A gene responsible for chronic pain has been identified, with scientists saying this could lead to drugs for treating long-lasting back pain.

Writing in the journal Science, University of Cambridge researchers removed the HCN2 gene from pain-sensitive nerves in mice.

Deleting the gene stopped any chronic pain but did not affect acute pain.

About one in seven people in the UK suffer from chronic pain, which can also include arthritis and headaches.

The researchers say their findings open up the possibility that new drugs could be developed to block the protein produced by the HCN2 gene, which regulates chronic pain.

The HCN2 gene, which is expressed in pain-sensitive nerve endings, has been known for several years, but its role in regulating pain was not understood.

For the study, the researchers removed the HCN2 gene from pain-sensitive nerves. They then carried out studies using electrical stimuli on these nerves in cell cultures to determine how they were altered by the removal of HCN2.

They then studied genetically modified mice in which the HCN2 gene had been deleted.

By measuring the speed that the mice withdrew from different types of painful stimuli, the scientists were able to conclude that deleting the HCN2 gene abolished neuropathic pain.

However, they found that deleting HCN2 did not affect normal acute pain – which occurs suddenly, for example when biting one’s tongue.

‘No respite’

Chronic pain comes in two main varieties. Inflammatory pain occurs when a persistent injury, such as a burn or arthritis, results in very sensitive nerve endings which increase the sensation of pain.

Neuropathic pain occurs when nerves are damaged, causing ongoing pain. This type of chronic pain, which is often lifelong, is surprisingly common and is poorly treated by current drugs, the study says.

It is often seen in patients with diabetes and shingles, and in the aftermath of cancer chemotherapy. It is also common in lower back pain and other chronic painful conditions.

Professor Peter McNaughton, lead author of the study and head of the department of pharmacology at the University of Cambridge, said there was now hope for these people.

“Individuals suffering from neuropathic pain often have little or no respite because of the lack of effective medications. Our research lays the groundwork for the development of new drugs to treat chronic pain by blocking HCN2.”

He added: “Many genes play a critical role in pain sensation, but in most cases interfering with them simply abolishes all pain, or even all sensation.

“What is exciting about the work on the HCN2 gene is that removing it – or blocking it pharmacologically – eliminates neuropathic pain without affecting normal acute pain. This finding could be very valuable clinically because normal pain sensation is essential for avoiding accidental damage.”

Dr Brian Hammond, chairman of charity BackCare, said the findings of the study were good news.

“Any effective treatment which relieves the suffering of chronic pain is to be welcomed. Treatment which helps reduce pain but still leaves the body’s warning mechanisms intact is a major breakthrough.”

The study was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), and the European Union.

The new lithium jelly battery is tougher than the rest

A new polymer jelly could be the next big step forward for lithium batteries.

The jelly replaces the volatile and hazardous liquid electrolyte currently used in most lithium batteries.

Researchers from the University of Leeds hope their development leads to smaller, cheaper and safer gadgets.

Once on the market, the lithium jelly batteries could allow lighter laptop computers, and more efficient electric cars.

In 2006, Dell recalled four million laptop batteries because of concerns that they might catch fire. Dell replaced them with batteries that used lower-performance electrodes, but these batteries were significantly larger.

Battery size still dictates the size and weight of most laptops, say the developers of the new battery.

Electronics manufacturer Apple got around the safety problem for their lightweight laptops with a solid polymer electrolyte, but in doing so, the power output of the computers suffered.

Overheating is also an issue for electric cars. Developers have had to use reinforced, steel-clad battery housings, multiple fuses and circuits to protect the battery during charging. All of these contribute to the cost and weight, and hence efficiency, of electric cars.

Thermal runaway

The newly developed jelly batteries should prevent “thermal runaway”, during which batteries can reach hundreds of degrees and catch fire.

The Leeds-based researchers are promising that their jelly batteries are as safe as polymer batteries, perform like liquid-filled batteries, but are 10 to 20% the price of either.

The secret to their success lies in blending a rubber-like polymer with a conductive, liquid electrolyte into a thin, flexible film of gel that sits between the battery electrodes.

“The polymer gel looks like a solid film, but it actually contains about 70% liquid electrolyte,” explained the study’s lead author, Professor Ian Ward from the University of Leeds.

