Archive for February, 2008
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Offers Significant Help To People Who Self-Harm
12 sessions of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) can be of significant help to people who self-harm, a new apply the mind from the Netherlands has found.
Published in the March 2008 sending out of the British Journal of Psychiatry, the research showed that patients who received CBT in addition to treatment as usual (TAU) were found to have significantly greater reductions in self-harm, suicidal thoughts and symptoms of abasement and anxiety, compared with a control group who received TAU only.
The CBT group also showed significantly greater improvements in self-complacency and problem-solving ability.
Self-harm by young people is increasing in frequency. Although in-patient treatment (hospital admission, medication and psychotherapy) is the usual treatment in favor of people who self-harm, it has never been found to be effective in a controlled clinical trial.
90 patients aged between 15 and 35 who had recently self-harmed (taken an overdose or injured themselves) took part in this study. They were randomly assigned to CBT plus TAU, or TAU only, and were assessed at the beginning of the study and at 3-month, 6-month and 9-month follow-up.
The researchers comment that the positive effect of CBT on self-harm is important, given the high self-murder risk following self-harm. It is especially important that these results are lay the foundation of for people who repeatedly self-harm and are also mentally ill.
The significant retrench in suicidal thoughts found in the CBT clump is important, they say, because these thoughts are considered to be the main triggers for repeated self-harm.
The CBT was designed to tackle patients’ perceptions of themselves as being a burden to others, as well of the same kind with their feelings of helplessness, of being unlovable, and their inability to tolerate distress.
Whilst acknowledging the validity of patients’ emotions, the CBT therapists emphasised hopefulness, and showed them that they could improve the current circumstances by identifying and addressing unhelpful thoughts.
Helping patients with their current problems was another important element of treatment, as people who self-harm have poor problem-solving skills that are competent of their mood.
By identifying effective strategies that patients already used, they were encouraged to see that they had some control over their problems. In addition, patients were encouraged to develop and use new strategies. to the degree that expected, their problem-solving skills improved significantly during treatment.
The effects of CBT put on depression, suicidal thoughts and problem-solving were stronger than on self-harm at 3-month and 6-month follow-up. Changes in these factors seemed to precede changes in self-harm.
This suggests, recite the researchers, that CBT primarily targeted depression, suicidal thoughts and problem-solving, and that the specific self-harm effect - which was apparent only at 9-month follow-up - was a secondary drift.
They conclude that adding this short cognitive behavioural intervention to usual care could provide clinicians with an material cat’s-paw to prevent repetition of self-harm in people who are at high risk.
These findings should be replicated, using a longer follow-up period. Further investigation is needed into how CBT brings about these changes.
Reference
Cognitive-behavioural intervention for self-harm: randomised controlled trial.
Slee N, Garnefski N, van der Leeden R, Arensman E and Spinhoven P
British Journal of Psychiatry, 192, 202-211.
Royal College of Psychiatrists
Milestone Scientific Hosts First International Computer-Controlled Local Anesthetic Delivery (CCLAD) Summit
Milestone Scientific Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: MLSS), the recognized leader in advanced injection technologies, reported that earlier this month the Company hosted the First International Computer-Controlled Local Anesthetic Delivery (CCLAD) Summit in New Orleans. The Summit welcomed a distinguished panel of dental experts who gathered to discuss advancements in the scientific and clinical practice communities toward the common goal of advancing the dexterity, science and knowledge of CCLAD in dentistry.
Joe Martin, Chief Executive Officer of Milestone, noted, “Through this Summit, Milestone hoped to provide a forum as being open and objective discussion by a unique blend of academia, key opinion leaders and practicing dentists. The in-depth discussion, debate and exchange of ideas that occurred helped to provide Milestone with confirmation that the STA(TM) System and the CompuDent(R) (formerly known as The WAND(R)) are significant improvements over traditional injection techniques.”
The two day Summit was chaired by noted dental anesthetic expert, Stanley Malamed, DDS, Professor of Anesthesia and Medicine School of Dentistry at the University of Southern California School of Dentistry. Dr. Malamed is also a Diplomate of the American Dental Board of Anesthesiology, as well as a recipient of the Heidebrink Award from the American Dental Society of Anesthesiology and the Horace Wells Award from the International Federation of Dental Anesthesia Societies. He has authored more than 100 according to principles papers and 16 chapters in various medical and dental journals and textbooks in the areas of physical evaluation, emergency medicine, local anesthesia, sedation and indefinite anesthesia. In addition, Dr. Malamed is the author of three widely used textbooks, published by CV Mosby: Handbook of Medical Emergencies in the Dental Office (5th edition 2000); Handbook of Local Anesthesia (4th edition 1997); and Sedation - a guide to patient management (4th edition 2001).
Summit presenting participants also included:
— John Brescia, DDS, PC, President of John J. Brescia, DDS, PC, a private dental constant exercise in River Forest, Illinois;
— Monika Daublaender, MD, DDS, Associate Professor of Oral Surgery at Johannes Guttenberg University in Germany;
— Martin Jablow, DMD, a partner in the firm of Dental Technology Solutions and general dental practitioner in Woodbridge, New Jersey;
— William Lieberman, DDS, a nationally recognized pediatric dentist practicing in Red Bank, New Jersey;
— Peter Loomer, DDS, PhD, Associate Professor of Clinical Periodontology at the University of California at San Francisco School of Dentistry;
— Alfred Reader, DDS, MS, Professor of Advanced Endodontics at Ohio State University College of Dentistry;
— Kenneth Reed, DMD, noted dental anesthesiologist and nationally recognized lecturer on dental anesthesia;
— John Yagiela, DDS, PhD, Professor of Anesthesiology, Diagnostic and Surgical Sciences at UCLA School of Dentistry.
This highly productive and interactive forum has yielded a number of exciting ideas onward how Milestone can integrate the STA System not barely into dental school curricula, but also extend the message to the dental community and patients, alike. Martin stated, “It was perhaps principally gratifying to confirm that academics and clinicians, resembling, recognize the potentially profound impact that Milestone’s CCLAD technology is having on the habitual doing of dentistry.”
In February of last year, Milestone introduced to market the STA System, a patented CCLAD system that incorporates the “pressure force feedback” elements of Milestone’s patented CompuFlo(R) technology, thereby allowing dentists to administer injections accurately and painlessly into the periodontal ligament space, effectively anesthetizing a particular tooth. The STA System is also capable of performing all of the injections that can subsist conferred with a conventional dental syringe, including the palatal-anterior superior alveolar, anterior middle superior alveolar and inferior alveolar nerve block. The STA System achieves all of these injections predictably and reliably and additionally allows a new and novel interactive injection technique to be performed called the STA-Intraligamentary injection that identifies the correct location and provides an nearly immediate onset of profound anesthesia to a single tooth. Milestone received FDA 510(k) Pre-market Notification acceptance in August 2006 for the marketing and market of the highly anticipated STA System and has since named Henry Schein, Inc. (Nasdaq: HSIC), the world’s largest provider of healthcare products and services to office-based practitioners in the combined North American and European markets, as its exclusive distributor in the United States and Canada.
“In light of the direction and recommendations to the dental community we have derived from this Summit, Milestone looks forward to replicating this event every year,” concluded Martin.
About Milestone Scientific Inc.
