Pittwater Online News

 Tim Flannery: Inaugural Lecture of the Australian Museum Research Institute

Australian Museum - Published on 20 Aug 2014

Scientists, guests and staff members past and present gathered in our Hallstrom Theatre on Monday 11 August 2014 to hear acclaimed scientist (and former Australian Museum employee) Professor Tim Flannery deliver the Australian Museum’s Inaugural Lecture.

 Tumbleweeds add to Fire Problem in US

 Emergency department nurses aren't like the rest of us

21 August 2014

Emergency department nurses aren't like the rest of us - they are more extroverted, agreeable and open - attributes that make them successful in the demanding, fast-paced and often stressful environment of an emergency department, according to a new study by University of Sydney.

"Emergency nurses are a special breed," says Belinda Kennedy from Sydney Nursing School, a 15 year critical care veteran who led the study.

"Despite numerous studies about personalities of nurses in general, there has been little research done on the personalities of nurses in clinical specialty areas.

"My years working as a critical care nurse has made me aware of the difficulty in retaining emergency nurses and I have observed apparent differences in personality among these specialty groups. This prompted me to undertake this research which is the first on this topic in more than 20 years.

"We found that emergency nurses demonstrated significantly higher levels of openness to experience, agreeableness, and extroversion personality domains compared to the normal population.

"Emergency departments (ED) are a highly stressful environment - busy, noisy, and with high patient turnover. It is the entry point for approximately 40 per cent of all hospital admissions, and the frequency and type of presentations is unpredictable.

"Emergency nurses must have the capacity to care for the full spectrum of physical, psychological and social health problems within their community.

"They must also able to develop a rapport with individuals from all age groups and socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds, in time-critical situations and often at a time when these individuals are at their most vulnerable.

"For these reasons, ED staff experience high levels of stress and emotional exhaustion, so it's understandable that it takes a certain personality type to function in this working environment.

"Our research findings have potential implications for workforce recruitment and retention in emergency nursing.

"With ever-increasing demands on emergency services it is necessary to consider how to enhance the recruitment and retention of emergency nurses in public hospitals. Assessment of personality and knowledge of its influence on specialty selection may assist in improving this.

"The retention of emergency nurses not only has potential economic advantages, but also a likely positive impact on patient care and outcomes, as well as improved morale among the nursing workforce," she said.

The research team consisted of Associate Professor Kate Curtis and Associate Professor Donna Waters from Sydney Nursing School, University of Sydney.

Research published in Australasian Emergency Nursing Journal.

 Cholesterol drug cuts heart and stroke risks by 30% in diabetic women

19 August 2014 - The cholesterol-lowering drug fenofibrate cuts cardiovascular disease risks by 30 per cent in women with type-2 diabetes, a new University of Sydney study reveals.

"The finding is good news for women," says the study's chairman, University of Sydney Professor, Tony Keech .

"The study shows that fenofibrate reduced the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, or having a stroke or other adverse cardiovascular event by 30 per cent in women and 13 per cent in men."

The leading cause of death in women, cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a constellation of ailments affecting the heart and blood vessels, including conditions such as coronary heart disease, stroke, and diseases of the small blood vessels, such as in the eyes and kidneys.

Published in Diabetologia, the five-year study of nearly 10,000 people with type-2 diabetes also assessed fenofibrate's impact on a range of lipoproteins and triglycerides (circulating blood fats) that elevate the risk of cardiovascular events such as stroke and heart attack, and the need for medical procedures such as coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

Among type-2 diabetic patients with an elevated risk of cardiovascular disease - those with high levels of triglycerides and low levels of "good" cholesterol (high-density lipoprotein or HDL) - fenofibrate cut adverse cardiovascular outcomes by 30 per cent in women and 24 per cent in men.

A previous smaller US study had suggested that fenofibrate was not beneficial for women. This new study recommends that fenofibrate be considered as a useful way to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease in both women and men with Type-2 diabetes.

High cholesterol is a serious health problem affecting one in three Australians. It is a leading risk factor for the deposition of circulating fats on the walls of blood vessels (atherosclerosis), which heightens the risk of heart attack and stroke.

Fenofibrate stimulates the action of an enzyme that breaks down triglycerides and low-density lipoproteins. Stimulating this enzyme increases the breakdown of triglycerides (another type of blood lipid) and low-density lipoproteins in the bloodstream and raises HDL cholesterol.

"Cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of death in women, almost three times more common than breast cancer," says the study's lead author, Associate Professor Michael d'Emden of the Royal Brisbane Hospital.

"Its symptoms are sometimes harder to diagnose in women and often the typical chest pain of a heart attack does not occur in people with diabetes.

"Therefore, better awareness among patients and their GPs is vital. Predominant symptoms include breathlessness, sweating, nausea, fatigue or arm pain."

Fast facts:

- Cardiovascular disease is a major cause of death among women

- Cardiovascular disease affects one in six Australians (3.7 million people)

- Women who have a heart attack are more likely than men to die from it

- Women are more likely than men to have a second cardiovascular event, such as a stroke or heart attack

 Seabed solution for cold sores

Researchers Negar Talaei Zanjani and Dr Peter Valtchev study cold sores virus

20 August 2014 -  The blue blood of abalone, a seabed delicacy could be used to combat common cold sores and related herpes virus following breakthrough research at the University of Sydney.

The small to very large edible sea snails contain potent anti-viral properties and chemical engineers in collaboration with virologists at the University of Sydney have identified how these properties block the herpes virus 's entry into cells.

Professor Fariba Dehghani, Director of Bioengineering Research at the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technologies led the multi-disciplinary team that made the breakthrough.

"Hemocyanins are giant copper-containing glycoproteins and their primary function is to collect and deliver oxygen to desired tissues," explains Professor Dehghani.

