Remember The Gadget Show's FPS simulator that we showed you last week? Armed with naught but a pre-release level of Battlefield 3 and £500,000 ($650,000), it transformed a Birmingham studio into the sort of game room only multi-billionaires can dream of (as long as the dreams involved getting shot back, the sim comes packing paintball markers). The episode, which shows how this slice of gaming greatness came to be, has just finished airing here in the UK, where streaming and catch-up services aren't available to those outside the country. Fortunately for you lot, our friends at the show have uploaded the feature for you to watch in all its glory after the break.
The architects of the brainPublic release date: 26-Oct-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Prof. Dr. Petra Wahle wahle@neurobiologie.ruhr-uni-bochum.de 49-234-322-4367 Ruhr-University Bochum
RUB scientists decipher the role of calcium signals
Bochum's neurobiologists have found that certain receptors for the neurotransmitter glutamate determine the architecture of nerve cells in the developing brain. Individual receptor variants lead to especially long and branched processes called dendrites, which the cells communicate with. The researchers also showed that the growth-promoting property of the receptors is linked to how much calcium they allow to flow into the cells.
"These results allow insights into the mechanisms with which nerve cells connect during development", says Prof. Dr. Petra Wahle from the RUB Working Group on Developmental Neurobiology. The scientists report in Development.
It all depends on a few amino acids
"Nerve cells communicate with chemical and electrical signals", explains Wahle. "The electrical activity controls many developmental processes in the brain, and the neurotransmitter glutamate plays a decisive role in this." In two different cell classes in the cerebral cortex of rats, the researchers studied the nine most common variants of a glutamate receptor, the so-called AMPA receptor. When glutamate docks on to this receptor, calcium ions flow into the nerve cells either directly through a pore in the AMPA receptor or through adjacent calcium channels. Depending on the variant, AMPA receptors consist of 800-900 amino acid building blocks, and already the exchange of one amino acid has important consequences for the calcium permeability. Among other things, calcium promotes the growth of new dendrites.
Different cell types, different mechanisms
One at a time, the Bochum team introduced the nine AMPA receptor variants into the nerve cells and observed the impact on the cell architecture. In several cases, this resulted in longer dendrites with more branches. This pattern was demonstrated both for several receptor variants that allow calcium ions to flow directly into the cell through a pore and for those that activate adjacent calcium channels. "It was surprising that in the two cell classes studied, different receptor variants triggered the growth of the dendrites", says Dr. Mohammad Hamad from the Working Group on Developmental Neurobiology. "In the inhibitory interneurons, only one of the nine variants was effective. Calcium signals are like a toolbox. However, different cell classes in the cerebral cortex make use of the toolbox in different ways."
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Bibliographic record
Hamad, M. I., Ma-Hogemeier, Z. L., Riedel, C., Conrads, C., Veitinger, T., Habijan, T., Schulz, J. N., Krause, M., Wirth, M. J., Hollmann, M., Wahle, P. (2011) Cell class-specific regulation of neocortical dendrite and spine growth by AMPA receptor splice and editing variants. Development 138, 4301-4313, doi: 10.1242/dev.07107
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The architects of the brainPublic release date: 26-Oct-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Prof. Dr. Petra Wahle wahle@neurobiologie.ruhr-uni-bochum.de 49-234-322-4367 Ruhr-University Bochum
RUB scientists decipher the role of calcium signals
Bochum's neurobiologists have found that certain receptors for the neurotransmitter glutamate determine the architecture of nerve cells in the developing brain. Individual receptor variants lead to especially long and branched processes called dendrites, which the cells communicate with. The researchers also showed that the growth-promoting property of the receptors is linked to how much calcium they allow to flow into the cells.
"These results allow insights into the mechanisms with which nerve cells connect during development", says Prof. Dr. Petra Wahle from the RUB Working Group on Developmental Neurobiology. The scientists report in Development.
