The CDC confirmed Friday that pet rats were the source of the Seoul virus outbreak in Wisconsin and Illinois. Based on the agency’s report, eight human cases of infection have been reported so far.

Dr. Jennifer McQuiston, the CDC deputy division director for high consequent pathogens and a veterinarian, says that this is the first time in the U.S. history when humans get infected with the Seoul virus in pet rats.

Previous outbreaks occurred, but all of them were caused by wild rats. McQuiston adds that a similar outbreak linked to pet rats occurred in Europe a few years ago. The first patient who contracted the virus was a Wisconsin resident, who reported having flu-like symptoms.

When his doctor learned about the man’s exposure to small rodents, he decided to check if the patient might have been infected with hantavirus. The sample tested positive for the rat virus, so the public health specialists in Wisconsin sent them to the CDC.

Plus, they also sent a second sample from a family member who was a home-based rodent breeder too. On the 11^th of January, the CDC officials confirmed the two cases of Seoul virus infections in both men.

McQuiston explains that the Seoul virus is unusual in the United States. The infection usually triggers mild symptoms similar to the flu, but in the worst-case scenario, it can lead to severe complications, including renal disease.

More precisely, the patients can experience abdominal pain, headache, fever, nausea, chills, rashes, and eye infection. It is worth mentioning that in the rarest cases, this simple infection might lead to hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a potentially deadly disease which causes severe aches, fever, and fatigue.

In some patients, the disease might be asymptomatic. The symptoms generally appear within seven to 14 days after the patient contracts the Seoul virus, but in some cases, the symptoms appear after eight weeks.

The investigators discovered that two ratteries in Illinois were responsible for six other cases of human infection. However, only one of the patients experienced the symptoms. Fortunately, the Seoul virus cannot be transmitted from one person to another, so the authorities believe that they will successfully contain the outbreak as soon as possible.

People can contract the Seoul virus if they come in contact with urine, saliva, blood, and other infectious fluids from sick rats.

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Centrifuges are an essential tool for doctors, labs and research centers across the world. However, despite their many benefits, they are quite expensive, quite large and require electricity to function. Such requirement cannot be met in poorly developed regions where doctors need them the most.

However, the future of centrifuges is looking a lot better thanks to the amazing invention of a team of researchers from Stanford University.  Taking direct inspiration from a whirligig toy for children, the researchers were able to create a paper centrifuge which can be spun by hand without any need for electricity, a precious commodity in undeveloped regions.

Furthermore, the device is also extremely cheap, costing only 27 cents to make, and provides results quite fast compared to a normal centrifuge, as it is able to detect diseases like malaria in blood in only 15 minutes.

Researchers across the world recognize the importance of centrifuges and a bid to overcome its limitations, they tried to develop simple and less expensive devices from kitchen instruments like egg beaters or salad spinners. However, none were successful as they did not reach the required speeds specific to an advanced centrifuge.

The new paper centrifuge developed by Manu Prakash and his colleagues from Stanford was detailed in a paper published in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering. They were able to recreate the capabilities of a modern centrifuge by using paper and wire while being lightweight, low-cost, and human-powered.

The scientists decided to name their paper centrifuge invention the “paperfuge”, which is able to reach an astonishing speed of 125,00 revolutions per minute. It can exert centrifugal forces of around 30,000g. This allows its users to separate white and red cells in a blood sample introduced into its paper core in only a few minutes of usage.

The paperfuge is the fastest non-electrical centrifuge ever developed, being 100 times faster than any previous inventions and it’s considered to have the highest rotational speed for a human-powered device. The inspiration for the device comes from an ancient toy known as the whirligig, dating back to 3.300 BC. It works by pulling the strings which pass through the center of the paper disk which can hold different medical samples. Pulling on the handles connected to the strings unwinds them making the disc rotate at high speeds.

Image credit: Stanford

Scientists reported that they have managed to grow in a petri dish active human stomach tissue by using pluripotent stem cells.

Stem cells are some of the most interesting features of the human body. These undifferentiated human cells can divide and differentiate into more such cells. In adults, they act as a sort of repair system. By division, they can replenish and rejuvenate tissue.

Now, scientists have managed to influence the cell’s differentiation process. This led to the development of pluripotent stem cells. These are now used in new, innovative procedures.

One such process led to the creation of functional human stomach tissue. This latter was developed in a laboratory’s petri dish.

The achievement belongs to a Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center team of researchers. Jim Wells was the principal investigator. He is a Ph.D. and Cincinnati Children’s Pluripotent Stem Cell Facility Director. Study results and details were released earlier this week.

