(Press-News.org) Scientists are reporting development of three promising formulations that could be used in a vaccine to treat methamphetamine addiction — one of the most serious drug abuse problems in the U.S. The report appears in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
In the paper, Kim Janda and colleagues note that methamphetamine use and addiction cost the U.S. more than $23 billion annually due to medical and law enforcement expenses, as well as lost productivity. The drug, also called "meth" or "crystal meth," can cause a variety of problems including cardiovascular damage and death. Meth is highly addictive, and users in conventional behavioral treatment programs often relapse. Previously tested meth vaccines either are not effective or are very expensive. To overcome these challenges, the researchers made and tested new vaccine formulations that could potentially be effective for long periods, which would drive down costs and help prevent relapse.
The group found that three of the new formulations that produced a good immune response in mice (stand-ins for humans in the lab) were particularly promising. "These findings represent a unique approach to the design of new vaccines against methamphetamine abuse," say the researchers.
###
The authors acknowledge funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology.
Toward a vaccine for methamphetamine abuse
2011-05-11
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Finding reserves on the electrical grid
2011-05-11
This release is available in German.
When storms lash northern and eastern Germany, it regularly gets tight in the high-voltage and highest-voltage electrical grids. Electricity from renewable resources has priority on the grid. But, on stormy days in particular, wind turbine systems must be taken offline, because the gird capacities are insufficient. "Currently we are in a situation where we have high inflows from renewable energies into our high voltage line system and are expecting large increases in the future. However, the grid is not designed for this level of ...
Software for the discovery of new crystal structures
2011-05-11
A new software called QED (Quantitative Electron Diffraction), which has been licensed by Max Planck Innovation, has now been released by HREM Research Inc., a Japan based company, which is developing products and services in the field of High-Resolution Electron Microscopy. QED allows transmission electron microscopes to acquire novel kinds of data, opening up new possibilities in electron crystallography.
Transmission electron microscopes create magnified images of samples and are, in contrast to the light microscope, even able to resolve individual atoms. When transmitting ...
Mini Cities to Present at NYC Early-Stage Angel and Venture Capital Event
2011-05-11
Mini Cities announces that on Thursday, May 12, 2011 it will be presenting at the NYC Early-Stage Angel and Venture Capital Event hosted by FundingPost. "We are very excited to be able to pitch Mini Cities to such a great group of investors." Said Ana Abraham, founder of MiniCities.com. "Mini Cities is in a great space right now with the acquisition of Patch and Bckyrd.com we are in the right market at the right time."
Mini Cities is built on a proprietary multi-tiered multitenant platform. Each Mini Cities site is a hyperlocal destination site for ...
Maryland poll: Traditional media and internet more trusted than social media for research news
2011-05-11
WASHINGTON—May 11, 2011—Most Maryland residents trust the health and medical research information provided by traditional media—newspapers (77%), television (71%), magazines (68%), radio (66%)—and the Internet (also 66%), according to a new state poll commissioned by Research!America. Social media fared less well, with 51% saying social media is not trustworthy for health and medical research issues. Fewer than 20% use their cell phone or other mobile device to find health information.
The Maryland poll findings were released today at a forum on science journalism at ...
Digital forensic examiners face stress, role-conflict
2011-05-11
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Despite playing an increasingly vital role in criminal investigations, digital forensic examiners face staffing cuts, heavy caseloads and stress within police departments that may not fully understand their responsibilities, according to a study led by a Michigan State University criminologist.
Police officials should consider hiring more digital forensic examiners or, failing that, improving their work environment, said Thomas Holt, MSU assistant professor of criminal justice. His study appears in the May issue of the Journal of Contemporary Criminal ...
Security Expert's "Common Sense" Advice Hits Home as Burglary and Home Invasions Increase in Suburbs and Rural Areas
2011-05-11
The bad economy has spurned a dramatic increase in burglaries and home invasions across the country. In April, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation released crime statistics for 2010, which showed that Nashville saw a 21% increase in burglaries in 2010. As other agencies begin to release similar reports, the results are clear. Many of the nations cities saw burglaries increase in 2010 after falling for a number years and homeowners are growing concerned.
"The number's reflect what we have been hearing from listeners all over the country. The bad economy has caused ...
Silver cycle: New evidence for natural synthesis of silver nanoparticles
2011-05-11
Nanoparticles of silver are being found increasingly in the environment—and in environmental science laboratories. Because they have a variety of useful properties, especially as antibacterial and antifungal agents, silver nanoparticles increasingly are being used in a wide variety of industrial and consumer products. This, in turn, has raised concerns about what happens to them once released into the environment. Now a new research paper* adds an additional wrinkle: Nature may be making silver nanoparticles on its own.
A team of researchers from the Florida Institute ...
Marine lab research tracks pollutants in dolphins and beluga whales
2011-05-11
Bottlenose dolphins* and beluga whales**, two marine species at or near the top of their respective food webs, accumulate more chemical pollutants in their bodies when they live and feed in waters near urbanized areas, according to scientists working at the Hollings Marine Laboratory (HML), a government-university collaboration in Charleston, S.C.
In papers recently published online by the journal Environmental Science & Technology, one research team looked at the levels of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) found in male dolphins along the U.S. East and Gulf of Mexico ...
Drive test: NIST super-stable laser shines in minivan experiment
2011-05-11
In a step toward taking the most advanced atomic clocks on the road, physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have designed and demonstrated a super-stable laser operating in a cramped, vibrating location—a minivan.
The experiment shows how advanced lasers can be made both stable and transportable enough for field use in geodesy, hydrology, improved radar and space-based tests of fundamental physics.
The drive tests, limited to a short excursion of five meters across the grass at the NIST Boulder, Colo., campus, are described in Optics ...
Las Vegas Home Builders Including Pardee Homes, KB Home and Pulte Homes, Going to the Dogs to Help Homeless People and Homeless Pets in One-of-a-Kind Fundraiser Called Project Playhouse: Pet Edition
2011-05-11
In a market that once led the nation in growth and now leads in foreclosures, a few intrepid home builders including Pardee Homes of Nevada have joined forces and lowered their scale to create pet houses to benefit the city's homeless families through HomeAid Southern Nevada.
For more information, please visit www.homeaidsn.org.
In a one-of-a-kind fundraiser, nine pet houses are on display through June 4 at Town Square Park at Town Square, a retail destination on the famous Las Vegas Strip. The houses, built and donated by industry leaders including Pulte Homes, KB ...