Targeting mutant B-Raf protein reduces melanoma development
HERSHEY, PA- Researchers at Penn State College of Medicine have identified the mechanism by which the most mutated gene in melanoma, called v599EB-Raf, aids melanoma tumor development demonstrating its importance as a therapeutic target. ...... "Our studies suggest that using therapies to target and inhibit the function of mutant v599EB-Raf protein could prevent the spread of melanoma and halt tu...Traffic fumes damage DNA, finds a small study in Occupational and Environmental Medicine....... To gauge the levels of exposure to traffic fumes, the research team assessed the amount of a chemical called 1-OHPG in the urine of 47 female motorway toll-booth operators and 27 female office workers....... The 20 toll booths were located on a motorway 10 km south of Taipei, Taiwan, and have the highe...Aircraft cabin ventilation influences the transmission of diseases in-flight
Increasing ventilation within aircraft cabins can reduce the spread of infectious diseases in-flight, suggests a review published in this week's issue of THE LANCET....... Mark Gendreau (Lahey Clinic Medical Centre, MA, USA) and colleagues reviewed data from studies looking at the transmission of diseases during commercial air travel. They found that while commercial airlines are a suitable envi...Day-long drivers at risk of cardiovascular problems as a result of traffic pollution
Exposure to fine particles and pollutants that accumulate in cars driving at varying speeds in road traffic enhances the likelihood of thrombosis, inflammation and alters the regularity of the heart rhythm. A study published today in the journal raises concerns about cardiovascular risks for vehicle drivers. ...... Michael Riediker, from The Institute of Occupational Health Sciences in Switzerl...Combining liver transplantation and coronary artery bypass grafting can be safe and effective
Improvements in surgical techniques have made orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) a viable option for older patients who may also have cardiovascular disease, but poor cardiovascular health may keep transplant candidates from receiving a new organ. ......Some such patients can safely undergo angioplasty to correct their heart conditions first, however, those requiring coronary artery bypass g...U-M team treating mouth wounds by engineering tissue grafts
ANN ARBOR, Mich.---University of Michigan researchers are testing a new procedure in which they can take a tiny piece of a person's mouth lining, grow it into a dollar-bill sized piece of tissue and graft that expanded piece into the donor's mouth to heal a wound.... ...Dr. Stephen Feinberg is leading a team that is currently working with five patients to treat small mouth wounds with the grafts....UK Engineers open flight path to quieter aircraft
A new international project to reduce aircraft noise is building on pioneering research by UK engineers. ...... The Cambridge-MIT Institute's Silent Aircraft Initiative (SAI) aims to design an aircraft that will make much less noise than conventional aeroplanes. To help meet its objectives, the project will use noise-modelling techniques devised by engineers at Cambridge University with funding f...Jefferson scientists use zebrafish to show effects of ionizing, UV radiation differ in development
Zebrafish may prove to be an invaluable animal model with which to screen the effects of radiation, Jefferson Medical College researchers have found.... ...Adam Dicker, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of radiation oncology at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson's Kimmel Cancer Center in Philadelphia, Mary Frances McAleer, M.D., Ph.D., a resident in the Departme...Regulatory T cells keep graft-versus-host disease in check
Bone marrow transplantation offers the hope of a complete cure for patients suffering from certain forms of cancer, such as leukemia or other immune deficiency diseases. ... However, there is a risk that transplanted cells may recognize the recipient patient's tissues as foreign and begin to attack them. This reaction, known as graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), can be lethal if it continues unche...New ultrafast MRI benefits stroke patients
CHICAGO A new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology reduces brain-imaging time from 20 minutes to three minutes while maintaining accuracy and decreasing patient discomfort, according to early research results presented at the 89th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).... ..."The three-minute head scan is as good as the 20-minute versio...Investigative study of stent grafting
Rodney White, M.D., a Principal Investigator, is Chief of the Division of Vascular Surgery at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. He heads an institute team of physicianscientists who are seeking better ways to prevent aneurysm ruptures and reduce surgical risks to patients. ... ...Dr. White has recently begun surgery in the VALOR trial, an effort to determine the safety and efficacy of the investigation...Neutron detector under development to monitor spacecraft radiation
HOUSTON It's no secret that radiation is a great danger to astronauts. Most of the research to date concerns the effects of galactic cosmic rays, but what happens to those particles when they pass into a spacecraft?... ...A device currently being tested will reveal what kind of neutron energy spectrum astronauts are exposed to from neutrons inside a spacecraft, alerting the occupants when dange...New stent graft for thoracic aneurysms offered at Penn
In an important step toward further establishing treatment options for patients with life-threatening aneurysms or trauma involving the aorta, the body's largest artery, the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center is participating in an FDA-approved clinical trial of the TalentTM Thoracic Stent Graft System, manufactured by Medtronics, Inc. ...Ronald M. Fairman, MD, Chief of Penn's Division of...Ultrafiltration device shown safe, effective and reduces hospital stay for heart failure patients
