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First Edition: February 24, 2010

Today's headlines focus on the run-up to tomorrow's White House health summit as well as the latest from Capitol Hill regarding the outlook for health reform.

24 Feb 2010

Asparity Decision Solutions reports 50,000 federal employees become better health care consumers

Asparity Decision Solutions, a leading provider of decision support and data solutions in health care and employee benefits, reports that 50,000 federal employees used PlanSmartChoice during the 2010 federal open season to become better health care consumers.

24 Feb 2010

Lack of knowledge and awareness impeding efforts to control HBV and HCV

A recent report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) confirmed that 3.5 to 5.3 million people (1-2 % of the U.S. population) have chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections. Despite efforts by federal, state and local government agencies to control and prevent these diseases, they remain a serious public health concern. The major factor impeding efforts to control HBV and HCV is lack of knowledge and awareness among health care providers, social service professionals, members of the public, and policy-makers.

24 Feb 2010

SCCT accepts submissions for fourth annual Young Investigator Awards

The Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography, the leading international professional society dedicated to research, education and clinical excellence in cardiovascular computed tomography (CT), is now accepting submissions for the fourth annual Young Investigator Awards. Sponsored by Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc., the unrestricted educational grant will be awarded to two residents or fellows in either radiology or cardiology for their patient care research in the categories of technical and clinical advancement of cardiovascular CT.

24 Feb 2010

FDA's warning over LABA medications for asthma: AANMA offers guidance

Today Allergy & Asthma Network Mothers of Asthmatics (AANMA) offered guidance to help patients understand recent Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warnings about Advair ® (fluticasone and salmeterol), Foradil ® (formoterol), Severent ® (salmeterol) and Symbicort ® (budesonide and formoterol), daily inhaled medications containing a long-acting beta agonist (LABA, a 12-hour bronchodilator).

24 Feb 2010

PharmAthene awarded total of $78.4M in additional funding to develop SparVax vaccine

PharmAthene, Inc. a biodefense company specializing in the development and commercialization of medical countermeasures against chemical and biological threats, announced today that the Department of Health and Human Services, through the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority has modified its existing research and development contract with PharmAthene providing for up to a total of $78.4 million in additional funding, provided that certain milestones are achieved and that all contract options and extensions are exercised by the government, to support the continued advanced development of SparVax™, a second generation recombinant protective antigen (rPA) anthrax vaccine targeted for future procurement in the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile.

24 Feb 2010

Pain-free sedation dentistry may help reduce fear of the dentist

Fear of the dentist is a huge problem in the United States. While as many as four out of five Americans admit being afraid of the dentist, it is estimated that one in seven Americans never get any dental treatment at all because of dental phobia. Sedation dentistry is a pain-free option.

24 Feb 2010

Frozen/thawed ovarian tissue transplant: Woman has two children from separate pregnancies

For the first time, a woman has given birth to two children after her fertility was restored using transplants of ovarian tissue that had been removed and frozen during her cancer treatment and then restored once she was cured.

24 Feb 2010

Women who become pregnant with single foetus after IVF/ICSI have increased risk of stillbirth

Women who become pregnant with a single foetus after in vitro fertilisation (IVF) or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) have an increased risk of a stillbirth, according to new research out today (Wednesday).

24 Feb 2010

Prothesis made of nanocompound material may last more than 150 years

Current body protheses do not last more than 10-15 years. After this time, the operation has to be repeated in order to change prothesis. It is usually problematic as, in general, it is elderly people that use the procedure. Researcher Nere Garmendia, based in the Basque city of Donostia-San Sebasti-n, has just published her PhD, a thesis which may well mean the first step to solving this problem. According to Ms Garmendia, using a ceramic material called zirconia (Zr02), carbon nanotubes and nanoparticles of zirconia, a prothesis that will last more than 150 years can be produced.

24 Feb 2010

Recent health-care figures point to the need for strategy: Keep more mid-career nurses in profession

Recent health-care figures point to the need for a strategy that will keep more mid-career nurses in the profession. According to the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario statistics compiled by the College of Nurses of Ontario and the Canadian Institute for Health Information show a dramatic decrease in the share of nurses aged 35-49.

24 Feb 2010

ONDCP, HHS announce availability of over $1.1M for new Drug Free Communities Support programs

The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is announcing the availability of more than $1.1 million for new Drug Free Communities Support Mentoring program (DFC Mentoring) grants. An estimated 15 new Mentoring grants will be awarded (up to $75,000 per grant, per year) to drug and alcohol prevention community coalitions from across the nation. The length of the project period is up to two years.

