The 'dirty' side of soap: Triclosan, a common antimicrobial in personal hygiene products, causes liver fibrosis and cancer in mice

Triclosan is an antimicrobial commonly found in soaps, shampoos, toothpastes and many other household items. Despite its widespread use, researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report potentially serious consequences of long-term exposure to the chemical. The study, published Nov. 17 2014 by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that triclosan causes liver fibrosis and cancer in laboratory mice through molecular mechanisms that are also relevant in humans.

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"Triclosan's increasing detection in environmental samples and its increasingly broad use in consumer products may overcome its moderate benefit and present a very real risk of liver toxicity for people, as it does in mice, particularly when combined with other compounds with similar action," said Robert H. Tukey, PhD, professor in the departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Pharmacology. Tukey led the study, together with Bruce D. Hammock, PhD, professor at University of California, Davis. Both Tukey and Hammock are directors of National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Superfund Programs at their respective campuses.

Tukey, Hammock and their teams, including Mei-Fei Yueh, PhD, found that triclosan disrupted liver integrity and compromised liver function in mouse models. Mice exposed to triclosan for six months (roughly equivalent to 18 human years) were more susceptible to chemical-induced liver tumors. Their tumors were also larger and more frequent than in mice not exposed to triclosan.

The study suggests triclosan may do its damage by interfering with the constitutive androstane receptor, a protein responsible for detoxifying (clearing away) foreign chemicals in the body. To compensate for this stress, liver cells proliferate and turn fibrotic over time. Repeated triclosan exposure and continued liver fibrosis eventually promote tumor formation.

Triclosan is perhaps the most ubiquitous consumer antibacterial. Studies have found traces in 97 percent of breast milk samples from lactating women and in the urine of nearly 75 percent of people tested. Triclosan is also common in the environment: It is one of the seven most frequently detected compounds in streams across the United States.

"We could reduce most human and environmental exposures by eliminating uses of triclosan that are high volume, but of low benefit, such as inclusion in liquid hand soaps," Hammock said. "Yet we could also for now retain uses shown to have health value -- as in toothpaste, where the amount used is small."

Triclosan is already under scrutiny by the FDA, thanks to its widespread use and recent reports that it can disrupt hormones and impair muscle contraction.

Co-authors include Koji Taniguchi, Shujuan Chen and Michael Karin, UC San Diego; and Ronald M. Evans, Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

This research was funded, in part, by U.S. Public Health Service grants ES010337, GM086713, GM100481, A1043477, ES002710 and ES004699.

Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by University of California, San Diego Health Sciences. 

Nigerian scientist’s conversion of urine into flammable gases gets patent

A NIGERIAN scientist has obtained a patent for his pioneer work in converting urine into flammable gases.   The breakthrough of Ejikeme Patrick Nwosu, 31-year-old, has raised the hope of the world in using urine to solve its energy crisis.            

   Nwosu got Patent No NG/P/20/2013/699 for developing a process for conversion of urine into hydrogen-ammonia rich flammable gases and fire resistant materials.

   Nwosu, a graduate of Pure and Industrial Chemistry from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka (NAU), Anambra State with a Master of Science degree in Organic Chemistry from the University of Ibadan (UI), Oyo State, had claimed this process could replace fossil fuel in the near future.

    Also, Indian researchers have developed “The Urine Engine.” The study was published recently in OSR Journal Of Environmental Science, Toxicology And Food Technology by Yogendra G. Nandagaoli of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Rasika R. Kakade of the Department of E&TC, SGBAU, Amravati, India.

     The Patent Certificate for Nwosu’s discovery with No 000698 granted for a period of 20 years on October 13, 2014, and signed by the Registrar of Patents and Designs reads: “The Federal Government being willing to encourage all inventions which may be for public good, is please to accede to the request by Ejikeme Patrick Nwosu of 3 Jaba Road, Ungwan Boro, Kaduna South, Kaduna State, Nigeria, C/O Edumejowo & Associates, Suite 14 Peemas Complex, 13 Jere Street by Rita Lori Hotel, Garki II, Abuja, for the sole use and advantage of an Invention for: Conversion of Urine into Hydrogen-Ammonia Rich Flammable Gases and Fire Resistant Materials…”

   Nwosu told The Guardian: “It is obvious that our crude oil reserves will be exhausted in few decades to come. When this happens we will be forced to use other sources of fuel, but it would be more prudent to start acting prior to such state. Apart from this, fossil fuel has a lot of dangers that come with it; chief among them is climatic disorders. In order to leave our world better than I met it, I ventured into research on urine and have made some notable successes that can change the world forever. 

   “After years of study, I have successfully developed a process that converts urine into flammable gases. These gases can be used as an alternative to fossil fuel. This process is cheap, easy and very feasible. It requires treating urine with some substances I identified after years of study. No external heat is required for this process. The flammable gas is rich in hydrogen and ammonia. Both can be used directly to generate energy or could be further purified upon chemical treatments to get hydrogen of very high purity. Hydrogen is the best fuel for engines because it poses no threat to the environment, it produces water vapour as a by-product.”

   Nwosu said the United States government alone had invested billions of dollars in projects that could produce hydrogen from various sources and it was high time the government acted on this. 

