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First Edition: August 28, 2012

Today's headlines include reports about new polling insights regarding the presidential campaign and Medicare, as well as what might become of the House of Representatives.

28 Aug 2012

Control of siRNA could aid regenerative medicine, cancer therapy

Some of the body's own genetic material, known as small interfering RNA (siRNA), can be packaged then unleashed as a precise and persistent technology to guide cell behavior, researchers at Case Western Reserve University report in the current issue of the journal, Acta Biomaterialia.

28 Aug 2012

Aetna sponsorship provides support for children's activities at the US Open

For the second year, Aetna is sponsoring children's activities at the US Open and is determined to deliver twice the fun as part of its three-year sponsorship agreement with the United States Tennis Association (USTA).

24 Aug 2012

Dartmouth’s professor shares news of DAR-901 TB vaccine development

Tuberculosis (TB) is second only to HIV/AIDS as the greatest killer worldwide attributable to a single infectious agent, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). With 8.8 million cases in 2010 and 95 percent of TB deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries, the disease continues to be a major public health problem in the developing world. In a July address to the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, Dartmouth's C. Fordham (Ford) von Reyn shared news of a promising vaccine in the works.

24 Aug 2012

Confocal light sheet microscopy yields high-resolution views of brain’s neural pathways

Shortly after the Hubble Space Telescope went into orbit in 1990 it was discovered that the craft had blurred vision. Fortunately, Space Shuttle astronauts were able to remedy the problem a few years later with supplemental optics. Now, a team of Italian researchers has performed a similar sight-correcting feat for a microscope imaging technique designed to explore a universe seemingly as vast as Hubble's but at the opposite end of the size spectrum—the neural pathways of the brain.

24 Aug 2012

LXRbeta may play a role in prevention and treatment of Parkinson's

Scientists at the University of Houston (UH) have discovered what may possibly be a key ingredient in the fight against Parkinson's disease.

24 Aug 2012

Hospitals tackle variety of health law issues

News outlets report on a variety of issues including the slow acceptance of ACOs and a legal set-back for doctor-owned facilities.

23 Aug 2012

State roundup: Restraining order issued in Mo. health exchange fight

A judge issued a temporary restraining order Tuesday against Missouri's secretary of state, Robin Carnahan, to prevent her from finalizing the language of a ballot question on health insurance exchanges. Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, a Republican, sought the restraining order while a state court considers whether the language of the ballot question is biased, a claim leveled by Kinder and the state's top Republicans.

23 Aug 2012

FDA extends action date for Pfizer’s tofacitinib NDA review

Pfizer Inc. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has extended the action date by three months for the New Drug Application (NDA) for tofacitinib, an investigational oral treatment for adults with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

22 Aug 2012

Healthcare announces important changes to the U.S. product label for Optison

GE Healthcare today announced important changes to the U.S. product label for Optison (Perflutren Protein-Type A Microspheres Injectable Suspension, USP), a contrast agent that may improve the visualization of the left ventricular border - an area of the heart that is critical to see in order to diagnose certain heart diseases such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

22 Aug 2012

GORE Hybrid Vascular Graft receives CE Mark approval

W. L. Gore & Associates (Gore) has received CE Mark for the GORE Hybrid Vascular Graft. The graft is designed to expand treatment options for optimal outflow by maximizing the number of access sites available.

20 Aug 2012

Arteriovenous malformations increase risk for pregnancy hemorrhage

Women with a diagnosis of arteriovenous malformation are at increased risk for severe bleeding during pregnancy, show study findings.

17 Aug 2012

Parsing Medicare policy and politics

GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney's promise to restore the Medicare cuts made by President Obama's health care law would move the insolvency date of the program closer, reports The Associated Press. Other news outlets examine the Medicare policy specifics that Rep. Paul Ryan, the likely GOP vice presidential pick, has advanced in his House budget proposals.

17 Aug 2012

Acute stress modifies DNA methylation and activity of certain genes

Acute stress alters the methylation of the DNA and thus the activity of certain genes. This is reported by researchers at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum together with colleagues from Basel, Trier and London for the first time in the journal Translational Psychiatry. "The results provide evidence how stress could be related to a higher risk of mental or physical illness", says Prof. Dr. Gunther Meinlschmidt from the Clinic of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy at the LWL University Hospital of the RUB.

16 Aug 2012

George Washington University releases 'Obesity Drug Outcome Measures'

The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services (GW) today released a report representing consensus findings from a cross-section of stakeholders that could help transform the process used to evaluate interventions to treat obesity, a public health crisis that now affects one in three adults. The report, "Obesity Drug Outcome Measures," results from a stakeholder dialogue group convened by GW that, over a period of nine months, explored why development and approval of obesity drugs have proven so difficult.

15 Aug 2012

Pre-cesarean antibiotics cut infection risk

Administering prophylactic antibiotics before women undergo cesareans significantly reduces postsurgical infection rates, show US study findings.

9 Aug 2012

FDA approves label changes for Stryker Wingspan Stent System

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved changes to the labeling for the Stryker Wingspan Stent System, including the indications for use. These changes, which the FDA outlined in a safety communication also issued today, specify a more limited group of patients who may benefit from the system.

From Stryker 9 Aug 2012

New method gives precise picture of how immune system works

Chronic infections are a large and growing problem throughout the developed world, and intensive research is being conducted in ways to combat the recalcitrant bacteria. When bacteria aggregate into so-called biofilm, they become resistant to antibiotics. Until now scientists have only been able to speculate about what happens when bacteria overpower the immune system during a chronic infection.

9 Aug 2012

Viewpoints: Dubious ad on Romney's role in cancer death; British health plan has problems of its own

He sits at a kitchen table, nursing a cup of coffee, talking about what happened after Bain Capital closed down his steel plant in 2001. He lost his job; his family lost its health insurance. His wife felt lousy but didn't go to the doctor, to spare the family worry and expense. When she finally ended up in the hospital, the diagnosis was cancer. She had 22 days to live.

9 Aug 2012

APCER Pharma updates and enhances its website

APCER Pharma Solutions, Inc., the truly global provider of strategic and outsourced services for clinical safety, pharmacovigilance, medical affairs, and regulatory operations, announced today that it has updated and enhanced its website.

8 Aug 2012