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First Wolf-dog Hybrid Confirmed in Greece

Wolf-dog hybrids are rarer than first thought. Even the theory about how dogs originated from a relative of the grey wolf (pictured here) has shifted over time. DENIS LOVROVIC / AFP/File
Wolf-dog hybrids are rarer than first thought. Even the theory about how dogs originated from a relative of the grey wolf (pictured here) has shifted over time. DENIS LOVROVIC / AFP/File
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First Wolf-dog Hybrid Confirmed in Greece

Wolf-dog hybrids are rarer than first thought. Even the theory about how dogs originated from a relative of the grey wolf (pictured here) has shifted over time. DENIS LOVROVIC / AFP/File
Wolf-dog hybrids are rarer than first thought. Even the theory about how dogs originated from a relative of the grey wolf (pictured here) has shifted over time. DENIS LOVROVIC / AFP/File

A prominent Greek wildlife group on Friday said it had confirmed the first case of a wolf-dog hybrid in the north of the country.

The Callisto group -- which is currently involved in efforts to trap a rogue wolf in Halkidiki, northern Greece -- said the hybrid was found near the northern city of Thessaloniki.

"This is the first genetic (case) to be confirmed in Greece," Callisto biologist Aimilia Ioakimeidou told a conference in Athens.

The animal is 45 percent wolf and 55 percent canine according to DNA testing, she said.

It was discovered during tests on 50 wolf samples from the Greek mainland, Ioakimeidou said.

While wolf-dog hybrids had previously been reported in Europe, Central Asia and the United States, that categorization largely stemmed from just the appearance of the animals, said AFP.

Later genetic testing has shown such hybrids are rarer than first thought.

The wolf population in Greece has been growing steadily in past years as a result of a 1983 hunting ban under the Berne Convention.

According to a recent six-year study recently concluded by Callisto, it stands at 2,075 individuals, including at least three packs of a minimum of 31 wolves in the Mount Parnitha range near Athens.

The Thessaloniki-based organization aims to study, protect and manage the populations and habitats of large carnivores such as bears and wolves and other endangered species.

It is currently mounting an operation to locate a young wolf that injured a five-year-old girl from Serbia in the coastal resort of Neos Marmaras on September 12.

While domesticated dogs came from a close relative to the grey wolf some 40,000 to 15,000 years ago, the story of their origin has shifted in recent times.

A longstanding popular theory had held that wolves became tame by hanging around human settlements for food scraps.

But that has been challenged, and another theory holds that perhaps human hunter-gatherers took wolf pups to rear and they developed into the dogs we have today.

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Some Supplements Can Make Your Medication Less Effective

Some vitamin and mineral supplements can interfere with absorption of medications (Oklahoma State University) 
Some vitamin and mineral supplements can interfere with absorption of medications (Oklahoma State University) 
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Some Supplements Can Make Your Medication Less Effective

Some vitamin and mineral supplements can interfere with absorption of medications (Oklahoma State University) 
Some vitamin and mineral supplements can interfere with absorption of medications (Oklahoma State University) 

Health experts warned that some supplements can interact with certain medications and reduce their effectiveness, according to Eating Well website.

While these supplements are usually sold over-the-counter, taking them without asking a health care provider can have dangerous impact on your health.

Naturopathic doctor Jacob Wolf said that for instance, some vitamin and mineral supplements can interfere with absorption of medications.

Other supplements can bind with medications, preventing the drug from being utilized in the body, or they may be metabolized by the same or similar pathways as medications, explains Wolf. That can have a dangerous impact on your health.

Top offenders include calcium, magnesium, iron, fiber, activated charcoal and vitamins C and K.

Minerals like calcium, magnesium and iron can bind with medications, especially levothyroxine, a drug used to treat hypothyroidism, said Wolf.

“This can impact how levothyroxine is utilized in the body, adversely affecting treatment,” he explained.

These minerals can also interact with antibiotics in the tetracycline and fluoroquinolone class, said pharmacist Amanda Corbett.

