A firewall is the safety barrier between a computer network and the outside world. Individuals, companies and large organizations alike rely on a firewall being robust enough to fend off hackers attempting to break into a computer system. However, managing the firewall rules that decide between online friend and foe has proved to be complex, error-prone, expensive, and inefficient for many large-networked organizations, according to a research team writing in the International Journal of Internet Protocol Technology.
Body
Researchers in China are reporting that they have found a way to determine which somatic cells -- or differentiated body cells -- that have been reprogrammed into a primordial, embryonic-like state are the most viable for therapeutic applications.
Disabled children in the UK are more likely to likely to live with low-income, deprivation, debt and poor housing. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Pediatrics found that disabled children, particularly those from black/minority ethnic/mixed parentage groups and lone-parent households experience higher levels of poverty and personal and social disadvantage than other children.
ADHD may be caused by alterations in the serotonin neurotransmission system combined with a tendency to experience psychosocial distress.
Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Behavioral and Brain Functions found that ADHD behaviors in children and adolescents were associated with interactions between low and high serotonin activity and self-blame in relation to inter-parental conflict.
A common virus that causes wheezing and pneumonia claims the lives of up to two hundred thousand children worldwide each year, a study has found.
The research, conducted by the University of Edinburgh, also showed that about 3.4 million children require hospital treatment for severe lung infection caused by the bug – respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
RSV – which infects most children before the age of two – usually causes mild cold-like symptoms, but can lead to serious illness in babies who are born prematurely or who have congenital heart disease.
Prejudice towards obese people is rife among trainee health professionals, but can be modified, new research has found.
The study, published in the journal Obesity, says weight-based discrimination by the public has increased by 66% over the past decade with anti-fat prejudice among health professionals found to be high in western nations, and often exceeding that found within the general population.
This week, the BMJ questions the existence of a new bowel condition in autistic children dubbed "autistic enterocolitis" by Dr Andrew Wakefield and colleagues in a now infamous and recently retracted paper published by the Lancet in 1998.
In a special report, journalist Brian Deer tries to unravel the journey of the biopsy reports that formed the basis of the study, while an accompanying editorial asks does autistic enterocolitis exist at all?
Banning trans fats from all foods in the UK would prevent thousands of heart attacks and deaths every year, and would be a simple way to protect the public and save lives, say two senior doctors on bmj.com today.
Their views follow calls by public health specialists to eliminate the consumption of industrially-produced trans fats in the UK by next year.
Commissioning in the English NHS is a failing system that needs to be abandoned, says a public policy expert in an editorial published on bmj.com today.
Professor Calum Paton from Keele University argues that since 1991, purchasing or commissioning "has mutated through a series of confusing and frequent reorganisations, involving mutually incompatible policies and high costs."
Failure to pursue eradication of polio worldwide given the capacity and opportunity to do so is a violation of ethical principles, foremost among them a "duty to rescue" those in distress, according to ethicists writing in this week's edition of the Lancet.
Claudia Emerson, PhD, Program Leader in Ethics, and Peter A. Singer, MD, Director of the Canadian-based McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health (MRC) at the University Health Network and University of Toronto, present a series of compelling arguments that completing polio eradication is an ethical imperative.
BOSTON (5:00 p.m. EDT, April 15, 2010) — An analysis of hospitalization records for adults age 65 and over found that seasonal flu tends to move in traveling waves, peaking earliest in western states such as Nevada, Utah, and California and working its way east. New England states such as Rhode Island, Maine, and New Hampshire tend to have the latest peak in seasonal flu, according to public health researchers at Tufts University in Boston. The researchers detected patterns between peak timing and intensity of seasonal flu.
Viral keratoconjunctivitis, also known as pink eye, is a common, uncomfortable and highly contagious condition. There is no known effective treatment for this adenovirus infection that can force some individuals into isolation for up to two weeks. The virus is resilient and can remain infectious for up to 30 days on a plastic surface. Infection with the adenovirus causes inflammation, which results in red, irritated eyes, blurry vision and discharge.
NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ—Irrigation water for turfgrass has become increasingly restricted due to environmental factors such as insufficient precipitation; increased domestic, agricultural, and industrial consumption; and contamination of potable water supplies. This water deficit has created an increased need to identify promising water conservation strategies and implement stringent restrictions in water use.
WOOSTER, OH—Loblolly pine bark is the primary component of nursery container substrates in the eastern United States, but a shortage of the widely used organic material is prompting researchers to investigate new materials as potential alternatives. A recent study by James E. Altland and Charles Krause of the USDA Agricultural Research Service at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center was designed to determine if ground switchgrass can be used as an alternative substrate for short production-cycle woody crops.
BELTSVILLE, MD—Packaged fresh-cut grapes are becoming increasingly popular with consumers who like the convenience and health benefits of these ready-to-eat fruits. To keep table grapes fresh and increase shelf life, scientists are seeking advanced techniques that provide healthy, safe alternatives to conventional packing methods. Researchers from the U.S.