Diagnostics
A virus (from the Latin virus meaning toxin or poison) is a microscopic organism consisting of genetic material (RNA or DNA) surrounded by a protein, lipid (fat), or glycoprotein coat. Viruses are unique organisms because they cannot reproduce without a host cell. After contacting a host cell, a virus will insert genetic material into the host and take over the host"s functions. The cell, now infected, continues to reproduce, but it reproduces more viral protein and genetic material instead of its usual products. It is this process that earns viruses the classification of "parasite".
Health experts and politicians filled Sunday talk shows as Obama administration officials push for reform.
There are 1.8 million disabled Americans who wait two-years to enroll in Medicare. Many say that waiting period can be devastating.
U.S. Lawmakers Should Not Slow AIDS Funding
The Inland Empire HIV Planning Council, an agency that makes HIV/AIDS policy in Riverside and San Bernardino counties in California, has begun a three-day summit, where they will determine how funds - primarily from HHS - will be spent, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports. The council, which oversees spending of more than $7 million for HIV/AIDS care and treatment in the counties, said proposed cuts to HIV/AIDS programs and Medi-Cal at the state level "could affect funding and treatment priorities set by the agency," the article states. Joe Acosta, co-chair of the council said they are looking for ways to make up for the expected shortfalls. The council distributes money to about a half dozen agencies in San Bernardino and Riverside counties that provide services to more than 6,800 HIV/AIDS patients, Acosta said" (Hines, 7/18).
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation last week filed a petition in Los Angeles County Superior Court asking "the court to order the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health to enforce regulations that require condom use in adult-film production or take other reasonable steps to stem the spread of disease," the Los Angeles Times reports (Yoshino, 7/17). In the petition, "the group claims that in the month since an actress tested positive for HIV, the county Department of Public Health has done little to address what it considers to be a serious health threat" (AP/San Jose Mercury News, 7/16). In a statement released last week, the department, said, "The county continues to strongly support state legislation and the regulatory role of the [California Division of Occupational Safety and Health] as the most appropriate means to regulate the practices in the adult-film industry that expose performers to unnecessary and preventable occupational risks of acquiring and transmitting these diseases," adding, "The department does not believe that litigation is the best means to deal with this issue" (Yoshino, 7/17).
Visitors at next week"s Royal Bath and West Show will have the opportunity to find out what jobs and training schemes are on offer at Yeovil District Hospital.
"The first clinical trial of an HIV/AIDS vaccine designed and developed in South Africa was launched in Cape Town" Monday, the SAPA/The Times reports. The trial will seek to determine the immune response of HIV-negative people to two experimental vaccines - SAAVI DNA-C2 and SAAVI MVA-C (7/20). Similar tests of the vaccine began in the U.S. earlier this year, the AP/Washington Post reports. According to Anthony Mbewu, president of South Africa"s government-supported Medical Research Council, the vaccine was designed at the University of Cape Town with technical help from the NIH, which also manufactured the vaccine (Faul, 7/20). Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, called the partnership between South Africa and the U.S. "the most important AIDS research partnership in the world," but cautioned the years ahead would prove challenging as researchers test the safety and efficacy of the HIV vaccine, the AP/Google.com reports (Faul, 7/20).
Early initiation of lifesaving antiretroviral therapies should be the standard of care for all HIV-infected patients, even those in countries with limited medical and financial res, according to a study led by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre, University of Cape Town, South Africa.
First Minister Rhodri Morgan announced (date) that almost ÷£30 million of funding has been secured for phase two of the Institute of Life Science at Swansea University, with the promise of up to 650 jobs.
The NPHS influenza surveillance scheme, which records reports of diagnoses of flu from more than 300 GP practices across Wales, shows low but increasing levels of influenza activity across Wales. Further detail can be found on the NPHS website: click here.
Surgically removing and evaluating an increasing number of lymph nodes does not appear to identify a greater number of patients with stage III colorectal cancer, according to a report in the July issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
David Moher, from the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute; University of
Following the disbandment of the STEP trial to test the efficacy of the Merck HIV-1 vaccine candidate in 2007, the leading explanation for why the vaccine was ineffective - and may have even increased susceptibility to acquiring the virus - centered on the hypothesis that high levels of baseline Ad5-specific neutralizing antibodies may have increased HIV-1 acquisition among the study subjects who received the vaccine by increasing Ad5-specific CD4+ T-cells that were susceptible to HIV-1 infection.
Researchers at North Carolina State University have found that intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), which results in low birth weight and long-term deleterious health effects in cloned swine, is linked to a type of gene - known as an imprinted gene - found only in placental mammals. Imprinted genes play an important role in the normal fetal development of all mammals, and this study could have future implications for the study of IUGR in humans.
Young men who stay at home with their parents are more violent than those who live independently, according to new research at Queen Mary, University of London.
Research at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute into the mechanics of how two types of white blood cells grow and die is fundamentally changing the development of computer models that are used to predict how immune system cells respond to a pathogenic threat.
"Single-Shot" Vaccines May Protect Against H5N1 Influenza Virus
CSIRO Entomology"s Dr Matt Colloff"s book, Dust Mites , is an exposç© of the lives of house dust mites, the problems they cause, how they cause them and what measures can be taken to control their numbers.
Two Southampton surgeons who contributed to the development of keyhole surgery to treat early stage lung cancer have been internationally commended for their work.
