Friday 19 August 2011

(H1N1) virus

Putative amino acid determinants of the emergence of the 2009 influenza A (H1N1) virus in the human population

+ Author Affiliations

^aDepartment of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel 69978;
^bDepartment of Infectious Diseases, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105; and
^cVaccine and Infectious Disease Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA 98109

Edited by Barry Honig, Columbia University Howard Hughes Medical Institute, New York, NY, and approved July 8, 2011 (received for review October 6, 2010)

Abstract

The emergence of the unique H1N1 influenza A virus in 2009 resulted in a pandemic that has spread to over 200 countries. The constellation of molecular factors leading to the emergence of this strain is still unclear. Using a computational approach, we identified molecular determinants that may discriminate the hemagglutinin protein of the 2009 human pandemic H1N1 (pH1N1) strain from that of other H1N1 strains. As expected, positions discriminating the pH1N1 from seasonal human strains were located in or near known H1N1 antigenic sites, thus camouflaging the pH1N1 strain from immune recognition. For example, the alteration S145K (an antigenic position) was found as a characteristic of the pH1N1 strain. We also detected positions in the hemagglutinin protein differentiating classical swine viruses from pH1N1. These positions were mostly located in and around the receptor-binding pocket, possibly influencing binding affinity to the human cell. Such alterations may be liable in part for the virus’s efficient infection and adaptation to humans. For instance, 133_A and 149 were identified as discriminative positions. Significantly, we showed that the substitutions R133_AK and R149K, predicted to be pH1N1 characteristics, each altered virus binding to erythrocytes and conferred virulence to A/swine/NC/18161/02 in mice, reinforcing the computational findings. Our findings provide a structural explanation for the deficient immunity of humans to the pH1N1 strain. Moreover, our analysis points to unique molecular factors that may have facilitated the emergence of this swine variant in humans, in contrast to other swine variants that failed.

Vitamin D mum test 'could protect babies from rickets'

By Adam Brimelow Health Correspondent, BBC News

The weakened bones and bowed legs of a child with rickets

The NHS should consider checking pregnant women's vitamin D levels to protect babies from the "Victorian" bone disease rickets, an expert says.

A Journal of Medical Screening article suggests rickets was returning, with many women not getting enough vitamin D, which comes mainly from sunlight.

People with dark skin, and women who cover up for cultural or religious reasons, are at particular risk.

The Department of Health is reviewing the evidence on vitamin D screening.

The editorial was by Dr James Haddow, a US expert in pre-natal screening.

Breastfeeding mothers

His article described cases of seizures, heart failure and rickets in children whose mothers were vitamin D deficient.

Dr Haddow said it was time to look at screening pregnant women with a blood test, focusing initially on those most at risk.

"Any strategy aimed at avoiding symptomatic vitamin D deficiency in offspring would logically include assuring adequacy of maternal vitamin D during pregnancy.

"Attending to this aspect of maternal and child health has added significance for mothers who breastfeed."

A recent study in inner-city Birmingham found that almost one in two Asian women were vitamin D deficient.

“Start Quote

Screening in selected populations is currently the way forward”

End Quote Dr Jonathan Berg City Hospital, Birmingham

The level was one in three in the wider Asian community, one in four in the black population and one in eight among Caucasians.

One of the authors, Dr Jonathan Berg, director of pathology at City Hospital, Birmingham, says some local GPs are already screening pregnant women from the Asian community, although there is no formal protocol.

The trust also offers a vitamin D blood-test for those who are not in at-risk groups, for £20. Dr Berg says a lot of people were having the check.

"Screening in selected populations is currently the way forward, but clearly it is very difficult for the NHS to test everyone. We are seeing a big increase in demand from the 'worried well'."

Free supplements

A consultant paediatrician at Ealing's hospital, Dr Colin Michie, says the increased use of high-factor sun-cream means a lot of women who are not in at-risk groups are also vitamin D deficient.

He says the idea of screening is interesting, but he argues that providing free vitamin D supplements for all pregnant women would be cheaper and easier.

He believes this would lead to healthier babies and would save the NHS money.

A spokesman for the Department of Health in England said: "All pregnant women are advised to take vitamin D supplements.

"Our priority is to ensure health professionals provide consistent advice and implement the current recommendations."

The department has asked the scientific advisory committee to review the evidence on vitamin D requirements for different population groups.

