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USAID working to help millions needing food aid in Africa's Sahel region

"This week, urgently needed food -- 33,700 tons of sorghum from American farmers -- will depart the United States for West Africa, as a part of the U.S. Government's response to the drought in the Sahel," Dina Esposito, director of the Office of Food for Peace, writes in this post in USAID's "Impact" blog.

3 Apr 2012

Moderate caloric intake may reduce risk of obesity in low-birth weight offspring

Babies who are born small have a tendency to put on weight during childhood and adolescence if allowed free access to calories. However, a new animal model study at UCLA found when small babies were placed on a diet of moderately regulated calories during infancy, the propensity of becoming obese decreased.

3 Apr 2012

Medicare: Republicans face uphill battle to find like minds across the aisle

House GOP lawmakers are having a hard time making the case that plans to revamp Medicare have broad bipartisan support.

3 Apr 2012

Genomic fortune-telling fails to provide informative guidance to most people

With sharp declines in the cost of whole genome sequencing, the day of accurately deciphering disease risk based on an individual's genome may seem at hand. But a study involving data of thousands of identical twins by Johns Hopkins investigators finds that genomic fortune-telling fails to provide informative guidance to most people about their risk for most common diseases, and warns against complacency born of negative genome test results.

3 Apr 2012

South Sudan hoping to mark three years without recording polio case

"South Sudan officials are hopeful the country will soon be declared polio-free," if the nation can go another four months without recording a polio case, VOA News reports. "Before 2008, the area that is now South Sudan had been considered free of polio," but "that year the country was re-infected through an imported strain that originated in Nigeria," the news service writes.

3 Apr 2012

UT Southwestern molecular biologist to receive Steven C. Beering Award

Dr. Eric N. Olson, chairman of molecular biology at UT Southwestern Medical Center, is the winner of the 2012 Steven C. Beering Award for outstanding advancements in biomedical or clinical science.

3 Apr 2012

NSABB recommends full publication of controversial bird flu studies

The National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) on Friday recommended that revised versions of two controversial studies on H5N1 avian flu be published in scientific journals, reversing its previous recommendation that the studies only be published if certain details were withheld, the New York Times reports.

3 Apr 2012

Study examines how fluctuations in brain activity can impact dynamics of cognitive tasks

A team of University of Pittsburgh mathematicians is using computational models to better understand how the structure of neural variability relates to such functions as short-term memory and decision making. In a paper published online April 2 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the Pitt team examines how fluctuations in brain activity can impact the dynamics of cognitive tasks.

3 Apr 2012

Supreme Court's health law ruling: If that falls, what's next?

News outlets offer analysis about how the high court's decision could play out -- both in terms of policy and politics.

3 Apr 2012

Prenatal antipsychotic drug exposure may reduce scores on infant neuromotor screening

Among 6-month-old infants, a history of intrauterine antipsychotic medication exposure was associated with significantly lower scores on a standard test of neuromotor performance, according to a report published Online First by Archives of General Psychiatry, a JAMA Network publication.

3 Apr 2012

PRI's 'The World' examines role of churches in fight against HIV in Swaziland

PRI's "The World" examines the role of churches in the fight against HIV in Swaziland. The news service highlights several church-run HIV programs, writing, "Churches have long played an important role in caring for the sick, but in terms of HIV prevention they've been at odds with the public health community. It has often come down to one issue: until recently, Swazi church leaders publicly rejected the use of condoms by their congregants. But now you hear many comments that suggest a change in thinking."

3 Apr 2012

Study shows how morphine creates inflammatory response in the brain

An international team of researchers involving the University of Adelaide and University of Colorado has made a major discovery that could lead to more effective treatment of severe pain using morphine.

3 Apr 2012

Health insurers continue to rally after high court hearings

Certain segments of the health care marketplace appeared to be optimistic about signals from the court's consideration of the individual mandate and the sweeping health law.

3 Apr 2012

Genetic counseling does not help parents in disclosing their breast cancer information to children

When a mother undergoes genetic testing to determine whether she carries a gene for hereditary breast cancer, the parents must then decide whether and how to share this risk information with their children.

3 Apr 2012

April issue of WHO Bulletin available online

The April issue of the WHO Bulletin features an editorial on the WHO research agenda for influenza; a public health round-up; an article on influenza in Ghana; a research paper on population-based burden of influenza-associated hospitalization in rural western Kenya; and a policy paper on the integration of pneumonia prevention and treatment interventions with immunization services in resource-poor countries.

3 Apr 2012

Older maternal age, fertility treatments account for marked increase in twin births

Women having children at older ages and the growing availability of fertility treatments has led to a marked increase in the birth of twins: In 2009, one in every 30 babies born in the United States was a twin compared with one in every 53 in 1980.

3 Apr 2012

Supreme Court justices emerge as possible players in upcoming presidential election

Also in the news, President Obama talks about the health law while on the campaign trail, Vice President Joe Biden takes on GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney and health law supporters begin to embrace the term "Obamacare."

3 Apr 2012

Secondary cancer risk from MDCT scans is low among older adults

The secondary cancer risk from multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) scans is low among older adults, according to a study from Stanford University in the April issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology. MDCT is a high-speed imaging technique that is commonly used to diagnose a variety of diseases and conditions.

3 Apr 2012

Viewpoints: 'Outrageously high fee' for emergency services; Mysterious rise in autism cases

The calculus for medical charges in general is beyond comprehension, with outrageously high fees used as a starting point in a bizarre game of bargaining. Glenn Melnick, who teaches hospital finance at USC, told me it's as crazy as if he asked to buy the TV in my living room, and I gave him a price of $1 million to start the conversation.

3 Apr 2012

UCM to launch Medicine and Religion Faculty Scholars Program

Is a doctor's spirituality an obstacle or a benefit in the clinic? Does religious affiliation affect medical decision making? Can a spiritual calling protect doctors against career burnout? With a $2.5 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation, the University of Chicago Medicine will launch a new program to help faculty scholars study these questions and more about the role of spirituality in medical practice and education.

3 Apr 2012

Medical News

USAID working to help millions needing food aid in Africa's Sahel region

Moderate caloric intake may reduce risk of obesity in low-birth weight offspring

Medicare: Republicans face uphill battle to find like minds across the aisle

Genomic fortune-telling fails to provide informative guidance to most people

South Sudan hoping to mark three years without recording polio case

UT Southwestern molecular biologist to receive Steven C. Beering Award

NSABB recommends full publication of controversial bird flu studies

Study examines how fluctuations in brain activity can impact dynamics of cognitive tasks

Supreme Court's health law ruling: If that falls, what's next?

Prenatal antipsychotic drug exposure may reduce scores on infant neuromotor screening

PRI's 'The World' examines role of churches in fight against HIV in Swaziland

Study shows how morphine creates inflammatory response in the brain

Health insurers continue to rally after high court hearings

Genetic counseling does not help parents in disclosing their breast cancer information to children

April issue of WHO Bulletin available online

Older maternal age, fertility treatments account for marked increase in twin births

Supreme Court justices emerge as possible players in upcoming presidential election

Secondary cancer risk from MDCT scans is low among older adults

Viewpoints: 'Outrageously high fee' for emergency services; Mysterious rise in autism cases

UCM to launch Medicine and Religion Faculty Scholars Program

How real-time off-gas analysis improves fermentation process control

Advancing Drug Safety Assessment With AI, Predictive Modeling, and Human-Relevant Data

AI-powered analytics and experimental validation

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