Day: June 11, 2021

Categories : GeneticsTags :

Researchers Uncover a Mechanism that Regulates Hair Regeneration

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Chinese researchers have discovered a new regulatory mechanism for the regeneration capacity of skin hair, with important clues for developing treatments for hair loss. Hair loss or alopecia is an extremely common condition, yet there is still no effective therapy for it.

In the skin, activation of hair follicle stem cells (HFSCs) and progenitors by growth factor stimulation is the basis for hair follicle and hair regeneration. Hair regeneration defects can often attribute to blunted responses of HFs to growth stimuli, but it is how the sensitivity of HFSCs or progenitors to growth stimuli is determined is still unclear. Figuring out the answer to this question will provide important clues for the treatment of hair-related diseases such as alopecia.

To this end, Prof Zhang Liang’s group from the Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health (SINH) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and collaborators uncovered the role of the micro RNA miR-24 and its mechanism in limiting the regenerative ability of hair follicle (HF) progenitors, opening up new therapeutic avenue for hair loss treatment. microRNAs regulate key steps of cell differentiation and development through suppressing gene expression in a sequence-specific manner.

The researchers discovered that that the resting-to-activation transition of HF is associated with significant down-regulation of miR-24 in HF progenitors prior to their activation.

By experimenting with mouse models, they found that miR-24 limits the sensitivity of HF progenitors to growth stimuli. miR-24 over-expression in the skin epithelium significantly delayed HF progenitor activation and hair cycle progression, while its conditional ablation significantly accelerated the hair cycle and increased the HFs’ sensitivity to growth stimuli.

Interestingly, the conditional ablation of miR-24 in skin epithelium significantly improved the effect of Minoxidil lotion on stimulating hair growths without detectable side effects, indicating that miR-24 could be a new potential target for hair regeneration therapies.

Mechanistically, the researchers discovered that Plk3 is a new miR-24 target gene that mediates the function of miR-24 to limit hair growth by regulating CCNE1, a key cell cycle regulator. They also found that miR-24 acts downstream bone morphogenetic protein (BMP), which is a known inhibitory signal for hair growth.

The study revealed that miR-24 is a key factor limiting the regenerative ability of skin HF progenitors. How adult stem cells respond appropriately to environmental stimuli is a question of fundamental importance in stem cell biology.

Source: Medical Xpress

Journal information: Fengzhen Liu et al, miR-24 controls the regenerative competence of hair follicle progenitors by targeting Plk3, Cell Reports (2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.109225

Categories : Mental HealthTags :

WHO Releases New Guidelines on Community-based Mental Healthcare

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The World Health Organization has released new guidance that aims to put an end to abuse of people in psychiatric care by embracing community-based mental healthcare.

Around the world, most mental health care continues to be provided in psychiatric hospitals, and human rights abuses and coercive practices remain widespread. But providing community-based mental health care that is both respectful of human rights and focused on recovery is proving successful and cost-effective, according to new guidance released today by the World Health Organization.

The Life Esidimeni tragedy highlights the importance of providing adequate care to mental health patients. Mental health care recommended in the new guidance should be located in the community, and which also supports day-to-day living, such as facilitating access to accommodation and links with education and employment services.

WHO’s new “Guidance on community mental health services: promoting person-centred and rights-based approaches” further affirms that mental health care must be grounded in a human rights-based approach, as recommended by the WHO Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan 2020-2030 endorsed by the World Health Assembly in May 2021.

Faster transition needed
“This comprehensive new guidance provides a strong argument for a much faster transition from mental health services that use coercion and focus almost exclusively on the use of medication to manage symptoms of mental health conditions, to a more holistic approach that takes into account the specific circumstances and wishes of the individual and offers a variety of approaches for treatment and support,” said Dr Michelle Funk of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Use, who led the development of the guidance.

A growing number of countries are seeking to reform their laws, policies and services related to mental health care since the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2006, But few countries have so far set down the necessary frameworks to meet the far-reaching changes required by international human rights standards. Severe human rights abuses and coercive practices are still far too common in countries of all income levels. Examples of these include forced admission and forced treatment; manual, physical and chemical restraint; unsanitary living conditions; and physical and verbal abuse.

Governments spend less than 2% of their health budgets on mental health, according to WHO’s latest estimates and most mental health expenditure is allocated to psychiatric hospitals, save for high-income countries where the figure is around 43%.

