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Angioplasty: Complexity of heart disease, gender and body size influence cumulative radiation skin dose

Body size, gender and the complexity of heart disease significantly influence how much cumulative radiation skin dose that patients receive during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) therapy, also known as angioplasty, according to a new Mayo Clinic study. The study was undertaken as a quality control initiative to reduce the potential radiation risks of cancer to patients and PCI operators.

16 Mar 2010

Toshiba displays new, advanced ultrasound systems at ACC annual meeting

Health care facilities use ultrasound as a first-line diagnostic exam to quickly and efficiently perform a range of patient exams, including cardiac imaging. Developed to meet these demanding clinical needs, Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc. will showcase the advanced cardiac capabilities of its AplioTM MX and Aplio ArtidaTM ultrasound systems at this year’s American College of Cardiology (ACC) annual meeting in Atlanta, March 14-16, 2010 (Booth #1944). This is the first appearance of the Aplio MX at ACC.

16 Mar 2010

Hybrid revascularization procedure is safe and feasible for left main coronary artery stenosis

The left main coronary artery provides most of the blood to the heart, and current guidelines call for patients with blockages in this artery to undergo bypass surgery.

16 Mar 2010

Workings of IGFs on muscle cells

The muscle-building abilities of hormones known as insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) are legendary. Just do an online search and you'll find not only scientific papers discussing the effects of IGFs on the cells that give rise to muscle tissue, but also scores of ads touting the purported benefits of IGF supplements for bodybuilding.

16 Mar 2010

Fraunhofer USA CMB receives $4.395M award from DARPA to develop H1N1 influenza vaccine

Fraunhofer USA Center for Molecular Biotechnology announced today that it has received a $4.395 million award from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to develop a vaccine against H1N1 influenza virus using its plant-based production platform.

16 Mar 2010

Mathematical model may promote medical research on how to grow new organs

Each cusp of our teeth is regulated by genes which carefully control the development. A similar genetic puzzle also regulates the differentiation of our other organs and of all living organisms.

16 Mar 2010

CogniFit Personal Coach brain training software improves cognitive function of MS patients

CogniFit™, Inc., a leading maker of Brain Fitness Software (www.cognifit.com), announced a new, independent study that shows CogniFit Personal Coach brain training software improves the cognitive function and skills of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients.

16 Mar 2010

Illumina announces enhancement to OmniExpress BeadChip

Illumina, Inc. today unveiled its new HumanOmniExpress+ Custom BeadChip (OmniExpress+), an enhancement to the recently announced OmniExpress BeadChip that allows for the addition of up to 200,000 custom variants for a total of >900k variants per sample. OmniExpress+ leverages the proven iSelect custom genotyping infrastructure to provide researchers with unlimited flexibility in adding custom content for disease or pathway-specific markers, rare variants from the 1,000 Genomes Project, or panels for fine-mapping onto the industry’s most optimal set of SNPs.

From Illumina, Inc. 16 Mar 2010

New method may shed light on the mechanism behind folding and misfolding of proteins

Researchers at the Department of Chemistry at the Technische Universit-t M-nchen (TUM) have developed a method that allows the observation of local movements in proteins on a time scale of nanoseconds to microseconds.

16 Mar 2010

Lipitor 80 mg may help reduce risk of major cardiovascular events in high-risk patients

Lipitor® (atorvastatin calcium) 80 mg was associated with a significantly reduced risk of major cardiovascular events compared with Lipitor 10 mg among patients with both coronary heart disease (CHD) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) who were obese or had metabolic syndrome. These data, from two sub-analyses of the Treating to New Targets (TNT) trial that were designed and completed following the completion of TNT, were presented today at the 59th Annual Scientific Session of the American College of Cardiology (ACC) in Atlanta, Ga.

16 Mar 2010

Sectra’s operating profit for nine-month period increases 37.3%

IT and medical technology company Sectra’s operating profit for the nine-month period rose by 37.3% to SEK 14.0 million (10.2), corresponding to an operating margin of 2.4% (1.7). Net sales for the period amounted to SEK 592.9 million (599.5).

16 Mar 2010

Dual role of Notch signalling pathway

Scientists headed by ICREA researcher Marco Mil-n, at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), reveal a surprising new function of Notch protein that contrasts with the one known to date. Found in the cell membrane, this protein activates a signalling pathway that regulates the expression of genes that make the cell divide, grow, migrate, specialise or die.

16 Mar 2010

Hi-maize whole grain corn flour and Hi-maize resistant starch increase satiety

A University of Toronto (Toronto, Canada) research team, led by G. Harvey Anderson, Ph.D., just published results of a new study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, showing that the quantity of resistant starch in foods correlates with blood glucose response and reduced food intake after two hours.

16 Mar 2010

Moms Against Mercury battle federal government's vaccine court

Now that the federal government's vaccine court has again denied claims that mercury in vaccines cause autism, frankly, we have to agree with them. Because mercury poisoning and autism produce identical symptoms, we parents of autistic children in America have been barking up the wrong tree. Mercury in vaccines causes mercury poisoning which causes brain damage which can look like autism.

16 Mar 2010

New research initiative launched to accelerate development of improved crops

A new research initiative has been launched to accelerate the development of improved crops with higher yields and consistent, high quality products. The £6M Crop Improvement Research Club is led by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the UK's largest public funder of agri-food research and includes the Scottish Government and 13 companies representing plant breeders, farmers and food processors.

16 Mar 2010

MRSA Survivors Network urges CDC to declare MRSA an epidemic

MRSA Survivors Network, the nonprofit organization, along with other advocates, urgently plead with the CDC – (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), along with the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to finally acknowledge the public health crisis to the public and take action.

16 Mar 2010

PERSEUS clinical program demonstrates positive results of TAXUS Element Paclitaxel-Eluting Stent System

Boston Scientific Corporation today announced 12-month results from its PERSEUS clinical program that demonstrated positive safety and efficacy outcomes in workhorse lesions for the platinum chromium TAXUS® Element™ Paclitaxel-Eluting Stent System compared to the TAXUS® Express2™ Paclitaxel-Eluting Stent System.

16 Mar 2010

Study reveals comparable fertility rates between UFE and surgical myomectomy

Uterine fibroid embolization, a minimally invasive interventional radiology procedure that blocks blood supply to treat painful uterine fibroids, has a comparable fertility rate to myomectomy, the surgical removal of uterine fibroids, for women who want to conceive, according to the first study on the subject released at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 35th Annual Scientific Meeting in Tampa, Fla.

16 Mar 2010

Keynote speakers to discuss regenerative medicine therapies at upcoming forum

What regenerative medicine therapies are being applied to patients today? What hurdles stand between stem cell therapies and real treatments in the clinic? Keynote speakers at the upcoming inaugural Translational Regenerative Medicine Forum will discuss these topics as well as provide an update on various national and regional stem cell initiatives.

16 Mar 2010

New advertising campaign encourages teenagers to start smoking

The 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) prohibits tobacco industry advertising practices that encourage underage teenagers to smoke, yet new research out of the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego has found that a 2007 marketing campaign for Camel brand cigarettes was effective in encouraging young girls to start smoking.

16 Mar 2010