“The remarkable thing is that we can make the separation between the solid and liquid phase at the point that it hits the electrodes.

“Safety is of paramount importance in lithium batteries. Conventional lithium batteries use electrolytes based on organic liquids; this is what you see burning in pictures of lithium batteries that catch fire. Replacing liquid electrolytes by a polymer or gel electrolyte should improve safety and lead to an all-solid-state cell,” said Professor Peter Bruce from the University of St Andrews, who was not involved in the study.

Mr al-Arabi, left, is reported to have proposed a three-year timetable of reforms

Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi says he has agreed with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on steps aimed at ending months of violence.

Mr al-Arabi said he had urged President Assad during talks in Damascus to speed up reform plans.

At least six people are reported to have been killed in the latest anti-government demonstrations.

Rights activists said security forces shot dead five protesters in the city of Homs, and one in Idlib province.

The Arab League has criticised the violence in Syria and called on the government to recognise the legitimate social and political aspirations of the people.

‘Three-year timetable’

“We have reached agreement on steps to carry out the reforms,” Mr al-Arabi said on returning to Cairo after the talks.

He said he had urged the Syrian president to speed up reform plans through a timetable that would make every Syrian citizen feel they had moved on to a new stage.

He said the reform package he discussed in Damascus would now be put to the council of the Arab League on Monday.

Mr al-Arabi has not given many details away but, before he went, newspaper reports suggested the Arab League wanted a three-year timetable for a transition to multi-party government in Syria.

For its part, the official Syrian news agency Sana said at the end of the meeting that the Arab League was committed to Syrian stability.

It added that the two sides had agreed on a number of practical steps to speed up the reform process.

Opposition activists, meanwhile, say that violence is continuing with the security forces trying to suppress protests, even as the talks in the capital were happening.

According to the UN, more than 2,200 people have been killed in Syria since anti-government protests began more than five months ago.

The government says hundreds of its personnel have been killed.

Foreign reporters are not being allowed in to Syria so news organisations are largely dependent on unverified amateur video and reports by rights groups.

The international community has urged the Syrian president to stop targeting civilians.

The government insists that it has a political reform programme in place, but opposition leaders say there can be no free and fair elections while the ruling Baath party is in power.

Twenty-four men suspected of being held against their will have been found during a raid at a travellers’ site.

Three men and a woman were arrested on suspicion of committing slavery offences in the raid at Greenacre travellers’ site, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire on Sunday.

The men, who are English, Polish and Romanian, were found in “filthy and cramped” conditions, police said.

Some are thought to have been there for up to 15 years.

Those arrested are being held on suspicion of committing offences under the Slavery and Servitude Act 2010.

They are being held at police stations across Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire.

Weapons, drugs and money were also found at the site, police said.

About 100 officers were involved in the raids.

‘Shockingly filthy conditions’

The men, all believed to have been victims of slavery, were taken initially to an undisclosed medical centre and given medical, health and social welfare care.

The local authority is now co-ordinating their social and medical needs, while police liaison officers will keep in close touch with them.

Det Chief Insp Sean O’Neil said: “The men we found at the site were in a poor state of physical health and the conditions they were living in were shockingly filthy and cramped.

“We believe that some of them had been living and working there in a state of virtual slavery, some for just a few weeks and others for up to 15 years.

“Because of the number of victims and suspects and the size of the site, we needed the assistance of many officers from specialist units today.

“A small number of officers are remaining at the site to complete searches and to liaise with the residents. The offences that are being investigated are extremely serious.”

Police have appealed for help and ask anyone with any information to contact them in confidence.

During the operation, Bedfordshire Police were assisted by officers from the UK Human Trafficking Centre.

Police joined forces with dog handling sections, helicopter and firearms support units, to execute search warrants at the traveller site.

The meals can contain high levels of salt, fat and artificial colourings, the study suggests

Two of the nation’s favourite Indian and Chinese takeaway dishes can contain illegally high levels of certain colourings, a snapshot study suggests.

High levels of salt and saturated fat were also detected in chicken tikka masala and sweet and sour chicken meals at 223 takeaways in England and Wales.

And the Local Government Group studysays that when nut-free chicken tikkas were ordered, 20% still contained nuts.

