A twelve week study participated by 104 adults who had moderate to severe asthma showed a decrease of 87 percent in asthma attacks. A total of 52 patients who took Dupilumab had three asthma attacks compared to twenty three attacks for those patients taking in a placebo.

Dupilumab works by blocking two inflammatory chemicals produced by the body, interleukin-4 and interleukin-13. Both chemicals are known to contribute to asthma.

According to Sally Wenzel, director of the University of Pittsburgh Asthma Institute and lead author of the study, “As a person who has been doing research in asthma and new approaches to therapy for asthma for 20 years, these are some of the most exciting results that I’ve seen.”

While the initial results are indeed promising it may take up to three years before the drug becomes commercially available. More studies are needed to be conducted on the drug. Right now even Regeneron does not know what the best dosage of Dupilumab should be taken.

via reuters

According to Dr. Lisa Becton, director of swine health information and research for the National Pork Board three farms in Iowa and one in Indiana have confirmed cases of the virus. The cases in Iowa were located in farms all across the state and not in one particular location.

Swine flu or Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDV) does not pose a risk to humans and the pork meat from an infected swine is safe to eat. It also does not infect other animals. This however poses a new challenge for hog farmers who are still recovering from high feed costs brought about by last summer’s drought.

Authorities are still determining the origin of the virus and how it got into the United States. Becton said that “The severity of the outbreak is not yet known, but we’re hoping to have a better assessment soon.”

Agriculture officials are planning to send out surveys and questionnaires in the coming days to swine veterinarians to determine how the virus started. Some veterinarians are sending in samples of feed to see if the virus was spread through it.

As of now there is still no effective treatment to combat the virus. What hog farmers can do right now is to provide good care and adequate water for their hogs to combat dehydration.

All ages of hogs are susceptible to the virus but is more likely to strike the young hogs. The good news is that this virus is short lived as pig herds usually develop immunity to the virus within two to three weeks.

via reuters

Photo Credit: Sports Illustrated

After several months of speculations, Real Madrid confirmed that Jose Mourinho will step down as manager at the end of the season after reaching a mutual agreement.

Speculations about the exit of Mourinho intensified when Real Madrid president Florentino Perez scheduled a press conference on Monday. The speculations were correct as Perez formally announced the exit of Mourinho after three years of partnership at the Bernabeu.

Mourinho had multiple success in his three-year stint with the Los Blancos, but the club surrendered their La Liga title to rival Barcelona this season, while also failing to hoist their tenth European Cup and losing in the Copa Del Rey final against Atletico on Friday.

Despite the struggles of Real Madrid this season, Perez reiterated that Mourinho was not sacked by the squad and that the club and Mourinho mutually agreed to end their relationship in good terms.

Perez said: “After conversations with our coach Jose Mourinho, we have decided to end our relationship at the end of this season. Both the club and the coach think this is the right moment to end the relationship. In the name of all the board I want to thank Mourinho for his work over these three years, he has helped us make an important sporting improvement. We wish him success in the next stage of his career.”

Tipped to replace Mourinho is current Paris Saint-Germain coach Carlo Ancelotti, who reportedly talked to Real Madrid recently, which was denied by Perez, who said that they were informed by PSG that Ancelotti is still under contract.

Perez pointed out: “I have maximum respect for PSG, its president, and all other clubs. That is how we work. There was a call made about the possibility of Carlo Ancelotti coming here, and they told us he was under contract. The new coach is not something which will be resolved tomorrow, we have time to think about options. There are many of these.”

On the other hand, Mourinho is not expected to be without a job for a long period of time because he is tipped to return to Chelsea next season, replacing interim manager Rafa Benitez.

Scientists are not sure where this large space rock comes from which was first discovered 15 years ago. What is known though is that its surface is covered in a sooty material which suggests that it may have formerly been a comet that has flown close to a sun.

You won’t be able to see the asteroid with the naked eye which is only visible with the use of high powered telescopes. Scientists will be gathering more information about it once it comes closer to Earth.

There’s no need for people to worry about this Asteroid. Its next flyby to Earth will be on 2119.