Ortho Clinical Diagnostics announced the launch of its Remote Monitoring Center, the first 24-7 central command center in the in vitro diagnostic industry that continuously tracks the condition of laboratory instrument performance. Using proprietary remote diagnostic tools leveraging more than 30 years of field engineering experience, the Remote Monitoring Center helps customers identify specific service needs up to 30 days in advance. This innovative service detects and predicts potential instrument problems before they interrupt the ability of the laboratory to deliver quality test results. With the Remote Monitoring Center, Ortho Clinical Diagnostics fundamentally changes the way laboratories manage and maintain instruments so they can deliver timely and accurate results to physicians and patients.
In the past decade the popularity of rock climbing has dramatically increased. It has been estimated that rock climbing is now enjoyed by more than 9 million people in the U.S. each year. A new study by researchers at the Center for Injury Research and Policy of the Research Institute at the Nationwide Children"s Hospital found that as the popularity of the sport has escalated, so have the number of injuries. Study findings revealed a 63 percent increase in the number of patients that were treated in U.S. emergency departments for rock climbing-related injuries between 1990 and 2007.
A "new set of antiabortion actors" who are "anti-war, anti-capital punishment, pro-environment "pro-lifers"" have "emerged as the face of a new and improved antiabortion movement," Salon columnist Frances Kissling writes. Although these advocates supported President Obama in the 2008 election, they "suffer from the same lack of understanding of women"s nature and identity as do old-line anti-abortionists," Kissling writes. She notes that this group has "already decided that a political effort to make abortion illegal is hopeless, which helps the pro-choice cause." According to Kissling, "Taking legality off the table" increases the prospects for "rational public discourse about all the factors at play in women"s decisions not to continue pregnancy and not to become mothers," but "[w]e are ... far from common ground between the new anti-abortionists and the pro-choice advocates."Members of this new group believe that data suggesting that many women decide to have abortions for financial reasons prove that "better economic support" for pregnant women "will result in more continued pregnancies and more women embracing motherhood," Kissling writes. In addition, they "assert that if adoption policies were friendlier," more women would choose adoption over abortion, according to Kissling. "But facts have little place in their strategy," as the policies they support "are already in place in much of Europe," and "few women who face unintended pregnancies in those countries opt out of abortion," Kissling writes. She adds, "Something much deeper influences a woman"s decision about what to do when she is pregnant and does not want to become a mother -- and the new anti-choicers don"t seem to have a clue about what this might be." For this group, "the outcome [of pregnancy] -- the new person -- is obviously so much more valuable than whatever short-term loss or pain the women might experience," Kissling writes. Therefore, they believe it is "not asking much of a woman who faces an unwanted, difficult or unintended pregnancy to shift the plan she had for this time in her life and continue the pregnancy," according to Kissling.Kissling lists four "positions taken by the new antiabortionists [that] illuminate this flawed thinking." The first is "[d]enying the "need" for abortion," she writes. Secondly, their "same sense of pregnancy as no big deal influences the new antiabortionists" unwillingness to embrace contraception," Kissling says. She adds that "[i]f we really understood what it meant for women to consent to becoming mothers, we would want them to be able to meet their moral obligation to their own identity by avoiding becoming pregnant." The third position is an attempt to make "sex sacred," Kissling writes, adding that if "creating new life is sacred, then we want men and women to have the tools necessary to fulfill the obligation to create life responsibly and not create it when they cannot -- or choose not to -- bring it to fruition." The fourth position is "[r]edefining adoption," Kissling continues. She asks whether adoption is "now a process of finding children for needy parents," adding, "Might it not be more generous of us as a society to work harder to make it possible for women to keep their children if they so wish?"Kissling writes that the "challenge to the new antiabortionists" is whether "women"s perspectives on the meaning of pregnancy and motherhood will be considered in their project" or if "their ethical frame will remain focused on the fetus." She asks, "How many of these women"s decisions will the new antiabortionists be able to say "yes" to?" Kissling concludes, "So far it seems that it is far more than abortion that is a stumbling block to common ground" (Kissling, Salon, 7/20).
NPR reports that "The Obama administration and Congress are moving forward with plans to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the various medical treatments for common health conditions, despite concerns of some lawmakers and the drug and device industry that it will lead to rationed health care. But how the government uses this comparative effectiveness research and how it might benefit - or complicate - the decision-making of average people and their doctors are also matters of some debate."
John Kofi Agyekum Kufuor, a former president of Ghana, has been named a global ambassador against hunger for the U.N."s World Food Programme (WFP), Xinhua reports. According to the news service, Kufuor will "help to underline the importance of fighting hunger on several fronts - by investing in long-term agricultural development, but also by funding WFP"s work in tackling urgent hunger needs and helping the hungry poor to access affordable and nutritious food" (Ooko, 7/20).
The British Dental Health Foundation has called into question the basis of a Conservative party pledge to provide free check-ups in primary schools.
An initiative from the Government"s National Dementia Strategy, the summit will examine research into cause, cure and care, highlighting gaps in knowledge and new opportunities for the future. A report will then be produced to help shape the future dementia research agenda.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius released new data from the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample - the largest, all-payer emergency department database in the United States. The Nationwide Emergency Department Sample is designed to help public health experts, policymakers, health care administrators, researchers, journalists and others find the data they need to answer questions about care that occurs in U.S. hospital emergency departments.
Genetic testing services have recently begun to be advertised directly to the patient, and the results of the consumers" response can affect public health, as well as the future adoption of pharmacogenetic/genomic testing, according to a position paper from the American College of Clinical Pharmacology (ACCP) to be published in the August 2009 issue of the Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. The journal is published on behalf of the ACCP by SAGE.
Purdue University researchers have created magnetically responsive gold nanostars that may offer a new approach to biomedical imaging.
Over 3,400 South Asians have taken part in the UK"s largest study into heart failure in ethnic minority populations. Researchers at the University of Birmingham in the UK have been carrying out the study, involving members of the Indian community. Patients, who are registered with GPs in the Birmingham area of the English Midlands, were screened at their local surgery, to discover how common, heart failure is among them.
