Investigational Antiviral Drug approved for use on US Ebola patient

The FDA approved the use of an investigational drug, CMX001 (brincidofovir),  to attempt to treat Ebola Virus Disease in the sole US case so far.  The drug has been in clinical trials for Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection, a common complication in bone-marrow transplants and other immunosupressed populations.  The drug has also been used for Adenovirus infections in pediatric cancer patients.  Based on its activity against poxviruses it was selected for investigation as a possible treatment for Smallpox (Variola) infection for bioterrorism defense.

Brincidofovir is an orally active prodrug of cidofovir (Vistide), an injectable antiviral drug used to treat CMV retinitis in AIDS patients.  Brincidofovir is converted to the active drug in the body and its lipid conjugation allows lower plasma levels (less toxicity) and higher levels inside cells, where it can act on the virus.
 

Link to Publication of CMX001 efficacy in Herpes Virus Infections -Note: CMV is in the Herpes Virus family.  Paper give some background on the mechanism of action in Brincidofovir.

Chimerix Press Release

Ebola and Melatonin: Could a Common Sleep Aid help fight Ebola?

The growing outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease in West Africa has focused the world's attention on one of the most deadly infectious diseases known. Rapid depletion of experimental drugs including those used to successfully treat several American patients have clinicians scrambling for something other than supportive care.  

A recent paper describes the possible use of melatonin, a natural hormone that controls the wake-sleep cycle and widely available sleep aid, to counter some of EVD's severe effects on the body.  Because of Melatonin's wide availability and excellent safety profile, a positive effect could be an important weapon in the fight against the outbreak in Africa and a potential addition to the treatment of EVD.  Because Melatonin is classified as a food additive in the US,  it can be purchased over the counter and is relatively inexpensive. Obviously more work needs to be done in clinical trials, which could begin immediately since the human safety phases of a clinical trial can be skipped, because of its widespread use. 

Ebola kills in a particular way that turns the body's immune system on itself.  Ebola virus infection causes a cascade of immuno-inflamatory reactions including the production of reactive molecules that damage the lining of blood vessels and trigger the clotting cascade in the blood. This reaction has similarities to bacterial sepsis.  Several studies have shown a positive effect from Melatonin in preventing both endothelial damage and intravascular coagulation.  The author's of this paper have suggested that because similar mechanisms are at work in Ebola virus infection, Melatonin may be beneficial in treating EVD.

Link to article: 

Ebola virus disease: Potential use of melatonin as a treatment
Dun-Xian Tan, Russel J. Reiter and Lucien C. Manchester
Accepted manuscript online: 27 SEP 2014 01:25AM EST

Journal of Pineal Research

The Leidenfrost Effect

I've observed this many times but haven't really thought about what is happening.  When you drop water on a stove burner that is at the right temperature, they form little beads that skitter around on the burner and only slowly get smaller.  What is happening is referred to as the Leidenfrost effect.  When a liquid comes in contact with a mass significantly higher than its boiling point, a layer of vapor insulates the liquid and prevents it from boiling, at least for a little while.

I came across this interesting video demonstrating the effect when dropping a red hot metal (Nickel) ball into water.  For a while you can see a thin layer of vapor surrounding the ball.  Eventually, the insulating effect is overwhelmed as the ball cools and the water is not vaporizing instantaneously. After this the water boils furiously.

50 Things to do before you're 11 3/4

While looking at the UK National Trust site about Stowe Gardens I came across a National Trust website that encourages kids to get outside and experience nature.  Its called 50 Things to do before you're 11 3/4 and it uses badges and a list of activities to motivate kids and their parents to experience the outdoors.  The British always seem to be ahead of us when it comes to natural history, more walkers, birdwatchers and amateur naturalists per capita...at least it seems so to me.  Maybe there is more of an appreciation of the natural world because there is less wilderness.  In America, we have so much that it is sometimes taken for granted.

Kids are naturally curious.  The infinite variety and potential for discovery in the outdoors is the perfect place to satisfy that curiosity.

