Two days is a long time in tech. One day, a company's announcing a new iteration of its hybrid Android camera, next thing you know, it's already passing the FCC's tests. You probably know the drill by now and with even less radios than the original Galaxy Camera, there's less paperwork to browse this round. But if exposure reports are your sort of thing, then you should probably visit the source -- there's reading to be done. Two things not mentioned, however, is that darn release date and price tag.
Feb. 18, 2013 ? A genetically mosaic Eucalyptus tree is able to control which leaves are saved from predation because of alterations in its genes, finds an study published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Plant Biology. Between two leaves of the same tree there can be many genetic differences -- this study found ten SNP, including ones in genes that regulate terpene production, which influence whether or not a leaf is edible.
Organisms collect somatic genetic mutations throughout their lives. These mutations may have no effect or they may occur in genes important to how the cell behaves. Cancer cells often have genetic mutations which permit the cell to divide more times than an unmutated cell, and in plants it is somatic mutation which allows a single tree to produce both nectarines and peaches.
Researchers from the Australian National University found that in the long-lived Eucalyptus tree (Eucalyptus melliodora ) somatic mutation is also responsible for their interesting ability to produce some branches with leaves that are readily predated, while others are pest resistant.
At a genetic level there were ten genes which contained differences between these leaves. Amanda Padovan, who led this project, explained, "The main defence against predation of Eucalyptus is a cocktail of terpene oils, including monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, and FPCs, which give the tree its distinctive smell. Leaves which were resistant to predation had five fewer monoterpenes and nine fewer sesquiterpenes than the tastier leaves. However the concentration of FPCs and the remaining monoterpenes was far higher -- so it seems that these mutations reduce the tight control over terpene production."
While this loss of control probably has a high evolutionary cost, it allows the tree to survive the insect-plant war. The tree investigated had one branch which was untouched by insects when the rest of the tree was completely defoliated.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by BioMed Central Limited.
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Journal Reference:
Amanda Padovan, Andras Keszei, William J Foley and Carsten K?lheim. Differences in gene expression within a striking phenotypic mosaic Eucalyptus tree that varies in susceptibility to herbivory. BMC Plant Biology, (in press) [link]
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Indiscriminately killing wolves to control wolf predation on livestock is completely useless.??
There, I said it.? The truth has finally been revealed!? Now let's put an immediate end to wolf culls, wolf kill contests, and the idiocy that accompanies so much of what's currently going on with wolf 'management' in British Columbia, Alberta, Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming and get back to letting nature take care of things herself.? Deal?
Ahhh, if only it were that easy.? The saddest part of the words above is that that second sentence is 100% accurate and has been proven to be true time and time again by scientists and wolf biologists.?
But rather than use science, our provincial and state governments have decided to let politics rule the day and we're left dealing with the mess we currently see in northern British Columbia ("there are wolves everywhere" so let's see who can shoot the biggest one and the smallest one and we'll hand out a bunch of prizes like pack of rabid baboons -- my apologies to baboons for using this reference), in southwestern Alberta (where you can shoot a wolf at any time for any reason if you happen to know someone that owns a cow -- more about this later on), and throughout Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming (in what has to be the most brazen, publicized, vehement attack on wolves this continent has seen in the past fifty years).
Brad Hill, the professional wildlife photographer from British Columbia that I mentioned in my Wolf Snares in the Backyard post on Day 1 of Wolf Week, and Carl Marshall, an amateur wildlife photographer from Kentucky, alerted me to two great articles/documents in the past 24 hours that really shed light on the perceived problem (that wolves kill cattle by the thousands) and on the real problem (that many ranchers harbour an inordinate amount of hatred for wolves and use their oversized political power to pressure governments into maintaining/enacting legislation that's barbaric and outdated) when dealing with the issue of wolf predation on livestock.
The first, an article in The Wildlife News called "What real public information about wolves looks like," contains a copy of a talk that Norman Bishop, a (retired) National Park Ranger for 36 years in Yellowstone National Park, gave in Bozeman, Montana on February 11th.? In it, Bishop immediately put the science behind three key loggerhead issues with wolves on the table, including livestock predation (and while he cites scientific facts from Montana, I think most of you can easily see how it relates to the rest of the provinces and states involved in wolf management in the northwest).
