A new Mesoblast stem cell therapy is proved to work against rheumatoid arthritis.

The word arthritis means joint inflammation but is used to describe around 200 rheumatic diseases and conditions that affect joints and other connective tissue. Rheumatic conditions are typically characterized by pain, aching, stiffness and swelling in and around one or more joints.

Certain rheumatic conditions can also involve the immune system and various internal organs of the body. Some forms of arthritis, such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, can affect multiple organs and cause widespread symptoms.

According to data from a mid-stage trial, Mesoblast Ltd stated that its experimental stem cell approach towards patients with rheumatoid arthritis had improved the symptoms of the disease. This new stem cell therapy has been tried on patients whose arthritis couldn’t be held under control by widely used biotech medicines.

During its 12 week phase, the trial was conducted on 48 patients with active rheumatoid arthritis who were given an infusion of stem cell treatment promoted by the Australian biotech company.
To conclude that the treatment was efficient it had to carry through a 20 percent relief of signs and symptoms among patients. This measure is called ACR20.

Among patients treated with the stem cell infusion, 55 percent of them achieved ACR20. The treatment received by the patients contained 2 million cells per kilogram of body weight. Moreover, 33 percent of the patients in the placebo group also achieved the ACR20.

70 percent improvement, also called ACR70, was achieved by 36 percent of patients after the stem cell infusion, compared with no patients in the group given a placebo treatment.

Overall, physical functions and disease activity were improved during the cell treatment. The innovative treatment can fill the significant unmet medical need for patients that are unable to follow the biologic therapies. This much-needed remedy comes at a time when one-third of patients either cannot tolerate the biologic treatment or do not respond sufficiently.

Its safety and efficacy results are encouraging, but in order to compete with the general remedies, new therapies must approach both pain and disease progression.

The stem cell treatment has also been proved to work on chronic heart failure, inflammatory bowel diseases, cancers and bone marrow transplants.

Image source:Pixabay

Recently, a security researcher Twitted the weak spots of the on-line password manager, making it an easy target for hackers. In the meantime, the mediated LastPass security flaws have been fixed, the passwords that the manager stores being safe, yet again.

According to LastPass, the problems that Ormany tweeted about on Tuesday were identified and resolved. The online password manager reassured its users that their information is safe and will not fall prey to hackers.

Tavis Ormandy, information security engineer at Google Project Zero, decided to take a quick look at LastPass and the way in which the program handles. After uncovering some flaws, Ormandy took to Twitter in an attempt to make sense of the number of people who use the password manager.

“Are people really using this LastPass thing? I took a quick look and can see a bunch of obvious critical problems. I’ll send a report asap,” he tweeted.

Users were not happy with Ormandy’s decision, prompting him into tweeting a second message at only 10 minutes after the original one. The second read:

“OK OK, I get it, lots of people use LastPass. If you work there, please contact me ASAP and let’s get this fixed.”

Other security experts that were questioned about the morality and legality of Ormandy’s gestures have confronting opinions. While the act itself was not appropriate, the interviewed experts have different opinions on how Ormandy should have dealt with the situation.

For example, according to SearchSecurity, representatives from Vectra Networks and Tripwire Vulnerability and Exposure Research Team believe that the issue should not have been posted on Twitter.

On the other hand, Oliver Tavakoli, CTO at Vectra Networks believes that the way in which Ormandy acted was in accordance with the universally-known responsible disclosure procedures. Tavakoli believes that as long as the man only pointed out that there are a couple of issues with the password manager and didn’t name them, LastPass has no reason to complain.

Gunter Ollmann, CSO at Vectra Networks disagrees with his colleague. According to him, when somebody with Ormandy’s reputation signals out problems with a security manager, that person commits a tortious act.

He added that only by indicating that there are certain flaws in the system, hackers start to get interested in the product, searching for the same flaws.

Fortunately, the LastPass security flaws that Ormandy tweeted about were resolved, and users have no reason to fear.

What is your opinion on the LastPass security flaws? Did Ormandy do the right thing by talking about them on Twitter?

Photo courtesy of: LastPass 

It seems that cyborg locusts will soon join the army as bomb scouts. Scientists are trying to take advantage of the complex anatomy of the insect and train them to search for mines without putting human lives at risk.

A team of researchers from the University of Washington in St. Louis have been experimenting with the idea of creating cyborg locusts. The robotic insects have a military application, improving the quality of homeland security.

Baranidharan Raman, a scientist from the University of Washington, declared that he and his team spent the last couple of years analyzing the way in which locusts smell. After pitching the idea of cyborg locusts to the US government, he received a $750,000 grand to continue the experiments for the next three years. The money came from the United States Naval Research Office.

A nanomaterials specialist, Professor Srikanth Singamaneni will be in charge of creating a plasmonic tag constructed from a special biocompatible silk. The “tattoo” will be fitted on the wings of the locusts. This will allow scientists to control the movement of the insects, making them move in specific patterns and towards precise locations.

According to the team, the insects will be fitted with a device resembling a minuscule backpack that will act as a transmitter of the data collected by the antennae. A small green light will flash when a scouted area is considered secure, and a red one will be activated when an explosive is found.

Raman and his team believe that the first prototypes will be ready within the year. If the experiments are successful, then the researchers believe that the cyborg locusts will be ready for action in less than two years.

Apart from the military applications of the retrofitted insects, Raman believes that the cyborg locusts will be helpful in detecting certain medical conditions that are diagnosable through smell. The professor added that the research is still in its early stages and that they will know more of the field applications of the design in a year’s time.

Locusts are apparently easier to use than dogs. The latter require a complicated set of surgeries in order to be fitted with sensors. Also, insects are nature’s robots with their keen senses and stealth capabilities.

Image source: Wikipedia