Larry Wackett and Michael Sadowsky, members of the University of Minnesota"s BioTechnology Institute, developed an enzyme that is used in Bioo Scientific"s new MaxDiscovery™ Melamine Test kit, which simplifies the detection of melamine contamination in food. Melamine is an industrial chemical that killed six Chinese children and hospitalized 150,000 last year after it was added to milk to increase its apparent protein content. Some children may have life-long chronic kidney problems resulting from melamine exposure.
As the ESC Congress 2009 draws ever closer, the evidence in favour of a healthy lifestyle for the prevention of cardiovascular disease grows ever stronger. Prevention is the highlight theme of this year"s event, which will take place in Barcelona from 29 August to 2 September. Lifestyle factors are heavily on the agenda.
Research by Peter Barnes (Imperial College, London) and colleagues may
The nation"s major safety net health plans today announced their endorsement of the health care reform legislation now moving through the U.S. House of Representatives. In a letter to congressional leaders, the Association for Community Affiliated Plans (ACAP) said the bill "will expand coverage to more Americans, protect the interests of low-income and medically needy people, and preserve vital safety net programs."
New research from The Children"s Hospital of Philadelphia sheds light on the role of cell receptors in acting as gatekeepers for infectious viruses. By using mice genetically engineered to lack a particular receptor in heart and pancreas cells, the study team prevented infection by a common virus that causes potentially serious diseases in humans.
The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons"(AAOS) Board of Directors approved a new clinical practice guideline for the treatment of pediatric diaphyseal femur fractures. Diaphyseal (the shaft of a long bone) fracture of the femur (the bone in the thigh) is a very common childhood injury.
The American Cancer Society estimates 192,000 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in the United States this year with more than 40,000 individuals dying from the disease. In New Jersey alone 6,400 new cases are expected with 1,400 deaths. In an effort to combat such statistics, researchers at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ) have opened a clinical trial, which will evaluate a new drug combination for patients with breast cancer who are set to undergo surgery to remove the tumor. At focus is the process of stopping angiogenesis (blood vessel growth), which is necessary for cancer tumors to grow and spread. CINJ is a Center of Excellence of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
The American Pharmacists Association (APhA) will publish this month the sixth edition of Handbook of Pharmaceutical Excipients and the corresponding single-user CD ROM, titled Pharmaceutical Excipients 6.
Commenting on the tragic death of 22-year-old Gary Reinbach, who died as a result of binge drinking since the age of 13, Dr Peter Carter, Chief Executive of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), said:
As health reform proposals emerge from congressional committees, partisan fighting boils and the president wades into the debate with a series of televised addresses, news reports turn to an unanswered question. "What"s in it for me?" asks David Leonhardt, the New York Times business columnist. "On the subject of health care reform, most Americans probably don"t have a good answer to the question. And that, obviously, is a problem for the White House and for Democratic leaders in Congress," he writes.
"Drug makers, advocacy groups, biotechnology firms and insurance companies have ratcheted up efforts to offer their two cents - and in most cases much, much more - in influencing the health care legislation now working its way through Congress," The New York Times reports. "Many familiar health groups in recent months have increased lobbying spending by more than $1 million, according to second-quarter lobbying records filed on Monday with the Senate Office of Public Records." Those groups include AARP and The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Drug makers GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis, along with insurance company Allstate and biotechnology firm Amgen have also invested significantly more in lobbying activities."
"Nationally, about a quarter of all residency graduates began their medical training abroad. And in primary care - where there is a national shortage of physicians - more than half of all graduates are immigrants," The Concord Monitor reports. "New Hampshire"s primary care doctors are aging, and as they retire, recruiters said they will increasingly be replaced by physicians who began their training outside the country."
The F-22 Model For Medicare The Washington Post
The worldwide death toll from the H1N1 (swine flu) virus has doubled in the past month, reaching over 700, the WHO announced Tuesday, the AP/Google.com reports. "WHO did not give a breakdown of the deaths Tuesday. But as of last week, the U.S. reported 263 deaths, Canada reported 45 deaths and Britain had 29. According to WHO"s last update on July 6, there were 119 deaths in Mexico," the news service writes. "Yet even Tuesday"s figure of 700 deaths may seriously underestimate the true toll, experts say, because not all swine flu cases are being picked up due to testing limitations" (Jordans, 7/21).
Rush University Medical Center and surgical robotics company Prosurgics announce the completion of the first colorectal surgeries in the U.S. using the FreeHand® laparoscopic camera controller.
"HIV infection rates among babies are significantly cut when mothers are given prolonged ARV treatment during breastfeeding," according to findings released at the International AIDS Society conference in Cape Town, South Africa on Wednesday, Reuters reports. According to Reuters, "Key findings from the study showed that a stronger drug cocktail administered over a longer period reduced the risk of mother-to-child HIV transmission compared with the current WHO-recommended short-course ARV regimen." Tim Farley, project leader for the "Kesho Bora" study - which was conducted at five sites in Burkina Faso, Kenya and South Africa by the WHO in partnership with several other international agencies - said, "The results of this study show an almost two-fold reduction in the risk of HIV transmission during the breastfeeding period and also [show] there is no short-term toxicity (to mothers or infants)." The WHO "is reviewing its 2006 recommendations on the use of ARVs in pregnant women, including during the breastfeeding period. New guidelines are expected to be published by the end of 2009 and will take into account emerging data," Reuters reports (Roelf, 7/21).