Bishop had this to say about livestock predation (his talk included fully-referenced footnotes that he provided publicly to back up his numbers):
"About 2.6 million cattle, including calves, live in Montana... Western Montana, where most wolves live, has fewer cattle than the east side of the state. As of 2009, there were 494,100 cattle there. Seventy-four of these animals were killed by wolves, or less than 0.015 percent of the western Montana cattle population."
He followed soon after with wolf kill statistics, noting that "64 wolves were killed in response, [with another] 166...taken in the 2011 hunt."? Then he noted that there is a fully functioning wolf compensation program in place to reimburse ranchers for livestock lost to wolves.
His conclusion from science-based numbers in Montana is that while the loss of a "teenager?s 4H calf or a small operator?s animals [may be] devastating," the livestock industry is not at risk from wolf predation.
The second document I took note of yesterday was one written by Wendy Keefover for WildEarth Guardians (thank you to Wendy and Lori Colt for allowing me to post this document in its entirety) entitled Northern Rocky Mountain Wolves: A Public Policy Process Failure -- How Two Special Interest Groups Hijacked Wolf Conservation in America (also fully-referenced).
This document starts off immediately providing answers to frequently asked questions about Northern Rockies wolves, such as, do wolves kill vast numbers of livestock?? The answer is shocking only in that it clearly reveals just how insignificant the threat of wolf predation is to the livestock industry:
"No. This constant complaint by the livestock industry is without merit. Wolves have killed less than one percent of the cattle or sheep inventories in the Northern Rockies. Even in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming where most wolves live (and before the commencement of wolf hunting in 2011-2012) and even using unverified livestock loss data (that is, numbers that are based upon livestock growers? uninvestigated complaints), wolves killed less than one percent of the cattle (0.07 percent) and sheep (0.22 percent) inventories in those states. Verified livestock losses are even lower. These livestock loss numbers mirror the national average where all other carnivores (i.e., coyotes, cougars, bears and domestic dogs) killed less than 0.5 percent of the (2010) cattle and (2009) sheep inventory in the entire United States. The biggest source of mortality to livestock actually comes from disease, illness, birthing problems and weather, but not from native carnivores such as wolves."
So the state response to numbers like these (0.07 percent means that 7 in every 10,000 cattle was reported to be killed by wolves and the verified numbers were even lower) was a bit shocking:? if you can stomach this, a whopping 62,000 tags were sold for wolf hunting and trapping in Idaho and Montana alone for the 2011-12 season.? By contrast, there were only estimated to be 1271 wolves in those states at the end of 2010!
A large part of this hatred is bred from the livestock industry.? Returning to Canada for a moment, we are still dealing with the aftermath of this ridiculous Wolf Kill Contest in the Fort St. John area in northern British Columbia.? Almost everyone on the side of the hunters up there said the exact same four things (which I'm sure are the exact same nonsensical things that wolf haters in Montana and Alberta and so on are saying):
1. we need to kill the wolves because there are way too many of them - wolves are self-regulating animals at the top of the food chain. They regulate their own populations based on the available food supply.
2. we need to kill the wolves because our ranchers are losing hundreds/thousands of cattle to them - a Vancouver Sun article (now offline) exposed how ridiculous some of the cattle industry's claims are/were (Kevin Boon of the B.C. Cattlemen's Association claimed the losses to wolf predation totaled $15 million dollars a year!). Another Sun article has ranchers in B.C. claiming they lose 10% of their cattle to predation, yet the wolf compensation program for the province could only verify a total of 133 wolf-predation losses out of hundreds of thousands of cattle.
3. we need to kill the wolves because they're killing all our big game (moose, deer, etc) ?- stay tuned tomorrow and I'll debunk that myth, too.
4. this is none of your business, you live in a city and have no idea how it is in the north (aka, rural living) - I live in a town on the edge of the wilderness in the midst of wolves.? But even if I did live in a city, how exactly does that give me less say when it comes to our shared natural resources?