Taking these mineral supplements at the same time as antibiotics may reduce the bioavailability of the antibiotic, creating risks like bacterial resistance or ineffective treatment.

And while scientists affirm fiber is an important nutrient for digestive regularity, healthy cholesterol levels and blood sugar management, supplementing isn’t always a great idea, as large doses can impact the absorption of certain medications.

Fiber-rich foods are a cornerstone of blood sugar management, even for those taking blood sugar–lowering medications, like metformin.

Fiber may also impair the effectiveness of other drugs, including digoxin (which treats certain heart conditions) and levothyroxine for hypothyroidism, Wolf said.

Therefore, if you do choose to take a fiber supplement, Wolf recommended speaking with your health care provider about spacing out your fiber and medication doses.

As for activated charcoal, it is a form of carbon that is used in the emergency room to treat the ingestion of toxic drugs and poisons.

“Activated charcoal acts like a sponge and can bind to many medications. It is best to completely avoid activated charcoal if on any life-critical medication,” said Wolf.

For Vitamin C, it is an important antioxidant that protects cells from free radical damage and supports proper immune system function.

However, if you are undergoing chemotherapy treatment for cancer, experts strongly caution against taking vitamin C supplements.

“Vitamin C can lead to certain chemotherapies being less effective or ineffective in treating cancer,” said Corbett.

Vitamin E, another antioxidant, can also interfere with chemotherapy’s effectiveness.

If taking Vitamin K, which is a fat-soluble vitamin that helps blood clot and shores up bone health, you should know that it can reduce the effectiveness of a blood-thinning medication called warfarin (Coumadin).

That, in turn, can make blood more likely to clot, which can lead to a heart attack or stroke.

If you are taking warfarin, you don’t necessarily need to avoid vitamin K, but it is critical to keep the amount you consume—from both foods and supplements—consistent to avoid clotting problems.

Experts advise that to take supplements safely, consult with your health care provider.

Many supplements can interact with medications, and so it’s critical to connect with your prescribing health care provider to make sure that the supplements you’re taking play nice with your medications.

Also, look for those that have been independently tested in a laboratory, recommended Corbett.

Experts say you should also know how much to take. Supplement dosages are listed on the label, but they aren’t standardized.

That means they can vary from product to product, and may far exceed safe levels.

 

 

 

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Rejuvenated Human Eggs… Scientists Revolutionize IVF Success

Egg quality is the primary cause of IVF failure and miscarriage in older women (Reuters) 
Egg quality is the primary cause of IVF failure and miscarriage in older women (Reuters) 
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Rejuvenated Human Eggs… Scientists Revolutionize IVF Success

Egg quality is the primary cause of IVF failure and miscarriage in older women (Reuters) 
Egg quality is the primary cause of IVF failure and miscarriage in older women (Reuters) 

German scientists claim to have “rejuvenated” human eggs for the first time in an advance that they predict could revolutionize IVF success rates for older women.

The groundbreaking research suggests that an age-related defect that causes genetic errors in embryos could be reversed by supplementing eggs with a crucial protein, according to The Guardian.

When eggs donated by fertility patients were given microinjections of the protein, they were almost half as likely to show the defect compared with untreated eggs.

If confirmed in more extensive trials, the approach has the potential to improve egg quality, which is the primary cause of IVF failure and miscarriage in older women.

The decline in egg quality is the main reason IVF success rates drop steeply with female age and is why the risk of chromosome disorders such as Down’s syndrome increases with maternal age.

“Overall we can nearly halve the number of eggs with [abnormal] chromosomes. That’s a very prominent improvement,” said Prof Melina Schuh, a director at the Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences in Göttingen and a co-founder of Ovo Labs, which is aiming to commercialize the technique.

“Most women in their early 40s do have eggs, but nearly all of the eggs have incorrect chromosome numbers,” added Schuh, whose lab has been investigating egg biology for the past two decades. “This was the motivation for wanting to address this problem.”

The latest approach targets a vulnerability in eggs linked to a process called meiosis, in which sex cells (eggs or sperm) jettison half their genetic material so they can join together to make an embryo.

