Workplace safety program can reduce injuries if aggressively enforced, study finds |  |
- Workplace safety program can reduce injuries if aggressively enforced, study finds
- Newer radiation technology improves head and neck cancer patients' long-term quality of life
- LED lights point shoppers in the right direction
- NIH launches trials to evaluate CPR and drugs after sudden cardiac arrest
- Research finds newer radiation therapy technology improves patients' quality of life
- Young adults responded well to swine flu
- WHOI's John Waterbury receives NAS Gilbert Morgan Smith Medal
- Foot and ankle structure differs between sprinters and non-sprinters
- Eating smart: Researcher studies foods, dietary supplements that may reduce risk of prostate cancer
- Identified a cause of resistance to colon cancer treatment
| Workplace safety program can reduce injuries if aggressively enforced, study finds Posted: 27 Jan 2012 05:00 AM PST ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) A longstanding California occupational safety program requiring all businesses to eliminate workplace hazards can help prevent injuries to workers, but only if it is adequately enforced, according to a new study by the RAND Corporation. The first-ever evaluation of the California Injury and Illness Prevention Program found evidence that the program reduces workplace injuries, but only at businesses that had been cited for not addressing the regulation's more-specific safety mandates. We found the safety effects to be real, but not very large, said John Mendeloff, lead author of the study and a senior public policy researcher for RAND, a nonprofit research organization. We think that the most important reason for the limited impact of this program is that inspectors often did not go beyond a review of the employer's written document. When California Division of Occupational Safety and Health inspectors did investigate further and found failures to comply with provisions to train workers, identify and abate hazards, and investigate injury causes, the average injury rates at targeted businesses declined more than 20 percent in the following two years, Mendeloff said. However, these provisions were cited in only about 5 percent of Cal-OSHA inspections, RAND researchers found. In the other 20 percent of inspections where a violation of the rule was cited, it was only for the section requiring the employer have a written program. Such a violation carries an average penalty of $150. The California Injury and Illness Prevention Program, which became effective in 1991, requires all employers to adopt certain procedures. These include communicating to employees about risks, carrying out regular workplace surveys and abating the hazards that are found, training employees about how to work safely, and investigating the causes of the injuries that occur. In contrast, almost all other safety standards address specific hazards -- for... http://www.rxpgnews.com    |
| Newer radiation technology improves head and neck cancer patients' long-term quality of life Posted: 26 Jan 2012 05:00 AM PST ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Patients treated with IMRT for head and neck cancer report an increasingly better quality of life post-treatment when compared to patients receiving other forms of radiation therapy, according to a study presented at the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium, sponsored by AHNS, ASCO, ASTRO and SNM. Intensity modulated radiation therapy, or IMRT, is a highly specialized form of external beam radiation therapy that allows the radiation beam to better target and conform to a tumor. It is a newer treatment that has become widely adopted for treating head and neck cancer. Prior studies have shown that IMRT decreases the probability of radiation therapy related side effects, including dry mouth and chewing and swallowing problems, but no study has been conducted to measure long-term quality of life in head and neck cancer patients treated with various forms of radiation therapy. Investigators from the University of California, Davis, School of Medicine, prospectively administered the University of Washington Quality of Life instrument, a standardized, previously validated questionnaire that patients complete after radiation therapy, to 155 patients undergoing treatment for cancers of the head and neck and analyzed the scores over time. Fifty-four percent of patients were initially treated with IMRT and 46 percent were treated with non-IMRT techniques. The researchers showed that the early quality of life gains associated with IMRT not only are maintained but become more magnified over time. At one-year post-treatment, 51 percent of IMRT patients rated their quality of life as very good or outstanding compared to 41 percent of non-IMRT patients. However, at two-years after treatment, the percentages changed to 73 percent and 49 percent, respectively. Also, 80 percent of patients treated with IMRT reported that their health-related quality of life was much better or somewhat better compared to the month before developing... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| LED lights point shoppers in the right direction Posted: 26 Jan 2012 05:00 AM PST ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Looking for an item in a large department store or mall can be like searching for a needle in a haystack, but that could change thanks to a hybrid location-identification system that uses radio frequency transmitters and overhead LED lights, suggested by a team of researchers from Penn State and Hallym University in South Korea. LED lights are becoming the norm, said Mohsen Kavehrad, W. L. Weiss Chair Professor of Electrical Engineering and director of the Center for Information and Communications Technology Research at Penn State. The same lights that brighten a room can also provide locational information. To locate an item in a mall, the system would not need to transfer large amounts of data. Kavehrad and his team envision large stores or malls with overhead LED light fixtures, each assigned with a location code. At the entrance, a computer that is accessible via keyboard or even telephone would contain a database of all the items available. Shortly after a query, the location or locations of the desired item would appear. The human eye can't see beyond 15 on and offs of a light per second, said Kavehrad. We can get kilobytes and megabytes of information in very rapid blinking of the LEDs, he told attendees at the SPIE Photonics West 2012 conference today in San Francisco. But LED-transmitted locational information alone will not work because light does not transmit through walls. Kavehrad, working with Zhou Zhou, graduate student in electrical engineering, Penn State, designed a hybrid LiFi system using a Zigbee multihop wireless network with the LEDs. ZigBee is an engineering specification designed for small, low-power digital radio frequency applications requiring short-range wireless transfer of data at relatively low rates. ZigBee applications usually require a low data rate, long battery life, and secure networking. While a ceiling light can have communications with anything placed beneath its area, light cannot... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| NIH launches trials to evaluate CPR and drugs after sudden cardiac arrest Posted: 26 Jan 2012 05:00 AM PST ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) The National Institutes of Health has launched two multi-site clinical trials to evaluate treatments for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. One will compare continuous chest compressions (CCC) combined with pause- free rescue breathing to standard cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), which includes a combination of chest compressions and pauses for rescue breathing. The other trial will compare treatment with the drug amiodarone, another drug called lidocaine, or neither medication (a salt-water placebo) in participants with shock-resistant ventricular fibrillation, a condition in which the heart beats chaotically instead of pumping blood. The majority of the approximately 350,000 people who have cardiac arrest in the United States each year are assessed by emergency medical service (EMS) providers. During a cardiac arrest, the heart stops beating, and unless it is restarted within minutes, the person usually dies. Although immediate CPR can be lifesaving, more than 90 percent of people who experience a cardiac arrest outside of a hospital die before reaching a hospital or soon thereafter. Increasing survival rates for people who experience out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is a major public health goal, said Susan B. Shurin, M.D., acting director of the NIH's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, which is the lead federal sponsor of the studies. These new trials could provide critical insight about which resuscitation efforts are most effective for cardiac arrest. The trials will serve a combined population of nearly 21 million people from diverse urban, suburban, and rural regions across the U.S. and Canada. The CCC trial will compare survival-to-hospital-discharge rates for two CPR approaches delivered by paramedics and fire fighters. Persons experiencing cardiac arrest will be randomly assigned to receive continuous chest compressions, or standard CPR by emergency responders. Standard CPR, the approach... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| Research finds newer radiation therapy technology improves patients' quality of life Posted: 26 Jan 2012 05:00 AM PST ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) (SACRAMENTO, Calif.) -- Patients with head and neck cancers who have been treated with newer, more sophisticated radiation therapy technology enjoy a better quality of life than those treated with older radiation therapy equipment, a study by UC Davis researchers has found. The findings, presented today at the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium in Phoenix, is the first of its kind to measure long-term quality of life among cancer patients who have undergone radiation therapy for advanced cancers of the throat, tongue, vocal cords, and other structures in the head and neck. Allen Chen, assistant professor and director of the residency and fellowship training program in the UC Davis Department of Radiation Oncology, reported that the use of intensity-modulated radiation therapy, or IMRT, was associated with fewer long-term side effects, which led to a better quality of life. Standard radiation therapy to the head and neck has been known to affect a patient's ability to produce saliva, taste, and even chew food. These side effects historically have resulted in permanent disabilities. With the newer machines using IMRT, physicians are skillfully able to deliver higher doses of radiation to the tumor and lower doses to surrounding normal tissues than ever before, Chen said. I wanted to see if this theoretical advantage resulted in any tangible improvements in quality of life for patients. For the study, Chen used the University of Washington Quality of Life instrument, a standardized, previously validated questionnaire that patients complete after radiation therapy. The survey was administered prospectively to 155 patients at UC Davis Cancer Center diagnosed with head and neck cancers, 54 percent of whom were initially treated with IMRT and 46 percent of whom were treated with other radiation therapy technologies. All of the patients receiving IMRT also underwent image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT), which has been... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| Young adults responded well to swine flu Posted: 25 Jan 2012 05:00 AM PST ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) About one in five young adults in their late 30's received a flu shot during the 2009-2010 swine flu epidemic, a University of Michigan (U-M) study released today says. But about 65 percent were at least moderately concerned about the flu, and nearly 60 percent said they were following the issue very or moderately closely. Using survey data collected from approximately 3,000 young adults during the 2009-2010 H1N1 influenza epidemic, this second of three parts in a U-M Generation X Report explores the first serious infectious disease Americans ages 36-39 ever experienced. It describes how the group kept abreast of the issue and what actions they eventually took to protect themselves and their families. The data is part of the Longitudinal Study of American Youth conducted by the Institute for Social Research at University of Michigan and directed by Jon D. Miller, author of the report. The study, funded by the National Science Foundation since 1986, now includes responses from approximately 4,000 Gen Xers--those born between 1961 and 1981. These results suggest that young adults in Generation X did reasonably well in their first encounter with a major epidemic, says Miller. Those with minor children at home were at the greatest risk, and they responded accordingly with higher levels of awareness and concern. According to Miller, understanding GenX reactions to this recent threat may help public health officials manage future epidemics more effectively. This nationally-representative study helps us understand young adults' knowledge of viral infections and the ways they sought information on the H1N1 epidemic, says Gavin Fulmer, associate program director in NSF's Division of Research on Learning. The findings can inform public health officials about the relationships among health knowledge, accessible sources of health information and preventive behaviors. This may help us address future epidemics or other potential health... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| WHOI's John Waterbury receives NAS Gilbert Morgan Smith Medal Posted: 24 Jan 2012 05:00 AM PST ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) has awarded John Waterbury, scientist emeritus in the Biology Department at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), the 2012 Gilbert Morgan Smith Medal. Waterbury is among 17 individuals honored by NAS this year in recognition of their extraordinary scientific achievements in a wide range of fields spanning the physical, biological, and social sciences. The recipients will be formally recognized in a ceremony on April 30, 2012, during the NAS annual meeting. Waterbury is being honored for his path-breaking discovery and characterization of ecologically important marine microorganisms, setting in motion major advances in our understanding of marine food webs and the cycling of essential elements in ocean ecosystems. The prestigious award, established through the Helen P. Smith Fund, is given every three years in recognition of excellence in published research on marine or freshwater algae and includes a $20,000 prize. A career as a general microbiologist at WHOI, with its unique access to the seas, has afforded me the opportunity to study diverse groups of ecologically important microorganisms, Waterbury said. Almost anytime we dipped a bucket into the ocean, we came up with fascinating new microbes. Possessing a microbial 'green thumb' helped in being able to isolate and characterize what turned out to be important groups involved in nutrient cycling at the base of the marine food chain. The Gilbert Morgan Smith Medal is the icing on what has been a very rewarding forty-year tenure at WHOI, he added. After graduating from the University of Vermont with a degree in zoology in 1965, Waterbury began working with Stanley Watson at WHOI on nitrifying bacteria. The two men, along with colleague Frederica Valois, are credited with discovering the abundance of unicellular cyanobacteria in the ocean in the 1970s. Waterbury obtained his master's and doctorate degrees from the University of... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| Foot and ankle structure differs between sprinters and non-sprinters Posted: 24 Jan 2012 05:00 AM PST ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) The skeletal structure of the foot and ankle differs significantly between human sprinters and non-sprinters, according to Penn State researchers. Their findings not only help explain why some people are faster runners than others, but also may be useful in helping people who have difficulty walking, such as older adults and children with cerebral palsy. According to Stephen Piazza, associate professor of kinesiology, the research is the first to use magnetic resonance imaging to demonstrate that sprinters have significantly longer bones in their forefeet than non-sprinters and reduced leverage in their Achilles tendons than non-sprinters. We made the most direct measurement possible of leverage in the Achilles tendon and found that sprinters' tendons had shorter