Miltenyi Biotec announces the worldwide and exclusive release of Myelin Removal Beads. Myelin is a specialized membrane which ensheathes and insulates axons in the peripheral and central nervous system. During preparation of single-cell suspensions, myelin membrane fragments represent the major contaminant. "When dissociating adult neural tissue, usually less than 5 percent of the cell suspension consists of cells. The rest corresponds to cell debris", explains Dr. Rebecca Biloune, Product Manager for Neural Research Products at Miltenyi Biotec. "Removal of myelin leads to higher purity and recovery of target cells."
A particular class of medication used to treat high blood pressure could protect older adults against memory decline and other impairments in cognitive function, according to a newly published study from Wake Forest University School of Medicine.
Bracing for an outbreak of 2009 H1N1 (swine-origin) flu that a Saint Louis University infectious diseases expert estimates could sicken one in five people this fall, scientists at eight Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Units funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are launching a series of clinical trials this summer to test vaccines to protect against the illness.
CareFusion Corporation, the company that will become publicly traded following the planned spinoff of the clinical and medical products businesses of Cardinal Health, announced it has expanded its Pyxis® perioperative offerings that integrate with leading operating room information systems (ORIS), incorporate radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology1 and include new services.
Micrus Endovascular Corporation (NASDAQ:MEND) announced that study results presented recently at the 10th Congress of the World Federation of Interventional and Therapeutic Neuroradiology (WFITN) demonstrated that the DeltaPaq™ microcoil"s proprietary design appears to improve the uniformity of coil distribution within a cerebral aneurysm and the degree of microcoil packing in the aneurysm dome and neck, which may reduce the risk of aneurysm recurrence. Bernard R. Bendok, M.D., Assistant Professor of Neurological Surgery and Radiology, Department of Neurological Surgery of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and Matthew Gounis, Ph.D., Director of the New England Center for Stroke Research at the University of Massachusetts, served as principal investigators for the Micrus-sponsored in vitro study.
Medicaid health plans are producing cost savings for states, increasing access to services for individuals covered by Medicaid, improving quality of care, and earning high satisfaction ratings from enrollees, according to a Lewin Group report released today by America"s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP). Twenty-four existing studies were analyzed by the Lewin Group to determine the savings achieved when states have implemented private Medicaid health plans.
Findings from the largest study to date comparing the efficacy of competing treatments for chronic hepatitis C infection (HCV) show that the regimens are similar when it comes to safety and their ability to provoke long-term viral eradication, according to researchers at Duke University Medical Center. Still, subgroup analysis reveals provocative data suggesting some approaches might be better than others for women and minorities.
Stephania Cormier, PhD, Associate Professor of Pharmacology at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, has shown for the first time that early exposure to environmentally persistent free radicals (present in airborne ultrafine particulate matter) affects long-term lung function. She recently presented her latest research data at the 11th International Congress on Combustion By-Products and Their Health Effects at the Environmental Protection Agency Conference Center in Research Triangle Park, N.C.
Foot & Ankle Specialist (FAS), published by SAGE, has been accepted for inclusion in MEDLINE, the premier bibliographic database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), containing more than 16 million journal article citations.
Quantities of a prescription medication used throughout the world for treating malaria have been identified as lacking any active ingredient and presumably counterfeit. These are being removed from the market in Ghana, where they were discovered recently and confirmed as fake last Friday. The discovery was made by a vigilant citizen who contacted the Medicines Quality Monitoring program set up by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)-supported Drug Quality and Information (DQI) Program, implemented by the U.S. Pharmacopeial (USP) Convention. USP is a nonprofit scientific organization that develops globally recognized standards for the quality of medicines. Through the DQI Program, USP works in developing countries to help verify, assure and improve the quality of medicines intended to treat life-threatening neglected diseases such as malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, as well as advance the appropriate use of these medicines.
Urban allotments, reading groups and computer training for the over 50s are just some of the good practice initiatives featured as part of a new approach to public mental health and well-being, announced by Care Services Minister Phil Hope today.
New research from the US suggests that having stressed parents may make it more likely that children will develop asthma that is triggered by air
The accepted dogma has been that bone-forming cells, derived from the body"s connective tissue, are the only cells able to form the skeleton. However, new research shows that specialized cells in the blood share a common origin with white blood cells derived from the bone marrow and that these bloodstream cells are capable of forming bone at sites distant from the original skeleton. This work, published online this month in the journal Stem Cells, represents the first example of how circulating cells may contribute to abnormal bone formation.
A new study by scientists at the University of Iowa shows why muscle membranes don"t rupture when healthy people exercise.
A first-of-its-kind RAND Corporation study has linked the rapid growth in health care costs in the United States with job losses and lower output among industries that commonly provide workers with health insurance.
Experiencing chronic stress day after day can produce wear and tear on the body physically and mentally, and can have a detrimental effect on learning and emotion. However, acute stress -- a short stressful incident -- may enhance learning and memory.
Pregnant women who quit smoking during the first trimester and women who never smoked during pregnancy have a similar risk of delivering preterm or very small infants, according to a study published in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology, Reuters reports. Premature delivery and stunted infant growth are the most well-documented side effects of smoking during pregnancy, and the risks increase for older women, according to study author Laura Polakowski of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and colleagues. For the study, the researchers analyzed 915,441 birth certificates for infants born in 2005 in 11 states that include information on whether the woman smoked during pregnancy.The study found that 10% of women who smoked for the entire pregnancy gave birth to "preterm but not too small for gestational age" infants, compared with 8% of women who quit during the first trimester. Fifteen percent of women who smoked the entire pregnancy gave birth to full-term infants who were small for their gestational age, while 2% gave birth to premature infants who were small for gestational age. Among women who quit smoking during the first trimester, these outcomes occurred 9% and 1% of the time, respectively.After adjusting for the women"s age, previous preterm births and other factors, the researchers found that women who quit smoking in the first trimester reduced their risk of giving birth to a preterm, normal-size infant by 31%. The risk of delivering a full-term, unusually small infant was cut by 55% and the risk for delivering a preterm, unusually small infant was reduced by 53%. The risks were also reduced for women who quit smoking during their second trimester, although less significantly. The researchers found that the risk reduction was particularly high for older women -- especially those older than age 40 -- who quit smoking during the first trimester. According to the study, the results indicate that the risk of delivering a preterm or small-for-gestational-age infant for pregnant women who quit smoking during the first trimester is "comparable to those who never smoke during pregnancy" (Reuters, 7/21).