   He further explained: “Trillions of litres of urine are generated annually globally with an average adult producing about 2.5 litres daily. Contrary to people’s view of urine as a waste, I see urine as the solution to our highly sought clean, renewable and affordable energy. Very soon, urine will be for sale. You are welcome to our laboratory anytime for demo, while coming do so with a bottle or bottles of urine and watch me change it to fire.”                  

   Nwosu, who says he is the chief executive officer (CEO) and director of Research at Lumos Laboratories and Company Nigeria, Kaduna, said: “It is obvious that our crude oil reserves will be exhausted in few decades to come. When this happens we will be forced to use other sources of fuel, but it would be more prudent to start acting prior to such state. Besides this, fossil fuel has a lot of dangers that come with it; chief among them are climatic disorders.

   “In order to leave our world better than I met it, I ventured into research on urine and have made some notable successes that can change the world forever.”

   The Indian researchers concluded: “The energy required for urea electrolysis is 35 per cent less, which generated 40 per cent cheaper hydrogen compared to water electrolysis. For this system, the exhaust gas is the water vapour. It does not emit carbon monoxide like the normal fuel-based engine so this ensures clean environment for people. 

   ‘‘Again, one litre of urine can give you six hours of electricity. The source of urine is naturally available from human being and cattle so there is availability of hydrogen easily. Using an electrolytic approach to produce hydrogen from urine is the most abundant waste on Earth at a fraction of the cost of producing hydrogen from water. 

     “The hydrogen gas gives many more applications in all the fields such as in cars, vehicles and it is  burned  to provide heat. But it requires special arrangement. It is used to drive turbine, in internal combustion engines for motive and electrical power. Urea naturally hydrolyses into ammonia before generating gas phase ammonia emissions. These emissions lead to the formation of ammonium sulphate and nitrate particulates in the air, which cause a variety of health problems including chronic bronchitis, asthma attacks and premature death.”

     They continued: “Nothing is really a waste in the real sense of the word. Almost anything one can think of is reusable. Everything has some value one way or another. The pollution increases in the world due to carbon monoxide poisoning from fossil-fuel engine, the movement of petroleum products prices, environmental degradation and the recent fuel subsidy scam. 

     “So we started looking at different materials, one of which was urine. It is liquid, something that has hydrogen molecules in it. The amount of voltage it takes to break a urine molecule is less than the amount it takes to break the hydrogen molecule in water. So urine electrolyzed, releasing hydrogen- oxygen gas mixture from it, then hydrogen gas is purified. The purified hydrogen gas is then pushed into the engine.”

Urine turned into hydrogen fuel

  In a report published 2009 in Discovery News, the Ohio University scientists said they could create large amounts of cheap hydrogen from urine that could be burned or used in fuel cells, using a nickel-based electrode. 

   A professor at Ohio University developing the technology, Gerardine Botte, said: “One cow can provide enough energy to supply hot water for 19 houses.  Soldiers in the field could carry their own fuel.”

   Scientists from Ohio University, United States, were among the first, in July 2009, to describe the possibility of developing urine-powered cars, homes and personal electronic devices in the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Chemistry Communications.

    The study on the new technology that accomplishes the direct conversion of urine and urea to pure hydrogen via electrochemical oxidation with an inexpensive nickel catalyst is titled “Urea electrolysis: direct hydrogen production from urine.”

   The researchers wrote: “The utilisation of wastewater for useful fuel has been gathering recent attention due to society’s need for alternative energy sources. The electroxidation of urea found at high concentrations in wastewater simultaneously accomplishes fuel production and remediation of harmful nitrogen compounds that currently make their way into the atmosphere and groundwater. Pure hydrogen was collected in the cathode compartment at 1.4 V cell potential, where water electrolysis does not occur appreciably. It was determined that an inexpensive nickel catalyst is the most active and stable for the process.”

     Also, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported on August 19, 2010, of a research team at Heriot-Watt University, United Kingdom, investigating whether urine could be used as a source of renewable energy.

    Indeed, U.S. researchers had in 2009 developed an efficient way of producing hydrogen from urine - a feat that could not only fuel the cars of the future, but could also help clean up municipal wastewater. 

   Using hydrogen to power cars has become an increasingly attractive transportation fuel, as the only emission produced is water - but a major stumbling block is the lack of a cheap, renewable source of the fuel. 

    Botte may now have found the answer, using an electrolytic approach to produce hydrogen from urine - the most abundant waste on Earth - at a fraction of the cost of producing hydrogen from water.

   Botte said the idea came to her several years ago at a conference on fuel cells, where they were discussing how to turn clean water into clean power. “I wondered how we could do this better,” she added - so started looking at waste streams as a better source of molecules from which to produce hydrogen.

     Urine’s major constituent is urea, which incorporates four hydrogen atoms per molecule - importantly, less tightly bonded than the hydrogen atoms in water molecules. Botte used electrolysis to break the molecule apart, developing an inexpensive new nickel-based electrode to selectively and efficiently oxidise the urea. To break the molecule down, a voltage of 0.37V needs to be applied across the cell - much less than the 1.23V needed to split water. 