The new guidance, mainly aimed at people responsible for organising and managing mental health care, presents details of what is required in areas such as mental health law, policy and strategy, service delivery, financing, workforce development and civil society participation for mental health services to achieve compliance with the CRPD.

It includes examples from countries which have community-based mental health services that have shown good practices in respect of non-coercive practices, community inclusion, and respect of people’s legal capacity (ie the right to make decisions about their treatment and life).

The required services include crisis support, mental health services provided within general hospitals, outreach services, supported living approaches and support provided by peer groups. Information about financing and results of evaluations of the services presented are included. The report include cost comparisons which show that the featured community-based services produce good outcomes, are preferred by service users and cost about the same as standard mental care services.

“Transformation of mental health service provision must, however, be accompanied by significant changes in the social sector,” said Gerard Quinn, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. “Until that happens, the discrimination that prevents people with mental health conditions from leading full and productive lives will continue.”

Source: The World Health Organization

Categories : GeneticsTags :

Key Genetic Repair Protein Removes Traps

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Image source: Pixabay

Researchers have discovered that a key genetic repair protein also cleans up ‘traps’ left by another protein, its partner in genetic repair.

DNA is constantly getting damaged: the delicate strands that carry life’s genetic code take quite a beating as they jumble about in the course of their work. Errors can accumulate if left untreated, with fatal consequences — such as cancerous tumors — for the cell and the organism.

Two key proteins are involved in preventing the damage from getting out of hand: PARP — or poly ADP ribose polymerase — acts as a marker for a trouble spot, allowing XRCC1 — or X-ray repair cross-complementing protein 1 — to locate the damage and start repairs.

The repair functions of these two proteins have been known for some time. The importance of this has been recognised with the 2015 Nobel prizes for chemistry, as this knowledge allowed the development of anti-cancer drugs, known as PARP inhibitors, that disrupt the growth of certain kinds of tumours.

Although these key proteins had been identified, their precise roles were not well understood. It took a team of scientists at Tokyo Metropolitan University, the University of Sussex, and Kyoto University to revealed how exactly XRCC1 accomplishes its work — and it was a surprising discovery.

“PARP turns out to be something of a villain,” explained Kouji Hirota at Tokyo Metropolitan. “The spots it marks become ‘PARP traps’, which left un-repaired lead to disfunction and cell death.”

It seems that XRCC1 doesn’t just simply repair DNA, it goes about disarming PARP traps. The scientists compared cells without the XRCC1 gene to those without PARP as well as to still others which lacked both proteins. The team found that without XRCC1 on patrol, PARP traps accumulate like landmines.

“PARP exerts toxic effects in the cell and XRCC1 suppresses this toxicity,” Hirota elaborated.

The team aims to further explore these processes, with the goal of aiding development of future cancer treatments.

KyotoU’s Shunichi Takeda said: “These results indicate that XRCC1 is a critical factor in the resolution of PARP traps and may be a determinant of the therapeutic effect of PARP inhibitors used in the treatment of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer syndromes.”

Source: Kyoto University

Journal reference: Demin, A. A., et al. (2021) XRCC1 prevents toxic PARP1 trapping during DNA base excision repair. Molecular Cell. doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2021.05.009.

Categories : Medical Research & TechnologyTags :

Device Uses Body to Charge Wearable Tech

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A team from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has devised an innovative way to charge wearable devices such as medical monitors — by transmitting power through the body to other devices.

Advancements in wearable technology are reshaping the way we live, work and play, and also how healthcare is delivered and received. Wearable devices include wristbands, smartwatches, wearable mobile sensors, and other mobile hub medical devices that collect a large range of data from blood sugar and exercise routines to sleep and mood. 

Such devices can help patients and providers manage chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart conditions, and chronic pain. According to the Pew Research Center, 60% of US adults reported tracking their weight, diet, or exercise routine; 33% of US adults track health symptoms or indicators such as blood pressure, blood sugar, or sleep patterns; and 8% of adults specifically use medical devices, such as glucose meters.

One major obstacle of using wearables is keeping these devices properly and conveniently powered. The more wearable devices are worn, the more often there is the need to charge multiple batteries. Many users find it cumbersome to charge numerous devices every day, and inconvenient service disruptions occur when batteries run out.