Our study shows that abalone hemocyanin inhibits herpes simplex infection," she says.

"We know once infection occurs the virus integrates itself into a body 's nerve cells where it lays dormant awaiting reactivation.

When awakened it travels back along the nerve tracks to the surface where it takes the form of watery blisters and ulcers on the skin."

Professor Tony Cunningham, director, Westmead Millennium Institutes says there are a range of acyclovir equivalents that have been prescribed to treat this often painful viral infection. While the treatment can shorten the disease, it cannot kill the virus.

Statistics show more than 70 percent of Australians carry the herpes simplex 1 with approximately 13 percent carriers of the herpes simplex 2 which can cause genital herpes.

"With the information we now have, we are hopeful that we can develop an anti-viral therapy that will prevent or reduce recurrence of the virus and/or hasten healing of the lesions," states Professor Cunningham.

The raw material for the research came from the blood of black lip abalone found in pristine bays along the Tasmanian coastline.

The healing properties of abalone were discovered by accident says Mr Adrian Cuthbertson, CEO, Marine Biotechnologies Australia Pty Ltd and the University 's industry research partner.

"Ten years ago we were involved in an abalone serum trial relating to cancer treatments. During the clinical tests where patients drank a processed form of Abalone blood they reported a much lower incidence in their cold sore breakouts," says Mr Cutherbertson.

"Around the same time we had an employee responsible for loading and unloading abalone shells containers. After a month of working with the shellfish he found that the viral warts which had plagued his hands for years disappeared."

This convinced me that abalone had to be investigated for its anti-viral properties." says Mr Cuthbertson.

Mr Cuthberston says three years ago after a few setbacks he was referred chemical engineers at the University of Sydney who also enlisted the expertise of virus researchers at the Westmead Millennium Institute.

This discovery is expected to lead to the generation of a new class of anti-viral compounds.

Looking forward Mr Cuthbertson says the discovery has the potential to enhance the value of the Tasmanian abalone fishery.

The research team includes PhD candidate Negar Talaei Zanjani and Dr Peter Valtchev associate researcher, from the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technologies, Dr Monica Saksena, Westmead Milliennium Institute. The project was co-funded by the Australian Research Council and Marine Biotechnology Australia.

 World's primary forests on the brink, study concludes

August 18, 2014 - An international team of conservationist scientists and practitioners has published new research showing the precarious state of the world's primary forests. The global analysis and map are featured in a paper appearing in the journalConservation Letters and reveals that only five percent of the world's pre-agricultural primary forest cover is now found in protected areas.

Led by Professor Brendan Mackey, Director of the Climate Change Response Program at Griffith University in Queensland, Australia, the authors are experts in forest ecology, conservation biology, international policy and practical forest conservation issues.

Representing organizations such as the US-based Wildlife Conservation Society, the Zoological Society of London, the Geos Institute and Australian National University, they conclude that primary forest protection is the joint responsibility of developed as well as developing countries and is a matter of global concern.

Primary forests - largely ignored by policy makers and under increasing land use threats - are forests where there are no visible indications of human activities, especially industrial-scale land use, and ecological processes have not been significantly disrupted.

These forests are home to an extraordinary richness of biodiversity, with up to 57 percent of all tropical forest species dependent on primary forest habitat and the ecological processes they provide.

The analysis shows that almost 98 per cent of primary forest is found within 25 countries, with around half of that located in five developed countries: the U.S., Canada, Russia, Australia and New Zealand.

Professor Mackey warns that industrial logging, mining and agriculture gravely threaten primary forests, and those outside of protected areas are especially vulnerable.

He adds that policies are urgently needed to reduce pressure to open up primary forests for industrial land use.

"International negotiations are failing to halt the loss of the world's most important primary forests," says Professor Mackey. "In the absence of specific policies for primary forest protection in biodiversity and climate change treaties, their unique biodiversity values and ecosystem services will continue to be lost in both developed and developing countries."

Co-author James Watson, of the Wildlife Conservation Society, says: "Primary forests are a matter of significant conservation concern. Most forest-endemic biodiversity needs primary forest for their long-term persistence and large intact forest landscapes are under increasingly pressure from incompatible land use."

The authors identify four new actions that would provide a solid policy foundation for key international negotiations, including forest-related multilateral agreements to help ensure primary forests persist into the 21st century:

1 Recognize primary forests as a matter of global concern within international negotiations and not just as a problem in developing nations;

2 Incorporate primary forests into environmental accounting, including the special contributions of their ecosystem services (including freshwater and watershed services), and use a science-based definition to distinguish primary forests;

3 Prioritize the principle of avoided loss -- emphasize policies that seek to avoid any further biodiversity loss and emissions from primary forest deforestation and degradation;

4 Universally accept the important role of indigenous and community conserved areas -- governments could use primary forest protection as a mechanism within multilateral environmental agreements to support sustainable livelihoods for the extensive populations of forest-dwelling peoples, especially traditional peoples, in developed and developing countries.

Brendan Mackey, Dominick A. DellaSala, Cyril Kormos, David Lindenmayer, Noelle Kumpel, Barbara Zimmerman, Sonia Hugh, Virginia Young, Sean Foley, Kriton Arsenis, James E.M. Watson.Policy Options for the World's Primary Forests in Multilateral Environmental Agreements. Conservation Letters, 2014; DOI:10.1111/conl.12120

Top: Madagascar’s Makira forest is one of the world’s great primary forests home to wildlife found nowhere else on earth including this red-ruffed lemur. 57 percent of all tropical forest species are dependent on primary forest habitat and the ecological processes they provide. Credit: Julie Larsen Maher/Wildlife Conservation Society

 September is National Biodiversity Month

Biodiversity month is held in September each year. It promotes the importance of protecting, conserving and improving biodiversity in Australia and around the world. Find out more about protecting Australia's biodiversity 

 Australia's biodiversity: Indigenous perspectives

By CSIRO - Published on 19 Aug 2014

Aboriginal concepts connecting people to 'Country' and living things through a web of relationships have a lot in common with the English term 'biodiversity'. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have a unique perspective on Australia's biodiversity and its management, which stems from their long-term observations, sustained residence and oral histories. Dr Fiona Walsh talks about some of the knowledge and perspectives that have been shared with her.

