Psychologist Greg Walton has found that a simple intervention can help many students get the most out of college. The trick is in helping students see that setbacks are temporary, and often don't have larger implications.
Dr. Timothy Cripe is a pediatric oncologist at Nationwide Children's Hospital. He contributed this article to LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.
Parents will go to great lengths to help their kids avoid viruses, but a new approach to battling childhood cancer is based on children getting a certain virus, not avoiding it. It's called viral therapy, and the idea is to take a virus that normally infects healthy tissue and alter it so it lodges inside of tumors, instead. The goal is to kill the tumors.
While viral therapy has been studied in adults, only a few institutions have studied it in kids. According to the American Cancer Society, almost twelve thousand children in the United States under the age of 15 will be diagnosed with cancer in 2013. As the chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant at Nationwide Children's Hospital, I am determined to make a difference for those families.
When someone has cancer, cells in the infected part of the body start to grow out of control. Viral therapy, like other cancer treatments, is aimed at slowing and ultimately stopping the excessive growth of those abnormal cells.
My colleagues and I use two types of viruses in our research. One type is a virus that has been crippled: weakened just enough so as not to cause any infection, but strong enough to infiltrate the tumor and direct the immune system to attack it. The other type includes genes that our research team has inserted in the lab, giving the viruses new properties. The genes are cancer-fighting genes, immune-stimulating genes and genes that attack cancer blood vessels. Most people would be familiar with one of the viruses we use, a version of the herpes simplex virus (HSV), otherwise known as the cold-sore virus. We slightly alter it in the laboratory, and then it is injected directly into a solid cancer tumor. This treatment has the potential to cause the tumor to shrink and disappear altogether.
Right now, we have studied this treatment in animals, and what we have found is that when we inject the animals with these viruses, the body fights the virus and concentrates on the tumors. The tumor cells are not recognized as foreign by the body's immune system. One of the effects we've found, and others have found as well, is that when we inject the tumor with a virus, it alerts the immune system to the presence of that tumor. So the virus, by virtue of it being an infection, causes a very inflammatory state. The viruses we use are engineered to be safe and utilize their cell-killing properties without causing infection.
If a child is already sick, the idea of introducing a virus might sound risky to some parents. But for the damage that the virus does to the tumor, it does not have any effect on the healthy tissue and cells throughout the body. That means there are very few, if any, side effects from the treatment.
Chemotherapy has been a tremendous tool for fighting pediatric cancer for decades, but the down side, of course, is all of the side effects. One of those side effects is suppressing the immune system. I do think the next generation of cancer therapies are going to be immune-based and will use viruses to alert the immune system to tumors.
Since cancer cells can spread throughout the body, we are also experimenting with a version of the altered virus that we can deliver intravenously. It could then travel through the body to find and kill cancer cells wherever they might be.
Viral therapy has the potential to make a world of difference for pediatric cancer patients who would otherwise be treated with chemotherapy. The hope is that patients would not have to experience the common side effects from chemo including hair loss, fatigue, nausea and weight loss or gain.
There are some side effects to viral therapy that researchers have observed, but those effects are mainly short lived. They are the kinds of things you might expect from getting an infection: fever, chills, aches. There's really no one that I'm aware of in the world who has been injected with one of these viruses to help with attack cancer and had any serious adverse events.
My team and I are launching a phase I clinical trial which will study the safety of viral therapy for solid cancer tumors in kids, and opening up the possibility of other trials that will determine if the approach works either alone or in combination with other therapies. We will be looking at this treatment for cancers such as neuroblastoma and sarcoma.
Cancer is rarely, if ever, cured with a single type of therapy. It's going to be important for researchers to understand what other therapies we can combine with these viruses to maximize their effect. Right now, we have done our research in animals, but we are confident in our results so far and think that this could make a difference.
We hope by using this form of biological warfare to win the battle against cancer we can not only improve the quality of life for kids fighting cancer but that we can ultimately save lives.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. This version of the article was originally published on LiveScience.
