Nutrition
Twenty-five diabetic patients will be given computers that connect them to health care providers to maintain an ongoing dialogue about their condition, and allow doctors to monitor their status, in a new patient-care experiment by Microsoft and the University of Miami, the Miami Herald reports. The patients can send blood-sugar levels and other data in real time, while physicians can "nudge" patient"s who veer from appropriate care "with an e-mail."
"In recent years, conservative political strategists have painted African Americans as being more opposed to abortion than the white population," but experts believe that there actually "is a declining black support for conservative social policies like abortion," Tracie Powell, a former congressional fellow with the American Political Science Association, writes in a CQ Politics opinion piece. According to Powell, a recent Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life survey found that 49% of black U.S. residents -- who generally are considered more religious than the entire U.S. population -- are in favor of keeping abortion legal in most or all cases.Powell continues that experts vary in their explanations of the declining opposition to abortion rights among blacks. She writes that Christopher Metzler, an associate dean at Georgetown University, said that economic concerns, such as the high unemployment rate for black workers, have become more important than abortion for the group. According to Powell, Metzler said that black U.S. residents also have started questioning the antiabortion-rights agenda because they received little support from conservatives in return.Powell writes that some experts believe the feelings of black U.S. residents regarding abortion might go "deeper than current economic and social realities." Powell adds that Salamishah Tillet, founder of the organization A Long Walk Home, said that reproductive injustice for black women dates to times of slavery, when they had no reproductive rights. According to Tillet, black women face reproductive injustice in modern times through underfunding of family planning programs, lack of access to contraception and legislation like the Hyde Amendment, which restricts access to abortion for low-income women, who are disproportionately black and Hispanic.Powell writes, "I doubt most Americans, including those who are black, consider abortion a civil rights issue, and I"m not arguing that it should be." However, "I do know that while black Americans remain one of the most religious demographics in the country, this isn"t the 1960s and African Americans no longer march lock-step behind the church," she writes (Powell, CQ Politics, 6/10).
Have you ever wished you could be in two places at once? Perhaps you"ve had the desire to create a copy of yourself that could stand in for you at a meeting, freeing you up to work on more pressing matters. Thanks to a research project called LifeLike, that fantasy might be a little closer to reality.
A few minutes might not seem like a long time, but there are circumstances when it can mean the difference between life and death. As temperatures begin to heat up, children are at a serious risk for heat stroke when left alone even for a few minutes in a closed vehicle.Last year, at least 42 children across the United States died from heatstroke caused by being left or trapped in a vehicle.
Researchers at Addenbrook"s Hospital in Cambridge published a study on bmj.com in which they explain their design and evaluation of a new cognitive test for detecting Alzeimer" disease called TYM ("test your memory") which is considered quicker and more precise than many existing tests, and which can also help diagnose early dementia.
The evidence is in. Estrogen does not halt aging or protect women from heart disease and dementia, nor is it the safest or best treatment for the hot flashes, night sweats and the insomnia that are associated with menopause and perimenopause. Quite simply - estrogen is not a good and magical hormone - as Susan Baxter, PhD., and Dr. Jerilynn C. Prior, painstakingly prove in their book, The Estrogen Errors; Why Progesterone is Better for Women"s Health.
BACKGROUND: Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) is the so-called "bad cholesterol" often linked to medical problems like heart disease and clogged arteries. Cells in the liver produce a specific receptor that sticks to LDL and removes it from the blood, lowering cholesterol levels. Statin drugs also reduce LDL cholesterol levels by boosting cells" production of the receptor.
Vitamin D levels in the body at the start of a low-calorie diet predict weight loss success, a new study found. The results, which suggest a possible role for vitamin D in weight loss, were presented at The Endocrine Society"s 91st Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.