Access CSIRO's book Biodiversity: Science and Solutions for Australia - www.csiro.au/biodiversitybook

 Threatened species DaySunday September 7th – 2014

By The Brink

Each year, we select one species as the ambassador for The Brink and focus our efforts on that species. 

By doing this, we aim to initiate actions that will help that species. At the same time we want to impress on government authorities that many people feel strongly that the conservation of wildlife is a priority. 

The species chosen for Threatened Species Day (2014) is the Grey-headed Flying Fox, Pteropus Poliocephalus.

ABOUT FLYING FOXES

Grey-headed Flying-foxes are endemic to Australia and one of the largest species of bats in the world, with a wingspan of well over a meter. Flying foxes are fruit and nectar eaters. 

They are unique pollinators and seed dispersers due to their habit of feeding on night-flowering trees, and flying long distances in a single night - making them one of the most important pollinators of Australian forests along Australia's east coast. As a consequence, Australian Flying-foxes) are considered to be a keystone species.

MYTHS

One of the issues faced by this species is the plethora of  myths and misinformation surrounding them, especially regarding health risks to humans.  Less than 1% of flying-foxes carry Lyssavirus (a potentially fatal virus) . Only two people have ever contracted the virus from a flying fox, and there is an effective post-exposure treatment available. There is also an effective vaccination against Hendra Virus (which effects horses). There are no other significant health risks specifically associated with Flying-foxes.  In other respects they are no more dangerous than any other wild animal (and statistically less dangerous than some domestic pets).

Flying foxes are clean. They spend hours grooming (cleaning) every day, although like other animals, during mating season, males exude stronger odours which may attract female flying-foxes. 

WHY FLYING FOXES?

We want to send a clear message that conservation is not a popularity contest.

Conservation is not about saving species that are 'cute' or 'iconic' but about saving native species that can be saved. Grey-headed flying-foxes are listed as threatened in Victoria and NSW. They are listed nationally as vulnerable to extinction and identified internationally as vulnerable to extinction on the IUCN red list.

Numbers were recorded as dropping over 30% over just a few decades and there is anecdotal evidence that the species has declined dramatically since white settlement due to land clearing and shooting. They have been literally targeted by some farmers legally and illegally for decades.

Permits are issued in Qld to shoot flying-foxes for crop protection and there are moves by some NSW politicians to do the same. This is despite the fact that these are a threatened species, despite the fact they are a keystone species, despite evidence that shooing them is ineffective as a deterrent, and despite the fact that there are more effective solutions available for crop protection.

WHAT WE WANT FROM THE GOVERNMENT

We believe that six simple steps by the Government can contribute to reversing the decline of the Grey-headed flying-fox:

Implement a recovery plan, based on the 2009 edition of the (draft) National Grey-Headed Flying-Fox recovery plan without delay 

Allow only humane, non-lethal methods to be used for the purposes of protecting crops from Flying foxes

Ban the use of backyard fruit tree netting that entangles wildlife, and allow only netting endorsed by the Wildlife Friendly Fencing project (www.wildlifefriendlyfencing.com) 

Outlaw disturbance of Grey-headed Flying-fox roosts when these animals are in the late stages of pregnancy, or when dependent young are still in the camp. 

Legislate to ensure that legally permitted disturbance of Grey-headed flying-fox roosts use only humane, non-lethal methods of dispersal 

Conserve and protect Grey-headed flying fox habitat and create buffer zones around established roosts to disallow habitat destruction within 100 meters of a Grey-headed flying fox camp.

http://www.thebrink.org.au/

 Biodiversity Legislation Review - Have Your Say

What are we doing?

The Minister for the Environment has appointed an independent panel to undertake a comprehensive review of the Native Vegetation Act 2003, Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995, Nature Conservation Trust Act 2001 and related legislation. Details of the Review Panel and the terms of reference are available atwww.environment.nsw.gov.au/biodiversitylegislation/index.htm

(External link).

Why are we doing it?

A major holistic review of biodiversity legislation (including native vegetation laws) in NSW has never been undertaken. The current legislative framework has become fragmented, overly complex and process driven.  The review provides an opportunity to address inadequacies in the current legislative framework and develop a modernised biodiversity law that will facilitate the conservation of biological diversity, support sustainable development and reduce red tape.

How can you have your say?

The Independent Biodiversity Legislation Review Panel has been asked to maintain an active program of stakeholder engagement throughout the review process. The Review Panel has released an issues paper and encourages all interested people and organisations to make a written submission. The issues paper considers a range of issues across six major themes governing the management of native vegetation, threatened species and wildlife in NSW.The panel is particularly interested in any evidence to support comments made in submissions.

Anyone interested in making a submission should first read the issues paper, which provides context around each set of questions, along with additional information to help you make your submission.

Open for consultation

06 August 2014

Deadline for submissions

05 September 2014

See more Here:engage.environment.nsw.gov.au/biodiversity-legislation-review

Bird Watching with Pittwater Natural Heritage Association (PNHA)

Sunday Birdwatching with PNHA

Would you like to know more about local birds? Our guides can help you see and hear them in these wonderful bushland reserves, and learn about their lives.

Our birdwalks start about 7.30 and end about 10am. Bring Binoculars and some morning tea for afterwards if you like. Older children welcome. 

21 September Deep Creek, off Wakehurst Parkway

16 November Irrawong Reserve, Warriewood

Contact us to book and get details of each birdwalk.

