Women with HIV shown to have elevated resting energy expenditure

Apr. 16, 2013 ? Studies have shown that about 10 percent of men infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) have an elevated resting energy expenditure (REE). Their bodies use more kilocalories for basic functions including circulation, body temperature, and breathing. Most studies have been conducted in men and those with solely women have had small sample sizes. A team of researchers has sought to rectify this with a matched, prospective, cross-sectional study. The results are featured in a new report published by the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

"To our knowledge, no studies have been conducted that dissect the effect of HIV infection versus antiretroviral therapy," says lead investigator Grace McComsey, MD, FIDSA, Chief Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Rheumatology and Global Health at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. "The purpose of our study was to compare REE in HIV-infected women who have never been on antiretroviral therapy (ART), those on ART with virologic suppression, those on ART with detectable HIV-1 RNA, and HIV-negative, healthy women." Antiretroviral therapy typically consists of at least three drugs to fight against fatal HIV effects and improve quality of life.

The study team recruited women from the John T. Carey Special Immunology Unit at University Hospitals Case Medical Center, an out-patient HIV clinic in Cleveland, Ohio between 2004 and 2011. The women were matched by age and body mass index (BMI). Healthy women who volunteered to participate in the control group were mostly hospital employees. In total, 87 women participated, 62 with HIV and 25 without.

All participants received a clinical evaluation for weight, height, and waist and hip measurements and responded to questions about their exercise habits and alcohol, tobacco, and drug use. Investigators determined their body composition and measured their oxygen consumption to determine REE. They also consulted medical records for further information about current medications and HIV diagnosis details.

The study produced the following significant findings:

? REE is significantly higher in HIV-infected women who have never been on ART when compared to healthy women.

? REE is significantly higher, when adjusted for body composition changes, in HIV-infected women who are on ART with undetectable HIV-1 RNA compared to healthy controls.

? REE is significantly higher in HIV-infected women on ART with detectable HIV-1 RNA compared to controls.

? REE was not different between the HIV-infected groups.

In addition analysis revealed that REE strongly correlates with two common equations used to predict energy expenditure and with body cell mass, BMI, and fat mass.

The investigators hypothesized that those with increased REE may have a greater absolute production of reactive oxygen species if tissue oxygen concentration also increases, leading to more oxidative stress. This needs to be investigated in future studies.

"We showed that REE is elevated in ART-na?ve HIV-infected women and continues to be elevated when on effective ART, regardless of virologic suppression, when compared to age and BMI matched healthy women," says Dr. McComsey. "This suggests an effect of HIV infection itself and not antiretroviral therapy on REE. The exact mechanism by which this occurs is unknown, but could be due to heightened inflammation or immune activation, which occurs in HIV infection."

Dr. McComsey also notes the need for further study of ART initiation to assess the effect of HIV infection on REE and the effect of specific antiretrovirals on REE.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Elsevier, via AlphaGalileo.

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Journal Reference:

1. Alison L Mittelsteadt et al. The Effects of Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Antiretroviral Therapy on Resting Energy Expenditure in Adult HIV-Infected Women: A Matched, Prospective, Cross-Sectional Study. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 2013 DOI: 10.1016/j.jand.2013.02.005

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/genes/~3/oyDyXiuakhY/130416085312.htm

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Messagenet Talk, the first commercial, WebRTC-based mobile VoIP ...

MILAN, April 11, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

• Messagenet releases the world's first WebRTC-based smartphone app for Android that functions as part of a commercial VoIP service
• Messagenet Talk enables WebRTC to work with any Android device operating on version 2.2 or later; it does not require a WebRTC-enabled mobile browser
• The app integrates the WebRTC media engine with open SIP signaling as well as with Messagenet's proprietary optimizations for HD voice over 3G, public switched telephone network (PSTN) interoperability, enhanced jitter management and VoIP obfuscation
• The app comes as part of the Messagenet Talk VoIP service, which allows smartphone and PC users to talk and text for free, to avoid roaming charges and to add an extra phone line to their mobile phones
• The development represents Messagenet's first step towards a browser-based VoIP service for smartphones and PCs and signals the company's commitment to a true, open-source communications platform

Messagenet, a technology firm based in Italy that specializes in VoIP services, has released a private beta test of Messagenet Talk for Android, the world's first WebRTC-based smartphone app that is part of a commercial VoIP service. The app, which can be downloaded via http://talk.messagenet.com/androidbeta, is available for any device running Android 2.2 or higher and does not require browser or OS support for WebRTC.