Human Genome Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: HGSI) announced the presentation of results from a long-term Phase 2 continuation trial showing that BENLYSTA(TM) (belimumab, formerly LymphoStat-B(R)) was associated with sustained improvement in disease activity across multiple clinical measures, decreased frequency of disease flares, and was generally well tolerated through four years on treatment in combination with standard of care in patients with serologically active systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The results were presented today in Copenhagen at the 2009 Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR).
New data from Phase 3 European clinical trials reinforce that Wyeth"s (NYSE: WYE) investigational pneumococcal vaccine, Prevenar 13 (Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Conjugate Vaccine, 13-valent [Adsorbed]), has the potential to provide coverage against the 13 most prevalent serotypes associated with pneumococcal disease (PD), the leading cause of vaccine-preventable death in children younger than five worldwide.
As the World Health Organization raised the pandemic alert for Influenza A (H1N1) to its highest level, humanitarian specialists are calling on governments and health authorities globally to strengthen poor communities" access to primary health care and protect the most at risk.
A new era in the National Health Service that builds on targets achieved and prioritises quality of care was set out by new Health Secretary Andy Burnham today.
Researchers in the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences at the University of Leicester are developing a new way to make protein based drugs with potential applications in stroke, vascular inflammation, blood vessel formation, regenerative medicine and tissue engineering.
Cytokinetics, Incorporated (NASDAQ: CYTK) announced that a
Actelion Ltd (SIX: ATLN) announced the creation of the position of Chief Medical Officer (CMO). This change was initiated to fulfill the needs of a fast growing organization, which is developing products rapidly and managing a growing portfolio. Effective 1 July 2009, the current Head of Clinical Development, Isaac Kobrin will move into this position. He will continue to be a member of Actelion"s Executive Committee (AEC).
NanoScan Imaging, LLC announced the publication of new data demonstrating the use of its investigational, radio-opaque contrast agent (N1177) to visualize vulnerable plaques that can cause heart attack or stroke using advanced, non-invasive and high-resolution computed tomography (CT) techniques. Results of the study were published in the current issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of Nuclear Medicine (J Nucl Med. 2009 Jun;50(6):959-965).
Laboratory experiments have demonstrated the immunological effects of ginseng. Researchers writing in BioMed Central"s open access Journal of Translational Medicine have shown that the herb, much used in traditional Chinese and other Asian medicine, does have anti-inflammatory effects.
Dr. Jonathan C. Song, director of the Cornea Institute in the Vision Center at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles and an eye surgeon specializing in corneal diseases and transplantation, has just returned from a medical mission in which he worked with Syrian and Iraqi eye surgeons at the Syrian city of Dier Ezzor. During the medical mission, May 18-22, Dr. Song saw 50 patients and performed eight corneal transplants and five cataract surgeries. In addition to holding training sessions with Syrian ophthalmologists, he also lectured to 25 Syrian and Iraqi medical professionals about advanced eye surgery techniques.
MedPredict Market Research, a global provider of pharmaceutical competitive intelligence and market research, has published a new report entitled "Thought Leader Insight & Analysis: Alzheimer"s Disease," designed to provide critical strategic insight for pharma and biotech companies with a stake in the market for diagnostics and treatments in this disease area.
A unique Network studying the health and wellbeing of older people is bringing together health, social science and mathematics experts in a revolutionary project which will help shape the long-term provision of health and social care services across the UK and ultimately benefit older people.
UroToday.com - This publication describes our unique finding that the steroidogenic enzyme CYP17A1 is present in prostate derived exosomes, isolated from human serum. We also describe CYP17A1 expression in human prostate tissues during castration resistant progression of cancer and identify a subcellular pattern of distribution for CYP17A1 consistent with a secretory protein in human prostate tissues, similar to that of PSA.
The UK reported its first death to H1N1 swine flu on Sunday after a 38-year old mother from Glasgow died in a Scottish hospital days after she
The Soil Association is pleased to announce a new EU-wide, harmonised standard for organic health and beauty products.
Prevalence of multiple sclerosis in the United Kingdom - study estimates now 100,000 people with MS in UK.