According to Lance Benner, an astronomer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, “We expect to obtain a series of high-resolution images that could reveal a wealth of surface features. Whenever an asteroid approaches this closely, it provides an important scientific opportunity to study it in detail to understand its size, shape, rotation, surface features, and what they can tell us about its origin.”

NASA says that they will be using two 230 foot radar telescopes to study the flyby of the asteroid. The agency says that they expect to gather a wealth of information regarding Asteroid 1998 QE2.

Scientists say that this is a really big asteroid which is roughly the same size as the one that hit us millions of years ago that caused the dinosaurs to become extinct.

via space

The Last of Us, being developed by Naughty Dog, will be available to buy directly from the PlayStation Store on launch day, June 14, according to a report from Game Informer.

That’s not the only good news though. Interestingly enough, Naughty Dog creative director Neil Druckmann and The Last of Us director Bruce Straley told Game Informer that players won’t have to wait for the entire game to be downloaded before they can begin their journey. Instead, players can begin playing the Last of Us as soon as the game is halfway downloaded on your PlayStation 3.

Gaikai CEO David Perry said at the PlayStation 4 unveiling back in February that PlayStation 4 owners wouldn’t have to wait for their games to download before they could begin playing them, thanks to Gaikai, a cloud-based streaming service that was bought by Sony in 2012 (it’s slightly similar to OnLive and Agawi). While that sounds great and all, it isn’t and it won’t be available on the PlayStation 3.

That said, The Last of Us will be the first title to accomplish something like this on the PlayStation 3. Hopefully Naughty Dog or Sony will release more technical details surrounding this, as I, and probably a few others, am very interested to see how they are able to do this.

Are any of you looking forward to The Last of Us? Let us know in the comments.

source: Game Informer

Video game films tend to usually fall flat on their face, but it seems that the Assassin’s Creed movie adaption is actually making some progress. It’ll premier on May 22, 2015, according to a database entry from Box Office Mojo.

According to the entry, the film will reportedly be distributed by Fox, and Prometheus actor Michael Fassbender is going to head up an unknown role in the movie. Fassbender will apparently be co-producing the Assassin’s Creed film through his own production company, DMC Film.

While Fassbender reportedly playing a role in the film is great news and will certainly boost the attention it gets, Michael Lesslie will be heading up the movie’s script. Of course, we still don’t know much about the story of the movie. However, it’d be wise to take all of this with a grain of salt for now.

After all, nothing has been officially confirmed, as it’s all based off of speculation and database listings. Literally nothing has been confirmed, which means Michael Fassbender’s role in the movie could be false. Regardless, we’ll just have to sit back and wait for something more official, which shouldn’t be long if Fox and Ubisoft want the movie to premier in a little less than two years.

Source: Box Office Mojo
via: Polygon

Photo Credit: BBC

Outgoing Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson fired shots against Manchester City, questioning the club’s decision of firing manager Roberto Mancini.

Ferguson, who will retire after the end of the current season, had many heated battles against Mancini, but the veteran manager said that he was really surprised when Manchester City removed Mancini from his post.

The soon-to-be former manager of Manchester United said that Mancini deserves to retain his spot with the club after helping Manchester City grab an FA Cup title and leading the club to its first English Premier League title in 44 years.

Ironically, Mancini was fired a day after losing in the FA Cup final, which was also the first anniversary of their title clinching victory in the Premier League last season.

In an interview, Ferguson was quoted as saying: “It is quite amazing. He has won the FA Cup, been in the final, second in the league and won the league and it’s not good enough? I was surprised, but actually no, you can’t say you are surprised not with some owners today. You can’t be surprised, but I still don’t think it was right.”

The Manchester clubs will feature new managers next season. And when asked about his thoughts about the rivalry, Ferguson, as expected favored his club, saying that Manchester United will have more stability next season compared to Manchester City. He added that Mancini’s firing will have no effect to incoming United manager David Moyes

Ferguson said: “What happens at Man City won’t have any bearing on David. He’s got the structure here and he’s got the experience. He’s had to handle things at Everton that are more difficult probably. I don’t think that matters.”

Ferguson’s 26-year-stay at the Old Trafford will officially come to an end after Manchester United’s match against West Bromwich Albion on Sunday.