Meanwhile, here in Alberta, ranchers get to run and gun under the radar thanks to some archaic wolf management policies from our 22 year-old Wolf Management Plan.? Did you know that if you have livestock on public land in Alberta that you can shoot wolves on sight at any time of year, young or old.? Worse yet, you can bring on hired guns to shoot wolves at any time of year, young or old...ON PUBLIC LANDS.? What is wrong with this picture?!!?
So what can we do about all of this?? How do we enact change in B.C., Alberta, Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming when the facts clearly show that livestock predation is not an issue and that it is not a valid reason for the widespread wolf persecution that we're currently seeing?
First and foremost, we need to continue to band together via social media networks and online, growing our collective voice in order to increase our ability to put pressure on the political parties at the helm.? In British Columbia in particular, the wolf issue, and the issue of wildlife management in general, may play a huge role in who gets voted in come this spring's provincial election. The NDP party is the only one that has thus far indicated an interest in reviewing the province's Wolf Management Plan and they are also the only ones who've indicated a serious interest in revamping wildlife management as a whole.
Second, we need to support groups (both financially and emotionally) that are fighting on behalf of wild wolves in the northwest, like Pacific Wild in British Columbia and WildEarth Guardians or WolfWatcher in the States (and please let me know if there are other groups you would like to see mentioned here).
And finally, we need to begin educating our youth to the realities (and joys) of having wild wolves on the landscape (I'll have more about this tomorrow).? They are not the natural-born killers Hollywood portrays them to be, rather, they are complex, social animals that deserve our admiration and respect.
Thank you everyone for your efforts and support, please feel free to leave your Comments below as I would love to hear your feedback.
Sincerely,
John
Labels: wildlife conservation, wolf conservation, wolf photography, wolf week
DORAL, Fla. (AP) ? In many parts of Miami, Spanish is used as frequently ? or more often ? than English.
That's certainly case in the neighboring suburb of Doral, where an influx of immigrants from Latin America have transformed an idle community near the city's airport into flourishing neighborhood with cafeterias and businesses echoing the tastes and sounds of home.
Enter any restaurant here and customers are usually greeted first in Spanish. Some complain it can be hard to find anyone who speaks perfect English.
But when Doral's mayor tried to make Spanish the official second language on Wednesday, he was rebuffed by every council member and numerous constituents. And it wasn't from the small group of non-Hispanic residents who live here. It was largely from immigrants themselves.
"Our parents and some of us that are up here came from Latin America and other countries knowing that the United States has English as the language," Councilwoman Ana Maria Rodriguez said. "We came here knowing we had to adapt to the language of this country."
Nationwide, the Latino population has ballooned and the number of Spanish-language services has grown as a result. An estimated 34.5 million people in the United States speak Spanish at home ? about 10 percent of the population ? and everyone from small businesses and retail chains to politicians have taken note. When Florida Sen. Marco Rubio delivered the Republican response to the president's State of the Union address on Tuesday, he gave speeches in both languages.
But few cities have responded by declaring themselves officially bilingual. Far more states, and politicians, have adopted English-only policies. That has been reaffirmed in the recent immigration reform debate, with both Democrats and Republicans supporting English as a requirement for citizenship.
"Real reform means establishing a responsible pathway to earned citizenship, a path that includes passing a background check, paying taxes and a meaningful penalty, learning English, and going to the back of the line behind the folks trying to come here legally," President Barack Obama said Tuesday.
The United States has never declared English as its official language, though more than two dozen states have taken that step. Only one state ? Hawaii ? has adopted a second official language, naturally Hawaiian. Along the U.S.-Mexico border, there is sporadic use of Spanish and English for public affairs, but no state is considered officially bilingual. One Texas city, El Cenizo, adopted Spanish as its official language in 2006.
"With growing ethnic and racial diversity, we see more cases of people making suggestions about what should be the language of their local government," said Nestor Rodriguez, a sociology professor at the University of Texas at Austin. "These issues are always emotional and very symbolic. It's about who we are as people and who we are as a country."