A research team, led by Associate Professor Jerald Yoo from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the N.1 Institute for Health at NUS, has come up with an innovative solution to these problems. Their technology utilises the human body as a medium for power transmission, enabling a single device, such as a mobile phone placed in the pocket, to wirelessly power other wearable devices on a user’s body. The team’s novel system has an added advantage – it can harvest unused energy from electronics in a typical home or office environment to power the wearables.

Their achievement was first published in the journal Nature Electronics on 10 June 2021. It is the first of its kind to be established among existing literature on electronic wearables.

Power transmission through the body

To extend the battery life of wearable devices, power transmission and energy harvesting approaches are required. However, current approaches for powering up body area wearables are hampered by short distances, intervening obstacles and unstable power delivery. As such, none of the current methods are suitable for the sustainable provision of power to wearables placed around the entire human body.

The NUS approach turned the obstacle of the human body into an advantage by designing a receiver and transmitter system that uses the human body as a medium for power transmission and energy harvesting. Each receiver and transmitter contains a chip that is used as a springboard to extend coverage over the entire body.

The power transmitter need only be on a single power source, such as a smart watch, while multiple power receivers can be placed anywhere on the person’s body. The system then harnesses energy from the source to power multiple wearables on the user’s body via a process termed as body-coupled power transmission. In this way, only one device needs to be charged, and the rest of the wearable devices can be powered from that source. The team’s experiments showed that a single, fully-charged power source to power up to 10 wearable devices on the body, for a duration of over 10 hours.

The researchers also found that typical office and home environments have parasitic electromagnetic (EM) waves that people are constantly exposed to from sources such as running computers. To tap this energy, their novel receiver scavenges the EM waves from the environment, and through a process referred to as body-coupled powering, the human body is able to harvest this energy to power the wearable devices.

Smaller wearables without batteries

On the benefits of his team’s method, Assoc Prof Yoo said, “Batteries are among the most expensive components in wearable devices, and they add bulk to the design. Our unique system has the potential to omit the need for batteries, thereby enabling manufacturers to miniaturise the gadgets while reducing production cost significantly. More excitingly, without the constraints of batteries, our development can enable the next generation wearable applications, such as ECG patches, gaming accessories, and remote diagnostics.”

The NUS team will continue to improve the efficiency of their transmitter/receiver system, so that hopefully any given power-transmitting device such as a smartphone can extend the battery life of other wearable technologies, some of which, like medical monitors, can be quite important.

Source: National University of Singapore

Journal reference: Li, J., et al. (2021) Body-coupled power transmission and energy harvesting. Nature Electronics. doi.org/10.1038/s41928-021-00592-y. 

Categories : COVID PaediatricsTags :

Children Struggle to Recognise Expressions of People with Facemasks

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Image by pedro_wroclaw from Pixabay

sA new study has shown that children between the ages of 3 and 5 have difficulty in recognising the emotions of people wearing surgical masks. This collateral effect from this  measure to prevent COVID transmission could influence the correct development of children’s capabilities of social interaction.

To provide guidance for decision-makers, the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF compiled a document discouraging exposure to the use of facemasks when dealing with children aged up to five years old. In addition, even for older children, WHO recommends weighing up the benefits of wearing facemasks in against potential negative impacts that could include social and psychological problems, and difficulties in communication and learning.

To investigate such possible negative impacts, a study was carried out by the U-Vip (Unit for Visually Impaired People) research team led by Monica Gori at the IIT- Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (Italian Institute of Technology). The findings were published in Frontiers in Psychology.

A research team led by Monica Gori at the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) focused on the pre-school age group, helping define the measures that can be taken to reduce the impact of the use of surgical masks amongst children. While the wearing of facemasks is not mandatory from 3 to 5 years of age, children are in any case exposed to the use of such preventive measures in various everyday social and educational contexts.

The IIT researchers prepared a quiz containing images of people with and without facemasks, and displayed them on screens to 119 individuals comprising 31 children aged between 3 and 5 years old, 49 children between 6 and 8 years old, and 39 adults between 18 and 30 years old. The participants, independently or with parental assistance in the case of the youngest participants, were asked to try to recognise the faces’ expressions, with and without facemask, conveying different emotions such as happiness, sadness, fear and anger.

