By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services

Gold nanoparticles found
to have negative effects


New research reveals that pure gold nanoparticles found in everyday items such as personal care products, as well as drug delivery, MRI contrast agents and solar cells can inhibit fat storage and lead to accelerated aging and wrinkling, slowed wound healing and the onset of diabetes.

The researchers, led by Tatsiana Mironava, a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Molecular Engineering at Stony Brook University, detail their research, “Gold nanoparticles cellular toxicity and recovery: Adipose Derived Stromal cells,” in the journal Nanotoxicology.

Together with co-author Marcia Simon, professor of oral biology and pathology at Stony Brook University, the researchers tested the impact of nanoparticles in vitro on multiple types of cells, including fat tissue, to determine whether their basic functions were disrupted when exposed to very low doses of nanoparticles. Subcutaneous fat or adipose tissue acts as insulation from heat and cold, functions as a reserve of nutrients, and is found around internal organs for padding, in yellow bone marrow and in breast tissue.

They discovered that the human adipose-derived stromal cells – a type of adult stem cells – were penetrated by the gold nanoparticles almost instantly and that the particles accumulated in the cells with no obvious pathway for elimination. The presence of the particles disrupted multiple cell functions, such as movement, cell division and collagen contraction, processes that are essential in wound healing.

According to the researchers, the most disturbing finding was that the particles interfered with genetic regulation, RNA expression and inhibited the ability to differentiate into mature adipocytes or fat cells. “Reductions caused by gold nanoparticles can result in systemic changes to the body,” said Professor Mironava. “Since they have been considered inert and essentially harmless, it was assumed that pure gold nanoparticles would also be safe. Evidence to the contrary is beginning to emerge.”

This study is also the first to demonstrate the impact of nanoparticles on adult stem cells, which are the cells the human body uses for continual organ regeneration. It revealed that adipose derived stromal cells involved in regeneration of multiple organs, including skin, nerve, bone, and hair, ignored appropriate cues and failed to differentiate when exposed to nanoparticles. The presence of gold nanoparticles also reduced adiponectin, a protein involved in regulating glucose levels and fatty acid breakdown, which helps to regulate metabolism.


Betty Friedan feminist book
marks its 50th birthday


Fifty years ago, a book by Betty Friedan sparked a national conversation about gender roles, launching a movement to empower women both at home and in the workplace.

Over the past five decades, "The Feminine Mystique" sold more than 3 million copies, and inspired millions of women to fight for their rights.

In 1957, Ms. Friedan conducted a survey of her college classmates for their 15th reunion.

Many of these well-educated and well-off women said they were unhappy being housewives, even though many had homes in the suburbs, children and bread-winning husbands.

Ms. Friedan went on to talk with other women about their lives, and how they were portrayed in media.

She originally intended to publish an article, but no magazine accepted it. So she published a book instead: "The Feminine Mystique."

Stephanie Ortoleva, a feminist and human rights activist, read the book in the 1970s, when she was in law school. She still remembers Ms. Friedan’s words, “...why should women accept this picture of half-life, instead of a share in the whole of human destiny?”

“It broke ground that hadn’t broken before," Ms. Ortoleva said. "It also really raised very important issues about objectification of women and dressing us up, making us become sort of playthings as opposed to presenting images of women as strong and powerful people.”

She feels Ms. Friedan’s arguments spoke to her generation, especially when she was studying law.

“Even though my law school was somewhat progressive and that we had a very large class of women," Ms. Ortoleva said, "but still, most of our professors were men and that’s why we all decided to sit in the front row of the classroom so no professor could ignore us.”

Ms. Ortoleva said she believes the women’s movement has made significant strides since then.

“Women are being involved in some professions that were barred from being engaged in previously," she said. "We’re making some political progress. We're making progress on reproductive health. Economic equality is getting better.”

Susan Mottet is president of the Washington, D.C., chapter of the National Organization for Women, which Ms. Friedan helped found in 1966. She says the younger generation of feminists has made its own contribution.

“We still use the political process, getting the right people elected," Ms. Mottet said. "But certainly, and this is something the younger generation of men and women within the movement have helped with, is new ways to engage media, really engaging social media to get your perspective out there.”

Although Ms. Mottet said she believes there is still a ways to go before women are truly treated equally in America, many in the younger generation don't feel the need to get involved.

Katayoun Kishi, a 23-year-old graduate student, and her friends don't consider themselves feminists, although they are aware of what the women’s movement has achieved.

“I think that we are resting on the laurels of the feminists that came before us, that we’re living the lifestyles that we’ve been afforded by them," Ms. Kishi said. "That's maybe why we don't feel the need to be out there marching, because we're not feeling the same discrimination they felt before us.”