It all depends on a few amino acids
"Nerve cells communicate with chemical and electrical signals", explains Wahle. "The electrical activity controls many developmental processes in the brain, and the neurotransmitter glutamate plays a decisive role in this." In two different cell classes in the cerebral cortex of rats, the researchers studied the nine most common variants of a glutamate receptor, the so-called AMPA receptor. When glutamate docks on to this receptor, calcium ions flow into the nerve cells either directly through a pore in the AMPA receptor or through adjacent calcium channels. Depending on the variant, AMPA receptors consist of 800-900 amino acid building blocks, and already the exchange of one amino acid has important consequences for the calcium permeability. Among other things, calcium promotes the growth of new dendrites.
Different cell types, different mechanisms
One at a time, the Bochum team introduced the nine AMPA receptor variants into the nerve cells and observed the impact on the cell architecture. In several cases, this resulted in longer dendrites with more branches. This pattern was demonstrated both for several receptor variants that allow calcium ions to flow directly into the cell through a pore and for those that activate adjacent calcium channels. "It was surprising that in the two cell classes studied, different receptor variants triggered the growth of the dendrites", says Dr. Mohammad Hamad from the Working Group on Developmental Neurobiology. "In the inhibitory interneurons, only one of the nine variants was effective. Calcium signals are like a toolbox. However, different cell classes in the cerebral cortex make use of the toolbox in different ways."
###
Bibliographic record
Hamad, M. I., Ma-Hogemeier, Z. L., Riedel, C., Conrads, C., Veitinger, T., Habijan, T., Schulz, J. N., Krause, M., Wirth, M. J., Hollmann, M., Wahle, P. (2011) Cell class-specific regulation of neocortical dendrite and spine growth by AMPA receptor splice and editing variants. Development 138, 4301-4313, doi: 10.1242/dev.07107
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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.
TOKYO (Reuters) ? Japan's Tokyo Electric Power Co (9501.T), operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, is likely to announce its earnings for April-September on November 14, the Yomiuri newspaper reported on Wednesday.
A spokesman for the utility, known as Tepco, denied it has set a date for the announcement, however.
The firm is preparing a business plan that must win government approval by early November so that a bailout body, funded by public money and contributions from nuclear operators, will provide unlimited funds to help compensate those affected by the ongoing radiation crisis in Fukushima.
(Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori; Editing by Joseph Radford)
Sildenafil may benefit children with PAHPublic release date: 24-Oct-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Sue Roberts sroberts@chestnet.org 847-498-8334 American College of Chest Physicians
(HONOLULU, HAWAII, OCTOBER 24, 2011) Sildenafil is currently approved for adult pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH); however, new research presented at CHEST 2011, the 77th annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), shows the drug may also provide significant benefits for children with PAH, helping to improve both oxygen delivery and exercise capacity.
PAH is a rare disease, and it is even more rare in children. But the disease is horrific, with the average lifespan less than one year in children if untreated; however, with appropriate treatment, 5year survival should be over 80 percent, said study author Robyn Barst, MD, FCCP, Columbia University, New York, NY. This is a landmark study the first, and to date, the only study that has adequately evaluated a drug for the treatment of PAH in children. PAH, characterized by narrowing of the small arteries that carry blood from the heart to the lungs, leads to shortness of breath, chest pain, swelling in the lower body, fatigue, and heart failure.
Not only is PAH rare in children, it is also difficult to diagnose and treat. Diagnosis from onset of symptoms is often 2 years or more because patients often have nondescript symptoms such as breathlessness with exercise and fatigue, said Dr. Barst. If PAH is not suspected, the appropriate tests will not be performed until the disease has progressed, often to the point the patient has fainting episodes or heart failure. Once PAH is diagnosed, managing the condition in children brings new challenges. Although the disease is similar in children and adults, optimal treatment is not necessarily the same.
Children are not just small adults. Before prescribing drugs for children, we need to know if the drug works, what dose should we use, is the drug well tolerated, what side effects the drug has, and is it safe in the short term and long term said Dr. Barst. In addition, adequate clinical studies are needed to provide evidence-based treatment guidelines for children with PAH.