Thousands of people with Alzheimer"s will continue to be denied access to the only drug treatments for the disease following the publication of revised guidance by the NICE.
Mental Health America announced Sharon Jenkins Tucker of Decatur, Georgia, as its 2009 recipient of the Clifford W. Beers Award.
The American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM), the nation"s oldest women"s health organization, is pleased to announce that the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) has reaffirmed its support for equitable reimbursement for certified nurse-midwives (CNMs) and certified midwives (CMs) within the Medicare program, a priority legislative initiative for ACNM members.
A couple of months ago, Stanford Hospital had a preview of what a real pandemic might look like: hundreds of people, fearing they might be sick with the H1N1 virus, showed up at the emergency department looking for help. Hospital officials scrambled fast, converting some space over night into an infection-controlled triage area.
Baxter International Inc. (NYSE: BAX) announced that it has completed testing and evaluation of the A/H1N1 influenza virus and is now in full-scale production of a commercial A/H1N1 vaccine using its Vero cell culture technology. Baxter received an A/H1N1 strain from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [a World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center] in early May and is diligently working to deliver a pandemic vaccine for use as early as July.
President Obama used his popularity Thursday at a town hall meeting in Green Bay, Wisc., in an effort to help make the case to Americans that a health care system overhaul needs to happen this year, Time reports.
Several African countries have successfully scaled up their HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs, U.N. Special Envoy for HIV and AIDS in Africa Elizabeth Mataka said during a media briefing at the World Economic Forum on Africa being held in Cape Town, South Africa, the ZANIS/Lusaka Times reports. Zambia and Botswana were among some of the countries that have made significant progress in southern Africa, according to Mataka.
The Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada praised the government"s announcement of $15 million to study the impact of a wide variety of neurological conditions, including multiple sclerosis.
The NFU has told a European Commission review of anti-dumping duties imposed on fertiliser from the Ukraine that such measures act as artificial trade barriers and, given the importance of fertiliser to agriculture, can curb profitability of farms across the UK and EU.
Protesters gathered outside a Washington, D.C., CVS Pharmacy on Thursday to urge the pharmacy chain to end the practice of locking condoms in display cases in certain neighborhoods, WJLA News reports. The protesters contend that CVS restricts access to condoms in poor black neighborhoods, whose residents may be at higher risk for HIV, other sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancies (WJLA News, 6/11). The protest was a part of a nationwide effort called, "Cure CVS: Unlock the Condoms Initiative," which aims to urge CVS to keep condoms unlocked at all times (Business Wire release, 6/10). CVS said in a statement, "All CVS stores sell condoms that are unlocked and accessible" (WJLA News, 6/11).
Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, on Thursday said that the GOP has not ruled out the use of procedural tactics, such as a Republican boycott, to attempt to delay Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor"s confirmation hearing, Roll Call reports. Republicans have complained that the scheduled July 13 start date for the hearing does not give them enough time to review Sotomayor"s record. Kyl said that Republicans will try to negotiate with Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) for more time if they feel they cannot meet the July 13 deadline (Stanton, Roll Call, 6/11). Leahy said that Sotomayor is entitled to be confirmed on the same timetable as Chief Justice John Roberts, who appeared before the Judiciary Committee less than two months after his nomination (Kivlan, CongressDaily, 6/11).Republican Senate aides say Judiciary Committee ranking member Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) is not likely to make a final decision for several weeks on whether the GOP will try to delay the nomination. According to Roll Call, Sessions has sought to approach the issue "in a careful, measured way," though he has been critical of some of Sotomayor"s public statements. Roll Call reports that Republicans are apt to display an impartial stance on Sotomayor until the hearing starts, meaning that they likely will delay a decision on whether to stall the nomination until the last minute (Roll Call, 6/11).Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said that Republican senators are stalling to give conservative groups more time to organize a campaign against Sotomayor that they hope will taint her nomination. Feinstein said that there are "groups out there who need more time for attacks and sound bites." She added, "This is a woman who is qualified, who is brilliant, and who worked her way up" (CongressDaily, 6/11).
