Archive for the ‘Gene Therapy Research’ Category

SEATTLE, WA--(Marketwire - Nov 8, 2012) - Atossa Genetics, Inc. ( NASDAQ : ATOS ) (the "Company") announced today the pricing of its firm commitment, underwritten initial public offering of 800,000 shares of its common stock at a price of $5.00 per share. In addition, the underwriters were granted a 45-day option to purchase up to an additional 120,000 shares to cover over-allotments, if any. All of the shares in the offering are being sold by Atossa. Atossa's common stock will commence trading on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the trading symbol "ATOS" on November 8, 2012.

Dawson James Securities, Inc. is the sole book-running manager for this offering.This offering is being made only by means of a prospectus. A copy of the final prospectus relating to this offering may be obtained by contacting Monique Maclaren of Dawson James Securities, Inc. at (561) 391-5555 or by emailing mmaclaren@dawsonjames.com or by standard mail at 925 S. Federal Highway, Suite 600, Boca Raton, FL33432. You may also obtain these documents for free by visiting EDGAR on the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov.

A registration statement relating to these securities has been declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission as of November 7, 2012. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of, these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

About Atossa Genetics, Inc.

Atossa Genetics, Inc., The Breast Health Company, is based in Seattle, Washington, and is focused on the prevention of breast cancer through the commercialization of diagnostic medical devices and tests that can detect precursors to breast cancer, and through research and development that will permit it to commercialize treatments for pre-cancerous lesions.

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Atossa Genetics, Inc. Announces Pricing of Initial Public Offering and Commencement of Trading

Seattle Genetics Inc.'s lymphoma treatment Adcetris has struggled to produce sequential quarterly growth, and that has become a concern for shareholders, according to a Cantor Fitzgerald analyst who lowered her rating on the cancer treatment developer.

Shares of the Bothell, Wash., company sank 10 percent, or $2.48, to $21.99 in premarket trading Thursday, a day after the company reported third-quarter results.

Seattle Genetics said Wednesday that Adcetris recorded $33.7 million in revenue during the third quarter. That fell below analyst Mara Goldstein's forecast for $36 million.

Overall, Seattle Genetics lost $13.7 million, or 12 cents per share, in the three months that ended Sept. 30 on $49.8 million in revenue. The company's revenue more than doubled compared to last year's quarter, and the loss shrank.

Adcetris is the company's only marketed product, but Seattle Genetics also receives collaboration and royalty revenues.

Adcetris is used to treat Hodgkin's lymphoma and systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma. The Food and Drug Administration approved the drug in August 2011, and the company is conducting additional clinical trials to broaden its marketing approval.

Goldstein said in a Friday morning research note she lowered her rating on Seattle Genetics shares to "Sell" from "Hold" and reduced her price target on the stock to $20 from $30.

"While we like the longer-term opportunity for (Adcetris) to become a much more significant revenue-generating product, the company's valuation relative to the near-term prospects no longer looks compelling to maintain our (hold) rating," Goldstein wrote.

The treatment's revenue also fell below the $36.2 million forecast of Jefferies analyst Thomas Wei. But he had a different view on the reaction to that.

"We do not believe the near-term plateau in sales comes as a surprise to investors and remain confident on long-term Adcetris expansion in to new settings, which drives the majority of our valuation," Wei wrote in a separate note.

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Ahead of the Bell: Analyst lowers Seattle Genetics

BOTHELL, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Seattle Genetics, Inc. (SGEN) announced today that management will present at the upcoming Credit Suisse 2012 Healthcare Conference in Phoenix, Arizona. The presentation is scheduled for Thursday, November 15, at 2:30 p.m. Mountain time. It will be webcast live and available for replay from Seattle Genetics website at http://www.seattlegenetics.com in the Investors and News section.

About Seattle Genetics

Seattle Genetics is a biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialization of monoclonal antibody-based therapies for the treatment of cancer. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted accelerated approval of ADCETRIS in August 2011 for two indications. ADCETRIS is being developed in collaboration with Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company. In addition, Seattle Genetics has three other clinical-stage antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) programs: SGN-75, ASG-5ME and ASG-22ME. Seattle Genetics has collaborations for its ADC technology with a number of leading biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, including Abbott, Agensys (an affiliate of Astellas), Bayer, Celldex Therapeutics, Daiichi Sankyo, Genentech, GlaxoSmithKline, Millennium, Pfizer and Progenics, as well as ADC co-development agreements with Agensys and Genmab. More information can be found at http://www.seattlegenetics.com.

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Seattle Genetics to Present at Credit Suisse Healthcare Conference

Gun of God by David Cudlip
http://www.amazon.com Thomas Courmaine, a geneticist and a card-carrying idealist, is banished to Africa; this, for his own well-being. There, he is intrigued by age-old bush medicine, and his stars are about to shine when he stumbles upon the long-sought solution to the riddle of gene therapy. Watershed stuff, to say the least, paving the way for eradicating thousands of diseases...on the cheap. With gene therapy freely available, people will rarely get ill. Thus, who needs drugs? Or doctors and hospitals? With trillions of dollars at stake, and taking no chances, the pharma-industry offers Courmaine an alliance. If only he #39;ll play ball. When he refuses, they take aim, with full intentions of thwarting his quest of bringing free health care to the vast numbers needing it. One battle begets the next. Courmaine #39;s discovery makes it relatively simple to quickly edit and even re-edit one #39;s DNA. The gun of the future soon fires. A new era explodes, and the race is on to see who can become faster, brighter, more beautiful...and thus what began as a magical panacea now looms as a full-fledged curse. Are we to remain as humans, letting Nature do what Nature does in her own way and in her own time; or do we artificially keep transforming ourselves into what we were never meant to be? Where and how does this whirligig end? Can the Genie ever be returned to its bottle? Courmaine must cope with irony at its very apex: to save humanity #39;s essence can he somehow undo the great things he has ...From:WillMoffettMusicViews:226 1ratingsTime:00:35More inEntertainment

