Culture

Fampridine (trade name Fampyra®) has been approved in Germany since July 2011 for adult patients suffering from a higher grade walking disability (grades 4 to 7 on the EDSS disability status scale), as a result of multiple sclerosis (MS). The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) has assessed the added benefit of the drug pursuant to the Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal Products (AMNOG).

The use of newer drugs, a greater number of effective drugs, and a longer treatment regimen may be associated with improved survival of patients with multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TR), according to a large study by a team of international researchers published in this week's PLOS Medicine.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - If experts thought they knew anything about individual investors, it was this: their emotions lead them to sell winning stocks too soon and hold on to losers too long.

But new research casts doubt on this widely held theory that individual investors' decisions are driven mainly by their feelings toward losses and gains. In an innovative study, researchers found evidence that individual investors' decisions are primarily motivated by their beliefs about a stock's future.

Hispanic children often have undiagnosed developmental delays and large numbers of both Hispanic and non-Hispanic children who first were thought to have developmental delay actually had autism, researchers affiliated with the UC Davis MIND Institute have found.

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Numerous studies have shown the powerful effect that exercise can have on cancer care and recovery. For patients who have gone through breast or colon cancer treatment, regular exercise has been found to reduce recurrence of the disease by up to 50 percent. But many cancer patients are reluctant to exercise, and few discuss it with their oncologists, according to a Mayo Clinic study published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management.

COLUMBIA, Mo. — In the past two decades, the Chinese economy has undergone many drastic reforms in an effort to compete more effectively on the international market. These reforms included allowing foreign banks to offer credit cards to Chinese citizens. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have found about 30 percent of Chinese urban households now own at least one credit card and the growth rate of credit card adoption has been an average of 40 percent per year between 2004 and 2009.

In the computer graphics (CG) animated comedy "Ted," which is running now in the cinemas, Ted is a teddy bear who came to life as the result of a childhood wish of John Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) and has refused to leave his side ever since. CG Animated characters like "Ted" have become a standard of Hollywood's movie productions since the blockbuster "Avatar" with its blue-skinned computer-animated characters won three Oscars and brought in three billion US dollars, digital animated characters have become a standard of Hollywood's movie productions.

ACCA was previously the ESC Working Group on Acute Cardiac Care. Today it becomes one of six ESC Associations, whose presidents are invited to ESC Board meetings. "It will be easier to inform the ESC Board about the activities of the association," said Professor Christiaan Vrints (Belgium), outgoing chairman of the Working Group on Acute Cardiac Care. "We will also have a bigger impact on the policies and the development of the ESC as an organisation."

Munich, Germany – August 26 2012: Personalized antiplatelet treatment leads to better outcomes than standard antiplatelet treatment in patients undergoing coronary stent implantation, according to results from the MADONNA study presented at ESC Congress 2012. The findings were presented by Dr Jolanta Siller-Matula from Medical University of Vienna.

Standard antiplatelet treatment in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) consists of a dual antiplatelet therapy with aspirin and an ADP receptor inhibitor such as clopidogrel.

Munich, Germany – August 28 2012: Improved treatment after acute myocardial infarction and less severe patient profile have reduced 30-day mortality over the past 15 years, according to research presented at ESC Congress 2012. The analysis of four French registries from 1995 to 2010 was presented by Professor Nicolas Danchin from the Hopital Européen Georges Pompidou.

Munich, Germany – August 28 2012: The risk of ischemic stroke one year after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) dropped by 21% over a ten year period, according to research presented at ESC Congress 2012. The analysis of data from two Swedish registries was presented by Dr Anders Ulvenstam, and suggests that the reduction is due to improvements in AMI care.

Munich, Germany – August 26 2012: Global platelet reactivity is more effective than responsiveness to clopidogrel in identifying acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients at high risk of ischemic events, according to research presented at the ESC Congress today. The results from the RECLOSE 2-ACS study were presented by Dr Rossella Marcucci from Italy.

Munich, Germany – August 27 2012: Women with severe aortic stenosis are 40% less likely to die after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) than men, reveals the latest data from the largest study to date of gender differences in outcomes after TAVI. The findings were presented at ESC Congress 2012 by Professor Karin Humphries from St. Paul's Hospital.

Munich, Germany – August 28 2012: Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) leads to meaningful improvements in health-related quality of life in patients with severe aortic stenosis that are maintained for at least 1 year, according to a study presented at ESC Congress 2012. The results from the German transcatheter aortic valve interventions registry were presented by Professor Till Neumann, MD, from Essen, Germany.

Munich, Germany – August 27 2012: Up to 400 cardiac events and 200 deaths in Swedish PCI patients could be avoided by following a heart healthy lifestyle, according to research from the SPICI study presented at ESC Congress 2012. The results were presented at ESC press conference by Professor Joep Perk from Linnaeus University and at the scientific session by Dr Roland CARLSSON.