LAS VEGAS, NV. -- Sept. 22, 2003 -- Data presented as a poster at this year's Heart Failure Society of America meeting in Las Vegas, NV, showed that ultrafiltration using CHF Solutions' System 100 Fluid Removal System is a safe and effective means to remove large volumes of excess fluid in patients with heart failure, and also reduces hospital length of stay by almost two days when compared to th...Scientists develop technique that uses ultrafast lasers to obtain hi-quality images of brain tissue
An interdisciplinary team of scientists, headed by physicists at the University of California, San Diego, has developed a new technique for slicing and imaging brain tissue that makes use of ultra-fast lasers....... This technique, detailed in the July 3 issue of the journal Neuron, provides an important new tool scientists can use to automate and modernize histology, the study of tissues at the...Endografts help prevent deaths from abdominal aortic aneurysms
NEW YORK A ruptured aneurysm in the abdominal aorta is one of the most challenging situations emergency medical physicians face--50 percent of the patients who make it to the emergency room cannot be saved. But a new, image-guided, endovascular surgical device called an endograft is giving emergency room physicians and vascular surgeons a promising alternative for treating ruptured abdominal aor...Aircraft technology helps diagnose artificial hip, knee problems
KINGSTON, R.I. (February 20, 2003) To assess the wear and tear on jet engine parts, mechanics used an old technology called ferrography to run the aircraft's lubricating fluid through a magnetic device to separate out metal shavings and other ferrous engine debris. A University of Rhode Island researcher uses a similar process to assess the wear and tear on artificial hip and knee joints so pati...Studies define biochemical structure that keeps blood pressure low, bypass grafts open
A sort of biochemical scaffold for a compound that enables blood pressure to be low, heart bypass grafts to remain open and nerves to communicate has been identified by Medical College of Georgia researchers.... ...Researchers say identifying the framework for how these and other very positive health benefits occur should help them find ways to augment the benefits and identify new treatments for...Infection with toxoplasmososis increases the risk of being involved in a road traffic accident
A new study published in BMC Infectious Diseases reveals that people with latent toxoplasmosis (a harmless form of the disease) are more likely to be involved in a road traffic accident. These findings may well be due to the presence of cysts formed in nerves and muscle tissue, which may reduce the ability of infected individuals to concentrate....... Toxoplasmosis is a parasitic disease, which a...Zebrafish: Drug discovery of a different stripe holds promise in COX research
(Philadelphia, PA) Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered that zebrafish produce enzymes analogous to the two human cyclooxygenase (COX) enzymes COX-1 and 2 proteins that have a role in a variety of ailments including cardiovascular disease, some types of cancer, and arthritis. Furthermore, drugs that target the COX enzymes, nonsteroidal anti-inflammato...Acute stress disorder is common among children and parents following pediatric traffic injury
Philadelphia In 90 percent of families with children injured in a traffic crash, the child or a parent will suffer at least one significant acute stress symptom, according to a study at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. And 25 percent of children and parents experience more pervasive symptoms that warrant clinical attention. Nancy Kassam-Adams, Ph.D. and Flaura K. Winston, M.D., Ph.D.,...U-M study finds new target in war against graft-versus-host disease
ANN ARBOR, Mich. University of Michigan scientists reported this week that they have discovered how graft-versus-host disease, a common and deadly complication of life-saving bone marrow transplants, attacks and often kills its victims. ... ...At least 500 Americans die from GVHD every year. The U-M discovery could help prevent these deaths, and reduce the risk of hospitalization and debilitatin...Hope for kidney transplant patients of improved graft survival
28 April 2002, Washington D.C.: Results presented at the American Transplant Congress from a study on kidney transplant patients with deteriorating kidney function show that the use of the immunosuppressant CellCept (mycophenolate mofetil, MMF) allows for the safe withdrawal of cyclosporine, resulting in a significant improvement in the patient's kidney function. ...... Cyclosporine therapy has...Glow-in-the-dark zebrafish helping Jefferson scientists uncover cholesterol genes
. . .Biochemists at Jefferson Medical College are using zebrafish that glow to identify potential cholesterol-processing genes. In fact, they have found a gene they've dubbed "Fat Free" that plays a role in controlling cholesterol metabolism. .Steven Farber, Ph.D., assistant professor of microbiology and immunology at Jefferson Medical College and the Kimmel Cancer Center of Thomas Jefferson Un....Two papers published in the May 19 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.suggest that a nonsurgical technique is safe and effective for treating people.with aortic dissection, a condition that begins with a tear injury that.progressively expands through the aorta, the large artery carrying blood from.the heart to the rest of the body.. .Aortic dissection is one of the most dangerous dise...Abgenix Reports Positive Survival Data From A Phase II Trial Of ABX-CBL In Graft Versus Host Disease
.FREMONT, Calif., May 18, 1999 -- Abgenix, Inc. (Nasdaq: ABGX) reported today.additional results of a Phase II clinical trial of ABX-CBL in graft versus host.disease ("GVHD"). ABX-CBL is a proprietary in-licensed mouse antibody that.binds to the CBL antigen. The CBL antigen is upregulated on activated immune.cells, including T cells, B cells and natural killer cells. The completed trial.invol...