Trust in science is diminishing, according to recent studies, especially in the area of biomedicine, biotech and genetics. University of Alberta researchers Tim Caulfield and Tania Bubela blame it on the complexity of many discoveries and they"re concerned the whole message from the study isn"t getting across to the general public.
A leading Melbourne scientist has unveiled a test able to detect Swine Flu, or any other virus, within hours.
A new type of robot being developed will make it easier to detect drugs, weapons, explosives and illegal immigrants concealed in cargo containers.
The BDA has produced a series of vintage oral health promotional posters and postcards featuring designs produced by the Ministry of Health between the nineteen thirties and sixties. The exclusive series, unveiled at the British Dental Conference and Exhibition, uses a combination of eye-catching vintage illustrations and photographs to emphasise the value of good oral health and nutrition in a fun and novel way.
First line treatment with anakinra (an interleukin-1 (IL-1) receptor antagonist), results in a "good" clinical response (ACRp90) in patients newly diagnosed with systemic onset juvenile idiopathic arthritis (SoJIA), and restores the deficient IL-18 response of natural killer (NK) cells*, according to a new study presented recently at PReS 2009, a joint congress with the 2009 Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) in Copenhagen, Denmark.
A protein known to play a role in growth of some types of leukemia appears to have a mixed function in breast cancer development, say researchers from the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC).
Drinking a glass of skimmed milk, rather than fruit juice, at breakfast time could leave you feeling fuller for longer and less likely to eat heavily at lunchtime, according to new research.
Vanguard Pharmaceutical Corporation (PINKSHEETS: VGPH) has recently acquired a naturally derived product formulated to aid against strains of influenza by strengthening the immune system. Their unique formula combines traditional Chinese medicine with many extracts that have proven to boost the immune system as well as offer many other benefits in the fight against influenza. Swine Guard is formulated with:
The number of confirmed cases of new A/H1N1 swine flu in Japan surged over the weekend, when health officials reported earlier today,
Jazz Pharmaceuticals" (Nasdaq: JAZZ) sodium oxybate (JZP-6) demonstrated statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in pain and the core symptoms associated with fibromyalgia, according to Phase III data presented last week at the 2009 Associated Professional Sleep Societies meeting in Seattle, WA. These data have not been evaluated by the FDA or other regulatory authorities for use of sodium oxybate in the treatment of fibromyalgia.
In a viewpoint published Online First and in a future edition of The Lancet, Sir Iain Chalmers, of the James Lind Library, Oxford, UK, and Professor Paul Glasziou, of the University of Oxford, UK, debate on the unnecessary waste that exists in medical research. This misuse leads many reports to be of no purpose. If there is a lack of functional reports and if they are not easily accessible, research is of no help to patients or their doctors.
Cheltenham Borough Council has today lost its case to sue former employee Christine Laird for ÷£1million for not disclosing her past experience of depression. Leading mental health charity Mind says the landmark ruling serves as an important reminder to employers about the importance of providing adequate support to people with mental health problems in the workplace.
Norovirus and Salmonella were the leading causes of foodborne disease outbreaks in 2006, according to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The report, based on investigations of foodborne disease outbreaks provides the most recent report of how many illnesses were linked to specific types of foods.
Several reports today focus on inadequate health care for certain population groups within the United States.
Action Duchenne, the Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Charity, has launched its new website which combines the best in Web 2.0 technologies including social networking, wikipedia, blogging and micro-blogging. The new site Action Duchenne also enables the charity to take donations from registered members and the general public. Users may also create their own sponsorable events with donations going directly to Action Duchenne.