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Gun of God by David Cudlip - Video

Kernicterus
ll4.me Kernicterus Dedication page.- Preface.- Acknowledgement.- Key words.-Chapter 1 Prologue: Hyperbilirubinemia, kernicterus, and world health concerns.-Chapter 2 History of bilirubin.-Chapter 3 Biochemistry and physiology of bilirubin.- Chapter 4 Prematurity.- Chapter 5 Erythroblastosis fetalis.- Chapter 6 Gunn rats.- Chapter 7 Crigler-Najjar Syndrome.- Chapter 8 Neuropathology of kernicterus.- Chapter 9 Bilirubin and energy metabolism.- Chapter 10 Bilirubin and other biochemical changes.- Chapter 11 Jaundice and breast milk.- Chapter 12 Jaundice and malaria.- Chapter 13 Jaundice and congenital pyloric stenosis.- Chapter 14 Phototherapy for hyperbilirubinemia.- Chapter 15 Non phototherapy treatment.- Chapter 16 Hyperbilirubinemia revisited.- Chapter 17 Auditory brainstem response.- Chapter 18 Progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis.- Chapter 19 Kernicterus in older children and adults.- Chapter 20 Cerebral palsy and counseling.- Chapter 21 Neurological sequelae from jaundice.- Chapter 22 Neurobehavioral teratology.- Chapter 23 Gene therapy for hyperbilirubinemia.- Chapter 24 Epilog: Kernicterus: comments and future directions.- Appendix.- References.- Index EAN/ISBN : 9781441965554 Publisher(s): Springer, Berlin, Springer Science Business Media Discussed keywords: Neurowissenschaft Format: ePub/PDF Author(s): McCandless, David W. Dedication page.- Preface.- Acknowledgement.- Key words.-Chapter 1 Prologue: Hyperbilirubinemia, kernicterus, and world health ...From:louisegibbons9865Views:0 0ratingsTime:00:11More inPeople Blogs

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Kernicterus - Video

Post-genomic Cardiology
ll4.me Post-genomic Cardiology Recent advances in molecular and cellular biology have markedly changed our understanding of the heart, and this is having tremendous ramifications for the clinician. This unique reference offers a comprehensive and critical evaluation of this contribution in the field of cardiovascular molecular medicine providing the reader with a sense of new directions in which molecular medicine might be applied. It begins with a detailed primer that makes readily accessible recent molecular, genetic and cellular techniques. Rounding out the coverage of this exciting field are critical and comprenhesive discussions on the use of molecular, genetic and cellular techniques used to identify the etiology and pathophysiology of specific cardiac diseases.* Discusses diagnostic and therapeutic options available not only in the adult and aging individuals but also in infants/children* Numerous illustrations and flow-charts* Explans cutting-edge molecular techniques, including analysis of mitochondria, their role in cardiac dysfunction and updated analysis of Cardioprotection and Metabolic Syndrome* Presentation of recent translational studies for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases is included (eg, gene therapy, pharmacological treatments and stem cell transplantation) Publisher: Academic Press Illustration: Y Language: ENG Title: Post-Genomic Cardiology Pages: 00000 (Encrypted PDF) On Sale: 2007-02-26 SKU-13/ISBN: 9780123736987 Category: Medical ...From:julianlewis9854Views:0 0ratingsTime:00:14More inPeople Blogs

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An Introduction To Genetic Engineering - Desmond ST Nicholl
ll4.me An Introduction To Genetic Engineering - Desmond ST Nicholl Des Nicholl presents here a new, fully revised, and expanded edition of his popular undergraduate-level textbook. Many of the features of the original edition have been retained; the book still offers a concise technical introduction to the subject of genetic engineering. However, the book is now divided into three main sections: the first introduces students to basic molecular biology, the second section explains the methods used to manipulate genes, and the third deals with modern applications of genetic engineering. A whole chapter is now devoted to the polymerase chain reaction. Applications covered in the book include genomics, protein engineering, gene therapy, cloning, and transgenic animals and plants. A final chapter discusses the ethical questions surrounding genetic engineering in general. An Introduction to Genetic Engineering is essential reading for undergraduate students of biotechnology, genetics, molecular biology and biochemistry.Author: Nicholl,Desmond ST Publisher: Cambridge University Press Illustration: N Language: ENG Title: An Introduction to Genetic Engineering Pages: 00304 (Encrypted PDF) On Sale: 2002-02-07 SKU-13/ISBN: 9780521004718 Category: Science : Life Sciences - Genetics Genomics Des Nicholl presents here a new, fully revised, and expanded edition of his popular undergraduate-level textbook. Many of the features of the original edition have been retained; the book still ...From:jenniferhale9854Views:0 0ratingsTime:00:12More inPeople Blogs

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An Introduction To Genetic Engineering - Desmond ST Nicholl - Video

BANGALORE, November 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

DNA Gene Therapy for Degenerative Diseases

In todays reality, terms like genetic engineering and gene therapy have become facts which prophets of science had only dreamt about few years ago. Pain, disability and disease have long plagued mankind, medicine has long sought its answers, research and development are yet uncovering labyrinths of technology to reach to a panacea.