Temple of British Worthies

I checked a book out of the Library called A Global History of Architecture by Ching et al. I am reading about Stowe Gardens in England and am interested in a structure called Temple of the British Worthies - a shrine to Great Britons. There are 16 individuals depicted on the shrine among them Shakespeare, John Milton and Alexander Pope. Others like the Architect Inigo Jones I had never heard of before. When I have a bit of time I'll look them all up and see what they did . Since this was built in the 18th Century it reflects the ideals of the Age. I wonder who would make it to a 21st Century Temple of British Worthies or a Global list?

Page on the Temple and links to the other sights at Stowe

Meet the Lobster Moth

I came across a picture of this unusual moth caterpillar called the Lobster Moth or Lobster Prominent (Stauropis fagi).  I've never seen anything like it.  Its front legs are huge and it really looks like some alien creature.  The adult moth is a nondescript Notodontid found throughout the Palearctic that looks like many species I find outside my house.  Some of the local species have pretty unusual looking caterpillars with weird humps and tentacles, but nothing like this species.

 Wildlife of Chernobyl


Interesting video on the reappearance of wildlife in the evacuation zone of Chernobyl.  Tweny Six years ago 300,000 people were evacuated from the area around the nuclear reactor. The re-wilding of the area is an interesting subject.  The animals in the zone have very high levels of radiation, however there have been few malformations observed.  Over time perhaps more radiation-resistant animals will flourish as those more sensitive will die at a differentially higher rate.  Alternatively, a tremendous amount of unobserved damage may be occuring.  I wonder how the radiation affects things like the bacterial and fungal communities in the soil.  An interesting anecdote was that radioactive mushrooms collected in the evacuation area occasionally make it to markets in populated areas.

I'm wondering about the parallels to Fukashima.

Hopefully, EarthFirst or some other radical environmentalist group never gets a nuke or radiological weapon.  One could imagine a future scenario, where in order to exclude people from some area, they paradoxically contaminate it to (partially) save it.

Here's my movie script idea - Radical group seeks to "save" large swaths of the planet from human habitat destruction by radiological contamination.  Crowdsource the script.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/life-after-chernobyl-sergei-gaschaks-photography-from-inside-the-zone-8467725.html

Wingless Moth

Here's a photo from a few weeks ago of a wingless female Fall Cankerworm Moth. Only the males fly in this species. They must find the females via pheromones.

Global Amphibian Blitz

A new citizen-science project has kicked off this week called the Global Amphibian Blitz. It is like eBird in that it hopes to gather large amounts of distribution data via a network of observers around the world. Also like eBird it is a good way to store your observations for your personal records.

Another interesting feature is the ability to upload photos of your observations. This is useful if you are unsure of a species identification. This allows other people to weigh in on the correct species ID.

The first day in operation the database recorded observations of 154 species from 18 countries.

Freaky Optical Illusion

This moving pattern really messes with your vision. Very weird.

http://www.neave.com/strobe/

BBC - Chemistry, a volatile history

I just finished watching a 3 part BBC series by Professor Jim Al-Khalili called Chemistry, a volatile history. Orignally broadcast in 2010. I particularly enjoyed going through the stories about the discovery of some of the 92 naturally occurring elements. Above Al-Khalili holds a flask containing burning Phosphorous, the first element discovered that does not occur naturally in a pure elemental form. An alchemist was attempting to transmute Urine into Gold. It took over 1000 liters of urine to produce 60 grams of phosphorous.

The series also has the fascinating story of the creation of the periodic table and the creation of man-made elements including Plutonium.

I found the series informative and recommend watching it, especially for students who may need a bit of inspiration while studying chemistry.

BBC Page for Series

The series is available to watch on Youtube, but is annoyingly split up into 6 clips per episode, I think because of Youtube's limitations.

Big January

Canada Geese resting on the snow - Cedar Hill Cemetary, Hartford, CT

My goal for January was to see at least 90 species in CT. I didn't reach my goal, but I saw lots of good birds and managed to get outside quite a bit. I also really started using eBird, both to enter my observations and to scout out new locations where others were seeing birds in the state. The deep snow definitely hampered my efforts a bit. Many trails and nature areas didn't have their parking areas plowed and still don't.

In the course of the month I discovered a few new areas for me that I will be going back to later in the season.