Thursday 18 August 2011

Trainee doctor changeover 'impacts on patient safety'

The survey looked at the month when trainee doctors take up their posts

The vast majority of doctors believe patient safety is compromised by the August intake of medical trainees, a survey has suggested.

The latest intake of medical trainee doctors start their training posts in the NHS at the beginning of the month.

The figures come in a study from the Society of Acute Medicine and the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

It found that 90% of doctors who responded said the changeover had a negative impact on patient safety.

The report authors called for an urgent reform to the system to be examined by the UK and Scottish governments.

On the same day trainees start doctors already in training rotate into other positions.

An estimated 50,000 doctors in the UK change over on the first Wednesday in August.

“Start Quote

August is always a nightmare”

End Quote Survey respondent

The RCPE said evidence in recent years had also suggested that there may be a higher early death rate for patients admitted at this time than at other times.

The survey of just under 750 doctors throughout the UK, published in the journal Clinical Medicine, found:

93% believed the August changeover had a negative impact on patient care

90% believed the changeover had a negative impact on patient safety

58% believed the changeover had a negative impact on doctors' training

The effects of the changeover on care and training were perceived to last for up to one month.

“Start Quote

Consideration must be given to making the changeover in training safer”

End Quote Dr Neil Dewhurst RCPE

Most doctors believed a staggered transition by grade, over a period of over a month, could mitigate the impact. One respondent reported: "August is always a nightmare."

Dr Louella Vaughan, honorary consultant physician in acute medicine, and lead author of the study, said: "The results of this survey add to the emerging evidence base which indicates that the current August changeover system increases a number of risks for patients, including an increased early death rate for patients admitted to hospital at this time."

She called for "urgent reform" to the current system.

Dr Neil Dewhurst, president of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, added: "Formal evidence in support of our concerns has, however, been limited, but is now increasing and has reached the level where it should not be ignored.

"Other changes to established systems within healthcare have been shown to deliver real improvements for patients and similar consideration must be given to making the changeover in training safer.

"We would urge the Scottish and UK governments to review this matter as a matter of urgency."

Monday 15 August 2011

theories over methane puzzle

Fertilisers enhance the ability of some bacteria to consume methane

Scientists say that there has been a mysterious decline in the growth of methane in the atmosphere in the last decades of the 20th Century.

Researchers writing in the journal Nature have come up with two widely differing theories as to the cause.
One suggests the decline was caused by greater commercial use of natural gas, the other that increased use in Asia of artificial fertiliser was responsible.
Both studies agree that human activities are the key element.
And there are suggestions that methane levels are now on the rise again.
Methane is regarded as one of the most potent greenhouse gases, trapping over 20 times more atmospheric heat than carbon dioxide.
Since the start of the industrial revolution, levels of methane in the atmosphere have more than doubled from a wide variety of sources, including energy production, the burning of forests, and increased numbers of cattle and sheep.
But between 1980 and the turn of the millennium, the growth rate reduced substantially, leaving scientists puzzled as to the cause.
Now, two teams of researchers have arrived at two very different conclusions for the decline. The first study was led by Dr Murat Aydin from the University of California, Irvine.
"We went after ethane - it's another hydrocarbon similar to methane, it has common sources, but is easier to trace. We determined what ethane did during the second half of the 20th century using ancient air that we collected at polar ice sheets.
"We think the trend we see in methane is best explained by dramatic changes in emissions linked to fossil fuel production and use which seem to have declined in the 1980s and 1990s.
Efficiency drive
Dr Murat is at pains to emphasise that economic efficiency played a critical part.
"Methane became economically valuable only during the second half of the 20th Century. We think this had a role in it. We're not suggesting we used less fossil fuel, but because we were more careful about capturing the natural gas and using it as an energy resource, emissions of these gases into the atmosphere declined at the end of the 20th Century."
However another team of researchers from the same department in the same university came to different conclusions using a different method of measuring methane.
The second team looked at different chemical signals of methane from both fossil fuels and from microbes active in wetlands and rice paddies.
Traditionally rice farmers have used organic manure which contains high levels of methane. By using artificial fertilisers, the farmers have considerably reduced this amount.
"Approximately half of the decrease in methane can be explained by reduced emissions from rice agriculture in Asia associated with increases in fertiliser application and reductions in water use," says the lead author Dr Fuu Ming Kai.
Fertilisers are believed to enhance the ability of some bacteria to consume methane that originates in the soils.
One or the other?
However, the second team found no evidence that the decline was caused by more efficient use of fossil fuels.
This has puzzled Dr Paul Fraser, an expert in methane emissions with the Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research. He says both papers are plausible. But he is concerned that the second team may have been too quick to dismiss the idea that increased use of natural gas may have played a part.
"The authors may be correct but from the data shown it is not unequivocal that there could not also be a fossil methane contribution to the declining methane sources," he said.
However he says he would not be surprised if in the long term both explanations are significant in explaining the decline.
Climate sceptics who think that natural factors and not human activities play a more important role in temperature rise might take comfort from the lack of certainty in these papers - but according to Dr Murat Aydin this would be a mistake.
"I think both studies are actually suggesting that human activities are playing a very important role in determining the methane levels in the atmosphere," he explained.
As we use more and more fossil fuels, you can be sure it will start creeping up again slowly, I think it demonstrates pretty clearly that human activities have direct and pretty profound impacts on the levels of these gases in the atmosphere."