When those faces were covered with a facemask, the 3-5 years olds only managed to recognise facial expressions conveying happiness and sadness 40% of the time. The percentages were higher for other age groups: 6-8 years olds had a 55-65% success rate, and 70-80% adults. Generally, however, all age groups displayed some difficulty in interpreting these emotions expressed while the face was partially covered by a facemask. There were better results with other expressions, but the pre-school age children still had the greatest difficulty.

“The experiment was performed in the earliest phases of the 2020 pandemic, and at that time facemasks were still a new experience for everyone,” said Monica Gori. “Children’s brains are highly flexible, and at the moment we are performing tests to ascertain whether children’s understanding of emotions has increased or not.”

“In the study, we worked with children and adults with no forms of disability”, explained Maria Bianca Amadeo, IIT researcher, “of course, these observations are even more important when considering children affected by disabilities.” 
“Indeed”, added co-author Lucia Schiatti, IIT researcher, “for example visual impairment implies difficulties in social interaction. For such individuals in particular, it will be even more necessary to concentrate on possible preventive measures or specific rehabilitation activities”.

Further research is needed over the next few years to assess the actual impact of this mask wearing on the ability of children with and without disabilities to interact. In the meantime, the findings suggest the use of transparent facemasks for all operators in contact with children in the 3-5 year-old age group, or developing training activities to teach children how to recognise emotions by looking at the eyes.

Source: News-Medical.Net

Journal information: Gori, M., et al. (2021) Masking Emotions: Face Masks Impair How We Read Emotions. Frontiers in Psychology. doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.669432.

Categories : COVIDTags :

Urgent Vaccine Call as COVID Closes Free State Schools

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Photo by Mary Taylor from Pexels


As COVID cases and deaths continue to rise in the Free State, with schools being closed, it is unclear when the province’s teachers will receive their vaccinations.

The deaths of six learners, 75 teachers, and three support staff from COVID have been reported in the Free State since March 2020.

While teachers await their vaccines, COVID still claims lives in the school system – and not just older teachers and staff. Quincy Tsoenyane lost a daughter to COVID-related complications, 18 year-old Nomthandazo Ngcoyi, who was a learner at Lephola Secondary school in Welkom. Nomthandazo was one of 11 learners at the school who tested positive for COVID in May. Tsoenyane, who is a father to two surviving children, said it pains him to know that his daughter got sick at school.

According to the Department of Basic Education (DBE), Nomthandazo developed a cough at school and was tested for COVID along with other learners. On 19 May, she tested positive and was sent home to self-isolate. She died at home six days later.

A rare case

Dr Cloete van Vuuren, an Infectious Disease Specialist in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Free State, said that Nomthandazo’s death is a rare case as it is uncommon for young people to die from the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

The DBE figures show that since March 2020, the Free State has recorded a total of 2101 positive cases among teachers in schools: 1377 among learners, and 461 among non-teaching staff. Outbreaks of COVID cases have forced several shutdowns of Free State schools.

Holding out for vaccines

As COVID numbers climb in Free State schools, teaching federations and unions are urging that teachers be vaccinated as soon as possible.

From 26 July, children from Grades R to 7 will return to in-person classes. In a media statement, the National Professional Teachers Organisation of South Africa (Naptosa) said that they are pleased to hear that the education sector will receive 500 000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

However, the union said they are still in limbo because the doses must still require verification by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and will expire on 28 July.

As of Thursday, there were 591 new COVID cases in Free State, with a new case incidence rate of 17.8 per 100 000 people.

Teachers need to protect themselves and others

Dr Kerrin Begg, Public Health Specialist in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Cape Town reminded teachers that although it is understandable for them to be anxious about the vaccination, each and every person has the responsibility to educate themselves.

“Teachers need to be teaching themselves about the virus just like they do in their everyday line of work of teaching children.

“At the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa, we have produced school guidelines on measures to take to reduce the transmission of COVID in the school environment,” she said. She said that socialising outside of class was where most of the transmission took place, and that learners now no longer adhered to social distancing.

“We remind parents and teachers to remember that protecting themselves is not to be practiced during school hours only, but there are three major focal points of transmission which are before, during, and after school hours.

“Teachers need to understand that the environment of the classroom is very important. Fresh air is better than artificial air, outside is better than inside. Schools also need to continue to promote personal and physical distancing, and hygiene measures daily,” Dr Begg said.

Source: Spotlight