To address this issue, Dr. Barst and colleagues conducted a randomized, double-blind study involving 32 medical centers in 16 countries, to assess the outcomes of sildenafil therapy in 234 children (aged 1-17 years) with PAH, as they received low, medium, or high-dose sildenafil, or placebo for 16 weeks. Cardiopulmonary exercise testing, peak oxygen consumption (pVO2), and minute ventilation to carbon dioxide output (VE/VCO2) levels were determined at baseline and at week 16 in all children who could reliably exercise on a bicycle (n=106). Although the primary endpoint of % change in pVO2 did not meet predefined criteria (p = 0.056), children receiving sildenafil therapy at medium and high dose had greater improvements in pVO2 and VE/VCO2 slope (ie, the relationship between the two variables) vs placebo, signifying an improvement in both oxygen delivery and blood flow through the lungs. Sildenafil also increased the amount of exercise the children could perform and made it easier for them to exercise. In addition, sildenafil improved the gas exchange efficiency of the lungs during exercise. Outcomes appeared better for patients with idiopathic/heritable PAH vs congenital heart defect-associated PAH. Long-term follow-up of these patients three years after the initial trial revealed a concern for increased mortality in the high dose group, suggesting that the medium dose may have the best risk-benefit ratio.
Although sildenafil is not yet approved for use in pediatric patients with PAH, this study is the first step to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of treatments for children. The goal in treating the children is to improve their overall quality of life, in addition to hopefully improving their survival, said Dr. Barst. We want to make the children feel better and not just live longer. Thus, a thorough evaluation is difficult, but it is critically important.
Historically, PAH has been difficult to manage; however, treatments have been advancing rapidly, said David Gutterman, MD, FCCP, President of the American College of Chest Physicians. Continued research and well-controlled clinical trials should lead to further improvements in the treatment of this very challenging disease.
###
CHEST 2011 is the 77th annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians, held October 22 -26 in Honolulu, Hawaii. The ACCP represents 18,300 members who provide patient care in the areas of pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine in the United States and throughout the world. The mission of the ACCP is to promote the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of chest diseases through education, communication, and research. For more information about the ACCP, please visit the ACCP Web site at www.chestnet.org.
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Sildenafil may benefit children with PAHPublic release date: 24-Oct-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Sue Roberts sroberts@chestnet.org 847-498-8334 American College of Chest Physicians
(HONOLULU, HAWAII, OCTOBER 24, 2011) Sildenafil is currently approved for adult pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH); however, new research presented at CHEST 2011, the 77th annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), shows the drug may also provide significant benefits for children with PAH, helping to improve both oxygen delivery and exercise capacity.
PAH is a rare disease, and it is even more rare in children. But the disease is horrific, with the average lifespan less than one year in children if untreated; however, with appropriate treatment, 5year survival should be over 80 percent, said study author Robyn Barst, MD, FCCP, Columbia University, New York, NY. This is a landmark study the first, and to date, the only study that has adequately evaluated a drug for the treatment of PAH in children. PAH, characterized by narrowing of the small arteries that carry blood from the heart to the lungs, leads to shortness of breath, chest pain, swelling in the lower body, fatigue, and heart failure.
Not only is PAH rare in children, it is also difficult to diagnose and treat. Diagnosis from onset of symptoms is often 2 years or more because patients often have nondescript symptoms such as breathlessness with exercise and fatigue, said Dr. Barst. If PAH is not suspected, the appropriate tests will not be performed until the disease has progressed, often to the point the patient has fainting episodes or heart failure. Once PAH is diagnosed, managing the condition in children brings new challenges. Although the disease is similar in children and adults, optimal treatment is not necessarily the same.
Children are not just small adults. Before prescribing drugs for children, we need to know if the drug works, what dose should we use, is the drug well tolerated, what side effects the drug has, and is it safe in the short term and long term said Dr. Barst. In addition, adequate clinical studies are needed to provide evidence-based treatment guidelines for children with PAH.