Owners of Android devices can now enjoy high-quality, real-time telephone communications over 3G or Wi-Fi thanks to Messagenet Talk. "This app represents another step forward in the effort to integrate WebRTC with smartphone platforms. It is taking WebRTC out of the planning phase and putting it into the hands of the end-user," said Andrea Galli, Messagenet's CEO.

"There have been lots of demos of WebRTC-based communication systems in closed environments, but never before within a commercial mobile service," said Emiliano Trevisani, Messagenet's VoIP technology officer. "But we believe so strongly that this technology is going to rewrite all the old rules for VoIP that we decided to integrate it into our live mobile commercial service before it's supported by browsers on Android."

The result is that owners of older Android devices can now benefit from WebRTC-based VoIP, even if the browsers on those devices never receive WebRTC support. "Naturally," added Trevisani, "as soon as the browsers on newer Android devices are enabled for WebRTC, we will extend our full support."

Messagenet's service is notable for its adherence to open standards, such as the open SIP signaling protocol. The company's approach stands in sharp contrast to the closed-source proprietary standards commonly employed by many over-the-top, or OTT, communication services, such as Skype, Viber and WhatsApp, which have gone to lengths to inhibit the interoperability of their services. Skype is the archetypal closed system, as its protocols have remained a tightly held secret.

Commentators have noted that WebRTC could pose a threat to Skype, which is owned by Microsoft. WebRTC has been spearheaded by Google, which has bet that its own future is linked to the expansion of a fully open web. In August 2012, Microsoft published its own approach to WebRTC, called CU-WebRTC, which can be seen as a stumbling block in the effort to standardize key aspects of this technology in the quest for full interoperability.

In the meantime, ambitious developers are continuing to explore new uses for the existing protocol at a rapid pace, seeking to make flexible, high-resolution, real-time communications easily accessible to anyone with an internet connection. WebRTC has already been defined by many industry experts as a game-changing and potentially disruptive technology that has the potential to enable consumers and businesses alike to communicate in new and more immediate ways. Although the standards for the platform are still being defined by the World Wide Web Consortium, the WebRTC field is developing with remarkable speed, and new developments are being announced on a weekly basis.

Source: http://www.virtual-strategy.com/2013/04/11/messagenet-talk-first-commercial-webrtc-based-mobile-voip-service

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This Facebook Phone Sure Is Addictive

Despite all the negativity around the Facebook phone, the early reviewers can all agree on one thing: The Facebook phone got them using Facebook?a lot. Maybe even too much. Ahead of Friday's official release of the $99 HTC First that comes preloaded with the new Facebook Home software, which will also be available for download by Android users, a bunch of gadget reviewers have been playing with the phone for a few days, bestowing their thoughts and feelings for our reading pleasure on the Internet today. Overall, they sound pleasantly surprised. In his review at TechCrunch, the noted Apple-phile MG Siegler even calls it "really good"?twice. Most of the reviewers spend so much time using fancier phones (and not all that much Facebook, apparently) that they ultimately conclude the HTC First isn't really for them. They did, however, find that when the social network was put right in front of them, they wanted to use all the Facebook functions, and pretty much all the time.

RELATED: All of Facebook's Phone Secrets, Divulged

All of which is to say that if people go out and buy this thing, Facebook will at least succeed in getting people to spend even more time on Facebook.?

RELATED: Facebook Has Built a New Kind of Search

The Cover Feed, which shows Facebook photos and notifications right on the lock screen, is "surprisingly addictive," says Siegler:

And it?s surprisingly addictive. Because you can swipe to scroll through these images/statuses all without unlocking the phone, I?ve found myself doing this each day that I?ve been testing the phone more than I care to admit. The fact that you can double-tap to ?like? any of these (an action taken right out of the Instagram playbook) is even more addicting.?

In addition, "regular" Facebookers will find that they use the other Facebook apps more than they would before, according to "regular Facebook user" Walt Mossberg over at AllThingsD:

I found Facebook Home to be easy to use, elegantly designed and addictive. Although I?m a regular Facebook user, I found that, with Home, I paid more attention than ever to my news feed, Liked items more often and used Facebook?s Messenger service more often. So, if you are a big Facebook fan, Facebook Home can be a big win.

And even a "very infrequent" user of the social network will want to play with the Facebook parts over the very hidden Android stuff, adds The Verge's Dieter Bohn:

That said, I find it very telling that even this infrequent Facebook user found himself interacting with status updates instead of doing other stuff on my phone ? Home radically increased my Facebook usage. If Facebook makes good on its promise to release monthly updates and these updates can significantly increase the basic utility of the homescreen, I wouldn't be surprised at all to see a lot of people start using it.?

