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| Koko |
Posted
on 06-Dec-02 09:43 AM
Friday, 6 December, 2002, 00:07 GMT
Why flu can kill
Some flu strains can kill
Scientists believe they are close to understanding why the common flu can turn into a killer virus.
Researchers in Hong Kong have found that the reaction of the body's immune system may be a key factor.
They believe that the deaths associated with so-called killer strains of flu may in fact have been caused by the immune system itself.
We need to be careful with any drugs that deal with the immune response
Wendy Barclay, University of Reading
The finding could help scientists to develop effective treatments for future strains of the virus.
Experts warned recently that the virus is constantly mutating and a virulent strain could emerge at any time.
The last major flu pandemic in 1918 killed tens of millions of people in Europe alone. An outbreak in Hong Kong in 1997 killed 18 people.
Immune response
Researchers at the University of Hong Kong examined that strain in a laboratory.
They found that it triggered a very strong immune response. This produced high levels of cytokines, which enable the body to kill harmful cells.
However, the researchers believe that so many of the cytokines were triggered that they started to attack the body's own cells and cause multi-organ failure.
This goes against previous theories that the virus itself is responsible for deaths.
Writing in The Lancet, the researchers warned that another flu pandemic "is a certainty".
But they added that their findings could help to develop treatments to fight any new strain.
"[It] will help us to be better prepared for the next influenza pandemic," they wrote.
Strong data
Wendy Barclay, a lecturer in microbiology at the University of Reading, backed the findings.
"It is fairly well accepted that many diseases have an immune pathology. The data in this study is very strong."
But speaking to BBC News Online, she suggested scientists need to be careful when developing drugs to tackle the immune system.
"The body has an immune system for a purpose. We need to be careful with any drugs that deal with the immune response.
"It is all about achieving a balance between the virus and host.
"If the body or host is producing too many cytokines, we may be able to prevent this by dampening down the response but we need to be careful that we don't also damage the host's ability to fight the virus."
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| Koko |
Posted
on 06-Dec-02 09:44 AM
BRITNEY IS A REAL PUNK ROCKER
BRITNEY SPEARS is looking to collaborate with DAFT PUNK and WILLIAM ORBIT on her new material.
In a trip to Europe earlier this year, Spears hooked up with the French dance duo and Orbit. The latter is famous for his work with Madonna, and has recently spent time working on the new album by Blur.
"I've been off, but I've still been working, too," she told the Hollywood Reporter. "The main thing is I've just been going on my schedule. I've been going in the studio, I've been working, I've been dancing, but it hasn't been someone saying, 'You have to do this at this time.' It's really been on my own time.
"We haven't really been taking it that seriously, but we are going to start taking it serious in January. Mainly, I've just been having meetings with people to hear their stuff to see if I want to work with them in January. I met up with some really hot producers, William Orbit and Daft Punk, overseas."
The album, due next year, will be "a little bit more rock, hip-hop" than her previous output, the star said.
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| Koko |
Posted
on 06-Dec-02 09:46 AM
Iraq attack soldiers missing boots
From correspondents in London
December 06, 2002
SOME British troops are training for action in Iraq in running shoes because of a shortage of combat boots, Armed Forces Minister Lewis Moonie has admitted.
In a written response to a Conservative MP's question, Moonie acknowledged "problems with the supply of combat assault boots" due to "production difficulties".
"These difficulties have been resolved, and stocks are being replenished," he said.
Moonie was put on the spot by James Gray, who learned about the "outrageous" use of running shoes during a visit to soldiers assigned to a British regiment which he did not identify.
"They said to me, 'This is ridiculous, why can't we get proper boots?'," Gray said.
"I asked them, 'What they were talking about,' and they said it was all right if you're a size one or a size 12, but if you are eight, nine or 10 - as most people are -- then there is a real problem.
"This is a particular group of soldiers who have been told they will be going to Iraq if there is a war. It is simply extraordinary. We are not talking about jet fighters or tanks, this is the most basic equipment."
Britain has said it will take part in any US-led coalition if Iraq fails to comply with UN resolutions demanding that it give up the development of weapons of mass destruction.
Agence France-Presse
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| Koko |
Posted
on 06-Dec-02 09:49 AM
Urban legend about '9111' leads to pot house
Canadian Press
Dec. 5, 2002 11:00 AM
SURREY, Canada- Police say a bizarre urban legend led them to a house filled with marijuana plants.
A woman accidentally called police early Tuesday morning because her son told her dialing an extra one after 911 would connect her with a taped message explaining whether police officers were tapping her phones.
The 60-year-old woman hung up as soon as she realized she had actually reached the police, however, officers, concerned there might be an emergency at the house, quickly showed up at her door.
Inside, police discovered "a reasonably sized marijuana growing operation," Const. Tim Shields said Wednesday.
Police arrested four people - the woman, a 61-year-old man, a 55-year-old man and a third man who had turned 60 that day.
"He had a large birthday party planned for that night with out-of-town guests," Shields said. "They started to show up at Surrey detachment, asking us to have him released so he could make it to his party."
Police released all four by 9 p.m. - just in time for the birthday party - on a promise to appear in court.
Shields said it may be an urban legend, but dialing 9111 won't help you figure out if your phones are tapped and only ties up lines meant to help people with real emergencies.
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| Koko |
Posted
on 06-Dec-02 10:03 AM
"The most damaging phrase in the language is: It's always been done that way."
- Admiral Grace Hopper (1906-1992)
"Never trust a man without vices..." - Winston Churchill
"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."- Albert Einstein
The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not "Eureka!" (I found it!) but "That's funny..." Ñ Isaac Asimov
"You kill one person it's a tragedy, you kill ten thousand people it a statistic." - Joesph Stalin
Did you hear that Nixon, Hart and Kennedy were forming a law firm. - They're calling it Trickem, Dickum and Dunkem!
Clinton, Dole, and Perot are on a long flight in Air Force One. Perot pulls out a $100 bill and says "I'm going to throw this $100 bill out and make someone down below happy."
Dole, not wanting to be outdone, says, "If that was my $100 bill, I would split it into 2 $50 bills and make two people down below happy."
Of course Clinton doesn't want these two candidates to outdo him, so he pipes in, "I would instead take 100 $1 bills and throw them out to make 100 people just a little happier."
At this point the pilot, who has overheard all this bragging and can't stand it anymore, comes out and says, "I think I'll throw all three of you out of this plane and make 250 million people happy."
Why did George Bush always say 'Read My Lips'?
Because he was lying right out of his ass.
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. - The Constitution of the United States of America Amendment 5, 1791
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