Thursday, August 14, 2014

Can Amiodarone, Dronedarone and Verapamil Stop the Ebola Virus?

The clinically approved drugs amiodarone, dronedarone and verapamil inhibit filovirus cell entry.

OBJECTIVES:
Filoviruses such as Ebola virus and Marburg virus cause a severe haemorrhagic fever syndrome in humans for which there is no specific treatment. Since filoviruses use a complex route of cell entry that depends on numerous cellular factors, we hypothesized that there may be drugs already approved for human use for other indications that interfere with signal transduction or other cellular processes required for their entry and hence have anti-filoviral properties.

METHODS:
We used authentic filoviruses and lentiviral particles pseudotyped with filoviral glycoproteins to identify and characterize such compounds.

RESULTS:
We discovered that amiodarone, a multi-ion channel inhibitor and adrenoceptor antagonist, is a potent inhibitor of filovirus cell entry at concentrations that are routinely reached in human serum during anti-arrhythmic therapy. A similar effect was observed with the amiodarone-related agent dronedarone and the L-type calcium channel blocker verapamil. Inhibition by amiodarone was concentration dependent and similarly affected pseudoviruses as well as authentic filoviruses. Inhibition of filovirus entry was observed with most but not all cell types tested and was accentuated by the pre-treatment of cells, indicating a host cell-directed mechanism of action. The New World arenavirus Guanarito was also inhibited by amiodarone while the Old World arenavirus Lassa and members of the Rhabdoviridae (vesicular stomatitis virus) and Bunyaviridae (Hantaan) families were largely resistant.

CONCLUSIONS:
The ion channel blockers amiodarone, dronedarone and verapamil inhibit filoviral cell entry.

© The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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Wednesday, August 13, 2014

First Global Forum on Youth Policies

Deadline: 27 August 2014
Open to: youth policy practitioners aged 18-35 from all around the world
Venue: 28-30 October 2014, Baku, Azerbaijan

Description

The 2014 Global Forum on Youth Policies is the first of its kind and will bring together policymakers, civil society organisations, experts, academia, youth advocates, parliamentarians and UN agencies. It will provide those present with a multi-stakeholder opportunity to assess the state of youth policy, in particular 20 years after the adoption of the World Programme of Action for Youth (1995). The Forum will take place in Baku, Azerbaijan from 28-30 October 2014.

It is expected that the Forum will bring together an estimated 700 participants including representatives of governments, the youth community, civil society, international development partners, academia and research institutions, donors, the private sector, and more. Within this overall context, and complementary to youth policy practitioners nominated by the Forum co-convenors and participating governments, 200 youth policy practitioners will be selected based on this open call.

Eligibility

Eligible to apply are youth policy practitioners, youth activists and members of youth movements, representatives of youth-led organizations, research experts, development experts, programming experts in the youth field.

The candidates must:

Preferably be aged 18-35;
Be able to communicate professionally in English;
Be experienced in formulation, implementation and/or monitoring of youth policy at the national, regional or global level.

Costs

All expenses are covered by the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Azerbaijan and UNDP Azerbaijan:

roundtrip air or ground transport ticket: city of departure -Baku – city of return
accomodation and meals during the days of the Forum
free visa upon arrival in Baku airport

Application

Application deadline is 27 August 2014 (23.59 CET).

Apply online HERE.

For further information visit the official website HERE.

Photo of the Week: Iraq Christians Fleeing from Jihadists in Iraq

Photo of the Week: Christians as well as other religious minorities – facing a horrific and violent persecution and possible extinction in Iraq and the surrounding regions.
© Knights of Columbus
CONTACT: Andrew Walther, andrew.walther@kofc.org, (203) 824-5412; Or Joseph Cullen, joseph.cullen@kofc.org, (203) 415-9314.

TURN – Fund for Artistic Cooperation between Germany and African Countries

In 2012, the Federal Cultural Foundation established the TURN – Fund for Artistic Cooperation between Germany and African Countries in order to encourage a wide range of German institutions to shift their focus on the artistic production and cultural debates in African countries.

