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PRI examines India's efforts to combat malnutrition using local product

PRI's "The World" reports on malnutrition in India, where "eight million children ... suffer from severe acute malnutrition, according to the Indian government." However, the news service writes that "when it comes to treating those children, India lacks what many consider one of the best tools available: so-called ready-to-use therapeutic foods," such as "the most well-known therapeutic food, Plumpy'Nut, ... a patented concoction of peanut butter and micro-nutrients that allows severely malnourished children to be treated at home instead of at a hospital."

26 Sep 2012

Fly neurons may uncover secrets of Alzheimer's disease

Although they're a common nuisance in the home, fruit flies have made great contributions to research in genetics and developmental biology. Now a Tel Aviv University researcher is again turning to this everyday pest to answer crucial questions about how neurons function at a cellular level - which may uncover the secrets of neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's disease.

26 Sep 2012

Sufficient resources needed to maintain progress against AIDS, TB, malaria

"This week, heads of state, celebrities and CEOs will attend U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's 'Every Woman, Every Child' dinner in New York," an event that "will highlight the amazing contribution of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to the health of women and children in developing countries," Lucy Chesire, executive director and secretary to the board of TB ACTION Group, writes in the Huffington Post's "The Big Push" blog.

26 Sep 2012

Parts of the brain can evolve independently from each other

An Evolutionary Biologist at The University of Manchester, working with scientists in the United States, has found compelling evidence that parts of the brain can evolve independently from each other. It's hoped the findings will significantly advance our understanding of the brain.

From The University of Manchester 26 Sep 2012

Chinese innovations, resources could help create new global health products

In this post in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog, Christine Rousseau, a program officer at the foundation, describes the importance of diagnostics in HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis (TB) care and treatment and writes, This brings me to the tremendous role that China's entrepreneurs can play as partners in global health.

26 Sep 2012

Ambulatory BP monitoring can accurately measure hypertension epidemic

A recently published editorial in the Journal of the American Society of Hypertension (JASH), "Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring Should Be Included in the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES)," recognizes the importance of this national survey instrument but questions the efficiency of its diagnostic methods in assessing hypertension in the population.

26 Sep 2012

Congress approves bill designed to protect patients from stolen medical products

Elsewhere on Capitol Hill, some Senate conservatives are considering taking steps to block a deal to avert the automatic cuts called for under sequester.

26 Sep 2012

PsiOxus initiates ColoAd1 phase I/II trial in metastatic solid tumours

PsiOxus Therapeutics, Ltd. has treated the first patient in its phase I/II clinical trial of ColoAd1for the treatment of metastatic solid tumours.

26 Sep 2012

Prescription drug abuse among young adults drops

Prescription drug abuse by young adults dropped 14 percent last year to its lowest rate since 2002 as authorities continue new attempts to curtail abuse.

26 Sep 2012

IV connectors can play a crucial role in protecting patients from infections and other complications

Medical devices known as IV connectors, through which intravenous medication and nutrition are provided to a patient, can play a crucial role in protecting patients from life-threatening infections and other complications. But some types of connectors are much more prone to dangerous complications, according to a recent poster presentation at an international meeting of oncology nurses, the 17th International Conference on Cancer Nursing, held Sept. 9-13 in Prague, Czech Republic.

26 Sep 2012

U.S. Ambassador to Mozambique signs PEPFAR funding agreements with CBOs

On Monday in Maputo, Mozambique, U.S. Ambassador Douglas Griffiths signed funding agreements with 29 community-based organizations that will receive a total of $1.4 million through PEPFAR's small grants program "to strengthen health systems, boost professional training and implement income generating activities for people living with or affected by HIV/AIDS," the Mozambique News Agency/AllAfrica.com reports.

26 Sep 2012

High concentrations of inhaled oxygen during and after cancer surgery may increase risk of death

Patients given high concentrations of inhaled oxygen during and after cancer surgery may be at higher long-term risk of death, according to a report in the October issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS).

26 Sep 2012

Progress on women's, children's health provides optimism for further success

Noting successes achieved under the Every Woman Every Child campaign and the Global Plan towards the elimination of new HIV infections among children by 2015 and keeping their mothers alive, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe writes in the Huffington Post's "The Big Push" blog that leaders "have stepped up and stood strong for critical issues on the women's and children's health agenda to advance the health Millennium Development Goals and ensure the sustainability of results beyond 2015."

26 Sep 2012

New technological tools automatically measure relevant behaviors of children with autism

Researchers in Georgia Tech's Center for Behavior Imaging have developed two new technological tools that automatically measure relevant behaviors of children, and promise to have significant impact on the understanding of behavioral disorders such as autism.

26 Sep 2012

Clinton delivers remarks on diplomacy, development at Clinton Global Initiative

The State Department provides a transcript of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's speech at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York.

26 Sep 2012

Flow cytometry isolates stem cells from brain tumors

A new video protocol in Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE) details an assay to identify brain tumor initiating stem cells from primary brain tumors. Through flow cytometry, scientists separate stem cells from the rest of the tumor, allowing quick and efficient analysis of target cells. This approach has been effectively used to identify similar stem cells in leukemia patients.

26 Sep 2012

Viewpoints: The 'real story' of Ryan at AARP; 'Get thee to an emergency room'

The headlines this weekend were all about the boos Paul Ryan elicited on Friday when he addressed the AARP, the self-styled seniors' lobby. The herd of independent media minds missed the real story, which is that the Republican Vice Presidential nominee went into the heart of the entitlement culture, told some hard truths, and even won applause for doing so.

26 Sep 2012

Resveratrol can maintain morphine’s pain-relieving effects

Resveratrol—the same natural polyphenol found in red wine—preserves the potent pain-relieving effect of morphine in rats that have developed morphine tolerance, suggests a study in the October issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS).

26 Sep 2012

HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer patients have more rapid and robust radiation-therapy response

UC Davis cancer researchers have discovered significant differences in radiation-therapy response among patients with oropharyngeal cancer depending on whether they carry the human papillomavirus (HPV), a common sexually transmitted virus. The findings, published online today in The Laryngoscope Journal, could lead to more individualized radiation treatment regimens, which for many patients with HPV could be shorter and potentially less toxic.

26 Sep 2012

Self-image, social interaction help explain link between exercise and mental health

We've heard it time and time again: exercise is good for us. And it's not just good for physical health - research shows that daily physical activity can also boost our mental health. But what actually accounts for the association between exercise and mental health?

26 Sep 2012