"Abortion is not explicitly mentioned in any of the major health-care bills under consideration in Congress," The Washington Post reports, but "abortion opponents charge that the legislation would make abortion more widely available and more common by requiring insurance plans to pay for the procedures and providing government funding to subsidize plans that pay for them."
"Will failing to reform health care have the same consequences for Obama"s administration as it did for Clinton"s?" CNN asks.
"You hear the pitch in drug ads all the time: "Ask your doctor if this medication is right for you,"" reports MSNBC. However, evidence to show whether a treatment is appropriate for a given patient is often scarce. Matching therapies to patients is further complicated by vast difference in how people respond to medicines. However, a national push for so-called comparative effectiveness research could make that job easier. The economic stimulus package includes $1 billion to support the research.
USA Today reports that three years after mandating coverage for all, Massachusetts is emerging as national model.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Wednesday announced that it will provide several housing assistance grants to help low-income families living with HIV/AIDS, the Boston Globe reports (7/23). "A record $310 million will assist 58,000 U.S. households annually, officials said," KITV.com reports. The grants were distributed based on the number of AIDS cases reported nationwide. The Gregory House Programs of Honolulu, a nonprofit that provides housing assistance, substance use and other services, will receive $1.3 million (KITV.com, 7/22). The Frannie Peabody Center in Portland, Maine, will receive $1.3 million; the city of Portland will receive $1.4; New Hampshire will receive over $716,000; and the Burlington Housing Authority in Vermont will receive over $392,000, the Globe reports (7/23).
Researchers "believe they have found a "missing link" in the evolution of the virus that causes AIDS," based on findings from a
In her 1984 boot camp graduation photo, Adrienne Fitts is smiling. Her hair is neatly groomed, her Navy cap and dress whites are spotless and she is regulation fit and trim.
Dog breeds selected to work in visual contact with humans, such as sheep dogs and gun dogs, are better able to comprehend a pointing gesture than those breeds that usually work without direct supervision. A series of tests, described in BioMed Central"s open access journal Behavioral and Brain Functions, should caution researchers against making simple generalizations about the effects of domestication and on dog-wolf differences in the utilization of human visual signals.
An event to mark the celebrate the 10th anniversary of the UQ Ipswich Campus and the launch of UQ"s teaching of Medicine at UQ Ipswich will be held today, Friday, July 24, 2009.
It may be possible to improve impaired attention after stroke - which could aid recovery - according to research reported in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.
Orexo"s (STO:ORX) partner in Japan, Kyowa Hakko Kirin, has obtained positive phase III results in Japan for KW-2246, which is approved for the treatment of breakthrough pain in cancer patients and marketed under the brand AbstralTM in Europe. Kyowa Hakko Kirin will now proceed with preparations for a new-drug application for KW-2246 in Japan for use in continuous pain management of acute cancer pain (breakthrough pain).
Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a frequent complication in patients in intensive care. A new laboratory test called urine neutrophil gelatinase associated lipocalin (NGAL) helps predict if patients will develop acute kidney injury, reports an upcoming study in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). "As a stand-alone marker, urine NGAL performed moderately well in predicting ongoing and subsequent AKI," comments T. Alp Ikizler, MD (Vanderbilt University).
Scientists from The Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, Sangamo Biosciences, Inc., (NASDAQ: SGMO), Sigma-Aldrich Corporation (NASDAQ: SIAL), Open Monoclonal Technology, Inc. (OMT) and INSERM today announced the creation of the first genetically modified mammals developed using zinc finger nuclease (ZFN) technology.
Australia"s largest study of young drivers has shown that risky driving habits are putting young drivers at a significantly increased risk of crashing, irrespective of their perceptions about road safety. The study surveyed 20,000 young drivers and examined their crashes reported to police. Young drivers involved in the study who said they undertook risky driving were 50% more likely to crash.
A new self-care service which will give people with pandemic swine flu symptoms fast access to antivirals was launched today by Health Secretary Andy Burnham.
The injection of bone marrow cells into the heart of patients with chronic myocardial ischemia (reduced blood flow to some areas of the heart) was associated with modest improvements in blood flow and function of the left ventricle, according to a study in the May 20 issue of JAMA.
BioOut is a strategic partner for several of the world"s leading vaccine manufacturers. As such, BioOut is currently working with partners on projects to develop vaccines against Pandemic Influenza (Swine Flu and Avian Flu).
Three new programs within UQ"s School of Human Movement Studies are bound to get the heart racing in 2010, and will be on show at this year"s Open Day event.
Student places at the new UQ Ipswich medical school are expected to be in demand due to the boutique nature of the educational experience, Dean of Medicine, Professor David Wilkinson said.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:REGN) announced that the first patient has been enrolled in the Phase 3 program of VEGF Trap-Eye for the treatment of central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO), a leading cause of blindness in adults. Regeneron received a $20 million milestone payment from Bayer Healthcare that was triggered by the dosing of the first patient in the CRVO program. Regeneron also announced that enrollment in the Phase 2 DA VINCI study of VEGF Trap-Eye in diabetic macular edema (DME) has been completed and data are expected during the first half of 2010.
