Archive | 2012 | July | 10

It sounds medieval: maggots poured onto an open wound to heal a flesh-eating infection. But that’s exactly the treatment one man recently received at a Scarborough hospital.

Waclaw Tyszkiewicz was admitted in late March with a festering infection in his right foot that had gradually begun to crawl up his leg.

The situation was getting dire, and amputation, he was told, would soon be his only hope.

That is, until a nurse at Scarborough’s Rouge Valley Centenary Hospital suggested one other possible treatment.

Maggots.

The slimy fly larvae, more often seen wriggling through decomposing animals and rotting fruit, could be applied to his leg to treat the rapidly growing infection.

Tyszkiewicz’s problems began when his body had failed to fight off an infection, triggered when he cut a callus off his foot with a knife. Suffering from diabetes, all other treatments the 59-year-old Polish immigrant had undergone since arriving at the hospital, had failed.

Rose Raizman, a wound specialist trained in Israel and Canada, was the nurse who suggested the maggot treatment along with Dr. Marietta Zorn. Raizman had seen flesh wounds like this before, but Tyszkiewicz’s was on the more severe end of the scale.

“We were pretty concerned about his leg,” she said.

Despite the fact that medical maggots have been shown to work, the federal government has made it difficult for them to be developed for medical purposes within the country. So Zorn, like other medical practitioners, have to look elsewhere for their maggot supply.

California-based Monarch Labs is the exclusive supplier of medical maggots to the U.S. and Canada, delivering about a dozen orders per year to Canada.

“It’s low relative to where it could and should be, and that’s because it is not completely hassle-free,” co-founder and director Dr. Ronald Sherman explained.

Since they have a short lifespan, it’s vital the maggots arrive overnight in a temperature-controlled box and are applied to the wound within 24 hours.

Specially-bred blowfly maggots are the larvae of choice because unlike other types of maggots, they only eat dead flesh.

In a series of three treatments — once each week for three weeks, Tyszkiewicz had 800 maggots feast on the dead flesh on his wound for up to 36 hours at a time.

After each round, the area was doused with a peroxide rinse, and the maggots were disposed of, with new maggots replacing the dead ones each round.

Despite what Zorn called the “ick factor” of maggot therapy, most patients, like Tyszkiewicz, are eager to try it if the alternative means amputation. Not that Tyszkiewicz found it a pleasurable experience.

The hardest part of the whole experience, according to Tyszkiewicz, was getting a good night’s sleep. “At night I (could) feel them bite me,” he said. “It was a little bit bad, but what can you do?”

After the maggots were removed from the wound, Tyszkiewicz had to undergo suction treatment — it uses dressing that is meant to speed up tissue regrowth.

Although he lost a toe to the infection, Tyszkiewicz can walk and is 90 per cent healed. By the end of the month, he should be fully recovered.

By sharing his story, he hopes that more Canadians will come to see maggots as a treatment for flesh-eating infections.

“It’s beautiful,” he said. “Every time I see Rose I say thanks, thanks, thanks, a million times thanks. … She saved my (foot).”

Source: The Star

Representing Israel in this year’s Olympic Games

Knesset’s Economic Affairs committee approves bill protecting captive costumers; if approved by parliament, costumers will be allowed to bring their own food when going to the movies.

Soon, Israelis will be allowed to bring their own food and beverages when going to the movies – that is if a bill cleared on Tuesday by the Knesset.

The Knesset’s Economic Committee approved on Tuesday a bill, known as the “popcorn bill,” which allows bringing food and beverages bought outside cinema complexes into the theatres. The bill is aimed at preventing a state where captive costumers are forced to pay excessive charges.

The bill also allows the public to bring food and beverages into businesses which sell their own food and are located in closed areas, such as concerts and movie theaters.

MK Carmel Shama-Hacohen (Likud), who promoted the bill, said he is “glad that after a long struggle and despite the theater’s objections, the committee approved my bill to defend the captive costumers in movie theaters, sport events, hospitals, etc.”