German cultural organisations in all artistic areas are called upon to engage in new forms of artistic collaboration with African partners. The programme offers incentives primarily to German institutions and artists (museums, theatres, dance companies, art associations, composers, writers, publishers, etc.) to enhance their profile with new themes, working methods and perspectives.

Between 2012 and 2018, the TURN Fund shall provide funding to artistic projects which represent an innovative contribution toward enhancing Germany's view of contemporary artistic production in Africa, possess high artistic quality and have a public impact in Germany. Each project must request at least 50,000 euros in funding; the applying institution is required to contribute 20 percent of the total cost with capital resources of its own. Applicants from African countries are required to apply together with an institutional partner in Germany.

In the first round of applications, the Foundation awarded one-time funding to project-preparatory research projects. Descriptions of these research endeavours are provided below. Funding applications for research projects are no longer being accepted.

In order to encourage thematic and artistic exchange between the partners, the Federal Cultural Foundation will organize a series of meetings for directors, curators, choreographers, writers, publishers, musicians, designers and filmmakers from the funded projects along with other experts in Germany and the participating African countries.

Funding is awarded by the Executive Board of the Federal Cultural Foundation on the basis of recommendations provided by an independent jury of experts. The following individuals have been appointed to the jury of the TURN Fund:

Sandro Lunin, Zurich: Having worked many years in theatre, e.g. at the Theater am Neumarkt and as co-director of the Schlachthaus Theater in Berne, Lunin was appointed artistic director of the Zurich Theatre Spectacle in 2008, an international festival featuring numerous co-productions and guest performances. Sandro Lunin possesses profound knowledge of the European theatre scene, as well as theatre and dance production in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East.

Elke aus dem Moore, Stuttgart: Head of the Visual Arts Department at the ifa - Institute for international cultural relations since 2008. She is responsible for international exhibitions and funding programs. Prior to her current position, she was Artistic Director of the Künstlerhaus Stuttgart and Curator at the Shedhalle in Zurich. Elke aus dem Moore established the artistic platform Prêt-à-partager which deals with art, fashion and art in public space in several African cities. Furthermore, she is the initiator and publisher of "Contemporary and", an online-magazine and virtual artspace on contemporary art seen from African perspectives.

Nana Oforiatta Ayim, Accra/London: Writer, director and art historian with expertise in contemporary African art. Her works have been shown at the New Museum in New York, the NGBK in Berlin and the Museum of African Diaspora in San Francisco. Her articles have been published in numerous magazines including frieze, Kaleidoscope, Arise, National Geographic, The Statesman and African Metropolitan Architecture. She has worked as curator for exhibitions and events at the Liverpool Biennial, the British Museum, the Royal Festival Hall, the Victoria and Albert Museum and other venues.

Jay Rutledge, Munich: Ethnologist, music journalist, producer, DJ and curator. Jay Rutledge has mainly worked as a freelance journalist for the Bayerischer Rundfunk since 1996. His main area of interest is urban African music culture. In 2002, he worked as curator for the “Urban Africa” music programme at the Ars Electronica in Linz, Austria. In 2004, he started a music label that promotes pop music produced in the metropolitan hubs of Africa. He has recently produced the Grammy-nominated album “I speak fula” by the Malian musician Bassekou Kouyate. Currently he moderates the radio shows “Breitengrad” and “Nachtmix” on Bayern 2 Radio.

At the jury session on 25/26 April 2013, the jury recommended awarding 1.4 million euros in funding to twelve projects in seven German states. The Executive Board of the Federal Cultural Foundation also decided to grant 88,600 euros to eleven research projects.

In the second round of funding, the jury of the TURN Fund awarded a total of 1,787,000 euros to 14 new projects.

Contact

Uta Schnell
Kulturstiftung des Bundes
Franckeplatz 2
06110 Halle (Saale)
Tel.: +49 (0)345 2997 118
Fax.: +49 (0)345 2997 333
>E-mail

1, 400 Trainees Jobs in the European Commission for University Graduates All Over the World