Honey could be effective at treating and preventing wound infections

ScienceDaily (Jan. 31, 2012) ? Manuka honey could help clear chronic wound infections and even prevent them from developing in the first place, according to a new study published in Microbiology. The findings provide further evidence for the clinical use of manuka honey to treat bacterial infections in the face of growing antibiotic resistance.

Streptococcus pyogenes is a normal skin bacterium that is frequently associated with chronic (non-healing) wounds. Bacteria that infect wounds can clump together forming 'biofilms', which form a barrier to drugs and promotes chronic infection. Researchers at Cardiff Metropolitan University have shown that manuka honey can not only destroy fully-formed S. pyogenes biofilms in vitro but also prevent the bacteria initially binding to components of wound tissue.

Honey has long been acknowledged for its antimicrobial properties. Traditional remedies containing honey were used in the topical treatment of wounds by diverse ancient civilisations. Manuka honey is derived from nectar collected by honey bees foraging on the manuka tree found growing in New Zealand and parts of Australia. It is included in modern licensed wound-care products around the world. Manuka honey has been reported to inhibit more than 80 species of bacteria, yet the antimicrobial properties of honey have not yet been fully exploited by modern medicine as its mechanisms of action are not fully understood.

Wounds that are infected with S. pyogenes often fail to respond to treatment. This is largely due to the development of biofilms which may be difficult for antibiotics to penetrate -- in addition to problems of antibiotic resistance. The results of the study showed that very small concentrations of honey prevented the start of biofilm development and that treating established biofilms grown in Petri dishes with honey for 2 hours killed up to 85% of bacteria within them.

The Cardiff team are working towards providing molecular explanations for the antibacterial action of honey. The latest study reveals that honey can disrupt the interaction between S. pyogenes and the human protein fibronectin, which is displayed on the surface of damaged cells. "Molecules on the surface of the bacteria latch onto human fibronectin, anchoring the bacteria to the cell. This allows infection to proceed and biofilms to develop," explained Dr Sarah Maddocks who led the study. "We found that honey reduced the expression of these bacterial surface proteins, inhibiting binding to human fibronectin, therefore making biofilm formation less likely. This is a feasible mechanism by which manuka honey minimizes the initiation of acute wound infections and also the establishment of chronic infections.

Ongoing work in Dr Maddocks' lab is investigating other wound-associated bacteria including Pseudomonas aeruginosa and meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Manuka honey has also been shown to be effective at killing these bacteria. "There is an urgent need to find innovative and effective ways of controlling wound infections that are unlikely to contribute to increased antimicrobial resistance. No instances of honey-resistant bacteria have been reported to date, or seem likely," said Dr Maddocks. "Applying antibacterial agents directly to the skin to clear bacteria from wounds is cheaper than systemic antibiotics and may well complement antibiotic therapy in the future. This is significant as chronic wounds account for up to 4% of health care expenses in the developed world."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Society for General Microbiology, via AlphaGalileo.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. S. E. Maddocks, M. S. Lopez, R. S. Rowlands, R. A. Cooper. Manuka honey inhibits the development of Streptococcus pyogenes biofilms and causes reduced expression of two fibronectin binding proteins. Microbiology, 2012; DOI: 10.1099/mic.0.053959-0

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120131205919.htm

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Short-term memory is based on synchronized brain oscillations

Public release date: 31-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Dr. Stefanie Liebe
stefanie.liebe@tuebingen.mpg.de
44-207-837-5433
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Scientists have now discovered how different brain regions cooperate during short-term memory

This press release is available in German.

Holding information within one's memory for a short while is a seemingly simple and everyday task. We use our short-term memory when remembering a new telephone number if there is nothing to write at hand, or to find the beautiful dress inside the store that we were just admiring in the shopping window. Yet, despite the apparent simplicity of these actions, short-term memory is a complex cognitive act that entails the participation of multiple brain regions. However, whether and how different brain regions cooperate during memory has remained elusive. A group of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tbingen, Germany have now come closer to answering this question. They discovered that oscillations between different brain regions are crucial in visually remembering things over a short period of time.

It has long been known that brain regions in the frontal part of the brain are involved in short-term memory, while processing of visual information occurs primarily at the back of the brain. However, to successfully remember visual information over a short period of time, these distant regions need to coordinate and integrate information.

To better understand how this occurs, scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Biological Cybernetics in the department of Nikos Logothetis recorded electrical activity both in a visual area and in the frontal part of the brain in monkeys. The scientists showed the animals identical or different images within short intervals while recording their brain activity. The animals then had to indicate whether the second image was the same as the first one.

