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First Edition: September 8, 2011

In today's headlines, reports from last night's GOP presidential debate, as well as explorations of what the future might hold for the 'Super Committee' and news developments related to physician payment issues.

8 Sep 2011

Potential budget cuts threaten U.S. diplomacy and development aid, Reuters reports

Reuters examines how budget debates in Congress "could undo" President Barack Obama's "'smart power' approach, which elevates diplomacy and development alongside military power as guarantors of U.S. security in a rapidly changing world." Programs run through the State Department and USAID that provide "food aid to hungry countries, improved medical services for expectant mothers and the U.S. response to natural disasters such as earthquakes and droughts could be hit in a major scale-back of U.S. assistance," the news agency writes.

8 Sep 2011

Guyana coast at risk of malaria resurgence as climate change brings warmer temperatures, more rainfall

"Guyana is battling to prevent the spread of malaria as climate change brings higher temperatures and more rainfall, threatening to push the disease back into densely populated coastal regions," AlertNet reports.

8 Sep 2011

ERS urges EU to take action on chronic respiratory diseases

Respiratory diseases are one of the leading causes of death and suffering in the EU. The challenge Europe is facing in this field goes far beyond public health: lung diseases currently cause an annual cost of €100 billion and threaten the Europe 2020 strategy and the goal to have 75% of the working population employed and productive.

6 Sep 2011

Global climate change linked with asthma-related ER visits among children

Mount Sinai School of Medicine researchers have found that climate change may lead to more asthma-related health problems in children, and more emergency room (ER) visits in the next decade.

31 Aug 2011

Premier healthcare alliance awards new agreements for procurement of energy

The Premier healthcare alliance today announced that new agreements for the procurement of energy have been awarded to Amerex Brokers, LLC. of Sugar Land, Texas; Co-eXprise Inc. of Wexford, Pa.; Hospital Energy Development LLC. of Middletown, Conn.; Vical Energy Consultants Inc. of Hackensack, N.J.; and World Energy Solutions, Inc. of Worcester, Mass.

29 Aug 2011

EU finances BRIDGE project to tackle major disasters

The subject of the EU's BRIDGE project is transnational and interagency cooperation in the event of terror attacks, natural disasters and industrial accidents. The project is being led by SINTEF and was launched in April 2011.

26 Aug 2011

Long-term dynamics of evolution may take around a million years

In research that will help address a long-running debate and apparent contradiction between short- and long-term evolutionary change, scientists have discovered that although evolution is a constant and sometimes rapid process, the changes that hit and stick tend to take a long time.

24 Aug 2011

Climate shifts may threaten to increase spread of malaria, health experts say

"Shifts in the world's climate and responses to those shifts – including construction of more irrigation systems – threaten to increase the spread of malaria, health experts say," AlertNet reports.

23 Aug 2011

Bird malaria in Britain worries experts

British birds are being increasingly detected with malaria. Two decades back few British species showed regular signs of infection but now some 30 types are infected, monitoring projects have found. The problem is linked to a rapid growth in mosquito populations, which is attributed to a rise of about 1 degrees centigrade in global average temperature, say experts.

15 Aug 2011

Vampire bat causes rabies

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced the first death linked to a vampire bat. The victim’s mother reported that her son was bitten by a vampire bat on his heel while he was sleeping. At the time, the bite was not reported or treated in Mexico, where the bite occurred.

15 Aug 2011

Climate change to affect spread of malaria in India, study says

Over the next 20 years, "[c]limate change is likely to spread malaria to new areas in the Indian Himalayas, and lengthen the periods in which the infection is spread in a number of districts, according to projections [.pdf] from" researchers at the National Institute of Malaria Research (NIMR), Delhi, and published in a special issue of Current Science on Wednesday, SciDev.Net reports.

12 Aug 2011

New results will provide a common thread for climate change research

New computer modeling work shows that by 2100, if society wants to limit carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to less than 40 percent higher than it is today, the lowest cost option is to use every available means of reducing emissions.

6 Aug 2011

Entomologist to study how immune system responds to rickettsial infection

Summer for most people means time spent outdoors, which could also mean increased exposure to bugs and, possibly, arthropod-borne diseases, such as "rickettsial diseases" - infectious diseases spread by bacteria, which, generally, are transmitted by lice, fleas, ticks and mites.

5 Aug 2011

LGR announces significant price reduction for new greenhouse gas analyzer

Los Gatos Research (LGR), the leading innovator of cavity-enhanced laser-based instrumentation for analyses of gases and liquids, today announced a significant price reduction for its new greenhouse gas (GHG) analyzer designed to deliver the highest level of precision, accuracy, and stability available.

2 Aug 2011

Cutting foreign aid is shortsighted solution to U.S. budget woes

"Haggling in Congress over bills to fund the state department and foreign operations in 2012 are worrying for those of us seeking to address global poverty and climate change, and respond to famine and other disasters," Samuel Worthington, president and CEO of InterAction, writes in the Guardian's "Poverty Matters Blog."

1 Aug 2011

Senate Foreign Relations Committee introduces foreign relations authorization act for FY12-13

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair John Kerry released a bill on Wednesday that would authorize FY12 and FY13 funding for the State Department and foreign operations, as well as key programs and initiatives, Foreign Policy's blog "The Cable" reports.

29 Jul 2011

USAID releases new issue of Frontlines

The June/July issue of USAID's Frontlines focuses on climate change, including an article on how Kenyan farmers are adapting to environmental changes. The issue also includes articles on how the search for an HIV vaccine has boosted African research and on the introduction of the GeneXpert tuberculosis test in Central Asia.

28 Jul 2011

House committee releases foreign operations spending bill with state, USAID funding cuts

The House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday released the FY12 Foreign Relations Authorization Act "that slashes State Department funding and foreign aid," The Hill's "On The Money" blog reports.

28 Jul 2011

New sustainable ways to manage urban water in the U.S.

America's cities face a looming water crisis, driven by climate change, growing population and a crumbling infrastructure. Recognizing the critical importance of this issue, the National Science Foundation has selected a partnership of four U.S. universities to form an Engineering Research Center (ERC) to address this challenge by developing new, sustainable ways to manage urban water.

27 Jul 2011