Electrolysis breaks down the urea, releasing hydrogen

   Botte told Chemistry World: “During the electrochemical process the urea gets adsorbed on to the nickel electrode surface, which passes the electrons needed to break up the molecule. Pure hydrogen is evolved at the cathode, while nitrogen plus a trace of oxygen and hydrogen were collected at the anode. While carbon dioxide is generated during the reaction, none is found in the collected gasses as it reacts with the potassium hydroxide in the solution to form potassium carbonate.”

     The group initially tested their process with ‘synthetic’ urine made of dissolved urea, but also showed that the process works just as well with real human urine. “It took us some time to get clearance to work with human urine - which held up publication of the research,” Botte said.

    According to Botte, currently available processes that can remove urine from water are expensive and inefficient. Urea naturally hydrolyses into ammonia before generating gas phase ammonia emissions. These emissions lead to the formation of ammonium sulphate and nitrate particulates in the air, which cause a variety of health problems including chronic bronchitis, asthma attacks and premature death. 

   The group is currently conducting long-term stability studies on their electrolysis systems, as well as conducting computational experiments to better understand the mechanisms at work. 

   Botte believes the technology could be easily scaled up to generate hydrogen while cleaning up the effluent from sewage plants. “We do not need to reinvent the wheel as there are already electrolysers being used in different applications.” She believes the only the thing that would hamper the process would be the presence of a lot of salt.

    Bruce Logan, an expert in energy generation from wastewater and director of Pennsylvania State University’s H2E Center and Engineering Environmental Institute, applauded Botte’s efforts in developing a more energy efficient way of producing hydrogen than splitting water. However, he did caution that urea gets converted very quickly into ammonia by bacteria, which could limit the usefulness of the technique. 

   However, Logan does feel that it would be a good idea to start saving up urine - although not for the hydrogen. “You have to remember the P [phosphorus] in pee - globally we need to start thinking about conserving phosphorus for fertiliser, because, just like oil, one day the deposits are all going to run out and we need to start building phosphorus recycling into our infrastructure,” he said.

Africa innovations: 15 ideas helping to transform a continent

A mobile phone database for dairy farmers and a strain of sweet potato that can help fight child blindness. These are just two of the imaginative new ideas that are tackling Africa's old problems

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Su Kahumbu, founder of iCow, is licked by a Jersey-Friesian cross as John Njure, a small-scale dairy farmer from Kamirithu, looks on. Photograph: Martin Storey

1 HIPPO WATER ROLLER

Idea: The Hippo water roller is a drum that can be rolled on the ground, making it easier for those without access to taps to haul larger amounts of water faster.

Problem: Two out of every five people in Africa have no nearby water facilities and are forced to walk long distances to reach water sources. Traditional methods of balancing heavy loads of water on the head limit the amount people can carry, and cause long-term spinal injuries. Women and children usually carry out these time-consuming tasks, missing out on educational and economic opportunities. In extreme cases, they can be at increased risks of assault or rape when travelling long distances.

Method: The Hippo roller can be filled with water which is then pushed or pulled using a handle. The weight of the water is spread evenly so a full drum carries almost five times more than traditional containers, but weighs in at half the usual 20kg, allowing it to be transported faster. A steel handle has been designed to allow two pushers for steeper hills. "Essentially it alleviates the suffering people endure just to collect water and take it home. Boreholes or wells can dry out but people can still use the same roller [in other wells]. One roller will typically serve a household of seven for five to seven years," said project manager Grant Gibbs.

Verdict: Around 42,000 Hippo rollers have been sold in 21 African countries and demand exceeds supply. Costing $125 each, they are distributed through NGOs. A mobile manufacturing unit is set to begin making them in Tanzania. Nelson Mandela has made a "personal appeal" for supporting for the project, saying it "will positively change the lives of millions of our fellow South Africans". Monica Mark

2 THE iCOW APP

Idea: To harness the power of mobile phones to encourage best practice for dairy farmers and increase milk production.

Problem: Small-scale dairy farmers often living in remote areas don't have access to valuable information about latest prices of milk or cattle, and they may not keep accurate records of important details such as their cows' gestation periods or their livestock's lineage – often resulting in inbreeding and disease.

Method: Created by Kenyan farmer Su Kahumbu, iCow is an app that works on the type of basic mobile phones farmers own. Each animal is registered with the service, which then sends SMS reminders to the farmer about milking schedules, immunisation dates and tips about nutrition and breeding or information about local vets or artificial insemination providers. UK-based foundation the Indigo Trust helped fund iCow's development. Its executive Loren Treisman says: "It's exciting to see a technology-driven project targeting such an unexpected constituency. Farmers have been empowered to improve their own lives through accessing critical agricultural information as opposed to depending on aid. What particularly excited us is that as a social enterprise, the iCow team have a sustainable business model which will enable them to expand rapidly and maximise their reach and impact without dependence on ongoing funding."

Verdict: "The wonderful thing with iCow is that by the time you have used the app and adhered to all the instructions, your cows end up healthier, bigger and stronger. They can easily fetch you more money in the marketplace. Every smart farmer will use iCow," a small-scale farmer based in the cental highlands of Kenya told Forbes magazine. Ian Tucker

3 FARMER MANAGED NATURAL REGENERATION

Idea: Farmer managed natural regeneration (FMNR), which restores existing trees on drought-stricken land, to improve Senegal's dwindling harvests.