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Source: http://www.npr.org/2013/10/15/234587012/talks-begin-in-geneva-on-irans-nuclear-program?ft=1&f=1009By Guy Faulconbridge and Kate Holton
LONDON (Reuters) - Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts rebuilt the brand after over-exposure of its trademark pattern alienated wealthy clientele. Her approach: to embrace digital innovation, build a strong online business and tap Chinese and Latin American markets.
Now Apple Inc is hoping she can do the same at the world's most valuable technology company.
In poaching Ahrendts to direct strategy, expansion and operation of its retail and online stores, Apple CEO Tim Cook has set her the task of bolstering global iPad and iPhone sales and returning some luster to the Steve Jobs-created brand which has not launched a major new device in almost four years.
Apple's profit fell 22 percent in the June quarter as gross margins slid below 37 percent from 42 percent a year earlier and its shares, down more than 30 percent since September 2012, are being pummeled by fears of slowing growth, and competition from Samsung Electronics.
"The point of Apple retail is to sell Apple, not to sell Apple products," said Benedict Evans, who covers mobile and digital media at Enders Analysis, a research consultancy.
"What they've got is somebody who can take 400 stores with really great premium positioning and turn that into 800 stores and do that in China, and do that in India and do that in Europe and in Russia and in South America and everywhere else which at the moment they don't really have."
Jumping to Apple - whose $157 billion net sales are nearly 50 times those of Burberry - is a challenge of a different proportion for Ahrendts. The pressure is made all the more intense by Cook's previous stumble hiring a retail star from the UK market.
John Browett, chief executive of consumer electronics retailer Dixons, was appointed by Cook in 2012 to lead the iPad and iPhone maker's global retail expansion. But Browett left after just six months and later said he had not fitted in with the business culture at Cupertino, California-based Apple.
Ahrendts' digital experience means she is likely to have an easier time adapting. While at Burberry she launched a website dedicated to the firm's traditional trenchcoats and introduced webcast catwalks, using the new iPhone5S to shoot the entire spring/summer 2014 show. She also collaborated with Google for a brand campaign named Burberry Kisses.
STRATEGIC VISION
"Clearly she has good strategic vision; she understands and talks digital," said John Guy, an analyst at Berenberg in London. "Under her stewardship Burberry has done well, there has been a lot of organization in terms of the backend in sourcing supply and replenishment."
One of Ahrendts' main challenges will be to boost Apple's sales in China, its second-largest market. Here, analysts say, she will be able to draw on her Burberry experience of introducing less expensive goods without damaging the value of the brand.
Apple launched a cheaper plastic iPhone last month to help make up ground in emerging markets to rivals like Samsung Electronics and Huawei Technologies. Analysts said the phone - still more expensive than many of its rivals' models - was not cheap enough.
"Part of her role from a retail point of view will be to ensure that that kind of premium or added value level that Apple is seen to represent remains intact," said Neil Saunders, managing director of retail consultancy Conlumino.
"The trick is to allow people to buy into the product and make it as mass market as possible, because you want the volume and the sales, but you don't want that to come at the expense of the cachet of the brand."
(Additional reporting by James Davey, Paul Sandle and Sarah Young; Editing by Sophie Walker)
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers say a third player has been diagnosed with MRSA, a staph infection that is resistant to many common antibiotics.
General manager Mark Dominik made the announcement Friday, a day after confirming guard Carl Nicks is being treated for a recurrence of MRSA.
Dominik and coach Greg Schiano declined to identify the third player involved in the case diagnosed late Thursday, saying the player requested his name not be released.
"I've spoken to the player, I've spoken to his agent, and we're not at liberty to confirm or deny any player right now," Dominik said.
NFL.com reported the player was rookie cornerback Johnthan Banks.
The second-round draft pick out of Mississippi State was the only new addition Friday to the injury report, which said Banks did not practice due to illness. Banks is listed as questionable for Sunday's game against Philadelphia.
Nicks, who along with kicker Lawrence Tynes was diagnosed as having MRSA in August, also sat out practice. He is questionable to play against Philadelphia.
The team flew in an infectious disease expert to answer questions players had before practice. Schiano said the session lasted more than an hour, pushing back the team's practice schedule.
"As in anything, I think so much of the fear is the unknown," Schiano said. "So as we became better educated, I think kind of understands the game plan and how to make sure this doesn't become a bigger problem."
