False Economy Could Be A Criminal Waste Of Money, UK
New health and safety laws coming into effect in January promise to make penalties for lapses in health and safety much tougher for businesses and individuals.
The Health and Safety (Offences) Act will come into effect on 16th January 2009 and intends to “deter those tempted to break the law, and …deal appropriately with those who do commit offences.” Three tough penalties are being introduced to act as a deterrent to businesses that are tempted to flout the law:
- Certain offences will be triable in either the Magistrates’ Court or the Crown Court
- Imprisonment will be a possible consequence for most health and safety breaches
- The maximum fine available in the Magistrates’ Court will be raised from £5,000 to £20,000
British Red Cross First Aid training is echoing the sentiments of other leading health and safety organisations IoSH and the Health and Safety Executive, and is urging businesses not to let the credit crunch lead to cutting corners on essential training. Anna Brown, Sales and Marketing Manager explains,
“It seems like months now since we have been able to turn on the television or radio without being bombarded with news about the credit crunch. We are aware that many businesses are beginning to feel the pinch and are understandably looking for ways to make savings, but these tough new laws mean that cutting back on training could end up not only being a false economy but could be literally a criminal waste of your company’s resources.”
She continues,
“Unfortunately, accidents in the workplace can, and do happen and for the sake of trying to save a couple of hundred pounds providing your staff with the appropriate health and safety or first aid training you could end up facing a fine of up to £20,000. http://redcross.trainingcourses.ibrochures.co.uk/
Under the Health and Safety at Work Act it is the duty of all employers to provide such information, instruction, training and supervision as is necessary to ensure…the health and safety at work of employees.”
British Red Cross First Aid Training provides a complete portfolio of courses that have been designed specifically to help industry meet this duty of care. In addition, the Red Cross recognises that many companies become daunted by the confusing red tape that is synonymous with the world of health and safety and offer a range of services and information to help employers decide on which training is appropriate to them.
Bucking the trend of reducing head counts in these testing economic times, the Red Cross has recently added to their number of expert first aid trainers as they are committed to helping businesses meet their obligations and avoid the severe new penalties.
Notes
British Red Cross First Aid Training website can be viewed at http://www.redcrossfirstaidtraining.co.uk
The British Red Cross First Aid Training iBrochure is available at: http://redcross.trainingcourses.ibrochures.co.uk/
The British Red Cross helps people in crisis, whoever and wherever they are. We are part of a global voluntary network, responding to conflicts, natural disasters and individual emergencies. We enable vulnerable people in the UK and abroad to prepare for and withstand emergencies in their own communities. And when the crisis is over, we help them to recover and move on with their lives.
The British Red Cross
The NanoKTN Supports The European Commission’s Investment In Information Communication Technology
1.8 billion euros invested to encourage new developments and research into ICT
The Nanotechnology Knowledge Transfer Network (NanoKTN), one of the UK’s primary knowledge-based networks for Micro and Nanotechnologies, has announced its support for the 1.8bn euros that has been made available by the European Commission, through their Information Communications Technology (ICT) fund. There are scheduled to be two large funding calls (4th and 5th calls for proposals) over two years that have been put in place to support the nanotechnology and microtechnology markets and encourage the development of research and production in this area. UK organisations are expected to directly claim over €100m for micro and nanotechnology enabled research and development.
The European Commission has launched this funding to improve the competitiveness of European Industry and to ensure Europe continues to be a key player in shaping future developments in ICT. The objective of the ICT initiative is to help drive and stimulate product service and process innovation through ICT use and value creation in Europe. By doing this, the European Commission aims to ensure that ICT progress is rapidly transformed into benefits for Europe’s citizens, businesses, industry and governments.
“The European Commission is pleased to be supporting research projects with participants from different countries and we are looking forward to seeing how we can develop new knowledge, technology and products,” explains the European Commission Framework 7’s UK National Contact Point for ICT, Peter Walters. “New breakthroughs in ICT will continue to develop over the next decade and bring ever-more wide ranging applications that will continue to drive growth and innovation and ensure sustainability in our economies and societies. We need to ensure Europe is a central point for this development and hope the funding will encourage this.”
The ICT Theme is divided into a number of different challenges covering varying areas of interest. Challenge 3 covers Components, Systems and Engineering with an estimated allocation of €180m for 2009 and €195m for 2010. Challenge 5 focuses on sustainable and personalised healthcare and has been allocated €95m for 2009, and Future and Emerging Technologies that has been provided with €171m for 2009 and 2010. It is expected that the UK will capture at least 15% of this sizeable amount of funding. Challenges 3 and 5 are open now for proposals and close on April 1st 2009. The 2010 calls will be opening in July 2009.
The NanoKTN is dedicated to helping its members understand how to write a successful proposal and identify suitable partnerships for collaborative work. Through updates, e-bulletins, seminars and public presentations, the NanoKTN aims to assist its members and create connections between research, academics and manufacturers.