Florida itself is an interesting case study: Miami-Dade County declared itself bilingual 40 years ago after a wave of Cuban exiles fled island and settled in South Florida. That ordinance was later overturned, but the rejection was thrown out in 1993. The state voted to make English the official language in 1988.
In Doral, nearly 80 percent of the population is Hispanic and almost 90 percent speak a language other than English at home. The city is affectionately known as "Doralzuela" because of its large number of Venezuelan residents.
Doral Mayor Luigi Boria, elected earlier this year, is a Venezuelan immigrant whose first language was Italian. He is an elegant, graying man who owns a successful computer technology business and speaks a halting English. He says he is still learning the language.
"Bueno, I think we have more than 80 percent of the population that already speak English and Spanish," he said in a telephone interview before Wednesday's vote. "I think what I'm doing is formalizing or regulating something that is already taking place."
He shared his own immigration story in introducing the resolution.
"It reminds me 23 years ago when I came to this country and I barely speak English and I made my way up," he told the audience of about 50 residents.
The resolution was largely symbolic; English would have remained the main language. But Boria argued that adopting Spanish as an official second language would help attract more business from Latin America and in turn create jobs. He noted Spanish has been used in Florida since St. Augustine was founded in 1565 ? 40 years before Jamestown, Va., the first permanent English settlement in the Americas.
"In Spanish, 'San Agustin,'" he said, pronouncing the city's name in Spanish.
The four city councilmembers, all Hispanic women whose families are from Mexico or Cuba, said they appreciated the spirit of the resolution but did not see its use. They highlighted the sizable number of Asian and Portuguese-speaking Brazilian immigrants in Doral as well.
Members of the audience who showed up to speak during public comments were almost equally divided between support and opposition.
"I learned the language, English," said Jaime Topp, a Cuban immigrant said. "That is the language of the United States."
He added that his wife, who doesn't speak Spanish, sometimes has trouble in Doral.
"There's times where she can't communicate," he said. "It's not right."
Ana Paola Cano, 30, who recently emigrated from Colombia, said she liked the resolution. She speaks English but felt more comfortable talking in Spanish, so the city clerk provided a translation ? as she did at several points in the meeting, highlighting the need for dual language services.
"It doesn't mean I don't believe we all need to learn English," she said. "It's a nice welcome to those of us who are recently arrived."
The measure was tabled but may be modified and brought before the council again at its next meeting.
"OK, if there's no support," Boria said, provoking laughter from the audience.
On Thursday, he vowed to continue working on the measure.
"I still believe it's good for the city," he said. "It will bring more business and investment and that will create more jobs in the city. At the end of the day English will always be the first official language."
_
Follow Christine Armario on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/cearmario
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South Korean protesters burn an effigy of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during an anti-North Korea rally to denounce North Korea's nuclear test in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013. A day after North Korea defied U.N. warnings with a nuclear test, Pyongyang?s neighbors turned Wednesday to the business of bolstering their military preparations and sending out scientists to determine whether the detonation was as successful as the North claimed. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
South Korean protesters burn an effigy of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during an anti-North Korea rally to denounce North Korea's nuclear test in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013. A day after North Korea defied U.N. warnings with a nuclear test, Pyongyang?s neighbors turned Wednesday to the business of bolstering their military preparations and sending out scientists to determine whether the detonation was as successful as the North claimed. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
A man looks through the wire fence covered with ribbons carrying messages of people's wish for the reunification of the two Koreas at the Imjingak Pavilion near the border village of Panmunjom, which has separated the two Koreas since the Korean War, in Paju, north of Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013. Defying U.N. warnings, North Korea on Tuesday conducted its third nuclear test in the remote, snowy northeast, taking a crucial step toward its goal of building a bomb small enough to be fitted on a missile capable of striking the United States. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
South Korean army soldiers patrol by the national flags and ribbons, wishing for the reunification of the two Koreas, attached on the barbed-wire fence at the Imjingak Pavilion near the border village of Panmunjom, which has separated the two Koreas since the Korean War, in Paju, north of Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013. Defying U.N. warnings, North Korea on Tuesday conducted its third nuclear test in the remote, snowy northeast, taking a crucial step toward its goal of building a bomb small enough to be fitted on a missile capable of striking the United States. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A South Korean protester shouts slogans near an effigy of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during an anti-North Korea rally to denounce North Korea's nuclear test in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013. A day after North Korea defied U.N. warnings with a nuclear test, Pyongyang?s neighbors turned Wednesday to the business of bolstering their military preparations and sending out scientists to determine whether the detonation was as successful as the North claimed.(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
South Korean army soldiers patrol along barbed-wire fences at the Imjingak Pavilion, near the demilitarized zone of Panmunjom, in Paju, South Korea, Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013. South Korea is confirming that North Korea has tested a nuclear device in defiance of U.N. orders to stop building atomic weapons. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? North Korea's neighbors bolstered their military preparations and mobilized scientists Wednesday to determine whether Pyongyang's third nuclear test, conducted in defiance of U.N. warnings, was as successful as the North claimed.