Dr. Deverick J. Anderson, an associate professor of medicine at the Duke University Medical Center and co-director of the Duke Infection Control Outwork Network said even though there are no other confirmed cases of MRSA on other NFL teams that he doesn't feel players and staff in Tampa Bay are at any higher risk of coming in contact with MRSA.
Meanwhile, NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith issued a statement on the situation.
"We have been involved in an ongoing review of the MRSA incidents in Tampa Bay initiated by the concerns we had about the manner in which team officials responded to these cases," Smith said in a statement.
"We advised the NFL and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that an outside expert should be brought in to assess the situation and we are pleased with their decision to take that recommendation," Smith added. "We have also been in regular contact with the player representatives from Tampa Bay. We will reach out to the Philadelphia Eagles player representatives today and provide them with our best medical guidance and regular updates from the outside experts."
Smith said the situation in Tampa "underscores the need for a League-wide, comprehensive and standardized infectious disease protocol" as well as "improved accountability measures on health and safety issues by the NFL over the clubs."
The initial cases of MRSA were confirmed while the Bucs were in New England holding joint practices with the Patriots before a preseason game. The team hired a company to sanitize One Buc Place, the team's headquarters and training facility, on two separate occasions in an effort to minimize the prospect of other cases.
The Bucs said at the time they did not know where Nicks and Tynes were exposed to MRSA.
Anderson did not plan to recommend a third cleaning of the facility, but that he was working with the team on things players can do themselves to minimize the risk of getting MRSA.
"I can say that I believe it is a safe environment for players and staff," said Anderson, who toured the complex in August and also observed how the team practices after Nicks and Tynes were diagnosed in August.
The expert said the cases involving Nicks and Tynes do not appear to be related, explaining there are different strains of MRSA.
"We don't know about the third one yet. We still need additional information about the specific MRSA that we're dealing with," Anderson said. "But we can actually definitely say that the first two cases were not related to each other."
And, the doctor said Nicks and Tynes did not get the infection from one another.
Nicks sat out the preseason and also missed the first two games of the regular season before being told he was "MRSA free." He started the past two games against New England and Arizona.
Tynes, who helped the New York Giants win a pair of Super Bowls, signed with the Bucs before training camp. He was sidelined by an ingrown toenail on his kicking foot when he was diagnosed as having MRSA.
The Bucs later placed Tynes on the non-football injury list instead of injured reserve. He is being paid his salary, however the players union has filed a grievance on the kicker's behalf due concerns about how the team handled the infection.
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AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org
CEBU, Philippines (AP) — The death toll from a 7.2-magnitude earthquake that struck the central Philippines rose to 85, police said Tuesday, as more reports trickled in about toppled buildings and historic churches near the epicenter.
Bohol police chief Dennis Agustin said that 69 of the deaths came from the province, where the quake hit near the town of Carmen. At least 16 others died in nearby Cebu province and another on Siquijor Island.
The quake struck at 8:12 a.m. and was centered about 33 kilometers (20 miles) below Carmen on Bohol Island, where many buildings collapsed, roads cracked up and bridges fell.
Extensive damage also hit densely populated Cebu city, across a narrow strait from Bohol, causing deaths when a building in the port and the roof of a market area collapsed.
The quake set off two stampedes in nearby cities. When it struck, people gathered in a gym in Cebu rushed outside in a panic, crushing five people to death and injuring eight others, said Neil Sanchez, provincial disaster management officer.
"We ran out of the building, and outside, we hugged trees because the tremors were so strong," said Vilma Yorong, a provincial government employee in Bohol.
"When the shaking stopped, I ran to the street and there I saw several injured people. Some were saying their church has collapsed," she told The Associated Press by phone.
As fear set in, Yorong and the others ran up a mountain, afraid a tsunami would follow the quake. "Minutes after the earthquake, people were pushing each other to go up the hill," she said.
But the quake was centered inland and did not cause a tsunami.
Offices and schools were closed for a national holiday — the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha — which may have saved lives.
The earthquake also was deeper below the surface than the 6.9-magnitude temblor last year in waters near Negros Island, also in the central Philippines, that killed nearly 100 people.
