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NYU-Poly professor selected to participate in 2012 National Academies Keck Futures Initiative conference

Polytechnic Institute of NYU (NYU-Poly) Assistant Professor of Technology Management Oded Nov has been selected to participate in the 2012 National Academies Keck Futures Initiative (NAKFI) conference, a prestigious think-tank-style gathering of researchers in science, engineering and medicine. Nov will join 100 colleagues for the conference, "The Informed Brain in a Digital World."

8 Nov 2012

IRIN examines adult male circumcision campaign in Uganda

As part of the Ugandan government's HIV prevention program, "[m]ore than 380,000 Ugandan men have been circumcised in the last two years," according to new data, IRIN reports. "Uganda's male circumcision program was launched in September 2010, targeting 80 percent of uncircumcised men -- about 4.2 million men -- by 2015," the news service writes, adding, "According to the Uganda AIDS Commission's (UAC) annual performance review of the National HIV/AIDS Strategic Plan (2011/2012), 380,000 men were circumcised by March 2012 under the program."

8 Nov 2012

Researchers simulate activity of cultured neural networks

After a short period of growth, cultured networks of neurons regularly exhibit major activity in the absence of external stimulation. These "bursts" are entirely related to growth. At this stage, they have little to do with learning behaviour, as the network is still too young to sustain a process of memory formation. This has now for the first time been simulated for networks ranging in size from 10,000 to 50,000 neurons. The simulations provide insight into the role of the growth process in initial activity.

8 Nov 2012

Knowledge management can help improve health systems

In this post on Management Sciences for Health's "Global Impact Blog," Liz McLean, a senior technical adviser at MSH, writes about a K4Health Malawi project that she says "provides an interesting case study of the connection between improved knowledge management [KM] and health systems strengthening."

8 Nov 2012

Stapled Peptide oncology drug candidate exhibits robust efficacy in xenograft cancer models

Aileron Therapeutics, Inc. and its collaborator Roche today announced new results of a preclinical study of its Stapled Peptide oncology drug candidate ATSP-7041, which exhibited robust efficacy in MDM2 and MDMX xenograft cancer models.

8 Nov 2012

Health law viewed as a big winner on election day

President Barack Obama's re-election is viewed as a "reprieve" for the health law but this development raises questions and issues about some of the implementation challenges that the overhaul will now face.

8 Nov 2012

Most patients taking common blood-thinning drugs may be receiving wrong dosage levels

Cardiology researchers at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute have found that approximately 75 percent of patients taking two common blood-thinning drugs may be receiving the wrong dosage levels, according to a new study.

8 Nov 2012

U.K. expected to cut aid payments to India in half

U.K. International Development Secretary Justine Greening on a visit to New Delhi this week is expected to "outline plans to phase out Britain's controversial aid payments to India, which are likely to come to an end after 2015," the Financial Times reports.

8 Nov 2012

Opportunities to enhance research into pregnancy complications to prevent preterm and stillbirth

New surveys of researchers and funders reveal a lack of consensus regarding researching and developing interventions to prevent prematurity and stillbirth, according to an article published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology ahead of World Prematurity Day on November 17.

8 Nov 2012

President Barack Obama re-elected for second term

"Barack Obama was elected to a second presidential term Tuesday, defeating Republican Mitt Romney," the Washington Post reports (Farenthold, 11/6). Reuters writes, "President Barack Obama returns from the campaign trail on Wednesday with little time to savor victory, facing urgent economic and fiscal challenges and a still-divided Congress capable of blocking his every move" (Holland/Spetalnick, 11/7).

8 Nov 2012

Online forum for healthcare ethics consultants

Healthcare ethics consultants are called upon in the most difficult of circumstances; where do they turn for advice? The American Society For Bioethics and Humanities' Clinical Ethics Consultation Affairs Committee (CECA) is taking a community approach, creating an online forum for feedback and shared experiences to accompany a paper published in the Fall 2012 issue of the Journal of Clinical Ethics.

8 Nov 2012

GOP retains House despite Democrats' Medicare attacks

As a result, House Republicans could continue to clash with President Obama and the Senate's Democratic majority.

8 Nov 2012

Sensory substitution devices provide visual information to the blind via existing senses

Common wisdom has it that if the visual cortex in the brain is deprived of visual information in early infanthood, it may never develop properly its functional specialization, making sight restoration later in life almost impossible.

8 Nov 2012

Blog examines PEPFAR-funded program to improve access to HIV/AIDS treatment in Ethiopia

Writing in USAID's "IMPACTblog," Dereje Bisrat, monitoring and evaluation adviser for the Supply Chain Management System (SCMS), discusses the PEPFAR-funded program, which is administered by USAID and "works with Ethiopia's Pharmaceutical Fund and Supply Agency (PFSA), nine regional health bureaus, and more than 1,717 health facilities to improve access to HIV/AIDS treatment" in the country.

8 Nov 2012

WFP to deliver emergency aid to Cuba in response to Hurricane Sandy

"The U.N.'s World Food Programme (WFP) is to deliver emergency aid to the south-east of Cuba, where Hurricane Sandy wrought widespread damage," BBC News reports. "The WFP is also appealing for $20 million (£12.5) to help some 425,000 Haitians affected by the storm," the news service writes, noting, "The WFP is planning to work with the Cuban government to distribute emergency one-month aid in Santiago de Cuba, which is home to 500,000 residents."

8 Nov 2012

Reduce intensity of exercising when sick

Stuffy noses, hacking coughs and aches all over—cold and flu season has arrived. Though your body may be aching and your nose running like a faucet, it can be difficult to decide if you should continue your exercise routine or take a temporary break.

8 Nov 2012

Simple biomarker model to predict heart failure risk

The most widely used models for predicting heart failure rely on a complex combination of lifestyle, demographic, and cardiovascular risk factor information.

8 Nov 2012

African leaders must do more to ensure continent meets farming potential

"Images of starving children, epitomized in news coverage from Ethiopia in the 1980s, have given Africa a reputation for famine that does an injustice to the continent's potential," Olusegun Obasanjo, former president of Nigeria and a member of the Africa Progress Panel, writes in a CNN opinion piece.

8 Nov 2012

Nanofiber technique to build new nerves from stem cells

Every week in his clinic at the University of Michigan, neurologist Joseph Corey, M.D., Ph.D., treats patients whose nerves are dying or shrinking due to disease or injury.

8 Nov 2012

University of Tübingen heads Neuromics consortium

Work has begun on Neuromics, a major project headed by Tübingen's Professor Olaf Riess; the project beat out ten other first-class applications to attain €12m euros in EU funding over five years.

8 Nov 2012