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RaySearch initiates IMRT European trial to treat rectal cancer

RaySearch Laboratories AB announces that the first patient in Europe has been treated with a treatment plan created with RaySearch's treatment planning system RayStation.

From Elekta 15 Dec 2011

Positive results from Hatchtech's DeOvo Phase 2b trial on head lice

Specialty pharmaceutical company Hatchtech Pty Ltd today announced positive results for its Phase 2b clinical trial in subjects with head lice infestation. The results confirmed that DeOvo, a topical head lice treatment, is both safe and highly effective following a single application.

15 Dec 2011

FUJIFILM to acquire SonoSite

FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation, a diversified technology company that operates in healthcare, highly functional materials, and document solutions, announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement with SonoSite, Inc., a pioneer and leader in bedside and point-of-care ultrasound technology, pursuant to which Fujifilm will acquire SonoSite for approximately $995 million.

15 Dec 2011

Most practitioners advise people with LBP to take short break from work despite guidelines

Guidelines for clinical management of patients with low back pain (LBP) encourage health care practitioners to advise staying active and returning to work. Despite this, most practitioners believe work factors can cause or exacerbate LBP, and a recommendation for a "short break from work" to allow healing is common.

15 Dec 2011

ICRM director-general to give lecture about cancer research in India at AACR conference

Vishwa Mohan Katoch, M.D., will give a special lecture entitled "Cancer Research in India: Future Directions" at the AACR International Conference on New Horizons in Cancer Research: Biology to Prevention to Therapy, Dec. 13-16, 2011, in Gurgaon, Delhi (NCR), India.

15 Dec 2011

Study evaluates use of leukocyte and platelet-rich fibrin biomaterial in heart patients

Cardiac patients that take anticoagulant medications and need a tooth extraction face an increased risk of bleeding that must be addressed by the treating clinician. Therefore, a protocol for heart patients is needed that will avoid significant bleeding after dental extractions without suspending anticoagulant therapy.

15 Dec 2011

Roundtable discussion about caffeine and physical performance

Caffeine is regarded by some as being a potent stimulant, but the debate continues as to whether it enhances exercise performance. A range of expert opinions capture the scope of this ongoing debate in an informative roundtable discussion published in Journal of Caffeine Research, a quarterly peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

15 Dec 2011

Lab results change in consistent ways during the course of Kawasaki disease

Children with Kawasaki disease show a pattern of changing laboratory test results as the disease runs its course, according to a study in the December issue of The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal.

15 Dec 2011

High-deductible health plans on the rise

More than one in five Americans who are privately insured are now part of high-deductible plans, a figure that's at an all-time high and growing rapidly according to a new survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

15 Dec 2011

FEBS and Elsevier's new journal to benefit scientific community

Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, and the Federation of Biochemical Societies (FEBS) announced today the launch of FEBS Open Bio, an open access journal.

15 Dec 2011

Ryan, Wyden to announce new Medicare proposal

Republican congressman Paul Ryan plans to unveil a new Medicare proposal Thursday that would give future seniors the choice of purchasing private insurance coverage or staying in the traditional federal plan. The concept, which is backed by Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, steps back from the House Budget Chairman's previous plan to end the traditional fee-for-service Medicare program for future retirees and replace it with subsidies that seniors would use to purchase private health plans.

15 Dec 2011

Widowers should find new partner to avoid risk of poor mental health

Men who have lost their partner to cancer and who are still single four to five years after their loss run a far greater risk of developing mental illness than those who have managed to find a new partner, reveals a unique study of 691 Swedish widowers carried out at the Sahlgrenska Academy.

15 Dec 2011

SU2C, MRA announce new Dream Team dedicated to melanoma research

Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C), the Melanoma Research Alliance (MRA) and SU2C's scientific partner, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), today announced a new Dream Team dedicated to melanoma research. Jeffrey M. Trent, Ph.D., and Patricia M. LoRusso, D.O., will lead the Dream Team project entitled "Personalized Medicine for Patients with BRAF Wild-Type (BRAFwt) Cancer."

15 Dec 2011

New approaches can improve cancer care delivery

Physicians can use medical records to track the quality of cancer care and determine whether their patients are receiving the right treatments at the right time. Yet the patient is the only one who ultimately can evaluate the quality of his or her experience while receiving treatment.

15 Dec 2011

MTF survey shows large decline in teen smoking

Cigarette and alcohol use by eighth, 10th and 12th-graders are at their lowest point since the Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey began polling teenagers in 1975, according to this year's survey results. However, this positive news is tempered by a slowing rate of decline in teen smoking as well as continued high rates of abuse of other tobacco products, marijuana and prescription drugs.

15 Dec 2011

Senate Democrats seek justification for Plan B decision

Thirteen Democrats and one independent expressed disappointment in Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius' decision to block younger teenagers from buying the "Plan B" emergency contraceptive without a prescription. Meanwhile, a federal judge says he will review the decision.

15 Dec 2011

Lockheed Martin, Johns Hopkins partner to create safer and more efficient ICU model

The Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality of Johns Hopkins Medicine is collaborating with the Lockheed Martin Corporation, a global security and technology company, to create a safer and more efficient hospital intensive care unit (ICU) model.

15 Dec 2011

Emerging economies taking greater role in development aid

"The past year has underlined how the dramatic growth of some of the world's most populous developing economies is propelling a remarkable shift in the global geopolitics of aid and development," the Guardian reports in an article examining how "non-traditional donors" contributed large amounts to several humanitarian crises this year.

15 Dec 2011

Tips from Calorie Control Council

It's that time of year when extra calories lurk around every corner - baked goods at the office, cocktails and snacks at holiday parties, chocolates in stockings and holiday meals that can average more than 4,500 calories and 220 grams of fat, according to the Calorie Control Council. All these extras can add up to weight gain during the holiday season.

15 Dec 2011

Potential budget cuts threaten U.S. military HIV research program

This post in the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog examines how potential budget cuts are threatening the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) Military HIV Research Program (MHRP), "a $175 million program supported by the Department of Defense and other entities that is vulnerable to cuts in the fiscal year 2012 funding battle currently taking place on the Hill."

15 Dec 2011