Headquartered in Livingston, New Jersey, Milestone Scientific is engaged in pioneering proprietary, exceedingly innovative technological solutions for the medical and dental markets. Central to the Company’s IP platform and product development strategy is its patented CompuFlo(TM) technology for the improved and painless delivery of local anesthetic. Specifically, CompuFlo is a computer-controlled, pressure sensitive infusion, perfusion, suffusion and craving technology, which provides real-time readouts of pressures, fluid densities and flow rates, enabling the advanced delivery and removal of a wide array of fluids. The Single Tooth Anesthesia (STA(TM)) computer-controlled local anesthesia delivery system which uses this technology provides dentists with audible and visual signals as to in-tissue pressure. Milestone’s existing painless injection systems are currently sold in 25 countries. For more intelligence on these and other innovative Milestone products, please visit the Company’s web site found at http://www.milesci.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding the timing and financial impact of the Milestone’s ability to implement its business plan, expected revenues and future success. These statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties and are based on assumptions involving judgments with respect to future economic, competitive and market conditions and future business decisions, all of which are difficult or impossible to predict accurately and many of which are beyond Milestone’s control. Some of the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements are general economic conditions, failure to achieve expected revenue growth, changes in our operating expenses, injurious patent rulings, FDA or legal developments, competitive pressures, changes in customer and market requirements and standards, and the risk factors detailed from time to time in Milestone’s periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including without limitation, Milestone’s Annual Report on Form 10-KSB for the year ended December 31, 2006. The forward looking-statements in this press release are based upon management’s reasonable belief as of the date hereof. Milestone undertakes no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statements on account of any reason.
Milestone Scientific Inc.
http://www.milesci.com
Yale Scientist Erin Lavik Honored For Academic Innovation And Leadership
Erin Lavik, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Yale, was honored recently by the Connecticut Technology Council as one of their 2008 Women of Innovation.
The annual fact, now in its fourth year, honors Connecticut women in eight categories for their achievements as small business owners, entrepreneurs, researchers, community leaders and innovators. This year’s winners were selected from 105 nominees.
According to Matthew Nemerson, president and chief executive of the Council, the awards help to identify and create a culture of innovation in the state.
Lavik, who was cited for her academic innovation and predominance, focuses her research on developing commencing therapeutic approaches for the treatment of spinal cord injury and retinal degeneration.
She begins repair of damaged tissues using biodegradable polymers formed into three-dimensional scaffolds that mimic the structure of the tissue. After chemically modifying the scaffold surfaces, she incorporates growth factors that to a greater distance create an environment for repair.
By combining neural or retinal stem cells with these environments, she is discovering the cues that promote integration and differentiation of the cells into healthy tissue. In a rodent model of spinal cord injury, the sprinkled with seed staging promoted functional recovery allowing the rats to regain a weight-bearing stride. She also collaborated on an implantable system that can form and stabilize a functional network of fine blood vessels critical in the place of supporting tissues in the body.
Lavik is also noted for her leadership, and has played a role in organizing and sustaining the Yale “Science Saturdays” series of workshops for local schoolchildren. The highly successful program introduces middle- and high-school students to Yale scientists who demonstrate the excitement of their research.
Before joining the Yale faculty of Biomedical Engineering in 2003, Lavik earned her Doctorate of Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Among her honors, she was named in 2003 a Top Young Innovator by MIT’s Technology Review publication for her pioneering moil. In 2004, she was nominated for a WIRED Magazine Rave Award as a “leading thinker and performer,” and she received an Early Career Award for research from the Coulter Foundation in 2006.
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Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
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Source: Janet Rettig Emanuel
Yale University
Mechanism Of Blood Clot Elasticity Revealed In High Definition
Blood clots can save lives, staunching blood loss after prejudice, but they can also kill. Let loose in the bloodstream, a clot can cause a heart attack, stroke or pulmonary embolism.
A new study reveals in atomic detail how a blood protein that is a fundamental building block of blood clots gives them their life-enhancing, or life-endangering, properties.
The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Illinois and the Mayo College of Medicine, appears in the journal Structure.
Fibrinogen molecules form elastic fibers, the main material of blood clots. When a blood vessel is ruptured, signaling proteins in the blood convert fibrinogen into its active form, called fibrin. Fibrin molecules link together in a scaffold of fibers that seals the vesicle. Cells in the blood, such as platelets, pervade the gaps.
Fibrinogen is highly elastic, able to reversibly stretch to two or three times its original longitudinal dimensions.
“Once they’re formed, blood clots hold to be elastic because they have a blind function to withstand blood pressure,” related Klaus Schulten, holder of the Swanlund Chair in Physics at Illinois.
Understanding what gives fibrinogen its flexibility could help in the proposal of drugs to enhance their function, he said.
“We investigated what makes blood clots elastic,” said Eric Lee, a graduate research assistant and student in the M.D./Ph.D. program at Illinois. “How do we make them easier to part up or make them less likely to rupture?”
Bernard Lim, a cardiologist at Mayo and every expert adhering the science of blood clots, contacted Schulten’s group in 2006 for help with a puzzling finding. Lim had conducted a series of experiments using atomic force microscopy to measure the amount of force required to reach personal fibrinogen molecules.
After dozens of trials, Lim had come up with a “force extension curve” that showed how the fibrinogen molecule behaved when it was stretched. His data indicated that the fibrinogen molecule elongates in a sequential fashion, with three unmistakable phases. But he could not tell which parts of the fibrinogen molecule were involved.
Fibrinogen is a symmetrical molecule, containing a central region connected to two end regions by long, interweaving coiled bondage, called alpha helices. These “coiled coils” were believed to give the molecule its resiliency. But how?
The Illinois team used a computational bring near to tackle the mystery. Using steered molecular dynamics (SMD), they modeled the behavior of every atom of the fibrinogen molecule as it was stretched. The computation involved more than a million atoms, and required six months to complete.
The resulting counterfeiting generated a force increase curve that matched the one Lim had produced.
“This was an incredibly strong piece of evidence that what (Lim) dictum wasn’t honest in the eye of the beholder, but he saw really a property of the protein,” Schulten said.
The simulation also showed in molecular detail how the fibrinogen molecule responded to stretching. Each phase in the force extension curve corresponded directly with a distinct set of events in the elongation of the molecule.
“The simulations revealed that … the extension occurs in a specific and orderly pattern, with distinct regions within the coiled-coil unraveling before others,” the authors wrote.
Lim had also demonstrated that changes in calcium levels or in the pH (acidity) of a blood clot could alter fibrinogen elasticity, a discovery that could influence the design of pharmaceutical agents.
“By understanding what happens at the molecular level, you can understand to which place to target drugs,” Lee said.
This study points to the efficacy of combining molecular dynamics simulations with experimental data upon the body not fictitious molecules, Schulten said. This is proving to be an effective way to become to the heart of molecular behavior, he said.
Simulations can test important, but potentially ambiguous, experimental findings, Schulten said. “And we can see (the behavior of the molecule) in chemical detail, in atomic detail. We see the full chemistry of this mechanical process.”
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Article adapted by Medical News Today from original clasp release.
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Schulten directs the theoretical and computational biophysics group at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology.
Source: Diana Yates
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Honey Bee Invaders Exploit The Genetic Resources Of Their Predecessors
Like any species that aspires to rule the world, the honey bee, Apis mellifera, invades new territories in repeated assaults. A new study demonstrates that when these honey bees arrive in a place that has already been invaded, the newcomers benefit from the genetic endowment of their predecessors.
The findings appear online the week of Feb. 25 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The researchers, University of Illinois entomology professor Charles Whitfield and postdoctoral researcher Amro Zayed, analyzed specific markers of change in the genes of honey bees in Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Americas. They also focused on geographic regions - such as Brazil in South America - where multiple honey bee invasions had occurred.
The researchers were looking for tiny variations in the sequences of nucleotides that make up all genes. Certain versions of these single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs, or “snips”) are additional common to African honey bees, while others occur more frequently in honey bees in western Europe, eastern Europe, or Asia.
