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OUP launches new open access journal - Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health

Oxford University Press (OUP) and the Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health Foundation are pleased to announce the launch of the open access journal Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health (EMPH).

6 Jul 2012

Researchers identify mechanism responsible for inhibition of AMPK activity in the hypothalamus

In the complex chain of molecular events that underlie eating behaviors and body weight, the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) enzyme has proven to be a critical link.

4 Jul 2012

Catalyst Health Solutions, SXC complete merger

SXC Health Solutions Corp., a leading provider of pharmacy benefit management (PBM) services and healthcare information technology (HCIT) solutions to the healthcare benefits management industry, announces that it has completed its previously disclosed merger of Catalyst Health Solutions, Inc. with a wholly-owned subsidiary of SXC.

3 Jul 2012

Teleflex announces acquisition of Semprus BioSciences

Teleflex Incorporated, a leading global provider of medical devices for critical care and surgery, announced it has acquired Semprus BioSciences, a biomedical company and spin out from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

25 Jun 2012

STARS study receives £1.7m funding to test effectiveness of TCM course

Disruptive behaviour in the classroom has an adverse effect on both teachers and pupils. It is a common source of stress for teachers and often a catalyst for leaving the profession. For pupils it may affect mental health, academic attainment and adversely impact on all children in a classroom.

25 Jun 2012

Emory scientists identify new type of anti-inflammatory compound

Scientists at Emory University School of Medicine have identified a new type of anti-inflammatory compound that may be useful in treating a wide range of conditions, including neurodegenerative and autoimmune diseases. These compounds inhibit the enzyme Nox2, part of a family of enzymes responsible for producing reactive oxygen species (ROS).

22 Jun 2012

India emerging as model for improvement in developing countries

In this NDTV opinion piece, Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, reflects on his recent trip to India, writing, "During my recent visit, I had a chance to see the latest progress on things that matter a lot to us: on eradicating polio and curtailing the spread of infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, for example."

21 Jun 2012

Structure of human P-glycoprotein in a moving 3D computer model

A picture is worth 1,000 words when it comes to understanding how things work, but 3D moving pictures are even better. That's especially true for scientists trying to stop cancer by better understanding the proteins that make some chemotherapies unsuccessful.

21 Jun 2012

CMS awards nearly $18 million to spread collaborative care model for managing depression

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has awarded almost $18 million to a local and national collaboration of partner organizations with the Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement (ICSI) as lead organization.

16 Jun 2012

New model can eradicate childhood obesity in private sector

Sanofi US and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a non-profit organization founded by the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation, today announced a new model for the private sector to combat childhood obesity.

16 Jun 2012

African Sahel faces food insecurity despite record increase in cereal production; New partnership to address food supply in Middle East, North Africa

"According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) quarterly forecast of agricultural production and food," the world is expected to see a record increase in cereal production in 2012, "[b]ut despite the positive global trends, countries in Africa's Sahel region continue to face serious challenges to food security due to locally high food prices and civil strife, FAO said in a news release," the U.N. News Centre reports.

15 Jun 2012

MIT engineers develop new glucose-powered implantable medical device

MIT engineers have developed a fuel cell that runs on the same sugar that powers human cells: glucose. This glucose fuel cell could be used to drive highly efficient brain implants of the future, which could help paralyzed patients move their arms and legs again.

14 Jun 2012

Chagas disease – ‘the AIDS of the Americas’

A recent editorial published in the Public Library of Science's Neglected Tropical Diseases called Chagas disease, a parasite which kills about 20,000 people a year, "the AIDS of the Americas." The disease can be transferred to a child from its mother or by blood transfusions. About 20 percent of those infected can develop life-threatening illness that includes enlarged hearts or intestines, and the drugs used today to treat the disease can take months to work.

12 Jun 2012

Simple soft-drink cooler could help patients battle antibiotic-resistant TB

Tuberculosis, now largely controlled in the industrialized world, remains a stubbornly persistent killer in most of Africa, as well as parts of Asia and South America. The spread of multidrug-resistant strains of TB has slowed progress against the devastating disease, which is estimated to strike more than 10 million people annually. Now a modified soft-drink cooler, developed by researchers at MIT's D-Lab, could make a dent in the disease's impact.

31 May 2012

USP announces two new standards related to elemental impurities

As part of its ongoing efforts to help ensure the quality of medicines, the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) has announced two new standards related to elemental impurities: General Chapters <232> Elemental Impurities-Limits and <233> Elemental Impurities-Procedures. The new standards provide procedures for the detection of selected impurities in drug products based on modern analytical methods, as well as acceptable limits for their presence based on toxicity data and exposure levels.

24 May 2012

Special feature of Science journal highlights protein array technology

A special feature in this week's issue of the journal Science highlights protein array technology, touching on research conducted by Joshua LaBaer, director of the Biodesign Institute's Virginia G. Piper Center for Personalized Diagnostics.

23 May 2012

“Sandwich” immunoassay used to search for new chemical reactions

Many discoveries are made by chance, but it is also possible to help it along: The chance of finding something interesting increases when the number of experiments rises. French researchers have now applied this principle to the search for new chemical reactions. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, they have introduced a new concept based on antibodies and a “sandwich” immunoassay.

22 May 2012

CEWG recommends WHA adopt international convention on R&D

The chairs of the Consultative Expert Working Group on Research and Development (CEWG), John-Arne Rottingen and Claudia Chamas, in this week's PLoS Medicine, "recommended the May 2012 World Health Assembly adopt an international convention on research and development (R&D) that will bind member states to action and catalyze new knowledge for diseases that primarily affect the global poor but for which patents provide insufficient market incentives," a PLoS press release states.

17 May 2012

Researchers identify new biomarker and therapeutic target for pancreatic cancer

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center have identified a new biomarker and therapeutic target for pancreatic cancer, an often-fatal disease for which there is currently no reliable method for early detection or therapeutic intervention. The paper will be published May 15 in Cancer Research.

15 May 2012

Genetic cause of rare genetic disorder, Hamamy syndrome

Scientists at A*STAR's Institute of Medical Biology (IMB), in collaboration with doctors and scientists in Jordan, Turkey, Switzerland and USA, have identified the genetic cause of a birth defect known as Hamamy syndrome .

14 May 2012