Research News and Research

RSS

Safety net hospitals worry health reform poses threat

The Associated Press/San Jose Mercury News: "To all the knotty issues involved in health care overhaul, add one more: The proposals in Congress may threaten the funding and future of the nation's already-struggling safety net hospitals."

5 Sep 2009

Polls show mixed results for President's health care reform efforts

NPR reports: "President Obama's plan to make a rare address to a joint session of Congress next Wednesday has been characterized as an all-in effort to shore up support for his attempt to overhaul the nation's health care system.

5 Sep 2009

Angiotensin II receptors not detectable in pregnant or preeclamptic women

A new study by researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine reveals a key component in the development of preeclampsia in pregnant women, a condition that can result in miscarriage and maternal death.

5 Sep 2009

ChromoCure forges co-development agreement for chromosomal scanner system

ChromoCure, Inc. announced today it executed a Technology Co-Development Agreement with its primary cell preparation and application technology supplier. The co-development agreement calls for the joint-development of a fully integrated chromosomal scanner system for nation-wide distribution to pathology and related cancer detection labs.

5 Sep 2009

Increased consumer preference of walnut due to its alpha-linolenic acid content

The 2009 walnut harvest, currently underway in the California Central Valley, is estimated to be 415,000 short tons according to USDA NASS California Field Office estimates, a number which will be confirmed in February 2010. Overall, the California walnut crop has increased by 74% since 2000, though the current estimate is 4.4% lighter than last year's record crop of 434,301 short tons.

5 Sep 2009

LSU Professor awarded grant to support a Superfund Research Center

LSU Professor and Patrick F. Taylor Chair of Chemistry Barry Dellinger was recently awarded a grant of $3.6 million by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, or NIEHS, to support a Superfund Research Center focusing on hazardous waste disposal and its impact on public health. It is the only center ever awarded by this program that is not located at a medical school or school of public health.

5 Sep 2009

More PMTCT interventions needed, experts at WHO Regional meeting say

Experts participating in the 59th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Africa called for more interventions to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT), New Times/allAfrica.com reports.

5 Sep 2009

Many high health costs remain mysterious, including the cost of reform

Health care's high costs are a main reason lawmakers are taking on health reform, but it's also a challenge to identify and target the many reasons care is so expensive. NPR takes a look at medical devices, like plastic tubes and scalpels, that boast surprisingly big price tags. A $2,000 dollar metal stent must be tiny and flexible, a $60 plastic catheter must bend in exactly the right way and "the market is still sorting itself out" on the appropriate price of relatively new specialty scalpels used for heart surgery (Joffe-Walt 9/4).

5 Sep 2009

New tool for easy assessment of pesticide effects on water bodies

Leipzig: The long-term effects of pesticides on living organisms in rivers and on water quality can now be assessed more easily. Researchers from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) have developed a tool that can estimate the harmful effect of pesticides, such as those flushed into rivers and streams from agricultural land, within minutes.

5 Sep 2009

Health bills would maintain COBRA, offer more help for unemployed

The health care reform bills would keep provisions from the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) that allow workers who lose their jobs to buy health insurance through their old plan, The Plain Dealer reports in answer to a reader's question. But the Cleveland paper notes that other options could also be available.

5 Sep 2009

Olympic gold medalist Shannon Miller to campaign for Stemcyte

StemCyte, Inc., one of the world's preeminent cord blood banks, today announced that Shannon Miller, a 7-time Olympic Medalist and 9-time World Medalist, has signed an endorsement partnership agreement and will appear in a series of advertising and public awareness campaigns for the company.

5 Sep 2009

Averion files information statement with SEC for going private transaction

Averion International Corporation (OTC BB: AVRO), today announced that it has filed an information statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding its plan to go private.

5 Sep 2009

Over 2,800 people worldwide have died from H1N1, WHO reports

The WHO on Friday announced the H1N1 (swine) flu virus has killed at least 2,837 people - the result of an continued increase in the number of H1N1 cases worldwide, not the virulence of the virus, Reuters reports. "There is no sense that the virus has mutated or changed in any sense," WHO spokesperson Gregory Hartl said during a news conference (Nebehay/MacInnis, 9/4).

5 Sep 2009

MRF announces winners of six 2009 research grants

The Migraine Research Foundation (MRF), the only nonprofit organization devoted solely to funding migraine research, today announced the winners of the 2009 research grants. This year's grantees will explore such important areas as pediatric migraine, the genetic association between migraine and cardiovascular events, and why opioids enhance migraine pain.

5 Sep 2009

Victim’s longevity with the deadly disease inspires thousands of dying patients

When Jerry Lewis takes the stage again on Labor Day 2009 for the Muscular Dystrophy Association Telethon, thousands of people who suffer from the same lung disease as he will be watching - and not just to hear the funny things he'll say. They'll be looking for inspiration from the funny man who suffers from a not-so-funny and little known fatal lung disease.

5 Sep 2009

Experience of Seattle's Group Health raise questions about co-ops' role in reform

An examination of Seattle's Group Health raises questions about the role of health co-ops in insurance reform. Seattle Weekly reports: "Two weeks ago, as the national debate over health care began to fixate on cooperatives like Seattle's Group Health as a possible model for reform, Eugene and Yukiko Gatlin filed for bankruptcy protection.

5 Sep 2009

Aflac Ford Fusion to sport 13-year-old cancer patient's paint scheme

On September 6(th), at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion will sport a colorful new look inspired by a 13-year-old patient at the Aflac Cancer Center. Aflac invited children at the Aflac Cancer Center and Blood Disorders Service to "Color Carl's Car" for the Labor Day weekend race.

5 Sep 2009

microRNAs analysis could detect pancreatic cancer

A blood test for small molecules abnormally expressed in pancreatic cancer may be a promising route to early detection of the disease, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in the September edition of the journal Cancer Prevention Research.

5 Sep 2009

Dems divided along regional, ideological boundaries

When it comes to health care, Democrats in specific and lawmakers in general will face deep policy differences when they return to work next week.

5 Sep 2009

Brain protein srGAP2 capable of forming filopodia

When the process goes awry, neurodevelopmental disorders such as mental retardation, dyslexia or autism may result. Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have now discovered that establishing the neural wiring necessary to function normally depends on the ability of neurons to make finger-like projections of their membrane called filopodia.

5 Sep 2009