They were published in the Nature journal. Released on January 04, the study was titled as follows. “Wnt/β-catenin promotes gastric fundus specification in mice and humans”.

The study managed to grow tissue from a specific area. This is the corpus/fundus part of the stomach. Their human stomach tissue was seen to work normally.

It was able to produce digestive enzymes. Acid was also produced by the said tissue.

This Cincinnati Children research team is behind another similar breakthrough. Another achievement in the area came some two years ago. At the time, they managed to generate an antrum.

An antrum is the stomach region which produces hormones. Now, the team will be joining their research results.

The recent discovery has opened up a new path. Both the antrum and stomach tissue can now be grown. As such, new research can be carried out.

Based on these finds, research can now better study stomach diseases. This could lead to the emergence of new treatments. It could also enrich our knowledge of the human development process.

Wells, the aforementioned lead, went to offer details. He pointed out his team’s current abilities. Researchers can grow both the corpus/fundic and antral tissues. More exactly, they can develop gastric human mini-organs.

These will open further study possibilities. For example, research could analyze their physiological interactions. Human stomach tissue responses to different infections or injuries can also be studied. The effect of pharmacological treatments on the gastric tissues would also be studied.

This latest find caps about 6 years of discoveries. The first was achieved back in 2010. Since then, the team has been using hPSC so as to engineer intestines and stomach regions. hPSCs are the aforementioned pluripotent stem cells.

Researchers have used the generated stomach tissue in specific studies. They have used them so as to identify the potential causes of disease. Treatment methods for said issues were also advanced. The diseases analyzed affect the human gastrointestinal tract.

Now, research will set to analyzed the abilities of the human-engineered stomach tissue organoids. More exactly, they will combine them with intestinal organoids. Through this, they will study how the body controls digestion and nutrient uptakes. Various medical conditions affecting said organs will also be analyzed.

In order to create the stomach tissue, the researchers analyzed mice. They noted their stomach’s embryonic development. As such, they stumbled upon a fundamental genetic pathway.

This pathway was later manipulated in a petri dish. Through it, the scientists managed to trigger a human fundus organoids formation process.

According to Wells, the gastric-fundus stomach tissue formation took around six weeks.

Image Source: Wikimedia

A new study has determined that living next to busy roads could potentially account as an added risk factor for the appearance of dementia.

The world is moving at an increasingly faster pace. As such, the traffic is higher and the roads are busier as everyone is trying to get somewhere. But living next to busy roads may have an unexpected, long-term effect.

A new study went to determine the effects of living in such areas. Research was carried out by a team of Canadian researchers. They were led by Hing Chen. The latter is part of the Public Health Ontario.

Research results were released earlier this week. The study was published in The Lancet journal. It was released on January 04 and titled as follows. “Living near major roads and the incidence of dementia, Parkinson’s disease, and multiple sclerosis: a population-based cohort study.”

Data for the study surveyed 6.6 million adults. These were all Ontario, Canada residents. The analyzed adults were aged in between 20 to 85 years old. All of them have been living for five or more years in the province.

Researchers analyzed their health records. This led to the following results. According to them, people living next to busy roads are more likely to develop dementia.

More exactly, those living within 50 meters of such roads. They were noted to present a 7 percent increased risk of dementia.

Their results were compared to other residents. These live farther away from busy roads and heavy traffic. To be more exact, they are situated 300 meters away from such areas.

When studying the records, the scientists analyzed certain factors. They calculated the likelihood of developing certain diseases. These included the aforementioned dementia. Multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s diseases were also on the list.

However, only dementia revealed an increased incidence risk. No links have been found leading to the other two issues.

Further analyses also revealed the following facts. Distancing from the busy roads reduced the dementia risk. By 100 – 200 meters away, it had already fallen to merely 2 percent.

Living for a longer period of time near such areas also had an effect. As such, the length of time is also a potential factor. It was determined that people that have lived their whole lives within 50 meters of busy roads were more exposed. They had a 12 to 14 percent increased risk of dementia.

The exact reasons behind the increased dementia risks are as yet unknown. However, pollutants are considered as being a potential factor.

Current studies identified the road to dementia increased risks. Still, it did not identify its exact and direct causes. More factors are believed to have contributed to the rise.

The aforementioned study lead pointed out some facts. Diseases such as dementia are increasingly more common. However, as Chen stated, there is still much to learn about them. Their exact causes have yet to be determined. Specific prevention methods are still being established.

Chen declared that the current study could have introduced a new potential factor. Busy roads could be considered environmental stressors. As such, they could also influence the dementia incidence levels.

More research one the matter would be needed. It could help determine or demonstrate the new, potential disease. factor.

Image Source: Wikimedia