Dr.Agarwal Hospitals nestled in bubbling Bangalore has brought out a customized version of GENE THERAPY where the patients own peripheral capillary blood (one drop) is taken as the raw stock admixed with Mana (DNA activator) it brings back healthy or fetal DNA of the same patient. This is then used as injections to the same patient within seconds of the mixture. A course of ten injections is given over a span of one week to ten days bringing about a healthy change in the patients course of disease.

Over 20 years of research conducted by Dr.Agarwal Hospitals on genetic engineering, where last 8 years have been spent on treating over 12000 patients through variety of illness in different stages of disease has brought new hope to mankind.

Mana (DNA activator) a propriety formula is taken in a syringe and customized with a drop of the patients blood. This forms the patients healthy DNA in vitro and is given back to the patient as sub cutaneous injections over a period of ten days every month for severe conditions.

Mana is a DNA activator - proven to recreate patients own healthy DNA

When Mana & Plasma are mixed within the first second healthy DNA strands start amplifying (proven through research and validation)

Its the patients own DNA being given back : No Side Effects

Dr.Sunita Rana Agarwal, Chief Scientist, Dr Agarwal Hospitals & Gene Research Foundation, carried out the research in this field on patients who were HIV positive. The CD4 ratio counts varied from 186 to 358 from 2004. In 90% of the patients CD4 ratio has increased to above 500 cells per micro liter.

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New Ray of Hope for HIV Patients

PRP Vs Stem Cell Therapy
PRP Therapy Vs Stem Cell TherapyFrom:MiamiFootSurgeryViews:5 0ratingsTime:01:23More inHowto Style

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PRP Vs Stem Cell Therapy - Video

PURTIER Live Stem Cell Therapy - 4th Edition (Chinese Version).mp4
PURTIER Live Stem Cell Therapy - 4th Edition (Chinese Version) Please contact Pearly @ +65 9338 9541 for more detailsFrom:PurtierPearlyViews:1 0ratingsTime:08:01More inPeople Blogs

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123Triad : wwmsbiologicscom
123Triad is proud to design website for http://www.wwmsbiologics.com WorldWide Medical Services Inc. is a company that for more than 10 years is dedicated to utilizing the most innovative technologies to provide its clients with the highest quality services. Worldwide Medical Services specializes in the Intra-operative treatment of surgical patients. One of their most exciting new products is platelet gel and adult stem cell therapy services which can be provided in a hospital or office setting. their Autotransfusion service is available 24/7 on a scheduled or emergency basis.From:123triadcoViews:0 0ratingsTime:00:36More inScience Technology

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123Triad : wwmsbiologicscom - Video

PURTIER Live Stem Cell Therapy - 4th Edition (English Version).mp4
PURTIER Live Stem Cell Therapy - 4th Edition (English Version) Please contact Pearly @ +65 9338 9541 for more detailsFrom:PurtierPearlyViews:1 0ratingsTime:09:00More inPeople Blogs

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PURTIER Live Stem Cell Therapy - 4th Edition (English Version).mp4 - Video

Washington, November 8 (ANI): Administering to patients stem cells derived from their own bone marrow either three or seven days after a heart attack is safe but does not improve heart function six months later, according to a clinical trial.

The results of the trial, called Transplantation In Myocardial Infarction Evaluation (TIME), mirror a previous, related study, LateTIME, which found that such cells (called autologous stem cells) given two to three weeks after a heart attack did not improve heart function.

Both TIME and LateTIME were conducted by the Cardiovascular Cell Therapy Research Network (CCTRN), sponsored by the NIH's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

"This study was extremely valuable even though it did not provide a demonstrated health benefit after six months," said Sonia Skarlatos, Ph.D., deputy director of NHLBI's Division of Cardiovascular Sciences and member of the CCTRN.

"Heart stem cell therapy research is still in its infancy, and results from early trials have varied greatly due to differences in the numbers of stem cells injected, the delivery methods used, and the compositions of the study populations. With TIME and LateTIME, we have established both safety and baseline results in two large studies that followed the same procedures for growing and then administering stem cells. This standard will inform the next steps in research on the use of stem cells to repair damaged hearts," she stated.

Fellow CCTRN member Jay Travese, M.D., of the Minneapolis Heart Institute added, "With this baseline now set, we can start to adjust some of the components of the protocol to grow and administer stem cell to find cases where the procedure may improve function."

"For example, this therapy may work better in different population groups, or we might need to use new cell types or new methods of delivery," he noted.

Skarlatos said that another advantage of the TIME study is that CCTRN is storing samples of the stem cells taken from the participants. Investigators can examine the relationship between people who showed significant improvement during the study and the characteristics of their stem cells. Such a comparison may offer insights on the cell traits that are associated with clinical improvement.

The findings will be presented at the American Heart Association (AHA) 2012 Scientific Sessions in Los Angeles and will appear concurrently in the Journal of the American Medical Association. (ANI)

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Bone marrow stem cell therapy does not improve short-term recovery after heart attack

HAIFA, Israel, Nov. 7, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. (PSTI) (TASE:PLTR), a leading developer of placenta-based cell therapies, announced today the Company has successfully completed the integration and testing of its new scaled-up formulation and manufacturing process to produce high-yield quantities of its Placental eXpanded (PLX) cells for clinical trials and potential commercial use. The increased automation and larger scale process allows the company to produce billions of live cells simultaneously.

As part of its manufacturing process, Pluristem has optimized growth conditions to maximize yields with lower costs. The company has minimized open manipulation steps in order to improve the aseptic quality and safety of the product. Critical steps have been automated including the process of harvesting and purification; the integration of closed system washing and concentration steps, and the product's final packaging has been changed to an aseptically automated vial system. In the past 15 months, Pluristem has invested resources and efforts to develop technologies resulting in an efficient, cutting edge production line. All of the integrated changes have been tested and will be integrated into Pluristem's new production site in Israel.

