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Resistance training program can help maintain metabolic health: Research

Although obesity is a major risk factor for disease, much of the threat may be associated with the metabolic (or cardiometabolic) syndrome, a cluster of risk factors related to diabetes and heart disease. Losing weight can improve health and reduce many of these risk factors. However, many people struggle to keep the weight off long-term.

23 Sep 2010

USAID, GAIN announce $1 million to reduce malnutrition burden

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) announced today $1 million to expand efforts to reduce the growing burden of malnutrition. The announcement will be made today at a historic gathering of the First Ladies of Africa, who convened to declare nutrition as a critical priority for eliminating poverty, improving health and advancing food security in their nations.

21 Sep 2010

U.N. launches largest humanitarian appeal to aid Pakistan flood relief

The U.N. on Friday launched an appeal for $2 billion in flood relief for Pakistan, Bloomberg reports. The request is the "largest appeal for humanitarian relief ever made by the world body," the news service writes (Varner, 9/17).

21 Sep 2010

Biomarkers may help predict children at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes

Children who have a high risk of developing type 2 diabetes might be identified earlier by way of tell-tale genetic indicators known as biomarkers. Some of those new biomarkers might be pinpointed in research led by Nancy F. Butte and funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service's National Institutes of Health.

20 Sep 2010

APAF selects AB SCIEX TripleTOF 5600 System to help advance proteomics research

AB SCIEX, a global leader in life science analytical technologies, today announced that the Australian Proteome Analysis Facility has chosen the AB SCIEX TripleTOF 5600 System to help advance proteomics research by significantly expanding proteome coverage. The TripleTOF 5600 System is the life science industry's fastest and most sensitive high-resolution mass spectrometer for high-performance qualitative and quantitative analysis.

20 Sep 2010

CytoGenix initiates novel liner DNA technology testing on ferrets for vaccine development

CytoGenix, Inc. today announced that it has initiated the process of testing CytoGenix's novel liner DNA technology on ferrets, with the expectations of a positive result, furthering the development of the vaccine candidate.

18 Sep 2010

Center for One Health Illinois to receive additional $500,000 grant from USDA

The Center for One Health Illinois, established at the University of Illinois last year with a $250,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, will receive another $500,000 in grants over several years from the USDA to pursue its mission of fostering collaborations and the free flow of information among those in the fields of medicine, public health, the environment and agriculture.

17 Sep 2010

Cinnamon found beneficial for regulating glucose, lowering blood sugar

A more significant use was recently discovered at the United States Department of Agriculture. Dr. John Andersonis found cinnamon beneficial for regulating glucose. In the body, sugars and starches are broken down into glucose, which then circulates in the blood.

16 Sep 2010

U.N. report: Number of hungry people worldwide drops, but 925 million still mlnourished

U.N. officials on Tuesday said that the number of hungry people worldwide dropped for the first time in 15 years, but warned that the number is still too large, the New York Times reports (MacFarquhar, 9/14).

16 Sep 2010

Researchers to develop new wearable sensor network to assess physical activity

Researchers from Michigan State University's departments of Electrical Engineering and Kinesiology are teaming up to create a new wearable sensor network to assess a person's physical activity and overall well-being.

15 Sep 2010

A.C.T.S. of F.A.I.T.H. calls for partnerships to address childhood obesity

Partnering in an innovative health initiative, the City Produce Project and the participating churches of the Actions Connected to Spirituality Forming Alliances in Transforming Health (A.C.T.S. of F.A.I.T.H.) are calling for more public and private partnerships to create programming that directly addresses obesity and its associated co-morbidities in underserved communities.

15 Sep 2010

Ahead of MDG Summit, U.N. Secretary-General calls for additional funds, strategy for tackling women's and children's health issues

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday announced that "nearly 140" world leaders are planning to attend next week's U.N. Millennium Development Goal (MDG) Summit in New York, where they will discuss ways to help countries reach the targets by 2015, the Canadian Press reports (Lederer, 9/13).

15 Sep 2010

Opinions: Global nursing; U.S. funding of Global Fund; Global demands for water; Food security

"Almost every nation, regardless of its wealth and resources, faces a continuing shortage of nurses and an acute lack of nursing faculty available to educate more nurses. This dearth of practicing nurses and nurse educators is particularly critical in countries like Haiti and other developing high-risk, low-resourced nations," Martha Hill, dean of Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, writes in a Baltimore Sun opinion piece encouraging the expansion of global nursing.

15 Sep 2010

CytoGenix reports positive results of CYDBA507 avian influenza vaccine candidate

CytoGenix reports positive results of an animal study where mice were immunized with CYDBA507, CytoGenix avian influenza vaccine candidate, protected against lethal challenge with avian influenza virus.

15 Sep 2010

Researchers develop healthier, low saturated vegetable oil from soybeans

Years of research has proven that saturated and trans fats clog arteries, make it tough for the heart to pump and are not valuable components of any diet. Unfortunately, they are contained in many foods. Now, a University of Missouri research team has developed a soybean which produces oil that is naturally low in saturated and trans fats.

14 Sep 2010

Tony Blair's 'Commission for Africa' issues new report: Africa experiences economic growth, donors need to honor commitments

The Commission for Africa, a panel set up by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, issued a report Monday which says international donors must follow up on aid commitments to Africa and help the continent address new challenges,

14 Sep 2010

African Green Revolution Forum concludes with 'Green Revolution' action plan

Participants at the first meeting of the African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) - which wrapped up recently in Accra, Ghana - drew up a "Green Revolution" action plan aimed at ensuring food security in Africa, SciDev.Net reports. The forum is the result of a challenge, issued by former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, which calls on the private and public sectors to work together to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

14 Sep 2010

NIH awards PhysioNetics $815,000 for development of low-cost prosthetic interface

ADA Technologies, Inc.'s PhysioNetics division has been awarded an $815,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The Phase II award will enable PhysioNetics to complete design refinements and commercialization activities for its low-cost upper-extremity prosthetic interface, also known as a "socket."

13 Sep 2010

Triclosan levels in treated biosolids

A study by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists and cooperators provides new details about how fertilizing soils with biosolids also introduces triclosan-an antibacterial agent in soaps and other cleaning supplies-into the environment.

13 Sep 2010

IRIN reports on efforts to better address moderate acute malnutrition

Aid groups in West Africa are trying out new strategies and products for treating moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) as part of a U.N.-led effort to change 30 year old policies, IRIN reports.

13 Sep 2010