“UM study: Freezing breast tumors in mice kills cancer in its place (Lansing State Journal)” plus 3 more |
- UM study: Freezing breast tumors in mice kills cancer in its place (Lansing State Journal)
- Imaging tools may help address challenging clinical dilemma of prostate cancer care: Study (News-Medical-Net)
- AVG Research Study Reveals More Than 40 Percent of World's Malicious Websites are Hosted in the United States (Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance)
- Study better in cyberspace (Independent)
| UM study: Freezing breast tumors in mice kills cancer in its place (Lansing State Journal) Posted: 10 Mar 2010 01:07 AM PST Freezing breast tumors helped stop the spread of the cancer in mice, a new study has found. Researchers tested two cryoablation (freezing) techniques in mice with breast cancer. Both involve applying a cold probe to the tumor, but one method involves rapid freezing (about 30 seconds) of the tumor, while the other takes a few minutes. The mice that received cryoablation were compared to mice in which breast tumors were removed with surgery. Both cryoablation methods killed breast tumors. Mice treated with the rapid cryoablation had fewer tumors spread to the lungs and had better survival than mice treated with the slower freezing technique or those treated with surgery alone, according to the researchers from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center. The better results associated with rapid cryoablation may result from changes in the immune system that help kill tumors. The slower freezing method didn't have the same effect on the immune system, the study authors found. The study findings are published in the journal Annals of Surgical Oncology. The researchers are currently conducting a clinical trial to test the effectiveness of rapid cryoablation in breast cancer patients. "Cryoablation has strong potential as a treatment for breast cancer," study lead author Dr. Michael Sabel, an associate professor of surgery at the University of Michigan Medical School, said in a news release. "Not only does it appear effective in treating the primary tumor with little cosmetic concerns, but it also may stimulate an immune response capable of eradicating any cells that have traveled throughout the body, reducing both local and distant recurrence, similar to giving a breast cancer vaccine," he explained. "What we learned in this study is that all cryoablation is not equal," Sabel said. "The technique used to freeze the tissue can have a significant impact on how the immune system responds. The system we use today appears to be ideal for both destroying the tumor within the breast and generating an anti-cancer immune response." Currently, cryoablation is used routinely to treat prostate cancer, kidney cancer and a number of cancers that have spread to the liver and bones. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Posted: 10 Mar 2010 02:42 AM PST Data Addresses the Central Challenge in Prostate Cancer Care as Identified by March 4 Congressional Hearing and Highlights Need for Further Research New preliminary data from a pilot study in the Netherlands indicates that imaging tools may help address the most challenging clinical dilemma of prostate cancer care as identified by the hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and its expert witnesses last week: to treat or not treat, AdMeTech Foundation's President and CEO Dr. Faina Shtern said today. The preliminary study, done by a world-leading team of researchers led by Dr. Jelle Barentsz, Professor of Radiology and Chair of Research at Radboud University, demonstrated a high discriminatory performance of the novel MRI methodology (Diffusion-Weighted Imaging) in separating aggressive prostate cancer that must be treated from harmless disease conditions that don't require treatment. The study of 51 patients will be released at the European Congress of Radiology on March 10. "Today's MR imaging is getting more precise every day in defining cancer anatomy. In addition, functional MR techniques like Diffusion Weighted Imaging, Dynamic Contrast Enhancement, Spectroscopy, and cell specific agents (e.g., Combidex) have shown to result in improved detection of aggressive cancer," said Dr. Barentsz. "These imaging techniques visualize aggressive prostate cancer -- together with its location and extent, making it possible to guide precision biopsy and to administer 'patient-tailored therapy.' The individualized treatment is expected to improve outcomes, reduce morbidity and save costs. Further research in this area is of utmost importance," added Dr. Barentsz, co-leader of AdMeTech's International Prostate MRI Working Group, a research program headed by Dr. Shtern and funded through a peer review process by the Telemedicine and Advanced Technologies Research Center of the Department of Defense. In the most recent meeting of the Group, other leading physicians and scientists from the United States and Europe highlighted Diffusion-Weighted MRI as one of the most promising emerging imaging tools for guidance of early diagnosis, biopsy and treatment. "This emerging data give us great hope for ending blind patient care and the related staggering extent of overdiagnosis and overtreatment associated with current screening tools, such as blood test PSA and digital rectal exams. The data also shows the need for private and public funding of a larger scale, definitive studies on the clinical value and cost-effectiveness of imaging technologies such as MRI and their potential to eliminate unnecessary procedures and to select the most effective and the least invasive patient care," said Dr. Shtern. She emphasized that while early detection is critical to cure prostate cancer and to save lives, poor specificity of current diagnostics causes up to 54 percent of men with early prostate cancer to have unnecessary treatment, which has dire societal and human costs. Dr. Shtern added, "Improved diagnostic tools, which will correctly identify patients who require treatment and those who do not, will save lives and improve the quality of life in millions of men while saving billions of dollars in health care costs." SOURCE AdMeTech Foundation Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Posted: 10 Mar 2010 05:00 AM PST AMSTERDAM--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AVG Technologies, makers of the world's most popular free anti-virus software, today unveiled the results of a research study which shows that – contrary to popular opinion – most malicious websites are hosted on US servers and not in other countries like China. The AVG research study is based on the analysis of threats reported during the last 6 months from AVG's 110 million worldwide users of its LinkScanner web security product. The research indicates an increase in malware serving web sites targeting end users, which typically focus on stealing online banking credentials, credit card information, personal identities and passwords to social sites. The detection and analysis of exploits was based on AVG's unique crowd-sourced methods for analyzing web content for malicious or dangerous intent as reported by AVG's vast network of LinkScanner installations worldwide. AVG's research shows that malicious