Fat 'disrupts sugar'

Fat 'disrupts sugar sensors causing type 2 diabetes'

US researchers say they have identified how a high-fat diet can trigger type 2 diabetes, in experiments on mice and human tissue.

Writing in the journal Nature Medicine, they say that fat interferes with the body's sugar sensors.

The authors argue that a deeper understanding of the processes involved could help them develop a cure.

Diabetes UK said the study was interesting and a "theory worth investigating further".

One of the main risk factors for type 2 diabetes is being overweight - rising obesity levels have contributed to a doubling of diabetes cases in the last 30 years.

Fat and sugar

Sugar in the blood is monitored by pancreatic beta cells. If sugar levels are too high then the cells release the hormone insulin, which tells the body to bring the levels back down.

Key to this is the enzyme GnT-4a. It allows the cells to absorb glucose and therefore know how much is in the blood.

“Start Quote

The identification of the molecular players in this pathway to diabetes suggests new therapeutic targets and approaches towards developing an effective preventative or perhaps curative treatment”

End Quote Dr Jamey Marth Lead researcher

Researchers at the University of California and the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute say they have shown how fat disrupts the enzyme's production.

Experiments on mice showed that those on a high-fat diet had elevated levels of free fatty acids in the blood.

These fatty acids interfered with two proteins - FOXA2 and HNF1A - involved in the production of GnT-4a.

The result: fat effectively blinded cells to sugar levels in the blood and the mice showed several symptoms of type 2 diabetes.

The same process also took place in samples of human pancreatic cells.

Lead researcher Dr Jamey Marth said: "The observation that beta cell malfunction significantly contributes to multiple disease signs, including insulin resistance, was unexpected."

He suggested that boosting GnT-4a levels could prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes: "The identification of the molecular players in this pathway to diabetes suggests new therapeutic targets and approaches towards developing an effective preventative or perhaps curative treatment.

"This may be accomplished by beta cell gene therapy or by drugs that interfere with this pathway in order to maintain normal beta cell function."

Dr Iain Frame, Director of Research at Diabetes UK, said: "This is a well-executed study into possible factors responsible for the events that lead to type 2 diabetes.

"The researchers have linked their results in mice to the same pathways in humans and although they did not show they could prevent or cure type 2 diabetes they have shown it is a theory worth investigating further.

"We will watch this with great interest and hope this early work will eventually lead to some benefit to people with type 2 diabetes."

Wednesday 10 August 2011

Elderly care bill

Elderly care bill 'should be capped at £35,000'

Click to play

An official inquiry will recommend that the bill elderly people in England have to pay for care should be capped at £35,000, the BBC understands.

The proposal could stop thousands of people having to sell their house or lose all their savings, says the BBC's political editor Nick Robinson.

The details will come in the report of the Commission on Funding of Care and Support in England on Monday.

Commission chairman Andrew Dilnot said a cap "would take away the fear".

He told the BBC: "If a cap were put in place we could take away the fear that people would lose everything that they had built up and in particular people seem reasonably anxious that they might lose all the value of their house.

"They still have to pay something but much less than if they end up with high care needs as it is at the moment."

Lord Sutherland, who chaired a Royal Commission into long-term care for the elderly in the 1990s, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme a cap would provide a degree of certainty.

"People could begin to plan, and what's more you could get the insurance market involved. They weren't interested 12 years ago."

Our political editor understands Monday's report will say that the bill for caring for the elderly is soaring.