Following talks with Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai at the White House Friday, President Obama pledged $73 million in aid to the country, AFP/Google.com reports (Carmichael, AFP/Google.com, 6/13). The U.S. aid, however "will not be going to the government directly because we continue to be concerned about consolidating democracy, human rights and rule of law," Obama said (Stolberg, New York Times, 6/13), but channeled through appropriate aid agencies (ZimOnline, 6/15).
Finance ministers from Italy, Canada and Russia Friday voiced their support for a program aimed at lowering the prices of vaccines for developing countries, the AFP/Google.com reports. "The Advanced Market Commitment (AMC) programme was first outlined in 2007 and will encourage pharmaceutical companies to invest in research for vaccines against deadly diseases by promising to buy the vaccines at a fixed price," the AFP/Google.com writes (AFP/Google.com, 6/12).
With the H1N1 flu outbreak now elevated to pandemic level, a new article http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/rapidpdf/cmaj.090866 in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) reports that oseltamivir (Tamiflu®) and zanamivir (Relenza®) are relatively safe drugs for use in pregnant and breast-feeding women.
All Global, the world"s
A lung cancer treatment that inhibits nicotine receptors was shown to double survival time in mice, according to Italian researchers.
The Louisiana Senate Health and Welfare Committee on Wednesday approved a bill (H.B. 517) that would expand the ability of health care workers to refuse to provide services for moral or religious reasons, the Baton Rouge Advocate reports. The bill passed by a 3-2 vote after the addition of amendments to narrow the scope of the legislation. According to the Advocate, the bill would allow a medical worker to choose not to participate in any service "that violates his conscience," which it defines as a religious belief or moral conviction. Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) supports the legislation, as do conservative groups like the Louisiana Family Forum and the Louisiana Right to Life Federation. Several groups oppose the bill, including Planned Parenthood, the Forum for Equality, Louisiana Agenda for Children and the American Civil Liberties Union. ACLU of Louisiana"s Marjorie Esman said that the bill could "lead to all kinds of unintended consequences," based on assertions of moral and religious objections (Blum, Baton Rouge Advocate, 6/11).
The vast majority of cancer deaths are due to metastasis, the spread of cancer cells from its primary site to other parts of the body. These metastatic cells tend to move more than their non-metastatic variants but this movement is poorly understood. Scientists are studying cancer cells intently with the hope they can learn to control the movements of the dangerous cells.
Australian and New Zealand scientists are a step closer to unravelling what causes multiple sclerosis.
Neurological diseases including Parkinson"s, Tourette"s, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Alzheimer"s, and schizophrenia are all associated with alterations in dopamine-driven function involving the dopamine transporter (DAT). Research published recently in the open access journal BMC Neuroscience suggests that a number of estrogens acting through their receptors affect the DAT, which may explain trends in timing of women"s susceptibility to these diseases.
Alcohol is sometimes seen as part and parcel of college life, but there are programs that can significantly reduce students" risky drinking, according to a series of studies in a special college drinking supplement of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.
The American Dental Association (ADA) Center for Evidence-Based Dentistry (EBD) and The Forsyth Institute announce the offering of an intensive, five-day training course in evidence-based principles and tools, including systematic reviews and applications for clinical decision making.
The 2009 monsoon season will soon arrive in the Asian territories and culicine mosquito populations are expected to increase. "These mosquitoes may carry the virus that causes Japanese Encephalitis (JE), which kills 10-15,000 people each year," warned Fran Lessans, CEO of Passport Health, the largest provider of travel medical services in the U.S. A new vaccine called Ixiaro(R) has been approved by the FDA, and is ready for distribution in the United States. Some Passport Health"s offices will have both JE-VAX(R) and Ixiaro(R) until JE-VAX(R) is phased out. "The new vaccine is good for adults over 18 so we still have to use JE-VAX(R) for the younger population," concluded Lessans. Both vaccines protect against JE.