Email pnhabirdwatching@gmail.com or ph: 0439 409 202/0402 605 721

 Muogamarra Nature Reserve open season 2014

Discover the cultural heritage and natural wonders of Muogamarra Nature Reserve this spring

Muogamarra Nature Reserve is home to an extraordinary landscape, open for just six weekends a year to preserve its fragile ecosystems and Aboriginal heritage. In spring, the reserve transforms into a brilliant display of colour when the spring wildflowers come into bloom.

This year, the Muogamarra spring flower open season takes place every Saturday and Sunday from 16 August to 21 September.

Join a NPWS Discovery tour and hear the secrets of Muogamarra from our volunteer guides. Tours are very popular, so early bookings are recommended.

 

Bilarong Foreshore Walk and Field Day

31st Aug 2014 - 9am - 12pm

Come along and help us restore the natural habitat of the Deep Creek Catchment area!

Join us for a guided walk and bird talk in Bilarong Reserve along the foreshore of Narrabeen Lagoon through to Deep Creek, lend a hand with some weeding/planting and enjoy a scrumptious morning tea at the Deep Creek picnic area!

Where: Bilarong Reserve, end of turning circle near gates.

For more information contact Council's Bushcare Officer on 9970 1367 or email bushcare@pittwater.nsw.gov.au.

 Australian Native Foods website:http://www.anfil.org.au/

 Original Seasons of Australia 

C/ - Bureau of  Meteorology Australia

When flowers are in bloom, cold weather starts and winds increase, the Maung people of NT know its Wumulukuk – the longest of three seasons, spanning from March to July. More info here:http://bom.ws/y

 New WIRES  Wildlife Rescue App

This morning we launched our new WIRES Wildlife Rescue App!

Download the free Rescue App to your smart phone or tablet to get access to wildlife advice and rescue assistance from the WIRES Rescue Team 7 days a week. You can find download details athttp://bit.ly/1oLQmOd

You can report rescues of sick, injured or orphaned wildlife directly from the app and have instant access to the most commonly needed information to help native animals in distress.

Visit the Apple store or Google Play store to download our the WIRES Wildlife Rescue App now. More information and links at http://bit.ly/1oLQmOd

 2014 Australasian Bird Fair - Australasia’s first Bird Fair

October 25-26, 2014

The 2014 Australasian Bird Fair will be the first large-scale bird and wildlife event of its kind in Australasia. By all early indications it will be the largest in the Southern Hemisphere.

Raising awareness of birds in peril

The Australasian Bird Fair is a response to the need to raise awareness of the plight of so many bird species which are in peril across the Australasian region. Our current focus is particularly upon New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific Island nations. Raising funds from ticket sales for endangered species programs is a high priority, with all profits going to bird conservation. 

Something for everyone

The Australasian Bird Fair will offer plenty of fun and educational activities for all. There will be opportunities to network with like minded people and find further engagement in conservation, bird watching and other nature-related activities. The Australasian Bird Fair will have something for everyone irrespective of their level of expertise or experience in birding!  Bird Fair hours

The Australasian Bird Fair will be open from 9:00am to 6:00pm each day.

Visit www.birdfair.com.au/

Nikon Australia – Australasian Bird Fair Photography Competition

The Nikon Australia – Australasian Bird Fair Photography Competition is open to all. The total prize pool is in excess of $10,000. There are five categories:

Bird Portraits (Whole bird, head shots, etc)

Flight (Images of birds in flight)

Environmental (Images of a bird or a flock of birds in their natural habitat)

Action & Behaviour (Photographs of a bird or birds in action or exhibiting interesting behaviour)

Digital Creation. (Free artistic manipulation of a bird image)

A fantastic prize pool!

The Winner of each category will receive a pair of Nikon Monarch 5 10×42 binoculars worth $499 each. The Runner Up in each category will receive a pair of Celestron Nature DX 8×32 binoculars worth $319 each.

A Grand Prize will also be offered by Nikon Australia: Nikon D810 camera body. With a massive 36.3 effective megapixels and all new FX-format image sensor, to get even better results through your lens! This fantastic prize is valued at $3999. There will also be a prize for the “People’s Choice” category: the Nikon 1 V3 kit with additional 70-300mm lens. The total value of the “People’s Choice” prize is $2298.

The deadline for entering the contest is midnight on 15th October 2014

Competition Rules and Entry

Read the competition rules and enter here

 Turning waste from rice, parsley and other foods into biodegradable plastic

August 20, 2014 - Your chairs, synthetic rugs and plastic bags could one day be made out of cocoa, rice and vegetable waste rather than petroleum, scientists are now reporting. The novel process they developed and their results, which could help the world deal with its agricultural and plastic waste problems, appear in the ACS journal Macromolecules. Athanassia Athanassiou, Ilker S. Bayer and colleagues at the Italian Institute of Technology point out that plastic's popularity is constantly growing. In 2012, its production reached 288 million tons worldwide, but its ubiquity comes at a cost. Synthetic plastics persist for hundreds or thousands of years while releasing toxic components with the potential to harm the environment and human health. Also, plastics are made out of petroleum, which is a nonrenewable source. The shift to more environmentally friendly bioplastics has been challenging and expensive. Athanassiou's team wanted to find a simple, less costly way to make the transition.

They turned to an organic acid that also occurs naturally and can process cellulose, which is the main building component of plants and also the most abundant polymer in nature. They mixed the acid with parsley and spinach stems, and husks from rice and cocoa pods. Then, they poured the resulting solutions into lab dishes.

When tested, the films that formed showed a promising range of traits from brittle and rigid to soft and stretchable -- similar to commercial plastics. "This opens up possibilities for replacing some of the non-degrading polymers with the present bioplastics obtained from agro-waste," the researchers conclude.