One of these new areas for me was Farmington Meadows, Riverside Cemetary in Farmington. Even though I have been birding the Farmington Valley for years, I never made it over to this area before. I saw that people using eBird had been reporting various ducks there, so I went and checked it out. Even with the cold weather the Farmington River is has ice free areas, especially at the bend of the river near Riverside Cemetary. This has proven to be a reliable place to find wintering ducks. Wood Ducks especially seem to like to tuck themselves into little holes and tangles in the riverbank. The last time I visited also saw a female hooded merganser sitting on the edge of the ice preening herself. She started making low grunting noises, I think calling for the spectacular male that was downriver. He responded and flew over, landed in the water next to her then climbed up next to her like a dutiful husband.

The meadows area also has some riparian woodlands that have trails originating from Tunxis Meade Park and very large open fields on both sides of Meadow Road. Before the snow there was a group of 3 snow geese hanging out with the hundreds of Canada Geese. My last foray in the deep snow I watched 4 Wild Turkeys feeding in the fields.

Geosense - Online Geography Game

I have enjoyed playing this online geography game for years. I even played it while in Iraq in 2004. It is a great way to brush up on your geography with a seemingly limitless database of obscure locations in countries around the world. You can play with several maps (World, Europe or US) and you can play alone and rack up points or you can play against someone. The target location is displayed on the top of the map and you click on the corresponding place on the map. Points are awarded for speed and how close you get to the actual location.

I am pretty good and often pummel my opponents who don't know what continent Ghana is on, for example. I at least can locate almost every country and if I don't know the actual city or town location I can take a wild guess (Doesn't work so well for Russian locations). Interestingly I sometimes come across a prodigy who really knows their esoteric map knowledge. I have found in several instances their uncanny knowledge falls apart in the United States and they place Ohio in Arizona and I can get back on equal footing with them. Not sure why that is.

This is a great game for kids to increase their geography knowledge substantially. The competitive nature helps keep them interested.

Geosense Website

Gigapan - Inexpensive Robotic Camera Mount

I came across this website and was fascinated with the images produced with even a cheap digital camera.


Gigapan Systems was established as a commercial spinoff of research from NASA and Carnegie Mellon University to produce high resolution panoramic photos.

Essentially a small robotic camera mount takes hundreds to thousands of pictures of a subject and software stitches these images together to produce a seamless high resolution image.

The model of the Gigapan system for small digital cameras is about 300 bucks.

Here's a 45 Gigapixel shot of Dubai

North Carolina State University's Insect Museum digitized hundreds of their drawers of specimens using Gigapan. The snapshot feature allows for annotation of the image such as species determinations and loan requests.

Autotune this

I have been enjoying the creative exploits of The Gregory Brothers, who have used the Autotune program to make some hilarious videos. Their latest is a mashup of a bizarre and entertaining Adidas Video feature Slim Chin - Beast of the Far East. He sound like Malibu's most wanted.

I know what I'm giving for Christmas

Toy Exec: I need some new ideas people!!!

Designer: How about a Dachschund that eats then takes a dump. The winner is the person with the most dog crap.

Toy Exec: Brilliant!! Make the poop neon.



via Boing Boing

3-D printing in glass, metal, plastic

I've been fascinated by stereolithography since I heard about it years ago. Originally it involved lasers and a polymer bath. The 3-D object literally rose out of the liquid polymer as it was being cured by the laser.

While not exactly the same process this company ShapeWays in the Netherlands looks extremely interesting. Essentially, they can bring your 3-D models to life in a variety of materials from stainless steel to glass to metal. I'm thinking this would be a great thing to use to teach kids or adults to use the 3-D modeling software packages.

In the past prototyping was an expensive process and was a barrier to entry. Now someone at home with an idea for a widget has the capability to get it done cheaply and professionally.

Video showing huge stereolithography machine making a car bumper prototype

History of the World in 100 Objects

I've been listening to this BBC Radio 4 series, broken up into 15 minute segments called the History of the World in 100 Objects. The director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor tells the story of history through 100 objects from the Museum collection. He uses an individual object as a jumping off point for great themes of human history. Each object has an associated page where you can examine the object in detail. Very worthwhile.

Radio 4 History of the World Homepage

Beetle Sumo - Go Heracross!

Here's a video about The Beetle Battle Event in Japan. It looks like they use a variety of rhinoceros and hercules beetles. Note the perfect form in the video of a beetle doing a suplex. There is a pokemon-like thing going on. The kid talking about his beetle fighting so hard for him could just as well be talking about Pikachu or should I say Heracross. In fact there is a pokemon-like game involving various beetles called Mushiking which is very popular in Japan. Pet insects are also extremely popular in Japan. There are magazines devoted to them and some are even sold in vending machines.