code is not just an issue with outlaw servers located in countries with weak laws and lax enforcement. Monitoring active web servers serving exploits around the world indicates that 44 percent of the corrupted servers are hosted in the United States, followed by Germany and China at just 5 percent each. Many of these malware-serving websites are legitimate sites compromised by hackers to serve exploits on their behalf. In total, exploitive servers were found in nearly 4,600 locations throughout the USA. It is important to note that this research makes no statement about who owns or is directing the efforts of these servers – for those criminals and/or criminal networks could be anywhere in the world – and they are. "The results of this study shatter the myth that malicious code is primarily hosted in countries where e-crime laws are less developed," said Karel Obluk, Chief Technology Officer, AVG Technologies. "Our research shows that malicious content is much more likely to show up on web servers in the U.S. than one in Asia or Eastern Europe. This makes perfect sense since the USA is a primary target market for the criminals and has rich and mature Internet infrastructure making the threats both highly accessible and cheap to host. What is most striking is the clear rise in the number of malicious servers in the last six months. Obluk continued, "Even more important to note is that, on average during this six month period, about 50 percent of the domains hosted on these servers were online and hosting threats only one day or less. This transient nature makes them very hard to find and add to traditional reputation-based protection systems in time to be helpful to users." As a preventive measure, users should look for web security protection when going online. AVG's LinkScanner, included in all of AVG's products, is a highly effective product to protect users from today's malware in real-time. AVG LinkScanner is available for a FREE download at: www.linkscanner.avg.com Keep in touch with AVG
About AVG Technologies AVG is a global security software maker protecting more than 110 million consumers and small businesses in 167 countries from the ever-growing incidence of web threats, viruses, spam, cyber-scams and hackers on the Internet. AVG has nearly two decades of experience in combating cyber crime and one of the most advanced laboratories for detecting, pre-empting and combating Web-borne threats from around the world. Its free, downloadable software allows novice users to have basic anti-virus protection and then easily upgrade to greater levels of safety and defense when they are ready. AVG has nearly 6,000 resellers, partners and distributors globally including Amazon.com, CNET, Cisco, Ingram Micro, Play.com, Source: http://www.avg.com/press-releases-news Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Study better in cyberspace (Independent) Posted: 10 Mar 2010 04:25 PM PST
The future is incontestably digital: the internet is changing the way we do all sorts of things, from shopping to working to running our social lives. Education, though, has so far largely remained anchored in the old world – but even this is beginning to change. Universities are fast becoming receptive to the new horizons and opportunities the internet offers. Of course, distance learning is an established concept, but modern online learning is a far cry from old-style correspondence courses. Flexibility and collaboration are the key advantages to the new style of online learning, according to Alan Southern, the director of postgraduate studies at the University of Liverpool's management school. Classes are small and based around web forums. Students are given some reading or research, and can interact with their instructors and peers in evolving discussion threads. One-to-one access to tutors is readily available, and the beauty of the system means that classes do not have to happen in real time. Discussions will be open for days at a time, meaning that students can ask their questions when their time zones and work schedules allow. It's all done on a low-tech platform for people with slower internet connections. "We are playing to the strengths of the technology – the real time aspect doesn't add anything online," says Southern. "In this format, a student can go away and do some more reading or have a harder think about the subject before coming back and rejoining the discussion. "We've avoided transferring what we think as the 'classroom on campus' experience into the online environment, so you won't see conventional-style lectures taking place." Online learners are a different crowd from on-campus students. They're generally older and probably in full-time work, and either can't spare the money or the time to complete a traditional course. Many have decide that a degree is the best way to advance a career, but that it isn't practical to leave their job to study for one. Unsurprisingly, the Open University, the heavyweight champion of distance learning, is also embracing the brave new digital world. "Most of our courses now have an online component," explains Niall Sclater, OU's director of learning innovation, who favours a hybrid approach to online learning. "There are pros and cons to all technologies," he says. "To do away with traditional methods does not work – but you do have to use new techniques for what they're good for. Distance students can feel isolated, so the internet helps them connect to each other in a way that wasn't possible when they were using bits of paper sent out to them."It's more efficient from our point of view, too. Students are submitting their assignments electronically, and the marking is done electronically. There's not a lot of point in using the mail any more." The OU is taking a much higher-tech attitude with its content than many, and is using all sorts of media, like wikis, videos, audio, animations and virtual whiteboards. It also holds scheduled learning activities, when a class logs on at the same time to use video- and audio-conferencing and collaborative applications. It is even pioneering lectures held in the online world Second Life. "One of the things we're doing is trying to make all our student-facing systems mobile friendly," says Sclater. "Smart phones are going to be huge. They can take small chunks of learning – reading, podcasts or quizzes – wherever they are." Peter Crookes spent nine years on and off studying for an open degree in science, maths and computing with the OU. His job as a meteorologist keeps him travelling, and he was only able to get the degree he needed to move his career to the next level by flexible online study. "I couldn't have taken these courses in any other way," he says. "When you're in work, you just don't have the time to dedicate yourself to a full-time degree. With the OU, I could fit the degree around my life. Sometimes I had a lot of time on my hands at work, and I just went online and studied. "My degree is opening doors for me. I can go for better jobs in the met office; it's really improving my career." '); } else { document.write('Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Yahoo! News Search Results for Study Techniques To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment