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Super hemoglobin allows moles to grow underground

'Super hemoglobin' allows moles to thrive underground. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology have made the first identification of an adaptation in the blood of Eastern moles which allows more efficient transport of carbon dioxide, facilitating the moles' burrowing behavior.

22 Jul 2010

Enrollment jump helps UnitedHealth Group profits soar 31 percent

Health insurer UnitedHealth Group reported a second quarter profit jump of 31 percent as enrollment in the insurer's plans went up, The Associated Press/The New York Times reports. "The company's total enrollment grew about 1 percent, to 32.5 million compared with last year, with gains in Medicare and Medicaid businesses offsetting commercial health insurance losses." The company's commercial enrollment fell 440,000 as the sector deals with job cuts and the recession (7/20).

22 Jul 2010

Researchers speculate about risks, rewards of making clinicians' notes transparent to patients

Technology has placed vast amounts of medical information literally a mouse click away. Yet what often may be central - a doctor's notes about a patient visit - has traditionally not been part of the discussion. In effect, such records have long been out of bounds.

22 Jul 2010

Cultivated cucumber, melon originated in Asia and Australia

Sites of origin and regions of domestication of many of our most important cultivated plants are still unknown. The botanical genus Cucumis, to which both the cucumber (Cucumis sativus) and the honeydew melon (C. melo) belong, was long thought to have originated and diversified in Africa, because many wild species of Cucumis are found there. "A molecular genetic analysis has now shown that the wild populations that gave rise to melons and cucumbers originated in Asia", says LMU botanist Professor Susanne Renner.

22 Jul 2010

Brain neuron activity can signal initiation, termination of behavioural sequences: Study

Rui Costa, Principal Investigator of the Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme at the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, and Xin Jin, of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, describe in the latest issue of the journal Nature, that the activity of certain neurons in the brain can signal the initiation and termination of behavioural sequences we learn anew. Furthermore, they found that this brain activity is essential for learning and executing novel action sequences, many times compromised in patients suffering from disorders such as Parkinson's or Huntington's.

22 Jul 2010

Harvard cracks down on doctors' ties to industry

In the face of increased scrutiny of ties between industry and medical school faculty, Harvard is tightening its conflict-of-interest policies, The Boston Globe reports.

22 Jul 2010

Study marks significant milestone for microbicide research field, HIV prevention

Today we congratulate the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa and the people of South Africa on the positive findings from the CAPRISA 004 microbicide study, which marks a significant milestone both for the microbicide research field and HIV prevention as a whole.

22 Jul 2010

SWHR hosts briefing on urinary incontinence, overactive bladder

The Society for Women's Health Research (SWHR) hosted the Capitol Hill briefing, The Bladder Matters: What Women Need to Know on Thursday, July 15, which highlighted startling statistics and an insightful patient perspective. Featuring noted researchers, physicians, Hill staff, and a UI-afflicted patient, the aim of this widely attended briefing was to detail current research on urinary incontinence (UI) and present future outlooks.

22 Jul 2010

Study identifies treatment strategies that can slow progression of eye disease associated with diabetes

The VA Maryland Health Care System participated in a landmark national study of more than 10,251 high-risk diabetic adults across the nation, testing if three complementary treatment strategies can reduce the high rate of heart disease and stroke associated with type 2 diabetes and if these treatment strategies can also slow the progression of eye disease associated with diabetes, the leading cause of blindness in working-age Americans.

22 Jul 2010

'Meaningful use' guidelines under fire from Republicans

NextGov: Recently released requirements for physicians and hospitals to earn cash rewards for the "meaningful use" of electronic medical records are not tough enough to justify an investment of billions of dollars, House Republicans said Tuesday. "In a hearing of the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, officials from the Health and Human Services Department defended the recently released standards.

22 Jul 2010

Valproic acid halts vision loss in patients with retinitis pigmentosa

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School believe they may have found a new treatment for retinitis pigmentosa, a severe neurodegenerative disease of the retina that ultimately results in blindness. One of the more common retinal degenerative diseases, RP is caused by the death of photoreceptor cells and affects 1 in 4,000 people in the United States. RP typically manifests in young adulthood as night blindness or a loss of peripheral vision and in many cases progresses to legal blindness by age 40.

22 Jul 2010

Flat global funding for HIV prevention research could have serious consequences: Report

Following significant advances in vaccine and microbicide research, including results presented today of 39% efficacy in the CAPRISA 004 microbicide gel trial among women in South Africa, a new report released today warns that flat funding for HIV prevention research may limit researchers' ability to quickly move promising approaches forward.