Problem: Senegal is suffering its third drought of the decade, resulting in reduced crops and inflated food prices. The World Food Programme assisted more than 9 million people in the Sahel region of West Africa this year, including 800,000 in Senegal.

Method: Attempts to tackle the resulting problem of soil fertility have largely flopped so far. Trees planted as part of reforestation schemes have seen only a 5% success rate and fallowing is not an option, with 80% of African farmers owning under two hectares of land, which need to be utilised year in, year out. This puts the emphasis on reinvigorating the stumps of nitrogen-fixing trees, which were formerly cleared to maximise crop space. Farmers are thus encouraged to prune the stems and branches of trees like Faidherbia albida, giving new life to the vegetation already there.

Verdict: FMNR is an inexpensive way for farmers to make improvements with the resources they already have, increasing millet harvests from 430kg to 750kg a hectare, and saving money on fertilisers, with restored trees producing leaf litter (forming humus) and giving shade to livestock (for manure). It gives the ecosystem a holistic boost, encouraging wildlife like bush pigeons and rabbits to return, and providing welcome human benefits such as wood cuttings for cooking and new food sources such as tamarind. Mina Holland

4 PORTABLE WATER PUMPS

Idea: Portable irrigation technology helping sub-Saharan smallholder farmers grow crops out of season.

Problem: When it comes to food supply, Africa faces enormous instability due to unpredictable climate and poor resources. Only 6% of Africa's cultivated land is irrigated, limiting the volume of crops that can be grown out of season, but increased access to irrigation systems stands to increase food productivity by up to 50%.

Method: Kick Start, a not-for-profit organisation that specialises in irrigation technology, is making portable water pumps accessible to farming communities across Africa – most significantly in Kenya, Tanzania and Mali. These cost anything from $35 to $95 but, putting the emphasis on entrepreneurship, Kick Start are selling the pumps to farmers rather than giving them away.

Solution: Kick Start told The Atlantic that, since 1991, their pumps have lifted 667,000 people out of poverty, helping to "create an entrepreneurial middle class, starting with the family farm". They have pumped new revenues equivalent to 0.6% of the GDP in Kenya alone.MH

5 THE CARDIOPAD

Idea: A computer tablet diagnoses heart disease in rural households with limited access to medical services.

Problem: Cardiovascular diseases kill some 17 million worldwide annually. In many African countries, those at risk often have to spend huge amounts of money and travel hundreds of miles to reach heart specialists concentrated in main urban centres. The Cameroon Heart Foundation has noted a "sharp spike" in heart disease among its 20 million-strong population, which is served by fewer than 40 heart specialists.

Method: A program on the Cardiopad, designed by 24-year-old Cameroonian engineer Arthur Zang, collects signals generated by the rhythmic contraction and expansion of a patient's heart. Electrodes are fixed near the patient's heart. Africa's first fully touch-screen medical tablet then produces a moving graphical depiction of the cardiac cycle, which is wirelessly transmitted over GSM networks to a cardiologist for interpretation and diagnosis. "I designed the Cardiopad to resolve a pressing problem. If a cardiac exam is prescribed for a patient in Garoua in the north of the country, they are obliged to travel a distance of over 900km to Yaoundé or Douala," Zang says.

Verdict: At the Laquintinie, one of the country's biggest hospitals, cardiologist Dr Daniel Lemogoum said that, in a recent survey, three in every five persons who uses the Cardiopad has been diagnosed as hypertensive, or at risk of heart diseases. "These are people who would not necessarily have been aware they are hypertensive. It means sudden deaths might be preventable." MM

6 NIGERIAN COMPUTER TABLET

Idea: The Inye computer tablet that can connect to the internet via a dongle surmounts the price and infrastructure barriers in one go.

Problem: Tech-savvy youths, who make up the bulk of the continent's population, face being left behind by a growing "digital divide". While much of Africa has skipped the desktop internet era and gone straight to mobile tech, big name brands retail in price ranges that remain out of reach for a majority in sub-Saharan Africa. Infrastructure is also straining under rapid population growth, and wireless and broadband technology is not yet widely available in many public places.

Method: Co-founders Saheed Adepoju and Anibe Agamah, aimed to plug a gap in affordable mobile devices with the Inye tablet in Nigeria. They say its strongest selling point is its price – currently around £200. Run on Android systems, it can be connected to the internet via widely used dongles rather than wirelessly. IT provider Encipher also offers add-on bundles from games to specifically tailored apps. Local developers are designing apps that address issues such as HIV, water and sanitation and education.

Verdict: The group is now retailing its Inye 2 model to popular demand. Long-term, there are plans to expand beyond Africa's most populous country. MM

7 ETHANOL COOKING OIL PLANT

Idea: Refining locally sourced cassava into ethanol fuel to provide cleaner cooking fuel.

Problem: Forests in Africa are being cut down at a rate of 4m hectares a year, more than twice the worldwide average rate. Some of this is fuelled by demand for wood and charcoal, which the UN estimates is still used in almost 80% of African homes as a cheaper option to gas. The smoke from cooking using these solid fuels also triggers respiratory problems that cause nearly 2 million deaths in the developing world each year.