In eggs, this requires 23 pairs of X-shaped chromosomes to align along a single axis in the cell. On fertilization, the cell divides causing the chromosome pairs to be – ideally – neatly snapped down their centers to create a cell with precisely 23 single chromosomes from the mother, the rest being delivered by the sperm.

However, in older eggs the chromosome pairs tend to loosen at their midpoint, becoming slightly unstuck or detaching entirely before fertilization.

In this scenario, the X-shaped structures fail to line up properly and move around chaotically in the cell, so when the cell divides they are not snapped symmetrically.

This results in an embryo with too many or too few chromosomes.

Schuh and colleagues previously found that a protein, Shugoshin 1, which appears to act as a glue for the chromosome pairs, declines with age. In the latest experiments in mouse and human eggs, they found that microinjections of Shugoshin 1 appeared to reverse the problem of chromosome pairs separating prematurely.

Using eggs donated by patients at the Bourn Hall fertility clinic in Cambridge, they found that the number showing the defect decreased from 53% in control eggs to 29% in treated eggs. When they looked only at eggs from women over 35 years of age, a similar trend was seen (65% compared with 44%), although this result was not statistically significant, which the scientists said was probably due to them only having treated nine eggs in this age range.

Dr Agata Zielinska, a co-founder and co-CEO of Ovo Labs, said: “Currently, when it comes to female factor infertility, the only solution that’s available to most patients is trying IVF multiple times so that, cumulatively, your likelihood of success increases. What we envision is that many more women would be able to conceive within a single IVF cycle.”

The findings will be presented at the British Fertility Conference in Edinburgh on Friday and have been published as a preprint paper on the Biorxiv website.

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Swiss Author Erich von Daeniken Dies at 90

Erich von Daeniken, co-founder and co-owner of Mystery Park, poses in front of the Panorama Tower at Mystery Park in Interlaken, Wednesday, April 23, 2003. (Gaetan Ball)/Keystone via AP, File)
Erich von Daeniken, co-founder and co-owner of Mystery Park, poses in front of the Panorama Tower at Mystery Park in Interlaken, Wednesday, April 23, 2003. (Gaetan Ball)/Keystone via AP, File)
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Swiss Author Erich von Daeniken Dies at 90

Erich von Daeniken, co-founder and co-owner of Mystery Park, poses in front of the Panorama Tower at Mystery Park in Interlaken, Wednesday, April 23, 2003. (Gaetan Ball)/Keystone via AP, File)
Erich von Daeniken, co-founder and co-owner of Mystery Park, poses in front of the Panorama Tower at Mystery Park in Interlaken, Wednesday, April 23, 2003. (Gaetan Ball)/Keystone via AP, File)

Swiss author Erich von Daeniken, who helped popularize the idea that astronauts from outer space visited Earth ​to help lay the foundations for human civilization, has died aged 90.

Swiss media including national broadcaster SRF reported his death, and a note on his website said it occurred on Saturday, The AP news reported.

Von Daeniken rose to ‌prominence with ‌his 1968 book "Chariots of ‌the ⁠Gods?" ​which posited ‌that structures such as the pyramids of Ancient Egypt, Britain's Stonehenge and Peru's Nazca lines were too advanced for their time, and needed outside help.

"In my opinion, ancient structures were made ⁠by humans, not by the extraterrestrials, but it was ‌the extraterrestrials who guided them, ‍who them, ‍who gave them the knowledge how to ‍do it," von Daeniken says in a video on his YouTube channel.

His theories were controversial with historians, scientists and fellow ​writers. But they were popular, and his books, which included "The Gods were ⁠Astronauts", sold nearly 70 million copies worldwide, appearing in more than 30 languages, SRF said.

Von Daeniken argued that ancient religions, myths and art contained evidence that millennia ago, the ancestors of modern humans had made contact with advanced extraterrestrial beings who appeared godlike to them and enabled them to progress.

One ‌day, von Daeniken said, those beings would return.