“By encouraging businesses to work with academic and research institutions on new research and development, we hope to be able to develop successful new products and services,” says Dr Alec Reader, Director of the NanoKTN. “This funding made available by the European Commission will help the UK play a key part in ICT research and innovation in Europe. We look forward to seeing what new ideas and products are proposed and developed.”
ICT Call Number Four has a budget of €810m and opens on November 19th and closes on April 1st 2009.
About NanoKTN
The NanoKTN facilitates the transfer of knowledge and experience between industry and research, offering companies dealing in small-scale technology access to information on new processes, patents and funding as well as keeping up-to-date with industry regulation. The four broad areas that the NanoKTN focuses on are: Promoting and facilitating knowledge exchange, supporting the growth of UK capabilities, raising awareness of Nanotechnology, and providing thought leadership and input to UK policy and strategy.
About Knowledge Transfer Networks (KTNs)
Knowledge Transfer Networks (KTNs) are national networks in specific fields of technology or business application, which bring together people from businesses, universities, research, finance, the public sector and technology organisations to stimulate innovation through knowledge exchange.
Funded by the Technology Strategy Board, their activities play an increasingly important role in the development of the Government’s technology strategy, and help to feed and drive the Collaborative Research & Development Programme and other innovation interventions. There are currently 24 KTNs with a total membership of about 25,000 people.
For further information please see http://www.ktnetworks.co.uk
About CPI
The Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) was established by One NorthEast as a UK wide resource to stimulate and drive innovation within the Process Industry. Working with global industry partners and leading research universities CPI is committed to delivering world-class, groundbreaking applied research and development.
About The Technology Strategy Board
The Technology Strategy Board is a business-led executive non-departmental public body, established by the government. Its role is to promote and support research into, and development and exploitation of, technology and innovation for the benefit of UK business, in order to increase economic growth and improve the quality of life.
The Technology Strategy Board
FP7UK is a Technology Strategy Board programme.
FP7UK
Professor Explores Schistosomiasis Elimination In NEJM Perspective
In the January 8, 2008 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), schistosomiasis expert Charles H. King M.D., Professor of International Health at the Center for Global Health and Diseases at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine concludes global eradication of schistosomiasis is feasible if the current infection control strategy shifts to a proactive, comprehensive elimination strategy. Dr. King supports the community-based trial by Wang et al. as a viable model for interrupting disease transmission by using a combination strategy, including supplementary education and sanitation, with many secondary environmental benefits.
Schistosomiasis, also known as “snail fever,” is a chronic inflammatory disease affecting more than 207 million people worldwide, often in the poorest areas. The decades-long disorder has challenged researchers for many years. The 1980s offered the last major advance when a large scale drug delivery program proved effective in reducing the infectious burden and morbidity, yet this treatment-based success failed to stem the parasite’s transmission. With subsequent study of transmission ecology, researchers now attribute the transmission to external factors such as “superspreaders” very few people who are responsible for the majority of transmission; to “hot spots” of transmission where human-snail interaction is high; and to the ongoing infection of domestic and wild animals with the parasite.
Dr. King writes, “As Wang et al. show, in high-risk ecological settings, drug treatment alone may suppress transmission only partially. In such environments, any program based solely on drug delivery will need to be continued for decades (or perhaps indefinitely) to prevent a reemergence of infection and disease. It is only through the incorporation of additional strategies for interruption of parasite transmission that all forms of schistosomiasis-associated disease can be prevented.”
Dr. King and his colleagues at the Center for Global Health and Diseases at Case Western Reserve University are part of a new movement to control and reduce schistosomiasis. In a 2005 meta-analysis published in The Lancet, [King CH, Dickman K, Tisch DJ. Reassessment of the cost of chronic helmintic infection: a meta-analysis of disability-related outcomes in endemic schistosomiasis. Lancet 2005;365:1561-9]. Dr. King and his colleagues examined the disease burden and found it was substantially greater than had previously been estimated by the medical community in global disease burden assessments. The risk of the disease’s many subtle complications had been previously overlooked, causing as significant underestimation of the disease’s true disability. Since then, Dr. King and team have advocated for a comprehensive approach to controlling the spread of this preventable and curable disease.
“If the process of schistosoma infection continues unchecked, its disabling effects in the context of rural poverty will always limit the potential benefits of drug-treatment programs while also necessitating that treatment continue indefinitely. Obviously, the elimination of schistosomiasis will be a long-term process requiring a long-term investment, but we must shoulder the necessary extra effort, including long-term planning intersectoral government coordination and decades-long commitment,” concludes Dr. King.
About Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Founded in 1843, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine is the largest medical research institution in Ohio and 15th largest among the nation’s medical schools for research funding from the National Institutes of Health. Eleven Nobel Laureates have been affiliated with the school.
The School of Medicine is recognized throughout the international medical community for outstanding achievements in teaching and in 2002, became the third medical school in history to receive a pre-eminent review from the national body responsible for accrediting the nation’s academic medical institutions. The School’s innovative and pioneering Western Reserve2 curriculum interweaves four themes–research and scholarship, clinical mastery, leadership, and civic professionalism–to prepare students for the practice of evidence-based medicine in the rapidly changing health care environment of the 21st century.
Annually, the School of Medicine trains more than 600 M.D. and M.D./Ph.D. students and ranks in the top 25 among U.S. research-oriented medical schools as designated by U.S. News and World Report Guide to Graduate Education. The School of Medicine’s primary clinical affiliate is University Hospitals and is additionally affiliated with MetroHealth Medical Center, the Louis Stokes Cleveland Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, with which it established the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University in 2002. http://casemed.case.edu.
Case Western Reserve University
14 Adelbert Hall, 10900 Euclid Ave.
Cleveland
OH 44106-7017
United States
http://www.case.edu
Growth Of New Brain Cells Requires ‘Epigenetic’ Switch
New cells are born every day in the brain’s hippocampus, but what controls this birth has remained a mystery. Reporting in the January 1 issue of Science, neuroscientists at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have discovered that the birth of new cells, which depends on brain activity, also depends on a protein that is involved in changing epigenetic marks in the cell’s genetic material.
“How is it that when you see someone you met ten years ago, you still recognize them? How do these transient events become long lasting in the brain, and what potential role does the birth of new neurons play in making these memories?” says Hongjun Song, Ph.D., an associate professor of neurology and member of the Johns Hopkins Institute of Cell Engineering’s NeuroICE. “We really want to understand how daily life experiences trigger the birth and growth of new neurons, and make long-lasting changes in the brain.”
The researchers reasoned that making long-term memories might require long-term changes in brain cells. And one type of cellular change that has long-lasting effects is so-called epigenetic change, which can alter a cell’s DNA without changing its sequence but does change how and which genes are turned on or off. So they decided to look at the 40 to 50 genes known to be involved in epigenetics, and see if any of them are turned on in mouse brain cells that have been stimulated with electroconvulsive therapy shock treatment. “It’s long been known that ECT induces neurogenesis in rodents and humans, so we used it as our test case to find what is triggered downstream to cause new cells to grow,” says Song.
One gene turned on in response to ECT was Gadd45b, a gene previously implicated in immune system function and misregulated in brain conditions like autism. To confirm Gadd45b is turned up in response to brain activity, the researchers also examined mice experiencing a different activity. Exposure to new surroundings, the team found, also turns on Gadd45b in brain cells.
To find out if Gadd45b is required for new brain-cell growth, the research team made mice lacking the Gadd45b gene and tested their ability to generate new brain cells after ECT. They injected the mice with a dye that marks new cells and three days after ECT examined the number of new cells containing that dye in brains from mice with and without the Gdd45b gene. They found that while normal brains showed a 140 percent increase in cell number after ECT, brains lacking Gadd45b only showed a 40 percent increase.
“The question then was, How does Gadd45b do this?” says Song. “It’s been controversial that Gadd45b can promote epigenetic changes like global DNA demethylation, but we show that it can promote demethylation of certain genes.”
The chemical methyl group, when attached to DNA near genes, can turn those genes off. This so-called epigenetic change is thought to silence genes a cell doesn’t use.
By dissecting mature neurons from normal mouse brains and looking for the presence of methyl groups at certain genes known to promote cell growth, the researchers found that after ECT, these genes became demethylated.
However, doing the same thing with mice lacking Gadd45b resulted in no demethylation, suggesting to the team that Gadd45b is indeed required for demethylation.
“We’re really excited about this it’s the first time we’ve seen dynamic epigenetic DNA changes in response to brain activity,” says Song.
“Now that we have the mice lacking Gadd45b, our next goal is to see if these mice have problems with learning and memory and how Gadd45b specifically promotes the demethylation to lead to these long-term changes in the brain.”
This study was funded by the National Institutes of Health, McKnight Foundation, NARSAD, March of Dimes, the Johns Hopkins Brain Science Institute and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Authors on the paper are Dengke K. Ma, Mi-Hyeon Jang, Junjie U. Guo, Yasuji Kitabatake, Min-lin Chang, Nattapol Pow-anpongkul, Guo-li Ming and Hongjun Song of Hopkins; Richard A. Flavell of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Yale University School of Medicine and Binfeng Lu of University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Johns Hopkins Medicine
901 S Bond St., Ste. 550
Baltimore
MD 21231
United States
http:// www.hopkinsmedicine.org
‘Stroke Belt’ Deaths Tied To Non-Traditional Risk Factors
Southerners die from stroke more than in any other U.S. region, but exactly why that happens is unknown. A new report by researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and the University of Vermont underscores that geographic and racial differences are not the sole reasons behind the South’s higher stroke death rate.
The data is from UAB’s Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study, which has enrolled more than 30,200 U.S. participants. The study confirms a greater-than 40 percent higher stroke death rate in eight southeastern states known as the Stroke Belt Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North and South Carolina and Tennessee.
After factoring in age, race and sex-related factors, the predicted stroke risk was only slightly higher in Stoke Belt states compared to other regions (10.7 percent versus 10.1 percent), said George Howard, Dr.PH., professor of biostatistics in UAB’s School of Public Health and a REGARDS principal. That risk was calculated using nine known risk factors common to stroke screening.
“We found geographic and racial differences are useful in predicting stroke risk, but they only explain less than half the picture. Something else is happening,” Howard said. “It could be exposure to allergens in the home, it could be micronutrients in drinking water or it could be other factors considered ‘non-traditional’ because they don’t fall into the list of nine factors commonly used to predict stroke risk.”
The findings are reported in the Annals of Neurology.
All minority groups, including Native Americans, Hispanics and African-Americans, face a significantly higher risk for stroke and death from stroke compared to whites, and research is focused on exactly why that is, said Mary Cushman, M.D., of the University of Vermont, the study’s lead author. Continued analysis of REGARDS data and follow-up study will determine other stroke risk factors and their significance.
One detail that emerged in the Annals of Neurology study is that the prevalence of diabetes and hypertension was up to five percentage points higher in the Southeast. That means interventions to reduce geographic disparities in diabetes and hypertension including boosting diabetes screening rates and follow-up care could also reduce geographic disparities in stroke death, Howard said.
REGARDS already has spawned more than 50 accompanying research reports. The study is a research partnership that includes UAB’s Departments of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Preventive Medicine, UAB’s Center for Aging and the Center for the Study of Community Health, the University of Vermont in Burlington, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, the University of Cincinnati, Indiana University in Indianapolis, the Alabama Neurological Institute in Birmingham, the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston and Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C.
University of Alabama at Birmingham
701 20th St. S, AB 1320
Birmingham
AL 35294-0113
United States
http://www.uab.edu
Tuberculosis Bacteria Co-Opt Body’s Defenses To Gain Foothold
Tuberculosis bacteria can commandeer the body’s defenses in the early stages of infection and redirect them for their own offensive strategies, according to results reported today in the scientific journal, Cell.
The dense granulomas characteristic of TB were originally thought to thwart infection by walling-off newly invading tuberculosis bacteria and preventing their spread. Today’s published findings suggest that these structures do just the opposite, at least in the early stages of infection.
“Tubercles or granulomas have long been considered host-protective. What we observed completely overturns the fundamental dogma on their role, at least early in infection,” said Dr. Lalita Ramakrishnan, University of Washington (UW) associate professor of microbiology, medicine, and immunology, who conducted the study with Dr. J. Muse Davis of the Immunology and Molecular Pathogenesis Graduate Program at Emory University and a visiting scholar at the UW.
Granolomas are dense, complex clusters of immune cells, some of which are infected with TB bacteria. The outer edges are granulomas are surrounded by tightly interlocked white blood cells. Evidence from Ramakrishnan’s and Davis’ latest research suggests they might be created when newly arrived TB bacteria grow and emit signals to recruit macrophages — the body’s germ-eating and clean-up cells — to the initial infection site, then pirate the macrophages to truck fresh bacteria to other spots and replicate themselves there to establish more granulomas.
The granulomas form within days of infection. This occurs during the period when the body is trying to launch its first, generalized response to infection, called innate immunity. Later, when the body targets its fight, called adaptive immunity, Ramakrishnan says that the host and the bacteria usually reach a stalemate.
“One of the reasons we are studying the mechanisms of early TB infection,”
Ramakrishnan said, “is to see where medical science might be able to intervene to stop the disease with new treatments without the problem of creating antibiotic resistance.” For example, she said, if scientists can figure out how TB bacteria signal to recruit and exploit macrophages and usurp the body’s immune processes to gain a foothold, perhaps researchers could then find a way to block this takeover.
By comparing fully virulent wild strains of bacteria that have a secretion system called ESX-1/RD1 with less virulent, mutant strains without this system, Ramakrishnan and Davis found that RD1 appears to encourage macrophages to arrive quickly at the site of infection. These macrophages moved five times faster than macrophages heading to the mutant bacteria, and covered greater areas with their haphazard movements.
The researchers saw that the fast macrophages took on the striking appearance of white cells racing to the scene after a chemical alarm: they had elongated centers, a ruffled front edge, and a trailing rear extension. The roundness of the slower macrophages going to the mutant bacteria indicated that they weren’t getting the same “hurry up” chemical signal.
Soon after arriving at the site of the wild-type, virulent bacteria, the macrophages became infected by engulfing the remains of other, previously infected macrophages, the researchers noted. RD1 is suspected to hasten the death of infected macrophages. The macrophages had collapsed like deflated balloons, but the waxy TB rods inside them were safe in the intact macrophage cell membrane. Several macrophages would help dispose of a single dead partner, thereby resulting in more infected cells for the bacteria to grow in. In contrast, the dying macrophages infected with mutant bacteria did not summon even nearby macrophages to come to them.
“This re-engulfing of virulent bacteria from dying macrophages is likely a major mechanism for granuloma expansion,” Ramakrishnan noted. The researchers observed that some of the newly infected macrophages left the original granuloma. The fluorescent-labeled bacteria inside them were later found at new granulomas elsewhere in the host.
“The bacteria in all the exiting macrophages remained fully viable after departure and had the potential to initiate new granulomas,” Ramakrishnan observed. “The macrophages exiting the original granuloma were leaving to seed distant granulomas to spread the infection.”
The role of RD1 in nascent granulomas revealed by this study, the researchers said, is likely a critical factor in the irrevocable early bacterial expansion that establishes the infection. Bacteria producing the RD1 virulence factor actually accelerate parts of the body’s innate immune response of macrophage recruitment, macrophage movement, and macrophage collapse and death, the researchers wrote. Instead of enhancing the body’s ability to halt a dangerous pathogen, the acceleration of these parts of the immune response is directed by a bacterial virulence factor and promotes bacterial growth, they concluded.
This study was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and the Burroughs Wellcome Foundation, as well as an American Society for Engineering Education predoctoral fellowship.
University of Washington Health Sciences and UW Medicine
Box 356345
Seattle
WA 98102
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http://www.washington.edu
Saving One Of Our Own
“I have to save him. I don’t want his daughter to be left with those lasting images,’” Dr. Ali Denktas remembers thinking as his team worked feverishly to save a patient, a fellow physician, a fellow father.
Just two hours before, it had been an ordinary June day for Dr. William Daily, assistant professor of anesthesiology at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston. He was at a doctor’s appointment for his 11-year-old daughter, Sophie, when he began to feel that something wasn’t right.
“I can only go on what my family has told me,” Daily says, who recalls nothing of the event. “I made a call to my wife and told her that I had chest pain. She wanted me to head to an emergency center. I told her I would wait until after my daughter’s appointment was over.”
Following the appointment, Daily, 51, drove to Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center. Walking hand-in-hand with his daughter on his way to the emergency center, he collapsed.
“Is there a doctor?” yelled a woman in the hallway. That shout caught the attention of Dr. David Robinson, vice-chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at the medical school who was the supervising physician in the Memorial Hermann- TMC emergency center that morning. “I was just returning to my shift after watching my wife, also a physician, receive an award. When I heard those words, my eyes dropped to the floor. I saw a man lying on the ground, bleeding and immediately went to work opening his airway and starting compressions.”
While someone ran for a bed, Robinson quickly determined that “the man had collapsed from a stroke or heart attack and struck his head, which caused the bleeding.”
Once inside the emergency center, a team led by Robinson worked tirelessly to stabilize Daily but his heart wasn’t responding. Aggressive interventional therapy would be necessary to save Daily’s life. Dr. James McCarthy, assistant professor of emergency medicine at the medical school and director of the emergency center, heard the commotion and joined the team.
“I looked down at the patient and thought, ‘Yikes, I know him. This is Dr. Daily. He’s one of us,’” remembers McCarthy.
“Looking back, I know I looked at Daily’s daughter,” Robinson adds. “She had that look on her face that said, ‘I’m going to lose my Dad.’”
Out of time
Decisions had to be made. “I thought we could get his heart back–it just wasn’t going to happen in the emergency center, so I placed a call to the cath lab,” says McCarthy.
The “cath lab” is the nickname for catheterization laboratory where both diagnostic and treatment procedures occur using a coronary catheter. In most hospitals, patients are stabilized before being taken to the cath lab to correct the cause of the heart attack. UT and Memorial Hermann-TMC have one of the few cardiac interventional teams that will “cath” a patient while the team is performing ongoing CPR. Daily was not responding to treatment in the ER. “The cath lab was his only chance,” McCarthy says. “Dr. Denktas said to bring him down.”
With no steady heartbeat, an AutoPulse was placed on Daily’s chest while in transport to the cath lab. The AutoPulse is a non-invasive cardiac support pump. It allows rescuers to provide compressions while performing other life-saving activities, or while transporting a victim down the stairs or in the back of a moving ambulance.
As the AutoPulse continued to keep Daily’s heart beating, imaging showed Denktas that Daily’s left anterior descending artery (LAD) was 100 percent blocked. A piece of plaque had opened up and clogged the vessel.
“We quickly opened up the LAD using stents. Once those were in place, his heart responded. We were able to get a steady rhythm and stop CPR,” Denktas says. “To protect his brain, we used a cooling device to lower his internal temperature to 33 degrees Celsius and put him in a pharmacology-induced coma.”
Living a dream
A little more than a week later, Daily remembers opening his eyes to family and friends. Ironically, he was in the intensive care unit just two doors down from a patient whose life he helped save a week before after 45 minutes of CPR.
“I have no memory of my heart attack, or even the few days leading up to it. I have many people to thank: the ones who saved my life, a co-worker who took care of my daughter while they worked on me and everyone who rallied behind me to roll their sick hours into a ’sick pool’ for me,” Daily says.
“If you add 30 minutes to this story, the outcome isn’t the same. The entire UT medical team– from the emergency center to the cath lab to the cardiac care unit– made this happen. It was medical care at its best,” says McCarthy.
“For years, our cardiologists and emergency medicine physicians have collaborated to reduce time between the emergency center and the cath labs. Dr. Denktas and his team showed extraordinary initiative when they took Dr. Daily to the lab knowing how unstable he was,” adds Robinson.
‘Daily’ miracles
Six months later, imaging has revealed that Daily’s heart and brain suffered no permanent damage. He continues his work as an anesthesiologist.
Carin A. Hagberg, MD, chair of the Department of Anesthesiology at the medical school says, “Dr. Daily is a constant reminder that medical miracles occur and that the collaboration of UT Physicians and Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center has the capability to provide such acute critical care of their patients. Without it, Dr. Daily would not be with us today.”
Daily is doing his part to keep his heart healthy. “I have a family history of heart disease. I had borderline cholesterol levels when my attack happened, but I’m now taking medicine to control it. I have changed my diet and have added more exercise to my routine,” Daily says and adds, “I have a lot to live for, my wife and our two young children.”
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
7000 Fannin St., #1200
Houston
TX 77030
United States
http://www.uthouston.edu
Research Shows Combined Use Of A Robot And Virtual Reality System Improve Walking Speed And Distance Post-Stroke
Patients who’ve had a stroke and were rehabilitated using a robot to navigate virtual reality environments walked faster and a greater distance following physical therapy compared to those trained with the robot alone, according to researchers at the UMDNJ-School of Health Related Professions.
This study is believed to be the first to demonstrate improved walking ability in the laboratory and the community following rehabilitation with the robot-virtual reality system according to the researchers. “Effects of Training With a Robot-Virtual Reality System Compared With a Robot Alone on the Gait of Individuals After Stroke” details their results and will appear in the March print edition of Stroke, a journal on cerebrovascular diseases published by the American Heart Association. The article is available online now for journal subscribers.
“A robot alone only gives you a mechanism for doing the exercise. There is lots of repetition, which is a really big part of getting better, but the argument is you have to do the exercise for a purpose,” explained Judith E. Deutsch, PT, Ph.D., professor and director of the Research in Virtual Environments and Rehabilitation Sciences (RIVERS) Lab in the Department of Rehabilitation and Movement Science at the UMDNJ-School of Health Related Professions and a co-author of this study.
In the study, patients manipulated the robot, which is similar to a handheld gaming joystick, with their feet to navigate a plane and a boat in their virtual environments through various targets and changing weather conditions. The study was conducted by Anat Mirelman, PT, Ph.D., when she was a doctoral candidate at the UMDNJ-School of Health Related Professions. She was supervised by Deutsch and their colleague Paolo Bonato, Ph.D., director of the Motion Analysis Lab at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston. Results showed greater improvement in walking velocity and distance, measured in the lab and in the participants’ real world environment, for those trained with the robot-virtual reality system compared to those trained with the robot alone.
Deutsch said that as physical therapists learn more about how useful virtual reality systems can be to drive behavior and train patients, there’s more and more interfacing of robotics and virtual reality systems for rehabilitation. The RIVERS Lab is one of few already doing it.
Its robotic virtual reality system was co-developed with Rutgers University’s Greg Burdea, Ph.D., nearly a decade ago and originally tested with people who had ankle sprains and fractures. “The original intent of this system was not to help people post-stroke improve their walking,” Deutsch said. The unexpected improvement in walking for one participant being rehabilitated post-stroke during that initial test in 2000 inspired her team to expand its research focus.
Deutsch said the RIVERS Lab’s next endeavor is to figure out who are the right patients for this type of rehabilitation. “Is it the patients who are walking slowly and can’t get enough benefit when they’re standing? Or is it the people in the middle who can do some walking but can’t walk as far or as fast? Or is it the people who move well but just need that extra boost?” In this published study, analysis of measured walking behaviors showed the greatest benefit for the middle group of walkers.
The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) is the nation’s largest free-standing public health sciences university with more than 5,600 students attending the state’s three medical schools, its only dental school, a graduate school of biomedical sciences, a school of health related professions, a school of nursing and its only school of public health on five campuses. Annually, there are more than two million patient visits at UMDNJ facilities and faculty practices at campuses in Newark, New Brunswick/Piscataway, Scotch Plains, Camden and Stratford. UMDNJ operates University Hospital, a Level I Trauma Center in Newark, and University Behavioral HealthCare, a statewide mental health and addiction services network.
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ)
Stanley S. Bergen Bldg., 65 Bergen St., Fl. 13
Newark
NJ 07101
United States
http:// www.umdnj.edu
Biomechanics In Design: Arc Trainer Maximizes Workout Without Discomfort
Millions of people will flock to the gym to conquer their New Year’s resolutions in the coming weeks all in an attempt to lose weight and improve their overall health. For most, achieving these goals in the least stressful way and in less time will be just as important. Becoming more knowledgeable about equipment and the applications which help achieve higher intensities is an important part of the equation.
“Whether you’re joining a club for the first time or you’re a fitness enthusiast, the one concept everyone should know and few people understand is that the intensity of exercise is more important than the duration of exercise,” stated Paul Juris, Ed.D, Executive Director of The CYBEX Institute.
Over the years, studies have shown that a sufficient volume of high-intensity exercise delivers a variety of benefits. A landmark study in Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) (Lee, et al), dating back to 1995, revealed that vigorous activities, but not non-vigorous activities, were associated with longevity. More recently, intense exercise has been linked to burning more fat (Talanian, et al.) and carbohydrates (Perry, et al), and maintaining skeletal muscle mass and strength (Moore and Burd.).
Juris, a kineseologist, who has held positions in higher education, rehabilitative medicine, professional sports, and fitness, believes most who exercise are unaccustomed to training at exercise intensities that yield the most significant results.
“Most who exercise don’t push themselves to a high enough level because they are uncomfortable with the exertion, the physical demands, or the discomfort inherent in the equipment they’re using,” added Juris. “Becoming more knowledgeable about equipment and the applications which help you achieve higher intensities is an important part of the equation.”
When CYBEX introduced its Arc cross-training cardiovascular machine five years ago, its mission was to build a breakthrough piece of equipment that provided impact-free exercise and maximum training affect on muscles without overstressing the body.
“Perceived effort and joint discomfort are totally different on the Arc Trainer, compared with elliptical machines,” said Jeremy Boone, a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, who works with a vast array of exercising populations and is also part of the off-season program for the NFL Carolina Panthers. “I have clients who just can’t push themselves hard enough on elliptical trainers without it becoming too uncomfortable, or even painful, but on the Arc Trainer, they can work as hard as they want without experiencing any pain or discomfort. Even athletes with previous or rehabbing knee injuries feel that the Arc Trainer gives them a great workout without any knee pain.”
The Arc Trainer’s unique, “un-elliptical” pattern provides leg movement in a biomechanically correct motion that is impact free. The footplate moves in an arc path which simulates a rhythmic step up activity with proper mechanics, significantly reducing the shear component at the knee.
“I was coming off a knee injury a year ago, and using the Arc Trainer allowed me to train at a higher intensity for gaining strength and fitness in a pain-free environment,” said Chad Tracy, a Major League Baseball Player and member of the Arizona Diamondbacks. “I was able to prevent any swelling in my knee that would set my training back during my off-season program.”
The American-manufactured Arc Trainer earned the prestigious Nova7 Best Product Award twice. For more information on the Arc or studies that have been conducted, visit http://www.cybexintl.com.
About CYBEX
Cybex International, Inc. is a leading manufacturer of premium exercise equipment for commercial and consumer use. The CYBEX product line includes a full range of both strength training and cardio training machines sold worldwide under the CYBEX brand. Products are designed and engineered using exercise science to reflect the natural movement of the human body. Accommodating users from the first-time exerciser to the professional athlete, CYBEX products are available for a wide range of facilities from commercial health clubs to home gyms. For more information on CYBEX and its product lines, please visit the Company’s website at http://www.cybexintl.com.
This news release may contain forward-looking statements. There are a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by the statements made above. These include, but are not limited to, competitive factors, technological and product developments, market demand, economic conditions, the resolution of litigation involving the Company, and the ability of the Company to comply with the terms of its credit facilities. Further information on these and other factors which could affect the Company’s financial results can be found in the Company’s previously filed Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007, its Reports on Form 10-Q, its Current Reports on Form 8-K, and its proxy statement dated April 4, 2008.
References
Lee, I.M., Hsieh, C.C., and Paffenbarger, R.S. 1995. Exercise intensity and longevity in men. The Harvard Alumni Health Study. JAMA 273(15): 1179-1184.
Moore, D.R. and Burd, N.A. 2008. Exercise intensity matters for both young and old muscles. J. Physiol. Dec 15. epub ahead of print.
Perry, C.G., Heigenhauser, G.J., Bonen, A., and Spriet, L.L. 2008. High-intensity aerobic interval training increases fat and carbohydrate metabolic capacities in human skeletal muscle. Appl. Physiol. Nutr. Metab. 33(6): 1112-1123.
Talanian, J.L., Galloway, S.D., Heigenhauser, G.J., Bonen, A., and Spriet, L.L. 2007. Two weeks of high-intensity aerobic interval training increases the capacity for fat oxidation during exercise in women. J Appl Physiol. 102(4): 1439-1447.
B. Sue Graves, Ed.D, Associate Professor, Department of Exercise Science and Health Promotion, Florida Atlantic University. A Comparative Kinematic and Biomechanical Analysis of Two Gait Simulators.
CYBEX
http://www.cybexintl.com
We Are Less Disturbed By Racism Than We Predict
Psychologists in Canada and the US suggest that people predict they will feel worse than they actually do after witnessing racial abuse and that
while they think or say they would take action, they actually respond with indifference when faced with an act of racism. This is despite the fact that
being labelled as a racist has become a powerful stigma in our society today.
Researchers from Departments of Psychology at York University in Toronto, the University of British Columbia, and Yale University in New Haven,
Connecticut, performed the study, which is published on 9 January in Science.
How is it that despite racial prejudice being strongly condemned in our society today, acts of blatant racism still occur? The researchers propose that
one reason is that people don’t understand how they would feel and behave after witnessing an act of racism.
They said the study demonstrated that despite saying they would be upset if they saw an act of racism, when non-black people actually witnessed
racism against a black person, they showed little emotional distress. Also, they tended to overestimate the extent to which a person making a racist
comment would be socially rejected.
Such tolerance of racism leads to its perpetuation, because a number of studies have shown that when people are confronted about the racist remarks
they make, they are less likely to repeat them, said co-author John Dovidio, a psychology professor at Yale and expert on prejudice.
We have an unconscious bias that affects us in significant ways,” said Dovidio.
For the study, Dovidio and colleagues studied 120 non-black volunteers who were waiting for what they thought was the real experiment to begin
when were then exposed to racism. One group of participants directly experienced racial incidents where they witnessed a black person, who was posing as
one of the volunteer participants, bump into a white person who was also posing as a participant. After the black participant left the room, the white
participant either said nothing, or “clumsy n_____,” or “I hate it when black people do that”.
The other participants either read about the incidents or watched a video of them and were then asked to predict what their responses would
be.
All the participants were also asked to say which of the others they would be willing to work with.
The participants who did not actually witness the events first hand were much more likely to say they were upset at the comment the white participant
made about the black participant, and to say they would refuse to work with such a person. The participants who actually witnessed the events first
hand reported being less distressed and 63 per cent of them were more willing to work with the white participant who made the racist remark as one
who did not.
Dovidio explained the situations in terms of costs: the direct witnesses were less willing to pay the emotional cost of confrontation than they imagined
they would be able to, which in turn means the person making the racist comments doesn’t pay the cost of being ostracised.
Psychology professor in York’s Faculty of Health, and lead author of the study, Kerry Kawakami, said:
.
“People do not think of themselves as prejudiced, and they predict that they would be very upset by a racist act and would take action.”
“However, we found that their responses are much more muted than they expect when they are actually faced with an overtly racist comment,” added
Kawakami.
Kawakami said this finding may come as a surprise as Americans anticipate the inauguration of their first black president. But the
election of one black man does not mean racism is dead or that racism will not be tolerated, said Kawakami.
There hasn’t been much research on how people react to other people’s prejudices, but co-author professor Elizabeth Dunn, from the University of
British Columbia, who studies people’s ability to predict their own emotional and behavioural reactions said:
“People often make inaccurate forecasts about how they would respond emotionally to negative events.”
“They vastly overestimate how upset they would feel in bad situations such as hearing a racial slur,” she added.
“One of the ways that people may stem the tide of negative emotions related to witnessing a racial slur is to re-construe the comment as a joke or as a
harmless remark,” explained Dunn.
The researchers at York University are now investigating how the characteristics of racists and their targets increase or decrease the emotional,
behavioural and psychological aspects of people’s reactions to racist slurs. For instance in the case of these participants, studying the perceptions of
the white and black volunteers could give important clues about when people do and do not confront racism.
“Mispredicting Affective and Behavioral Responses to Racism.
Kerry Kawakami, Elizabeth Dunn, Francine Karmali, and John F. Dovidio.
Science Vol. 323. no. 5911, pp. 276 – 278; Published online 9 January 2009.
DOI: 10.1126/science.1164951.
Click here for
Abstract.
Sources: Journal Abstract, Yale University, York University.
Written by: Catharine Paddock, PhD
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today
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