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Reconstruction innovations for breast cancer patients

Lumpectomy or breast conservation surgery is the most common type of breast cancer surgery currently performed. A benefit of the surgery is that only part of the breast is removed, but a drawback can be the resulting physical appearance of the breast, which may be disfigured, dented or uneven.

23 Apr 2008

Competency in colonoscopy requires experience with 150 cases or more

Researchers from Korea have found that technically efficient screening and diagnostic colonoscopy generally requires experience with 150 cases or more.

23 Apr 2008

Discovery of gene behind clefting disorder Branchio-Oculo-Facial syndrome

In a collaborative effort, researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have discovered that deletions or mutations within the TFAP2A gene (Activating Enhancer-Binding Protein) result in the distinctive clefting disorder Branchio-Oculo-Facial syndrome (BOFS).

23 Apr 2008

Breakthrough in stem cell research

Dutch researchers at University Medical Center Utrecht and the Hubrecht Institute have succeeded in growing large numbers of stem cells from adult human hearts into new heart muscle cells.

23 Apr 2008

Discovery of new cell targets for preventing growth of breast and other tumors

Researchers at the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have discovered new targets for cancer treatment aimed at blocking a key step in tumor progression.

23 Apr 2008

An assessment of fixed-capacity models of visual working memory

A mind is a terrible thing to waste, but humans may have even less to work with than previously thought. University of Missouri researchers found that the average person can keep just three or four things in their "working memory" or conscious mind at one time. This finding may lead to better ways to assess and help people with attention-deficit and focus difficulties, improve classroom performance and enhance test scores.

23 Apr 2008

Slowing the spread of cancer in Albania

Once locked in decades of isolation, Albania is seeing new horizons in the fight against poverty. Expectations run high, driving demands for better - and healthier - lives.

23 Apr 2008

20% of adolescents smoke

As many as 20% of adolescents from 11 to 17 years of age smoke. This was the result of the nationwide German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS), performed by the Robert Koch Institute and presented by the sociologist Thomas Lampert in the current edition of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2008; 105[15]: 265-71).

23 Apr 2008

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