Ilker S. Bayer, Susana Guzman-Puyol, José Alejandro Heredia-Guerrero, Luca Ceseracciu, Francesca Pignatelli, Roberta Ruffilli, Roberto Cingolani, Athanassia Athanassiou. Direct Transformation of Edible Vegetable Waste into Bioplastics.Macromolecules, 2014; 47 (15): 5135 DOI: 10.1021/ma5008557

Top; Waste husks from rice (in the small vial) can be transformed into bioplastic.

Health papers published this week:

Abusive leadership infects entire team

August 20, 2014 - Supervisors who are abusive to individual employees can actually throw the entire work team into conflict, hurting productivity, finds new research led by a Michigan State University business scholar. The study, conducted in China and the United States, suggests the toxic effect of nonphysical abuse by a supervisor is much broader than believed. Published online in the Journal of Applied Psychology, it's one of the first studies to examine the effect of bad bosses in employee teams. Teams are increasingly popular in the business world.

Lead investigator Crystal Farh said supervisors who belittle and ridicule workers not only negatively affect those workers' attitudes and behaviors, but also cause team members to act in a similar hostile manner toward one another.

"That's the most disturbing finding," Farh said, "because it's not just about individual victims now, it's about creating a context where everybody suffers, regardless of whether you were individually abused or not."

Farh, assistant professor of management in MSU's Broad College of Business, said the findings could likely be explained by social learning theory, in which people learn and then model behavior based on observing others, in this case the boss. Previous research has shown that workers emulate supervisors' positive behaviors, she said, so it only makes sense they would follow negative behaviors as well.

For the study, Farh and Zhijun Chen from the University of Western Australia studied 51 teams of employees from 10 firms in China. Average team size was about six workers and the teams performed a variety of functions including customer service, technical support and research and development.

The study looked at nonphysical abuse such as verbal mistreatment and demeaning emails. Employees who directly experienced such abuse felt devalued and contributed less to the team. At the same time, the entire team "descended into conflicts," Farh said, which also reduced worker contributions.

"Teams characterized by relationship conflict," Farh said, "are hostile toward other members, mistreat them, speak to them rudely and experience negative emotions toward them."

The study was replicated in a controlled laboratory setting in the United States, with nearly 300 people participating.

The findings have implications for companies faced with rehabilitating a team of employees following abusive supervision. In the past, companies may have simply targeted abused employees with efforts to restore their self-esteem. While that's still important, Farh said, efforts should also be made to fix the team's interpersonal relationships by re-establishing trust and harmony.

Crystal I. C. Farh, Zhijun Chen. Beyond the Individual Victim: Multilevel Consequences of Abusive Supervision in Teams.. Journal of Applied Psychology, 2014; DOI: 10.1037/a0037636

Rates of heart disease, stroke continue to decline 

August 19, 2014 - Deaths from heart disease and stroke are declining overall in Europe, but at differing rates, according to research, published online in the European Heart Journal. The research, which provides an update for 2014 on the burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Europe, shows that death rates from CVD (diseases of the heart and blood vessels) vary enormously. For some eastern European countries, including Russia and Ukraine, the death rate from coronary heart disease for 55-60 year olds is greater than the equivalent rate in France for people 20 years older.

The age adjusted CVD death rates for men and women of all ages were six-fold higher in Russia than in France. In 2010 in Russia 915 men and 517 women died per 100,000 of the population, whereas the equivalent rates in France were 150 and 87 per 100,000 respectively.

In the UK the CVD death rates for 2010 were 205 and 129 per 100,000 men and women respectively.

Overall, CVD remains the single, greatest cause of death among Europeans than any other disease, and, in many countries causes twice as many deaths as cancer. However, the researchers, led by Dr Melanie Nichols, a Research Associate from the British Heart Foundation Centre on Population Approaches for Non-Communicable Disease Prevention at the University of Oxford (UK) and senior research fellow at Deakin University, Australia, found there were some countries where cancer was now causing more deaths than heart disease in men (Belgium, Denmark, France, Israel, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and San Marino). For the first time, cancer has also overtaken CVD as the main cause of death among women in a European country: Denmark.

Co-author, Dr Nick Townsend, senior researcher at the BHF Centre on Population Approaches for Non-Communicable Disease Prevention, said: "The reason why cancer has overtaken cardiovascular disease as the main cause of death in these countries is due to the fact that fewer people develop cardiovascular disease and, in those who do, fewer die from it. This is probably due to improvements in the behavioural risk factors associated with CVD, such as decreases in the number of people smoking tobacco, along with better treatments, including preventive ones, such as the increasing use of statins. However, increases in some risk factors, such as rising levels of obesity, suggest that these decreasing trends may be in danger of reversing."

Dr Nichols and her colleagues in the Oxford research group looked at trends in deaths from CVD over a period of ten years to the most recent year available, (2010 to 2012 for most countries), for 52 out of 53 European countries (there were no data for Andorra). They looked at the total number of deaths for all ages, and also at those that could be classified as "premature": those before the age of 65 and those before the age of 75.

Data from the latest available year showed that there were just over four million deaths (1.9 million men and 2.2 million women) from CVD, close to half of all deaths in Europe. This was made up of 1.8 million deaths from coronary heart disease, one million from cerebrovascular disease (stroke) and 1.2 million from other cardiovascular diseases.

Just under a million men died before the age of 75 and half a million before the age of 65. Half a million women died before the age of 75 and just over 200,000 before the age of 65. Three in every ten deaths of Europeans aged under 65 were caused by CVD, as were 37% of all deaths occurring before the age of 75

Dr Townsend said: "The proportion of women who die from cardiovascular disease is much greater than men: 51% of women died compared to 42% of men. This difference is driven mainly by a higher rate of stroke and other cardiovascular diseases among women. There was very little difference in the rates of coronary heart disease between men and women: 20% versus 21% respectively."

