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Is doctors' pay responsible for NHS financial crisis?

Recent newspaper headlines have suggested that doctors' pay is responsible for the financial crisis in the NHS. In this week's British Medical Journal, two experts go head to head over whether the remuneration is justified.

5 Feb 2007

Soft drink giants head to court over claims about new drink

A nonprofit consumer watchdog group the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) is taking soft drinks giants Coca-Cola and Nestle to court for making fraudulent claims about a new drink.

5 Feb 2007

$700 billion for Health and Human Services in 2008

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has released details of the President's FY 2008 budget request to Congress for the department.

5 Feb 2007

Gene found for Cornelia deLange syndrome

Studying mutations that give rise to a rare genetic disease, genetics researchers have identified a novel biological pathway that may have a broader role during human development, potentially in cases of mental retardation and autism.

5 Feb 2007

Spring births increase likelihood of preterm birth

Women who become pregnant in spring are more vulnerable to preterm birth than those who conceive in other seasons, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh.

5 Feb 2007

Hair dye allergies increasing

Allergic reactions to hair dye are increasing as more and younger people dye their hair, warn researchers in this week's British Medical Journal.

5 Feb 2007

Can non-medical use of ultrasound be justified?

Expectant parent' desire to see images of their unborn children has given rise to commercial companies offering keepsake ultrasound scans without medical supervision, often referred to as "boutique ultrasonography."

5 Feb 2007

Current obesity prevention campaigns not hitting the mark with parents

Researchers with Deakin's Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition Research surveyed more than 1200 families to find out if parents had concerns about their children's weight and if they took any preventative action to avoid obesity in their children.

5 Feb 2007

TV + teenagers = high blood pressure

Teenagers who spend a lot of time planted in front of the TV are more likely to have higher blood pressure, regardless of whether they are overweight.

5 Feb 2007

New understanding of blood pressure gene could lead to new treatments

Research by scientists at UCL (University College London) has clearly demonstrated for the first time the structure and function of a gene crucial to the regulation of blood pressure. The discovery could be important in the search for new treatments for illnesses such as heart disease, the UK's biggest killer.

5 Feb 2007

Most nursing students believe it's wrong to lie to patients

Today's nursing students believe in greater honesty with patients, are less likely to agree to short-notice shift changes and are much older than their 1983 counterparts, according to a study published in the latest Journal of Advanced Nursing.

5 Feb 2007

Odyssey Thera granted U.S. patents for protein-fragment complementation assays

Odyssey Thera announced today that on January 9, 2007, the United States Patent and Trademark Office granted U.S. Patent No. 7,160,691. On January 23, 2007, the USPTO also granted U.S. Patent No. 7,166,424.

5 Feb 2007

GlaxoSmithKline issues update on US patent litigation regarding Valtrex

GlaxoSmithKline has issued an update on US patent litigation regarding Valtrex (valacyclovir), an antiviral drug used for the treatment and suppression of genital herpes, herpes zoster (shingles), and cold sores.

5 Feb 2007

Self-assembling nanostructures of DNA

Wouldn't it be great if we could get computer chips to grow on trees? Or at least use the specific bonds of DNA molecules to get nanostructures to grow themselves right in the test tube?

5 Feb 2007

Researchers study dosimetry in radiotherapy through Monte Carlo techniques

The mathematical tool, quite used in Medical Physics, takes its name from the city of Montecarlo, well-known for its bingo halls and games of chance.

5 Feb 2007

Facial recognition through machine vision is technically possible

The developed approach can be used in automatic and real-time facial expression recognition, and it has many potential computer vision applications.

5 Feb 2007

Nano-microscopy reveals collective transport of gold atoms in real-time

Researchers at Delft University of Technology used a High Resolution Electron Microscope to observe in real-time the collective transportation of gold atoms in a thin layer.

5 Feb 2007

Common painkiller helps against child cancer

Neuroblastoma is a form of cancer that develops in the nervous system and it affects small children more commonly than any other tumour type.

5 Feb 2007

Rapid transport of large polymeric nanoparticles in fresh undiluted human mucus

The layers of mucus that protect sensitive tissue throughout the body have an undesirable side effect: they can also keep helpful medications away.

5 Feb 2007

New type of nanoparticle created by spray pyrolysis

Researchers at the University of California, Davis, have created a new type of nanoparticle that could be used in tests for medical diagnostics, environmental pollution, and contamination of food products.

5 Feb 2007