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Study shows high cost of defensive orthopaedic care

In a first-ever national survey of orthopaedic surgeons, 96 percent said they have practiced defensive medicine - the ordering of tests, referrals to specialists and hospital admissions primarily to avoid liability and without significant benefit to patients - according to a new study presented today at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

10 Feb 2012

BGI and VIB's genomics meeting to take place on Feb. 15

Both organizations are already collaborating on several projects, including the mapping of the genomes of more than 1,000 species of gut bacteria, compiled from 577 billion base pairs of sequence data. The leading scientific journal Science selected this work as one of the scientific breakthroughs of 2011. Large-scale genome sequencing is becoming ever more important in life sciences, healthcare and agricultural research.

9 Feb 2012

Scientists study a botanical formula that kills aggressive prostate cancer tumors

Scientists at Indiana University, Methodist Research Institute study a botanical formula that kills aggressive prostate cancer tumors. Their findings, based on experiments in mice using a human prostate cancer tumor model, appear online in The International Journal of Oncology.

9 Feb 2012

Sanford-Burnham, Florida Hospital and Moffitt partner to develop PMP Florida

Moffitt Cancer Center, Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute and Florida Hospital have announced they will collaborate on the creation of a Personalized Medicine Partnership of Florida (PMP Florida). The partnership will conduct collaborative research to accelerate discovery and develop new treatments in the areas of cancer and metabolic diseases, including obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

9 Feb 2012

New, more targeted way to stimulate neurons in the brain

By harnessing quantum dots—tiny light-emitting semiconductor particles a few billionths of a meter across—researchers at the University of Washington (UW) have developed a new and vastly more targeted way to stimulate neurons in the brain.

9 Feb 2012

Thumb and little finger react faster than the middle finger

The fingers on the outside - i.e. the thumb and little finger - therefore react faster than the middle finger, which is exposed to the "cross fire" of two neighbours on each side. Through targeted learning, this speed handicap can be compensated. The working group led by PD Dr. Hubert Dinse (Neural Plasticity Lab at the Institute for Neuroral Computation) report in the current issue of PNAS.

8 Feb 2012

Center for LAM Research and Clinical Care at BWH to conduct phase I combination drug trial

The Center for LAM Research and Clinical Care at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) has been awarded a $1 million plus, four-year grant from the U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs to fund their work on lymphangioleiomyomatosis.

8 Feb 2012

USAID provides testing equipment to Vietnam to help speed diagnoses of drug-resistant TB

USAID on Monday said it has "delivered the first two of 17 planned laboratory devices" to help quickly diagnose drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis (TB), VOA's "Breaking News" blog reports.

8 Feb 2012

New immunotherapy combination prolongs survival in dogs with NHL

A new immunotherapy for companion dogs with advanced-stage non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) has been shown to improve survival while maintaining quality of life, according to a study published in the journal Scientific Reports.

8 Feb 2012

Researchers learn how to improve performance of microcantilever sensors

Researchers have learned how to improve the performance of sensors that use tiny vibrating microcantilevers to detect chemical and biological agents for applications from national security to food processing.

8 Feb 2012

Scientists study organ development in mice to unravel how breast cancers develop in people

Reviving a theory first proposed in the late 1800s that the development of organs in the normal embryo and the development of cancers are related, scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have studied organ development in mice to unravel how breast cancers, and perhaps other cancers, develop in people. Their findings provide new ways to predict and personalize the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

8 Feb 2012

Tailoring TB treatment based on a patient's genetic sequence

A gene that influences the inflammatory response to infection may also predict the effectiveness of drug treatment for a deadly form of tuberculosis.

8 Feb 2012

Inhibiting MET signaling in glioblastoma has major therapeutic value

A recent discovery by Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) scientists enables the prediction of patient sensitivity to proposed drug therapies for glioblastoma - the most common and most aggressive malignant brain tumor in humans.

7 Feb 2012

BPS Annual Meeting to be held Feb. 25 - 29 in San Diego

The latest news and discoveries in medicine, physics, environmental science, and interdisciplinary fields will be featured at the 56th Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society (BPS), held Feb. 25 - Feb. 29, 2012, at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, Calif. With more than 4,000 poster presentations, 200 exhibits, 20 symposia, and 6,000 research scientists in attendance each year, the BPS Annual Meeting is the largest meeting of biophysicists in the world.

7 Feb 2012

Wake Forest Baptist researchers create emergency general surgery registry

Researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, NC, have successfully created and implemented an emergency general surgery registry (EGSR) that will advance the science of acute surgical care by allowing surgeons to track and improve surgical patient outcomes, create performance metrics, conduct valid research and ensure quality care for all emergency general surgery (EGS) patients.

7 Feb 2012

Genomic Health plans to establish wholly owned subsidiary

Genomic Health, Inc. today announced plans to establish a wholly owned subsidiary with the goal of improving the quality of diagnosis, communication and support for millions of patients and their families faced with common and rare genetic conditions.

7 Feb 2012

Researchers derive vessel-forming stem cells from amniotic fluid

Researchers at Rice University and Texas Children's Hospital have turned stem cells from amniotic fluid into cells that form blood vessels. Their success offers hope that such stem cells may be used to grow tissue patches to repair infant hearts.

7 Feb 2012

CRT2012 conference to discuss PCI procedures using CorPath 200 System

Corindus Vascular Robotics, a leading developer of precision vascular robotics, today announced that Giora Weisz, M.D., Director of Clinical Cardiovascular Research at the Center for Interventional Vascular Therapy at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center and Associate Professor of medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, N.Y. will present his personal experience using the CorPath 200 System as part of the CorPath PRECISE Trial during a scientific presentation "Cath Lab of the Future: Robotics" at the Cardiovascular Research Technologies' annual meeting, CRT2012.

7 Feb 2012

Researchers discover how SHP-2 genetic defect may result in heart malformation

UNC researchers have discovered how the genetic defect underlying one of the most common congenital heart diseases keeps the critical organ from developing properly. According to the new research, mutations in a gene called SHP-2 distort the shape of cardiac muscle cells so they are unable to form a fully functioning heart.

7 Feb 2012

CWRU/Cleveland Clinic consortium to focus on head, neck and spinal injuries

Cleveland Clinic and Case Western Reserve University are joining forces to form the Cleveland Traumatic Neuromechanics Consortium (TNC), which will investigate and develop better protection and treatment strategies for head, neck and spinal injuries related to sports, military service and automobile accidents.

6 Feb 2012