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Study sheds new light on the ways in which languages ensure efficient communication of information

A recent study of the speech information rate of seven languages concludes that there is considerable variation in the speed at which languages are spoken, but much less variation in how efficiently languages communicate the same information.

3 Sep 2011

Simulation training helps students to score more on final examinations

Medical students who practiced on a patient simulator before assisting in real-life vaginal deliveries scored significantly higher on their final examinations than did students receiving a lecture only at the start of an obstetric clerkship.

3 Sep 2011

Researchers discover protein signals responsible for preserving anti-viral antibodies

Our immune system is capable of a remarkable feat: the ability to remember infections for years, even decades, after they have first been encountered and defeated. While the antibodies we make last only about a month, we retain the means of making them for a lifetime.

3 Sep 2011

Scientists discover highly conserved mechanism governing brain development

If you think today's political rhetoric is overheated, imagine what goes on inside a vertebrate embryo. There, two armies whose agendas are poles apart, engage in a battle with consequences much more dire than whether the economy will recover---- they are battling for whether you (or frogs or chickens) will have a forebrain.

3 Sep 2011

Researchers discover why tumors evolve

Like snakes, tumour cells shed their skin. Cancer is not a static disease but during its development the disease accumulates changes to evade natural defences adapting to new environmental circumstances, protecting against chemotherapy and radiotherapy and invading neighbouring organs, eventually causing metastasis.

3 Sep 2011

Family planning should be 'cornerstone' of U.S. policy in Afghanistan

"Without attention to population, countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan stand a good chance of staying mired in poverty, conflict, and corrupt, repressive government. That is why sustained investment in family planning by the United States and other countries would do more to stabilize the political climate there than any other foreign-policy initiative," Jennifer Dabbs Sciubba, former Defense Department consultant and the Mellon Environmental Fellow in the department of international studies at Rhodes College, writes in a Philadelphia Inquirer opinion piece.

3 Sep 2011

Researchers inject cultured red blood cells created from HSCs into human donor

For the first time, researchers have successfully injected cultured red blood cells (cRBCs) created from human hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) into a human donor, according to study results published today in Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology.

3 Sep 2011

Loyola surgeons use new, less invasive catheter technique to treat cystic fibrosis

Cystic fibrosis patient Daniel Sammons had undergone a successful double lung transplant at Loyola University Medical Center, but he still had one major health issue.

3 Sep 2011

New rules require insurers to justify rate increases over 10%

Federal rules mandate that companies explain the hikes and submit them to regulators. Also, HHS announced that association health plans must meet the same rate scrutiny as other types of insurance.

3 Sep 2011

Study suggests sexual orientation infiltrates automatic impression

Studies by psychologists at the University of Toronto reveal that when it comes to white men, being straight may make you more likable but in the case of black men, gays have a likability edge.

3 Sep 2011

Many athletes hold unscientific views about benefits of different hydration practices

Nearly half of recreational runners may be drinking too much fluid during races, according to a survey of runners by Loyola University Health System researchers.

3 Sep 2011

Immigrant dialysis patients in Atlanta again face treatment crisis

After the collapse of negotiations between Atlanta's public hospital and the world's largest dialysis provider, a dozen immigrants suffering from renal failure were refused treatment at an Atlanta clinic on Thursday and advised to wait until their conditions deteriorated enough to justify life-saving care in an emergency room. Unless the deadlock is broken, 22 patients, most of them illegal immigrants, face a debilitating cycle.

3 Sep 2011

Pathology Visions Conference to be held at Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego

Mahul B. Amin, MD, chair of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, will offer his perspectives and expertise on personalized medicine and digital pathology at the 2011 Pathology Visions Conference.

3 Sep 2011

SmokingPaST Framework tool calculates impact of investments in tobacco treatment programs

The newly released Smoking Prevalence, Savings, and Treatment (SmokingPaST) Framework is a tool designed to calculate the impact of investments in tobacco treatment programs on health and medical cost savings.

3 Sep 2011

Feds hold off on decision about yanking Medicare funding to Parkland

The CMS has extended the possible date of Parkland Health and Hospital System's termination from the Medicare program to Sept. 30 from Sept. 2 in order to give state surveyors more time to complete their reports. The 672-bed Parkland received word Aug. 9 that it was under threat of losing its status as a Medicare provider, and after submitting its plan of action (PDF) on how it would correct the problems by an Aug. 20 deadline.

3 Sep 2011

Natural environment linked to reduced obesity

New research from North Carolina finds that people who live in counties with better weather and more natural features like hills and lakes are more active and thinner than their counterparts, even when researchers take other factors into consideration.

3 Sep 2011

Inhibiting the ability of immune cells to use fatty acids slows MS progression

In a paper published today in the journal Scientific Reports, a pair of researchers at the University of California, San Diego Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences report that inhibiting the ability of immune cells to use fatty acids as fuel measurably slows disease progression in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis.

3 Sep 2011

VA chief outlines computer system to cut disability backlog

The Department of Veterans Affairs is installing a computer system that should help reduce a huge backlog of disability claims from wounded soldiers, but it's impossible to say when the problem will be cleared up, the agency's chief said Thursday in Des Moines.

3 Sep 2011

Resveratrol helps prevent metabolic syndrome in offspring

Researchers in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Alberta have discovered that resveratrol, a powerful antioxidant found in common foods, prevents a syndrome in some offspring that could lead to later health issues such as diabetes.

3 Sep 2011

Study reveals why bad eating habits persist even when the food does not taste good

Do you always get popcorn at the movies? Or snack while you're on the couch watching television? A new paper by USC researchers reveals why bad eating habits persist even when the food we're eating doesn't taste good. The study also reveals the surprisingly simple ways we can counter our habits to gain control over what we eat.

3 Sep 2011