Soireeing Dogs of Summer

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/06/business/lung-cancer-drug-opdivo-fails-clinical-trial-to-expand-use.html?_r=0  So many front page articles about immunotherapy but here is one about the failure of a new BMS drug in clinical trials compared with traditional chemotherapy for lung cancer. Optivo and Keytruda are checkpoint inhibitors which "release a brake on" the immune system. This trail was only for the use of the drug on patients who had not had prior treatment.


https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160808115447.htm  From Science Daily a report of a new treatment for kidney stones. Calcium oxalate crystals are the most common cause of kidney stones and this study done by the U of Houston and published in Nature reports that hydroxycitrate (HCA) a compound found in fruit inhibits calcium oxalate growth.


https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160808115445.htm  In an article from Science Daily, a report of research from Mass General to be published in Nature, the mutations by which malignant melanoma resistant to BRAF inhibitors has been found.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160809095303.htm  From Science Daily, a report of research done at the U of Salford which identified an enzyme, PP2A^Cdc55 involved in human sperm and egg production which may be linked to Down Syndrome, Edward's Syndrome and other genetic abnormalities. This work will be published in the journal, Scientific Reports.




http://www.nature.com/articles/npjscilearn201611  Article from Nature about the implications of stress in the classroom. This is a review article and talks about the body's response to stress and release of cortisol from the adrenal cortex and its effects on learning and memory.




http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/10/science/dog-sperm-fertility.html?_r=0 Speaking of dogs, this article is about some findings of declining sperm  quality and undescended testes in dogs. Possibly, environmental chemicals, like PCB and DEHP (diethylhexylphthalate) are to blame. Dogs are described as a sentinel animal for human exposure. Done at the U of Nottingham Veterinary School.


http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/10/us/how-race-plays-a-role-in-patients-pain-treatment.html From NYT a report of unequal palliative care (pain treatment) in African Americans' treatment in hospitals. The research was done at the U of Pennsylvania. Studies of pharmacies in poor white neighborhoods showed that they were 54 times more likely to stock opioids than poor white neighborhoods.



http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/11/science/how-did-people-migrate-to-the-americas-bison-dna-helps-chart-the-way.html?_r=0 Article in NYT about two studies using bison DNA to trace the migration of people to the Americas. One group is from UC Santa Cruz and their work is published in PNAS. They say that the corridor by which human populations could have migrated to the Americas was traversable 13,000 years ago. They use bison bones and mitochondrial DNA to make these conclusions.


http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/11/upshot/were-so-confused-the-problems-with-food-and-exercise-studies.html  From NYT article by Gina Kolata about the conclusions drawn from food and exercise studies. Barnett Kramer at the National Cancer Institute is critical of the way results of disease and dietary studies are interpreted for the public.



http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/08/greenland-shark-may-live-400-years-smashing-longevity-record  Article in Science about a study of Greenland sharks at the University of Copenhagen and Aarhus U using the various types of carbon in the shark's lenses to determine their ages. The oldest shark they found was 392 years old plus or minus 120 years. These are the longest loved vertebrates on record.