Cost of £2bn-£3bn

A quarter of people aged over 65 can expect a bill of more than £50,000. One in 10 pays more than £100,000.

The cap could cost the Treasury between £2bn and £3bn - the same as the cuts to public sector pensions.

Woman helping an elderly man to his door

Ministers are looking to revamp the social care system in England

Nick Robinson says ministers will welcome the report but question where the money would come from to fund it.

At the moment, the support provided by councils is means-tested so that anyone with assets of more than £23,250 has to pay for all the cost of their care.

It means thousands of people a year are forced to sell their homes when they go into a care home.

In 1999, Lord Sutherland's Royal Commission recommended the state should pick up all of the bill for personal care, as happens in Scotland, but the government ignored the report.

Lord Sutherland told Today the government was unlikely to follow that recommendation "in our current situation", but that Scottish governments had shown "it is expensive but it is affordable" to provide free care for the elderly.

"They have a mature understanding that this is not an add on extra, this has to do with the reality of the shape of the population for the future, whereas it is being treated in Westminster largely as an extra you might afford or not - you cannot avoid doing something," he said.

'Broken' system

Earlier Mr Dilnot said the system was "broken" after being left largely untouched for 70 years.

He said: "This is the only major risk people face where there is no sharing of risks.

“Start Quote

There is no doubt to make this system better we are going to have to pay more. It does need more resource, but at the moment the amount we spend on this is rather small”

End Quote Andrew Dilnot Commission on Funding of Care and Support

"Our health care needs, the consequences of having a car crash, the consequences of having your house burn down - all of those are covered either by the state or private sector.

"Here the state doesn't cover you and the private sector won't cover you so people are exposed to a very large risk with nothing they can do about it."

"There is no doubt to make this system better we are going to have to pay more. It does need more resource, but at the moment the amount we spend on this is rather small," added Mr Dilnot.

Earlier this week care services minister Paul Burstow suggested the reaction to the recommendations could be "lukewarm" - the Treasury is thought to have some misgivings about more funding.

A spokeswoman for the Treasury said no decisions had been taken.

She added: "Once we have received the report, we will consider its findings and welcome continued constructive engagement from all stakeholders."

Over 2,000 care homes in England have no registered manager

8 August 2011 Last updated at 17:13TakatsukiBBC Radio 4 You and Yours

Fewer inspections have taken place this year

Over 2,000 care homes in England have no registered manager, according to figures from the regulator.

The Care Quality Commission data showed 2,200 of the 24,000 homes in England had no-one named as being in charge.

Homes should have registered managers who are legally responsible and accountable for the running the home.

The charity Action on Elder Abuse, which last month found 3,000 homes without managers, said the situation was "appalling".

Administration problems

It had obtained data under the Freedom of Information Act.

Gary Fitzgerald, chief executive of Action on Elder Abuse, told BBC Radio 4's You and Yours the numbers of homes without a manager demonstrated a "frightening picture of the state of residential care in England".

He added: "The registered manager holds a crucial role in establishing and maintaining standards of quality and to have so many homes with requirements of this type is appalling".

And he said he had never before heard such concern from care home providers about the CQC's speed in registering managers.

“Start Quote

"It is the provider's responsibility to have a registered manager”

Amanda SherlockCare Quality Commission

"I'm hearing too many care providers now questioning whether the CQC is fit for purpose.

"There is no doubt that there is a percentage of cases where home managers aren't being registered because of the slow process within the CQC."

Indeed, care providers claim the high number of unregistered managers is down to slow administration on the part of the CQC, after it implemented a new registration process last October.

Oliver Thomas, director of Bupa Care Homes UK, which has around 265 care homes in England said: "The CQC system can be slow to register managers who have been in post for a while.

"I am still seeing registrations being returned to me from October last year."

Care home provider Barchester told You and Yours that in some instances it had taken the CQC more than five months to register a manager. It currently has 29 posts awaiting registration.

All the care providers contacted were keen to stress that there were managers in place, even if they were not registered.

Inspections

Sarah Ramamurthy from Four Seasons Health Care said: "Not having a manager registered with CQC certainly does not mean the home is - or was ever - without a suitably qualified and experienced manager in place.

"It merely means the documentation had not been completed and processed at that time."

But the CQC's Director of Operations Amanda Sherlock told You and Yours she did not accept delays on their part were the reason for so many unregistered managers.

"It is the provider's responsibility to have a registered manager. It is the CQC's responsibility to make sure registration is timely and robust.

