Tag Archives: Working
Need for Speed dev Criterion working on non-racing game
Burnout creator Criterion isn’t working on another high-speed crash-happy racer, but it is digging into a new project. Creative Director Alex Ward asked Criterion’s fans to “join us on a new journey” in a series of Tweets about his studio’s future (via CVG).
Criterion took over duties for Electronic Arts’ Need For Speed franchise with Hot Pursuit and Most Wanted, and is rumored to be developing a new Underground game. Ward neither confirmed nor denied that rumor.
A few non-racing titles have emerged from the English studio, the most recent of which was “gun porn” shooter Black in 2006. Ward said little about the new game, but confirmed it will not be Black 2.
The studio will do another Burnout “when it feels right.”
Scientists Working Toward Pill for Celiac Disease
Dec. 21, 2012 — Scientists say they’re working on a pill that may one day help people with celiac disease tolerate foods that contain gluten, a protein that is found in wheat and other grains.
“It would be pretty much like the Lactaid pill,” says researcher Justin B. Siegel, PhD, an assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular medicine, and chemistry, at the University of California at Davis, referring to a product that helps people who get an upset stomach when they drink or eat dairy foods.
In a study published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, researchers describe testing a new enzyme called KumaMax that breaks down gluten.
In a test tube, the enzyme — which was discovered in bacteria that live in Japanese hot springs and modified slightly in the lab — dismantled more than 95% of a protein component that’s thought to trigger celiac disease.
The enzyme hasn’t yet been tested in people. Researchers say that’s the next step.
Other Research Also Under Way
They aren’t the only group working on this kind of a treatment for celiac disease, says Joseph A. Murray, MD, a gastroenterologist and celiac disease specialist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.
Murray recently reviewed experimental approaches for treating celiac disease, but he was not involved in the research.
A company called Alvine pharmaceuticals is also testing an enzyme-based pill. Early results show that people with celiac disease who got the experimental pill had less damage to their small intestine after eating food containing gluten compared to those who got a placebo. But larger studies are needed to confirm those results.
Even if the pills work, they “won’t be a passport to eating gluten with impunity,” says Murray.
“It probably will only reduce your sensitivity to gluten, it won’t block it. Instead of taking in no gluten, you might be able to take in the equivalent of half a slice of bread and get away with it. It’s very unlikely that you could eat a pizza and get away with it,” says Murray, who has been a paid consultant for Alvine.
“It may make life better, but it’s really an adjunct to the continued effort to be gluten-free.”
Tough to Avoid Wrong Foods
In celiac disease, gluten proteins trigger an immune system attack on the lining of the gut. Over time, damage prevents the absorption of important nutrients and may lead to vitamin and mineral deficiencies that cause hair loss, depression, and brittle bones.
Currently, the only treatment for celiac disease is to avoid foods that contain gluten.
Murray says many of his patients find that despite their best efforts to avoid wheat, they end up eating some at least once a month because it turns up in foods they didn’t prepare themselves or because they can’t say no to a favorite treat.
“It’s very difficult to avoid. We’re in a very gluten-rich environment,” Murray says.
Standing Guard for Consumers: CPSC & CBP Working at U.S. Ports to Protect Families This Holiday Toy Shopping Season
In past four years, CPSC and CBP have stopped thousands of different dangerous toys and children’s products before they reached stores.
US Consumer Product Safety Commission – Recent Recalls and Product Safety News
Epic announces Impossible Studios, working on Infinity Blade: Dungeons
Epic Games announced today that they are officially titling Epic Games Baltimore as “Impossible Studios.” The new studio consists of staff that was left behind in the rubble after the collapse of Big Huge Games and 38 Studios back in late May.
The studio will seemingly consist entirely of ex-Big Huge Games staff, and will be lead by ex-BHG manager Sean Dunn who tweeted earlier today, “Super emotional day today. Cannot say enough about the awesomeness that is @EpicGames.”
Impossible’s first task will be undertaking development of Infinity Blade: Dungeons, the next title in the highly lauded iOS series. Development will also be aided by other Epic studios as well. It’s slated for release on iOS later this year.
“We were so glad we could help keep this great team together, and we’re lucky to have them,” said Epic President Mike Capps. “At the time, I said that finding a full team of superstars was ‘impossible’ and apparently the name stuck! Pairing the imagination and experience of Impossible with Epic’s technology, IP and resources makes for a business greater than the sum of its parts.”
When Your Pain Medication Isn’t Working
What your next steps might be in treating your chronic pain.
By Eric Metcalf, MPH
WebMD Feature
More than 100 million Americans have chronic pain. If you’re one of them, controlling it will likely require searching for treatments beyond medication.
That’s because pain medication, while helpful, often cannot provide complete relief of pain. It may reduce but not eliminate pain.
Hearing your doctor utter the words, “We’re going to have to operate,” can send a shiver down your spine. Immediately, questions about the seriousness of your condition, the procedure itself, and the likelihood that it will cure what ails you flood the mind. Then, there is the prospect of post-surgery pain. How badly is this going to hurt? The bad news is that some pain is an inevitable companion to most types of surgery. The good news is that there are many highly effective medications to keep…
Carla Ulbrich, 45, is willing to use medication to help control her chronic pain. But she sees it as just one piece of her overall plan. For the past 20 years, lupus and fibromyalgia have caused pain to smolder and flare around her body.
Pain medication offered varying degrees of relief, but also often led to side effects. She credits a mix of additional practices — acupuncture, massage, heat, and changing her diet — for much of her current success in controlling the pain.
“I’d say medication saved my life, but throwing medication at something never really gets to the root of it,” says Ulbrich, who lives in Somerset, N.J.
No Quick Fixes for Chronic Pain
A broken leg, and the acute pain it causes, can often be treated relatively quickly, says Perry Fine, MD, a pain specialist at the University of Utah. But chronic pain is more akin to bigger problems like diabetes or advanced cancer, which can’t be so quickly or easily “fixed.”
The goal when treating chronic pain isn’t necessarily to become pain-free. Instead, the target is often a good quality of life while managing pain at a tolerable level.
“What’s important is for people in chronic pain to communicate … with their doctor, and let them know what their pain level is that keeps them from doing certain things,” Fine says. “For example, ‘My pain is keeping me from sleeping, going to work, and getting around and walking.’ Then talk to the practitioner about establishing specific, measurable goals such as being able to vacuum, go to work, have sex, and get to sleep.”
To reach these goals, doctors may try:
- Medication that address pain from different angles. For example, antidepressants can help “calm down” the nervous system and make it less sensitive to the pain, Fine says. The anti-seizure drugs gabapentin and pregabalin can also be effective for certain types of nerve pain.
- Injecting anesthetic or steroids into injured areas.
- Doing surgery to treat the source of pain. This includes joint replacements, repairing damaged discs in the spine, or taking pressure off a pinched nerve.
Your doctor may also suggest that you work with a physical or occupational therapist. You may also want to seek answers to the mental components of pain rather than just the physical side, Fine says.
Putting Your Mind to Work
“Most people with chronic pain are never ‘cured’ [of their pain], and that’s a difficult thing to be told. Our society tells us if you’re in pain, you shouldn’t be,” says Beverly Thorn, PhD, of the University of Alabama.