Overall, the researchers say that CVD death rates are declining in most, but not all European countries. Trends have also been downwards for what are known as "case fatality rates" - the percentage of people who are diagnosed with a condition and die from the illness within a given period. In the 25 countries for which there were data, there was an average annual reduction in people dying after being admitted to hospital with a heart attack of five per cent in the past five years. On the other hand, the rates of people hospitalised for CVD have increased, probably reflecting the impact of increasing numbers of elderly people in the population.

In their paper, the authors conclude: "Worldwide, there have been few moments in history during which NCDs [non-communicable diseases] have enjoyed such a prominent place in the world's attention, with cardiovascular disease at the forefront of the activity. Despite this, there has been little commitment at the national or regional level to greater monitoring and reporting of risk factors and outcomes for cardiovascular disease. It is clear that in many countries of Europe, CVD mortality has continued to decrease substantially in recent years, and will make a large contribution to achieving this goal. In these (predominantly high income) countries, a 'tipping point' is rapidly approaching, when cancer deaths will outnumber cardiovascular disease deaths, particularly among men. In many other countries, however, the CVD burden dwarfs that of cancer, and a large proportion of the populations will lose their lives prematurely to heart disease and stroke."

M. Nichols, N. Townsend, P. Scarborough, M. Rayner. Cardiovascular disease in Europe 2014: epidemiological update. European Heart Journal, 2014; DOI:10.1093/eurheartj/ehu299

Seals and sea lions likely spread tuberculosis to humans

August 20, 2014 - Tuberculosis is one of the most persistent and deadliest infectious diseases in the world, killing one to two million people each year. Scientists who study tuberculosis have long debated its origins. New research shows that tuberculosis likely spread from humans in Africa to seals and sea lions that brought the disease to South America and transmitted it to Native people there before Europeans landed on the continent.

The paper, "Pre-Columbian Mycobacterial Genomes Reveal Seals as a Source of New World Human Tuberculosis," was published in Nature.

"We found that the tuberculosis strains were most closely related to strains in pinnipeds, which are seals and sea lions," said researcher Anne Stone, Arizona State University School of Human Evolution and Social Change professor. Stone and Johannes Krause of the University of Tubingen in Germany are co-principal investigators on the project. Research teams from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in the United Kingdom and the Swiss Institute for Tropical and Public Health were collaborators on the study.

"What we found was really surprising. The ancient strains are distinct from any known human-adapted tuberculosis strain," Stone added.

Modern strains of tuberculosis currently circulating are most closely related to those found in Europe, and there was a complete replacement of the older strains when European disease reached the Americas during the age of exploration. Researchers found that genomes from humans in Peru dating from about 1,000 year ago provide unequivocal evidence that a member of the tuberculosis strain caused disease in South America before Europeans arrived, so the question among the scientists was, "What types of tuberculosis strains were present before contact?"

"The age of exploration is a time when people are moving really long distances around the world and coming into contact with others. It's a time when a lot of disease spread," Stone said. "This opens up a lot of new questions. It fits the bioarcheological evidence that shows the oldest evidence for tuberculosis in South America."

"The connection to seals and sea lions is important to explain how a mammalian-adapted pathogen that evolved in Africa around 6,000 years ago could have reached Peru 5,000 years later," Krause said.

In the study, researchers collected genetic samples from throughout the world and tested those for tuberculosis DNA while utilizing advances in technology during the past five years that enable more accurate genome capture from ancient samples. Of 76 DNA samples from New World pre- and post-contact sites, three from Peru around 750 to 1350 AD had tuberculosis DNA that could be used. The researchers then focused on these three samples and used array-based capture to obtain and map the complete genome.

These were compared against a larger dataset of modern genomes and animal strains. Research results showed the clear relationship to animal lineages, specifically seals and sea lions.

"Our results show unequivocal evidence of human infection caused by pinnipeds (sea lions and seals) in pre-Columbian South America. Within the past 2,500 years, the marine animals likely contracted the disease from an African host species and carried it across the ocean to coastal people in South America," Stone said.

Africa has the most diversity among tuberculosis strains, implying that the pathogen likely originated from the continent and spread. After tuberculosis was established in South America, it may have moved north and infected people in North America before European settlers brought new strains in.

"We hypothesize that when the more virulent European strains came, they quickly replaced the pinniped strains," Stone said.

"It was a surprise for all of us to find that tuberculosis, formerly believed to have spread around the world with ancient human migration events, is in fact a relatively young disease,'' said Kelly Harkins, one of the study's first authors and recent doctoral graduate from ASU's Center for Bioarchaeological Research.

"A compelling prospect for future research will be to determine the relationship of these older forms to those currently circulating, and those isolated from other ancient remains,"said Kirsten Bos, postdoctoral fellow at the University of Tuebingen and another first author on the study.

Study implications include a greater understanding of the speed and process of adaptation when a disease changes hosts. This is especially of interest when considering diseases that are transmitted between species - MERS, SARS and HIV - and how these are spread, Stone added.

"Tuberculosis is a disease that is on the rise again worldwide. This study and further research will help us understand how the disease is transmitted and how the disease may evolve," said Jane Buikstra, a collaborator on the study who identified tuberculosis in most of the cases utilized in the research. Buikstra is an ASU Regents' Professor and Director of the Center for Bioarchaeological Research.