HEALTHPOINT, Ltd. announced that it has enrolled the first of a planned 235 subjects into a Phase II dose response study investigating an experimental, cell-based wound therapy ---HP802-247---intended for the treatment of venous leg ulcers. HP802-247 is a topical spray containing living keratinocytes and fibroblasts. The first patient was enrolled at The Center for Clinical Research near San Francisco, Calif., led by the site"s principal investigator, Alexander Reyzelman, DPM. The study is being conducted by 28 investigators in 18 states.
Cambridge Research & Instrumentation, Inc. (CRi) announced that Oosight(TM), a non-invasive optical imaging system manufactured by CRi and widely used by embryologists as an aid in the field of in vitro fertilization (IVF), has been used in a groundbreaking study that investigated ways to select eggs most likely to produce a pregnancy.
A new study published by University of Leicester researchers has found "convincing evidence" that cannabis smoke damages DNA in ways that could potentially increase the risk of cancer development in humans.
A report published revealed the social care workforce is unfit to deliver quality care for people with dementia.
President Barack Obama told the American Medical Association Monday that a health care fix can"t wait, The New York Times reports. ""The public option is not your enemy," Mr. Obama said. "It is your friend, I believe." Saying it would "keep the insurance companies honest," the president dismissed as "illegitimate" the claims of critics that a public insurance option amounts to "a Trojan horse for a single-payer system" run by the government. Mr. Obama twice referred to the use of such "fear tactics" about "socialized medicine" in past legislative battles, without pointing out that the A.M.A., a traditionally Republican-leaning group, was among those using the charge, as in the mid-1960s debate over creating Medicare for people 65 and older"
The Associated Press reports that the VA "opened the doors of its health care system Monday to about 266,000 nondisabled veterans with moderate incomes, some of whom have been shut out of those benefits. The veterans eligible are from a category known as "Priority 8." They have no illnesses or injuries attributed to their military service, and they earn more than the average wage in their communities." The AP notes that such veterans were previously denied enrollment because of a cost-savings move in 2003, but the VA is expanding eligibility by raising income restrictions from about $29,000 to $32,000, which is adjusted for the cost of living. The effort represents part of President Barack Obama"s campaign promise to bring all veterans into the VA"s system. The AP notes that: "In 1996, Congress ordered the agency to open health care to nearly all veterans, but lawmakers also gave the VA secretary the authority to suspend enrollments" (Hefling, 6/15).
You Be Obama New York Times
A joint legislative budget committee in California on Monday rejected a number of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger"s (R) proposals to cut funding from some state programs to address the state"s $24.3 billion deficit, including a plan to cut $80.1 million from HIV/AIDS programs, the Sacramento Bee reports (Wiegand/Sanders, Sacramento Bee, 6/14). The committee voted to reduce the $80.1 million proposal, which would affect a number of HIV/AIDS education, prevention and treatment services, by roughly $50 million, to $33.5 million, according to the Los Angeles Times (Goldmacher, Los Angeles Times, 6/15).
The California-based clinic Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation (AIMHF), which serves the adult film industry, said on Monday it will boost its HIV prevention measures by urging the industry to use an online database to verify that employees have recently been tested for HIV, the Los Angeles Times reports. The industry currently requires that workers be tested every 30 days. Los Angeles County health officials recently reported that there had been 16 unpublicized cases of HIV in adult film workers in the county since 2004 after news emerged last week that an adult film actress tested positive for HIV (Yoshino, Los Angels Times, 6/15).
The country"s pre-eminent obesity charity, the National Obesity Forum is staging its first consumer awareness week in November this year.
U.S. Should Double Newborn, Maternal Health Spending, Encourage Other G8 Countries To Do The Same
Ark Therapeutics Group plc (AKT:LSE) announces that Named Patient Supply (NPS) for Cerepro® (sitimagene ceradenovec) has been approved in Finland by the National Agency for Medicines (NAM). The approval follows an application made by a neuro-surgeon in Finland for the use of Cerepro®.
University of Alberta researchers conducting a water study in the Mackenzie River Delta have found a dramatically higher delivery of mercury from the Mackenzie River to the Arctic Ocean than determined in previous studies.
The Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF) announced that results of the largest meta-analysis to date comparing mortality rates for drug-eluting stents (DES) versus bare metal stents (BMS) were published online June 15 in the journal Circulation. The study also compared the rates of myocardial infarction (MI) and target vessel revascularization (TVR).
PhytoMedical Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB:PYTO) (FWB:ET6), announced the advancement of their anti-cancer compound research and development. The culmination of a series of favorable test results conducted over several months have allowed the company to justifiably expand their cancer research efforts which includes the designing of an IV formulation of their key compound.
Autistics are up to 40 percent faster at problem-solving than non-autistics, according to a new Universitçİ de Montrçİal and Harvard University study published in the journal Human Brain Mapping. As part of the investigation, participants were asked to complete patterns in the Raven"s Standard Progressive Matrices (RSPM) - test that measures hypothesis-testing, problem-solving and learning skills.
Research published in the June issue of the American Sociological Review examines issues surrounding families, communities, youth and delinquency. The following briefs highlight selected sociological findings.
This week, a study came out that scared us big-time ... it suggests that children and teens who take stimulants like Ritalin for ADHD have an increased risk for sudden cardiac death. Our pediatrician weighs in.
Three-dimensional, real-time X-ray images of patients could be closer to reality because of research recently completed by scientists at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a pair of Russian institutes.
The findings of the ATLAS ACS-TIMI 46 study are reported in an article Online First and in a future edition of The Lancet, and written by Dr Jessica L Mega, Brigham and Women"s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA, and collaborators. They suggest that the intake of the oral anti-clotting drug rivaroxaban in patients after an acute coronary syndrome (such as a heart attack or an unstable angina) reduces the risk of stroke, another heart attack, and death.
Two new studies published by neurologists at Columbia University Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital demonstrate a need for more vigilant monitoring for seizure activity among intensive care patients who may be experiencing subtle seizures that are typically unrecognized. These subtle seizures may be affecting patients" prognoses and causing long-term brain damage, death and severe disability.
Enzon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ENZN) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Cimzia®, for the treatment of adult patients with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Cimzia® (certolizumab pegol), is a PEGylated anti-TNFa (Tumor Necrosis Factor alpha). The product is currently being developed by UCB. Cimzia is one of several products which utilize Enzon"s PEGylation technology, including PEG-INTRON®, Macugen®, and Pegasys®.
The University of Granada will house the first European research centre on teenagers" mental mechanisms when driving motorcycles and carrying out risk conducts, which could be helpful, in a near future, to modify and avoid them. The Faculty of Psychology will house three state-of-the-art simulators there was already one at the UGR so far- that will be useful to do research into these mechanisms, thanks to an agreement signed with the company Honda Motor Co. (Europe); the University will become one of the most important centres around the world in this subject.
A new trial has found that pneumococcal vaccine is effective in preventing severe pneumonia, the leading cause of death among children in developing countries. Co-ordinated by the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) between 2000 and 2004, a large scale efficacy trial first of its kind in Asia - was carried out in the Philippines to investigate the effect of an investigational pneumococcal vaccine.
A new theory on the role of developmental experiences is presented in the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psycosomatics.
Hydration expert, Water Wellpoint is playing a key role in helping public sector employers look after the health and wellbeing of their staff. The company has recently been working with East London NHS Foundation Trust to run a series of wellbeing days, giving employees the ability to check key aspects of their health in a total voluntary format.
Humans can tell if two strangers are related, even if they are generations apart, just by looking at their faces. So say scientists writing today in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B , who believe this ability helps us to interpret situations and understand the motives of others in a social setting.