The Department of Health said labelling was key.

The analysis of 90 Indian takeaways was based on a portion of chicken tikka masala and pilau rice.

The Food Standards Agency has called for a voluntary ban on artificial colourings including sunset yellow (E110), allura red (E129), tartrazine (E102) and ponceau 4R (E124) because of their reported link to hyperactivity in some children.

When the sauces from 25 of the meals were tested for the colourings, five of the dishes were found to contain levels above the permitted maximum of 500mg/kg allowed under current food regulations.

The study also found that the Indian meals contained 116% of an individual’s daily recommended saturated fat intake and 92% of their salt intake.

A similar analysis of sweet and sour chicken and fried rice from 133 Chinese takeaways discovered that the dish contained 119% of the recommended daily salt intake and 16 teaspoons of sugar, 75% of the recommended daily limit.

Eating too much salt is linked to high blood pressure, which can also increase the risk of developing heart disease.

Recommended dietary salt levels vary with age. Adults are recommended to have no more than 6g of salt per day in their diet, while toddlers should have no more than 2g.

Analysis of 11 sauces of the sweet and sour chicken meals found one contained illegally high levels of the colourings.

Nut danger

When buying some of the chicken tikka masala meals, it was stressed that the customer had a nut allergy.

Despite this, one in five of these takeaways contained peanuts or almonds without any warnings being provided. Just a small amount of nuts can be fatal for someone with a severe allergy.

The Local Government Association said local authorities should work with “ethnic kitchens” to make sure false information was not provided when customers requested a meal which does not contain nuts.

On two occasions the meat found in sweet and sour chicken meals was actually turkey.

Pre-packaged meals sold in shops are required to carry details of artificial colourings.

A spokesman from the Department of Health said there are plans to give takeaway outlets guidelines on how to label their products.

“The government’s Responsibility Deal includes actions that can be taken by restaurants and takeaways, for example by providing calorie information for food and drink.

“Whilst this work has to date focused on larger, chain restaurants, guidance for smaller businesses will be produced in due course. This will help maximise the opportunities for people to see, and use, calorie labelling.”

Councillor Paul Bettison, chairman of the Local Government Regulation Board which carried out the study of takeaway meals, said that the high levels of fat, salt and sugar in them were “truly shocking and unnecessary”.

“There’s no excuse for illegal amounts of colouring and as for secretly using a cheaper type of meat, that’s just shamefully ripping off customers. And including nuts when you’ve been told a person suffers from a nut allergy is unforgivable, it could potentially kill them.

“There are many ways to make takeaways more healthy such as using lower fat oils, natural colourings and reducing salt. These needn’t compromise taste and promoting such a healthy approach often attracts customers who’re keen to watch their waistline or their blood pressure.”

Police said there had been no further incidents of contamination at Stepping Hill Hospital since 16 July

Police investigating the deaths of patients at Stockport’s Stepping Hill Hospital still have about 500 people to question, they have revealed.

Charges were dropped on Friday against Rebecca Leighton, 27, a nurse who had been in custody since July, accused of contaminating saline at the hospital.

Greater Manchester Police said they were investigating 40 cases of contamination including seven deaths.

They compared the scale of the inquiry to the 1996 IRA Manchester bomb probe.

Assistant Chief Constable Terry Sweeney said: “This investigation is without doubt one of the most complex investigations that our most senior detectives have ever worked on, comparable in size and scope to the Manchester bomb inquiry.”

Police were initially looking into the deaths of five patients at the hospital. Two were later dropped from the investigation but four more suspected victims have since been identified.

Of the seven deaths, the force said there were two confirmed cases where there was a “high probability” the deaths were caused by contaminated products.

Police said they had 700 people they wanted to interview, which included staff, visitors to the hospital and patients, among them potential victims. They said they had so far spoken to about 200 of them.

Mr Sweeney said: “To give some kind of understanding of the scale of this investigation, within the auspices of Greater Manchester it is one of the most complex and challenging investigations that we’ve faced.

“That comes about as a result of dealing with firstly an extremely difficult crime scene to manage, where we are working within the confines of a very busy hospital with many hundreds of people who come through that hospital, particularly medical staff, visitors and patients who have access in various degrees to products within the hospital.”