"Last October, at the point of transition into the new process, there were some backlogs. We have worked very hard to clear them and are now processing the vast majority of applications within eight weeks."

"Our performance in terms of registration is as strong as any predecessor registration authority."

However, she admitted there were still 2,200 homes today without a registered manager.

And it appears the new registration process has had other unintended consequences.

The research by Action on Elder Abuse also revealed that the number of inspections of care homes by the Care Quality Commission has fallen significantly.

The CQC confirmed there were 10,856 inspections of care homes in England between the 1st April 2009 and 31st March 2010. In the same period the following year there were just 3,806 inspections - a fall of 65%.

Gary FitzGerald, of Action on Elder Abuse, said the CQC had been warned that reducing the number of inspections would put residents at risk.

"Their inspectors told them the process was placing people at risk; we told them, and care providers told them."

"They continued along this process and what worries me is they didn't tell the public they were doing that and they gave the impression all was OK with inspections."

Amanda Sherlock said it had been left with no other choice but to divert resources into what she described as the "very challenging" re-registration process.

But she said face to face inspections of care homes are now increasing.

"We're now seeing our inspection numbers go up month on month by a third and I'm absolutely committed to achieving a figure of a 1,000 a month by the end of this financial year."

Soy 'does not ease the menopause'

Soy sauce is made from soya beans

Soy appears to do nothing to relieve the symptoms of menopause, scientists say, despite the high hopes of many.

A controlled study involving nearly 250 US women going through "the change" found soy tablets did not abate hot flushes or bone density loss.

The tablets were no better than placebo over the two-year-long investigation, Archives of Internal Medicine reports.

But experts said other studies have shown soy can ease menopause symptoms.

The dose given in the latest trial was twice that normally ingested by people with soy-rich diets.

Soy products like tofu contain natural plant oestrogens and experts have suggested that these might help women going through the menopause whose own oestrogen levels are dwindling.

'Not a candidate'

Many women are already offered oestrogen in the form of hormone replacement therapy or HRT to help with menopausal symptoms.

“Start Quote

My advice would be that women should reconsider taking these products for menopausal symptoms”

End Quote Lead researcher Dr Silvina Levis

But following reports that prolonged use of HRT may carry a very small increased risk of other conditions, like breast cancer and stroke, some do not want to go on HRT and look for alternatives.

The researchers from the University of Miami say their work suggests soy is not a candidate, although they stress that they only looked at soy isoflavone tablets rather than other dietary sources of soy.

They recruited 248 menopausal women to take part in their study and randomly allocated them to one of two groups: soy or placebo.

The soy group received 200mg of soy isoflavone tablets daily for two years, while the women in the placebo group were given dummy pills.

During the follow-up, no significant differences were found between the two groups regarding changes in bone loss - a common side effect of the menopause.

Menopausal symptoms such as sleep disturbances affected both groups to similar degrees, although the soy group did appear to experience more hot flushes than the placebo group overall.

Lead researcher Dr Silvina Levis said: "My advice would be that women should reconsider taking these products for menopausal symptoms. We found soy isoflavone tablets did not provide any benefit.

"We did not look at soy foods but I suspect these too would probably not be helpful."

Dr Malcolm Whitehead, a menopause expert at King's College Hospital in London, said: "I'm not at all surprised by the findings. In my clinical experience, women say this doesn't work for them."

He said HRT could be a safe and effective treatment for most women.

A spokesperson from the charity Women's Health Concern said that other studies had shown soy could be helpful for treating symptoms of the menopause.

Tesco to fight

Tesco to fight dairy price-fixing fine from OFT

The inquiry by the OFT into price fixing has been conducted for some time

Tesco has threatened legal action after being hit with a £10m fine from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) following an inquiry into the price fixing of dairy products.

The supermarket giant was one of nine firms facing penalties totalling close to £50m for colluding over the price of milk and cheese in 2002 and 2003.

But Tesco expressed "surprise and dismay" that it was included in the penalties handed down by the regulator.

Tesco denies it colluded with others.

The OFT estimated that the collusion saw shoppers pay 2 pence extra for a litre of milk and 2p extra on 100g of cheese.

The regulator originally calculated that an extra £270m was spent by UK consumers as a result of the price fixing, but no total figure has been included in the final report.