Method: CleanStar Mozambique, a partnership between CleanStar and Danish industrial enzymes producer Novozymes, has opened the world's first sustainable cooking-fuel plant in Mozambique. CleanStar has steered clear of monoculture crops in favour of sustainable farming methods. One-sixth of the final yield comes from locally harvested cassava, which requires farmers to plant in rotation with other edible crops to keep the soil fertile. A Sofala Province-based plant transforms the products into ethanol, which is sold on the local market along with adapted cooking stoves also produced by the company.

Verdict: "City women are tired of watching charcoal prices rise, carrying dirty fuel, and waiting for the day that they can afford a safe gas stove and a reliable supply of imported cylinders," CleanStar marketing director Thelma Venichand said. "They are ready to buy a modern cooking device that uses clean, locally made fuel, performs well and saves them time and money." The plant aims to produce 2m litres of fuel annually, and reach 120,000 households within three years. MM

8 REFUGEES UNITED

Idea: Danish brothers David and Christopher Mikkelsen foundedRefugees United in 2008 after they helped a young Afghan refugee in Copenhagen search for lost family members. Realising the futile paper trail that many refugees were faced with when looking for missing relatives, the brothers wanted to find an easier way that refugees could trace their families.

Problem: There are 43 million forcibly displaced people worldwide with hundreds of thousands of refugee families scattered across the globe. Before 2008 all family tracing was done by refugee agencies, which still rely on paper forms and postal systems to try to locate people. There was no online global data bank that could be accessed or used by refugees themselves.

Technique: Refugees United is an online search tool, where refugees can create a free profile and start their search for family via an online database using the internet or a mobile phone. It works through an open-source model, partnering with not-for-profit refugee organisations including the Red Cross and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) as well as corporate tech partners such as Erickson and Google.

Verdict: More than 100,000 people are registered on the Refugees United family tracing platform. It is available in dozens of different languages and contains searchable information on refugees from more than 82 countries. It is currently helping 15,000 people trace family in the Kakuma refugee camp, home to 80,000 refugees and asylum-seekers, in Kenya. The main challenge is actually reaching the refugees, often the poorest of the poor, who don't have ready access to computers or mobile phones. Annie Kelly

9 DIY AID SUPPLIES

Idea: To make Africa self-sufficient in emergency relief supplies.

Problem: For a continent so in need of quick, affordable emergency relief, not to mention so riddled with unemployment, there's a cruel irony about the provenance of emergency supplies. Smaller African manufacturers have traditionally been unable to compete with Chinese prices, or to meet the vast demand for emergency goods within Africa. As a result, aid agencies such as Unicef have forged links with foreign producers better able to produce these supplies at the scale, cost and quality required. Yet this inevitably requires longer lead times and higher transportation costs than sourcing goods locally – and Africans lose out on the work.

Method: Advance Aid is an organisation that wants to make aid destined for Africa available within Africa, from blankets and mosquito nets to basic cooking equipment and hygiene kits. The organisation acts as an intermediary between large aid agencies and African producers, putting together packages of aid supplies sourced locally. This has been very effective in Kenya, where Advance Aid have supplied 5,000 locally sourced emergency kits to World Vision and another 14,000 jerry cans to Catholic Relief Services, who distributed them in Dadaab, the refugee camp near the Somalian border.

Founder David Dickie says: "Aid is not working. I'm trying to turn the market on its head by creating jobs in Africa. Building this capacity in Africa will make a real difference to agencies, to the beneficiaries of the aid and to local businesses… [It] is a very efficient way of bringing together the development and humanitarian agendas."

Verdict: Advance Aid's work in Kenya in 2011 marks the first time that emergency relief goods produced in Africa have been provided for an African emergency, with 80% of goods sourced within the country. It put $1.5bn into the Kenyan economy and brought orders to 12 local manufacturers. MH

10 SICKLE CELL DISEASE RESEARCH

Idea: To carry out scientific research on sickle cell disease (SCD) and show that large-scale, cutting-edge genomic studies are possible in Africa.

Problem: Every year, 300,000 children worldwide are born with SCD, a genetic blood disorder that can result in severe anaemia. Seventy percent of these children, or 210,000, are born in Africa. Tanzania has one of the highest annual birth rates of SCD in the world and without treatment up to 90% of these children will die in early childhood. However, many of these deaths could be prevented by early diagnosis and treatment. A better understanding of the genetic and environmental mechanisms of the disease will lead to improved diagnosis and therapies.

Method: Dr Julie Makani from Muhimbili University in Tanzania is working with the Wellcome Trust to conduct a genome-wide association study (GWAS) in order to better understand the genetic and environmental factors affecting SCD. The Muhimbili Wellcome Programme originally aimed to follow 400 children but is now following 2,500, making it one of the largest, biomedical SCD resources in the world. Dr Makani says that the work "provides validation that it is possible to conduct genomic research in Africa".

Verdict: Professor Lorna Casselton from the Royal Society says: "SCD has a severe toll on Africa, and high-quality research to lessen the burden is much needed. Dr Makani stands as a role model for other young African scientists wishing to make a difference." Olivia Honigsbaum

11 M-PEPEA

Idea: To offer emergency credit through mobile phones to people who don't have access to credit cards or bank loans.

Problem: Credit cards are still rarely available to Kenyans and bank loans are only authorised for large amounts of cash or as investments for buying homes or starting businesses. Often the only source of emergency cash is loan sharks, increasingly big business in Kenya, with borrowers signing ambiguous photocopied contracts and tying themselves into interest rates of 50% or more. M-Pepea was launched to try to bridge this gap.