To address this issue, Dr. Barst and colleagues conducted a randomized, double-blind study involving 32 medical centers in 16 countries, to assess the outcomes of sildenafil therapy in 234 children (aged 1-17 years) with PAH, as they received low, medium, or high-dose sildenafil, or placebo for 16 weeks. Cardiopulmonary exercise testing, peak oxygen consumption (pVO2), and minute ventilation to carbon dioxide output (VE/VCO2) levels were determined at baseline and at week 16 in all children who could reliably exercise on a bicycle (n=106). Although the primary endpoint of % change in pVO2 did not meet predefined criteria (p = 0.056), children receiving sildenafil therapy at medium and high dose had greater improvements in pVO2 and VE/VCO2 slope (ie, the relationship between the two variables) vs placebo, signifying an improvement in both oxygen delivery and blood flow through the lungs. Sildenafil also increased the amount of exercise the children could perform and made it easier for them to exercise. In addition, sildenafil improved the gas exchange efficiency of the lungs during exercise. Outcomes appeared better for patients with idiopathic/heritable PAH vs congenital heart defect-associated PAH. Long-term follow-up of these patients three years after the initial trial revealed a concern for increased mortality in the high dose group, suggesting that the medium dose may have the best risk-benefit ratio.
Although sildenafil is not yet approved for use in pediatric patients with PAH, this study is the first step to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of treatments for children. The goal in treating the children is to improve their overall quality of life, in addition to hopefully improving their survival, said Dr. Barst. We want to make the children feel better and not just live longer. Thus, a thorough evaluation is difficult, but it is critically important.
Historically, PAH has been difficult to manage; however, treatments have been advancing rapidly, said David Gutterman, MD, FCCP, President of the American College of Chest Physicians. Continued research and well-controlled clinical trials should lead to further improvements in the treatment of this very challenging disease.
###
CHEST 2011 is the 77th annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians, held October 22 -26 in Honolulu, Hawaii. The ACCP represents 18,300 members who provide patient care in the areas of pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine in the United States and throughout the world. The mission of the ACCP is to promote the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of chest diseases through education, communication, and research. For more information about the ACCP, please visit the ACCP Web site at www.chestnet.org.
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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.
ScienceDaily (Oct. 24, 2011) ? Two major drug trials conclude there was little risk from a drug aimed at age-related macular degeneration. Yet a Mayo Clinic ophthalmologist began to note something concerning in some of her patients: an increase in pressure inside the eye. It led to a retrospective study and findings that will be presented at the American Academy of Ophthalmology in Orlando.
Sophie Bakri, M.D., had been treating patients in her clinic with Food and Drug Administration-approved ranibizumab (Lucentis), when she began noticing a change in some patients.
"I was treating patients and measuring pressures, and I was surprised to see that in some of these people, their intraocular pressure was higher, and they didn't have a diagnosis of glaucoma," Dr. Bakri says. "So, why did the pressure go up? Was it from the drug itself, or the actual injection? Is this real? You don't know if it's a fluke unless you go back and look at the clinical trials. I took a closer look at the pooled data."
Intraocular pressure (IOP) is a measure of fluid pressure inside the eye. Measured in millimeters of mercury (mm/Hg), IOP that is higher than normal or above baseline (higher than 21 mm/Hg) can indicate glaucoma.
Data from the two clinical trials in many ways held the answers to Dr. Bakri's questions, but she found that knowing what to look for helps.
MARINA (Minimally Classic/OccultTrial of the Anti-Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Antibody Ranibizumab in the Treatment of Neovascular Endothelial Age-Related Macular Degeneration) and ANCHOR (Anti-VEGF antibody for the treatment of predominantly classic Choroidal Neovascularization in Age-Related Macular Degeneration) evaluated drugs including Lucentis, for treatment of age-related and other forms of macular degeneration (AMD). Both were two-year studies with monthly injections of Lucentis, compared to a control group who did not receive the injection. Pooling the two studies, which followed the treatment of 1,125 eyes, Dr. Bakri was able to perform a more robust evaluation of IOP changes. Some patients received Lucentis and others unknowingly received "sham" or mimicked injections, or a laser treatment called verteporfin photodynamic therapy (PDT), which did not involve injection.
Dr. Bakri found what she suspected: a subset of patients had increased IOP.
"We still don't know if it goes up because of the drug or the pressure of the repeated monthly injections, or both," she says. The take-home finding: intraocular pressure should be monitored in eyes receiving ranibizumab.
"A greater proportion of eyes in the ranibizumab groups had IOP increases regardless of the presence or absence of pre-existing risk factors, such as history of glaucoma, suspicion of glaucoma, ocular hypertension or use of a glaucoma medication," Dr. Bakri says.