Miss Leighton, from Heaviley, was released from HM Prison Styal, in Cheshire, on Friday afternoon after being told the charges against her, relating to the alleged tampering of saline ampoules, saline bags and medical products and theft of medication from the hospital, had been dropped.

Prosecutors said there had not been “sufficient evidence” for the case to go ahead.

Following her release, Mr Sweeney said: “At the time that Rebecca was charged there was sufficient evidence in our view, and equally importantly, the view of the Crown Prosecution Service, to bring charges around contamination and theft.

“The (reason for the) decision to discontinue is that the evidence we had at the time has not built towards the crown court phase, so that we could bring a case at this point.”

The police said officers were in contact with Miss Leighton to guarantee her safety and “to try and help her back into the community”.

Miss Leighton, in a statement read by her solicitor Carl Richmond, thanked her family, friends and members of the public who “never doubted my innocence during this living nightmare”.

The statement said: “I’ve been in a living hell and was locked up in prison for something I had not done.

“It was so frustrating for me knowing that the person who actually carried out these terrible acts is still out there.

“My life has been turned upside-down. All I ever wanted to do was to pursue a profession in nursing and care for my patients.”

The three patients whose deaths police are known to be investigating are Tracey Arden, 44, Arnold Lancaster, 71, and Derek Weaver, 83.

Four more suspected victims have yet to be named but their families are aware the cases have been referred to police by the coroner.

The alarm was first raised when a higher than normal number of patients were reported to have “unexplained” low blood sugar levels.

Mr Sweeney said there had been no further incidents of contamination since 16 July.

“It will take a number of weeks to complete the investigative process, the forensic process and most importantly the medical analysis which needs to take place,” he added.

The IRA bombing of 15 June 1996 – to which police said the Stepping Hill inquiry was comparable in size – devastated the busy shopping area of Manchester city centre and left about 200 people injured.

Ramadan gathering attacked in Jos in purported revenge for Christmas Eve bomb attacks.

Jos lies in the so-called Middle Belt between the country’s mostly Muslim north and the predominantly Christian south

Gangs of armed youths in the Nigerian city of Jos attacked Muslims as they gathered to celebrate the last day of Ramadan, killing a number of them and burning their cars, witnesses and the military said.

“The Muslim faithful went for their Eid prayers and on completion of the prayers they were trapped by the youths in that area,” Brigadier General Hassan Umaru, commander of the military Special Task Force keeping security in Jos, told Reuters news agency on Monday.

“They burnt some cars, quite a number a of cars. The number of people killed, I can’t give that yet. We are still checking with local hospital sources,” he said.

The head of a search-and-rescue team for the Muslim community reported nine dead and 106 people wounded.

“Most of the wounds were from … thrown missiles, machete cuts and from arrows. Twenty parents have so far reported their underage children missing,” said Shitu Mohammed.

Witnesses said Christian youths set up road blocks and attacked Muslims as they gathered in Jos’s Gada Biu and Rukuba areas, shooting a number of them dead.

Christians involved in the clashes spoke of revenge for a string of bombs that exploded in Jos on Christmas Eve last year that left at least 80 people dead.

Nigeria has a roughly equal Christian-Muslim mix.

More than 200 ethnic groups live side by side in the West African country. Though generally peaceful, Nigeria has seen periodic bouts of religious violence, with Jos in particular showing a tendency to flare up.

The region lies in the so-called Middle Belt between the mainly Muslim north and predominately Christian south of Africa’s most populous nation.

If the violence worsens or triggers reprisals, it may prove another major headache for President Goodluck Jonathan, whose security forces are already stretched by daily attacks from an Islamist sect in the northeast, which also claimed Friday’s deadly bomb attack on the UN offices in Abuja that killed 23.

Backers of Julius Malema in running battles with police in protest against his disciplinary hearing in Johannesburg.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/08/20118301050355977.html

South African police have fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse supporters of the leader of the youth wing of the governing African National Congress (ANC) in Johannesburg.

Julius Malema was due to face a disciplinary hearing on Tuesday when hundreds of his supporters started to throw stones and bottles at police.

Malema, 30, is accused of “sowing divisions” in the party and bringing it into disrepute by calling for the overthrow of Botswana’s government.