Method: M-Pepea, set up in late 2010, provides its customers with emergency funds within a few hours. It partners with Kenyan businesses, with employees then able to use M-Pepea to get immediate loans of up to 20% of their monthly salary. The money is accessed through their mobile phones, with M-Pepea sending a special pin code to be used in cash machines. Money can also be collected at branches of Safaricom, one of Kenya's largest mobile phone operators, and then deducted from the borrower's pay packet at the end of the month. M-Pepea charges around 10% interest rates on the loans, which are paid in full at the end of the month.

Verdict: M-Pepea has currently partnered with 20 businesses and has around 300 subscribers, and is hoping to have increased this to 20,000 by the end of 2013. Its partnership with Safaricom is encouraging but the company has run into problems with businesses defaulting. "We're still in our initial phase, but we've seen how positively people have responded to the service," says David Munga, M-Pepea's 33-year-old founder. "If, like many Kenyans, you've found yourself at the side of the road with a broken car, no credit card and no money in the bank, it's a way of getting yourself that money without having to get into trouble." AK

12 THE TUTU VAN

Idea: The brightly coloured "Tutu Tester" van is a mobile clinic that incorporates screening for tuberculosis (TB) and HIV into a general health check-up in order to overcome the stigma associated with these diseases.

Problem: South Africa is at the centre of an epidemic of TB/HIV co-infections. An estimated 5.7 million people are infected with HIV and, fuelled by HIV, the country's rate of TB has increased over the last 20 years to the point where it now has the third highest TB burden in the world. In the case of HIV, voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) is vital for preventing and treating the disease. However, data from theDesmond Tutu HIV Foundation conducted in communities most affected by HIV shows that VCT is often inaccessible or inadequately performed. This results in missed opportunities for prevention and increased morbidity and mortality – hence the need for new control strategies to keep the epidemic in check.

Method: The Tutu Tester is a mobile clinic that takes sophisticated testing equipment and trained staff (including a nurse, a counsellor and an educator) into areas without adequate health facilities. By framing TB and HIV screening within a battery of other healthy living tests, including pregnancy, diabetes and hypertension, people are encouraged to get tested for the diseases. Dr Linda-Gail Bekker, a leading scientist working with the foundation, says that data from these screens shows that "the increase in TB has quite clearly tracked the increase in HIV rates". Further, the introduction of Antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV has also led to a decline in the incidence of TB. This suggests that ART programs, if sufficiently implemented, may greatly assist in reducing TB mortality.

Verdict: There is still a stigma attached to HIV and TB. But as Liz Thebus, a healthcare worker at the Tutu Tester says: "The outside world does not know whether someone wants to be screened for HIV or diabetes. They are in that respect much more anonymous." OH

13 ORANGE SWEET POTATO

Idea: Breeding sweet potatoes to contain betacarotene, to help in the fight against childhood blindness.

Problem: More than 3 million children in Africa suffer from blindness caused by vitamin A deficiency; in Uganda it is estimated that 28% of children are deficient. Currently aid agencies combat this problem by giving children vitamin A supplements, but addressing this issue with a locally grown food would be more sustainable.

Method: A new strain of sweet potato was conventionally bred which contains between four and six times as much betacarotene as a regular sweet potato – betacarotene is converted by the body into vitamin A. The OSP (orange sweet potato) was distributed to 10,000 farming households in Uganda; at the end of the two-year study vitamin A deficiency in non-breastfeeding children aged between 12 and 35 months fell from nearly 50% to 12%. Dr Christine Holz from theInternational Food Policy Research Institute who led the project said: "Overall, these results add to the growing evidence base that OSP provides large amounts of vitamin A in the diet."

Verdict: Similar results were obtained from a sister project in Mozambique; now the scheme is being scaled up to reach 225,000 households by 2016. IT

14 SPEAKING BOOKS

Idea: A range of easy-to-use audio books designed to get potentially life-saving health messages out to millions of isolated people struggling with depression and mental health problems.

Problem: In 2003, Zane Wilson, the founder of the South African Depression & Anxiety Group (Sadag), the country's largest mental health initiative, was horrified at how suicide rates among young South Africans were spiking. Mental health carries a huge social stigma across Africa and information booklets designed to help people with depression or mental health problems simply weren't working, especially in remote communities with high illiteracy rates. People weren't getting the help they needed – a 2009 study showed that only a quarter of the 16.5% of South Africans suffering from mental health problems had received any kind of treatment.

Method: Speaking Books created a range of free books with simple audio buttons talking the user through each page. The first Speaking Book, voiced by South African actress and celebrity Lillian Dube, was called Suicide Shouldn't Be a Secret and focused on how depression is a real and treatable illness, encouraging people to get help when they need it.

Verdict: Speaking Books have now produced 48 titles in 24 different languages and are now used in 20 African countries across the continent. The books now tackle a number of critical healthcare issues outside of suicide prevention such as HIV and Aids, malaria, maternal health and clinical trials. Speaking Books has also expanded to China, India and South America. "The situation we face in rural South Africa is the same in any other African country – low literacy compounded by lack of access to services and affordable healthcare," says Wilson. "This means that patients are often not able to get help for many health problems. We believe that this interactive, durable, high-quality, hardcover book engages the user or patient, and allows them to build self-confidence and skills with a simple action plan". AK

15 NARRATIVE EXPOSURE THERAPY

Idea: Narrative exposure therapy (NET) for Uganda's former child soldiers, encouraging storytelling to help come to terms with their experiences.

