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Ankylosing Spondylitis :: Enbrel provides sustained clinical improvements for ankylosing spondylitis for up to 3 years

Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN) announced patients with ankylosing spondylitis who received treatment with Enbrel (R) (etanercept) experienced sustained improvement in signs and symptoms, spinal mobility and physical function over 148 to 160 weeks of therapy, according to data from an ongoing open-label, multinational, phase 4 extension study presented at the American College of Rheumatology scientific meeting. These results are consistent with an ENBREL phase 3 clinical trial at 24 weeks.

Scientists design simple dipstick test for cocaine, other drugs

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have developed a simple “dipstick” test for detecting cocaine and other drugs in saliva, urine or blood serum. The test is based upon DNA-gold nanoparticle technology, and can be packaged in user-friendly kits similar to those used for home pregnancy tests.

A company’s reputation is what gets fried when its books get cooked

A University of Washington professor contends that penalties imposed upon public companies that falsify accounting records are miniscule compared with the costs incurred when news of a company’s misdeeds spreads and its reputation spoils.

Opposites do not attract

A study conducted at the University of California, Irvine, found that a female budgerigar prefers to mate with a male that sounds like her. Biologists Marin Moravec, Professor Nancy Burley and Professor Georg Striedter conducted the study, which was published in Ethology in early November. The study also found that males that paired with more similar-sounding females gave more help to the females when they were nesting.

A key antibody, IgG, links cells’ capture and disposal of germs

Scientists have found a new task managed by the antibody that’s the workhorse of the human immune system: Inside cells, Immunoglobulin G (IgG) helps bring together the phagosomes that corral invading pathogens and the potent lysosomes that eventually kill off the germs.

NYU researchers developing molecular delivery vehicles for genetic therapies

Researchers at New York University are working to develop molecular delivery vehicles that can be used to transport nucleic acids into diverse cell types, which may lead to eventual applications in genetic therapies. Their work is described as part of the cover story in the November 13 issue of the American Chemical Society publication Chemical and Engineering News.

ACTOS (pioglitazone HCl) halted progression of atherosclerosis as indicated by CIMT

Researchers today presented data showing that ACTOS (pioglitazone HCl) halted the progression of atherosclerosis as measured by carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) in patients with type 2 diabetes. Results from the clinical trial, CHICAGO (Carotid intima-media thickness in Atherosclerosis using pioglitazone), are part of a late-breaker presentation at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2006, coincidentally being held in Chicago, and coincide with an early online issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

DNA :: University of Iowa scientists explore function of ‘junk DNA’

University of Iowa scientists have made a discovery that broadens understanding of a rapidly developing area of biology known as functional genomics and sheds more light on the mysterious, so-called “junk DNA” that makes up the majority of the human genome.

Lewis and Clark data show narrower, more flood-prone river

A geologist at Washington University in St. Louis and his collaborator at Oxford University have interpreted data that Lewis and Clark collected during their famous expedition and found that the Missouri River has markedly narrowed and its water levels have become more variable over the past two hundred years.

Sensor networks protect containers, navigate robots

Agent 007 is a mighty versatile fellow, but he would have to take backseat to agents being trained at Washington University in St. Louis. Researchers here are using wireless sensor networks that employ software agents that have been able to navigate a robot through a simulated fire and spot said fire by seeking out heat. Once the agent locates the fire, it clones itself ? try that, James Bond — creating a ring of software around the fire.