As the economy continues to falter, a poll released today shows that parents must make harder choices about how to spend what money they have, and children -- especially those who are uninsured or who are among the lowest income bracket -- are more at risk because of it.
A large attack on a major metropolitan area with airborne anthrax could affect more than a million people, necessitating their treatment with powerful antibiotics. A new study finds that in order for a response to be effective, quick detection and treatment are essential, and any delay beyond three days would overwhelm hospitals with critically ill people.
President Obama rallied support for health care at a town hall meeting in Shaker Heights, Ohio, on Thursday, despite news of a legislative delay in the Senate.
Up to 14 people who got substandard care at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center now face a poor prognosis, a federal official said Thursday, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
The following are stories from this week"s 5th International AIDS Society (IAS) Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention meeting in Cape Town, South Africa:
An amendment to the fiscal year 2010 appropriations bill for health, labor and education programs that opposes the lifting of the ban on federal funding for needle exchange programs will come to the House floor for debate today along with four others, CQ Today reports. Rep. Mark Souder (R-Ind.) "will offer an amendment to strip language that would lift the ban on federal funding for needle exchange programs," CQ writes. According to CQ Today, "Conservatives are concerned that eliminating the ban on federal funds for such programs, which are designed to reduce the transmission of HIV and other diseases, would be tantamount to helping fund addicts" drug habits. Democrats say science has shown that such programs, when coupled with comprehensive prevention strategies, can reduce the rate of [HIV] infections and do not promote drug use." House Appropriations Committee Chair David Obey (D-Wis.) "added compromise language in the committee this week that would prohibit funds from going to needle exchange programs within 1,000 feet of facilities that serve children, such as schools and parks," the article states. The House is expected to vote on the amendment and the appropriations bill today (Wolfe, 7/23).
Pregnant women appear to have worse clinical and economic outcomes after thyroid and parathyroid surgery compared with women who are not pregnant, according to a report in the May issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
The same mechanism that helps you detect bad-tasting and potentially poisonous foods may also play a role in protecting your airway from harmful substances, according to a study by scientists at the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine. The findings could help explain why injured lungs are susceptible to further damage.
The release of the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission report, A Healthier Future
Given Imaging LTD. (NASDAQ: GIVN) announced the launch of a simplified procedure for performing PillCam SB 2 capsule endoscopies for the detection of disease in the small intestine. Unveiled at the Society of Gastroenterology Nurses and Associates, Inc. (SGNA) 36th Annual Course, the new procedure utilizes two new products - SensorBelt and RecorderPouch - replacing the sensor array and the recorder belt used previously with the DataRecorder to record the wireless signals emitted by the capsule. Both products can be viewed at Given Imaging"s booth #623 at the SGNA meeting, taking place in St. Louis from May 15 to May 20.
GlycoMimetics, Inc. announced the publication of an article in Nature Reviews: Drug Discovery describing how novel small molecule compounds that mimic carbohydrates can be successfully designed and optimized to treat cancer, inflammatory disorders and other diseases.
Using ultrasound imaging, UQ physiotherapist Dr Julie Hides is helping a world-champion cyclist ride her bike pain free.
A group of UQ speech pathology students recently ran an intensive treatment program for people who stutter.
The American Medical Student Association (AMSA) rejects the objectives of the Association of Clinical Researchers and Educators (ACRE), a newly formed organization that seeks to limit conflict of interest regulations. AMSA, the nation"s oldest and largest, independent association for physicians-in-training, is calling on the medical profession to continue to reduce the influence of pharmaceutical and medical device industry promotional activities, which research has proven to negatively affect patient care.
The American Academy of Ophthalmology announced that it has issued a revised policy statement on Learning Disabilities, Dyslexia, and Vision. The revised statement, which was issued jointly with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (AAPOS) and the American Association of Certified Orthoptists (AACO), expands upon the previous policy and includes extensive scientific references. The statement was also published today in Pediatrics, the journal of the AAP.
Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of sanofi-aventis Group (EURONEXT: SAN and NYSE: SNY), announced that it has shipped the first doses of the 2009-2010 formulation of Fluzone((R)), Influenza Virus Vaccine. Fluzone vaccine is indicated for active immunization in people 6 months of age and older against influenza disease caused by influenza virus subtypes A and type B contained in the seasonal influenza vaccine. Fluzone vaccine is the only vaccine licensed in the United States for children as young as 6 months of age through adults.
Smoking has once again been implicated in the development of advanced cancer. Exposure to nicotine by way of cigarette smoking may increase the likelihood that pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma will become metastatic, according to researchers from the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson. Their study was published in the August edition of the journal Surgery.