Some people in Japan are particularly nutty about spending giant amounts of money on rare beetles, especially really large Stag Beetles (Lucanidae). Mushiking, has apparently accelerated this with hundreds of thousands of Stag Beetles and Rhinoceros Beetles being imported yearly. Many enthusiasts rear the beetles, but most are caught in the wild. Apparently a subspecies of a large eurasian Stag Beetle species is being overcollected in Turkey to fuel the Japanese market. The high price commanded by the beetles has even spawned a black market, with would-be beetle dealers smuggling live beetles out of places like national parks in Nepal.

Annual Training - Fort Indiantown Gap Pennsylvania

I just spent about two weeks with my Army National Guard unit at Fort Indiantown Gap, PA. This large PA National Guard training area has lots of interesting wildlife, including the only eastern population of the Regal Fritillary, a large orange butterfly. There were a few public butterfly walks, but I was training at the time. The base has a very active conservation management program and The Nature Conservancy sponsored by the National Guard has been conducting studies on the butterfly and its management since 1992.

I've been to the Gap about 5 times in the last 10 years and have had some good wildlife sightings here. This is the only place I have ever seen two particular species of salamanders, the Northern Red Salamander and the Long-tailed salamander. Both are pretty striking species.

My unit's field exercise was next to a large area that is maintained as a grassland. There were quite a few Grasshopper Sparrows, Field Sparrows and Eastern Meadowlarks singing in the area as well as a pair of resident American Kestrels that hunted the fields. The field we were in had butterfly weed and lots of Dogbane with lots of Dogbane Leaf Beetles eating them. Some butterflies I saw were Common Buckeye, Monarch, Red Admiral, Pipevine Swallowtail, Spicebush Swallowtail, Yellow Swallowtail, Zebra Swallowtail and Pearl Crescent.

I believe FTIG has the largest intact grasslands remaining in the northeast. Disturbance from track vehicles as well as small fires started by training exercises contribute to the maintenance of the grasslands. Annual mowing also keeps the woody plants at bay. In historic times the disturbance from large herds of bison and natural and man-made fires are thought to have maintained the grasslands. The biggest drops in grassland species have been in the last 40 years as suburban sprawl is thought to have fragmented remnant grasslands.

This past week I also saw quite a few large Green Scarab Beetles (Cotinus nitida) buzzing around. I saw a posting from Ohio that proclaimed the annual terrorizing of gardeners and unsuspecting people outdoors had begun. Because they are large and loud and like to cruise 2 or 3 feet off the ground when flying, they frequently induce panic in those that are unfamiliar with them. I can attest to witnessing several people in my unit beating hasty retreats when the beetles appeared. Because the beetles emerge around the same time there were often 3 or 4 in the air around us at the same time. I excused myself from several conversations to chase them down and catch them.

Walking on a bridge over a small stream I saw a large wood turtle sunning itself on a rock. When it gets hot, wood turtles move to the water to cool off. The only snakes I saw were Eastern Garter Snakes, which I declined to catch because of their habit of crapping on me.

When I was at FTIG back in September of 2007 for a medical course I spent a few hours at the Second Mountain Hawkwatch, that is conducted on one of the ridges on the base. I saw a few Osprey, many turkey vultures and lots of migrating Monarch butterflies. I think they had 5 or 6 Bald Eagles that day, but it was before I arrived. I also took a walk down one of the trails and found quite a few large dusky salamanders and red efts (immature red spotted newts) as well as a spectacular large orange and black millipede (Apheloria virginiensis) shown in the picture above.

On my way home in September I passed through Swatara Gap State Park where I saw some cool black anthills near the river. The surface sand was white but there must have been a coal seam just underground since all the anthills were black. Near the same location I found a few marine fossils from the Ordovician period, mostly horn corals and brachiopods.

Links:

Lepidoptera of Fort Indiantown Gap - Paper describing the unique habitats and conservation importance of FTIG.

Turkey Vulture Migration Project - radio tracking TVs in Pennsylvania

PaleoEcology of the Swatara Gap Fauna