Category Archives: Transhuman News

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

17-Dec-2014

Contact: Kathryn Ryan kyan@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News @LiebertOnline

New Rochelle, NY, December 17, 2014-The Sunni Islamist terror organization known as the Islamic State, or ISIS, uses extreme violence and brutality against anyone it perceives as a threat to its goal of expansion and restoration of an Islamic Caliphate. The significant behavioral aspects of this unparalleled violence and its implications for the future are explored in a compelling Review article published in Violence and Gender, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Violence and Gender website at http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/vio.2014.0037 until January 17, 2015.

In the article "The Violence of the Islamic State of Syria (ISIS): A Behavioral Perspective", coauthors Thomas Neer and Mary Ellen O'Toole, PhD, both retired FBI Agents, describe the growth of ISIS, its membership, and how gratuitous violence has become the organization's "brand." Other topics discussed in their article include violence and psychopathy, personality traits, use of propaganda, ISIS recruitment methods of young men and women, and strategies to counter ISIS.

These authors bring a unique and important perspective to understanding ISIS - a behavioral perspective. Both Mr. Neer and Dr. O'Toole worked for years as Profilers in the FBI's elite Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) where they analyzed violent offenders and their crimes. Mr. Neer's perspectives are also based on operational assignments throughout the world where he conducted behavioral and risk assessments of known and suspected terrorists. Dr. O'Toole lends her expertise in psychopathy and psychopathic behaviors of individuals and groups to ISIS leadership.

"ISIS is a global concern on many levels, and its grandiose display of extreme and ruthless violence is stunning," says Violence and Gender Editor-in-Chief Dr. O'Toole. "In this article, my colleague and I provide a behavioral assessment of this dangerous and evolving group comprised largely of young men in a vulnerable age group - late teens and twenties. I am sure you will find this unique and timely perspective both fascinating and enlightening, and extremely relevant for policy development."

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About the Journal

Violence and Gender is the only peer-reviewed journal focusing on the understanding, prediction, and prevention of acts of violence. Through research papers, roundtable discussions, case studies, and other original content, the Journal critically examines biological, genetic, behavioral, psychological, racial, ethnic, and cultural factors as they relate to the gender of perpetrators of violence. Led by Editor-in-Chief Mary Ellen O'Toole, PhD, Forensic Behavioral Consultant and Senior FBI Profiler/Criminal Investigative Analyst (ret.), Violence and Gender explores the difficult issues that are vital to threat assessment and prevention of the epidemic of violence. Violence and Gender is published quarterly online with Open Access options and in print, and is the official journal of The Avielle Foundation. Tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Violence and Gender website at http://www.liebertpub.com/vio.

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Behavioral analysis of ISIS brutality presented in Violence and Gender journal

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

17-Dec-2014

Contact: Kathryn Ryan kryan@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News @LiebertOnline

New Rochelle, NY, December 17, 2014--Recognized for her pioneering work to develop gene therapy for hemophilia spanning several decades, taking it from the laboratory into human clinical trials, is Katherine A. High, MD, Spark Therapeutics. Also recognized for their demonstration of successful clinical applications of adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector-based gene therapy for hemophilia B are Amit C. Nathwani, MD, PhD, UCL Cancer Institute, and Arthur W. Nienhuis, MD and Andrew M. Davidoff, MD, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Human Gene Therapy, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers, is commemorating its 25th anniversary by bestowing this honor on the leading pioneers in the field of cell and gene therapy selected by a blue ribbon panel* and by publishing a Pioneer Perspective by the award recipients. The Perspectives by Dr. High and Drs. Nathwani, Nienhuis, and Davidoff are available free on the Human Gene Therapy website at http://www.liebertpub.com/hgt.

In the Perspective entitled "Gene Therapy for Hemophilia: The Clot Thickens", Dr. High recounts why hemophilia was an attractive early target for gene therapy research and describes the genetic and physiological basis of the disease. She reviews early efforts using gene-based therapy to treat hemophilia B and provides a detailed account of her group's approach using an adeno-associated viral (AAV) vector to deliver the Factor IX gene, which encodes the clotting factor missing in patients with hemophilia B. Dr. High recalls the reasons for selecting skeletal muscle as the injection site for drug delivery, and she describes the limitations and unexpected obstacles that arose, such as patients' immune responses to the AAV vector and evidence of vector genetic material in the semen of the male patients, creating the risk of germline transmission.

In "Our Journey to Successful Gene Therapy for Hemophilia B", Drs. Nathwani, Nienhuis, and Davidoff present a detailed overview of their many years of collaborative research that has included a comparison of the safety and efficacy of different gene therapy delivery sites. The researchers also developed a sensitive assay system to enable detection of low levels of Factor IX and demonstrated stable therapeutic expression of the clotting factor. Over the years, they experimented with AAV vector types to achieve higher gene transfer levels and enable a therapeutic effect using lower and potentially safer doses. They describe the current status of their clinical research program and their early efforts in the development of gene therapy for hemophilia A.