The scientists observed that, in each of the two brain regions, brain activity showed strong oscillations in a certain set of frequencies called the theta-band. Importantly, these oscillations did not occur independently of each other, but synchronized their activity temporarily: "It is as if you have two revolving doors in each of the two areas. During working memory, they get in sync, thereby allowing information to pass through them much more efficiently than if they were out of sync," explains Stefanie Liebe, the first author of the study, conducted in the team of Gregor Rainer in cooperation with Gregor Hrzer from the Technical University Graz. The more synchronized the activity was, the better could the animals remember the initial image. Thus, the authors were able to establish a direct relationship between what they observed in the brain and the performance of the animal.

The study highlights how synchronized brain oscillations are important for the communication and interaction of different brain regions. Almost all multi-faceted cognitive acts, such as visual recognition, arise from a complex interplay of specialized and distributed neural networks. How relationships between such distributed sites are established and how they contribute to represent and communicate information about external and internal events in order to attain a coherent percept or memory is still poorly understood.

###

Stefanie Liebe, Gregor M Hoerzer, Nikos K Logothetis & Gregor Rainer (2012) Theta coupling between V4 and prefrontal cortex predicts visual short-term memory performance. Nature Neuroscience, 29 January 2012, doi: 10.1038/nn.3038.

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?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 31-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Dr. Stefanie Liebe
stefanie.liebe@tuebingen.mpg.de
44-207-837-5433
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Scientists have now discovered how different brain regions cooperate during short-term memory

This press release is available in German.

Holding information within one's memory for a short while is a seemingly simple and everyday task. We use our short-term memory when remembering a new telephone number if there is nothing to write at hand, or to find the beautiful dress inside the store that we were just admiring in the shopping window. Yet, despite the apparent simplicity of these actions, short-term memory is a complex cognitive act that entails the participation of multiple brain regions. However, whether and how different brain regions cooperate during memory has remained elusive. A group of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tbingen, Germany have now come closer to answering this question. They discovered that oscillations between different brain regions are crucial in visually remembering things over a short period of time.

It has long been known that brain regions in the frontal part of the brain are involved in short-term memory, while processing of visual information occurs primarily at the back of the brain. However, to successfully remember visual information over a short period of time, these distant regions need to coordinate and integrate information.

To better understand how this occurs, scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Biological Cybernetics in the department of Nikos Logothetis recorded electrical activity both in a visual area and in the frontal part of the brain in monkeys. The scientists showed the animals identical or different images within short intervals while recording their brain activity. The animals then had to indicate whether the second image was the same as the first one.

The scientists observed that, in each of the two brain regions, brain activity showed strong oscillations in a certain set of frequencies called the theta-band. Importantly, these oscillations did not occur independently of each other, but synchronized their activity temporarily: "It is as if you have two revolving doors in each of the two areas. During working memory, they get in sync, thereby allowing information to pass through them much more efficiently than if they were out of sync," explains Stefanie Liebe, the first author of the study, conducted in the team of Gregor Rainer in cooperation with Gregor Hrzer from the Technical University Graz. The more synchronized the activity was, the better could the animals remember the initial image. Thus, the authors were able to establish a direct relationship between what they observed in the brain and the performance of the animal.

The study highlights how synchronized brain oscillations are important for the communication and interaction of different brain regions. Almost all multi-faceted cognitive acts, such as visual recognition, arise from a complex interplay of specialized and distributed neural networks. How relationships between such distributed sites are established and how they contribute to represent and communicate information about external and internal events in order to attain a coherent percept or memory is still poorly understood.

###

Stefanie Liebe, Gregor M Hoerzer, Nikos K Logothetis & Gregor Rainer (2012) Theta coupling between V4 and prefrontal cortex predicts visual short-term memory performance. Nature Neuroscience, 29 January 2012, doi: 10.1038/nn.3038.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/m-smi013112.php

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Gaming firms 888, Caesars extend licensing deal to U.S. (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? 888 Holdings Plc said a unit of private equity-owned Caesars Entertainment Corp extended its UK software licensing agreement with the British online gaming company to the United States.

888 said the agreement would see its arm, Dragonfish, power a selection of private poker brands of Caesars, one of the largest casino operators in the United States and owner of the famed Caesars Palace, once online gaming is permitted under the new regulatory regime.

"Utilising 888's state of the art poker platform, the agreement will allow the launch of a real money offering immediately as either Federal or state based regulation is finalized and upon licensing by gaming authorities," 888 said in a statement on Tuesday.

As U.S. states scramble for tax revenue, the potential for legalizing online poker has led casino and gaming companies MGM Resorts International and Boyd Gaming to unveil a plan to partner with online poker company Bwin.party Digital Entertainment.

Last month, 888 had said it expected core profit for 2011 to be significantly above market expectations, aided by strength in its casino and poker businesses.

