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No link between gas cooking and asthma, allergies

Research suggests that exposure to gas cooking does not increase a child’s risk for asthma and other allergic conditions.

14 Jan 2013

‘PapGene’ test detects endometrial and ovarian cancers

Researchers have adapted the papanicolaou smear test currently used to detect cervical cancer so that it can be used to screen women for endometrial and ovarian cancers.

14 Jan 2013

Bionic devices: an interview with Dr Rylie Green

Bionic devices are implants which replace biological functions which have been lost due to nerve damage. They use electrical signals to stimulate the remaining nerve cells following disease or injury. Although the term bionic was only coined in the late 1950s, the earliest bionic devices were cardiac pacemakers, developed in the early 1900s. However the first commercial implantable units were not available until the 1950s.

14 Jan 2013

Reviewing the latest methods for characterizing biomaterials

Biomaterials and medical devices must be rigorously tested in the laboratory before they may be implanted into test subjects. By ensuring that these test methods are both quick and efficient, an increased number of materials can be tested and working implants can be produced more rapidly. The development of such tests is therefore essential to biomedical advancement, and Characterization of biomaterials reviews the latest methods for defining properties and characterizing materials. Characterization of biomaterials discusses a wide array of techniques and various unique approaches to the problems faced in characterizing biomaterials, whilst also providing information on standards and methods for assessing the safety and biocompatibility of biomaterials.

14 Jan 2013

Less than 45% of children are vaccinated against flu: Study

This year's flu season is in full swing with 41 states now reporting widespread illness. Unfortunately, not enough children are getting the flu shot even though health officials recommend that all children 6 months and older get the vaccine. According to a new study by researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, less than 45 percent of children were vaccinated against the flu during a five-year study period.

11 Jan 2013

Governors urge feds to give them bigger health care voice

Democratic and Republican leaders of the National Governors Association asked for greater flexibility from the federal government on health law implementation.

11 Jan 2013

Multidisciplinary team work on proactive approach to flu vaccine design

An internationally recognized expert in viruses, Robert W. Finberg, MD, the Richard M. Haidack Professor of Medicine and chair and professor of medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, is lead investigator on a $12 million project to develop new ways of predicting how the influenza virus changes and evolves in response to anti-viral drugs and the human immune system. This approach has promise for becoming a pivotal tool in creating a more effective vaccine against the virus.

11 Jan 2013

PlusNews examines potential cuts in U.S. HIV funding to Ethiopia

PlusNews discusses potential cuts in U.S. funding for HIV-related activities in Ethiopia and the role of greater in-country funding for health. In 2013, "Ethiopia will experience a 79 percent reduction in U.S. HIV financing from PEPFAR," according to a blog post written last year by Amanda Glassman, director of global health policy and senior fellow at the Center for Global Development, the news service notes.

11 Jan 2013

New rehabilitation system improves QOL for people with brain damage

The Biomechanics Institute of Valencia (IBV) is currently taking part in the European project WALKX with the aim of developing an innovative rehabilitation system to improve the quality of life of people who have suffered brain damage. This system will allow home rehabilitation and improve patient's autonomy.

11 Jan 2013

Obama taps White House chief of staff to head Treasury department

News outlets report that although Jack Lew is known as a deficit hawk, he has been a defender of Medicaid and other safety net programs.

11 Jan 2013

BGI-Shenzhen, CHOP to collaborate on research into pediatric brain tumors

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and BGI-Shenzhen today announced a formal agreement to collaborate on research into next-generation sequencing and analysis of pediatric brain tumors, in support of the Childhood Brain Tumor Tissue Consortium (CBTTC).

11 Jan 2013

True solution to cholera is improving access to safe water, sanitation

"Even when it is not covered in the news or noticed by the public, cholera occurs regularly in the developing world, and the annual number of cases reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) has increased over the past few years to more than half a million cases and 7,816 related deaths reported from all regions in 2011," Ronald Waldman of George Washington University, Eric Mintz of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Heather Papowitz of the U.N. Children's Fund write in a New England Journal of Medicine perspective piece.

11 Jan 2013

Additional insights into workings of ALVAC vaccine against HIV

Four years ago, a potential HIV vaccine showed promise against the virus that causes AIDS, but it fell short of providing the broad protection necessary to stem the spread of disease.

11 Jan 2013

States continue efforts to advance health exchanges

States look for creative ways to publicize the online marketplaces where people can shop for and purchase coverage beginning next fall. Meanwhile, Minnesota legislators introduce a measure to set up such a market, and Florida Gov. Rick Scott releases new, much smaller estimates of the cost of expanding that state's Medicaid program.

11 Jan 2013

Repression of PTB protein in fibroblasts can convert pluripotent stem cells into functional neurons

Repression of a single protein in ordinary fibroblasts is sufficient to directly convert the cells - abundantly found in connective tissues - into functional neurons. The findings, which could have far-reaching implications for the development of new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases like Huntington's, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, will be published online in advance of the January 17 issue of the journal Cell.

11 Jan 2013

U.S. trails 16 other affluent countries in life expectancy, health status

It's no news that the U.S. has lower life expectancy and higher infant mortality than most high-income countries. But a magisterial new report says Americans are actually less healthy across their entire life spans than citizens of 16 other wealthy nations.

11 Jan 2013

Angiotensin II blockade does not seem to provide benefit to kidney transplant recipients

A drug that protects the kidneys of patients with chronic kidney disease does not seem to provide the same benefit to kidney transplant recipients, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN).

11 Jan 2013

Mass. abortion clinic 'buffer zone' law upheld by federal appeals court

In Massachusetts, a federal appeals court has upheld a 2007 state law that makes it a crime to loiter within 35 feet of an abortion clinic, despite First Amendment challenges from anti-abortion advocates.

11 Jan 2013

Lifestyle of mother shapes disposition for subsequent weight

A disposition for overweight is shaped even before birth. This has been proven by scientists of the Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin in an international study, which has appeared in the professional journal Plos One.

11 Jan 2013

Fiscal cliff boosts clinical data registries, but cuts some health care payments

CQ HealthBeat reports on a provision of the fiscal cliff law intended to encourage physicians to submit data to registries that could be a tool to promote better quality care. The Medicare NewsGroup analyzes another provision that changes how payments are calculated for end stage renal disease drugs.

11 Jan 2013