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Insulin pumps and other medical devices ‘hackable’

A diabetic security researcher has identified flaws that could allow an attacker to remotely control insulin pumps and alter the readouts of blood-sugar monitors. As a result, diabetics could get too much or too little insulin, a hormone they need for proper metabolism.

5 Aug 2011

New strategies for successful donor adult stem cell transplants in blood cancer patients

Findings by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers may suggest new strategies for successful donor adult stem cell transplants in patients with blood cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma.

5 Aug 2011

New HIV numbers stable at 50,000 per year, down from 130,000 in the mid-1980s

According to government figures released Wednesday, the number of Americans newly infected with the AIDS virus each year has been holding steady at about 50,000. But a U.S. health official said just keeping the number stable was unacceptable, noting a dramatic increase in new HIV cases among young gay and bisexual black men.

5 Aug 2011

New polymer effectively captures nicotine molecules and analogues

Newly synthesized polymer, fitted with molecular pincers of carefully tailored structure, effectively captures nicotine molecules and its analogues.

5 Aug 2011

University of Kentucky pioneers new use of artificial-lung technology

Surgeons at the University of Kentucky on Aug. 3 announced that they were among the first to use artificial-lung technology to demonstrate the feasibility of a lung transplant, using a device invented by two university faculty members, Dr. Joseph Zwischenberger and Dr. Dongfang Wang.

5 Aug 2011

Study: Low lifetime recreational activity may increase prevalence of PAD

New research published in the August 2011 issue of the Journal of Vascular Surgery, the official publication of the Society for Vascular Surgery, indicates that there may be a connection between low lifetime recreational activity (LRA) and increased peripheral arterial disease.

5 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

Novel DNA sensing pathway linked to increased susceptibility to malaria

Scientists at the University of Massachusetts Medical School have uncovered a novel DNA-sensing pathway important to the triggering of an innate immune response for malaria. Activation of this pathway appears to stimulate production of an overabundance of type-1 interferon by the immune system that may contribute to inflammation and fever in malaria patients and could play a part in susceptibility for the most common and lethal form of malaria known as plasmodium falciparum.

5 Aug 2011

Higher levels of B cells make women more prone to autoimmune diseases

Researchers at National Jewish Health have discovered a type of cell that may contribute to autoimmune disease and suggests why diseases such as lupus, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis strike women more frequently than men. The cells, a subset of immune-system B cells, make autoantibodies, which bind to and attack the body's own tissue.

5 Aug 2011

FDA approves first scorpion antivenom

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Anascorp-, an antivenom produced in Mexico and tested in clinical trials conducted through the University of Arizona, for use in treating patients suffering the effects of scorpion sting.

5 Aug 2011

Roadmap to overcome obstacles for using induced pluripotent stem cells

The possibility of developing stem cells from a patient's own skin and using them to treat conditions as diverse as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and cancer has generated tremendous excitement in the stem cell research community in recent years. Such therapies would avoid the controversial need for using stem cells derived from human embryos, and in theory, also bypass immunological problems inherent in using cells from one person to treat another.

5 Aug 2011

Shear stress-based method can identify vulnerable plaque in coronary arteries

Researchers at Emory and Georgia Tech have developed a method for predicting which areas of the coronary arteries will develop more atherosclerotic plaque over time, based on intracoronary ultrasound and blood flow measurements.

5 Aug 2011

RNAi screen identifies Brd4 as a therapeutic target for acute myeloid leukemia

Scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) and five other institutions have used an unconventional approach to cancer drug discovery to identify a new potential treatment for acute myeloid leukemia.

4 Aug 2011

Micromet second quarter total revenues increase to $7.1 million

Micromet, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of next-generation antibodies for the treatment of cancer, today announced its financial results for the second quarter and six months ended June 30, 2011.

4 Aug 2011

Boston Therapeutics files chewable metformin ANDA with FDA to treat diabetes

Boston Therapeutics, Inc., a public company registered with the SEC and a developer of diabetes therapeutics, today announced that it has submitted an Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for chewable metformin with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

4 Aug 2011

Positive results from hGH-CTP Phase II trial in growth hormone deficient adults

PROLOR Biotech, Inc. today reported positive results from a Phase II clinical trial of its long-acting CTP-modified version of human growth hormone (hGH-CTP) in growth hormone deficient adults.

4 Aug 2011

UH undergraduates seek solutions to many maladies like diabetes, Alzheimer's

Students from a variety of majors are devoting their summers to serious research at the University of Houston (UH), seeking eventual solutions to many serious maladies that include Alzheimer's, high blood pressure and cholesterol, diabetes, alcoholism and anxiety.

4 Aug 2011