Correspondents from the AFP news agency at the scene said Malema’s supporters burnt the ANC’s flag and T-shirts bearing the face of Jacob Zuma, the South African president.

The controversial firebrand leader is being charged along with five other youth league officials.

He was put on probation by the party’s disciplinary committee last year after pleading guilty to public criticism of Zuma.

Supporters of Malema, who could be expelled from the party at the closed-door hearing, had camped overnight outside the ANC headquarters in central Johannesburg.

“We are here to support our hero. Malema speaks for us. If he is being charged, then charge all of us,” said Thabang Mokoena, 29, one of the supporters who arrived by bus from Malema’s home town in Limpopo province, which borders Zimbabwe.

Police erected razorwire barricades around the ANC building while a police helicopter hovered overhead, a a Reuters journalist said.

At least one police officer was wounded after being hit with a brick, a police spokesman said.

South Africa’s eNEWS channels said one of its television crews was also attacked.

The protesters were trying to break through the police barricades towards the building where the hearing was due to have started at 0800 GMT on Tuesday.

They waved placards saying: “Hands off Julius Malema” and one reading: “We are prepared to take arms and kill for Malema”.

Fallout with Zuma

Malema, who has called on his supporters to behave, was a key ally in Zuma’s rise to power.

However, he has since fallen out with the president, who came to office in 2009 and is struggling to consolidate his support in the ANC ahead of the party’s elective conference next year.

Zuma is hoping to be re-elected as the ANC leader which will allow him to stand for a second term as president in elections in 2014.

But many of the “Young Lions”, as the youth wing is called, would rather see Zuma replaced as party leader with Kgalema Motlanthe, his deputy.

That change would almost certainly see Motlanthe becoming South Africa’s next president.

Malema is accused of calling last month for a change of administration in neighbouring Botswana, which he said had a “puppet government” that was “in full co-operation with imperialists”.

He later apologised for the remarks after a public rebuke from the ANC leadership.

Nationalisation of mines

Malema has become one of South Africa’s most controversial figures since being elected president of the youth league in 2008.

He has called for nationalisation of the country’s mines and redistribution of wealth to impoverished blacks, a move that has struck a chord with millions of black youth, who face a 25 per cent unemployment rate.

Al Jazeera’s Jonah Hull said: “Malema has so far held his position despite a lavish lifestyle and fiery racist rhetoric that have embarrassed the ANC, in particular his insistence on singing a so-called revolutionary anthem at public rallies calling for death to white farmers.

“Crucially for South Africa’s economy, international investors are also watching closely, nervous of Malema’s populist calls to nationalise the mining industry.

“If he survives this week’s disciplinary hearing, those calls will only grow louder.”

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/08/2011831151258728747.html

Al Jazeera news producer Jamal Elshayyal recently gained access to the Tripoli headquarter of Libya’s intelligence agency. Among the documents scattered throughout the demolished building were secret files indicating that influential Americans advised Muammar Gaddafi since the beginning of the Libyan uprising. Here is his account of the discovery:

The destruction by NATO airstrikes of Libya’s intelligence headquarters at the heart of Tripoli has transformed the once-feared building into a symbol of how Gaddafi’s regime has been all but toppled.

Guarding the compound are dozens of armed rebel fighters, some of them told me their friends and families went missing as a direct result of “intelligence” gathered by those who worked in the building.

It’s fair to assume that among the rubble and ransacked offices, are some of the darkest, deepest secrets of Gaddafi’s regime. I’m looking for files entitled “Lockerbie” or “IRA”, but the place is a mess.

I’m taken to the office of Abdullah Alsinnousi, head of Libya’s intelligence service and one of the Gaddafi regime’s most notorious and feared strong men.

Scattered on his desk are dozens of documents branded “top secret”, but the rebels accompanying me aren’t keen on me taking anything away. I find a folder titled “Moussa Al Sadr”, who was the founder of the Amal movement, a Shia party in Lebanon, who went missing in Libya over 30 years ago. Within seconds, the folder is taken by my minder who said none of these documents can leave the compound.