Pluristem recently announced it is in the final steps of building out its new manufacturing facility, which will have the capacity to produce commercial grade PLX cells. Once completed, and following regulators' approval, the new facility would have the capacity to produce PLX cells for the treatment of over 150,000 patients annually estimated by Pluristem at $1 billion in production value.

"This new large scale manufacturing process allows us to run numerous clinical trials simultaneously around the globe, and also prepares us for potential commercial availability," stated Zami Aberman, Chairman and CEO of Pluristem. "Our progress with both our manufacturing process and facility are well on track."

About Pluristem Therapeutics

Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. (PSTI) (TASE:PLTR) is a leading developer of placenta-based cell therapies. The Company's patented PLX (PLacental eXpanded) cells are a drug delivery platform that releases a cocktail of therapeutic proteins in response to a host of local and systemic inflammatory and ischemic diseases. PLX cells are grown using the company's proprietary 3D micro-environmental technology and are an "off-the-shelf" product that requires no tissue matching prior to administration. Pluristem is focusing on the development of PLX cells administered locally to potentially treat systemic diseases and potentially obviating the need to use the intravenous route.

Data from two phase I studies indicate that Pluristem's first PLX product candidate, PLX-PAD, is safe and potentially effective for the treatment of end stage peripheral artery disease when given locally. Additionally, Pluristem is developing PLX-PAD for cardiac ischemia; PLX-BMP for Acute Radiation Exposure, Bone Marrow Transplant Failure and Chemotherapy induced Bone Marrow Aplasia, PLX-ORTHO for orthopedic indications and PLX-PAH for Pulmonary Hypertension in collaboration with United Therapeutics. Pluristem's pre-clinical animal models have demonstrated PLX cells are also potentially effective in other inflammatory/ischemic indications, including diastolic heart failure, inflammatory bowel disease, neuropathic pain and pulmonary fibrosis.

Pluristem has a strong patent and patent applications portfolio, company-owned GMP certified manufacturing and research facilities, strategic relationships with major research institutions and a seasoned management team. For more information visit http://www.pluristem.com and follow Pluristem on Twitter@Pluristem, the content of which is not part of this press release.

The Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=6882

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Pluristem Completes Large Scale Cell Therapy Formulation for Commercial and Clinical Trial Use

Public release date: 6-Nov-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Steve Goodyear sgoodyear@mhif.org 952-807-8365 Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation

MINNEAPOLIS, MN November 6, 2012 Administering autologous stem cells obtained from bone marrow either 3 or 7 days following a heart attack did not improve heart function six months later, reports a new clinical trial supported by the National Institutes of Health. The results of this trial, called TIME (Transplantation In Myocardial Infarction Evaluation), were presented by Jay Traverse, MD of the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation Tuesday, Nov. 6, at the 2012 Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association in Los Angeles.

The results of this trial mirror a previous, related study (LateTIME) which found that autologous bone marrow stem cell therapy given 2-3 weeks after a heart attack did not improve cardiac recovery. Both TIME and LateTIME were carried out by the Cardiovascular Cell Therapy Research Network (CCTRN), sponsored by the NIH's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

"The data presented by TIME do much to advance stem cell therapy research," said Jay Traverse, MD of the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation and Principal Investigator of this study. "While this study did not provide a demonstrated cardiac benefit after six months, we still learned a great deal. Together, TIME and Late TIME have shown that stem cell therapy is safe, and they have set a baseline in terms of quantity of stem cells, type of stem cells, and severity of heart attack."

TIME enrolled 120 volunteers (avg. age 57) between July 2008 and February 2011; the participants all had moderate to severe impairment in their left ventricle and had undergone coronary stent placement as treatment for the heart attack. The participants were randomly assigned to one of four groups: day 3 stem cell, day 3 placebo (inactive cells), day 7 stem cell, or day 7 placebo. The CCTRN researchers developed a method of processing and purifying the stem cells from the bone marrow of each volunteer to ensure everyone received a uniform dose (150 million stem cells).

Heart improvement was assessed six months after stem cell therapy by measuring the percentage of blood that gets pumped out of the left ventricle during each contraction (left-ventricular ejection fraction, or LVEF). The study found no significant differences between the change in LVEF readings at the six month follow-up in either the Day 3 or Day 7 stem cell groups compared with placebo or with each other; every group showed about a 3 percent improvement in LVEF. However, the researchers found that younger patients randomized to Day 7 had greater improvement in their LVEF compared to their placebo counterparts

"The lack of six-month improvement seen for TIME and, prior to that, LateTIME, does not mean stem cell therapy is not a viable post-heart attack strategy," said Traverse. "Because we have this data we can start to address some parameters; for example this therapy may work better in younger people, or maybe we need to use cells from healthy volunteers (allogeneic) since their cells may provide greater therapeutic benefit. There will also be upcoming studies using novel cell types which we look forward to using in future clinical trials."

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Stem cell therapy using patient's own cells after heart attack does not enhance cardiac recovery

MANILA, Philippines -- The Department of Health (DOH) has announced its plan to regulate stem cell therapy in the country.

Stem cell treatment involves the use of adult stem cells to treat a range of diseases.

The Health Department believes that because of the complex preparation and invasive procedure involved, there needs to be a regulatory framework to protect Filipino citizens.

The regulation of laboratories and practitioners involves five key points.

First is a check on the credentials of people involved in the service, as stem cell treatment is a specialized field. The supply of raw materials will also have to be monitored, making sure especially that they do not come from aborted fetuses.

Laboratories will be scrutinized for their procedures, sanitation and safety. Therapeutic claims, on the other hand, are also up for strict assessment, to make sure that these are based on solid scientific evidence.

