The original LG Lucid came to Verizon just a little over a year ago as a midrange device, and today we got word that its sequel, the Lucid2 (VS870), is now ready to come down the pipeline in similar capacity. Said to be Big Red's version of the LG Optimus F5, the free device is aimed at the first-time smartphone buyer and is available online beginning today, while retail availability will be in the coming weeks. Among its boasted features are a Starter Mode with a simplified UI -- much like what we've seen on Pantech phones recently -- as well as a 5MP rear camera, 4.3-inch qHD IPS display, 2,460mAh battery, Android 4.1.2, unspecified 1.2GHz Snapdragon S4 processor, 1GB RAM and 8GB internal storage. Hit the press release below for more specs and details.
Tonsillectomy in adults with severe recurrent sore throats may benefit some peoplePublic release date: 2-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Kim Barnhardt kim.barnhardt@cmaj.ca 613-520-7116 x2224 Canadian Medical Association Journal
Tonsillectomy may result in fewer severe sore throats and could benefit some adult patients, according to a randomized trial published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).
Recurrent severe sore throats result in lost work or school days and frequent use of antibiotics.
Researchers from Finland conducted a randomized open trial to determine whether tonsillectomy reduced episodes of severe sore throats (pharyngitis). The trial involved 86 patients, 46 of whom had the procedure and 40 who did not. The primary outcome was the difference in the number of patients with severe pharyngitis within 5 months. This had to be confirmed by a visit to a medical professional, a throat culture or blood sample and a rating of pain as severe.
At 5 months, 3% of the control patients (1) and none of the tonsillectomy group had a severe sore throat. Of the people in the tonsillectomy group, 4% (2) visited a physician for a severe sore throat compared with 43% (17) in the control group; 80% (32) of the control group had an acute sore throat compared with 39% (18) in the tonsillectomy group.
"During follow-up, the overall rate of pharyngitis and number of days with throat pain, fever, rhinitis and cough were significantly lower in the tonsillectomy group than in the control group," writes Dr. Timo Koskenkorva, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oulu and Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland, with coauthors.
However, "patients in both groups graded their throat pain as mild."
The tonsillectomy group reported improved quality of life with few lost work or school days compared with the control group.
The researchers note that because the trial was open and participants knew whether they had had a tonsillectomy, subjective bias might have been introduced to the study.
"Adult patients who had disabling pharyngitis involving the palatine tonsils more than 3 times per year that prevented normal functioning and led to medical consultation benefitted from tonsillectomy," conclude the authors. "The morbidity and complications related to tonsillectomy must be considered when physicians and patients decide whether the clinical benefits outweigh the risks of surgery."
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Tonsillectomy in adults with severe recurrent sore throats may benefit some peoplePublic release date: 2-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Kim Barnhardt kim.barnhardt@cmaj.ca 613-520-7116 x2224 Canadian Medical Association Journal
Tonsillectomy may result in fewer severe sore throats and could benefit some adult patients, according to a randomized trial published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).
Recurrent severe sore throats result in lost work or school days and frequent use of antibiotics.
Researchers from Finland conducted a randomized open trial to determine whether tonsillectomy reduced episodes of severe sore throats (pharyngitis). The trial involved 86 patients, 46 of whom had the procedure and 40 who did not. The primary outcome was the difference in the number of patients with severe pharyngitis within 5 months. This had to be confirmed by a visit to a medical professional, a throat culture or blood sample and a rating of pain as severe.
At 5 months, 3% of the control patients (1) and none of the tonsillectomy group had a severe sore throat. Of the people in the tonsillectomy group, 4% (2) visited a physician for a severe sore throat compared with 43% (17) in the control group; 80% (32) of the control group had an acute sore throat compared with 39% (18) in the tonsillectomy group.
"During follow-up, the overall rate of pharyngitis and number of days with throat pain, fever, rhinitis and cough were significantly lower in the tonsillectomy group than in the control group," writes Dr. Timo Koskenkorva, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oulu and Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland, with coauthors.
However, "patients in both groups graded their throat pain as mild."
The tonsillectomy group reported improved quality of life with few lost work or school days compared with the control group.
The researchers note that because the trial was open and participants knew whether they had had a tonsillectomy, subjective bias might have been introduced to the study.
"Adult patients who had disabling pharyngitis involving the palatine tonsils more than 3 times per year that prevented normal functioning and led to medical consultation benefitted from tonsillectomy," conclude the authors. "The morbidity and complications related to tonsillectomy must be considered when physicians and patients decide whether the clinical benefits outweigh the risks of surgery."
###
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
President Barack Obama speaks about the BRAIN (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) Initiative, Tuesday, April 2, 2013, in the East Room at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
President Barack Obama speaks about the BRAIN (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) Initiative, Tuesday, April 2, 2013, in the East Room at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
President Barack Obama leaves the stage in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, April 2, 2013, after he spoke about the BRAIN (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) Initiative. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama on Tuesday asked Congress to spend $100 million next year on a new project to map the human brain in hopes of eventually finding cures for disorders like Alzheimer's, epilepsy and traumatic injuries.
