scholarly journals Kuru and its contribution to medicine

2008 ◽  
Vol 363 (1510) ◽  
pp. 3697-3700 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Carleton Gajdusek
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Amyloid Fibrils ◽  
Outer Space ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Human History ◽  
Deep Roots ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Jakob Disease

The solution of kuru led us to the solution of Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease and to the elucidation, in humans and other species, of previously unknown mechanisms of infection. These require very close three-dimensional matching, which determines infectious nucleant or prion activity. Evidence for nucleation processes is found widely in the organic and inorganic worlds and in the interactions between them: in the formation of amyloid fibrils; in the biochemistry of silicon; in cave formations deep in the Earth; and in outer space. Kuru in its location in Papua New Guinea has also led to an understanding of the cultural achievements of the Palaeo-Melanesians, with deep roots in human history.

Pictorial Depth Perception of Papua New Guinean Students

1991 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 11-14
Author(s):  
Leo Marai
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Depth Perception ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Major Result ◽  
Culturally Appropriate ◽  
Pictorial Depth ◽  
Pictorial Perception ◽  
Papua New Guinean

Twenty male and five female undergraduates were assessed in a study designed to test for three dimensional pictorial perception in a Papua New Guinea sample. A version of Hudson's (1960) and Deregowski's (1968) test stimuli was used; the stimuli were slightly modified to make them culturally appropriate. The major result of the study was a finding of consistent sex differences in pictorial depth perception. Males tended to perceive three dimensionally while females tended to perceive two dimensionally.

scholarly journals Malesia Bryophytes Diversity

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 106-112
Author(s):  
Ferdinand Susilo ◽  
Muhammad Komarul Huda ◽  
Hanifah Mutia Z.N. Amrul
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Forest Ecosystems ◽  
New Records ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Distribution Area ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Timor Leste ◽  
True Moss

Bryophyte is a division of plants that lives on land, generally it is green and reproduces through spores, has ecological and economic functions, and plays an important role in forest ecosystems. It spreads out almost in all parts of the earth with different characters in each group. It is divided into 3 groups, namely liverwort, true moss, and hornwort, which are phylogeny and true liverwort is in the same lineage. The number of bryophytes species is around 18000 with the largest distribution area of bryophyte diversity in tropical and subtropical latitudes, such as the Malesia region which includes Malaysia, Indonesia, Timor Leste, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, and Brunei. Various studies were carried out related to the diversity of bryophyte, especially in the Malesia region, and found various types including new species, new records, and new characters.

scholarly journals A clinical study of kuru patients with long incubation periods at the end of the epidemic in Papua New Guinea

2008 ◽  
Vol 363 (1510) ◽  
pp. 3725-3739 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Collinge ◽  
Jerome Whitfield ◽  
Edward McKintosh ◽  
Adam Frosh ◽  
Simon Mead ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Mortuary Practice ◽  
Genetic Studies ◽  
Route Of Transmission ◽  
Incubation Periods ◽  
Jakob Disease ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Age Range ◽  
Codon 129

Kuru is so far the principal human epidemic prion disease. While its incidence has steadily declined since the cessation of its route of transmission, endocannibalism, in Papua New Guinea in the 1950s, the arrival of variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (vCJD), also thought to be transmitted by dietary prion exposure, has given kuru a new global relevance. We investigated all suspected cases of kuru from July 1996 to June 2004 and identified 11 kuru patients. There were four females and seven males, with an age range of 46–63 years at the onset of disease, in marked contrast to the age and sex distribution when kuru was first investigated 50 years ago. We obtained detailed histories of residence and exposure to mortuary feasts and performed serial neurological examination and genetic studies where possible. All patients were born a significant period before the mortuary practice of transumption ceased and their estimated incubation periods in some cases exceeded 50 years. The principal clinical features of kuru in the studied patients showed the same progressive cerebellar syndrome that had been previously described. Two patients showed marked cognitive impairment well before preterminal stages, in contrast to earlier clinical descriptions. In these patients, the mean clinical duration of 17 months was longer than the overall average in kuru but similar to that previously reported for the same age group, and this may relate to the effects of both patient age and PRNP codon 129 genotype. Importantly, no evidence for lymphoreticular colonization with prions, seen uniformly in vCJD, was observed in a patient with kuru at tonsil biopsy.

Roots of the Earth: Crops in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea.

Man ◽  
1984 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 495
Author(s):  
Ralph Bulmer ◽  
Paul Sillitoe
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
The Earth

scholarly journals Reflections on amyloidosis in Papua New Guinea

2008 ◽  
Vol 363 (1510) ◽  
pp. 3701-3705 ◽  
Author(s):  
Per Westermark ◽  
Gunilla T Westermark
Keyword(s):  
Mouse Model ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Amyloid Fibrils ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Acute Phase Reactant ◽  
Transmission Mechanism ◽  
Aa Amyloidosis ◽  
Small Peptides ◽  
Phase Reactant ◽  
Human Proteins

The amyloidoses comprise a heterogeneous group of diseases in which 1 out of more than 25 human proteins aggregates into characteristic beta-sheet fibrils with some unique properties. Aggregation is nucleation dependent. Among the known amyloid-forming constituents is the prion protein, well known for its ability to transmit misfolding and disease from one individual to another. There is increasing evidence that other amyloid forms also may be transmissible but only if certain prerequisites are fulfilled. One of these forms is systemic AA-amyloidosis in which an acute-phase reactant, serum AA, is over-expressed and, possibly after cleavage, aggregates into amyloid fibrils, causing disease. In a mouse model, this disorder can easily be transmitted from one animal to another both by intravenous and oral routes. Also, synthetic amyloid-like fibrils made from defined small peptides have this property, indicating a prion-like transmission mechanism. Even some fibrils occurring in the environment can transmit AA-amyloidosis in the murine model. AA-amyloidosis is particularly common in certain areas of Papua New Guinea, probably due to the endemicity of malaria and perhaps genetic predisposition. Now, when kuru is disappearing, more interest should be focused on the potentially lethal systemic AA-amyloidosis.

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