Finally, the DOH also wants a report on the possible failure of treatments, to find out if there are negative outcomes to stem cell therapy.

"Those who are going to other countries for stem cell treatment should also check if their destination allows stem cell tourism," clarified FDA Acting Director Dr. Kenneth Hartigan-Go.

The DOH said consultations with stakeholders are still ongoing, but it expects a set of guidelines to be released by next month.

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Stem cell therapy to be regulated in PH

Washington, November 7 (ANI): Stem cell therapy improves heart function in patients who had previous heart attacks, according to researchers from the University of Louisville and Brigham and Women's Hospital.

In a Late-Breaking Clinical Trial session at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2012 meeting, Roberto Bolli, M.D., of the University of Louisville and Piero Anversa, M.D., of Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, presented data from their groundbreaking research in the use of autologous adult stem cells with patients who had previous heart attacks.

They report that after two years, all patients receiving the stem cell therapy show improvement in heart function, with an overall 12.9 absolute unit increase in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), a standard measure of heart function that shows the amount of blood ejected from the left ventricle during a heartbeat.

No adverse effects resulting from the therapy were seen. Moreover, MRIs performed on nine patients in the trial showed evidence of myocardial regeneration - new heart tissue replacing former dead tissue killed by heart attack.

"The trial shows the feasibility of isolating and expanding autologous stem cells from virtually every patient," said Bolli, who is the Jewish Hospital Heart and Lung Institute Distinguished Chair in Cardiology and director of the Institute for Molecular Cardiology in the Department of Medicine at UofL.

"The results suggest that this therapy has a potent, beneficial effect on cardiac function that warrants further study," he stated.

The trial - called SCIPIO for Stem Cell Infusion in Patients with Ischemic CardiOmyopathy - was a randomized open-label trial of cardiac stem cells (CSCs) in patients who were diagnosed with heart failure following a myocardial infarction and had a LVEF of 40 percent or lower; the normal LVEF is 50 percent or higher.

The investigators harvested the CSCs, referred to as "c-kit positive" cells because they express the c-kit protein on their surface, from 33 patients during coronary artery bypass surgery. The stem cells were purified and processed in Anversa's lab in Boston so that they could multiply. Once an adequate number of stem cells was produced - about one million for each patient - Bolli's team in Louisville reintroduced them into the region of the patient's heart that had been scarred by the heart attack.

The researchers reported that in the 20 patients receiving CSCs, LVEF increased from 29 percent to 36 percent at four months following infusion. None of the 13 control patients in the trial received CSCs and this group showed, on average, no improvement.

The beneficial effect of the CSCs persisted and became progressively greater at the one- and two-year mark following infusion. At the one-year mark following infusion, LVEF increased by 8.1 percent, and at the two-year mark, by 12.9 percent.

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Stem cell therapy improves heart function 2 years after heart attack

April Flowers for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

Conflicting studies were highlighted at this years American Heart Association Scientific Sessions meeting concerning stem cell therapy for heart attack patients.

The first study, from the University of Louisville and Brigham and Womens Hospital, reported holy grail results for a Phase I clinical trial: marked sustained improvement in all patients with zero adverse effects.

Roberto Bolli, M.D., of the University of Louisville and Piero Anversa, M.D., of Brigham and Womens Hospital presented data from their groundbreaking research in the use of autologous adult stem cells with patients who had previous heart attacks in a Late-Breaking Clinical Trial session.

The researchers report that all patients receiving the stem cell therapy showed improved heart function after two years, with an overall 12.9 absolute unit increase in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). LVEF is a standard measure of heart function that shows the amount of blood ejected from the left ventricle during a heartbeat. They saw no adverse effects from the therapy. In fact, nine patients showed evidence of myocardial regeneration new tissue replacing formerly dead tissue killed by heart attack in MRI scans.

The trial shows the feasibility of isolating and expanding autologous stem cells from virtually every patient, said Bolli, who is the Jewish Hospital Heart and Lung Institute Distinguished Chair in Cardiology and director of the Institute for Molecular Cardiology in the Department of Medicine at UofL. The results suggest that this therapy has a potent, beneficial effect on cardiac function that warrants further study.

In all patients, cells with high regenerative reserve were obtained and employed therapeutically, said Anversa, professor of Anesthesia and Medicine at Brigham and Womens Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Our efforts to carefully characterize the phenotype and growth properties of the cardiac stem cells may have contributed to these initial positive results.

The Stem Cell Infusion in Patients with Ischemic CardiOmyopathy, or SCIPIO, trial was a randomized open-label trial of cardiac stem cells (CSCs) in patients who were diagnosed with heart failure following a myocardial infarction and had a LVEF of 40 percent or lower. A normal LVEF reading is 50 percent or higher.

The CSCs, referred to as c-kit positive cells because they express the c-kit protein on their surface, were harvested from 33 patients during coronary artery bypass surgery. The stem cells were then purified and processed so that they could multiply, and once an adequate number was produced about one million for each patient they were reintroduced into the region of the patients heart that suffered scarring during the heart attack.

At four months after infusion, the researchers report that LVEF increased from 29 percent to 36 percent for 200 patients. On average, the 13 control patients who did not receive a CSC infusion showed any improvement.

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Studies On Stem Cell Therapy After Heart Attack Show Mixed Results

UPDATE on Stem Cell Therapy

7 November 2012

The Department of Health (DOH) saw the necessity to cover regulations for Stem Cell therapy. Stem Cell therapy belongs to the category of Advanced Cell therapy which includes biologics and blood. Many countries around the world apply a risk-based approach to assess the quality, efficacy and safety of advanced cell therapy. In many countries, Stem Cell is considered an investigational intervention.