The detonation was also the focus of global diplomatic maneuvers, with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry reaching out to counterparts in Seoul, Beijing and Tokyo. President Barack Obama used his State of the Union address to assure U.S. allies in the region and warn of "firm action."
"Provocations of the sort we saw last night will only isolate them further as we stand by our allies, strengthen our own missile defense and lead the world in taking firm action in response to these threats," Obama said.
The nuclear device detonated Tuesday at a remote underground site in the northeast is seen as a crucial step toward North Korea's goal of building a bomb small enough to be fitted on a missile capable of striking the United States.
North Korea said it tested a "smaller and light A-bomb, unlike the previous ones, yet with great explosive power." Still, just what happened in the test was unclear to outsiders.
Intelligence officials and analysts in Seoul raised the possibility of another nuclear test and of ballistic missile test-launches. North Korea's Foreign Ministry said the latest test was merely its "first response" to what it called U.S. threats and that Pyongyang will continue with unspecified "second and third measures of greater intensity" if Washington maintains its hostility.
South Korea has raised its military readiness alert level, and on Wednesday it used aircraft and ships, as well as specialists on the ground, to collect air samples to analyze possibly increased radiation from the test, according to the Defense Ministry. Japanese fighter jets were dispatched immediately after the test to collect atmospheric samples. Japan has also established monitoring posts, including one on its northwest coast, to collect similar data.
Underground nuclear tests often release radioactive elements into the atmosphere that can be analyzed to determine key details about the blast. One of the main points that intelligence officials want to know is whether the device was a plutonium bomb or one that used highly enriched uranium, which would be a first for North Korea.
In 2006 and 2009, North Korea is believed to have tested devices made of plutonium. But in 2010, Pyongyang revealed it was trying to enrich uranium, which would be a second source of nuclear bomb-making materials ? a worrying development for the United States and its allies.
Generally, it takes about two days for such radioactive byproducts from the North's test site to reach South Korea, Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said Wednesday.
South Korea also said Wednesday it has deployed cruise missiles with "world-class accuracy and destructive power" that are capable of hitting any target in North Korea at any time, and is speeding up the planned deployment of ballistic missiles.
Kim said Seoul believes North Korea made test preparations at two underground tunnels and may still be able to conduct another atomic test in the second unused tunnel.
In an emergency session, the U.N. Security Council unanimously said the test poses "a clear threat to international peace and security" and pledged further action.
It remains to be seen, however, whether China will sign on to any new, binding global sanctions. Beijing, Pyongyang's primary trading partner, has resisted measures that would cut off North Korea's economy completely.
The test was a defiant North Korean response to U.N. orders that it shut down its atomic activity or face more sanctions and international isolation. It will likely draw more sanctions from the United States and other countries at a time when North Korea is trying to rebuild its moribund economy and expand its engagement with the outside world.
The test "was neither a surprise nor an occasion for panic," said Robert Hathaway, director of the Woodrow Wilson Center's Asia program. "Nonetheless, this latest provocation clearly constitutes a serious challenge to U.S. and international efforts to block the North from acquiring a nuclear weapons arsenal."
Tuesday's test was North Korea's first since young leader Kim Jong Un took power over a country long estranged from the West. The test will likely be portrayed in North Korea as a strong move to defend the nation against foreign aggression, particularly from the U.S.
The U.N. Security Council recently punished North Korea for a rocket launch in December that the U.N. and Washington called a cover for a banned long-range missile test. Pyongyang said it was a peaceful launch of a satellite into space. In condemning that launch, the council demanded a stop to future launches and ordered North Korea to respect a ban on nuclear activity or face "significant action" by the U.N.
It wasn't immediately clear to outside experts whether the device exploded Tuesday was small enough to fit on a missile. A successful test would take North Korean scientists a step closer to building a nuclear warhead that could reach U.S. shores ? seen as the ultimate goal of North Korea's nuclear program.
Uranium would be a worry because plutonium facilities are large and produce detectable radiation, making them easier for outsiders to find and monitor. However, uranium centrifuges can be hidden from satellites, drones and nuclear inspectors in caves, tunnels and other hard-to-reach places. Highly enriched uranium also is easier than plutonium to engineer into a weapon.
"North Korea will want to send a message that its nuclear and missile issues cannot be resolved with sanctions and that high-level talks with the U.S. are necessary," said Cheong Seong-chang, an analyst at the private Sejong Institute in South Korea, referring to the possibility of another nuclear or missile test.
Despite tensions, he predicted U.S.-North Korea diplomatic talks could occur later this year.
"The biggest U.S. concern is whether the North has made progress in its uranium enrichment program. It's a matter of nuclear proliferation. To resolve this, the U.S. cannot help but talk with North Korea," he said.
___
Associated Press writers Sam Kim in Seoul, South Korea, Eric Talmadge in Tokyo and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.
Contact: Phyllis Fisher phyllis.fisher@gmail.com 212-606-1724 Hospital for Special Surgery
A study by researchers from Hospital for Special Surgery has shown that platelet-rich plasma (PRP) holds great promise for treating patients with knee osteoarthritis. The treatment improved pain and function, and in up to 73% of patients, appeared to delay the progression of osteoarthritis, which is a progressive disease. The study appears online, ahead of print, in the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine.
"This is a very positive study," said Brian Halpern, M.D., chief of the Primary Care Sports Medicine Service at Hospital for Special Surgery, New York City, and lead author of the study.
Several treatments for osteoarthritis exist, including exercise, weight control, bracing, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories, Tylenol, cortisone shots and viscosupplementation, a procedure that involves injecting a gel-like substance into the knee to supplement the natural lubricant in the joint. A new treatment that is being studied by a small number of doctors is PRP injections. PRP, which is produced from a patient's own blood, delivers a high concentration of growth factors to arthritic cartilage that can potentially enhance healing.
"You take a person's blood, you spin it down, you concentrate the platelets, and you inject a person's knee with their own platelets in a concentrated form," said Dr. Halpern. "This then activates growth factors and stem cells to help repair the tissue, if possible, calm osteoarthritic symptoms and decrease inflammation."
In the new study, researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery enrolled patients with early osteoarthritis, gave them each an injection of PRP (6-mL), and then monitored them for one year. Fifteen patients underwent clinical assessments at baseline, one week, and one, three, six, and 12 months. At these time points, clinicians used validated tools to assess overall knee pain, stiffness and function, as well as a patient's ability to perform various activities of daily living. At baseline and then one year after the PRP injection, physicians also evaluated the knee cartilage with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), something that has not previously been done by researchers in other PRP studies. The radiologists reading the MRIs did not know whether the examination was performed before or after the PRP treatment.
"The problem with a lot of the PRP studies is that most people have just used subjective outcome instruments, such as pain and function scores," said Hollis Potter, M.D., chief of the Division of Magnetic Resonance Imaging at Hospital for Special Surgery, another author of the study. "But even when patients are blinded, they know there has been some treatment, so there is often some bias interjected into those types of studies. When you add MRI assessment, it shows you the status of the disease at that time, regardless of whether the patient is symptomatic or asymptomatic or they have good or poor function in the knee. You find out what the cartilage actually looks like. We can noninvasively assess the matrix or the building blocks of cartilage."
