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Infant carrying ruled out as reason why humans walk upright

Scientists investigating the reasons why early humans - the so-called hominins - began walking upright say it's unlikely that the need to carry children was a factor, as has previously been suggested.

From The University of Manchester 23 Apr 2008

Northern Devon Healthcare Trust reduces call waiting times with speech recognition solution

The Northern Devon Healthcare Trust (NDHT) is using a speech recognition solution, from voice automation specialist Telephonetics VIP, to answer external calls at busy times.

23 Apr 2008

Wireless technology needed to build recession proof health services

Healthcare providers are increasingly using wireless technology to minimise the cost and disruption associated with the deployment of innovative ehealth and telecare services.

23 Apr 2008

ASTRO launches online practice quality improvement project

The American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology launched its Performance Assessment for the Advancement of Radiation Oncology Treatment (PAAROT) program on April 1 as a way for ASTRO members to satisfy the American Board of Radiology's Maintenance of Certification program requirements.

23 Apr 2008

Biopharmaceutical spin-out company Domainex, secures funding

Headquartered in London, Domainex is a contract research company specialising in the provision of structural biology and chemistry services to major pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms. The Company is also developing a pipeline of pre-clinical drugs and targets.

From Domainex 23 Apr 2008

LifeSync to sublicense patent portfolio to Triage Wireless

LifeSync Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of GMP Companies, Inc., announced it has entered into a non-exclusive sublicense with Triage Wireless Inc. for LifeSync's patent portfolio associated with the digital, wireless communication of patient vital signs.

23 Apr 2008

MacroChem acquires Virium Pharmaceuticals

MacroChem Corporation announced today that on April 18, 2008 it acquired Virium Pharmaceuticals Inc., a non-public, development stage company developing and commercializing novel therapeutics, with a portfolio of clinical stage product candidates focused in oncology, including its next generation nucleoside analogue licensed from the Southern Research Institute.

23 Apr 2008

Signalife awarded new U.S. patent for method to monitor heartbeats

Signalife, Inc. has announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has awarded the Company a new and important patent entitled "System For, And Method Of, Monitoring Heartbeats Of A Patient". The patent, which covers 37 claims, will enhance the Company's ability to develop new proprietary products.

23 Apr 2008

StemCells, Inc. granted U.S. patent covering composition of neural stem cells derived from any tissue source

StemCells, Inc. announced today that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued U.S. Patent Number 7,361,505 with broad claims covering human neural stem cells derived from any tissue source, including embryonic, fetal, juvenile, or adult tissue. The ‘505 patent is exclusively licensed to StemCells.

23 Apr 2008

FDA approves guayule latex gloves

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared for marketing the first device made from a new form of natural rubber latex, guayule latex. The product, the Yulex Patient Examination Glove, is derived from the guayule bush, a desert plant native to the Southwestern United States.

23 Apr 2008

Different processes govern sight, light detection - findings could point toward help for SAD, insomnia patients

A Johns Hopkins University biologist, in research with implications for people suffering from seasonal affective disorder and insomnia, has determined that the eye uses light to reset the biological clock through a mechanism separate from the ability to see.

23 Apr 2008

Functional magnetic resonance imaging reveals brain circuitry associated with social status

Human imaging studies have for the first time identified brain circuitry associated with social status, according to researchers at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) of the National Institutes of Health.

23 Apr 2008

UKCMRI partners dismiss claims about research project

There has been speculation in the press about the work to be carried out at the planned UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation, a world-class facility which will deliver ground breaking new research.

23 Apr 2008

Major step forward in understanding how memory works

Our ability to remember the objects, places and people within our environment is essential for everyday life, although the importance of this is only fully appreciated when recognition memory beings to fail, as in Alzheimer's disease.

23 Apr 2008

Global food price increase forces World Vision to scale back food aid program

One of the world's largest humanitarian organizations has announced it can no longer provide food to 1.5 million of the 7.5 million poor it fed last year.

23 Apr 2008

Menstrual blood - an abundant sources of stem cells

Researchers seeking new and more abundant sources of stem cells for use in regenerative medicine have identified a potentially unlimited, noncontroversial, easily collectable, and inexpensive source - menstrual blood.

23 Apr 2008

Impact of environment and social gradient on Leptospira infection in urban slums

A study conducted in an urban slum setting in Salvador, Brazil has found that open sewers, accumulations of refuse, and inadequate floodwater drainage are acting as sources for transmission of the disease leptospirosis. The study is published in this week's PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

23 Apr 2008

Simplified economical method of giving rabies vaccine

A simplified economical method of giving rabies vaccine is just as effective as the expensive standard vaccine regimen at stimulating anti-rabies antibodies.

23 Apr 2008

Hirsutism in premenopausal women - new treatment guidelines

The Endocrine Society has released new clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of hirsutism in premenopausal women. The guidelines appear in the April issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM), a publication of The Endocrine Society.

22 Apr 2008

Teenage suicides: Study advocates greater family support

Teenage suicide is often perceived as the result of rejection of family, significant others and of society. Families affected by teenage suicide often look back for warning signs and clues in order to make sense of the tragedy. With the recent teenage suicides in Bridgend, South Wales, there have been demands for improved suicide prevention strategies. However little attention is paid to those families who have already lost their teenage sons or daughters.

22 Apr 2008