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Amorfix announces 100% specificity upon testing 10,000 blood donations for vCJD

Amorfix Life Sciences, a company focused on treatments and diagnostics for brain wasting diseases, today announced it has achieved 100% specificity (no reproducible false positive results) upon testing 10,000 blood donations for variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease ("vCJD"). with the EP-vCJD(TM) Blood Screening Assay at l'Etablissement Français du Sang de Pyrénées Méditerrannée ("EFS-PM") in Montpellier, France.

22 Sep 2009

Report on evidence-based disease prevention programs released by TFAH and NYAM

Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and The New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM) released a new report today featuring a range of evidence-based disease prevention programs that have shown results for improving health and reducing costs in communities.

22 Sep 2009

Technique to reduce stroke in cardiac surgery patients

Sequoia Hospital announced today that they are one of only two hospital participant abstracts selected for oral presentation at the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Advances in Outcomes and Quality national conference held this week in San Diego, California. "Separated Cerebral and Corporeal Perfusion Reduces Stroke Risk in Cardiac Surgery Patients with Mobile Aortic Atheromata" will be presented by Audrey Fisher, MPH, Sequoia Hospital Manager of Cardiovascular Quality & Outcomes. This new technique was developed to reduce strokes in cardiac surgery patients by isolating blood flow to the brain during cardiopulmonary bypass.

22 Sep 2009

Winners of the 2009 Biotechnology Vision Summit's Emerging Company Showcase announced

Six Wisconsin biotechnology companies have been selected the winners of the first Emerging Company Showcase. The showcase is part of the Biotechnology Vision Summit 2009, being held on Wednesday, Oct. 7, at the Madison Marriott West in Madison, Wis. The summit and the showcase are being hosted by BioForward, the member-driven state association that is the voice of Wisconsin’s biotechnology industry.

22 Sep 2009

Antigen to block infection by genetically-diverse strains of HIV

Scientists working to develop a vaccine for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) report they have created the first antigen that induces protective antibodies capable of blocking infection of human cells by genetically-diverse strains of HIV. The new antigen differs from previously-tested vaccines by virtue of its chemically-activated property that enables close sharing of electrons and produces strong covalent bonding.

22 Sep 2009

MRS could be effective for identifying diabetes

Researchers have long suspected that overweight people tend to have large fat deposits in their pancreases, but they've been unable to confirm or calculate how much fat resides there because of the organ's location.

22 Sep 2009

Tregs to set the pace of recovery after serious lung injury

After more than 50 experiments in mice, medical scientists at Johns Hopkins have mapped out the basic steps taken by a particular set of white blood cells in setting the pace of recovery after serious lung injury.

22 Sep 2009

Blood vessels around the brain now converted into production/delivery systems

The blood brain barrier is generally considered an obstacle to delivering therapies from the bloodstream to the brain. However, University of Iowa researchers have discovered a way to turn the blood vessels surrounding brain cells into a production and delivery system for getting therapeutic molecules directly into brain cells.

22 Sep 2009

Investigative drug hampers the survival of non-Hodgkin lymphoma cells

An investigative drug deprived non-Hodgkin lymphoma cells of their ability to survive too long and multiply too fast, according to an early study published recently in the journal Experimental Hematology.

22 Sep 2009

Ross Procedure to be discussed by cardiovascular surgeons

CryoLife, Inc.- Elite cardiovascular surgeons from around the world will travel to suburban Atlanta this week for the two-day Ross Summit to review and discuss current peer-reviewed data relating to the survival advantage of the Ross Procedure and to practice the technical nuances required to perform this heart surgery successfully.

22 Sep 2009

New device for identifying eye conditions in infants

Tell-tale signs of a condition that can blind premature babies are being seen for the first time using a new handheld device in a study at Duke University Medical Center.

22 Sep 2009

Results from a trial testing a 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine in children look promising

Early results from a trial testing a 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine in children look promising, according to the trial sponsor, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

22 Sep 2009

Importance of residual thymopoiesis in aged adults

Doctor Manuel Leal is managing the Experimental Immune Virology Laboratory (in Virgen del Rocío University Hospital and Instituto de Biomedicina de Sevilla (IBIS), where clinic and basic science researchers work) where he leads a project to establish the functional nature of the thymus gland in adults. So far, it has been proven that this gland keeps on producing lymphocytes in the old age (Ferrando-Martínez et al. AGE, in press), which is a novelty because until very recently it was considered that this organ lost its immune capacity after the puberty.

22 Sep 2009

New wireless Fractional Flow Reserve system to evaluate blood flow blockages in the arteries

St. Jude Medical, Inc. (NYSE: STJ) today announced the first use of the PressureWire™ Aeris technology, an interventional tool which measures Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR) to evaluate the severity of blood flow blockages in the arteries. This first-to-market technology helps interventional cardiologists better determine the ideal treatment option for their patients during coronary interventions, such as stent procedures.

22 Sep 2009

Patients with higher levels of vitamin D are less likely to die from skin cancer

New research shows higher levels of vitamin D may help improve survival for both bowel and skin cancer patients.

22 Sep 2009

Mathematical model of an ischemic wound

Scientists expect a new mathematical model of chronic wound healing could replace intuition with clear guidance on how to test treatment strategies in tackling a major public-health problem.

22 Sep 2009

Study reveals effectiveness of drug-eluting stents in treating chronic total occlusions

A multicenter study in Asia found drug-eluting stents effective with a low rate of acute complications in patients with chronic total occlusions (CTOs) undergoing PCI. Results of the study will be presented at the 21st annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium, sponsored by the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF).

22 Sep 2009

Health of American workers trending downwards

In the midst of the most vigorous national health care debate in 15 years, and at a time of heightened economic insecurity, new data on employers show that the health of employed American workers is trending downward in a number of important areas. The State of Health in the American Workforce, a report released today by the Families and Work Institute (FWI), finds that only 28% of employees today report that their overall health is "excellent," down from 34% just six years ago.

22 Sep 2009

Older adults with vitamin D deficiency at a greater risk of heart disease and death

A new study by researchers at the University of Colorado Denver and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) shows vitamin D plays a vital role in reducing the risk of death associated with older age. The research, just published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, evaluated the association between vitamin D levels in the blood and the death rates of those 65 and older. The study found that older adults with insufficient levels of vitamin D die from heart disease at greater rates that those with adequate levels of the vitamin.

22 Sep 2009

Duke University awarded $19.5M to design a portable viral infection detection device

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the research arm of the U.S. Department of Defense, has awarded Duke University $19.5 million for an effort led by the Duke Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy (IGSP) to design a portable, easy-to-use diagnostic device that can reveal who is infected with an upper respiratory virus before the first cough or sneeze.

22 Sep 2009