For Ms. Ortoleva, that doesn't mean the women’s movement is no longer relevant, in the U.S. or around the world.

“I work with a feminist in Colombia. I work with feminists in Egypt, Japan, South Korea," she said. "I think it’s very much of a global movement. There are serious challenges, whether it’s the persistent rapes in India, whether it’s the forced sterilization of either women with disabilities or Roma women in Eastern Europe. That’s why we talk about global feminism.”

There are different concerns, but the goal remains the same: equality and justice for women and men.


Rescuers seeking to reach
isolated Chinese victims


Search and rescue teams are struggling to reach remote areas of China's Sichuan province, where a powerful earthquake has killed more than 200 people and injured more than 11,000.

After the quake Saturday morning, state media said hard-hit parts of Lushan were not reachable by road, with phone services cut off. China's official Xinhua news agency said the quake also rattled buildings in the provincial capital, Chengdu, 115 kilometers to the east.

Numerous aftershocks have struck the area.

Xinhua says rescue workers on Sunday saved nine villagers trapped in the mountainous Lushan.

Those rescued were all elderly and children, with the eldest being 85 years old and the youngest only 2.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visited the West China Hospital, a leading medical facility in Chengdu, which has taken in a number of seriously injured patients who had been transferred from the quake-hit areas.

President Xi Jinping has ordered all-out measures to rescue victims and minimize casualties following the disaster.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the 6.6-magnitude quake occurred at a shallow depth of just 13 kilometers.

The incident brings back painful memories for Sichuan, which suffered a 2008 earthquake that killed more than 70,000 people.


Top financial leaders
are more optimistic now


Despite an uneven recovery between advanced and developing economies, the heads of both the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund say the global financial crisis has eased substantially. But these global lending institutions say member countries must do more to spark sustainable economic growth. 

The world's economy is growing at a slightly slower pace than the Monetary Fund's initial forecasts in January. But top financial officials gathered in Washington for the annual Spring meetings face a less threatening economic landscape, says the fund's managing director, Christine Lagarde.

"Looking behind the numbers, we believe we have avoided the worst, and the economic world no longer looks quite as dangerous as it did," she said.

But Ms. Lagarde added that the pick-up in financial conditions in the U.S., Europe and Japan has yet to translate into a sustainable recovery. 

"On the euro area, policy makers have accomplished a great deal over a short period of time. The priority now is to fix frayed banking systems, press ahead with a banking union. In Japan, which as I said, has a space of its own, the recently announced framework of ambitious monetary easing, is, from our point of view, a positive step. But it is not enough," she said.

Friday, finance ministers from 20 of the world's biggest economies endorsed Japan's efforts to boost its stagnant economy. But the stimulus package enacted by Japan's leaders also lowers the value of the yen, giving Japanese-made products a price advantage in world markets. In an official communique, G20 nations said they will monitor the effects of Japan's policies and take corrective action as needed.

Much attention also is focused on China, which saw weaker than expected growth in the first quarter. But World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said he's not worried.

"We've worked with China on a 2030 report that looks specifically at the strategy going forward. And our sense is that the Chinese leadership is laser-focused on doing those things that will build the foundations of their future growth," said Kim.

The world's top financial policy makers also are expected to look at the effectiveness of debt reduction policies around the world. Some economists say austerity measures, particularly those in Europe, have helped reduce the debt burden in some countries at the expense of economic growth.


Protein filter can capture
antibiotics in runoff water


Cancer-causing chemicals and drugs like antibiotics pollute many of America's lakes, rivers and drinking water supplies. Activated carbon filters can remove about 40 percent of carcinogens and antibiotics from these waters. But a tiny solar-powered filter made of two bacterial proteins absorbs at least 50 percent more of the pollutants.

In addition, the filter, developed by a team at the University of Cincinnati, can release the captured antibiotics so they can be reused.

Antibiotics and chemicals enter waterways through sewage and run-off from yards and farms. They can breed resistant bacteria and kill helpful microorganisms, degrading the health of aquatic ecosystems.

The nano-filters, each smaller than the diameter of a human hair, employ a protein used by drug-resistant bacteria to excrete waste, but the researchers have turned it around so it sucks compounds in. Another protein, which responds to sunlight, provides the pumping power for the filter.

Environmental engineer David Wendell, one of the developers, calls the innovation an environmentally friendly and cost-effective way to extract and recover antibiotics from surface waters. He foresees the possibility that, one day, a collection of nano-filters could be anchored downstream from urban or farming areas to capture harmful compounds in water.

Details of the development and testing of the new filter appear in the journal Nano Letters.


Center right businessman
wins election in Paraguay
  

Horacio Cartes won Paraguay's presidential election Sunday, succeeding former Roman Catholic bishop Fernando Lugo, who was impeached last year for poor performance.

