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DFG to equip nine universities with major instrumentation systems

In the life sciences, imaging methods such as microscopy play a central role. The technique of imaging mass spectrometry is a new and analytic method in this field that promises many benefits. This is the reason why in October 2011 the Joint Committee of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft has decided, as part of the "Imaging Mass Spectrometry in the Life Sciences" initiative, to equip nine universities with appropriate major instrumentation systems.

28 Oct 2011

Special hospital team reduces cumulated risk of stroke in TIA patients

Patients who had a transient ischaemic attack (TIA), sometimes referred to as a "mini stroke", were much less likely to experience further vascular events in the first year if their care was co-ordinated by a special hospital team.

28 Oct 2011

Federal regulators to step up their rate review role

Federal regulators will step up their role in rate review for association health plans after determining nearly half the states lack a satisfactory mechanism for reviewing premiums on these special health insurance products, which trade groups sell to members.

28 Oct 2011

Floridians say state must be a leader in science and medical research

A majority of Floridians (87%) believe it is important for their state to be a leader in science and medical research, according to a new state poll commissioned by Research!America. The poll also shows that 80% think spending money on scientific research is important for Florida's economy in terms of job creation and incomes.

28 Oct 2011

Mass. health care costs could spell trouble for Romney

Mitt Romney's health care albatross isn't just the similarity between his Massachusetts health care overhaul and President Barack Obama's health reform law. It's also the fact that Massachusetts still has the highest health costs in the country -; even after the reforms Romney signed into law as governor.

28 Oct 2011

Researchers announce new method to build important heparin drug

Robert Linhardt is working to forever change the way some of the most widely used drugs in the world are manufactured. Today, in the journal Science, he and his partner in the research, Jian Liu, have announced an important step toward making this a reality. The discovery appears in the October 28, 2011 edition of the journal Science in a paper titled "chemoenzymatic synthesis of homogeneous ultra-low molecular weight heparins."

28 Oct 2011

No significant evidence of breast cancer after nipple-sparing mastectomy

A modified mastectomy technique provides effective treatment for breast cancer while preserving the nipple and surrounding tissues for use in breast reconstruction, according to a report in the November issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

28 Oct 2011

Medicare Part B 2012 premiums lower than projected

The Obama administration today announced that premiums for Medicare Part B coverage in 2012 will be $99.90 a month for most beneficiaries, a smaller-than-expected increase over the $96.40 paid this year by a majority of elderly and disabled beneficiaries. Part B pays for physician visits, hospital outpatient costs and certain other services. A 3.6 percent Social Security cost-of-living adjustment, the first in three years, will more than make up for the small increase, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

28 Oct 2011

ACR supports Diagnostic Imaging Services Protection Act

The American College of Radiology supports the Diagnostic Imaging Services Protection Act (H.R. 3269), which would prohibit any multiple procedure payment reduction to the "professional component" of CT, MRI and ultrasound exams received by the same patient, on the same day, in the same setting in 2012.

28 Oct 2011

High Court justices could decide Nov. 10 which health law cases to hear

A closed-door meeting is on the justices' schedule during which they will review petitions regarding challenges to the health law. Their decision about how -; and when -; to proceed could be made public as soon as Nov. 14.

28 Oct 2011

UCLA professor to receive ATA's Sidney H. Ingbar Distinguished Lectureship Award

The American Thyroid Association's (ATA) Sidney H. Ingbar Distinguished Lectureship Award recognizes outstanding academic achievements in thyroidology. An honorarium is conferred each year at the ATA Annual Meeting to an established investigator who has made major contributions to thyroid-related research over many years.

28 Oct 2011

Gates Foundation, China sign MOU to work together on global health, agriculture advances

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and China's Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding to form a partnership to support new research and development (R&D) and production of new products for global health and agriculture, Agence France-Presse reports.

28 Oct 2011

Biogen Idec enters global collaboration for oral Syk inhibitor program with Portola

Biogen Idec and Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that they have entered into an exclusive, worldwide collaboration and license agreement under which both companies will develop and commercialize highly selective, novel oral Syk inhibitors for the treatment of various autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

28 Oct 2011

E-learning may not effectively improve dietary behaviors

With more people online and using smart phones, health applications or "apps" as they are popularly known are being promoted to help with everything from exercising to quitting smoking. A new review suggests that apps designed to change and improve eating habits may not make much of a difference.

28 Oct 2011

International community must help women fight HIV/AIDS in Swaziland

Women living with HIV in Swaziland "fight a tireless tripartite battle against HIV, the stigma it places on them, and their inferior status in Africa's last absolute monarchy," freelance journalist Gary Nunn writes in the Guardian's "Poverty Matters Blog."

28 Oct 2011

Swapping IV medications with oral equivalents may save millions

Switching hospitalized patients able to take medication by mouth from intravenous to pill forms of the same drugs could safely save millions of dollars a year, new Johns Hopkins research suggests.

28 Oct 2011

U.N. report calls for investment in health, education as world population approaches 7 billion

"Instead of worrying about sheer numbers when the world's population hits seven billion next week, we should think about how to make the planet a better place for people to live in, the United Nations said" in its report, "The State of World Population 2011," released Wednesday, Reuters reports.

28 Oct 2011

NCI awards UAB $2.3M brain-tumor SPORE grant

The UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center and the UAB Division of Neurosurgery have been awarded a prestigious SPORE, or Specialized Program of Research Excellence, grant from the National Cancer Institute for $2.3 million over three years to conduct research and develop new therapies to treat brain tumors.

28 Oct 2011

ORBIT 3D X-ray scanner can be integrated into operations

Having an operation always places strain on patients, and this is especially true of complicated operations. Surgeons use 3D X-rays to check the results before the patient has left the operating room. This does help to avoid possible complications, but it also means interrupting the surgery. Fraunhofer researchers are now developing a 3D X-ray system that can be integrated seamlessly into operating procedure - with no more forced interruptions.

28 Oct 2011

New discoveries on drug resistance in Leishmania

Two remarkable discoveries were today revealed by researchers into genome analysis of Leishmania parasites. These results uncovered a surprising level of variation at the genome structure level.

28 Oct 2011