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Semi-automatic shocks make long delays in CPR

Paramedics should avoid using defibrillators in semi-automatic mode, say researchers who found this increases interruptions to cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the 30 seconds preceding shock delivery.

6 Feb 2013

‘Elephant in the room’ adds to rectal surgery costs

Anastomotic leakage occurs after one in 10 anterior resection procedures and costs English hospitals up to £ 3.5 milion per year, research shows.

6 Feb 2013

Physical activity levels may affect men’s semen quality

The quality of young men’s sperm may be influenced by how active their lifestyle is, report researchers.

6 Feb 2013

Extra-couple relationships one of the main drivers of the HIV epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa

New research suggests that heterosexual couples in long-term relationships who have sexual encounters outside their established partnership (extra-couple relationships) are one of the main drivers of the HIV epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa.

6 Feb 2013

Donor liver quality: an interview with Dr Eric Orman

Liver transplantation is a surgical procedure in which a liver (or part of a liver) is removed from a donor and placed into a recipient. Although some transplants use a portion of the liver of living donors, the vast majority of donors are deceased.

6 Feb 2013

Fifth GOP governor backs Medicaid expansion

Ohio Gov. John Kasich announced Monday that he will push to expand Medicaid to cover more low-income Ohioans, as Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius pledged to fund such expansions longterm.

6 Feb 2013

No difference in rates of late-stage breast cancer between women screened annually and biennially

Among older women, getting a mammogram every two years was just as beneficial as getting a mammogram annually, and led to significantly fewer false positive results, according to a study led by UC San Francisco.

6 Feb 2013

BMJ examines why India's dengue epidemic continues to grow

This BMJ feature examines why India's dengue epidemic continues to grow worse each year, stating, "In the past decade, according to the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP), the number of cases has escalated steadily from 3,306 in 2001 to 47,209 in 2012," and "[d]eaths have risen from 53 in 2001 to 242 in 2012."

6 Feb 2013

More than £6M funding awarded to enhance development of biopharmaceuticals

More than £6M of funding has been awarded to enhance the development of biopharmaceuticals. In total £6.5M will fund 12 projects to deliver commercially important results, such as industrial-scale production of antibodies, stem cell preservation at room temperature, biopharmaceutical production using microbes and commercial scale stem cell therapy.

6 Feb 2013

Catholic hospital says its argument on fetuses was 'morally wrong'

A Catholic hospital is backtracking on its claim in court that two fetuses that died under its care were not human beings -- saying now that that argument was "morally wrong."

6 Feb 2013

ASM to host 2013 Biodefense and Emerging Diseases Research Meeting from Feb. 25-27

The American Society for Microbiology (ASM) will host its 2013 Biodefense and Emerging Diseases Research Meeting February 25-27, 2013 at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, DC.

6 Feb 2013

Experimental TB vaccine does not protect infants, study shows

"Hopes that a much needed new tuberculosis [TB] vaccine was on the way, the first for 90 years, have been dashed by trial results showing it did not protect babies against the disease," the Guardian reports.

6 Feb 2013

Boston College biologist to explore connection between peripheral neuropathy and HIV

Boston College biologist Tricia Burdo has been awarded a five-year, $1.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study the role of the body's immune response in a debilitating form of nerve damage suffered by people living with HIV.

6 Feb 2013

Feds clear way for Fla. to enroll Medicaid recipients into private plans

The waiver approved by HHS means elderly people who need long-term care can be put in programs that will offer services in their homes and help them stay out of nursing homes, the Associated Press reports.

6 Feb 2013

IsoRay announces presentation video on metastatic brain cancers by Cornell Weill

IsoRay Inc., a medical technology company and innovator in seed brachytherapy and medical radioisotope applications, today announced the presentation video by Cornell Weill demonstrating their techniques in the successful treatment of metastatic brain cancers using IsoRay's patented Cesium-131 (Cs-131) sutured seeds.

6 Feb 2013

Obama administration proposes eliminating 'obsolete' Medicare regs

Doing away with the regulations, which it has deemed are "excessively burdensome," would save an estimated $676 million a year, according to the administration. In other news, The Medicare NewsGroup examines the population of people with a permanent disability who also qualify for Medicare.

6 Feb 2013

DHA more effective than EPA in preventing liver inflammation and fibrosis

Research at Oregon State University has found that one particular omega-3 fatty acid has a powerful effect in preventing liver inflammation and fibrosis - common problems that are steadily rising along with the number of Americans who are overweight.

6 Feb 2013

Technology helps doctor unlock clues about illness's environmental causes

Epidemiologist David Van Sickle spent years studying asthma, but like many researchers of the chronic disease, he was frustrated by the obstacles to determining precise triggers of an individual attack. That frustration gave him an idea for a rescue inhaler topped with a GPS sensor.

6 Feb 2013

RRM1 gene may better predict survival for pancreatic adenocarcinoma

Moffitt Cancer Center researchers have identified a gene that may better predict survival for pancreatic adenocarcinoma, the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States.

6 Feb 2013

TB vaccine candidate trial results are 'landmark' in fight against disease

"Today marks an important landmark for the fight against tuberculosis (TB)," with the publication in the Lancet of clinical trial results showing the TB vaccine candidate MVA85A "was no more effective in protecting infants from developing pulmonary TB than" the standard Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine, Peggy Johnston, senior program officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, writes in the foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog.

6 Feb 2013