Several newspapers recently published opinion pieces regarding President Obama"s commencement address at the University of Notre Dame. Summaries appear below.~ Cal Thomas, Washington Times: "Put aside the question of whether" Notre Dame should have invited President Obama to speak at its commencement ceremony on Sunday and "[f]ocus, instead, on [his] remarks and whether he is serious, or can be made so, about actually reducing the number of abortions in America," syndicated columnist Thomas writes in a Washington Times opinion piece. "Don"t put aside, however, the argument that there is only one reason to even want to reduce the number of abortions and that is that what is being killed, terminated, evacuated (choose your term) is, in fact, human life," Thomas adds. "In speaking of "original sin," the president hit upon why abortion has been so easily tolerated for so long," he writes, adding that Obama "spoke of "self-interest" and "crass materialism" but did so in the context of economics, not abortion." Thomas reports that Obama called for making adoption ""more available"" and providing ""care and support for women who do carry their children to term."" Thomas notes that Obama"s speech also included "an appeal for discussion and respect for people with different views," which was "a good beginning, but the ending is what counts, and the initial actions of this president when it comes to abortion and stem cell research have not been pro-life" (Thomas, Washington Times, 5/19).~ Tim Rutten, Los Angeles Times: After his commencement address at Notre Dame, "it"s now clear that the president is the rhetorical equivalent of a "money player,"" which is the "kind of competitor who steps up and delivers in the big games," Rutten writes in a Los Angeles Times opinion piece. Notre Dame"s invitation for Obama to speak at commencement and receive an honorary degree "bec[a]me an engine of controversy" because of protests from "reductionists," or conservative Catholics "who insist on bringing the broad sweep of Catholic social morality down to a single issue -- abortion," Rutten writes. However, Obama "negotiated the situation with remarkable ease," Rutten continues, adding that Obama was "speaking … to three audiences far from South Bend on Sunday." The first audience was the "crucial bloc of Catholic voters who seem to be looking for ways to remain in the Democratic Party," he writes. In addition, Obama was speaking to "those Catholic Democrats in public office ... who are under intense pressure from the reductionist bishops in their home dioceses" and to the U.S. Senate, which will likely ask Obama"s Supreme Court nominee about his or her views on abortion during confirmation hearings, Rutten continues. He concludes, "Even in Washington"s charged partisan atmosphere, it will be hard to ignore the president"s call for civility at Notre Dame" (Rutten, Los Angeles Times, 5/20).~ Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune: Obama "appropriately promoted" the "ability of adversaries to work together on mutual interests" in his commencement address, Page writes in a Tribune opinion piece. Page adds that the speech was "classic Obama the pragmatist: Look past ideology, try to ignore disagreements and work together on mutual interests." Obama said that "at some level, the views of the two camps are irreconcilable," Page writes, adding that it is "because Americans hold no values more dear than "life" and "choice."" Page adds that "[i]n the abortion debate, those values clash head-on." However, Obama"s "eloquent come-together oratory enabled him to leave the university like a hero, even though he glossed over the thorny specifics that drive wedges between people of goodwill when words are hammered into law," Page continues. "For now, by focusing on civility, the president apparently hopes to defuse the abortion powder keg long enough to address his higher priorities," Page writes, concluding, "The economy, national security and health care are going to be tough fight
"Health care groups working feverishly to shape -- or kill -- an industry-wide reform bill are lavishing campaign cash on the politicians at the center of the debate," The Salt Lake (Utah) Tribune reports. Sens. Orrin Hatch and Max Baucus, both major health reform players on the Senate Finance Committee, are among those benefiting form the uptick in contributions. One lobbyist for the watchdog group Public Citizen said, "A person can reach no other conclusion than this is quid pro quo activity" (Canham, 7/27).
The Washington Post on Sunday featured Washington D.C.,-based Inner Light Ministries, a 16-year-old black community church with about 100 members, where many go "to share their experience of being black and gay, living and loving in a city where HIV and AIDS lurk in epidemic proportions. ò€¦" Some members of the congregation, as well as four of its leaders including Bishop Rainey Cheeks are HIV-positive. Cheeks teaches safe sex as a part of his sermons and the church provides condoms to its members. The article also discusses the stigma associated with HIV among gay black men. "Some men are reluctant to reveal their health status to possible partners for fear of being rejected," according to the Post. "That attitude, Cheeks said, is part of why gay black men in the District are disproportionately affected by HIV and AIDS. And why he has to keep preaching the message of safe sex," the article states (Fears, 7/26).
Canadian scientists at the University of Alberta"s Cross Cancer Institute are developing a new technology that integrates two existing medical devices -- medical linear accelerators, or "linacs," which produce powerful X-rays for treating cancer, and magnetic resonance imagers (MRIs), which are widely used to image tumors in the human body.
Members of the moderate New Democrat Coalition on Tuesday proposed legislation (HR 2502) that would establish a non-governmental, independent office to oversee research efforts to compare the effectiveness of medical treatments, CQ HealthBeat reports. The bill would create the Health Care Comparative Effectiveness Research Institute, which would use money remaining from the $1.1 billion included in the economic stimulus package for comparative effectiveness research and additional funding from fees on Medicare and private insurers. HCCERI would be overseen by a 21-member board -- appointed by the U.S. Comptroller General -- that would include HHS officials, patients, physicians, private insurers and others (Norman, CQ HealthBeat, 5/19). In contrast, a panel to oversee comparative effectiveness research established by a provision in the stimulus bill would be made up of government health experts (Mundy, "Washington Wire," Wall Street Journal, 5/19). According to CQ HealthBeat, some people have raised concerns that comparative effectiveness research funded by the stimulus bill would result in research that could be used to deny coverage for certain treatments and that cost would factor disproportionately in such decisions. Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.), who introduced the bill, said HCCERI"s goal would be to ensure that medical decisions remain between physicians and patients and that both doctors and patients have the most understandable information possible to make such decisions. HCCERI also would make public its methods for deciding which research projects to approve, as well as any links the institute has to industry, its research protocols and the names of researchers. HCCERI would accept public comment before creating new research guidelines, and all research would be subject to peer review. In addition, HCCERI in commissioning studies would take steps to account for differences in patients" gender, race, age and ethnicity (CQ HealthBeat, 5/19).Schrader said that the bill "will bring patients, along with health care providers, physicians and industry, to the decision-making process," adding, "By having a seat at the table, the American people will help drive the direction of research based on what is most important to them" ("Washington Wire," Wall Street Journal, 5/19). Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-Pa.) said that New Democrats seek to lower costs and improve quality of care, so "the most important thing we can do is to incentivize innovation and to provide that information on the best practices and best interventions and get that information out to providers." Industry Reaction
A comprehensive analysis of nearly 1,600 tumor samples has found that CT-X genes are expressed in nearly half the breast cancers that lack the estrogen receptor (ER). CT-X gene products are the targets of therapeutic cancer vaccines already in phase III clinical trials for lung cancer and melanoma. The study - to be published in the Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this week - was led by the international Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (LICR).