Problem: Abducted and forced into conscription by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), over 25,000 Ugandan children were pushed into violent atrocities during a civil war that lasted 22 years, often killing their own families. The majority were left with severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) – with symptoms including depression, flashbacks and suicidal thoughts. Moreover, hostility from their former communities has left countless child soldiers alienated, making PTSD a longer, lonelier battle.

Method: NET was introduced to Ugandan child soldiers as a means of making conscious their deeply repressed traumas. The technique highlights the importance of story, creating a kind of fiction from real-life experience as a vehicle for coming to terms with it. Nick Taussig, co-founder of the Mtaala Foundation – a charity that sets up educational communities in Uganda, empowering Ugandans to help their own youth – says that narrative exposure, though not a new concept, appeals to Ugandan culture, "There's a strong oral tradition in Uganda, and these treatments build on that by committing the children's stories to paper, investing them with added meaning."

Verdict: A study of 85 former child soldiers conducted by Bielefeld University, Germany, demonstrated that 80% of those who underwent NET showed clinical improvements. MH

Breakthrough Prizes in Science, Math earn winners $3 million each

By Sarah McBride

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Academia doesn’t usually bring rich financial rewards.

But that changed Sunday for recipients of a record 12 Breakthrough Prizes, the award created two years ago by Russian billionaire venture capitalist Yuri Milner, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Google co-founder Sergey Brin and other tech industry luminaries. Each prize is worth $3 million, almost three times the cash a Nobel Prize winner receives.

This year is the first to honor mathematicians. Five won for work ranging from algebraic geometry to analytic number theory. In future, just one prize a year will go to a mathematician, organizers say; the large number Sunday celebrates the inaugural year for math.

Six prizes went to researchers in life sciences for discoveries in areas ranging from bacterial immunity to genetic regulation. The physics prize went to a group that showed the expansion of the universe was accelerating, not slowing as assumed.

The prizes’ funders aim to generate a sense of excitement around scientific accomplishment, Milner said in an interview.

“We are trying to use all means available, including money, to get the message across,” he said in an interview.

Milner, a onetime physics PhD student in Moscow who dropped out to move to the United States in 1990, has backed some of the world’s biggest technology companies, including Facebook.

Organizers threw some Hollywood razzle-dazzle into the mix. At the ceremony, Tesla chief executive Elon Musk chatted with actress Kate Beckinsale, while Twitter chief executive Dick Costolo sat by singer Christina Aguilera. Thomas Keller, chef of famed restaurant French Laundry, catered a meal including caviar appetizers and black-truffle lasagna.

Seth MacFarlane, creator of the hit TV series “Family Guy,” hosted the ceremony. Presenters included Beckinsale, Cameron Diaz, along with actors Benedict Cumberbatch, Jon Hamm and Eddie Redmayne.

Science could use the marketing, with portrayals of nerdy science types rife in movies and on television, a characterization MacFarlane nodded to in his remarks.

“We’re so glad that you all suck at sports,” he told the roomful of scientists, adding that he hoped science would make advances such as putting a human being on Mars.

“Maybe Ted Cruz,” he suggested, referring to the Texas politician.

In the interview, Milner contrasted today’s low profile for scientists with 50 years ago, when scientist Albert Einstein was a household name.

“If you look at the list of celebrities now, you could probably not find a single scientist in the list of the top 200,” he said.

A self-proclaimed science fanatic, Milner keeps up with developments by reading stacks of science magazines.

“It’s my only hobby,” he said.

Read more at http://newsdaily.com/2014/11/breakthrough-prizes-in-science-math-earn-winners-3-million-each/#viSrZp4f879GmQYW.99

Brain's response to threat silenced when we are reminded of being loved and cared for

Being shown pictures of others being loved and cared for reduces the brain's response to threat, new research from the University of Exeter has found.

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The study discovered that when individuals are briefly presented pictures of others receiving emotional support and affection, the brain's threat monitor, the amygdala, subsequently does not respond to images showing threatening facial expressions or words. This occurred even if the person was not paying attention to the content of the first pictures.

Forty-two healthy individuals participated in the study, in which researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study the brain response.

The study, published this week in the journal Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, suggests that being reminded of being loved and cared for dampens the threat response and may allow more effective functioning during, and activation of soothing resources after, stressful situations. This was particularly true for more anxious individuals.

Previously, research has shown that brain responses to pain are reduced by similar reminders of being loved and cared for, but this is the first time the same has been shown for brain responses to threat.

Dr Anke Karl of Psychology at the University of Exeter, senior researcher of the study, said: "A number of mental health conditions such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are characterized by hypervigilance to threatening information, which is associated with excessive negative emotional responses, amygdala activation and a restricted ability to regulate these emotions and self-sooth. These new research findings may help to explain why, for example, successful recovery from psychological trauma is highly associated with levels of perceived social support individuals receive. We are now building on these findings to refine existing treatments for PTSD to boost feelings of being safe and supported in order to improve coping with traumatic memories."