"Hemophilia B has served as the model by which in vivo gene therapies have been evaluated," says James M. Wilson, MD, PhD, Editor-in-Chief of Human Gene Therapy, and Director of the Gene Therapy Program, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia. "Kathy was there from the beginning and has contributed to every major advance in hemophilia B gene therapy. Art, Andy, and Amit came together as a team soon after the turn of the century to eventually launch a clinical trial with a second generation AAV vector that served as a true milestone in the field of gene therapy. These pioneers are well-deserving of this recognition for their tenacity and courage to stay the course."

*The blue ribbon panel of leaders in cell and gene therapy, led by Chair Mary Collins, PhD, MRC Centre for Medical Molecular Virology, University College London selected the Pioneer Award recipients. The Award Selection Committee selected scientists that had devoted much of their careers to cell and gene therapy research and had made a seminal contribution to the field--defined as a basic science or clinical advance that greatly influenced progress in translational research.

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About the Journal

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Pioneer Award winners Katherine High, Amit Nathwani, Arthur Nienhuis, and Andrew Davidoff honored

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

16-Dec-2014

Contact: Kathryn Ryan kryan@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News @LiebertOnline

New Rochelle, NY, December 16, 2014--Veterans of the U.S. armed forces who have received a diagnosis consistent with transgender status are more likely to have serious suicidal thoughts and plans and to attempt suicide. A new study shows that this group has a higher risk of suicide death than the general population of veterans, as described in an article in LGBT Health, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the LGBT Health website until January 16, 2015.

Based on data gathered from the VA National Patient Care Database from 2000-2009, John Blosnich, PhD, MPH and coauthors from VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System and University of Pittsburgh (PA), University of Rochester (NY), VA Central Office (Washington, DC), East Tennessee State University (Johnson City, TN), and VISN2 Center of Excellence for Suicide Prevention (Canandaigua, NY), determined that while the suicide death rate among veterans with transgender-related diagnoses was higher than for veterans in general, it was similar to the suicide death rate for veterans with serious mental illness such as depression or schizophrenia.

The authors report their findings in the article "Mortality among Veterans with Transgender-Related Diagnoses in the Veterans Health Administration, FY2000-2009."

"Although this study suggests comparably elevated rates of suicide among veterans with transgender-related ICD-9-CM diagnoses and veterans with any psychiatric diagnosis, suicides among transgender veterans occurred at a younger age, resulting in greater potential years of life lost," says LGBT Health Editor-in-Chief William Byne, MD, PhD, James J. Peters VA Medical Center, Bronx, NY and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY. "VA has a multifaceted strategy to reduce suicide among veterans. Its commitment in 2011, and reaffirmed in 2013, to provide respectful transgender-specific healthcare as well staff training in transgender cultural awareness and sensitivity may also address the high suicide rate among transgender veterans."

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About the Journal

Spanning a broad array of disciplines, LGBT Health, published quarterly online with Open Access options and in print, brings together the LGBT research, health care, and advocacy communities to address current challenges and improve the health, well-being, and clinical outcomes of LGBT persons. The Journal publishes original research, review articles, clinical reports, case studies, legal and policy perspectives, and much more. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the LGBT Health website.

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Are transgender veterans at greater risk of suicide?

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

16-Dec-2014

Contact: Kathryn Ryan kryan@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News @LiebertOnline

New Rochelle, NY, December 16, 2014-Consuming caffeinated or sugary drinks can affect the body's metabolism, causing changes in heart and respiratory rate and weight gain. The results of a new study exploring whether individuals respond differently to caffeinated drinks that do or do not contain sugar and to sugar alone are published in Journal of Caffeine Research: The International Multidisciplinary Journal of Caffeine Science, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Journal of Caffeine Research website at http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/jcr.2014.0023 until January 16, 2015.

The article entitled "Caffeine With and Without Sugar: Individual Differences in Physiological Responses During Rest", by Elaine Rush, PhD and coauthors, Auckland University of Technology (Auckland, New Zealand), describes a study in which heart rate and carbon dioxide production (as a measure of respiration) were measured 30 minutes before and after individuals consumed a defined quantity of sugar, caffeine, or sugar and caffeine. Responses to the different treatments varied widely among individuals.

"Given the caveat that sugar itself affects brain reward just as caffeine does, and this effect will in itself cause variations, this is still an essential paper for the scientist and the lay person to read," says Patricia A. Broderick, PhD, Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Caffeine Research, Medical Professor in Physiology, Pharmacology & Neuroscience, The Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education, The City College of New York, The City University of New York, and Adjunct Professor in Neurology, New York University Langone Medical Center and Comprehensive Epilepsy Center.

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About the Journal

Journal of Caffeine Research: The International Multidisciplinary Journal of Caffeine Science is a quarterly journal published in print and online. The Journal covers the effects of caffeine on a wide range of diseases and conditions, including mood disorders, neurological disorders, cognitive performance, cardiovascular disease, and sports performance. Journal of Caffeine Research explores all aspects of caffeine science including the biochemistry of caffeine; its actions on the human body; benefits, dangers, and contraindications; and caffeine addiction and withdrawal, across all stages of the human life span from prenatal exposure to end-of-life. Tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Journal of Caffeine Research website at http://www.liebertpub.com/jcr.

About the Publisher

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Do caffeine's effects differ with or without sugar?