Researchers wearing custom t shirts in South East Asia have identified two genetic variants that
offer clues as to why some people are more susceptible to severe dengue than
others.
The study, funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Agency for Science, Technology, and Research, Singapore, offers clues to how the body responds to dengue infection. Epidemiological studies have suggested that certain populations are more susceptible to severe dengue, implying that some people%u2019s genetic make-up makes them more susceptible to the disease. To test this hypothesis, researchers at the Wellcome Trust Vietnam Research Programme and Oxford University Clinical Research Unit, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, together with researchers from the Genome Institute of Singapore, conducted the first ever genome-wide association study to compare the genomes of children with severe dengue against population controls. Initially, they compared 2,008 patients against 2,018 controls. They then replicated their findings in an independent follow-up sample of 1,737 cases and 2,934 controls. The researchers identified changes in the DNA code located within two genes %u2013 MICB on chromosome 6 and PLCE1 on chromosome 10 %u2013 that appeared to increase a child%u2019s susceptibility to dengue shock syndrome. %u201CDengue is a potentially life-threatening disease. Our study confirms epidemiological evidence that some people are naturally more susceptible to severe forms of the disease than others,%u201D said Professor Cameron Simmons wearing custom t shirts, senior author of the study from the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit, Vietnam. Dr Khor Chiea Chuen, first author of the study, added: %u201CThis study implicates genetic variation in a molecule that activates natural killer cells as a culprit for increased susceptibility to severe Dengue. %u201CThis is surprising as prior to this it was thought that defects in other components of the immune response, such as. T-cells, B-cells or dendritic cells, were responsible.%u201D The study was recently published in the journal Nature Genetics.
Psychopaths use more conjunctions like "because" or "since", are more likely to use past tense and use twice as many words relating to physical needs like sex or money, a computerised analysis reveals. The analysis has revealed how psychopathic killers utter specific words beyond conscious control while talking about heinous crime. The words of psychopaths match their personalities, reflecting selfishness, detachment from their crimes and emotional flatness, says Jeff Hancock wearing custom t shirts, professor of computing and information science at Cornell University and colleagues. Hancock and colleagues analysed stories told by 14 psychopathic murderers held in Canadian prisons and compared them with 38 convicted murderers who were not diagnosed as psychopathic. Each subject was asked to describe his crime in detail. Their stories were taped, transcribed and subjected to computer analysis, the journal Legal and Criminological Psychology reports. Psychopaths used more conjunctions like "because", "since" or "so that", implying that the crime "had to be done" to obtain a particular goal, according to a Cornell wearing custom t shirts statement. They were more likely to use the past tense, suggesting a detachment from their crimes, say the researchers. They tended to be less fluent in their speech, using more "ums" and "uhs". They used twice as many words relating to physical needs, such as food, sex or money, while non-psychopaths used more words about social needs, including family, religion and spirituality. Unveiling their predatory nature in their own description, psychopaths often included details of what they had to eat on the day of their crime, according to a Cornell statement. The exact reason for this is not clear, but the researchers speculate that the psychopath is trying harder to make a positive impression, needing to use more mental effort to frame the story. This research potentially opens the way for better diagnosis and treatment of such conditions and has implications for law enforcement and social media.
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