Culture | Science Codex

Japanese P2 study shows potential of combined vaccine and steroid drug in castration-resistant PCa

Arnhem, 11 March 2013- Multi-peptide vaccination therapy combined with the low-dose steroid drug dexamethasone shows promise in treating chemotherapy-naive castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) patients.

The study, which won the third prize for best abstract in oncology at the 28th European Association of Urology Congress held in Milan, Italy from 15 to 19 March, showed the promising benefit of this combination therapy in patients who are chemotherapy-naive or those not yet exposed to specific antigens.

Stem cells transplantation technique has high potential as a novel therapeutic strategy for ED

Arnhem, 11 March 2013 - Transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells cultivated on the surface of nanofibrous meshes could be a novel therapeutic strategy against post-prostatectomy erectile dysfunction (ED), conclude the authors of a study which is to be presented at the 28th Annual EAU Congress later this week.

The study was conducted by a group of Korean scientists and will be awarded 3rd prize for best abstract in non-oncology research on the opening day of the congress.

Japanese P2 study shows potential of combined vaccine and steroid drug in castration resistant PCa

Arnhem, 11 March 2013- Multi-peptide vaccination therapy combined with the low-dose steroid drug dexamethasone shows promise in treating chemotherapy-naive castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) patients.

The study, which won the third prize for best abstract in oncology at the 28th European Association of Urology Congress held in Milan, Italy from 15 to 19 March, showed the promising benefit of this combination therapy in patients who are chemotherapy-naive or those not yet exposed to specific antigens.

Race, geographic location may affect care of patients with kidney disease

Highlights

Problems of pathological gambling differ for younger and older gamblers

To successfully treat pathological gambling, you need to intervene at an early stage, according to Susana Jiménez-Murcia from the University Hospital of Bellvitge in Spain and colleagues. Their study shows that a patient's age influences how severe the psychopathology and clinical aspects of pathological gambling are. Their work is published online in Springer's Journal of Gambling Studies.

Children of divorced parents more likely to start smoking

TORONTO, ON – Both daughters and sons from divorced families are significantly more likely to initiate smoking in comparison to their peers from intact families, shows a new analysis of 19,000 Americans.

Discards ban could impact seabird populations

The European Parliament recently voted to scrap the controversial discards policy, which has seen fishermen throwing thousands of edible fish and fish waste back into the sea because they have exceeded their quotas.

Scientists at Plymouth University believe this could have a negative impact on some seabirds, which have become used to following the fishing vessels and are increasingly reliant on their discards.

ASU scholars advocate innovation in regulatory, payment pathways for personalized medicine

Two innovative programs designed to improve the availability of emerging medical technologies that can help patients receive more effective, efficient and personalized health care are advanced in a commentary written by a team of scientists and policy experts, including seven from Arizona State University, and published today in Science Translational Medicine.

EASL calls on UK to tackle alcohol consumption problem through implementation of minimum pricing

Geneva, 13th March 2013 --- According to WHO, liver cirrhosis accounts for 1.8% (i.e. 170,000) of all deaths in Europe. In recent years liver cirrhosis has become a serious health threat in some Western European countries such as Ireland and the United Kingdom, where over the last 10 years the associated mortality has increased .

Garbled text messages may be the only symptoms of stroke

DETROIT – Difficulty or inability to write a coherent text message, even in patients who have no problem speaking, may become a "vital" tool in diagnosing a type of crippling stroke, according to new research at Henry Ford Hospital.

The case study focused on a 40-year-old man visiting the metro Detroit area on business who showed signs of "dystextia," a recently coined term for incoherent text messaging that can sometimes be confused with autocorrect garble. But in his case, the man saw nothing wrong with the garble.

Computer models predict how patients will respond to HIV drugs

Results of a study published online in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy today (Thursday), demonstrate that computer models can predict how HIV patients whose drug therapy is failing will respond to a new treatment. Crucially for patients in poorer countries, the models do not require the results of expensive drug resistance tests to make their predictions.

US lifespans lags other high-income countries, tied to mortality rates under age 50

Higher mortality rates among Americans younger than 50 are responsible for much of why life expectancy is lower in the United States than most of the world's most developed nations.

The research, by Jessica Ho, a University of Pennsylvania doctoral candidate in demography and sociology, found that excess mortality among Americans younger than 50 accounted for two-thirds of the gap in life expectancy at birth between American males and their counterparts and two-fifths between females and their counterparts in the comparison countries.

Symbols, such as traffic lights, on menus effective in educating diners

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A little-noticed provision of the Affordable Care Act requires all chain restaurants and retail food establishments with 20 or more locations to list calorie counts on their menus. But according to research co-written by a University of Illinois agricultural economist, numeric calorie labels might not be the most effective way to influence patrons to select "healthier" (often interpreted as lower-calorie) items.

Carnivores, livestock and people manage to share same space study finds

In the southern Rift Valley of Kenya, the Maasai people, their livestock and a range of carnivores, including striped hyenas, spotted hyenas, lions and bat-eared foxes, are coexisting fairly happily according to a team of coupled human and natural systems researchers.

Answering messages behind the wheel is as dangerous as being twice over the limit

Scientists from various Australian universities in collaboration with the University of Barcelona have compared the effects of mobile use while driving with the effects of alcohol using a simulation. Their experiment demonstrates that using a handsfree kit or sending text messages is the same as being above the legal alcohol limit.