Stem Cell research employs both autologous (from same person) or allogenic (from another organism like animal or another human cell or tissue sample) method. Because there are many steps in the preparation of this lab and invasive procedure, there is therefore need to have a regulatory framework to protect Filipino citizens.

Important questions were asked: is there proof of concept in animal trials where stem cell can then be applied in humans? Is there a way to ensure quality and purity of the raw materials? How safe is the procedure? How many did not benefit from the procedure? If this were investigational procedure, how will human subjects be protected?

Sec. Enrique Ona convened a consultative working task force to provide recommendations on how to proceed in the early part of the year in response to queries and mushrooming of centers here and overseas. This led to the creation of a regulatory task force to oversee the appropriate steps that will ensure quality, efficacy and safety documentation of this intervention.

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UPDATE on Stem Cell Therapy 7 November 2012

People | Events | Policy | Research | Business | Trend watch | Coming up

Sound science wins Shi-min Fang, a freelance science journalist based in Beijing, and Simon Wessely, a psychiatrist at Kings College London, are the joint winners of the inaugural John Maddox Prize, for individuals who have promoted sound science and evidence on a matter of public interest. The 2,000 (US$3,200) prize, announced on 6 November, is awarded by Nature and Sense About Science, a London-based science-advocacy group, and is supported by the Kohn Foundation. See page 160 and go.nature.com/owyfbg for more.

A. Clark/REUTERS

Sockeye salmon threats assessed Canadas Department of Fisheries and Oceans should focus on protecting wild fish, and a separate department should be charged with promoting the fish-farming industry to avoid confusion over the departments role, according to a report on sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) populations released on 31 October. The Cohen Commission, led by a Supreme Court judge, was asked by the federal government in 2009 to investigate the collapse in the numbers of salmon returning to British Columbias Fraser River over past decades. The commission found no single cause for the decline, but blames the government for reducing protection of the salmons habitats. See go.nature.com/sles5b for more.

Antarctic reserves Negotiations on creating three huge marine reserves in Antarctic waters have broken down, dealing a major blow to conservation plans. Meeting in Hobart, Australia, the 25members of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources failed to agree unanimously on any of the reserves, which would have established fishing bans and set aside regions as reference areas for scientists studying the impact of climate change on fragile polar ecosystems (see Nature 490, 324; 2012). The reserves will be discussed again in July. See go.nature.com/xxzjbd for more.

Mekong megadam Work to build a massive dam on the lower Mekong river in Laos is to formally begin on 7November, deputy minister of energy and mines Viraphonh Viravong said on 5November. Environmentalists fear that the US$3.5-billion Xayaburi dam will reduce fish stocks and biodiversity.

China genetic rules Chinas government has published a draft regulation to improve the protection of donors in human genetic research. It proposes to license organizations that store and collect human genetic resources (materials such as organs, cells and DNA), update requirements on informed consent and prohibit the sale or export of genetic materials. The draft, published on 31October, is open to feedback for a month.

UK merger dropped A contentious plan to merge two major British research centres has been shelved following criticism from politicians and scientists. The Natural Environment Research Council had suggested merging two centres that it runs the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge and the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton to save money, but announced on 2November that it would scrap the idea. Job cuts are still in the offing, however. See go.nature.com/prcepr for more.

Climate services The World Meteorological Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, has agreed to implement a Global Framework for Climate Services, which will provide and manage information about how Earths changing climate affects everything from crop production to disaster planning. The international framework, agreed at a meeting in Geneva on 31 October, will initially focus on water, health, food security and disaster risk reduction. Some scientists have been concerned by the proliferation of climate-service providers who may be overselling the abilities of climate models to guide policy-makers and local people. See go.nature.com/rbxnxq for more.

CNImaging/Newscom

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Seven days: 2–8 November 2012

In the Foye household in Pine Brook, N.J., a biomedical twist on an Advent calendar went up on the fireplace mantle in early October: a countdown to the long-awaited day they would find out what gene caused 11-year-old Adam Foyes mysterious and rare muscle-weakening disease.

Each day, a different family membermom, dad, Adam, grandmapulled off a numbered sticky note, ticking off the days until a mid-October conference call. That day, the family got a precious answer, learning the fruits of a contest organized by Boston Childrens Hospital. Twenty-three teams of scientists from around the world had combed through the DNA blueprints of Adam and his parents, Sarah and Patrick, to try and understand why Adam tired so easily, needing a scooter to walk longer than a few blocks and requiring a ventilator to help him breathe at night.

What they found was that Adams disease, called centronuclear myopathy, stemmed from mutations in a giant gene called titin.

It answers so many questions, said Sarah Foye. You have a child with this disorder, and everyday I look at him and hes too tired to play and too tired to go to school. I always ask what is it, what is causing this, and what can I do to help.

Identifying the gene is only a first step, but an important one. Researchers at Boston Childrens have a zebrafish with the same gene mutations that will allow them to screen for drugs that might help Adam. The finding, however, also suggests that a potential drug trial that is being developed for a similar condition would not work for Adam, knowledge that will spare him the unnecessary treatments that often come with downsides.

We can now say that drug has virtually no chance of working, which is disappointing on one level, but is also an important result because every drug has side effects, and Adam can be spared those, said Alan Beggs, director of the Manton Center for Orphan Disease Research at the hospital and a co-organizer of the contest.

Beyond the solace provided to the Foye family, the contest aimed to provide new thinking on how to deal with many of the problems that come with the unprecedented amount of personal information provided by DNA-sequencing technologies. As the cost of obtaining a persons genome plummets, scientists and clinicians are wrestling with how to extract meaning from such large amounts of data, how to present it in a comprehensible way to physicians and patients, and how to best handle incidental findings that might emerge when studying the genome.

