Links

Every patient sample used in the study (taken from the nationwide WPI repository gathered from several regional physician practices) had a physician's diagnosis of CFS. To further validate the samples, the research team used the well-established CDC and Canadian Consensus Criteria for CFS in every case. The healthy controls were healthy people who came to a doctor's office for a routine sample or from DNA used in routine diagnostics. In order to meet legal human assurance requirements, identifiers for the control population are not available to the investigators. Nor was additional information on the patient samples used in this study. Age, sex, duration of illness, medical history and medication use have no impact on the identification of a new human retroviral pathogen.

Some pairings are just meant to be: peanut butter and chocolate, yin and yang, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. So it was only a matter of time before the stars in the universe lined up and suggested the collaboration between New York Times best selling author Bradley Trevor Greive and award-winning photographer Rachael Hale. Teaming up on their first collaborative effort, Greive and Hale explain once and for all Why Dogs Are Better Than Cats. Now, before all you cat lovers find your fur standing on end, Greive is quick to stress that he is simply "prodog, not anticat. The purpose of this book is not to criticize cats or their owners, but to champion the many exceptional virtues unique to dogs." What are these unique attributes that make canine companions superior to their feline fiends? (Oops, we meant friends.) Consider the following: Put simply: * Dogs are social. Cats are sociopaths. * Dogs match up to people. People must match up to cats. * Dogs teach us patience. Cats test our patience. * Dogs give and give. Cats are the gift that keeps on grifting. The bottom line is this: Dogs want love. Cats want fish. Although Greive admits that there is something to be said for "soft, warm, and sleepy" (a.k.a. cats) as captured in Hale's cuddly feline photographs, he concludes that dogs would be the only ones with character enough to admit this fact, thereby once again positioning themselves as the superior pet, confidant, admirer, and friend.

XMRV is strongly linked to patients with ME/CFS. This initial finding was confirmed in three different laboratories, the National Cancer Institute, the Cleveland Clinic and the Whittemore Peterson Institute. Patient samples were donated from different locations around the US. This was not one cohort. All patients met the Fakuda and Canadian definitions for CFS and the study included age and sex matched controls with zip codes but Science did not feel that information was important to this publication. Not all patient samples that were positive had the biological markers of low NK cell function and RNase L defect. The importance of this finding is two fold. One that XMRV is an infectious retrovirus found in significant numbers in the blood of people who are ill with CFS and only in a very few without symptoms of ME/CFS. Number two is that it was found in 4% of healthy controls which means that 10 million Americans may be infected with this retrovirus.What you ultimately call this disease is not important. We must now try to understand how this virus is acquired and how that relates to disease and immune deficiencies. Human infectious retroviruses are not ubiquitous or benign. This virus should not be confused with benign endogenous retroviral particles that we all have in our genome. This is only the third human infectious retrovirus found to be replicating in the blood of humans to date, the other two are HIV and HTLV-1 & 2. It is a gamma retrovirus not a lenti retrovirus which means it is a simple vs. a complex retrovirus.

Dr Klimas talks about XMRV, what it means, what's next and what you can do. Taped Oct. 12th 2009 in her office. Feel free to copy and re-post the video to assure maximum distribution. Apologies for the poor sound of a home video machine.

John Coffin, a professor of molecular biology and microbiology at Tufts University in Boston, and author of "A New Virus for Old Diseases?" That's in the Science Express

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a disease characterized by fatigue and chronic inflammation that can last years and may affect ~1% of the world’s population. The etiology of the disease is unknown, although several viruses have been suggested to be involved, including enteroviruses and herpesviruses.

Host: Sam ShadGuests: Annette Whittemore, president and founder of the Whittemore Peterson Institute and Judy Mikovits, Ph.D., director of research for WPI Pundits: Helen Foley, Faiss Foley Warren Russell Rowe, Kaempfer Crowell Paul Enos, Nevada Motor Transport Association, Inc

EARLIER this month, a study published in the journal Science answered a question that medical scientists had been asking since 2006, when they learned of a novel virus found in prostate tumors called xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus, or XMRV: Was it a human infection?

Lazette Gifford's free NaNoWriMo handbook.

For Netbooks

Widescreen format (1680 x 1050); Desktop calendar for NaNoWriMo 2009 showing both Reaching 50,000 daily word goals as well as goals for reaching 100,000.Calendar centred for desktop items on right or left.

Shelfari has always been a place where people come together to talk about their books.  A place where you can show off your virtual bookshelf and where communities form around your favorite books and authors.  It’s no surprise to us that you can learn a lot about someone by seeing what’s on his or her bookshelf.