Kirsten I. Bos, Kelly M. Harkins, Alexander Herbig, Mireia Coscolla, Nico Weber, Iñaki Comas, Stephen A. Forrest, Josephine M. Bryant, Simon R. Harris, Verena J. Schuenemann, Tessa J. Campbell, Kerrtu Majander, Alicia K. Wilbur, Ricardo A. Guichon, Dawnie L. Wolfe Steadman, Della Collins Cook, Stefan Niemann, Marcel A. Behr, Martin Zumarraga, Ricardo Bastida, Daniel Huson, Kay Nieselt, Douglas Young, Julian Parkhill, Jane E. Buikstra, Sebastien Gagneux, Anne C. Stone, Johannes Krause. Pre-Columbian mycobacterial genomes reveal seals as a source of New World human tuberculosis. Nature, 2014; DOI:10.1038/nature13591

Novel gene predicts both breast cancer relapse, response to chemotherapy

August 20, 2014 - Scientists have made it easier to predict both breast cancer relapses and responses to chemotherapy, through the identification of a unique gene. The newly found marker could help doctors classify each breast cancer patient and customise a treatment regimen that is more effective. The discovery was a collaborative effort by scientists from A*STAR's Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB), and the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore (CSI Singapore) at the National University of Singapore (NUS). Despite advancements in cancer treatment, breast cancer remains the most common cancer among Singapore women. Thirty percent of early breast cancer patients in the world experience relapse due to metastasis, or the spread of cancer cells to other organs in the body. Some patients also do not respond well to chemotherapy. The inability to forecast relapses or the effectiveness of chemotherapy has led to a pressing need to identify predictive markers, which doctors can use to tailor appropriate treatment for each breast cancer patient at an early stage.

In a study published recently in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, a top-tier journal for discoveries in basic and clinical biomedical research, the team of scientists jointly led by Dr Vinay Tergaonkar, Principal Investigator at IMCB and Dr Alan Prem Kumar, Principal Associate at CSI Singapore and Assistant Professor at the Department of Pharmacology, NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, uncovered a gene, DP103, which is activated in metastatic breast cancer. DP103 acts as a master regulator, which expresses two sets of unfavourable proteins - one leads to metastasis and the other causes patients to be unresponsive to chemotherapy. Consequently, doctors can predict the probability of metastasis by examining the levels of DP103 in breast cancer patients. The same gene could also be used to predict whether a patient would respond to chemotherapy.

"Doctors are unable to tell if a breast cancer patient will respond to chemotherapy until six months after the treatment has been prescribed. It is very worrisome as the ones who are not responsive to chemotherapy usually also suffer relapses due to metastasis. This DP103 gene that we found explains the link and will facilitate doctors in selecting suitable treatments for different cases of breast cancer," said Dr Tergaonkar.

In addition, the study revealed that reducing the levels of DP103 could contain the cancer, shrink the tumour and make patients more amenable to chemotherapy. All the findings in the study have been validated with samples of breast cancer patients from Singapore, Canada, China and the USA.

"DP103 is a novel biomarker that could help doctors select appropriate treatments for breast cancer patients at an early stage. It is also a therapeutic target which could be explored further to develop drugs that suppress breast cancer growth, as well as metastasis," said Dr Kumar, who first discovered DP103's oncogene potential to drive breast cancer metastasis. He is also the Principal Inventor to a patent application on this discovery and is currently looking into ways to regulate DP103 levels in a variety of cancer types at CSI Singapore.

Eun Myoung Shin, Hui Sin Hay, Moon Hee Lee, Jen Nee Goh, Tuan Zea Tan, Yin Ping Sen, See Wee Lim, Einas M. Yousef, Hooi Tin Ong, Aye Aye Thike, Xiangjun Kong, Zhengsheng Wu, Earnest Mendoz, Wei Sun, Manuel Salto-Tellez, Chwee Teck Lim, Peter E. Lobie, Yoon Pin Lim, Celestial T. Yap, Qi Zeng, Gautam Sethi, Martin B. Lee, Patrick Tan, Boon Cher Goh, Lance D. Miller, Jean Paul Thiery, Tao Zhu, Louis Gaboury, Puay Hoon Tan, Kam Man Hui, George Wai-Cheong Yip, Shigeki Miyamoto, Alan Prem Kumar, Vinay Tergaonkar. DEAD-box helicase DP103 defines metastatic potential of human breast cancers. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 2014; DOI:10.1172/JCI73451

Severe infections with hospitalization after prostate biopsy rising in Sweden

August 20, 2014 - Transrectal ultrasound guided biopsy is the gold standard for detecting prostate cancer, but international reports have suggested that the number of risks associated with the procedure is increasing. In a new nationwide population-based study, Swedish researchers found that six percent of men filled a prescription for antibiotics for a urinary tract infection within 30 days after having a prostate biopsy, with a twofold increase in hospital admissions over five years, reports The Journal of Urology®.Earlier studies reported serious adverse events after prostate biopsy including febrile urinary tract infection and urosepsis in one to four percent of men, despite the use of prophylactic antibiotics. There have also been reports that chronic conditions such as diabetes, benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), and a history of urinary tract infection increase the risk of infections.

To estimate the incidence of infection after prostate biopsy and assess risk factors for infection and 90-day mortality in Sweden, researchers looked at records of more than 51,000 men registered in the Swedish Prostate Cancer database who underwent transrectal ultrasound guided prostate biopsy between 2006 and 2011. They also compiled data from the National Prostate Cancer Register (NPCR) of Sweden, which captures more than 96 percent of all newly diagnosed prostate cancers in the country.

"We aimed to estimate the frequency and severity of infectious complications in men diagnosed with prostate cancer after prostate biopsy by examining how many men filled prescriptions for antibiotics related to urinary tract infections, rates of hospitalization within 30 days, and death due to infection," says lead investigator Karl-Johan Lundström, MD, Department of Surgical and Perioperative Sciences, Urology, Andrology, Umeå University, Östersund, Sweden. "We also capitalized upon the unique nationwide cross-linked health care databases in Sweden to perform a more comprehensive evaluation of potential risk factors for infectious complications," he adds.