David Pogue over at?The New York Times?had "all kinds of fun" with his device:

You can?have all kinds of fun on the Cover Feed. If the stately scrolling is too slow for your tastes, you can flick to the next photo, and the next, and the next. You can double-tap the screen to "like" a post. You can hold a finger down on the screen to see the entire photo, smaller; big parts of it are generally chopped off in the process of enlarging it to fill the phone?s screen. And you can tap a tiny speech-balloon icon to read people?s comments, or to leave one of your own.

Wired's Alexandra Chang, also an infrequent Facebook user, goes so far to say that all of that "adds value" to the overall experience:

For people who spend a lot of time on Facebook and?want?to stay connected to their Facebook friends, Facebook Home makes absolute sense. There?s little reason not to get Facebook Home if you already have a compatible Android device. And even if, like myself, you don?t spend tons of time on the social networking site, Facebook Home adds value to the Android experience without feeling invasive.

Though, "productivity minded people"?so, like, business people? or maybe people who want to use their phone for stuff other than Facebook??shouldn't touch the thing because it's that addictive, notes Engadget's Brad Molen:

In its current state, Home isn't the best fit for productivity-minded people, although it does offer a bit of mindless entertainment for anyone just looking to burn a minute or two throughout the day. More importantly, Home is proof that Facebook wants to attack the saturated mobile market.?It's hard to say if it will win the battle, but it's bringing a heavy load of artillery to the fight.?

CNET's Jessica Doulcourt?found her "engagement dramatically jumped," but she wasn't sure that was such a good thing:

My engagement dramatically jumped while I was using Home, although I also wasn't sure I was seeing the highest-quality "news" in my feed. Since I couldn't view my entire news feed, I couldn't tell if I was viewing the most complete or recent list of updates. Scrolling through Cover Feed may have made me a little more entertained, but it sure didn't make me feel any smarter.

Ultimately, people who don't want to be addicted to Facebook might see the whole thing as a distraction, argues ABC's Joanna Stern.

That's the beauty of trying out Facebook Home or buying the HTC First. Facebook's Android layer can be disabled at any time. And my guess is that will be the case for many people -- not because the software isn't nicely designed and Chat Heads aren't the future of mobile messaging, but because you can't control the updates that appear on the front of your screen and ultimately having people all over the face of your phone is distracting.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/facebook-phone-sure-addictive-135816373.html

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Fish from the waters off Antarctica has clear blood

Every animal with bones has blood with hemoglobin, which binds with oxygen and makes the blood appear red.

Every animal, that is, except one.

The ocellated icefish (Chionodraco rastrospinosus) has gin-clear blood. And it has no scales. And it lives nowhere but the inky depths down to 3,200 feet (1 kilometer) in the icy waters off Antarctica. Other than that, it's just an ordinary fish.

The Tokyo Sea Life Park is the only place with ocellated icefish in captivity, Agence France-Presse reports. "Luckily, we have a male and a female, and they spawned in January," Satoshi Tada, an education specialist at the center, told AFP.

The ocean's depths are rich with odd sea life, from giant squid to translucent sea anemones. Researchers now believe life around deep-sea vents may have arisen following the last mass extinction on Earth 65 million years ago, after a giant meteor impact killed off dinosaurs and other animals.

Scientists hope the mated pair of icefish and their offspring in Tokyo will help researchers unlock the secrets of how the fish manages to survive without hemoglobin to carry oxygen to its cells.

It's possible, some scientists speculate, that the icefish's unusually large heart might help move oxygen through its body using blood plasma instead of hemoglobin.

Also, with no scales to get in the way, the icefish may absorb some oxygen directly through its skin: Cold, polar water is richer in oxygen than warmer waters.

But the mystery surrounding the icefish's lack of hemoglobin may take years to solve. "More studies are needed on the question," Tada said.

Follow Marc Lallanilla on Twitter and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on LiveScience.com.

Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/why-does-fish-gin-clear-blood-134434131.html

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Russian opposition leader: Putin ordered trial

MOSCOW (AP) ? One of Russia's most prominent opposition leaders claims that President Vladimir Putin has "undoubtedly" ordered an embezzlement trial against him.

Alexey Navalny, a lawyer and popular blogger, exposed official corruption and spearheaded a series of massive protests in Moscow against Putin's return to the presidency. He is to go on trial April 17 on charges of leading an organized crime group that stole timber worth about $500,000 while he worked for a provincial governor.

Navalny said in an interview on Ekho Moskvy radio Monday that "of course, he had no doubts" that Putin gave direct orders to try him.

Scores of opposition activists have faced arrests, searches and criminal probes after the anti-Putin rallies.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/russian-opposition-leader-putin-ordered-trial-181635865.html

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