Treatment of dogs with dexmedetomidine alleviates fear of noisy fireworks.

A new study has shown that treatment of dogs with dexmedetomidine alleviates fear of noisy fireworks. A large percentage dogs suffer anxiety and fear from the loud bangs and explosions of firework displays. This new study shows how a medicinal treatment can help alleviate common fear behaviors, such as trembling and whining. A research team, led by Dr Mira Korpivaara at Orion Pharma, developed an oral gel form of dexmedetomidine that could be administered by dog owners at home.182 dogs with a history of acute anxiety and fear associated with fireworks noise were given either dexmedetomidine gel (89 dogs) or identical placebo (93 dogs) as needed up to five times, as part of a randomised, double-blinded study. A higher proportion of dogs were reported to have good or excellent treatment effect in the dexmedetomidine group (64 of 89, 72%) than in the placebo group (34 of 93, 37%) -- meaning that the dog did not show any signs of fear and anxiety due to fireworks exposure or the signs were mild and temporary. Dogs in the dexmedetomidine group displayed fewer signs of fear and anxiety than dogs in the placebo group, despite the noise of fireworks, including panting, trembling, vocalising (whining, barking, growling, howling), pacing and inappropriate urination.

The new faces of data science.

The new faces of data science.Today’s data scientists are using interdisciplinary methods to take the field into the future.Today’s data scientists are interested in a lot more than simply visualizing data. These scientists are using knowledge from linguistics to teach computers to understand language. They are using methods from library science to help decipher scientific articles. They are using natural language processing (NLP) to fact check social media posts. They are bringing together knowledge from an array of disciplines in order to make sense of the vast amounts of information people contend with on a daily basis.

How text mining is changing the way we tackle chronic disease.

How text mining is changing the way we tackle chronic disease.Researchers are working with Pathway Studio to design innovative treatments using simulations of complex diseases.Imagine being able to mine 40,000 articles in a matter of minutes and use the information to develop a solution to transform the lives of millions of people. By working side by side with doctors, the engineers can use the model biological circuits to give insights that could lead to better diagnoses and guide the design of effective treatments for complex medical conditions that defy conventional approaches.

Patients with drug-resistant malaria cured by plant therapy.

Patients with drug-resistant malaria cured by plant therapy.Tablets made from dried leaves of the Artemisia annua plant cured 18 critically ill patients in a Congo clinic. The results suggest a new and inexpensive treatment option for the mosquito-borne disease that affects 212 million people worldwide. #malaria The 18 patients, ranging in age from 14 months to 60 years, did not respond to the standard ACT treatment, and all lapsed into severe malaria, defined by symptoms that can include loss of consciousness, respiratory distress, convulsions, and pulmonary edema. One patient, a five-year-old child, became comatose. All were then treated with intravenously administered artesunate, the frontline medication for severe malaria, but again they showed no improvement. #malaria When the standard malaria medications failed to help 18 critically ill patients, the attending physician in a Congo clinic acted under the 'compassionate use' doctrine and prescribed a not-yet-approved malaria therapy made only from the dried leaves of the Artemisia annua plant. In just five days, all 18 people fully recovered. Artemesia annua is also known as sweet wormwood is an alternative to conventional antimalarial drugs. #malaria

Metabolism directly impacts the odds of developing malaria.

A study has shown that metabolism directly impacts the odds of developing malaria.Researchers have found that the host's susceptibility to develop malaria depends on his or her metabolic state, which can be easily manipulated through external stimuli such as dietary patterns. The progression and development of an infectious disease is directly dependent not only on the characteristics of the causing infectious agent but also on the genetic characteristics of the host, which also dictate the efficiency of the infection. During the last years scientific discoveries have suggested that external factors independent of the host-parasite dichotomy, such as eating habits, can impact in the establishment, progression and endpoint of infections. The team manipulated the diet fed to lab mice for very short periods of time and evaluated the level of infection caused by the malaria parasite.The results, now published in the journal Nature Microbiology, show that an increase in the levels of pro-oxidants caused by dietary shifts leads to a 90% reduction in parasite load during the hepatic phase of the infection and consequently lowers the severity of the disease.

Making artificial blood for transfusions.

Making artificial blood for transfusions.Blood transfusions can save the lives of patients who have suffered major blood loss, but hospitals don't always have enough or the right type on hand. In search of a solution, researchers have developed a promising substitute using blood's oxygen-carrying component, hemoglobin. This in vitro study found that the modified hemoglobin was an effective oxygen carrier and also scavenged for potentially damaging free radicals. The researchers developed a one-step method for wrapping hemoglobin in polydopamine, or PDA, which has been widely studied for biomedical applications.

Malaria drug protects fetuses from Zika infection.

Malaria drug protects fetuses from Zika infection. A new study shows that treatment prevents virus from crossing placenta to infect fetus. Zika virus infects the fetus by manipulating the body's normal barrier to infection, according to a new study of pregnant mice. Moreover, the study showed that a drug that interferes with this process protects the fetus from viral infection. That drug is already approved for use in pregnant women for other medical purposes