A small portion, 8 percent, of all eyes across treatment groups received glaucoma medications in the study. Importantly, none of the patients needed glaucoma surgery.
"Our analysis was surprising because the increase was so prevalent and highly statistically significant," Dr. Bakri says. "Lucentis is an excellent drug that works very well, but if we use a drug, we gain long-term experience, and that's where side effects start showing up.
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DANVILLE, N.H. ? A porcupine is getting around a bit easier after a New Hampshire Fish and Game conservation officer and local police chief helped pull an arrow out of its back.
Danville Police Chief Wade Parsons tells the Eagle-Tribune (http://bit.ly/pCeYJm) the animal had to stop walking every four or five feet Thursday. He couldn't move forward without getting caught in the brush.
Conservation officer Chris McKee used a snare pole to rein in the porcupine ? and took care not to come into contact with his quills. He said the arrow had missed muscle and bone.
The porcupine ran off afterward. McKee said the animal had been chattering and seemed to be in good health, otherwise.
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Information from: Eagle Tribune, http://www.eagletribune.com
Groupon Inc said it plans to raise as much as $540 million in an initial public offering, less than previously planned, as the largest daily deals company grapples with a weak equity market, executive departures and questions about its accounting and business model.
Groupon plans to sell 30 million shares at between $16 and $18 each, it said in a regulatory filing on Friday. That means the company aims to raise $480 million to $540 million from the IPO, depending on investor demand.
At the midpoint, the IPO would value Groupon at $10.8 billion.
Groupon is set to launch a roadshow next week to persuade potential investors to buy stock in the offering. Chief Executive Andrew Mason, Chief Financial Officer Jason Child and Jeff Holden, head of product at Groupon, will be speaking during the roadshow.
Groupon in June filed to raise $750 million in its IPO, but equity markets have fallen and become a lot more volatile since then.
The company changed its accounting twice under pressure from investors and regulators. It also lost two chief operating officers this year, and some analysts have questioned the long-term viability of its business.
These challenges have made the Groupon share sale the most closely watched IPO in recent years. If the offering succeeds, it bodes well for other companies that are also considering going public, such as social gaming giant Zynga and Facebook, the largest social network. If Groupon struggles out of the gate, other IPOs may be delayed or pulled.?
One of the main question marks over Groupon has been whether the company can become profitable any time soon. Friday's IPO filing disclosed the company's third-quarter results and some progress toward profitability.
On a pro forma operating basis, which excludes stock-based compensation, Groupon said it lost $2 million in the third quarter, down from $62 million in the second quarter.
Groupon's North American business generated a pro forma operating profit of $19 million in the third quarter.
Groupon's International segment lost $21 million in the third quarter, compared with a pro forma operating loss of $52 million in the second quarter.
Groupon reduced its losses partly by keeping a lid on marketing spending. Earlier this year, the company hired Richard Williams from Amazon.com as its new head of marketing to help make its marketing more efficient.?
Groupon reported gross billings of $1.16 billion in the third quarter, up 25 percent from the previous quarter and 496 percent from the same period last year.
Gross billings represent the money Groupon collects from selling online discount coupons. The company pays a lot of this money later to the merchants participating in the deals. What is left over is reported as net revenue.
Groupon said in its Friday filing that third-quarter net revenue was $430 million, up 10 percent from the second quarter and 426 percent from a year earlier.?
Groupon also reported 143 million subscribers at the end of the third quarter, up from 116 million subscribers three months earlier.
The company said it had 30 million customers at the end of September, up from 23 million three months earlier. Customers are subscribers who have bought one of Groupon's coupons.
Repeat customers, people who have purchased more than one Groupon, climbed to 16 million in the third quarter from 12 million at the end of the second quarter, the company also said in its filing.
Average revenue per Groupon sold was $13 in the third quarter, up from $12 in the previous quarter. The average number of Groupons sold per customer was 4.2, up about 5 percent from the previous three-month period, according to the filing.
Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs & Co and Credit Suisse are leading the underwriters on the offering. The shares are expected to trade on Nasdaq under the symbol "GRPN."
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Public release date: 26-Oct-2011
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