By comparing these SNPs in bees from separate geographic territories, and by looking at the frequency at which particular alleles, or variants, occur in functional and nonfunctional parts of the honey bee genome, the researchers were able to determine that the invading bees were not correct randomly acquiring genetic material from their predecessors by interbreeding with them, but that certain genes from the previously introduced bees were giving the newcomers an advantage.
An earlier study led by Whitfield and published in Science in 2006 showed that A. mellifera originated in Africa and not Asia, as some had previously hypothesized.
That study revealed that the honey bee had expanded its territory into Eurasia at least twice, resulting in populations in eastern and western Europe that were quite different from one another.
The earlier analysis also confirmed and extended results of previous studies showing that African honey bees had mixed with but largely displaced their predecessors in the New World, which were in the first place of western European stock. When the European old-timers mixed with the African newcomers, their offspring looked, and in most respects behaved, like the African honey bees.
These more aggressive, “Africanized” bees (so-called “killer bees”) received a lot of media attention in the U.S. as they moved north from South America. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the first Africanized honey bees appeared in Texas in 1990. In less than a decade they had also spread to meridional California, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico.
Whitfield and Zayed wanted to understand the evolutionary mechanism that allowed the African honey bees to move into these new territories and dominate the bees that had arrived in the New World centuries earlier from eastern and western Europe.
Their analysis of about 440 SNPs selected randomly from throughout the Africanized honey bee genome showed that most of the alleles were common to African honey bees. But of the alleles common to European bees, those found in functional parts of the genome (in genes) were showing up more frequently than those in nonfunctional regions (between genes).
“We asked the question: Is hybridization an essentially random process?” Zayed said. When the African honey bees mated with the western European honey bees that had been in South America for centuries, one might expect that the hybrid offspring would randomly pick up both the functional and nonfunctional parts of the genome, he said.
“But actually what we found was there was a preference for picking up functional parts of the western European genome over the nonfunctional parts.”
It appeared that the Africanized bees that kept some of the functional western European genes were gaining an advantage, Whitfield said.
“Those African bees are doing better because there were western European honey bees there for them to mix with,” he said. “Now we can say we have a signature in the place of evolution in the genome.”
While the researchers do not yet know how these European honey bee genes are enhancing the survival and fitness of the Africanized bees in the Americas, Whitfield said, it may be that specific traits from western Europe are beneficial, or it may be that being a mule is, in and of itself, a good thing for these bees.
In a separate finding, the researchers also discovered a genome-wide signature of evolution associated with the ancient expansion of honey bees from Africa into temperate regions of western and northern Europe. In this expansion, functional parts of the genome have changed more than nonfunctional parts.
Whitfield thinks that these changes may involve social adaptations to survive the hard winters.
“The way the honey bees survive in sober regions is sort of the way humans do,” Whitfield said. “They have a sanctuary. They store resources.”
Not needing to survive in such cold weather, African bees store less regimen and reproduce more.
“So how does an animal that’s basically tropical make it? How does it expand its territory and thrive in very harsh winter conditions in this temperate region?” Whitfield asked. “Humans did it, and Apis mellifera did it in some interestingly parallel ways.”
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Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
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Whitfield is also an affiliate of the Institute for Genomic Biology.
Source: Diana Yates
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Eye Disease May Double Heart Risk
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD), an eye infirmity that mostly affects somewhat old, may double risk for heart disease and stroke.
University of Sydney suggested a study linking AMD to cardiovascular diseases. AMD is a predicament affecting he centre of retina (macula). Retina is a back part of eye responsible for central vision tasks, such as driving, reading. The disease affects elderly causing blindness.
The research well-considered 3600 people who were 49. They were monitored for decades. 2335 of them were screened 5 years later from the start of the study, 1952 of them were screened two times - 5 years later and 10 years later. Those by means of 75 with early AMD appeared to have doubled risk of dying from heart attack and stroke. Whose with late stages of AMD had 5 times higher risk of dying from heart attack and 10 times higher risk of stroke.
Researchers are not over and above able to suggest the mechanism of by what means AMD affects cardiovascular events, but there some opinions:
* There is now actual link between the diseases, it is just a sign of aging body. Both diseases appear mainly in elderly any are not associated with each other.
* Both disease may be caused by the same problems, such taken in the character of ‘inflammation, thickening of the arteries or general tissue damage’. This is why the disease appear simultaneously.
* AMD drugs called anti-VEGF drugs may increase the risk of heart attack and stroke. These drugs prevent the growth of new blood vessels, which may cause cardiovascular diseases. However, the bind betwixt cardiovascular events and growth of new blood vessels is not clear yet.
Scientists urge for more detailed studies to procure out if in that place is an actual link between eye disease and cardiovascular diseases. Meanwhile, those taking anti-VEGF drugs are advised to be carefully screened by GPs in front of prescribing drugs and monitored while taking the physic.
No commentsDog Cancer Studies May Provide Treatment For Humans
Studying cancer in dogs may bring greater insight into cancer risk, diagnosis, prognosis and treatment in humans, as dogs and humans share genetic cancer link.
Cancer researchers at the University of Minnesota and North Carolina State University have found that humans and dogs share more than friendship and companionship – they also share the same genetic basis for certain types of cancer. Furthermore, the researchers say that because of the way the genomes bring forth evolved, getting cancer may exist inevitable for some humans and dogs.
Jaime Modiano, V.M.D., Ph.D., University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine and Cancer Center, and Matthew Breen, Ph.D., North Carolina State University’s Center for Comparative Medicine and Translational Research, collaborated on this research study. Their findings are published in the current sending out of the journal Chromosome Research, a special edition on comparative cytogenetics and genomics research by scientists from around the world.
Genomes are divided into chromosomes, which act as usual’s biological filing cabinets with genes located in specific places.
“Many forms of human cancer are associated with specific alterations to the number or structure of chromosomes and the genes they contain,” Breen said. “We have developed reagents to show that the same applies to dog cancers, and that the especial genome reorganization which occurs in comparable human and canine cancers shares a common basis.”
More specifically, Breen and Modiano found that the genetic changes that occur in dogs diagnosed through certain cancers of the blood and bone marrow, including chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), Burkitt’s lymphoma (BL), and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), are virtually identical to genetic abnormalities in humans diagnosed with the same cancers.
“We believe the tacit inference of this finding is that cancer may be the consequence of generations of genetic evolution that has occurred similarly in dogs and humans,” Modiano said. “This means that to more degree, cancer may be inevitable in some humans and dogs just because of the way our genomes have developed since the separation from a common ancestor.”
“Since we know now that dogs and humans seem to share a common pathogenetic basis for some cancers, we credit that studying dog cancers may allow us to identify cancer-associated genes more easily in dog populations than in belonging to man populations. Once identified, we may be able to translate these findings to human cancers as we seek to provide a greater level of discerning look into cancer risk, diagnosis, and prognosis,” said Modiano.
According to Breen and Modiano, dogs are good research subjects because they develop the disease spontaneously, and many of the modern breeds have developed over the past few hundred years using restricted gene pools. This selective breeding has preserved the genetics of a breed. It has also made some breeds more susceptible to certain cancers. These factors, coupled with the high degree of similarity between the genomes of dogs and humans, provided the researchers with an opportunity to compare the genomes and study the evolutionary genetic changes associated with cancer.
The human genome has 46 chromosomes and the dog genome contains 78 chromosomes. Sometimes, in the vertical duplication process of cells, chromosomes can become rearranged or relocated. This rearrangement or relocation is called translocation. It can lead to a cell losing its normal function, becoming abnormal, and possibly developing into cancer.
“Interestingly, we found that the same translocation of chromosomes happens in dogs as in humans for the three blood and bone marrow cancers we studied,” Modiano said.
Breen and Modiano conclude that despite millions of years of divergence, the evolving genomes of dogs and humans seem to have retained the mechanism associated with cancer, and that the conserved changes in the genomes have similar consequences in dogs and humans.