In the room adjacent to Sinnousi’s office is a bedroom with an ensuite bathroom kitted with a plush jacuzzi, an indication of the lush lifestyle led by the heads of the former regime. Sprawled on the bed a rebel fighter was taking an afternoon nap. The scene is almost surreal. “Gosh, how times change,” I whispered.

Communication with US officials

I managed to smuggle away some documents, among them some that indicate the Gaddafi regime, despite its constant anti-American rhetoric – maintained direct communications with influential figures in the US.

I found what appeared to be the minutes of a meeting between senior Libyan officials – Abubakr Alzleitny and Mohammed Ahmed Ismail – and David Welch, former assistant secretary of state under George W Bush. Welch was the man who brokered the deal to restore diplomatic relations between the US and Libya in 2008.

Welch now works for Bechtel, a multinational American company with billion-dollar construction deals across the Middle East. The documents record that, on August 2, 2011, David Welch met with Gaddafi’s officials at the Four Seasons Hotel in Cairo, just a few blocks from the US embassy.

During that meeting Welch advised Gaddafi’s team on how to win the propaganda war, suggesting several ”confidence-building measures”, according to the documents. The documents appear to indicate that an influential US political personality was advising Gaddafi on how to beat the US and NATO.

Minutes of this meeting record his advice on how to undermine Libya’s rebel movement, with the potential assistance of foreign intelligence agencies, including Israel.

The documents read: “Any information related to al-Qaeda or other terrorist extremist organisations should be found and given to the American administration but only via the intelligence agencies of either Israel, Egypt, Morroco, or Jordan… America will listen to them… It’s better to receive this information as if it originated from those countries…”.

The papers also document Welch advising the Gaddafi’s regime to take advantage of the current unrest in Syria. The documents held this passage: “The importance of taking advantage of the Syrian situation particularly regarding the double-standard policy adopted by Washington… the Syrians were never your friends and you would loose nothing from exploiting the situation there in order to embarrass the West.”

‘Encouragement to Gaddafi’

Despite this apparent encouragement to Gaddafi to pursue a propaganda campaign at the expense of Syria, the documents claim Welch attacked Qatar, describing Doha’s actions as “cynical” and an attempt to divert attention from the unrest in Bahrain.

The documents allege that Welch went on to propose the following solution to the crisis which he said many would support in the US administration: “[Gaddafi] should step aside” but “not necessarily relinquish all his powers”.

This advice is a clear contradiction of public demands from the White House that Gaddafi must be removed.

According to the document, as the meeting closed, Welch promised: “To convey everything to the American administration, the congress and other influential figures.”

It appears Welch was not the only prominent American giving help to Gaddafi as NATO and the rebel army were locked in battle with his regime.

On the floor of the intelligence chief’s office lay an envelope addressed to Gaddafi’s son Saif Al-Islam. Inside, I found what appears to be a summary of a conversation between US congressman Denis Kucinich, who publicly opposed US policy on Libya, and an intermediary for the Libyan leader’s son.

It details a request by the congressman for information he needed to lobby US lawmakers to suspend their support for the Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) and to put an end to NATO airstrikes.

According to the document, Kucinich wanted evidence of corruption within the NTC and, like Welch, any possible links within rebel ranks to al-Qaeda.

The document also lists specific information needed to defend Saif Al-Islam, who is currently on the International Criminal Court’s most-wanted list.

Scattered across the headquarters were smashed frames holding “the brother leader’s” pictures, powerful images which depict Gaddafi’s sudden fall from grace.

It took six months to topple Gaddafi’s regime, but the colonel did rule for over forty years. During his reign thousands of people went missing, planes were blown up, and billion-dollar deals were struck in the most dubious of circumstances.

Finding out the true story behind all this will take a long time, and even then there are some things that will never be known.

A spokesperson for the US state department said that David Welch is “a private citizen” who was on a “private trip” and that he did not carry “any messages from the US government”. Welch has not responded to Al Jazeera’s requests for comment.

Dennis Kucinich issued a statement to the Atlantic Wire stating: “Al Jazeera found a document written by a Libyan bureaucrat to other Libyan bureaucrats. All it proves is that the Libyans were reading the Washington Post… I can’t help what the Libyans put in their files… Any implication I was doing anything other than trying to bring an end to an unauthorised war is fiction.”