Fines reduced

The OFT found that Arla, Asda, Dairy Crest, McLelland, Safeway, Sainsbury's, The Cheese Company, Wiseman, and Tesco infringed the Competition Act by co-ordinating rises in the prices consumers paid for certain dairy products in 2002 and, or 2003.

Penalties in total
Source: OFT
Arla	£0
Asda	£9.39m
Dairy Crest	£7.14m
McLelland	£1.66m
Safeway	£5.69m
Sainsbury's	£11.04m
Tesco	£10.43m
The Cheese Company	£1.26m
Wiseman	£3.2m

The first eight all received leniency after admitting liability.

However, Tesco has denied collusion and said it would defend its position vigorously, and "through the courts if necessary".

"We surely have now reached the stage where the absurdity of the OFT operating as investigator, prosecutor and judge cannot be allowed to continue," said Lucy Neville-Rolfe, Tesco's director of corporate and legal affairs.

Tesco's share price was down slightly at 1100BST on Wednesday, as was Morrisons' - the owner of Safeway.

Fines were originally set at a total of £116m, but were reduced after consultation. For example Wiseman said it had originally reached a settlement of £6.1m with the OFT. This sum was reduced to £4.2m in March 2010, and is now down to £3.2m.

The OFT said that supermarkets had indirectly exchanged pricing details with each other via the dairy processors.

However, it said that not all the companies were involved in all the infringements that it had found.

The final penalties announced by the OFT were £9.39m for Asda, £7.14m for Dairy Crest, £1.66m for McLelland, £5.69m for Safeway, £11.04m for Sainsbury's, £1.26m for The Cheese Company, £3.2m for Wiseman and £10.43m for Tesco. Although Arla was found to been involved in the infringement regarding milk in 2003, it has not been fined as it alerted the OFT to price fixing and was given immunity.

"Competition in the supermarket sector is generally intense and has delivered significant benefits to shoppers across the UK in terms of innovation, choice and improved value for money," said OFT chief executive John Fingleton.

"Our investigation and this final decision will help ensure that this competition is maintained."

westof england: to brighten up my day

Giant fossil shows huge birds lived among dinosaurs

Lower jaw of S. nessovi (Naish/Dyke/Cau/Escuillié/Godefroit)

The fossilised jawbone is nearly twice the length of that of an ostrich, the largest bird found on Earth today

An enormous jawbone found in Kazakhstan is further evidence that giant birds roamed - or flew above - the Earth at the same time as the dinosaurs.

Writing in Biology Letters, researchers say the new species, Samrukia nessovi, had a skull some 30cm long.

If flightless, the bird would have been 2-3m tall; if it flew, it may have had a wingspan of 4m.

The find is only the second bird of such a size in the Cretaceous geologic period, and the first in Asia.

The only other evidence of a bird of such a size during the period was a fossilised spinal bone found in France and reported in a 1995 paper in Nature.

Sharing space

An overwhelming majority of the birds known from the period would have been about crow-sized, but Dr Darren Naish of the University of Portsmouth said that a second find of an evidently different species suggests that large birds were common at the time.

"This fossil is only known from its lower jaw, so unfortunately we can't say anything at all with certainty about the shape and form of the whole animal.

"If it was flightless and sort of ostrich-shaped, it would have been maybe 2-3m tall and somewhere over 50kg," he explained to BBC News. "If it was a flying animal, then maybe it was shaped like a big albatross or a condor."

Dr Naish also wondered about the dinosaurs with which the enormous birds shared their space.

"I think the really interesting thing is that they're living alongside the big dinosaurs we know were around at the time: big tyrannosaurs, long-necked sauropods, duck-billed dinosaurs," he said. "That opens up loads of questions about ecological interactions that we can only speculate about.

"People have said there weren't big birds when there were big pterosaurs, but now we know there were."

Sunday 7 August 2011

Bluefin tuna sighting off Dorset 'significant'

Bluefin tuna is critically endangered

When a spear fisherman caught a bluefin tuna off the coast of Dorset, news of his unusual catch quickly spread.

The presence of a bluefin off Portland in July has attracted the attention of conservation groups since the critically endangered species is seldom seen there.

Dorset Wildlife Trust described the catch as "irresponsible" but added the sighting of bluefin tuna there was significant.

Kathryn Dawson, from the trust, said records of tuna sightings in the area had been kept for 70 years and were "pretty rare and quite special".

"Bluefin tuna has historically been present in waters around the UK and this is the first time we've had a verified identification in Dorset," she said.