Cartes, a business magnate who made his fortune in banking and tobacco, has vowed to create jobs in a nation where nearly 40 percent of the population lives below the poverty level.

Cartes' election marks a victory for the center-right Colorado Party over challenger Efrain Alegre's leftist Alianza Paraguay Alegre, which previously controlled the government. Cartes took 46 percent of the vote to Alegre's 37 percent.

The incoming president will face challenges such as repairing the ailing economy, creating jobs, and combating drug trafficking, smuggling and corruption.

Liberal Federico Franco has led the landlocked, South American country since last June after Lugo was ousted from office.


Immigration reform holds
spot as top topic this week


This week, U.S. lawmakers will weigh in on a bipartisan proposal to overhaul America’s oft-criticized immigration system and resolve the status of an estimated 11 million people who entered the country illegally or overstayed visas. The bill’s unveiling late last week was overshadowed by fast-moving events surrounding the Boston bombing.
 
With the eyes of the nation fixed on Boston, major legislative developments took a back seat last week. A push to reform America’s gun laws hit a roadblock in the Senate, and Democratic and Republican senators, the so-called Gang of Eight, presented a long-awaited immigration reform proposal.
 
Republican Marco Rubio said, “First and foremost, it is about modernizing our legal immigration system. It is about helping to attract the world’s best and brightest talent, and to keep the world’s best and brightest talent.”
 
The top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Patrick Leahy, says the status quo is unacceptable. “The dysfunction of the system affects all of us. Now is our time to fix it," he said.
 
The bill sets forth a long and arduous path for the undocumented to attain U.S. citizenship. That provision amounts to amnesty that will attract more illegal border-crossers, according to critics such as Rep. Lou Barletta. a Repubican.
 
“We have our immigration laws for two reasons. One, to protect our national security. And two, to protect American jobs," he said.
 
The national security component of the immigration debate could become a focal point in the aftermath of the Boston bombing. Both suspects came to the United States legally from abroad. 
 
While their motives have not been definitively ascertained, they are already being mentioned as a cautionary tale by skeptics of immigration reform, including Sen. Chuck Grassley, a Republican.
 
“How can individuals evade authority and plan such attacks on our soil,?" he asked. How can we beef up security checks on people who wish to enter the United States? How do we ensure that people who wish to do us harm are not eligible for benefits under the immigration laws, including this new bill before us?”
 
Gang of Eight senators are predicting long and fierce debate on immigration reform. Sen. Charles Schumer, a Democrat:
 
“There will be perils we cannot even anticipate, but we start off with optimism, because this bipartisan agreement gives us a sturdy ship to ride out the stormy seas ahead," he said.
 
More about the Boston bombing could be learned if the surviving suspect recovers from wounds sustained in a gun battle with police and shares information with interrogators. Meanwhile, the debate on immigration reform is moving forward at the Capitol.

Youngsters can face multiple
specific learning disabilities


Up to 10 per cent of the population are affected by specific learning disabilities, such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and autism, translating to two or three pupils in every classroom, according to a new study.

The study by academics at University College London also indicates that children are frequently affected by more than one learning disability.

The research, published in Science, helps to clarify the underlying causes of learning disabilities and the best way to tailor individual teaching and learning for affected individuals and education professionals.

Specific learning disabilities arise from atypical brain development with complicated genetic and environmental causes, causing such conditions as dyslexia, dyscalculia, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder and specific language impairment.

While these conditions in isolation already provide a challenge for educators, an additional problem is that specific learning disabilities also occur together far more often than would be expected. As, for example, in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, 33 to 45 per cent also suffer from dyslexia and 11 per cent from dyscalculia.

Lead author  Brian Butterworth of the university's  Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience said: "We now know that there are many disorders of neurological development that can give rise to learning disabilities, even in children of normal or even high intelligence, and that crucially these disabilities can also co-occur far more often than you'd expect based on their prevalence.

As part of the study, Butterworth and Yulia Kovas  have summarized what is currently known about specific learning disabilities's neural and genetic basis to help clarify what is causing these disabilities to develop, helping to improve teaching for individual learners, and also training for school psychologists, clinicians and teachers.

What the team hope is that by developing an understanding of how individual differences in brain development interact with formal education, and also adapting learning pathways to individual needs, those with specific learning disabilities will produce more tailored education for such learners.

"Each child has a unique cognitive and genetic profile, and the educational system should be able to monitor and adapt to the learner's current repertoire of skills and knowledge," said Butterworth.

"A promising approach involves the development of technology-enhanced learning applications – such as games - that are capable of adapting to individual needs for each of the basic disciplines."

By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services