Nearly one-third of sexually active women ages 15 to 24 in Nigeria had an unmet need for modern contraception in 2003, according to a study from the Guttmacher Institute, BBC News reports. The study, which analyzed health data from Nigerian authorities and non-governmental organizations, found that 16% of pregnancies among women ages 15 to 24 in 2003 were unintended, compared with 10% in 1990. From 1990 to 2003, there was little change -- from 4% to 8% -- in use of modern contraceptives among young women who were sexually active. In addition, the proportion of sexually active young women who were aware of how to access family planning services decreased from 32% in 1990 to 18% in 2003, the study found. The study also said that although the proportion of girls and young women with some secondary education increased from 34% in 1990 to 50% in 2003, Nigerian authorities have inadequately promoted sexual health information, including contraceptive information, to the country"s youth. The report noted that Nigeria"s population is increasing by 2.2% annually and will double every 32 years if that rate is maintained.Friday Okonofua, the co-author of the report, said, "We are failing Nigerian adolescents when it comes to providing them with the information and services they need to delay marriage and avoid unintended pregnancies." She added that the lack of information leaves girls and young women vulnerable to unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections like HIV (BBC News, 6/16).
Scott Roeder, who is charged with the murder of abortion provider George Tiller, and James von Brunn, who is charged with last week"s shooting death of a Holocaust Memorial Museum guard, "appear to be murderers, not terrorists," Jonathan Turley, a professor of public interest law at George Washington University, writes in a USA Today opinion piece. Although "liberals denounced" the tendency of conservatives to call "every possible crime an act of terrorism" while former President George W. Bush was in office, now that there are antiabortion-rights and anti-Semetic suspects, "there is an insistence that these crimes must be treated as terrorism -- as if to call them "murder" or "hate crimes" would diminish their significance," Turley states. Many people who "kill strangers out of hate for their race or religion or some other association" are "loners or rogue operators who seek to satisfy a blood lust against different groups," Turley contends, noting that classifying a crime as an act of terrorism allows for a different types of prosecution, investigation and punishment. According to Turley, the "term "terrorism" once had a clear meaning before it was used as a point of emphasis to evaluate or distinguish certain crimes." The Bush administration"s broadening of the definition to include "any prosecution that disrupts a "potential" terrorism threat" served to further divert the term from its historical definition, he adds. Now, "many want to see terrorism investigations targeting antiabortion activists and other groups that use violent speech," Turley writes."We do not advance our efforts by classifying every hate crime as terrorism," Turley continues, adding that it would be "the terrorists who will benefit from our lack of focus" in the definition. According to Turley, the "fact is that even an authoritarian nation can do little to stop a determined rogue operator from walking into a church and killing someone like Dr. Tiller." Referring to "someone such as Roeder as a murderer does not diminish the crime or the victim" because "we do not have to call murder "terrorism" to take the crime or its causes seriously," Turley writes (Turley, USA Today, 6/17).
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) announced the initiation of a Phase I clinical trial with LGD-4033, a next-generation selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) designed to provide the benefits of androgen receptor stimulation on skeletal muscle and bone without the side effects of currently marketed androgens. The Phase I study will evaluate the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetic profile of orally administered LGD-4033.
The Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission (Commission) has completed its evaluation of the 147 applications in response to its three official Requests for Applications (RFAs). The board of directors of the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) reviewed the Commission"s recommendations today and approved 59 projects totaling $18.9 million in funding through the Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund (MSCRF) under the Maryland Stem Cell Research Act of 2006.
Arrayit Corporation (OTCBB: ARYC), a leading manufacturer of products and services for disease prevention, treatment and cure, announced that its microarray-based diagnostic test, patented under the trade name Variation Identification Platform (VIP), is ready for manufacture and distribution. A breakthrough screening test using VIP will allow clinicians and researchers to test and detect the H1N1 swine flu virus in population wide studies.
A new National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) assay using a "glow or no glow" technique may soon help the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) defend the nation against a spectrum of biological weapons that could be used in a terrorist attack. One very dangerous toxin on the list is ricin, a protein derived from castor beans that is lethal in doses as small as 500 micrograms - about the size of a grain of salt.