Following these results, researchers at the University of Exeter are also running research studies measuring body (heart rate, sweat response) and brain (electrical brain waves measured by EEG) responses to understand related mechanisms in different populations such as highly self-critical individuals, individuals with depression and survivors of psychological trauma such as severe car accidents, assaults and natural disasters.

Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by University of Exeter. 

Journal Reference:

1. L. Norman, N. Lawrence, A. Iles, A. Benattayallah, A. Karl. Attachment-security priming attenuates amygdala activation to social and linguistic threat. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 2014; DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsu127

15 Free Online Learning Sites Every Entrepreneur Should Visit

Being a successful entrepreneur means you have to wear a lot of hats, especially when your company is just starting out and you don’t have enough employees to cover all the areas you need.

Learning the new skills necessary to start a new business can be expensive, but fortunately the initiative for free, high-quality, educational resources online has only continued to grow in the past few years. Below are some of the resources available to learn more about marketing, entrepreneurship, business management and more.

1. CodeAcademy

This great resource offers free interactive programming sessions to help you learn programming languages such as HTML, CSS, Javascript and PHP. You can save your progress as you go with a free account. Learning to code can help entrepreneurs fix bugs if they don’t have a developer, or even go down the road of building their own website or products (such as apps).

2. HubSpot Academy 

The free certification program offers courses on inbound marketing, including website optimization, landing pages and lead nurturing. These skills are a must for business owners as they try to grow their business and online presence.

3. Moz

If you want to learn search-engine optimization to make sure your website is as visible as possible, check out this treasure trove of resources from SEO leader, Moz. Besides having the free Moz Academy, there are also webinars (live and recorded), and beginner’s guides to SEO, social media and link building.

4. LearnVest

The most successful entrepreneurs know how to manage their money both on a business and personal side. In addition to having extremely affordable finance classes, LearnVest also offers some of its classes for free, such as “Building Better Money Habits” and “How to Budget.”

5. Niche consultant courses

The Internet has made for a coaching boom, which is extremely helpful to entrepreneurs who want to learn how to start or better a business in a specific niche. Some great coaches and organizations that routinely have free courses and ebooks on building a business include Natalie MacNeil and MyOwnBusiness. Try searching “niche keyword” + “business course” to find one most applicable to you.

6. edX

This free site currently has over 300 courses on a variety of topics, including “Financial Analysis and Decision Making” and “Entrepreneurship 101: Who is your customer?” These courses not only cover business in general, but can also you help learn more skills that are applicable to your industry, such as big data or environmental conservation.

7. Khan Academy

This free learning resource was created to give everyone access to education in math, science, art, technology and more. There are over 100,000 interactive exercises to put your education to practical use. Even though many of the courses are geared toward high school students, there are several courses that would be good for anyone to have a refresher on, such as taxes and accounting.

8. MIT Open Courseware

These are actual courses taught at MIT and offered for free on the sitefor viewing and reading at your discretion. The school put together anentrepreneurship page that lists available courses that are beneficial to new business owners. Courses include “Early State Capital” and “The Software Business.”

9. Kutztown University of Pennsylvania

This university has almost 100 free on-demand college courses that are extremely applicable to entrepreneurs, including ones that cover business planning, operations and management and small-business tax.  

10. Coursera

Much like MIT’s Open Courseware, this site has 114 educational partners that provide free courses to almost 10 million users. One benefit toCoursera is that there are very specific courses that fit perfectly into particular niches, such as “Data Management for Clinical Research” from Vanderbilt University and “Innovation for Entrepreneurs: From Idea to Marketplace” from the University of Maryland. Its wide network of partners allows for a greater selection.

11. OpenCulture

This site isn’t an educational platform on its own, but rather collects and shares free resources from around the web. Its list of 150 free online business courses is a great resource because it offers classes from iTunes U and other lessons on video and audio. The site also has lists of free audiobooks, certificate courses and other online courses.

12. YouTube

It’s probably unsurprising to most users that YouTube is one of the world’s largest search engines, as there are literally videos on just about anything you can imagine. From TED talks to recorded presentations on building a business, it’s a great free resource on just about any topic.

13. Alison

This platform offers free online courses from some of the most well-known names on the internet today, including Google, Microsoft, and Macmillan. With over 4 million users and over 600 courses already, it covers topics such as economic literacy, personal development and business/enterprise skills.

14. Saylor

The Saylor Foundation offers tuition-free courses and also works with accredited colleges and universities to offer affordable credentials. Its course offerings are similar to what you’d see when working toward a bachelor’s degree.

15. Podcasts

Even though it’s not an official course, podcasts are an amazing (and easily digestible) way to become a better entrepreneur. Podcasts can be listened to via streaming on your computer (if that certain podcast offers it) or via iTunes for iOS and apps such as Podcast Republic for Android. Podcasts such as Entrepreneur of Fire already garner thousands of listeners every episode and are a great way to learn the most up-to-date information and strategies possible. Another good list of entrepreneur podcasts include Think Entrepreneurship's.

Whether you learn best by audio, video or text, this list of 15 learning resources for entrepreneurs can help you learn more about building a business, accounting and getting customers.

Culled from www.entrepreneur.com