22 Jul 2010

Lawmakers: Extend Medicaid subsidies to help African-American seniors

"Three black members of Congress on Tuesday said minority nursing home patients would be disproportionately affected if Congress fails to extend bonus payments to state Medicaid programs" (Galewitz, 7/20).

22 Jul 2010

WPI's workshop to include demonstrations on location, tracking and physiological monitoring systems

Worcester Polytechnic Institute, a leader in the development of technology for precisely locating, tracking, and monitoring first responders inside buildings, will host the fifth annual Workshop on Precision Indoor Personnel Location and Tracking Technology for Emergency Responders in the WPI Campus Center Aug. 2-3, 2010.

22 Jul 2010

Medicare drug benefit appears to help more seniors with heart failure

The Medicare drug benefit may be helping more older Americans with heart failure get the medications recommended for controlling the disease, a new study finds. The study, of nearly 7,000 older heart failure patients in one large insurance plan, found that the number of filled prescriptions for standard heart failure medications increased after the Medicare drug benefit kicked in in 2006. The biggest increase was seen among seniors who had previously lacked any form of drug coverage.

22 Jul 2010

Justice Department officials ask for more time to reply to USCA's lawsuit against Obama's health care overhaul

Lawyers for Barack Obama and other defendants in the U.S. Citizens Association's lawsuit against Obama's health care overhaul have asked a federal judge in Akron, Ohio for more time to respond to the lawsuit suit because "this case presents claims not yet addressed in other litigation."

22 Jul 2010

Survey links autism with digestive problems, intestinal inflammation

Autism is the fastest growing developmental disorder in the world. With 1 child in 91 facing the disorder, the diagnosis is more common than pediatric cancer, diabetes, and AIDS combined.

22 Jul 2010

Experts outline three elements necessary for ending HIV/AIDS pandemic

According to a new editorial, the world can control and ultimately end the HIV/AIDS pandemic through a three-pronged strategy

22 Jul 2010

ASP EVOTECH Endoscope Cleaner and Reprocessor technology superior to manual cleaning: Study

Advanced Sterilization Products (ASP) announced today newly published data showing the ASP EVOTECH® Endoscope Cleaner and Reprocessor (ECR) provides an automated approach superior to the manual cleaning required when using traditional AERs. Published in the July issue of Biomed Central, the combination clinical-use and simulated-use study was led by Michelle Alfa, Ph.D., FCCM, Medical Director, Microbiology Discipline Diagnostic Services of Manitoba (DSM) St. Boniface General Hospital Site.

22 Jul 2010

Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories begins marketing bupropion hydrochloride extended release tablets

Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories, Ltd. has started shipping bupropion hydrochloride extended release tablets. This product was recently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Sun Pharma's Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA). These bupropion hydrochloride extended release tablets, 100 mg, 150 mg, and 200 mg, are therapeutically equivalent to GlaxoSmithKline's Wellbutrin SR® Extended Release tablets.

22 Jul 2010

Medical News

Super hemoglobin allows moles to grow underground

Enrollment jump helps UnitedHealth Group profits soar 31 percent

Researchers speculate about risks, rewards of making clinicians' notes transparent to patients

Cultivated cucumber, melon originated in Asia and Australia

Brain neuron activity can signal initiation, termination of behavioural sequences: Study

Harvard cracks down on doctors' ties to industry

Study marks significant milestone for microbicide research field, HIV prevention

SWHR hosts briefing on urinary incontinence, overactive bladder

Study identifies treatment strategies that can slow progression of eye disease associated with diabetes

'Meaningful use' guidelines under fire from Republicans

Valproic acid halts vision loss in patients with retinitis pigmentosa

Flat global funding for HIV prevention research could have serious consequences: Report

Lawmakers: Extend Medicaid subsidies to help African-American seniors

WPI's workshop to include demonstrations on location, tracking and physiological monitoring systems

Medicare drug benefit appears to help more seniors with heart failure

Justice Department officials ask for more time to reply to USCA's lawsuit against Obama's health care overhaul

Survey links autism with digestive problems, intestinal inflammation

Experts outline three elements necessary for ending HIV/AIDS pandemic

ASP EVOTECH Endoscope Cleaner and Reprocessor technology superior to manual cleaning: Study

Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories begins marketing bupropion hydrochloride extended release tablets

Redefining control and consistency in anaerobic microbiome workflows

AI in Healthcare: How generative tools are transforming clinical practice

The future of automation: Machine learning–driven hepatocyte and organoid counting

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