888 shares, which have risen 41 percent in the last three months, closed at 47 pence on Monday on the London Stock Exchange, valuing the company at about 165 million pounds.

(Reporting by Tresa Sherin Morera in Bangalore; Editing by Roshni Menon)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/videogames/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120131/wr_nm/us888

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California man gets 6 years for foiled murder plot

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? If Eugene Temkin had heeded a warning by FBI agents two years ago to not kill a former business partner, he wouldn't have found himself in front of a judge on Monday, being sentenced to six years in prison for hatching a murder-for-hire plot.

The 51-year-old man from Goleta, Calif., tried twice to carry out the hit on Michael Hershman, with the second attempt just four months after the FBI learned about the diabolical plan and warned him to stay away. In both instances, Temkin unwittingly tried to hire an undercover law enforcement officer to carry out the hit.

He was convicted last year of three murder-for-hire-related counts. Federal prosecutors sought a 20-year prison sentence, but U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson noted Temkin had no prior criminal record. He also noted that Temkin contemplated the hit on Hershman for more than six years but never followed through, seeming intent during some instances and in others "just blowing steam."

In the end, however, Temkin "was walking a tightrope, a thin line and he went over that line," Wilson said.

Temkin, shackled in handcuffs, asked for forgiveness during the hearing but never directly mentioned Hershman, who sat only a few feet away.

"I seek forgiveness from those who were adversely affected by my actions," said Temkin, who on several occasions looked in Hershman's direction.

The case was striking because of Temkin's desire to destroy Hershman for a business deal that soured nearly a decade earlier. Court documents showed the fear, helplessness and frustration of Hershman and his family, who said they were terrorized and traumatized while getting little help from authorities.

For Hershman and his family, the last several years have been painful and agonizing. His 20-year-old son died from an accidental drug overdose in late 2010, and he slept with a machete because Temkin hired people to stalk and harass him, Hershman said. His college-age daughter has been placed in a psychiatric clinic in Texas where she has hallucinations and believes she's been kidnapped by Temkin, he said.

"The relentless problems and things Mr. Temkin has inflicted, I wouldn't wish it upon anyone in this room, not even on Mr. Temkin himself," Hershman said.

The men met when they were selling drugs in the 1980s, according to court documents. In 2001, Temkin lent Hershman $500,000 ? money from a second mortgage on an apartment building he owned ? to invest in a casino in Equatorial Guinea. When Hershman was unable to repay Temkin right away because the casino had not fared well, Temkin sued his then-business partner after losing the apartment complex in foreclosure.

The lawsuit was settled in 2006, but authorities said Temkin wanted about $5 million for unrealized profits he would have received had he sold the apartment building before the real estate market crashed.

Temkin repeatedly threatened and harassed Hershman and his family, investigators said. Pictures and other heirlooms were stolen from Hershman's storage unit. Their emails were hacked, and his children said they were followed by strange men.

Temkin was never charged in connection with those incidents, but Hershman obtained a restraining order against him in 2007, saying Temkin made gun signals at him with his hands, according to an affidavit.

Hershman said he pleaded with law enforcement agencies to investigate Temkin but they did nothing.

The investigation took a turn in late 2009 when one of Temkin's friends approached Los Angeles County sheriff's detectives saying Temkin wanted to extort money from Hershman before killing him. A series of meetings were arranged between an undercover detective posing as a hit man and Temkin, who gave varying scenarios of how Hershman should be killed.

One plot involved a crew kidnapping Hershman and his family in the Dominican Republic and having the undercover officer kill them.

"Hang him from a door, throw him from a fishing boat, all works for me," Temkin said during one of the recorded conversations with the investigator.

In March 2010, FBI agents met with Temkin who told them about the dispute but denied making threats. The agents then told Temkin not to threaten, hurt or kill Hershman, according to court documents. Temkin agreed.

FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said it's not uncommon for law enforcement agencies to receive cases where death threats are made, but "the government has to prove a legal intent that someone planned to go through with it."

Temkin apparently wasn't dissuaded, because several months later authorities learned he was still interested in killing Hershman. Another undercover officer, acting as a hit man, began meeting with Temkin, who indicated he had another hired hand to kill Hershman but would call the officer if plans fell through.

In July 2010, Temkin gave the officer the green light to kill Hershman, his wife and a business partner, authorities said. Temkin provided the undercover officer with Hershman's passport number, photographs of the would-be victims and 30 $100 bills for the job expected to cost $30,000.

Temkin was arrested six days later at his home outside of Santa Barbara.

In arguing for a sentence no greater than six years, defense attorney Richard Callahan said Temkin called off plans to kill Hershman after the meeting with FBI agents.