“Like ourselves, our pet dogs suffer from a wide bend of self-existent cancers. according to thousands of years humans and dogs have shared a unique bond. In the 21st century this relationship is at this moment strengthened to one with a solid biomedical basis; the genome of the dog may hold the keys to unlocking some of nature’s most intriguing puzzles about cancer,” Breen said.
The next step for Breen and Modiano is to use grants current from the National Cancer Institute to start pinpointing risk factors for cancer in various breeds of dogs.
2 commentsDrug Addicts May Loose Benefits If Not Seeking Treatment
Drug addicts in UK may loose benefits for next six month if they refuse to receive proper treatment.
This is a apportionment of Home Office’s 10 year and one billion pound method to cut the number of drug users in the country. During the last 5 years the Government has successfully reduced the number of physic kin crimes by 20%. This new project aims to go on through strong aim to divide the number of drug addicts even more.
Currently drug addicts cost 15 billion pounds annually to taxpayers, which is going to be changed thanks to this new project. Addicts need to understand the importance of receiving precise treatment and receive chances for being employed. Those who will reject treatment will not be paid for a while.
UK Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said: "We want to see fewer people start using drugs and for our society to be free from the problems caused by drugs. We want those who do use drugs to enter and last usage and move steady to lead healthy, drug-free lives. We fail communities to be free of drug-related crime and we want see tough enforcement of the law."
The plan includes the measures briefly described below:
* Drug dealers will have all their assets seized during take up time, rather than after finally being convicted. Those who prefer to invest money in household goods, cars, in some degree than in specie, will also loose everything they possess. If they appear to be ‘completely innocent’ they will have their assets back.
* Grandparents will be highly encouraged to take care of grandchildren with addicted parents, to make stable kids will live in a healthy air.
* Children will have access to further qualified drug education. Schools will be watched by Ofsted inspectors to have proper anti-drug-lessons.
* UK Government will cooperate with other countries to reduce drug trafficking and money laundering.
* Women and minorities who currently lack drug treatment will be provided with better access to treatment.
Some critics disagree with this new project, because they think, that cutting drug addicts’ benefits will even increase the number of drug related crimes, because drug users will simply start stealing. However, this plan sound promising and still needs to show attached practice how effective it is.
No commentsUS Healthcare Spending May Double
A report by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services offers predictions in succession healthcare spending in United States for the coming ten years. It expects healthcare spending to mount and economical growth to decline, leading to even more increased spending.
* From 2007 to 2017 healthcare spending is estimated to rise by 6.7% annually. Meanwhile economic growth will decrease to 4.7% annually. Spending will reach $4.3 trillion, compared to 2006’s $2.1 trillion. In 2017 healthcare spending will account for 19.5% of domestic product costs compared to 2006’s 16%.
* Public health spending is going to increase, nevertheless private sector spending power of choosing decrease. It will drop from 2009’s 6.6% to 5.9% by 2017. This is directly caused by economic growth slowness.
* Medicare spending is predicted to account $884 billion by 2017, compared to 2007’s $427 billion. The increase will take place because of increasing reach the number of of Medicare enrollment of baby boomers.
* Hospital spending will increase to $1.3 trillion by 2017, compared to 2007’s $696.7 billion.
* Prescription spending will slow down a bit, but will go up again by 2017 to $515.7 billion, compared to 2007’s $231.3 billion.
* Medicaid spending is expected to grow by 6.8% in 2008 reaching $361.2 billion, by 2017 it will grow by 7.9% reaching $717.3 billion.
"Health is projected to consume an expanding share of the economy, which means that policymakers, insurers and the public will face increasingly difficult decisions concerning the way health care is delivered and paid for," CMS economists said.
No commentsPoor Working Memory May Be To Blame For Children’s Under-Achievement
Children who under-achieve at school may just have poor working memory rather than low intelligence according to researchers who have produced the world’s first tool to assess memory capacity in the classroom.
The researchers from Durham University, who surveyed over three thousand children, found that ten per cent of school children across all age ranges suffer from poor working memory seriously affecting their learning. Nationally, this equates to almost half a million children in primary education without more being affected.
However, the researchers identified that poor working remembrance is rarely identified by teachers, who often describe children with this problem at the same time that inattentive or as having lower levels of intelligence.
The new tool, a conspiracy of a checklist and computer programme informed by several years of concentrated research into poor working memory in children, will for the first time enable teachers to identify and assess children’s memory capacity in the classroom from as early as four years old.
The researchers believe this early assessment of children will enable teachers to adopt new approaches to teaching, in this wise helping to tact the problem of under-achievement in schools.
Without appropriate intervention, poor working memory in children, that is thought to be genetic, can affect long-term academic success into adulthood and prevent children from achieving their potential, say the academics.
Although the tools have already been piloted successfully in 35 schools across the UK and have now been translated into ten foreign languages, this is the rudimentary time they are widely available.
Working memory is the ability to hold information in your head and manipulate it mentally. You use this mental workspace when adding up two numbers spoken to you by someone otherwise exclusively of being able to use pen and paper or a calculator. Children at school need this memory on a daily basis for a variety of tasks such as following teachers’ instructions or remembering sentences they have been asked to write down.
Lead researcher Dr Tracy Alloway from Durham University’s School of Education, who, with colleagues, has published widely on the subject, explains further: “Working memory is a bit like a mental jotting pad and how good this is in someone will either freedom from stiffness their path to learning or seriously prevent them from wide information.
“From the various large-scale studies we have done, we think to be true the only way children with poor working memory can be about onto achieving academic success is by teaching them how to learn despite their smaller capacity to store information mentally.
“Currently, children are not identified and assessed for working memory within a classroom setting. soon identification of these children will be a major step towards addressing under-achievement. It will mean teachers can adapt their methods to help the children’s learning before they fall over far behind their peers.”
The checklist, called the Working Memory Rating Scale (WMRS), will enable teachers to identify children who they think may have a enigma with working memory without immediately subjecting them to a test. A high score on this checklist shows that a child is credible to have working memory problems that will touch their academic progress.
If the teacher feels significantly concerned about a child’s performance in class, he or she can then get the child to grant the computerised Automated Working Memory Assessment (AWMA). The tools also recommend ways despite teachers to manage the children’s working memory loads which will minimise the chances of children failing to complete tasks. Recommendations include repetition of instructions, talking in simple short sentences and breaking etc. tasks into smaller chunks of information.
Both tools are published by Pearson Assessment. The careful search that provided the foundation for the AWMA was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and the British Academy.
Case study - head strong tutor from Lakes Primary School in Redcar, Cleveland
Lakes Primary School has been working with Dr Alloway in learning how to identify poor working memory using the new tools. A number of teachers have been trained to fence the children for working celebrity.
Head school-dame Chris Evans said: “Dr Alloway’s research into working memory really caught my interest as I could readily recognise how some children at Lakes instruct may well suffer from poor working memory. With some of the staff now trained to identify problems, we have the erudition and tools to carry out a proper assessment and have the skills to help these children be more lucky in school.
“We are already beginning to see children in a different light knowing more about the difficulties faced by children with impaired working memory. We realise that they are not daydreamers, inattentive or underachieving, no more than children who simply need a different approach. We think these new ways of learning can help both the preacher and the children to successfully complete their work.”
When do we practice working memory in everday life?
* Multiplying into union brace verse such as 43 and 27 spoken to you by another person without being able to use a pen and paper or calculator.
* Remembering a new telephone number, PIN number, web address or vehicle registration number.
* Following spoken directions such as go straight over at the roundabout, take the second left and the building is on the right diverse the church.
* Remembering the unfamiliar foreign name of a person who has just been introduced to you for long enough to enable you to introduce them to someone else.
