H1N1 - Swine Flu Video

This is the best H1N1, swine flu, video that I have seen so far.

H1N1 Video

NIBIB SCIENTISTS COMBINE MICROSCOPY METHODS TO INCREASE IMAGING EFFICIENCY IN CELL STRUCTURE STUDIES

This is an excellent new advance in microscopy. - BRH

NIBIB SCIENTISTS COMBINE MICROSCOPY METHODS TO INCREASE IMAGING EFFICIENCY IN CELL STRUCTURE STUDIES

New Method Produces High-Resolution Images of Thicker Specimen Samples

Scientists in the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) Laboratory of Bioengineering and Physical Science have developed a new technique that allows researchers to visualize fine details of cell structure three-dimensionally in thick sections, thus providing greater insight into how cells are organized and how they function. The work is described in a report published online this week in Nature Methods.

The new electron tomography method, referred to as BF STEM tomography, lets researchers image samples that are more than three times the thickness of typical samples.

Electron tomography is carried out at the nanoscale on individual cells. Conventionally, high-resolution imaging of biological specimens has been accomplished by cutting cells into thin sections (300 nanometers or less) and imaging each section separately. Although reconstructing an entire structure from thin sections is laborious, thin sections are used because images of thicker sections typically are blurred. Serial BF STEM tomography accomplishes the same work using fewer yet thicker specimen sections, leading to faster reconstruction of intact organelles, intracellular pathogens, and even entire mammalian cells.

Drs. Alioscka Sousa, Martin Hohmann-Marriott, Richard Leapman and colleagues in NIBIB, in collaboration with Dr. Joshua Zimmerberg and colleagues in the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), demonstrated feasibility and advantages of BF-STEM tomography in a study of red blood cells infected with Plasmodium falciparum, a parasite that causes malaria. High-resolution 3D reconstructions of entire cells were generated by serially imaging just a few thick sections. The intricate system of red blood cell and parasite membranes, as well as several organelles, can be seen in detail.

"We believe that the new technique, which was conceived by Dr. Sousa on the project team, will lead to improved 3D visualization of larger internal structures in mammalian cells at a nanoscale. And it will complement cryo electron tomography and super-resolution optical imaging approaches," according to Dr. Leapman.

Most high-performance electron microscopes can readily be equipped to utilize the BF STEM tomography approach. "This exciting new method, with its ability to provide nanoscale structural details over three dimensions, has the potential for broad application in cell biology," says NIBIB Director Roderic Pettigrew. "This should open new vistas in the understanding of the interplay between cellular structure and function, and is a great example of NIBIB-supported research that moves medical science forward through technological innovation."

This work was supported by the Intramural Research Programs of the NIBIB and the NICHD at the National Institutes of Health. In addition, Dr. Hohmann-Marriott received support through the Joint NIST/NIBIB Postdoctoral Associateship Program of the National Research Council, USA.

NIBIB, a component of NIH, is dedicated to improving health by bridging the physical and biological sciences to develop and apply new biomedical technologies. Additional information and publications are available at .

The NICHD sponsors research on development, before and after birth; maternal, child, and family health; reproductive biology and population issues; and medical rehabilitation. For more information, visit the Institute's Web site at .

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) -- The Nation's Medical Research Agency -- includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit .
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REFERENCE: Nanoscale 3D cellular imaging by axial scanning transmission electron tomography. Martin F Hohmann-Marriott, Alioscka A Sousa, Afrouz A Azari, Svetlana Glushakova, Guofeng Zhang, Joshua Zimmerberg & Richard D Leapman. Published online: 30 August 2009 | doi:10.1038/nmeth.1367.

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This NIH News Release is available online at:
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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH NIH News
National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB)
For Immediate Release: Thursday, September 3, 2009

CONTACT: Cheryl Fee, 301-451-6772,

MicroRNAS IN BLOOD MAY BE BIOMARKERS OF PANCREATIC CANCER

We desperately need this new test for pancreatic cancer and we need a cure ASAP. - BRH.