While previous studies have shown that patients with osteoarthritis can lose roughly five percent of knee cartilage per year, the HSS investigators found that a large majority of patients in their study had no further cartilage loss. "The knee can be divided into three compartments, the medial compartment, the lateral compartment and the patellofemoral compartment," said Dr. Halpern. "If we look at these compartments individually, which we did, in at least 73% of these cases, there was no progression of arthritis per compartment at one year. That is very significant, because longitudinal studies suggest a four to six percent progression of arthritis at one year."
Treatment with PRP was also useful in improving pain, stiffness and function. The investigators found that pain, measured by a standard test called the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index, significantly improved with a reduction of 41.7% at six months and 55.9% at one year. On a pain scale commonly used by clinicians called the Visual Analog Scale, pain was reduced by 56.2% at six months and 58.9% at one year. Functional scores improved by 24.3% at one year. Activity of Daily Living Scores also showed a significant increase at both six months (46.8%) and one year (55.7%).
"We are entering into an era of biologic treatment, which is incredibly ideal, where you can use your own cells to try to help repair your other cells, rather than using a substance that is artificial," Dr. Halpern said. "The downside is next to zero and the upside is huge." Dr. Halpern pointed out, however, that the study is a small case series and PRP needs to be pitted against a traditionally treated group in a randomized, controlled trial.
###
Osteoarthritis, which causes pain and joint stiffness, impacts over 27 million Americans and is a leading cause of disability. According to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, overall osteoarthritis affects 13.9% of adults aged 25 and older and 33.6% of those older than 65. The disease is characterized by degeneration of cartilage and its underlying bone within a joint as well as bony overgrowth. Disease onset is gradual and usually begins after the age of 40.
Other HSS investigators involved in the study include Salma Chaudhury, M.D., Ph.D, Scott Rodeo, M.D., Catherine Hayter, MBBS, Eric Bogner, M.D., and Joseph Nguyen, MPH.
About Hospital for Special Surgery
Founded in 1863, Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) is a world leader in orthopedics, rheumatology and rehabilitation. HSS is nationally ranked No. 1 in orthopedics, No. 3 in rheumatology, No. 10 in neurology and No. 5 in geriatrics by U.S. News & World Report (2012-13), and is the first hospital in New York State to receive Magnet Recognition for Excellence in Nursing Service from the American Nurses Credentialing Center three consecutive times. HSS has one of the lowest infection rates in the country. From 2007 to 2011, HSS has been a recipient of the HealthGrades Joint Replacement Excellence Award. HSS is a member of the NewYork-Presbyterian Healthcare System and an affiliate of Weill Cornell Medical College and as such all Hospital for Special Surgery medical staff are faculty of Weill Cornell. The hospital's research division is internationally recognized as a leader in the investigation of musculoskeletal and autoimmune diseases. Hospital for Special Surgery is located in New York City and online at www.hss.edu.
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Contact: Phyllis Fisher phyllis.fisher@gmail.com 212-606-1724 Hospital for Special Surgery
A study by researchers from Hospital for Special Surgery has shown that platelet-rich plasma (PRP) holds great promise for treating patients with knee osteoarthritis. The treatment improved pain and function, and in up to 73% of patients, appeared to delay the progression of osteoarthritis, which is a progressive disease. The study appears online, ahead of print, in the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine.
"This is a very positive study," said Brian Halpern, M.D., chief of the Primary Care Sports Medicine Service at Hospital for Special Surgery, New York City, and lead author of the study.
Several treatments for osteoarthritis exist, including exercise, weight control, bracing, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories, Tylenol, cortisone shots and viscosupplementation, a procedure that involves injecting a gel-like substance into the knee to supplement the natural lubricant in the joint. A new treatment that is being studied by a small number of doctors is PRP injections. PRP, which is produced from a patient's own blood, delivers a high concentration of growth factors to arthritic cartilage that can potentially enhance healing.
"You take a person's blood, you spin it down, you concentrate the platelets, and you inject a person's knee with their own platelets in a concentrated form," said Dr. Halpern. "This then activates growth factors and stem cells to help repair the tissue, if possible, calm osteoarthritic symptoms and decrease inflammation."