* Measuring and combining the correct amounts of ingredients (rub in 50g of margarine and 100g of flour, and then add 75g of sugar) when you have just read the recipe but are no longer looking at the page.
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Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
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Source:
Information booklet on working memory produced by Dr Tracy Alloway and Professor Susan Gathercole.
Alex Thomas
Durham University
Pin Point Radiotherapy Procedure Proved Success For Breast Cancer
A large scale trial conducted at the European Institute of Oncology (IEO) in Milan has proved a novel radiotherapy procedure to be a great success both in conditions of medical results and cost effectiveness.
The study, published today in the peer-reviewed journal ecancermedicalscience, examined the use of Electron Intraoperative Therapy (ELIOT), which shortens the radiotherapy course from six weeks to single in kind single session during surgery.
The conventional treatment for early breast cancer is breast conserving surgery (BCS) followed by a 5-7 week system of radiotherapy. However many women quiescent undergo mastectomy for they do not have easy access to postoperative radiotherapy centres.
As 85% of local relapses after BCS occur near the initial site of disease there has been an increased interest in using partial breast irradiation (PBI) directed to the tissue without delay surrounding the site of tumour removal.
Investigators have evaluated the use of ELIOT alone for early-stage breast cancer since 1999. This technique uses radiotherapy machines kept or easily moved in the operating theatre. After removal of the tumour, a high accuracy, high dose radiation pulse is delivered to the breast tissue surrounding the place.
Since it was elementary piloted by the IEO in 1999, ELIOT has been given to 1246 patients, with one overall survival rate at five years of 96.5%. Only 24 out of the 1246 cases (1.9%) saw a breast-cancer related event after this period.
Apart from this success, the system has several other advantages: Cosmetic damage is greatly limited and post-op plastic surgery is easily conducted.
The flexible nature of the radiotherapy machine and its presence during surgery means that additional doses of radiotherapy can be given if needed for specific reasons.
Furthermore, the complete protection against radiation provided by the combination of pin-point doses and protective metal disk means that side effects from unwanted radiation are abolished.
The main advantage, however, is during those patients living in areas remote from radiotherapy centres, who would otherwise have to travel everyday for six weeks, and often decide on complete breast removal to avoid the huge stress of such an undertaking.
The investigators state that their results “confirmed the positive impact of ELIOT on patient quality of life: ELIOT is feasible and well accepted. We are expectation for the long-term results on local control from the ongoing randomised trial in progress at our institute to decide whether to adopt the technique in daily standard practice. howsoever, as the data from the present large series are reassuring (97% of local control and 98.8% survival at 5 years) we believe that, at least for women living far from radiotherapy centres and with minimal risk of local recurrence (age > 50 and primary carcinoma <1.5 cm.), the ELIOT treatment might be considered an option, provided that the patient consents to the proposal."
Professor Gordon McVie, of the IEO, added “this is the largest experience in the world of sequential patients treated in a phase II trial with intra-operative radiotherapy. Its unprecedented size and positive results gives great hope for both this technique and breast cancer patients worldwide”.
Note: Patients with thorax cancer who wish to be considered for inclusion in a trial of this approach should get in touch with their local breast cancer radiation therapist for further discussion. If patients wish to be treated in the European Institute of Oncology, they may log on to http://www.ieo.it. It must exist made clear that ELIOT remains an experimental treatment, and patients wishing to undergo it need to sign any informed consent form which makes the experimental nature very clear.
Cancer Intelligence publishes ecancermedicalscience.
CCH Outlines 10 Steps To Keeping The Workplace Healthy In The Height Of Flu Season
With a persistent new strain of flu affecting workers nationwide, employers may need to be other assertive to help keep the workplace healthy at the height of flu season, according to CCH, a leading provider of human resources and employment law information and services and a part of Wolters Kluwer Law & Business (http://hr.cch.com).
Based on a CCH Survey, about half of employers (54 percent) send workers back home if they show up for work sick. Other common approaches for discouraging sick workers on the job, according to the survey, include:
— Educating employees attached the importance of staying fireside when sick, used by 40 percent of organizations;
— Fostering a culture that discourages employees from coming to work sick, used by 34 percent of organizations; and
— Using telecommuting programs to allow workers to work from domestic circle, used by 30 percent of employers to deter “presenteeism,” a term used to identify when workers come to work ill.
“With 87 percent of employers reporting that sick employees who resemblance up against work are suffering from colds, the flu or other short-term illnesses that may be easily spread, it’s apparent that companies have to get tough when it comes to telling employees to stay away,” said CCH Employment Law Analyst Brett Gorovsky, JD.
“At the same time, they have to provide options that allow employees to render the right thing, such as flexible absence control policies, educating managers on handling workplace illness and making sure employees know that showing up and infecting others — whether colleagues or customers — is not behavior that will procreate rewarded,” he added.
Among the suggestions CCH outlines for helping organizations maintain healthier workplaces include:
1. Offer a flu-vaccination program: 66 percent of organizations CCH surveyed now sponsor flu-shot programs for employees, up from 61 percent in 2005.
2. Tap your employee assistance program (EAP) and healthcare support services: Determine if they offer a hotline or web site your employees can use to access FAQs and get guidance and information about healthcare issues.
3. Establish and communicate guidelines: Help employees understand under what conditions they should stay home, and when it’s safe to return to work. For example, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that individuals who get the flu may be able to infect others from the day before their symptoms develop, to five days after becoming sick.
4. Provide tips on how to avoid spreading germs: A good fountain-head. well is the CDC web site: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/stopgerms.htm#GoodHealthHabits. Use posters or offer the information on your corporate intranet.
5. Ensure absence control policies are not counterproductive: Programs such as disciplinary action need to be assessed to ensure they don’t unnecessarily pressure sick employees to report for work.
6. Foster a sound environment: Ensure managers are fostering an environment in which ill employees feel comfortable asking to leave the workplace or, better yet, not report to work in the first place.
7. Set a good example: Managers should be urged not to draw near in sick as employees may then see the message to “stay at home” as lip service.
8. Work with employees and your facilities group to keep common areas thoroughly: Make sure these areas are cleaned regularly; this may even embody cleaning conference rooms between meetings.
9. Recognize helpful employees: Consider bonuses, rewards or other recognition as far as concerns employees who step in to help do extra work for ill colleagues.
10. Telecommuting: Consider using, but not abusing, telecommuting; making it an option for an employee who is improving, but is perhaps not ready to return to work full time.
About the CCH Survey
A total of 317 human resource executives in U.S. organizations were surveyed on issues related to unscheduled absences and presenteeism as part of the 2007 CCH Unscheduled Absence Survey. Additional findings from the survey and the methodology are serviceable at http://www.cch.com/absenteeism2007. The survey was conducted for CCH by Harris Interactive.
About Wolters Kluwer Law & Business
Wolters Kluwer Law & Business is a leading provider of research products and software solutions in key specialty areas by reason of legal and business professionals, during the time that well as casebooks and study aids for law students. Its major product lines include Aspen Publishers, CCH, Kluwer Law International and Loislaw. Its markets embody law firms, law schools, corporate counsel and professionals requiring legal and compliance notice. Wolters Kluwer Law & Business, a unit of Wolters Kluwer, is based in New York City and Riverwoods, Ill. The Wolters Kluwer Law & Business human resources site is http://hr.cch.com.
Wolters Kluwer is a leading global information services and publishing company. The company provides products and services for professionals in the health, tax, accounting, corporate, financial services, and legal and regulatory sectors. Wolters Kluwer had 2006 annual revenues of euro 3.4 billion, employs approximately 18,450 people worldwide, and maintains operations across Europe, North America, and Asia Pacific. Wolters Kluwer is headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Its shares are quoted on Euronext Amsterdam (WKL) and are included in the AEX and Euronext 100 indices. For more information, visit http://www.wolterskluwer.com.