"While Mr. Temkin was angry and fixated on Hershman's debt, he never took action on it for almost 10 years despite clear opportunities to do so," Callahan wrote. It wasn't until the FBI intervened that Temkin "crossed the line."

Wilson said he's unsure if Temkin truly wanted to follow through on his plans.

"No one knows exactly what was in his mind," he said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-30-Thwarted%20Murder%20Plot/id-fbb612432ee14d9e85fc34db88234c3d

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Tracy Morgan of '30 Rock' collapses at Sundance (omg!)

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) ? The publicist for comedian and "30 Rock" cast member Tracy Morgan says the actor suffered from a combination of exhaustion and altitude when he collapsed at the Sundance Film Festival in the U.S.

Publicist Lewis Kay says Morgan is grateful to the Park City Medical Center for its care after he collapsed Sunday. Park City's elevation is 7,000 feet (2,133 meters).

Morgan was escorted from the Creative Coalition Spotlight Awards ceremony.

Kay says hospital officials report no drugs or alcohol were found in Morgan's system.

Morgan is attending Sundance in connection with the comedy film "Predisposed," one of the films at the festival, in which he plays a drug dealer named Sprinkles.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_tracy_morgan30_rock_collapses_sundance_153928826/44273317/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/tracy-morgan-30-rock-collapses-sundance-153928826.html

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Chamber of Commerce | Small Business Survey | The Daily Caller

Economic uncertainty and concern about government regulations have small businesses worried for the future and disinclined to hire new employees, according to a fourth quarter survey by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The study surveyed 1,322 small business executives, and found that just over half said ?economic uncertainty? was one of the top reasons they were not hiring new employees.

Government regulations, the federal deficit and the national debt also worried the business owners. 84 percent of respondents indicated that ?the national debt made them uncertain about the future. 86 percent said that regulations, restrictions and taxes were major concerns.

What could be coming down the pipeline next is also scary, with 59 percent saying the possibility of future regulations is even scarier than the current regulations.

Ideally, 82 percent of small business executives said, Washington would just stay out of their way, rather than try to help. Only 6 percent want more help in dealing with the current economic climate.

As far as dealing with unemployment, 63 percent of respondents said they?re unlikely to expand their workforce in the next year, and just 19 percent said they hired more people over the past year.

The reasons include economic uncertainty, as well as low sales, and 36 percent said concern about possible new regulations kept them from expanding their payroll. Just under a third said the new health care law and the requirements that come with it are keeping them from hiring.

The antipathy toward Washington is focused on bureaucrats, who were blamed by 47 percent of business executives, while President Barack Obama was blamed by 29 percent, and Congress by just 18 percent.

?The policies coming out of Washington are only exacerbating the economic uncertainty that small businesses continue to cite as their greatest challenge,? said U.S. Chamber President and CEO Thomas J. Donohue. ?Heading into an election year, our country?s job creators are speaking with a unified voice in saying that we need a change of course in Washington.?

Nonetheless, there is optimism about the success of these businesses. Forty percent of respondents believe their best days are in the future, and just 20 percent say they are behind them. Moreover, 34 percent said they believe that the small business climate is likely to improve in the next two years, an uptick since the third quarter, when just 23 percent expected this outcome.

The Chamber of Commerce began conducting the survey in May 2011, as a means of tracking the outlook of small businesses. This survey was conducted online from December 30, 2011 through January 6, 2012.

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Source: http://dailycaller.com/2012/01/18/survey-small-businesses-dont-want-anything-to-do-with-the-government/

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NPR Hits the Road, Partners With Ford on In-Car App

Those expecting fewer major technology unveilings at this year?s Consumer Electronics Show may have not considered the utility of the car.

NPR and Ford announced a new partnership whereby NPR?s smartphone app will be a feature with Ford?s Internet-enabled cars.

Users can use SYNC AppLink to listen to their choice programs and stations on the road whenever they want, and create playlists accessible with the sound of your voice.

?NPR has been a trusted companion to drivers for more than 40 years, and we are thrilled to be the first major news organization to release our own in-car app,? NPR President and CEO Gary Knell said. ?We are helping to usher in a new era of radio listening by offering today?s and tomorrow?s listeners another way to connect with great news, public affairs and music content from NPR and hundreds of public radio stations.?

As the Internet comes to the car, many expect more podcasts and audio programming will follow. This is the first dedicated news app for SYNC AppLink that Ford has launched at this year?s CES, but there may be more on the way.

Also Read: Mitt Romney on PBS: 'Big Bird is Going to Have Advertisements'

Among the features NPR's digital audience of 19 millions users can now access are local news from any NPR member stations and the ability to sort through every program 24 hours a day and program radio presets.

Related Wrap Stories

Source: http://www.thewrap.com/media/column-post/all-npr-your-car-npr-ford-partner-car-app-34233

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