24 Feb 2010

New report identifies enormous global impact of preterm birth and stillbirth

A new report issued today identifies the enormous global impact of preterm birth and stillbirth-and what can be done to decrease it. Globally, an estimated 13 million babies are born preterm each year. Newborn deaths now account for more than 42 percent of mortality in children under the age of five, a rise from 37 percent in the year 2000.

24 Feb 2010

QR Pharma awarded patent covering use of Posiphen and analogs in treatment of DS

QR Pharma, Inc., a developer of novel drugs to treat Alzheimer’s disease (AD), announced today that it was issued U.S. Patent No. 7,625,942, a "Method of Treating Down Syndrome" by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The '942 patent covers use of Posiphen and analogs to treat cognitive impairments associated with Down Syndrome (DS). This patent valuably expands upon the original Posiphen and analog patent that claims composition of matter and use of compounds to lower amyloid-β precursor protein (APP) and thereby treat dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

24 Feb 2010

Elsevier shares internal custom publication guidelines with scientific and medical communities

Elsevier, the world's leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical (STM) information products and services announced today that it is publicly sharing its internal custom publication guidelines so that the scientific and medical communities can have insight into a new and practical set of publishing standards for producing custom and sponsored publications.

24 Feb 2010

BioStorage Technologies' Frankfurt facility receives green certification from ENTEGA Vertrieb

BioStorage Technologies, a worldwide provider of long- and short-term storage of biomaterials, sample management and cold chain logistics, today announced its full-service biorepository near Frankfurt, Germany received green certification from ENTEGA Vertrieb GmbH & Co., a leading Germany-based sustainable energy supplier.

24 Feb 2010

Updates on Carriage Services' investment profile

Carriage Services, Inc. today announced that it has updated its "Company & Investment Profile," which can be found on Carriage's website at http://www.carriageservices.com.

24 Feb 2010

Diabetic Neuropathy: Drug having disease-modifying potential will earn 40% patient share in the U.S

Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that, for the treatment of diabetic neuropathy, a drug that has disease-modifying potential would earn 40 percent patient share in the U.S., according to surveyed U.S. neurologists. Similarly, in Europe, such a drug would earn a comparable patient share of 43 percent, according to surveyed European neurologists.

24 Feb 2010

Over-produced PKC-iota oncogene linked to poor pancreatic cancer patient survival

Researchers at the Mayo Clinic campus in Florida have found that PKC-iota (PKC), an oncogene important in colon and lung cancers, is over-produced in pancreatic cancer and is linked to poor patient survival. They also found that genetically inhibiting PKC in laboratory animals led to a significant decrease in pancreatic tumor growth and spread.

24 Feb 2010

AutoGenomics launches expanded test panel to detect 17 B-RAF mutations

AutoGenomics, a leader in providing automated, molecular testing solutions announced today that it has launched an expanded test panel to detect 17 B-RAF mutations for research use to enhance the understanding of B-RAF mutations.

24 Feb 2010

Medical News

First Edition: February 24, 2010

Asparity Decision Solutions reports 50,000 federal employees become better health care consumers

Lack of knowledge and awareness impeding efforts to control HBV and HCV

SCCT accepts submissions for fourth annual Young Investigator Awards

FDA's warning over LABA medications for asthma: AANMA offers guidance

PharmAthene awarded total of $78.4M in additional funding to develop SparVax vaccine

Pain-free sedation dentistry may help reduce fear of the dentist

Frozen/thawed ovarian tissue transplant: Woman has two children from separate pregnancies

Women who become pregnant with single foetus after IVF/ICSI have increased risk of stillbirth

Prothesis made of nanocompound material may last more than 150 years

Recent health-care figures point to the need for strategy: Keep more mid-career nurses in profession

ONDCP, HHS announce availability of over $1.1M for new Drug Free Communities Support programs

New report identifies enormous global impact of preterm birth and stillbirth

QR Pharma awarded patent covering use of Posiphen and analogs in treatment of DS

Elsevier shares internal custom publication guidelines with scientific and medical communities

BioStorage Technologies' Frankfurt facility receives green certification from ENTEGA Vertrieb

Updates on Carriage Services' investment profile

Diabetic Neuropathy: Drug having disease-modifying potential will earn 40% patient share in the U.S

Over-produced PKC-iota oncogene linked to poor pancreatic cancer patient survival

AutoGenomics launches expanded test panel to detect 17 B-RAF mutations

Advancing brain microphysiological systems (bMPS)

PhD researcher at LifeArc

Unveiling Hidden Potential: Organoids for Disease Modeling in Neuroscience Research

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