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Reasons for caution about experimental malaria vaccine

Writing in KPLU's "Humanosphere" blog, Tom Paulson responds to last week's announcement of results from an ongoing clinical trial of an experimental malaria vaccine, saying, "Despite the hype and fanfare, many experts at the Seattle meeting said this experimental vaccine actually so far represents only incremental progress -- a scientific achievement which may still turn out to have little practical utility in the real world."

28 Oct 2011

Evidenced-based best practices can reduce healthcare associated infections

Healthcare associated infections, such as catheter related acute bloodstream infections (CLABSI) and ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP), significantly affect hospital morbidity and mortality but by developing evidenced-based, best practices, these occurrences can be minimized, according to research from surgeons at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.

28 Oct 2011

DRC government, UNICEF campaign immunizes 14M children against polio

"Thousands of vaccination teams have traversed the vast Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on foot, by motorbike, boat and car, in a campaign to immunize at least 14 million children against polio, the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) said," IRIN reports.

28 Oct 2011

DFG to equip nine universities with major instrumentation systems

In the life sciences, imaging methods such as microscopy play a central role. The technique of imaging mass spectrometry is a new and analytic method in this field that promises many benefits. This is the reason why in October 2011 the Joint Committee of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft has decided, as part of the "Imaging Mass Spectrometry in the Life Sciences" initiative, to equip nine universities with appropriate major instrumentation systems.

28 Oct 2011

Special hospital team reduces cumulated risk of stroke in TIA patients

Patients who had a transient ischaemic attack (TIA), sometimes referred to as a "mini stroke", were much less likely to experience further vascular events in the first year if their care was co-ordinated by a special hospital team.

28 Oct 2011

Federal regulators to step up their rate review role

Federal regulators will step up their role in rate review for association health plans after determining nearly half the states lack a satisfactory mechanism for reviewing premiums on these special health insurance products, which trade groups sell to members.

28 Oct 2011

Social stressors around the transition into adulthood sow seeds of disease in middle age

Being hard up socially and financially during adolescence and early adulthood takes its toll on the body, and leads to physiological wear and tear in middle aged men and women, irrespective of how tough things have been in the interim. According to Dr. Per E. Gustafsson from Umeå University in Sweden and colleagues, experience of social and material stressors around the time of transition into adulthood is linked to a rise in disease risk factors in middle age, including higher blood pressure, body weight and cholesterol.

28 Oct 2011

Researchers explore novel therapeutic approach for thyroid cancer

Some forms of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) respond to treatment with radioactive iodine, which is taken up by the thyroid gland, destroying the cancerous cells. However patients with two forms of thyroid cancer, radioiodine-refractory DTC and anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC), do not benefit from radioiodine therapy, and other treatment options are limited.

28 Oct 2011

Floridians say state must be a leader in science and medical research

A majority of Floridians (87%) believe it is important for their state to be a leader in science and medical research, according to a new state poll commissioned by Research!America. The poll also shows that 80% think spending money on scientific research is important for Florida's economy in terms of job creation and incomes.

28 Oct 2011

Mass. health care costs could spell trouble for Romney

Mitt Romney's health care albatross isn't just the similarity between his Massachusetts health care overhaul and President Barack Obama's health reform law. It's also the fact that Massachusetts still has the highest health costs in the country - even after the reforms Romney signed into law as governor.

28 Oct 2011

Researchers announce new method to build important heparin drug

Robert Linhardt is working to forever change the way some of the most widely used drugs in the world are manufactured. Today, in the journal Science, he and his partner in the research, Jian Liu, have announced an important step toward making this a reality. The discovery appears in the October 28, 2011 edition of the journal Science in a paper titled "chemoenzymatic synthesis of homogeneous ultra-low molecular weight heparins."

28 Oct 2011

No significant evidence of breast cancer after nipple-sparing mastectomy

A modified mastectomy technique provides effective treatment for breast cancer while preserving the nipple and surrounding tissues for use in breast reconstruction, according to a report in the November issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

28 Oct 2011

Medicare Part B 2012 premiums lower than projected

The Obama administration today announced that premiums for Medicare Part B coverage in 2012 will be $99.90 a month for most beneficiaries, a smaller-than-expected increase over the $96.40 paid this year by a majority of elderly and disabled beneficiaries. Part B pays for physician visits, hospital outpatient costs and certain other services. A 3.6 percent Social Security cost-of-living adjustment, the first in three years, will more than make up for the small increase, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

28 Oct 2011

DiaGenic reports operating revenue of NOK 276 thousand for third quarter 2011

DiaGenic has successfully finalized the first clinical study in collaboration with Pfizer, the market leader for Alzheimer's therapeutics sales and Pfizer has confirmed DiaGenic's findings resulting in a press release October 14th.

28 Oct 2011

ACR supports Diagnostic Imaging Services Protection Act

The American College of Radiology supports the Diagnostic Imaging Services Protection Act (H.R. 3269), which would prohibit any multiple procedure payment reduction to the "professional component" of CT, MRI and ultrasound exams received by the same patient, on the same day, in the same setting in 2012.

28 Oct 2011

High Court justices could decide Nov. 10 which health law cases to hear

A closed-door meeting is on the justices' schedule during which they will review petitions regarding challenges to the health law. Their decision about how - and when - to proceed could be made public as soon as Nov. 14.

28 Oct 2011

Novel technique saves Gulf War veteran's forearm

A plastic surgeon at UT Southwestern Medical Center recently used a novel technique to save the arm of a Gulf War veteran who was rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital after a horrific accident.

28 Oct 2011

UCLA professor to receive ATA's Sidney H. Ingbar Distinguished Lectureship Award

The American Thyroid Association's (ATA) Sidney H. Ingbar Distinguished Lectureship Award recognizes outstanding academic achievements in thyroidology. An honorarium is conferred each year at the ATA Annual Meeting to an established investigator who has made major contributions to thyroid-related research over many years.

28 Oct 2011

Gates Foundation, China sign MOU to work together on global health, agriculture advances

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and China's Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding to form a partnership to support new research and development (R&D) and production of new products for global health and agriculture, Agence France-Presse reports.

28 Oct 2011

Biogen Idec enters global collaboration for oral Syk inhibitor program with Portola

Biogen Idec and Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that they have entered into an exclusive, worldwide collaboration and license agreement under which both companies will develop and commercialize highly selective, novel oral Syk inhibitors for the treatment of various autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

28 Oct 2011