In discussions leading up to the approval, the theater’s representative said that the companies are not ashamed for profiting off selling food and drinks, and also warned that if the bill becomes a law it would give a fatal blow to the cinemas.
Soon, Israelis will be allowed to bring their own food and beverages when going to the movies – that is if a bill cleared on Tuesday for Knesset vote will be approved by parliament.

Source: Haaretz.com

According to the UN World Investment Report, investment in Israel totaled $11.37 billion in 2011, 106% more than in 2010.

The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) World Investment Report 2012 states that global foreign direct investment (FDI) rose 16% from $1.3 trillion in 2010 to $1.5 trillion in 2011. Global FDI was higher in 2011 than the annual average in 2005-07, before the economic crisis.

FDI flows to developed countries were 21% higher in 2011 than in 2010. Despite this increase, developing and transition economies together continued to account for more than half of global FDI (45% and 6%, respectively) in 2011.

UNCTAD predicts foreign direct investment growth will slow in 2012, with flows leveling off at $1.6 trillion, because of a resurgence in economic uncertainty and the possibility of lower growth rates in major emerging markets.

According to UNCTAD, FDI inflow to Israel totaled $11.37 billion in 2011, 106% more than the $5.51 billion in 2010. FDI inflow to Israel accounted for 25% of gross capital formation in 2011, up from 16.9% in 2010.

FDI inflow to Israel in 2011 was higher than the three-year average of $9.63 billion in 2005-07, before the global crisis. However, FDI inflow to Israel as a of gross capital formation fell to 25% in 2011, less than the 36.8% average in 2005-07.

FDI outflow from Israel totaled $3 billion in 2011, less than the three-year average of $5.74 billion in 2005-07, before the global crisis. FDI outflow from Israel accounted for 6.6% of gross capital formation in 2011, less than the 22% average in 2005-07.

The synopsis of the report on Israel was prepared by the College of Management’s Business School.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 9, 2012

Arava Power president hopes solar energy work makes Israel “renewable light unto the nations.”

CNN has named Yosef Abramowitz, president and cofounder of the firm responsible for Israel’s first solar field, as one of six global “Green Pioneers.”

A program about the six pioneers will appear on CNN for the first time on Friday, highlighting the significant environmental achievements of “men and women with big ideas to change the world.”

The show is part of an overall CNN “Going Green” series being broadcast throughout 2012.

Abramowitz, 48, made aliya with his wife and five children from Massachusetts in 2006, and soon after founded Arava Power Company at Kibbutz Ketura with partners Ed Hofland from the kibbutz and David Rosenblatt from New Jersey.

Now dubbed “Captain Sunshine” by his colleagues, Abramowitz had spent time volunteering on Kibbutz Ketura 30 years ago, and last summer he was able to inaugurate a 4.95-megawatt, medium-sized photovoltaic field on that very same land.

Today, Arava Power is developing a large-sized, 40- megawatt solar field directly across Road 90 from the first field, whose power supply will be equivalent to one-third of the electricity needs of the city of Eilat, according to the company.

Arava Power is also in the process of developing hundreds of megawatts of projects in the Arava and Negev deserts, and this spring, the firm closed on eight medium-sized projects worth NIS 800 million.

In addition to advocating solar development rights for the Negev’s Beduin population, Abramowitz has been instrumental in bringing solar capabilities to other underserved communities around the world. In Haiti – which was ravaged by the 2010 earthquake – Abramowitz is a partner in a forum led by former US president Bill Clinton to help develop a solar energy industry for the island, the company said.

Meanwhile, only last week, Abramowitz and his family traveled to Rwanda to volunteer in the Aghozo-Shalom Youth Village, where among other activities, he taught young people there about the potential of employing solar energy.

“It is an honor to represent Israel as a Green Pioneer,” Abramowitz said. “The choice of an Israeli for a program focused on environmental issues is proof that [the] world looks to us as an example for environmental technology and innovation. With the help of the government of Israel and its support for solar energy, we will continue to be a renewable light unto the nations.”

