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Researchers Study Ebola Link to Gene in Rare Disease

WALL STREET JOURNAL                             Nov 3, 2014

By Amy Dockser Marcus

In the search for answers about Ebola, researchers are starting to look at an unexpected group of people: parents of children who have the rare but fatal genetic disease Niemann-Pick Type C.

Blood and tissue samples from Hugh and Chris Hempel of Reno, Nev., whose children have a rare disease, may help in ongoing Ebola research. Hempel family

The intersection between research in Ebola and NPC disease was surprising, and came after two scientific papers were published in 2011 demonstrating that a protein made by the same gene related to NPC disease is essential for Ebola infection.

Ebola uses the so-called NPC1 protein made by the gene to get into the cell and replicate the virus.

Now, research suggests that the gene that causes NPC disease may also offer protection against Ebola.

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http://online.wsj.com/articles/researchers-study-ebola-link-to-gene-in-rare-disease-1414965218

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Ebola-carrying bats may be heroes as well as villains

REUTERS                                                                                  NOV. 2, 014

By Ben Hirschler

LONDON - Bats are living up to their frightening reputation in the world's worst Ebola outbreak as prime suspects for spreading the deadly virus to humans, but scientists believe they may also shed valuable light on fighting infection.

Fruit bats are seen for sale at a food market in Brazzavile, Republic of Congo, in this file photograph dated December 15, 2005. REUTERS/Jiro Ose/Files

Bats can carry more than 100 different viruses, including Ebola, rabies and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), without becoming sick themselves.

While that makes them a fearsome reservoir of disease, especially in the forests of Africa where they migrate vast distances, it also opens the intriguing possibility that scientists might learn their trick in keeping killers like Ebola at bay.

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The Ebola questions

Scientists know a lot about the virus that causes Ebola — but there are many puzzles that they have yet to solve.

NATURE SCIENCE International Weekly Journal of Science                                   Oct. 29, 2014

By Erika Check Hayden

Scientists know a lot about the virus that causes Ebola — but there are many puzzles that they have yet to solve.

An Ebola virus particle from the 2014 outbreak.

To much of the world, the virus behind the devastating Ebola outbreak in Africa seems to have stormed out of nowhere. But Leslie Lobel thinks we should have seen it coming.

In 2012, Lobel and a team of researchers spent six months in Uganda studying the Ebola virus and related viruses. Over the course of their stay, these pathogens caused at least four separate outbreaks of disease in central Africa, affecting more than 100 people. To Lobel, a virologist at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beer-Sheva, Israel, the outbreaks felt like the small tremors that can precede a major earthquake. “We all said, something is going on here; something big is going to happen,” he says.

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Assessing the Science of Ebola Transmission

THREE ARTICLES DESCRIBING DETAILS OF THE EBOLA VIRUS AND OTHER VIRUSES.
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Advances in microscopy have allowed scientists like Sriram Subramaniam and colleagues at the National Cancer Institute to look at the workings of tiny viruses. In this case, microscopy was used to illustrate the complex process in which human cells infected with HIV-1, green and blue, are linked to uninfected cells. Credit Illustration by Donald Bliss/N.I.H, from The Journal of Virology/American Society for Microbiology

The research on how the virus spreads is not as ambiguous as some have made it seem

THE ATLANTIC                                                                                                          Oct. 28, 2014

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Employment - World Bank - Job Description - Data Scientist

The World Bank is in search of data scientists for bigdata. Apply Now!

CLICK HERE - Job Description - Data Scientist

CLICK HERE - Job Description - Senior Data Scientist

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Woman dies after flying to Gatwick from Ebola hit Sierra Leone

 

A woman has died after landing at Gatwick airport on a flight from Sierra Leone, one of the countries at the centre of the deadly Ebola outbreak.

The 72-year-old was understood to have been “vomiting and sweating” before she collapsed and was taken by ambulance to hospital.

She had been travelling on a Gambia Bird flight with 128 passengers on board from Sierra Leone, which has declared a state of emergency after more than 200 people have died in the country from the disease.

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The Resilience Dividend by Judith Rodin

Published on Jul 10, 2014

Cities have always had to contend with things like natural disaster, economic and infrastructure collapse, and widespread illness. But globalization, climate change and rapid urbanization are making this moment in history different, and the stresses facing cities all the more complex. So how can cities survive, adapt, and grow, no matter what shocks might lie ahead? Join the Rockefeller Foundation's Judith Rodin for a look at what she calls "the resilience dividend" — investments that can minimize the disruptive effects of strain on a city, while simultaneously creating jobs, social cohesion, and equity.

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U.S. Policy Today for Africa Tomorrow: A Conversation with Ambassadors Carson, Lyman, and Moose

July 22, 2014 2:00pm - 3:30pm ET

Location:
U.S. Institute of Peace
2301 Constitution Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20037 | Directions

Please read: Important information for guests attending public events at USIP.

RSVP Now 

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As Sea Ice Shrinks, Arctic Shipping Options Expand

Map of the Northwest Passage. Photo Credit: Hugo Ahlenius, UNEP/GRID-ArendalPhoto: Map of the Northwest Passage. Photo Credit: Hugo Ahlenius, UNEP/GRID-Arendal

earth-policy.org - December 19th, 2013 - Janet Larsen and Emily E. Adams

On October 7, 2013, the Nordic Orion bulk carrier ship completed its journey from Vancouver, Canada, to Pori, Finland, having traveled northward around Alaska and through the Northwest Passage.

It was the first large commercial freighter ever to make the voyage through these typically ice-covered Arctic waters.

Avoiding the longer journey, through the Panama Canal, reportedly saved $80,000 in fuel costs and five days in travel time.

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test open layers map

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