Obama said the so-called BRAIN Initiative could create jobs and eventually lead to answers to ailments including Parkinson's and autism and help reverse the effect of a stroke. The president told scientists gathered in the White House's East Room that the research has the potential to improve the lives of billions of people worldwide.
"As humans we can identify galaxies light-years away," Obama said. "We can study particles smaller than an atom, but we still haven't unlocked the mystery of the three pounds of matter that sits between our ears."
BRAIN stands for Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies. The idea, which Obama first proposed in his State of the Union address, would require the development of new technology that can record the electrical activity of individual cells and complex neural circuits in the brain "at the speed of thought," the White House said.
Obama wants the initial $100 million investment to support research at the National Institutes of Health, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the National Science Foundation. He also wants private companies, universities and philanthropists to partner with the federal agencies in support of the research. And he wants a study of the ethical, legal and societal implications of the research.
The goals of the work are unclear at this point. A working group at NIH, co-chaired by Cornelia "Cori" Bargmann of The Rockefeller University and William Newsome of Stanford University, would work on defining the goals and develop a multi-year plan to achieve them that included cost estimates.
Looking to save some coin on your tech purchases? Of course you are! In this round-up, we'll run down a list of the freshest frugal buys, hand-picked with the help of the folks at Slickdeals. You'll want to act fast, though, as many of these offerings won't stick around long.
In what we could've labeled as the HD Edition, home theater gadgets claim three of the five spots in today's roundup. If you're not into those types of purchases at the moment, the Sony NEX-F3 also gets a pretty nice discount of its own. For all of the details, take a quick trip to the other side of the break.
Apr. 1, 2013 ? In a first-of-its-kind experiment using microvesicles generated from mesenchymal bone marrow cells (MSCs) to treat cancer, neurological researchers at Henry Ford Hospital have discovered a novel approach for treatment of tumors.
Specifically, the research team found that introducing genetic material produced by MSCs significantly reduced a particularly resistant form of malignant brain tumor in living lab rats.
"This is the first foray of its type in experimental cancer therapy, and it represents a highly novel and potentially effective treatment," says Michael Chopp, Ph.D., scientific director of the Henry Ford Neuroscience Institute and vice chairman of the Department of Neurology at Henry Ford Hospital.
The research is published in the current issue Cancer Letters.
"I think this is an important and very novel approach for the treatment of cancers, and in this particular case the treatment of glioma," says Dr. Chopp. "We have been at the forefront of developing microRNAs as a means to treat disease, such as cancer and neurological injury.
"This study shows it is effective in the living brain, and may even lend itself to specific cancer therapy, customized for the individual patient," Chopp adds.
Chopp and his colleagues focused their efforts on glioma, by far the most common type of malignant brain tumor and one with a notably poor prognosis for survival.
Tumor cells were surgically implanted in the brains of anesthetized male lab rats and allowed to grow for five days.
The tumors then were injected with exosomes containing molecules of a microRNA called miR-146b -- found in earlier Henry Ford research to have a strong effect on glioma cells.
Exosomes are microscopic "lipid bubbles" that once were thought to carry and get rid of "old" proteins that were no longer needed by the body. After they were more recently found to also carry RNA, whole new fields of study were suggested, including groundbreaking work by Henry Ford researchers.
In the rat study, Dr. Chopp and his colleagues used MSC bone marrow cells to produce the exosomes containing the miR-146b they injected into the cancerous tumors.
Five days after this treatment, the rats were euthanized and their brains were removed, prepared for study and examined. Tumor size was measured using computer software.
"We found that one injection of exosomes containing miR-146b five days after tumor implantation led to a significant reduction in tumor volume at 10 days after implant," Chopp says. "Our data suggest that miR-146b elicits an anti-tumor effect in the rat brain, and that MSCs can be used as a 'factory' to generate exosomes genetically altered to contain miR-146b to effectively treat tumor."
Funding: NIH and Henry Ford Hospital
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Henry Ford Health System.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
Mark Katakowski, Ben Buller, Xuguang Zheng, Yong Lu, Thomas Rogers, Oyinkansola Osobamiro, Wayne Shu, Feng Jiang, Michael Chopp. Exosomes from marrow stromal cells expressing miR-146b inhibit glioma growth. Cancer Letters, 2013; DOI: 10.1016/j.canlet.2013.02.019
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Gotta hand it to Google -- the boys and girls in Mountain View can have some serious fun for April Fools' Day. Each year we get a handful of awesomely funny announcements and videos, including such gems as Google Translate for animals or Google Racing.
Google's getting started a day early this year. This morning it posted a video to YouTube announcing that it's received enough entries to finally pick the best video, and that YouTube will shut down at midnight tonight until 2023, at which time the winner will be announced.
Thanks for all your great entries. YouTube finally has enough videos to begin selecting a winner. What do you think is the #bestvideo on YouTube?
We've been thrilled with all of the diverse, creative entries we've seen so far, and we can't wait to begin the process of selecting the best video. We'll be announcing the winner in 10 years.
The cameos are worth watching as well. Antoine Dodson as a judge? Of course. Taking a shot at unboxings? Love it. iJustine, Rafi Fine. David from "David after Dentist" fame. Awesomesauce.
Check out the video after the break, and get ready for more from Google on Monday.
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Public release date: 2-Apr-2013
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