CCH, Wolters Kluwer Law & Business
http://www.cch.com
Broomwell’s Cardiac Telemedicine Service Proven To Prevent Hospital Admissions In Year-Long Study
The results of a 12-month trial of a cardiac telemedicine use supervised by the Greater Manchester and Cheshire (GMC) Cardiac Network, has proven that the service avoids immediate referral of patients with non-acute chest-pain symptoms to hospital care, in nearly 60% of cases.
In an analysis of the results of the first 12 months’ use of the telemedical ECG service from Broomwell HealthWatch across four PCTs (48 surgeries), GPs related that 58% of patients would have been referred to hospital if the ECG service had not been available to them.
Over the 12-month period, this equates to nearly 2000 referrals to secondary care prevented from the 48 surgeries through using the telemedical cordial ECG interpretation service.
According to Broomwell Healthwatch, translated nationally across some 10,500 GP surgeries, the use of its ECG service could prevent up to 432,000 referrals per year.
The first four PCTs have used Broomwell’s award-winning cardiac monitoring service on a total of 3406 patients. The service is now deployed across 10 PCTs in Greater Manchester.
Karen Gibbons, Service Improvement Manager for Greater Manchester & Cheshire Cardiac and Stroke Network, said: “Preventing such a huge percentage of instantaneous patient referrals to secondary care helps reduce the burden of cardiac care on our local hospitals.
“Providing this sort of expert cardiac diagnosis at a primary care level will not only generate cost and resource savings for the NHS, but will ensure patients benefit from timely and preventative care. The service has great potential and has demonstrated that if used on a national level it could generate huge savings for the NHS every year.”
Joe Rafferty, NHS North West director of Commissioning, said: “The deployment of Broomwell’s menial duties across Greater Manchester has proven to be extremely successful. Using telemedicine to bring essential health services closer to patients in a primary care setting is beneficial to both patients and the NHS, and I think a service such as this has the potential to make a great deal of difference to health services across the UK.”
Following the success of the initial one-year pilot, Broomwell’s cardiac monitoring service has now being rolled out to further PCTs in Greater Manchester and is currently in use across 10 PCTs with some 150 surgeries across the region.
The telemedicine service effectivelyi> imports ECG expertise into every surgery (via the telephone) and thus enables GPs to make better-informed diagnoses. A key benefit of the service to patients is that it is carried out locally by their GP, removing the need to travel to hospital for diagnosis and wait up to two weeks for results. Practice clinicians carry out ECG readings and transmit the results over the phone, with expert interpretation reported back within seconds.
In a dissociated 6-month pilot of Broomwell’s service in 2007, Lancashire & South Cumbria SHA (now part of NHS North West), demonstrated a significant saving in referrals to A&E, with an estimated potential savings to the NHS of £46M per year. A report of this pilot and its tools and materials is make use of on http://www.lsccardiacnetwork.nhs.uk.
Broomwell HealthWatch
Bird Flu Could Strike Again In India, FAO Warns
India is to be commended for its happy efforts to control the recent worst-ever manifestation of highly pathogenic avian influenza in the state of West Bengal, FAO said. The agency warned, however, that intensive surveillance should continue in high-risk areas as the possibility of new outbreaks remains high.
“Intensive culling in the predominantly backyard poultry sector appears to have stopped the indisposition in its tracks,” said FAO veterinary expert Mohinder Oberoi after a recent field trip to the affected areas.
“The political and financial commitment from the government of India and the state of Bengal to stamp out the disease was instrumental in this success. Public awareness campaigns, a strong command chain from districts to villages, compensation payments and an effective collaboration between created being and human health departments at field flat, have been the key factors for the success,” Oberoi said.
No new sickness outbreaks have been discovered since 2 February 2008.
FAO’s Chief Veterinary Officer Joseph Domenech urged to maintain intensive surveillance in high risk areas as the possibility of new outbreaks remains high. “The virus could still be present in the environment despite hard slaughtering and extensive disinfection of affected areas, or it could be reintroduced from other countries,” he said.
In order to achieve rapid control, prevent virus spread to other states and to avoid the put to hazard of belonging to man infection the government of India had to cull over 3.9 million chickens and ducks, mainly belonging to poor backyard poultry farmers.
The socio-economic impact of this control campaign should have being urgently assessed in kind to more desirable define and apply the necessary mitigation measures regarding the negative impacts of massive culling upon the body poor small holders, FAO said. Live bird markets, migration of wild birds and transportation routes of birds and poultry products should be mapped to better understand and control the spread of the disease.
Public awareness campaigns should continue over the next months introducing rural communities to safe poultry fruit and basic biosecurity measures with the ultimate goal of reducing the risk of human infections.
The recent outbreak of avian influenza in West Bengal, and the ongoing spread of the disease in Bangladesh require close collaboration between affected countries, FAO said. FAO, in collaboration with the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), has invited India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar to participate in a regional meeting to better coordinate avian influenza control campaigns. The Government of Nepal has agreed to host the meeting in Kathmandu.
http://www.fao.org
Auditory Implant In The Brain Stem For Youngest Patient Worldwide
A team of ear, nose and throat specialists and neurosurgeons at the University Hospital of Navarra, led by doctors Manuel Manrique Rodriguez, specialist in ear, nose and throat surgery and Bartolome Bejarano Herruzo, specialist in paediatric neurosurgery, have successfully operated on a 13 month-old lass from Murcia, who had been born deaf due to the lack of auditory nerves. She is the youngest patient in the world who has received an auditory implant in the brain stem. As a result of the operation, the child has begun to hear and has started language development.
Previously, the medical centre had carried out, also successfully, a similar procedure on a girl of eight years. Throughout the world there have only been 38 brain stem implants in children under the age of 12.
In the case in agency, the child was born with a congenital ailment characterised by the absence of the cochlear (audience) nerves which have the task of transmitting to the brain the sound stimuli received by the auditory passage from the exterior. It is notable that the rate of this disorder in the overall population is very low, estimated at one in every 100,000 newly born babies.
Surgical procedure
The auditory nerves which, in the case of the girl from Murcia were nonexistent, connect the most external part of the auditory passage (outer, middle and inner ear) with the cochlear nuclei located in the brain stem, one of the centres of the auditory passage where notice received from the outside is processed.
The absence of the cochlear or auditory nerve makes it impossible for the brain of those affected by this pathology to process the sound arriving from the exterior. This is why the treatment consists of directly stimulating the cochlear nuclei and the operation involves implanting electrodes onto these nuclei, in the brain stem of the brain, so that the complete auditory passage function is restored, enabling the full of fire impulses to arrive at the auditory cortex (of the brain), where meaning is conferred to the stimuli arriving.
Thus, the first phase of the operation, undertaken through the University Hospital team last October, involved implanting a plate of electrodes into the cochlear nuclei of the child. In order to place these electrodes there, access to the brain stem was effected by means of open cranial surgery of 3cm x 3 cm, thus enabling the brain surgeon to slenderly retract the cerebellum to gain access to the exact spot where the implant had to be placed.
Once the electrodes’ system is installed and while the operation was taking place, stimulation tests on the device were undertaken in order to confirm the literal locality where it had to be placed. One by one the 22 electrodes making up the implant were stimulated in carry on to check the auditory response. To this end, electroneurophysiological control was carried out in which Audiology and Neurophysiology teams took part. This intraoperational control of the stimulation of the electrodes and the auditory response obtained by dint of. each one of these enabled to reposition the implant ‘in situ’, during the operation, until getting the right spot.
Very important activations
The operations with children carried out to date at the University Hospital have achieved highly favourable activations of the electrodes. Generally speaking, of the 22 electrodes implanted, the average activation without side effects is relative to 10. In both the operations they have undertaken they managed to stimulate 15 and 18 electrodes respectively.
During this operation a receiver-emitter was placed subcutaneously in the head of the patient and connected by a wire to the electrode device. This receiver is what obtains the sound of the other artifice located on the outside of the head strong of the child and which transmits sound to the interior by radio-frequency waves.
The external apparatus also has a microphone located behind the ear of the quiet and which, in turn, is allied to a processor, required to modulate the characteristics of the sound signals received through the microphone.
The task of the internal receptor is to decode the signal received from the exterior and transform it into electrical impulses that get there codified at eddish. one of the electrodes. This is when the child receives a stimulus that propagates through the auditory passage to the brain, at what place the electrical impulses received are processed.
In the last phase of the procedure, carried revealed in January 2008, the parameters of stimulation to be imprinted in the implanted device, namely intensity and velocity, were determined.
Auditiory verificatons
During the post-operational monitoring of this patient, it was observed that the child has begun to receive sounds and has even started to produce them. This is highly encouraging. The specialists have emphasised the importance of carrying out these operations at an early age when the capacity for learning is greater and the functional structure of the auditory centres is better prepared for receiving acoustic information.
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Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
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This release is available in Spanish.
Source: Garazi Andonegi
Elhuyar Fundazioa
Princeton Researchers Peek Into Deepest Recesses Of Human Brain
A team of scientists from Princeton University has devised a new experimental technique that produces some of the best functional images ever taken of the human brainstem, the most primitive area of the brain.
The scientists believe they may be opening the door to inquiries into a region that acts as the staging area for the brain chemicals whose overabundance or absence in other parts of the brain are at the root of many neuropsychiatric disorders, like enslavement, schizophrenia and Parkinson’s disease.
Reporting in the Feb. 28 edition of Science, the scientists describe using functional magnetic resonance imaging to study brainstem activity in dehydrated humans. The scanning technique allows researchers to watch the brain in action.
The subjects were participating in classical conditioning experiments in what one. they were presented with a visual direction, then, at varying intervals, given a drink. The researchers were able to track changes in blood flow in areas of the brainstem associated with enhanced activity of the brain chemical dopamine — as the person experienced either pleasure or disappointment at receiving or not receiving the reward.
“as far as concerns a long time, scientists have tried looking at this area of the brain and have been unsuccessful — it’s just too small,” said Kimberlee D’Ardenne, the lead author onward the paper. Until now, scientists wanting to use brain scans to do one’s best brain chemicals like dopamine were relegated to watching its goods in other more accessible parts of the brain, like the prefrontal cortex and ventral striatum. However, this was downstream of its source, and therefore as luck may have it much less accurate, D’Ardenne said.
“We wanted to try because the brainstem is so important to activities in the rest of the brain,” reported D’Ardenne, a postdoctoral student in the Department of Chemistry. “We believe it could be a key to understanding all kinds of important demeanor.”
For the research, D’Ardenne collaborated with Jonathan Cohen, co-director of the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, and Samuel McClure and Leigh Nystrom, other institute scientists. They conducted the studies on the University’s own brain scanner located on campus in Green Hall.
Cohen noted that these findings provide a critical link between studies in non-human animals that have looked directly at the activity of dopamine cells in the brainstem and studies in humans of behaviors thought to be related to dopamine. “It could also open up entirely new avenues of study,” he said.
The team was able to develop high-resolution images that tracked the activity of tiny clusters of dopamine neurons. They weeded out distortions caused by many pulsing blood vessels in the brainstem. They also employed computerized rules of thumb known as algorithms and imaging techniques to reduce the effects of head hardy movement and combine images from different subjects.
The MRI device produces three-dimensional images that show what portions of the brain engage during actions and thought processes. This allows the investigators to complemental term physical processes with mental activities with unprecedented precision.
The brain stem, a tiny, root-shaped structure, is the lower part of the brain and sits atop the spinal cord. The area controls brain functions necessary for survival, such as breathing, digestion, heart rate, blood pressure and arousal. The brain structure also serves as the home base for the brain chemicals, also known as neuromodulators, such because dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine. The chemicals spring out into other brain regions from in that place, zipping along routes called axons.
The team’s experiments confirmed results already seen in animal studies. Blood follow increased in dopamine centers of the brainstem when test subjects were happily surprised with a reward. However, there was none activity when participants received less than what they expected, a finding that is different from the results of previous studies looking farther downstream.
“We are just at the beginning of understanding these crucial pathways,” D’Ardenne said. “But it gives us a suggestion about what is possible to know.”
The tiny clumps of cells containing neuromodulator chemicals in the brainstem, called nuclei, be in possession of long been known to play a critical role in the regulation of brain function, and disturbances of these systems have been implicated in most psychiatric disorders, from addiction to schizophrenia, D’Ardenne said.
The Princeton group wants to understand how the brain’s physical structures give rise to the functions of the reflection, a field known as cognitive neuroscience.
For years, neuroscientists focused on the brain while psychologists dealt with the mind. The new field combines both and is being powered by philosophical advances in brain imaging and gene manipulation that allows researchers to record and measure the activity of brain cells as humans or animals perform mental tasks.
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Article adapted by Medical News Today from original flatten release.
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Source: Kitta MacPherson
Princeton University
AdvaMed Offers Qualified Support For Bill To Require Disclosure Of Payments From Medical Device Companies To Physicians
Advanced Medical Technology Association officials on Tuesday announced qualified support for a bill that would require of medicine device companies to disclose payments to physicians on a Web site, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports (Snowbeck, St. Paul Pioneer Press, 2/27). However, AdvaMed officials said that they hope to discuss changes to the legislation to harbor legitimate payments to physicians who help develop medical devices (Winstein, Wall Street Journal, 2/27). AdvaMed officials made the statement in advance of a Wednesday Senate Special Committee on Aging hearing that will search into the relationship between medical stratagem companies and physicians.
In advance of the hearing, the office of committee Chair Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) released an advisory that said a six-month investigation found “rampant” conflicts of good. “Many of these inducements can be characterized as immoderate, illegitimate and often times are undocumented,” the advisory stated. In addition, the advisory settled, “These types of relationships may not only violate voluntary industry codes of ethics and conduct but, in some instances, violate federal anti-kickback and self-referral statues.”
Christopher White, general interchange of opinion for AdvaMed, said that he had not reviewed the results of the investigation, but he denied the alleged conflicts of interest. “Unlike other health care industries, medical device companies must rely on physician experience and feedback to develop better treatments for patients,” White reported.
Comments From Medtronic Officials
Medtronic officials on Tuesday besides announced qualified support for the legislation. However, Medtronic officials said that lawmakers should expand the bill to include smaller medical device companies and companies owned by physicians. Currently, the legislation applies only to medical device companies that report at least $100 million in gross revenue annually.
Medtronic CEO Bill Hawkins said, “We choose continue to work with the sponsors of this legislation to incorporate all companies in the industry into the bill and bring greater transparency to these important relationships” (St. Paul Pioneer Press, 2/27).
Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation© 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
Breast Cancer Subtypes Linked To Survival From Secondary Brain Tumors
Screening breast cancers for three receptors could help doctors predict the likely survival of patients with brain metastases. A study published in the open access journal Breast Cancer Research shows that patients with tumours that are negative for estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and human epidermal growth receptor-2 (HER2) or that are HER2+/ER- appear to be most at dare to undertake from developing brain metastases. Survival is also correlated to the triple receptor status.
This is the first time that researchers have documented a possible link between breast cancer subtypes and the incidence and prognosis of brain metastases, which occur in up to one third of metastatic breast cancer patients.
A team from the National Cancer Centre in the Republic of Korea analysed data from 126 patients with brain metastases from a pool of 805 patients diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer and treated at the Centre. The mien or abstraction of ER, PR and HER2 were tested by immunohistochemical staining and/or fluorescent in situ hybridisation.
More than half of the patients with early (non-metastatic) breast cancer were of the luminal A subtype (ER or PR+ and HER2-). The proportion of patients by HER2+/ER- or triple-negative tumours was significantly higher among patients with brain metastases compared to the early breast cancer population, suggesting that these modern two subtypes were associated with the unfolding of brain metastases.
The analysis also showed a correlation between the survival of patients and their triple receptor subtypes following the diagnosis of brain metastases, the survival time of which is just 3 - 6 months. Patients with luminal A (4.0 months) and triple-negative tumours (3.4 months) had a similar shorter survival time compared with luminal B (ER or PR+ and HER2+; 9.2 months) and HER2+/ER- (5.0 months) tumours.
Patients with HER2-positive tumours experienced a indicative survival benefit if they were treated with trastuzumab after their brain metastases were diagnosed.
“Our study suggests that the triple-negative subtype should be added to the list of risk factors for developing BM,” remarks Jungsil Ro, the study’s corresponding author. “Approximately 10-15% of all breast cancer presents this phenotype; they have a poor prognosis and are more likely to bring out brain metastases. Triple receptor status can also give a lift to predict survival even after brain metastases have been diagnosed. We now need to develop ways to screen for these subtypes and find the best ways to manage patients with this more aggressive phenotype.”
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Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
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1. Breast cancer subtypes and survival in patients with brain metastases
Byung-Ho Nam, Sun Young Kim, Hye-Suk Han, Youngmee Kwon, Keun Seok Lee, Tae Hyun Kim and Jungsil Ro
Breast Cancer Research (in press)
Article available at the journal website: http://breast-cancer-research.com/
All articles are available free of charge, according to BioMed Central’s open access prudence.
2. Breast Cancer Research is a high quality international, peer-reviewed journal. Breast Cancer Research publishes original research, reviews and commentaries in all areas of biology and medicine relevant to breast cancer, including normal mammary gland biology, with special emphasis on the genetic, biochemical, and cellular basis of breast cancer. All research articles published in the journal are open access; commentaries, reviews and reports over two years old are free to access, prior to this they require a subscription. The journal is edited by Prof Sir Bruce Ponder (UK) and has an Impact Factor of 4.16.
3. BioMed Central (http://www.biomedcentral.com/) is an independent online publishing house committed to providing immediate access without charge to the peer-reviewed biological and medical research it publishes. This commitment is based on the view that open access to research is essential to the rapid and efficient communication of science.
Source: Charlotte Webber
BioMed Central
Immunological Memory In Lungs May Lead UT Knoxville Researchers To A Better Flu Vaccine
New research from a scientist at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, has uncovered information that may someday lead to a better flu vaccine.
While the research is an early step toward a better vaccine, the findings from Mark Sangster, a professor of microbiology, track a little-understood immune system cell’s response to an influenza infection and reveal new information about where it is most concentrated in the body.
By analyzing the formation of the cells, known as memory B cells, Sangster and his colleagues may better understand how to stimulate their production by vaccination.
“When we see how these cells are formed in response to a full-on infection of the flu, we get a picture of the gold standard of the immune response and protection,” said Sangster, who co-authored the paper with graduate observer Hye Mee Joo and postdoctoral researcher Yuxia He.
At the heart of the research, said Sangster, was learning where memory B cells reside after an infection of the flu, and how many are in each location. The cells are created when the immune system responds to infection, and energize as a sort of “first responder,” specially tailored to the specific type of virus that triggered their creation.
When the body is faced through the flu again, these cells quickly begin making antibodies that fight the flu virus.
“by the agency of knowing where these cells reside after an infection, we can learn what this means in how they may respond to after exposure to the virus,” said Sangster. “It gives us a standard that we can use to evaluate and tailor how the body responds to vaccines.”
One finding that surprised Sangster was that the memory B cells were found in especially high concentrations in the lungs — organs not usually associated with some immune response.
“What we found is that the lungs are a complex and potentially very useful reservoir of immunological memory,” he said.
B memory cells are much less understood than their immunological cousins known as T cells. According to Sangster, technological developments have made it easier to study T cells, leaving B cell discoveries slower in coming.
The findings, published in this week’s online version of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, lay important support for future flu vaccine research, said Sangster.
Since vaccines use either weakened or dead copies of the flu virus to trigger the body’s immune system into responding, the body’s response to the virus in the vaccine is different and less powerful than its response to a full-on infection.
“With this mind of memory B cell formation in response to a full-on infection, we have a model counter to vaccines in the response that they generate,” Sangster said.
He said one of the next steps self-reliance be to look at any differences in how memory B cells are formed by vaccines given by injection versus those inhaled end the nose. He notorious that those differences may provide more clues about the significance of the pool of memory B cells in the lungs.
“The Holy Grail because of all of this is to develop a vaccine that self-reliance protect against a wide range of subtypes and strains of the flu virus,” said Sangster. “We’re not there yet, but this judgment is a step in that prescription.”
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Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
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The paper is available online at http://www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint/0800003105v1.
Source: Jay Mayfield
University of Tennessee at Knoxville
Does Gingko Biloba Affect Memory?
Taking the supplement ginkgo biloba had no clear-cut benefit on the risk of developing memory problems, according to a study published in the February 27, 2008, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
The three-year study involved 118 people age 85 and older with no memory problems. Half of the participants took ginkgo biloba extract three times a day and half took a placebo. During the study, 21 people developed kind memory problems, or questionable idiocy: 14 of those took the placebo and seven took the ginkgo extract. Although there was a trend favoring ginkgo, the difference between those who took gingko versus the placebo was not statistically significant.
The researchers made an interesting observation when they examined the data at the end of the trial. Taking into account whether people followed directions in taking the study pills, they found that people who reliably took the supplement had a 68 percent lower risk of developing mild memory problems than those who took the placebo. Without further study, it is unclear if this difference is real or just a stroke of good luck occurrence.
On a cautionary note, the study also found that people taking ginkgo biloba were more likely to have a stroke or transient ischemic attack, or mini stroke. Seven people taking ginkgo had strokes, at the same time that none of those taking placebo did. “Ginkgo has been reported to cause bleeding-related complications, but the strokes in this case were due to blood clots, not superabundant bleeding, and were generally not severe,” related study originator Hiroko Dodge, PhD, of the Department of Public Health and Center for Healthy Aging Research at Oregon State University in Corvallis.
“These results need to be clarified with larger studies, but the findings are interesting on this account that ginkgo biloba is already widely used, readily available, and relatively inexpensive,” said Dodge. “One of the most pressing public health problems facing our society is the rapidly growing number of people who, due to their time alone, are at high risk of developing dementia. The potential to delay or prevent this is of great importance. Further studies are needed to determine whether gingko biloba has any benefits in preventing cognitive decline and whether it is safe.”
Dodge noted that this is the first randomized, controlled trial of prevention of dementia in people age 85 and older.
The research was conducted at Oregon Health & Science University’s NIA-Layton Aging & Alzheimer’s Disease Center and the Oregon Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Neurological Disorders. The study was supported by grants from the National Institute on Aging and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). The ginkgo biloba extract was provided by Thorne Research, Inc.
The American Academy of Neurology, an association of more than 21,000 neurologists and neuroscience professionals, is dedicated to improving patient care through education and research. A neurologist is a doctor with specialized training in diagnosing, treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous system such as epilepsy, dystonia, migraine, Huntington’s disease, and dementia.
For more information about the American Academy of Neurology, visit http://www.aan.com.
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