Kathleen McDonald, in
_How to Meditate_)
//////////////If you want to become whole
let yourself be partial
if you want to become straight
let yourself be crooked
if you want to become full
let yourself be empty
if you want to be reborn
let yourself die
if you want to be given everything
give everything up
///////////////////SOP=STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE
PROTOCOL
//////////////ns= Patient suffered from 'climate change delusion'
Climate change deniers have been having a field day with a recent report of the first known case of a patient diagnosed with "climate change delusion".
The 17-year-old man believed that, due to climate change, his own consumption of water could run supplies dry, leading to the deaths of millions of people. He became suicidal, tried to stop drinking, and had been obsessively checking for leaking taps at home to prevent this happening. The case was reported in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry.
Andrew Bolt, a columnist at the Herald Sun here in Australia, got the ball rolling. He claimed that the "17-year-old [was] tipped over the edge by global warming fearmongers."
Ultra-conservative US commentator Rush Limbaugh ran with the ball, reading from Bolt's article on his radio show. (Incidentally, in his show that day Limbaugh also expressed his concerns about children being encouraged to ride bikes to school rather than be driven because of environmental concerns. Mr Limbaugh: we are talking about riding bikes, not switching off dialysis machines.)
Both Bolt and Limbaugh would, in all probability, be aware that both clinical depression and psychosis - components of the young man's condition - are relatively common. The causes are still unclear, although genes, brain chemical imbalances, drug abuse and environmental stresses - things like domestic violence, not concerns about climate change - may all play a role.
Bolt also used the case as a hook to call policy makers who purport to take seriously climate change, such as Australian prime minster Kevin Rudd, deluded. Which makes me wonder how Bolt comes to terms with the drought that currently hangs over many Australians. In Melbourne, my hometown, it is the wettest time of year but the dams are only 30% full and we await summer with trepidation.
Or a report from CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology released on July 4th projecting that droughts are going to occur more frequently in Australia due to climate change.
Interestingly, the original journal article points out that it is well known that delusions are culturally determined. So in Memphis, a man might believe that he is Elvis; in Washington DC, that he is the President. Twenty years ago, apocalyptic delusions might have revolved around nuclear war. Today, it is climate change.
Of course, this case might just illustrate something that climate change deniers may be anxious to deny: in many parts of the world, concerns about climate change are no longer limited to a small group of professionals, but are a societal concern that is widespread enough to become part of 17-year-old's delusions.
And as the article notes, a 2007 poll found that 85% of Australians are "very" or "fairly" concerned about climate change, significantly more than those concerned about terrorism.
Rachel Nowak, Australasian editor
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