In the new study, researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery enrolled patients with early osteoarthritis, gave them each an injection of PRP (6-mL), and then monitored them for one year. Fifteen patients underwent clinical assessments at baseline, one week, and one, three, six, and 12 months. At these time points, clinicians used validated tools to assess overall knee pain, stiffness and function, as well as a patient's ability to perform various activities of daily living. At baseline and then one year after the PRP injection, physicians also evaluated the knee cartilage with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), something that has not previously been done by researchers in other PRP studies. The radiologists reading the MRIs did not know whether the examination was performed before or after the PRP treatment.
"The problem with a lot of the PRP studies is that most people have just used subjective outcome instruments, such as pain and function scores," said Hollis Potter, M.D., chief of the Division of Magnetic Resonance Imaging at Hospital for Special Surgery, another author of the study. "But even when patients are blinded, they know there has been some treatment, so there is often some bias interjected into those types of studies. When you add MRI assessment, it shows you the status of the disease at that time, regardless of whether the patient is symptomatic or asymptomatic or they have good or poor function in the knee. You find out what the cartilage actually looks like. We can noninvasively assess the matrix or the building blocks of cartilage."
While previous studies have shown that patients with osteoarthritis can lose roughly five percent of knee cartilage per year, the HSS investigators found that a large majority of patients in their study had no further cartilage loss. "The knee can be divided into three compartments, the medial compartment, the lateral compartment and the patellofemoral compartment," said Dr. Halpern. "If we look at these compartments individually, which we did, in at least 73% of these cases, there was no progression of arthritis per compartment at one year. That is very significant, because longitudinal studies suggest a four to six percent progression of arthritis at one year."
Treatment with PRP was also useful in improving pain, stiffness and function. The investigators found that pain, measured by a standard test called the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index, significantly improved with a reduction of 41.7% at six months and 55.9% at one year. On a pain scale commonly used by clinicians called the Visual Analog Scale, pain was reduced by 56.2% at six months and 58.9% at one year. Functional scores improved by 24.3% at one year. Activity of Daily Living Scores also showed a significant increase at both six months (46.8%) and one year (55.7%).
"We are entering into an era of biologic treatment, which is incredibly ideal, where you can use your own cells to try to help repair your other cells, rather than using a substance that is artificial," Dr. Halpern said. "The downside is next to zero and the upside is huge." Dr. Halpern pointed out, however, that the study is a small case series and PRP needs to be pitted against a traditionally treated group in a randomized, controlled trial.
###
Osteoarthritis, which causes pain and joint stiffness, impacts over 27 million Americans and is a leading cause of disability. According to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, overall osteoarthritis affects 13.9% of adults aged 25 and older and 33.6% of those older than 65. The disease is characterized by degeneration of cartilage and its underlying bone within a joint as well as bony overgrowth. Disease onset is gradual and usually begins after the age of 40.
Other HSS investigators involved in the study include Salma Chaudhury, M.D., Ph.D, Scott Rodeo, M.D., Catherine Hayter, MBBS, Eric Bogner, M.D., and Joseph Nguyen, MPH.
About Hospital for Special Surgery
Founded in 1863, Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) is a world leader in orthopedics, rheumatology and rehabilitation. HSS is nationally ranked No. 1 in orthopedics, No. 3 in rheumatology, No. 10 in neurology and No. 5 in geriatrics by U.S. News & World Report (2012-13), and is the first hospital in New York State to receive Magnet Recognition for Excellence in Nursing Service from the American Nurses Credentialing Center three consecutive times. HSS has one of the lowest infection rates in the country. From 2007 to 2011, HSS has been a recipient of the HealthGrades Joint Replacement Excellence Award. HSS is a member of the NewYork-Presbyterian Healthcare System and an affiliate of Weill Cornell Medical College and as such all Hospital for Special Surgery medical staff are faculty of Weill Cornell. The hospital's research division is internationally recognized as a leader in the investigation of musculoskeletal and autoimmune diseases. Hospital for Special Surgery is located in New York City and online at www.hss.edu.
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
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Public release date: 12-Feb-2013
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