MicroRNAS IN BLOOD MAY BE BIOMARKERS OF PANCREATIC CANCER

Small molecules known as microRNAs, which can be detected in blood samples, have the potential to help identify patients with pancreatic cancer, a study finds. The study, by researchers at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, was supported by the Early Detection Research Network (EDRN) of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health. The paper appeared online Sept. 1, 2009, in Cancer Prevention Research.

Pancreatic cancer is a highly fatal disease that is difficult to detect at early stages. In most patients, symptoms do not appear until the cancer is locally advanced or has spread to other parts of the body. The absence of symptoms in early-stage disease and the current lack of effective, minimally invasive screening and diagnostic techniques limit the available treatment options. Both contribute to the high mortality rate observed for patients with pancreatic cancer.

"The development of a minimally invasive test for the early detection and diagnosis of pancreatic cancer is greatly needed," said Sudhir Srivastava, Ph.D., chief of the Cancer Biomarkers Research Group in NCI's Division of Cancer Prevention. "An important step is to identify biomarkers for pancreatic cancer, such as microRNAs, circulating in the bloodstream that can be used to distinguish individuals with pancreatic cancer from individuals without the disease."

MicroRNAs, or miRNAs, are short strands of RNA. The miRNAs regulate gene expression by controlling the translation of a specific type of RNA called messenger RNA which relays the genetic instructions for making proteins. Previous research has indicated that miRNAs play important roles in regulating normal cell proliferation and in cancer. Altered patterns of miRNA expression have been seen in pancreatic cancer as well as many other cancers. In addition, it has recently been reported that tumor-derived miRNAs can be detected in blood and that these molecules are stable in stored samples. Thus, miRNAs circulating in the blood may have the potential to serve as novel biomarkers for the detection and diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.

To evaluate the feasibility of using miRNAs in the blood as biomarkers for pancreatic cancer, the researchers selected a set of four miRNAs that have been associated with pancreatic cancer -- miR-21, miR-210, miR-155, and miR-196a. Among these, miR-155 has been identified as a candidate biomarker for early pancreatic cancer, and expression of miR196a has been shown to increase during disease progression. Levels of all four miRNAs were assessed in blood samples from 28 pancreatic cancer patients and 19 healthy volunteers. The study population consisted of patients with pathologically confirmed pancreatic cancer and healthy disease free individuals recruited at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center between 2002 and 2008. The team found that sensitivity -- or ability to accurately detect pancreatic cancer -- using the panel of four miRNAs was 64 percent. The panel also showed an 89 percent specificity, which indicates the proportion of study participants who did not have pancreatic cancer and were correctly identified as being disease free.

"Our results demonstrate proof of principle in developing a blood test based on miRNA signatures for pancreatic cancer," said senior author Subrata Sen, Ph.D., of M.D. Anderson's Department of Molecular Pathology. "More work is needed to evaluate this strategy in different grades and stages of the disease. We are in the process of initiating such studies in collaboration with members of EDRN." For example, the researchers will test the ability of the miRNAs to detect pancreatic cancer in separate patient populations.

Pancreatic cancer, the fourth most common cause of cancer death in the United States, has a poor survival rate compared with that of other types of cancer. Less than five percent of the patients with pancreatic cancer survive five years past diagnosis.

For more information about the Department of Molecular Pathology at M.D. Anderson, please go to .

For more information on NCI's EDRN, please go to: .

NCI leads the National Cancer Program and the NIH effort to dramatically reduce the burden of cancer and improve the lives of cancer patients and their families, through research into prevention and cancer biology, the development of new interventions, and the training and mentoring of new researchers. For more information about cancer, please visit the NCI Web site at or call NCI's Cancer Information Service at 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237).

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) -- The Nation's Medical Research Agency -- includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit .

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This NIH News Release is available online at:
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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH NIH News
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Embargoed for Release: Tuesday, September 1, 2009, 1 p.m., EDT

CONTACT: NCI Office of Media Relations, 301-496-6641, ncipressofficers@mail.nih.gov>

STUDIES IN ANIMALS SUGGEST 2009 H1N1 VIRUS MAY HAVE BIOLOGICAL ADVANTAGE OVER SEASONAL INFLUENZA VIRUSES

Another study that suggests that the swine flu may be a huge problem this winter. - BRH

STUDIES IN ANIMALS SUGGEST 2009 H1N1 VIRUS MAY HAVE BIOLOGICAL ADVANTAGE OVER SEASONAL INFLUENZA VIRUSES

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH NIH News
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
For Immediate Release: Monday, August 31, 2008

CONTACT: Anne A. Oplinger, 301-402-1663,

Preliminary findings in ferrets suggest that the novel 2009 H1N1 influenza virus may outcompete human seasonal influenza viruses, researchers say. Tests in animals showed that levels of the 2009 H1N1 virus rose more quickly than levels of the seasonal virus strains, and the new virus caused more severe disease. In line with previous findings by other research groups, the University of Maryland researchers also observed that the novel H1N1 virus was transmitted more easily from infected to uninfected ferrets than either of the two seasonal influenza viruses.

The researchers found no evidence that the 2009 H1N1 virus combined with either of two seasonal flu viruses to form new, so-called reassortant viruses. These findings suggest that while 2009 H1N1 virus probably will predominate in the coming flu season, there may not be biological pressure for the new virus to re-combine with other circulating viruses, the researchers say.

The work was done by Daniel Perez, Ph.D., and colleagues from the University of Maryland. The researchers were supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

"This elegant study, conducted in a useful animal model of human influenza, provides important information about how the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus interacts with other flu virus strains," says NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. "The results suggest that 2009 H1N1 influenza may outcompete seasonal flu virus strains and may be more communicable as well. These new data, while preliminary, underscore the need for vaccinating against both seasonal influenza and the 2009 H1N1 influenza this fall and winter."

When the investigators inoculated ferrets with 2009 H1N1 virus plus either seasonal H1N1 virus or seasonal H3N2 virus, the animals became co-infected with both viruses. However, only the 2009 H1N1 virus was then transmitted from co-infected ferrets to uninfected ferrets; there was no evidence that either of the seasonal flu viruses were transmitted between co-infected and uninfected animals. "The H1N1 pandemic virus has a clear biological advantage over the two main seasonal flu strains and all the makings of a virus fully adapted to humans," says Dr. Perez.

Next, the team conducted experiments to learn whether 2009 H1N1 virus would combine with seasonal flu viruses in co-infected animals to create new reassortant viruses. Some scientists have speculated that reassortant viruses may be more virulent or transmissible than either 2009 H1N1 or seasonal flu viruses alone. The researchers collected virus-containing material from the ferrets' nasal cavities, but found no evidence of reassortment between the 2009 H1N1 and seasonal influenza strains, either in ferrets that were directly infected with both viruses or in ferrets that came in contact with the co-infected animals.

The investigators' findings are posted on PLoS Currents: Influenza, a Web site for rapid communication of new scientific data on influenza. Submissions to PLoS Currents: Influenza are screened by a panel of leading influenza experts prior to posting but do not undergo formal peer review. The new research may be submitted later for peer review and eventual publication in scientific journals.

This research was supported in part through the NIAID Centers of Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance (CEIRS) program.

For more information on influenza, visit for one-stop access to U.S. government information on avian and pandemic influenza. Also, visit NIAID's Flu Portal,

NIAID conducts and supports research-at NIH, throughout the United States, and worldwide-to study the causes of infectious and immune-mediated diseases, and to develop better means of preventing, diagnosing and treating these illnesses. News releases, fact sheets and other NIAID-related materials are available on the NIAID Web site at http://www.niaid.nih.gov.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) -- The Nation's Medical Research Agency -- includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit .
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REFERENCE: Perez et al. Fitness of pandemic H1N1 and seasonal influenza A viruses during co-infection. PLoS Currents: Influenza. Posted Aug. 25, 2009. RRN1011. Available at:

Additional information about research in Dr. Perez's laboratory is at:


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