The dilemma now is to identify the key changes, or mutations, that are responsible for the patients medical condition, and determine which they are against this background of enormous normal variation in human DNA sequences, Beggs said. The purpose of the challenge was to develop best practices for the interpetation and return of these new types of data to patients physicians.

The winner of a $15,000 prize was the Division of Clinical Genetics at Brigham and Womens Hospital. Teams were given the full genome sequences from three families. Each had a child with a rare genetic disease that stemmed from an unknown cause, and teams took on the massive challenge of pinpointing the probable cause of their muscle weakness or cardiac defects, but also addressing other issues that arise when sequencing the genome.

For example, the teams wrote up reports that could be provided to physicians that would allow them to explain the genetic mutation to each patients family. Some teams provided samples of the consent form they would ask a patient and family members to sign before providing their DNA to doctors, requesting, for example, whether they would want to receive incidental informationsuch as the risk for another kind of illness that might lie in their genes, but was not the focus of the study.

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Boston Children’s Hospital contest pinpoints the gene that causes a muscle-weakening disorder

Public release date: 7-Nov-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Marjorie Montemayor-Quellenberg mmontemayor-quellenberg@partners.org 617-534-2208 Brigham and Women's Hospital

BOSTON, MAResearchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) have discovered a new gene that regulates hemoglobin synthesis during red blood cell formation. The findings advance the biomedical community's understanding and treatment of human anemias and mitochondrial disorders.

The study will be published online on November 7, 2012 in Nature.

The researchers used an unbiased zebrafish genetic screen to clone mitochondrial ATPase inhibitory factor-1 gene, or Atpif1. The gene allows animalszebrafish, mice and humans for instanceto efficiently make hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is the protein in red blood cells responsible for transporting oxygen in the blood.

The researchers found that loss of Atpif1 causes severe anemia. Moreover, the researchers uncovered a broader mechanistic role for Atpif1regulating the enzymatic activity of ferrochelatase, or Fech. Fech is the terminal enzyme in heme (a component of hemoglobin) synthesis.

"Our study has established a unique functional link between Atpif1-regulated mitochondrial pH, redox potential, and [2Fe-2S] cluster binding to Fech in modulating its heme synthesis," said Dhvanit Shah, PhD, BWH Division of Hematology, Department of Medicine, first study author.

The researchers were also able to produce data on the human version of Atpif1, noting its functional importance for normal red blood cell differentiation, and noting that a deficiency may contribute to human diseases, such as congenital sideroblastic anemias and other diseases related to dysfunctional mitochondria (the energy powerhouses of cells).

"Discovering the novel mechanism of Atpif1 as a regulator of heme synthesis advances the understanding of mitochondrial heme homeostasis and red blood cell development," said Barry Paw, MD, PhD, BWH Division of Hematology, Department of Medicine, senior study author.

Shah and Paw continue to identify new genes responsible for hematopoietic stem cell development and red cell differentiation. Their identification of new genes will elucidate the new mechanisms regulating hematopoiesisthe formation of blood cell components. Their work not only provides greater insight into human congenital anemias, but also new opportunities for improved therapies.

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Loss of essential blood cell gene leads to anemia

BOULDER, CO--(Marketwire - Nov 6, 2012) - Rogue Wave Software, the largest independent provider of cross-platform software development tools and embedded components for the next generation of high performance computing (HPC) applications, announced the upcoming release of the leading parallel debugger, TotalView 8.11, with expanded support for the newest platforms that are advancing both the HPC and commercial markets. With the release of TotalView 8.11, debugging support will be offered for the IBM Blue Gene/Q platform, NVIDIA CUDA 4.2, and the OpenACC capability of Cray CCE 8.0. TotalView 8.11 will also offer early access support for the Intel Xeon Phi coprocessor. This product release reinforces Rogue Wave's commitment to providing software tools that help developers port codes and be more productive on these platforms, which are at the forefront of the HPC market.

The IBM Blue Gene/Q pushes the edge of technology by providing a leadership-class supercomputer that has a homogenous multi-core architecture and relatively low power consumption. On the June 2012 TOP500 list of supercomputers, four of the top ten supercomputers were Blue Gene/Q's. Since February 2012, TotalView users at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), which was named the top supercomputer on the list, have been utilizing a pre-release version of the TotalView debugger for porting codes to take advantage of the new system. TotalView has a precedent of being the code and memory debugger of choice with users of IBM Blue Gene supercomputers, including JuQueen, the Blue Gene/Q at Forschungszentrum Jlich.

"TotalView is our tool of choice for debugging on the Blue Gene/Q platform, especially following our extremely positive experiences with it on the predecessor JuGene machine, which was the world's largest Blue Gene/P, having approximately 300,000 cores. We need to support applications that use hybrid MPI and OpenMP, and TotalView gives us the ability to debug our very-scalable and most-complex, distributed, multi-threaded applications," stated Bernd Mohr, Deputy Department Head of Application Support at Jlich Supercomputing Centre. "PRACE users across Europe and Germany rely on Jlich to generate reliable scientific results and it is important for us to support this community with high-quality, proven development tools." Jlich Supercomputing Centre recently upgraded its supercomputer to JuQueen, which is now Germany's fastest supercomputer and third largest Blue Gene/Q in the world.

"With leading universities and research organizations relying on us for state-of-the-art hardware and software, it is crucial that we provide our diverse set of users with easy to use development tools," stated Giovanni Erbacci, HPC Group Leader at CINECA. "TotalView 8.11 has made it easier for our users to transition to FERMI, our Blue Gene/Q supercomputer." CINECA is the Italian Supercomputing Infrastructure providing the high technology bridge between the academic world, research, and the world of industry.

