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New research links International Monetary Fund loans with higher death rates from tuberculosis

International Monetary Fund (IMF) loans were associated with a 16.6% rise in death rates from tuberculosis (TB) in the former Soviet Union and Central and Eastern European countries between 1992 and 2002, finds a study in this week's PLoS Medicine.

The study, by David Stuckler and colleagues from the University of Cambridge, UK, and Yale University, USA, also found that IMF loans were linked with a 13.9% increase in the number of new cases of TB per year and a 13.2% increase per year in the total number of people with the disease.

Group A rotavirus in Kenyan children and using the best evidence to guide TB diagnosis

Group A rotavirus in Kenyan children

Combining prospective hospital-based surveillance with demographic data in Kilifi, Kenya, James Nokes (of the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme) and colleagues assess the burden of rotavirus diarrhoea in young children. They find that over 2% of children in Kilifi are admitted to hospital with group A rotavirus diarrhoea in the first 5 years of life. "This translates into over 28,000 vaccine-preventable hospitalisations per year across Kenya," say the authors, "and is likely to be a considerable underestimate."

Malaria Millennium Development Goal 'unlikely to be met'

The Millennium Development Goal (MDG) to halt and begin to reverse the incidence of malaria globally is unlikely to be met, according to Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellow Professor Bob Snow. The statement comes in a report published today in the open access journal PLoS Medicine.

The eight MDGs were established by the United Nations in 2000 with a view to tackling global poverty and health inequality. Goal 6 included the target to "halt and begin to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases".

Plants make vaccine for treating type of cancer in Stanford study

STANFORD, Calif. - Plants could act as safe, speedy factories for growing antibodies for personalized treatments against a common form of cancer, according to new findings from the Stanford University School of Medicine. The findings came in the first human tests of an injectable vaccine grown in genetically engineered plants.

The treatments, which would vaccinate cancer patients against their malignant cells, could lead to earlier personalized therapy to tackle follicular B-cell lymphoma, an immune-system malignancy diagnosed in about 16,000 people each year.

Researchers find key to saving the world's lakes

After completing one of the longest running experiments ever done on a lake, researchers from the University of Alberta, University of Minnesota and the Freshwater Institute, contend that nitrogen control, in which the European Union and many other jurisdictions around the world are investing millions of dollars, is not effective and in fact, may actually increase the problem of cultural eutrophication.

Study outlines measures to limit effects of pandemic flu on nursing homes

TEMPE, Ariz. – The greatest danger in a pandemic flu outbreak is that it could spread quickly and devastate a broad swath of people across the United States before there is much of a chance to react. The result could be a nation brought to its knees by a disease run rampant.

Once suspect protein found to promote DNA repair, prevent cancer

SMITHVILLE, Texas - An abundant chromosomal protein that binds to damaged DNA prevents cancer development by enhancing DNA repair, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science.

The protein, HMGB1, was previously hypothesized to block DNA repair, senior author Karen Vasquez, Ph.D., associate professor in M. D. Anderson's Department of Carcinogenesis at the Science Park - Research Division in Smithville, Texas.

MIT researchers offer glimpse of rare mutant cells

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- MIT biological engineers have developed a new imaging system that allows them to see cells that have undergone a specific mutation.

The work, which could help scientists understand how precancerous mutations arise, marks the first time researchers have been able to pinpoint the number and location of mutant cells—cells with a particular mutation—in intact tissue. In this case, the researchers worked with mouse pancreatic cells.

Epilepsy drug may increase risk of birth defects

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Taking the epilepsy drug topiramate alone or along with other epilepsy drugs during pregnancy may increase the risk of birth defects, according to a study published in the July 22, 2008, issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Memory impairment associated with sound processing disorder

Mild memory impairment may be associated with central auditory processing dysfunction, or difficulty hearing in complex situations with competing noise, such as hearing a single conversation amid several other conversations, according to a report in the July issue of Archives of Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Study examines motivations for tattoo removal

Individuals who visit dermatology clinics for tattoo removal are more likely to be women than men, and may be motivated by the social stigma associated with tattoos and negative comments by others, according to a report in the July issue of Archives of Dermatology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Older liver donors not associated with negative outcomes in transplant recipients with hepatitis C

Receiving a liver from a donor older than age 60 does not appear to be associated with transplant failure, death or recurrent disease in the next five years among transplant patients with the hepatitis C virus, according to a report in the July issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Cancer centers and high-volume hospitals may examine more lymph nodes in cancer patients

Patients with gastric or pancreatic cancer appear to have more lymph nodes examined for the spread of their disease if they are treated at hospitals performing more cancer surgeries or those designated as comprehensive cancer centers, according to a report in the July issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Carbon dioxide laser resurfacing may reduce wrinkles over long term

Carbon dioxide laser resurfacing appears to be an effective long-term treatment for facial wrinkles, according to a report in the July/August issue of Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Outdoor enthusiasts scaring off native carnivores in parks

Berkeley -- Even a quiet stroll in the park can dramatically change natural ecosystems, according to a new study by conservation biologists from the University of California, Berkeley. These findings could have important implications for land management policies.