Anemia in very elderly people aged 85 and older appears to be associated with an increased risk of death, according to a new study in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).
Research to be presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB), July 28 - August 1, 2009, the foremost society for research into all aspects of eating and drinking behavior, finds that assisted reproductive techniques alter the expression of genes that are important for metabolism and the transport of nutrients in the placenta of mice. The results underscore the need for greater understanding of the long-term effects of new assisted reproductive techniques in humans.
Research to be presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB), July 28 - August 1, 2009, the foremost society for research into all aspects of eating and drinking behavior, finds that women who possess genetic modifications associated with low activity of the reward neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain when they imagine eating appetizing foods are more prone to weight gain. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) scans of brain activity revealed that women who had lower activity in food reward regions of the brain and who had genetic modifications associated with lower dopamine activity showed the greatest weight gain after one year. Eric Stice from the Oregon Research Institute says, "These findings provide some of the first prospective evidence that people who experience blunted reward from food may compensate by overeating, increasing risk for unhealthy weight gain." Overconsumption of appetizing foods may occur in an attempt to increase brain reward in less responsive systems. The results of this study highlight the need for further research into the role that neural reward systems play in the development of obesity. "It may be useful for individuals who show low food-related reward to increase their physical activity, which not only promotes activity the same reward circuitry but also reduces unhealthy weight gain from overeating" says Stice.
Research to be presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB), July 28 - August 1, 2009, the foremost society for research into all aspects of eating and drinking behavior, finds that after a 6-month behavioral weight loss program, depressed patients not only lost 8% of their initial weight but also reported significant improvements in their symptoms of depression, as well as reductions in triglycerides, which are a risk factor for heart disease and stroke. The results of this study highlight the need for further research into the effects of weight loss in individuals suffering from psychiatric disorders.
Dr Gedis Grudzinskas the UK-based fertility expert issued the following statement in response to the statement by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority:
A new report, "The Intelligent Board 2009: Commissioning to reduce inequalities", produced by an independent reference group of experts, encourages Primary Care Trust (PCT) Boards to review their understanding of health inequalities in their communities so that they can be addressed.
A model of influenza transmission and treatment suggests that, if the current swine flu pandemic behaves like the 1918 flu, antiviral treatment should be reserved for the young. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Infectious Diseases found that, in this situation, providing the elderly with antiviral drugs would not significantly reduce mortality, and may lead to an increase in resistance.
Traditional hospital factors-such as case volume and academic status-do not appear to predict whether patients with cardiac arrest at that facility are likely to experience delays in receiving defibrillation, according to a report in the July 27 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Calypso Medical Technologies, Inc., announced the publication of data from a clinician sponsored investigational study conducted at the University of Pennsylvania, demonstrating the utility of the Calypso® System in tracking tumor movement in the pancreas. The data will be presented at the 51st Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), July 26-30, at the Anaheim Convention Center. "In areas of the body, such as the pancreas, that are susceptible to respiratory motion it can prove difficult to handle the spectrum of motion that can arise," said James Metz, M.D., Clinical Director, Department of Radiation Oncology, The University of Pennsylvania Health System.
Nanoparticles are being developed to perform a wide range of medical uses -- imaging tumors, carrying drugs, delivering pulses of heat. Rather than settling for just one of these, researchers at the University of Washington have combined two nanoparticles in one tiny package.
Evidence buried in the chromosomes of animals and plants strongly suggests only one group -- mammals -- have seen their genomes shrink after the dinosaurs" extinction. What"s more, that trend continues today, say Indiana University Bloomington scientists in the first issue of a new journal, Genome Biology and Evolution.
Researchers at the Peninsula Medical School have received a grant of over ÷£39,000 from the charity Deafness Research UK, to investigate the role of brain tumours causing deafness in children and adults and the development of therapies using in vitro models.
Engineers at the University of Leeds (UK) are developing a way to capture the kinetic energy produced when soldiers march and use it to power their equipment.
AccuVein LLC, maker of the AV300, the world"s first hand-held, non-contact vein illumination device, announced that its quality system has received an International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 13485 Certification. This certifies to customers around the globe AccuVein"s commitment to the quality and safety of its medical device design, development, production, installation and delivery procedures.
A new report, released by the Manhattan Institute"s Center for Medical Progress and authored Douglas Holtz-Eakin, the former Director of the Congressional Budget Office, makes the fiscal and political case for bipartisan healthcare reform. Holtz-Eakin addresses dysfunctions in the existing healthcare delivery system; provides solutions to expanding access to affordable private health insurance in an incremental and fiscally responsible manner; and shows how improving market-based options will lead to better consumer access to information on healthcare quality. He argues that the only way to fix our broken healthcare system is through reforms that incentivize competition and pay for quality care.
Bioheart, Inc., (OTC Bulletin Board: BHRT) a company committed to delivering intelligent devices and biologics that help monitor, diagnose and treat heart failure and cardiovascular diseases announced today that the US FDA cleared a phase I clinical trial for MyoCell SDF-1 (Stromal Derived Factor - 1) to treat congestive heart failure. The REGEN trial will enroll 15 patients in a multicenter, randomized, dose escalation study to assess the safety and cardiovascular effects of the implantation of MyoCell SDF-1 in congestive heart failure patients post myocardial infarction(s).