As you know, the next Xbox and the PlayStation 4 are more than likely going to have the spotlight when it comes to blockbuster games, but there’s still a few PC games that you should be looking forward to. Let’s take a look, shall we?

Call of Duty: Ghosts

Call of Duty, as of late, has received a lot of flack for repetitive titles, a lack of innovation, etc. While that holds more truth than I’d like to admit, Call of Duty: Ghosts is going to be a fantastic title. We don’t know much about it yet, but we can certainly speculate from the name of the game.

I’m expecting the game to have an action-packed experience (as usual), with a lot of stealth elements thrown into the mix. No, not stealth elements like in Splinter Cell, but covert operations, and things like that. Again, we don’t know a whole lot about the game just yet, but it certainly sounds like something to get excited about!

Company of Heroes 2

Company of Heroes has a few great elements incorporated in the series–plenty of action, enthralling storylines, and careful, strategic movements. Company of Heroes 2 seeks to take those to the next level with its new Essence 3.0 game engine, which also brings with it a few technological advancements (High Dynamic Range lighting, dynamic lighting and shadows, advanced shader effects, detailed faces and animations, etc).

Company of Heroes 2 has faced a few delays with THQ filing for bankruptcy, but SEGA plans on releasing the game in North America and Europe come June 25.

Watch Dogs

Watch Dogs is an open-world action adventure game where players will play as Aiden Pearce, who can hack into various electronic systems to complete objectives. In example, one could hack into a phone to steal bank account credentials, which would enable you to steal money from the owner of that phone.

The game is set in an alternate version of Chicago, Illinois, which is one of many cities that have a supercomputer known as “CtOS”, or Central Operating System. In basic terms, the Central Operating System is basically what the name implies–a supercomputer that has access to everything and anyone in the city. Playing as Aiden Pearce, it sounds like you’ll be able to manipulate the CtOS for your own purposes and objectives.

This is another title that there isn’t a whole lot of information on (aside from the storyline and some gameplay aspects), but as we get closer to its release, we’ll no doubt find more about it.

Wrap-Up

These are just three games that you should get excited for this year.  There’s a ton more out there that are both announced and unannounced. We should see a lot more after popular gaming conventions like E3 and Gamescom come to pass.

Do any of the games on this list excite you? Are there any games you’re excited to see in 2013? Do you think there’s one that should have been on this list? Let us know in the comments below!

The Brooklyn plant of the company was inspected last February and results showed that the fish wasn’t cooked long enough and the brining solution wasn’t salty enough.

Melinda Plaisier, the FDA’s acting associate commissioner for regulatory affairs, said that “These companies have ignored previous warnings by the FDA and have continued to produce and distribute products in violation of federal law. This lawsuit shows that the FDA will aim to protect public health by seeking enforcement action against companies that are identified as violating federal requirements.”

The lawsuit is seeking a court order to force New York Fish Inc. to stop distributing their products.

via fda

Killzone: Mercenary has a new launch date! The game will be launching on Sept. 10. for the PS Vita in North America, one week ahead of schedule, publisher Sony Computer Entertainment revealed today.

Gamers across the pond will be getting the game even earlier, as it is set to release on Sept. 4 in Europe and on Sept 6. in the U.K, a report from the European PlayStation blog says.

So, what’s with the release date change up? Well, the old release date was set for Sept. 17, which is the same day Rockstar Games plans to launch Grand Theft Auto V. With Killzone: Mercenary being a handheld console title, Sony’s going to want as much exposure as possible. It’d be a trainwreck if the game launched and was buried under all of the Grand Theft Auto V excitement.

Killzone: Mercenary is being developed by U.K.-based Guerrilla Games. In addition to the Vita game, they plan on releasing Killzone: Shadow Fall for the PlayStation 4 by the year’s end. Be sure to check out a trailer of Killzone: Mercenary below.

Are any of you excited for Killzone: Mercenary for the PlayStation Vita or are you holding out for Killzone: Shadow Fall on the PlayStation 4? You know what to do in the comments.

Source: EU PlayStation Blog, US PlayStation Blog