Categories
Cardiovascular
Diagnostics
Endocrinology
Health Insurance
Medical Devices
Mental Health
Nutrition
Oncology
Public Health
Sexual Health
Popular Articles

Abraxis Bioscience Completes Enrollment Of Pivotal Phase III Advanced Lung Cancer Study Evaluating Abraxane(R) Vs. Taxol(R)
Abraxis BioScience, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABII), a fully integrated biotechnology company, announced that the company has completed patient enrollment of a pivotal, phase III clinical study comparing the company"s chemotherapy agent ABRAXANE® for Injectable Suspension (paclitaxel protein-bound particles for injectable suspension) (albumin bound) with Taxol® (paclitaxel) injection, both in combination with carboplatin, in the first-line treatment of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The study, which is being conducted at 111 sites globally, includes 1,050 patients and is being led by principal investigator Dr. Mark Socinski at the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. It is one of the largest NSCLC clinical studies to complete enrollment.
generic viagra online
'Complacency,' 'Stigma' Hindering Efforts To Reduce HIV/AIDS In Black Communities, Opinion Piece Says
"Nearly 30 years after the discovery of HIV and AIDS, the epidemic is still ravaging black neighborhoods in Baltimore and across the nation," Kevin Fenton -- director of CDC"s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention -- writes in a Baltimore Sun opinion piece. Fenton writes that "complacency about HIV and the continued stigma associated with the disease are hindering progress by preventing too many African-Americans from seeking either HIV testing and treatment or support from their friends and family," adding that "this is a challenge that can be overcome."According to Fenton, the Obama administration last month "took an important step in confronting the United States" HIV epidemic" when CDC and White House officials announced a five-year campaign called Act Against AIDS, which is "designed to refocus the nation"s attention on the HIV crisis here at home." Fenton notes that 14 black civic organizations -- including the NAACP, the National Urban League, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the National Council of Negro Women -- are "joining the CDC to increase knowledge, awareness and action within black communities across the country." He adds that the campaign "will harness the strength and reach of these organizations by enhancing their ability to make HIV prevention a core component of their daily activities." "By raising the visibility of HIV and AIDS, the new campaign also aims to confront and overcome the fear and stigma that help keep HIV alive in black communities," Fenton says. He adds that he has "been encouraged in recent years to see black leaders, including black faith leaders, speak out more openly across the nation about the need to confront HIV and the stigma that persists surrounding this disease." Fenton writes that "[e]nding this epidemic will require not only frank and difficult discussions about HIV but also a shared sense of responsibility and commitment," concluding, "All of us can and must be part of the solution" (Fenton, Baltimore Sun, 5/27).
News of the day
New Study Finds Social And Economic Factors Play Major Role In Determining Who Gets Bariatric Surgery
Less than one-half of one percent (0.4%) of the 22 million people in the U.S. who are medically eligible for bariatric surgery actually get the surgery, and those who do are most likely to be white females with higher incomes and covered by private health insurance, according to a new study presented here at the 26th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS).
Cardiovascular

Daily Temperature Shifts May Alter Malaria Patterns

Daytime temperature fluctuations greatly alter the incubation period of malaria parasites in mosquitoes and alter transmission rates of the disease. Consideration of these fluctuations reveals a more accurate picture of climate change"s impact on malaria. "Most studies use average monthly temperatures to study the impact of climate change on the global malaria burden," said Matthew Thomas, professor of entomology, Penn State. "But mosquitoes and the malaria parasites developing within them do not experience average temperatures; they are exposed to temperatures that fluctuate throughout the day." According to Thomas, the key to understanding the transmission of malaria lies in the time parasites take to incubate within a mosquito. In areas of high malaria transmission, the parasites take between 10 to 14 days to mature and become infectious. But almost 90 percent of female mosquitoes -- which transmit the disease -- die within 12 days. So even a tiny increase or decrease in the parasites" incubation period can greatly alter the number of mosquitoes available to transmit malaria. Thomas and his Penn State colleagues Krijn Paaijmans, post-doctoral fellow, and Andrew Read, professor of biology and entomology, used a thermodynamic model to estimate the growth of malaria parasites during 30-minute intervals while temperatures fluctuated. They found that under warmer conditions the daily temperature fluctuation effectively slows down the parasites" growth, while under cooler conditions the parasites grow more quickly because at least for part of the day they experience a warm temperature. "We measure how parasite growth rates accumulate over 24 hours and subsequently over days," explained Thomas, whose team"s findings appear today (Aug 3) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "And if you add up the effects from parts of the day being very cool and parts of the day being very warm, you get a different outcome than if you simply use the mean monthly temperature." The Penn State researchers" model suggests that in cooler areas with average monthly temperatures below 68 degrees Fahrenheit, a fluctuation of plus or minus 45 degrees Fahrenheit reduces the parasites" incubation period, making them infectious nearly two weeks earlier. For areas with mean temperatures above 77 degrees Fahrenheit, a similar fluctuation greatly increases their incubation period and thereby reduces their infectious potential. "This is important because if we base our estimates of malaria transmission intensity on mean monthly temperatures alone then we are going to be wrong," said Thomas. "Most studies are probably overestimating transmission intensity under warmer conditions and underestimating the transmission intensity under cooler conditions." To test their model Thomas and his colleagues looked up average monthly temperatures and change in daytime temperatures for 1987 through 2005 during the main malaria transmission season at Kericho, a site in the Kenyan Highlands. Current malaria transmission models predict that for average monthly temperatures between 59 degrees Fahrenheit and 69 degrees Fahrenheit during Kericho"s malaria season, the incubation time for malaria parasites is never less than three weeks and frequently exceed a number of months. However, because about 10 to 20 percent of mosquitoes die off each day and the oldest live for about 56 days, such lengthy incubation periods for the parasites make malaria transmission at Kericho possible only during six of the 17 years. However, malaria epidemics have been reported from the Kenyan Highlands in all 17 years. When researchers accounted for daytime temperature fluctuation, their model correctly predicted it would shorten the parasites" incubation period to below 56 days, making malaria transmission possible during all 17 years. "In order to explain the frequency of malaria epidemics at Kericho, you need to invoke the effects of daytime temperature fluctuation," said Thomas. "You cannot simply explain it with coarser measures of monthly mean temperature." The Penn State researcher added that the inclusion of daytime temperature fluctuations could be the key to accurately interpreting the potential impacts of climate change on the dynamics of diseases such as malaria. "There is potential for climate change to increase or decrease the intrinsic risk of malaria, but predicting what will happen where and when requires we consider changes in temperature variation, and not just mean conditions, coupled with a more detailed understanding of mosquito ecology." PA Department of Health Tobacco Settlement Funds supported this work. Amitabh Avasthi Penn State


Add your comment:
Name:
Site address: http://
Your message:
Enter today\\\\'s date, 2 digits
(spam protection):

© Copyright 2009