In a 5-minute clip previewing Abramowitz’s participation in the program, the anchor describes his target as “to bring solar power to Israel on a commercial scale.” During the same preview, Abramowitz himself says that “this land was made for solar power” and that solar work performed there can “become a catalyst to work with other countries.”

In addition to Abramowitz, another of the pioneers is Ikal Angelei from Friends of Lake Turkana in Kenya, who was among the winners of this year’s San Francisco-based Goldman Environmental Prize.

She also receives funding from American Jewish World Service for her work combating the construction of a huge dam in southern Ethiopia.

Three of the other pioneers include David Stubbs, head of sustainability for the London 2012 Olympics; Princess Sayyida Tania Al Said, president of the Environment Society of Oman; and Erin Schrode, founder of United States-based organization Turning Green.

CNN will first air the “Green Pioneers” program on Friday, July 13 at 6:30 p.m. local time, followed by additional broadcasts on Saturday, July 14 (4:00 p.m., 11:30 p.m.), Sunday, July 15 (12:30 p.m., 11:30 p.m.), Monday, July 16 (6:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m.), Tuesday, July 17 (12:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m.) and Wednesday, July 18 (7:30 a.m.)

Source: Jpost.com

Yissum Introduces a Novel Method for Treating Cancer Based on a Protein Encoded by HIV-1

Finding published in Blood, journal of the American society of hematology -

Yissum, Research and Development Company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, introduces a novel method for treating cancer based on Vif, a protein isolated from the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV-1). The method was invented by Professor Emeritus Moshe Kotler and Dr. Roni Nowarski from the Department of Immunology and Cancer Research at the Hebrew University. The scientists discovered a small peptide derived from the HIV-1 Vif protein, which inhibits DNA repair specifically in activated hematopoietic cells following exposure to ionizing radiation. This, in effect, can be used to inhibit DNA repair in lymphoid and meyloid malignancies, such as lymphoma or myeloma, thereby rendering them more susceptible to radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

The Vif-derived peptide prevents DNA repair by inhibiting a protein, called A3G, which is responsible for anti-viral innate immunity. However, the researchers discovered that A3G also plays a role in DNA repair in lymphoid and myeloid malignancies. Furthermore, since the novel cancer treatment method targets an antiviral protein with no known essential functions involving normal cell physiology, and which is uniquely expressed in activated and malignant hematopoietic cells, it is expected to have minimal side effects. The novel Vif peptide has already been shown to significantly increase the efficiency of radiation therapy in cultured lymphoma and myeloma cells. The findings were published under the title APOBEC3G enhances lymphoma cell radioresistance by promoting cytidine deaminase-dependent DNA repair by Nowarski et al., in the latest issue of Blood, the journal of the American society of hematology.

The technology was patented by Yissum, which is currently searching for an appropriate partner for the further development and commercialization of the product.

DNA breaks induced by ionizing radiation or by chemotherapy are often used in order to kill various types of cancer cells. Double strand DNA breaks are very toxic to cells, if not repaired, leading to cell death. However, an elevated DNA break-repair capacity in several cancer cells often leads to radiation resistance and severely limits the efficacy of radiation treatment and chemotherapy.

Yaacov Michlin, CEO of Yissum, commented, “According to the CDC, in 2010 cancer was the second leading cause of death in the US, slightly surpassed only by heart disease. Therefore, there is a great need for more effective, targeted treatments, with fewer side effects. The treatment invented by the Hebrew University researchers holds great promise as a new biological treatment for cancer.”

About Yissum

Yissum Research Development Company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Ltd. was founded in 1964 to protect and commercialize the Hebrew University’s intellectual property. Products based on Hebrew University technologies that have been commercialized by Yissum currently generate $2 Billion in annual sales. Ranked among the top technology transfer companies in the world, Yissum has registered over 7,700 patents covering 2,200 inventions; has licensed out 580 technologies and has spun out 74 companies. Yissum’s business partners span the globe and include companies such as Novartis, Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Intel, Teva and many more. For further information please visit www.yissum.co.il .

SOURCE: MarketWatch

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