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Rising food prices in East Africa exacerbating food shortages, famine, FAO says

"The prices of grain and milk in the drought-hit Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia have risen to record highs, exacerbating hardship for the estimated 12.4 million people in the region who are facing severe food shortages and famine in some parts of Somalia," according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization's August food price monitor, the U.N. News Centre reports.

12 Aug 2011

Researchers describe novel skin-mounted electronics in Science journal

Engineers have developed a device platform that combines electronic components for sensing, medical diagnostics, communications and human-machine interfaces, all on an ultrathin skin-like patch that mounts directly onto the skin with the ease, flexibility and comfort of a temporary tattoo.

12 Aug 2011

U.S Global Malaria Coordinator discusses U.S. investment in global fight against malaria

In a Malaria Policy Center "Malaria Watch TV" video post, U.S. Global Malaria Coordinator Rear Admiral Tim Ziemer "speaks with the Malaria Policy Center about the status of the malaria fight and how the U.S. is leading the way against this preventable and treatable disease," the organization writes.

12 Aug 2011

Insight into how molecular motor proteins save energy

The transport system inside living cells is a well-oiled machine with tiny protein motors hauling chromosomes, neurotransmitters and other vital cargo around the cell. These molecular motors are responsible for a variety of critical transport jobs, but they are not always on the go. They can put themselves into "energy save mode" to conserve cellular fuel and, as a consequence, control what gets moved around the cell, and when.

12 Aug 2011

ICRC campaign addresses humanitarian issue of health care security in conflict situations

"This week the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) launches a global campaign - 'It's a matter of life and death' - which aims to improve security and delivery of effective and impartial health care in situations of armed conflict and other contexts of widespread violence," Vivienne Nathanson, director of professional activities at the British Medical Association, writes in a BMJ editorial.

12 Aug 2011

CPAP withdrawal leads to return of obstructive sleep apnea

The benefits of continuous positive airway pressure machines (CPAP) for patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are quickly reversed when the therapy is withdrawn, according to Swiss research.

12 Aug 2011

G-CSF therapy does not induce chromosomal instability in healthy stem cell donors

According to a study published in Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), researchers have reported that administration of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), a drug that releases stem cells from the bone marrow into the blood, is unlikely to put healthy stem cell donors at risk for later development of abnormalities involving loss or gains of chromosomes that have been linked to hematologic disorders such as myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia.

12 Aug 2011

New measurement technologies provide scientists more complete look at neurological activity

In 1991, Carl Lewis was both the fastest man on earth and a profound long jumper, perhaps the greatest track-and-field star of all time in the prime of his career. On June 14th of that year, however, Carl Lewis was human. Leroy Burrell blazed through the 100-meters, besting him by a razor-thin margin of three-hundredths of a second. In the time it takes the shutter to capture a single frame of video, Lewis's three-year-old world record was gone.

12 Aug 2011

Issa seeks answers about HHS waiver process

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is seeking information about the process used by the Department of Health and Human Services related to granting health law waivers. He also is asking questions about why the waivers will be ending.

12 Aug 2011

DYCAST software predicts spread of mosquito-borne West Nile virus in California counties

A computerized epidemiological model of the spread of the mosquito-borne West Nile virus in 17 counties of California in 2005 successfully predicted where 81.6 percent of human cases of the disease would arise and defined high-risk areas where the risk of infection turned out to be 39 times higher than in low-risk areas, according to newly published research.

12 Aug 2011

NSAIDs like ibuprofen slow the spread of breast cancers

Published online on Aug. 7, 2011, the journal Nature Medicine reports that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs including ibuprofen reduce the severity of postpartum breast cancers in animal models.

12 Aug 2011

AANEM awards accreditation status to four UH Neuromuscular Center EMG labs

The American Association of Neuromuscular & Electrodiagnostic Medicine (AANEM) has awarded accreditation status to four electromyography (EMG) laboratories affiliated with the University Hospitals (UH) Neuromuscular Center in Northeast Ohio.

12 Aug 2011

Endothelial progenitor cells may repair leaky blood-brain barrier

University of South Florida Department of Neurosurgery and Brain Repair faculty members have received a $2.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to investigate the potential for cells derived from human bone marrow to benefit post-stroke patients by repairing the blood-brain barrier.

12 Aug 2011

GOP deficit panel Roster set: What are the chances for a deal?

Top Republicans have named their choices from the House and Senate to serve on the 'super committee.' These six lawmakers now join three Senate Democrats on the list — leaving only House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's picks unknown. As the panel takes shape, questions are emerging about whether the group will be able to find the necessary spending cuts.

12 Aug 2011

Pregnant women lack enough vitamin D despite use of prenatal supplements

Pregnant women taking prenatal supplements may not be getting enough vitamin D, shows a new Vancouver-based study led by the Child & Family Research Institute at BC Children's Hospital that was published in the Canadian Journal of Public Health.

12 Aug 2011

La Jolla Institute's new RNAi Center to focus on genetics behind myriad diseases

A major Center that will propel scientific efforts to pinpoint the specific genes involved in causing immune diseases, cancer and other diseases will be opened today at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology.

12 Aug 2011

GAO: What's behind increase in federal workers' long-term care coverage

A large and unexpected premium increase in federal employees' long-term-care insurance two years ago stemmed from higher-than-expected enrollee coverage retention, longer life expectancies and additional claim submissions, according to the Government Accountability Office.

12 Aug 2011

Female sex hormone oestrogen could fight against cardiovascular disease

The sex hormone oestrogen could help protect women from cardiovascular disease by keeping the body's immune system in check, new research from Queen Mary, University of London has revealed.

12 Aug 2011

Medical College of Wisconsin to establish National Center for Systems Biology

The Medical College of Wisconsin has received a five-year, $13 million grant to establish a National Center for Systems Biology.

12 Aug 2011

Longer looks: A break for sleep-deprived docs; Gruber profile

Last month something extraordinary happened at teaching hospitals around the country: Young interns worked for 16 hours straight — and then they went home to sleep. After decades of debate and over the opposition of nearly every major medical organization and 79 percent of residency-program directors, new rules went into effect that abolished 30-hour overnight shifts for first-year residents.

12 Aug 2011