Over-fishing of tuna has led to strict controls and quotas in the oceans where it is most commonly found.

Popular as sushi

Bluefin tuna is caught in the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean, with smaller quantities fished from the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean.

“Start Quote

If anyone catches and releases a tuna we would like to know”

End Quote Kathryn Dawson Dorset Wildlife Trust

The biggest market for the fish is Japan, where people eat it raw in sushi.

Bluefin numbers began to decline in the 1960s with the introduction of new fishing methods, with over-fishing leading to its critically endangered status.

In Dorset, Ms Dawson suggests a possible reason for their reappearance was that they were following a food supply.

She said: "We don't know for sure why they were there, it could be that they were returning to waters they once used, for some reason, or could have been there all along but just hadn't been seen.

"We haven't had these in our waters in years - but we are meant to have them."

The Dorset coast, and in particular Weymouth and Portland, is popular with both commercial and recreational anglers, and Ms Dawson believes most people who fish there would know not to catch and kill - or "land" - a tuna.

'Catch and release'

Weymouth-based fisherman Dave Pitman has run fishing trips from the town's harbour for the past 35 years.

Fish caught by his customers are often put back into the sea, and can include dogfish, skate and turbot.

Dorset Wildlife Trust said bluefin tuna had been sighted around Portland Harbour

He said the man who caught the tuna had seen two of them, and caught it using a spear gun while he was diving.

He said: "If you caught a tuna most people would go mad [with excitement], but we know they are endangered and to not fish for them in this country."

Ms Dawson urged fishermen to follow the practice of "catch and release", which is also a way of helping to preserve local fish stocks.

"We appreciate that anglers are excited but they need to look after their own resources," she said.

"If anyone catches and releases a tuna we would like to know."

Dorset Wildlife Trust's Peter Tinsley said: "It would be irresponsible to intentionally kill one of these fish and it would be sad to see another killed in Dorset."

The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is calling for vigilance from the fishing industry to ensure it does not catch bluefin tuna and "strongly discourages" any targeted fishing of the species.

mengele plus

Friday 19 August 2011

(H1N1) virus

Putative amino acid determinants of the emergence of the 2009 influenza A (H1N1) virus in the human population

Abstract

Vitamin D mum test 'could protect babies from rickets'

Vitamin D mum test 'could protect babies from rickets'

“Start Quote

Thursday 18 August 2011

Trainee doctor changeover 'impacts on patient safety'

Trainee doctor changeover 'impacts on patient safety'

“Start Quote

“Start Quote

Monday 15 August 2011

theories over methane puzzle

Fat 'disrupts sugar'

Fat 'disrupts sugar sensors causing type 2 diabetes'

“Start Quote

Wednesday 10 August 2011

Elderly care bill

Elderly care bill 'should be capped at £35,000'

“Start Quote

Over 2,000 care homes in England have no registered manager

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Soy 'does not ease the menopause'

Soy 'does not ease the menopause'

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Tesco to fight

Tesco to fight dairy price-fixing fine from OFT

Penalties in total

westof england: to brighten up my day

Giant fossil shows huge birds lived among dinosaurs

Giant fossil shows huge birds lived among dinosaurs

Sunday 7 August 2011

Bluefin tuna sighting off Dorset 'significant'

Bluefin tuna sighting off Dorset 'significant'

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More patients in Scotland given antidepressants

Friday 19 August 2011

Putative amino acid determinants of the emergence of the 2009 influenza A (H1N1) virus in the human population

Abstract

Vitamin D mum test 'could protect babies from rickets'

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Thursday 18 August 2011

Trainee doctor changeover 'impacts on patient safety'

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Monday 15 August 2011

Fat 'disrupts sugar sensors causing type 2 diabetes'

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Wednesday 10 August 2011

Elderly care bill 'should be capped at £35,000'

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Soy 'does not ease the menopause'

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Tesco to fight dairy price-fixing fine from OFT

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From other news sites

New Statesman Tesco threatens legal action against government body 1 hr ago

Build.co.uk Supermarkets Fined In OFT Dairy Price Fixing Probe 2 hrs ago

The Independent Tesco defiant over dairy price-fixing fine new 4 hrs ago

Reuters UK OFT fines supermarkets, dairies for price fixing 4 hrs ago

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Giant fossil shows huge birds lived among dinosaurs

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Sunday 7 August 2011

Bluefin tuna sighting off Dorset 'significant'

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