Of the men who filled a prescription for urinary tract antibiotics within 30 days of biopsy, 54 percent filled the prescription in the first week after biopsy. One percent of men were hospitalized with a urinary tract infection.

Between 2006 and 2011 the number of men obtaining an antibiotic prescription after biopsy decreased, whereas the number who were hospitalized increased. No significant increase in 90-day mortality was observed, however.

The strongest risk factors for an antibiotic prescription were multiple comorbidities, particularly diabetes, and prior infection. Overall, approximately two percent of the men had a urinary tract infection during the six months before biopsy.

"Our data show that severe infections with hospitalization after prostate biopsy are increasing in Sweden. The rate of hospital admission increased twofold during this five-year period. However, the risk of dying of an infection after prostate biopsy is very low," observes Dr. Lundström. "The risk of post-biopsy infection is highest among men with a history of urinary tract infections and those with significant comorbidities. The increasing risk of hospitalization is concerning and highlights the importance of carefully evaluating the indications for biopsy especially in men at increased risk of infection," he concludes.

Karl-Johan Lundström, Linda Drevin, Stefan Carlsson, Hans Garmo, Stacy Loeb, Pär Stattin, Anna Bill-Axelson. Nationwide Population Based Study of Infections after Transrectal Ultrasound Guided Prostate Biopsy. The Journal of Urology, 2014; DOI:10.1016/j.juro.2014.04.098

Scientists learn more about rare skin cancer that killed Bob Marley

August 20, 2014 - Acral melanomas, the rare type of skin cancer that caused musician Bob Marley's death, are genetically distinct from other types of skin cancer. Cancer Research UK scientists have discovered that acral melanomas - the rare type of skin cancer that caused reggae musician Bob Marley's death - are genetically distinct from other more common types of skin cancer, according to a study published in the journal Pigment Cell & Melanoma Research.

Acral melanoma most often affects the palms of the hands, soles of the feet, nail-beds and other hairless parts of the skin. Unlike other more common types of melanoma, it's not caused by UV damage from the sun.

The team, from the Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute at The University of Manchester, sequenced the tumours of five patients with acral melanoma and combined this with data from three other patients. They then compared the pattern of genetic faults found in these eight tumours with that of more common types of skin cancer.

This revealed that the type of DNA damage found in acral melanoma is very different from other types of skin cancer. For example in acral melanomas, it was much more common to find large chunks of the DNA that had broken off and reattached elsewhere, as opposed to the smaller DNA changes typically found in more common types of skin cancer.

Study leader Professor Richard Marais, director of the Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute, at The University of Manchester, said: "Too much UV radiation from the sun or sunbeds can lead to a build-up of DNA damage that increases skin cancer risk. But acral skin cancer is different because the gene faults that drive it aren't caused by UV damage. Pinpointing these faults is a major step towards understanding what causes this unique form of cancer, and how it can best be treated."

Nell Barrie, senior science information manager at Cancer Research UK, said: "We hope that understanding the faults that drive acral melanoma will unlock better ways of treating this rare yet aggressive type of skin cancer. Our scientists are striving to improve survival for all cancer patients, including those with rarer forms of the disease.

"And this is why skin cancer will be a key research focus for the Manchester Cancer Research Centre."

Simon J. Furney, Samra Turajlic, Gordon Stamp, J. Meirion Thomas, Andrew Hayes, Dirk Strauss, Mike Gavrielides, Wei Xing, Martin Gore, James Larkin, Richard Marais.The mutational burden of acral melanoma revealed by whole-genome sequencing and comparative analysis. Pigment Cell & Melanoma Research, 2014; DOI:10.1111/pcmr.12279

Type-1, type-2 diabetes caused by same underlying mechanism? Toxic clumps of hormone amylin may be to blame

August 20, 2014 - Work by scientists at the Universities of Manchester and Auckland suggest that both major forms of diabetes are the result of the same mechanism. The findings, published the FASEB Journal, provide compelling evidence that juvenile-onset or type-1 diabetes and type-2 diabetes are both caused by the formation of toxic clumps of a hormone called amylin.

The results, based on 20 years' work in New Zealand, suggest that type-1 and type-2 diabetes could both be slowed down and potentially reversed by medicines that stop amylin forming these toxic clumps.

Professor Garth Cooper, from The University of Manchester working with his University of Auckland-based research team, led the study.

As well as producing insulin, cells in the pancreas also produce another hormone called amylin. Insulin and amylin normally work together to regulate the body's response to food intake. If they are no longer produced, then levels of sugar in the blood rise resulting in diabetes and causing damage to organs such as the heart, kidneys, eyes and nerves if blood sugar levels aren't properly controlled.

However, some of the amylin that is produced can get deposited around cells in the pancreas as toxic clumps, which then, in turn, destroy those cells that produce insulin and amylin. The consequence of this cell death is diabetes.

Research published previously by Professor Cooper suggested that this is the causative mechanism in type-2 diabetes. This new research provides strong evidence that type-1 diabetes results from the same mechanism.

The difference is that the disease starts at an earlier age and progresses more rapidly in type-1 compared to type-2 diabetes because there is more rapid deposition of toxic amylin clumps in the pancreas.

Professor Cooper's group expects to have potential medicines ready to go into clinical trials in the next two years and it is anticipated that these will be tested in both type-1 and type-2 diabetic patients. These clinical trials are being planned with research groups in England and Scotland.

S. Zhang, H. Liu, C. L. Chuang, X. Li, M. Au, L. Zhang, A. R. J. Phillips, D. W. Scott, G. J. S. Cooper. The pathogenic mechanism of diabetes varies with the degree of overexpression and oligomerization of human amylin in the pancreatic islet  cells.The FASEB Journal, 2014; DOI: 10.1096/fj.14-251744

Disclaimer: These articles are not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of Pittwater Online News or its staff.