WASHINGTON, DC—A novel anti-tumor vaccine for neuroblastoma and melanoma developed by scientists and clinicians at Children's National Medical Center in collaboration with investigators from the University of Iowa is showing significant impact on tumor growth in mice, accor
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ANN ARBOR, Mich.--- Think of it as the end of cars' slacker days: No more sitting idle for hours in parking lots or garages racking up payments, but instead earning their keep by providing power to the electricity grid.
Scientists at the University of Michigan, using a $2 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), are exploring plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) that not only use grid electricity to meet their power needs, but return it to the grid, earning money for the owner.
Cancer incidence is higher among liver transplant recipients in Finland compared to the general population, according to a new study in the October issue of Liver Transplantation, a journal by John Wiley & Sons. The article is also available online at Wiley Interscience (www.interscience.wiley.com).
Bethesda, MD (Oct. 1, 2008) – Patients who undergo a complete negative colonoscopy have a reduced incidence of colorectal cancer, confirms a study published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. However, in the proximal colon, the incidence reduction of colorectal cancer following complete negative colonoscopy differs in magnitude and timing. The reduction of colorectal cancer is observed in about half of the 14 follow-up years and for the most part occurs after just seven years of follow-up.
New York, NY (Oct. 2, 2008) — America does a mediocre job caring for its sickest people. The nation, says a new report, gets a C.
Palliative care programs make patients facing serious and chronic illness more comfortable by alleviating their pain and symptoms and counseling patients and their families.
New Rochelle, NY, October 2, 2008 — There has been rapid growth of new, innovative palliative care consultation services in the nation's hospitals. More than half of the 50-bed or larger hospitals in the U.S. offer palliative care services to ease pain and suffering for seriously ill patients and their families. However, the availability of these services varies widely across geographic regions, according to a study published in the October 2008 issue of the peer-reviewed, Journal of Palliative Medicine.
East Lansing, MI – October 2, 2008 –A new study in the journal Family Relations focuses on the experiences of the Sudanese refugees who were separated from their parents during the Sudanese civil war. Often called the Lost Boys of Sudan, these children faced multiple traumatic events and chronic hardships. In addition to being violently expelled from their homes and having to live in displacement camps, these children also struggled with uncertainty regarding the fate of their parents and siblings.
A group of researchers in Switzerland has published a study appearing in the Oct 1 advance online edition of the Journal Nature that shows how the cornea uses stem cells to repair itself.
Using mouse models they demonstrate that everyday wear and tear on the cornea is repaired from stem cells residing in the corneal epithelium, and that more serious repair jobs require the involvement of other stem cells that migrate from the limbus, a region between the cornea and the conjunctiva, the white part of the eye.
The internet is emerging as a valuable tool for scientists to gather data for critical research into rare diseases.
Disability researcher, Dr Helen Leonard, from Australia's Institute for Child Health Research, said its InterRett online database had greatly expanded research into the neurological disorder Rett syndrome, which affects 1 in 8500 girls.
Scientists at the University of Liverpool have tested an 'invisibility cloak' that could reduce the risk of large water waves overtopping coastal defences.
Mathematicians at Liverpool, working with physicists at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and Aix-Marseille Universite have found that coastal defences could be made 'invisible' when water is guided through a special structure called metamaterial.
Montreal, 2 October 2008 - The earlier a cancer is detected, the better the patient's chances of survival, particularly if the patient is a child. Graduate student Tam Dang-Tan, under the supervision of Dr. Eduardo Franco of the Research institute of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), developed a pioneering study to categorize and analyze the timeframes involved in getting pediatric oncology patients to initial therapy. This study was carried out in partnership with Health Canada and was recently published in Pediatric Blood and Cancer.
Boston, MA – October 2, 2008 – One of the most notable recent developments in the U.S. hospital industry is the rapid rise of small hospitals specializing in cardiac, orthopedic, or surgical services which have tripled in number over the past 15 years. A new study in Health Services Research compared the costs of physician-owned specialty hospitals with those of full-service hospitals. Results show that specialty hospitals are not more cost-efficient than the full-service hospitals with whom they compete.
As part of the ongoing poll series, Debating Health: Election 2008, the Harvard Public Opinion Research Program at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and Harris Interactive® conducted a new survey focused on how voters think the presidential candidates' health care reform plans would affect them personally – rather than how they think the plans would affect the nation as a whole. The survey found that voters view the candidates' plans differently from this perspective.
Vinegar flies (Drosophila melanogaster) show a highly selective behavior towards odor stimuli. A series of behavioral studies showed that a single olfactory stimulus is often not sufficient for immediate attraction to potential food sources or oviposition sites. Interestingly, the behavior differed between investigated D. melanogaster varieties, so-called "wildtypes". Natural odors (bananas, mangos) were preferred by most flies, whereas artificial flavors induced a more differentiated behavior.
Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore and Washington DC (October 2, 2008) More and more persons with mental illnesses, addiction disorders, and chronic and infectious diseases receive their medical care in a jail or prison, according to the October issue of the Journal of Correctional Health Care (JCHC), published by SAGE. As of mid-2007, approximately 13 million inmates had been admitted to U.S. jails during the previous 12 months.