lever arms -- or reduced leverage for pushing their bodies off of the ground -- compared to non-sprinters, said Piazza. Piazza explained that there may be a trade-off between leverage and tendon force when rapid muscle contraction is required. Imagine a wheelbarrow with 30-foot handles. Such long handles would provide you with great mechanical advantage compared to what you would get from a wheelbarrow with three-foot handles, but rapidly producing the same rotation of this wheelbarrow would be more difficult because you'd have to move the ends of the handles really fast. It is easier for your hands to generate these lifting forces when they move a few inches rather than a few feet in the same amount of time, said Piazza. The Achilles tendons are like your hands; they are better able to lift your body (the wheelbarrow) when the handles are long enough to provide sufficient leverage without being so long that they prevent rapid force generation by the calf muscles. According to Josh Baxter, graduate student, shorter Achilles tendon lever arms and longer toe bones permit sprinters to generate greater contact force between the foot and the ground and to maintain that... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| Eating smart: Researcher studies foods, dietary supplements that may reduce risk of prostate cancer Posted: 23 Jan 2012 05:00 AM PST ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) MANHATTAN, KAN. -- A Kansas State University professor is turning to nutrition to tackle prostate cancer. Brian Lindshield, assistant professor of human nutrition, is helping men make more informed diet decisions by studying foods and dietary supplements that may reduce the risk of prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer among men in the United States. I'm interested in researching ways to prevent prostate cancer rather than how to treat it after a person has been diagnosed with cancer, Lindshield said. The goal of Lindshield's research is twofold: He is performing basic studies that examine specific drugs as well as dietary supplements. His research has been supported by grants from the Johnson Cancer Research Center and the National Institute of Health Center of Biomedical Research Excellence, or COBRE, for epithelial function in health and disease. One project focuses specifically on two drugs -- finasteride and dutasteride -- that are used to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia, or BPH, which is an enlargement of the prostate. Both drugs inhibit enzymes that convert the male hormone testosterone to a more potent form, called dihydrotestosterone, or DHT. Finasteride inhibits one of these enzymes, while dutasteride inhibits both of these enzymes. Because these drugs inhibit DHT production, they may also prevent the development of prostate cancer. Several clinical trials have shown that both drugs decrease prostate cancer incidence, but at a cost. Among the men who took these drugs and still got prostate cancer, more of them had a high-grade or more aggressive prostate cancer, Lindshield said. It's kind of a double-edged sword. These drugs can lower the risk of developing prostate cancer, but they also might lead to worse outcomes for men who do develop the disease. That's where Lindshield's research fits in: He is comparing finasteride and dutasteride to see if one is better than the... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| Identified a cause of resistance to colon cancer treatment Posted: 22 Jan 2012 05:00 AM PST ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Doctors and researchers of Hospital del Mar and its research institute, the IMIM, have lead a study describing a new pharmacological resistance to cancer. This new mechanism is a mutation in an oncogene called EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) causing resistance to treatment using a drug called cetuximab, a monoclonal antibody which specifically attacks the EGFR. The study proves that, both in lab models and in patients with colon cancer, this mutation appears during the disease and that, when this happens, it stops the drug from being effective and the tumor grows. This finding will benefit a large number of patients since colorectal cancer is the second most frequent tumor and cetuximab is a drug used regularly to treat this form of cancer. Also, another extremely relevant fact is that tumors acquire this mutation do respond to a treatment using another similar drug, called panitumumab, which is also available for clinical use. This carries important clinical implications, since it suggests the possibility of carrying out clinical tests to confirm the effectiveness of panitumumab in patients with colon cancer who no longer respond to cetuximab, this increasing the range of therapies that may be used on patients with this cancer. The relevance of this study is also in the fact that it is the first time that a mutation is detected in the field of oncology instead of a bond with the antibody as a form of resistance. Therefore, it will be interesting to see whether there are other similar mutations causing resistance to other pharmacological antibodies which are used frequently to treat other forms of cancer, such as breast cancer. Therefore, this is a completely new mechanism of resistance to a drug used very often for a type of cancer with a high incidence and relevant clinical implications for the treatment of patients with this type of cancer. The discovery of this mutation may explain, at a molecular level, the... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
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