Rogue Wave is dedicated to supporting scientists and engineers who are building and/or enhancing programs either directly in CUDA or by using OpenACC. Having seen a significant investment in GP-GPU acceleration among TotalView users, Rogue Wave is providing updated support for CUDA to the 4.2 version and full support for the OpenACC directives that are part of the Cray CCE compiler version 8.0.

Another key platform that is included in the TotalView 8.11 release is early-access support for the Intel Xeon Phi coprocessor, giving developers the ability to view, control, and debug codes running on both the host processor and the Intel Xeon Phi coprocessor. TotalView hooks into the Intel Language Extension for Offloading (LEO), providing seamless host to coprocessor debugging. Developers can also debug OpenMP and MPI applications that are compiled to run natively on the Intel Xeon Phi coprocessor.

"Providing continued support for large architectures is part of Rogue Wave's long-term product roadmap to support our customers' needs as they move to petascale, and eventually to exascale systems," stated Chris Gottbrath, Rogue Wave's Principal Product Manager. "To meet this goal, Rogue Wave Software has an active program of collaboration with customers to achieve strategic goals, such as scalability." Coinciding with the TotalView 8.11 release, Rogue Wave is offering select customers early access versions of the MRNet-enabled TotalView debugger, for use on leadership-class supercomputers such as Sequoia, JuQueen, and FERMI.

Designed for developer productivity, TotalView simplifies and shortens the process of developing, debugging, and optimizing complex code. It provides a unique combination of capabilities for pinpointing and fixing hard-to-reproduce bugs, memory leaks, and performance issues. TotalView raises the bar for debugging by providing several additional features at no extra cost, including debugging for CUDA, OpenACC, and deterministic reverse debugging, which allows users to pause, rewind, and playback the sessions to accurately identify and correct errors.

Availability TotalView 8.11 will be available in November, 2012. You can find more information about the TotalView debugger by clicking here.

About Rogue Wave Software Rogue Wave Software, Inc. is the largest independent provider of cross-platform software development tools and embedded components for the next generation of HPC applications. Rogue Wave marries High Performance Computing with High Productivity Computing to enable developers to harness the power of parallel applications and multicore computing. Rogue Wave products reduce the complexity of prototyping, developing, debugging, and optimizing multi-processor and data-intensive applications. Rogue Wave customers are industry leaders in the Global 2000, ISVs, OEMs, government laboratories and research institutions that leverage computationally-complex and data-intensive applications to enable innovation and outperform competitors. Rogue Wave is a Battery Ventures portfolio company. For more information, visit http://www.roguewave.com.

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Rogue Wave Releases TotalView(R) With Blue Gene/Q(R) Support

Giants, Planet X, Illuminati and More with Steve Quayle
Author and researcher Steve Quayle riffed on a variety of topics such as giants, weather modification, secret aircraft, biblical prophecy, genetic engineering, the Illuminati agenda, and Planet X. The machinery to affect weather has gotten smaller and cheaper over the years, and there are currently 72 ionospheric heaters, in addition climate-controlling technology like Project HAARP, he outlined. Sightings of silent triangular-shaped craft are on the rise, and a battle in outer space is imminent, said Quayle, naming "extra-dimensionals" and black-ops as some of the participants. The "super-soldier" program, Stargate technology, and CERN are involved in efforts to re-animate ancient giants, who were some 12-18 ft. height, he declared. "We are experiencing now the full implementation, in my opinion, of the Luciferian war on humanity. We talk about the New World Order, the Illuminati, the International League, but what is the prime directive of all those entities? It #39;s the destruction of a five and half billion people," he cautioned. Quayle reported his recent conversation with a "high ranking Goldman Sachs official" who #39;d visited one of the elite #39;s underground cities that was being prepared. The official warned him that a "global flu" had already been determined, and a mandatory vaccination will be required, with those who refuse to take it being sent to FEMA camps. On the subject of Planet X, Quayle suggested that we #39;re already seeing its effects throughout the solar ...From:DiscloseTruthTVViews:1810 17ratingsTime:01:16:44More inEducation

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Giants, Planet X, Illuminati and More with Steve Quayle - Video

Watch Real Life Superhero Muscles Like Marvel #39;s The Avengers - The Avengers: Real Life Avengers
Watch full movie here : free-hot-movies.com Avengers The Avengers The Iron Man (Fictional Character) Theme Music (Musical Genre) Kanye West (Musical Artist) heroic imagination project Neha Dhupia (Film Actor) Real Life the avengers politics obama bradley manning tribeca film festival The Avengers movie Automobile (Industry) marvels the avengers obama whistleblowers genetic engineering government secrecy obama transparency Scarlett Johansson Ashutosh Gowarikar end credits scene captain america 2 Real Life Sucks martian manhunter manning wikileaks Super Fly Comics robert downey jr real life heroes Robert Downey Jr Kinsey Schofield leaked documents Chris Hemsworth how to be happy Captain America captain america bradley manning young hollywood philip zombardo the avengers 2 avengers movie lucifer effect find happiness Superhero captainamerica acuransxspyder In film festival Sudhir Mishra Ranvir Shorey The Cinecurry Hulk (comics) Marvel watchthedaily Healthcare Assemble Superman who marvel movie episode Sushma Reddy Anees Bazmee black widow kommentatorz Captain America Carly Steel joss whedon Neha Dhupia movie news 2asiandudesFrom:MarcellusColaiacovoViews:0 0ratingsTime:08:51More inFilm Animation

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Watch Real Life Superhero Muscles Like Marvel's The Avengers - The Avengers: Real Life Avengers - Video