Culture

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (08/30/2013) – A University of Minnesota research team featuring researchers from the Institute for Molecular Virology, School of Dentistry and Center for Drug Design has developed a new delivery system for a combination of two FDA approved drugs that may serve as an effective treatment for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) examined 9 biotechnologically produced drugs for the treatment of adults with rheumatoid arthritis in whom prior pharmacological treatment had failed. According to the findings, for each drug the data provide proof, an indication, or at least a hint of a benefit in relation to at least one outcome criterion. This is the conclusion of the final report published by IQWiG on 26 August 2013.

ABBOTT PARK, Ill., Aug. 30, 2013 – Abbott (NYSE: ABT) A recent health economics and outcomes study, conducted by leading health economists and supported by Abbott, found that oral nutritional supplements provided to patients during hospitalization were associated with significant reductions in length of stay and hospitalization cost. Additionally, the 30-day readmission risk was significantly reduced for patients with at least one known subsequent readmission.

We know from earlier studies that mice can derive genetic benefits when females mate with multiple males, but until recently, the conditions under which females will voluntarily mate with multiple males were not clear. Kerstin Thonhauser and her colleagues from the Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology of the Vetmeduni Vienna conducted a series of experiments in which female wild-derived house mice (Mus musculus) could mate freely with one or two males while not in danger of sexual coercion by a male. The results provide evidence for the infanticide avoidance explanation.

BUFFALO, N.Y. – More children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis are experiencing remission of their symptoms, thanks to new biological therapies, but the remission is not well-understood. A new study published today in Arthritis Research & Therapy provides the first genomic characterization of remission in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Washington, DC (August 29, 2013) — Socioeconomic status is a more important barrier to living kidney donation than cultural factors, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). The findings may be useful for determining ways to increase living kidney donation in the United States.

Research findings provide direct evidence that people with chronic diseases are more likely to be food insecure - that is suffering from inadequate, insecure access to food as a result of financial constraints. Previous research has shown that food insecurity rates are highest among low-income households, in households reliant on social assistance, reporting Aboriginal status, renting rather than owning their dwelling, and lone-parent female-led (see recent annual report from PROOF).

Several key elements in systems of care can reduce stroke deaths and disabilities, according to a new American Heart Association/American Stroke Association policy statement published in its journal Stroke.

Stroke is the number four cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States. On average, every 4 minutes someone dies of a stroke.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The law that has helped medical discoveries make the leap from university labs to the marketplace for more than 30 years needs revising, in part to ensure the American people benefit from science their tax dollars have paid for, says a University of Michigan Medical School physician and medical historian.

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — Glucose monitoring systems with an autocorrect feature that can detect red blood cells (hematocrit), vitamin C and other common interferents in burn patients' blood are better for monitoring care, a pilot study conducted by UC Davis researchers at the School of Medicine and College of Engineering has found. The study was published in the Journal of Burn Care Research.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The law that has helped medical discoveries make the leap from university labs to the marketplace for more than 30 years needs revising, in part to ensure the American people benefit from science their tax dollars have paid for, says a University of Michigan Medical School physician and medical historian.

Diabetic patients could benefit from a breakthrough that enables scientists to take cells from the pancreas and change their function to produce insulin.

The research could reduce waiting times for patients with Type 1 Diabetes who need islet cell transplants. These transplants are carried out to prevent life-threatening complications resulting from diabetes, such as seizures resulting from low blood sugar levels.

Reef fish larvae are only millimeters-long when they hatch, but can smell the presence of coral reefs from several kilometers offshore, and use this odor to navigate home. The results are reported August 28 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Claire Paris from the University of Miami and colleagues from other institutions.

Chicago (August 28, 2013)—Surgeons at University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Cleveland, are working to reduce serious complications that have been known to occur with colorectal operations. In addition to using a set of pre-and postoperative standards that speed recovery which they have been publishing on for more than a decade, the researchers have validated yet another step surgeons can take to further reduce patients' hospital stays: adding a procedure called the transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block to patients' surgical care.

Four alcohol brands—Patron tequila, Hennessy cognac, Grey Goose vodka, and Jack Daniel's whiskey—accounted for more than half of alcohol brand mentions in the songs that mentioned alcohol use in Billboard's most popular song lists in 2009, 2010 and 2011, according to a new study from researchers at the Boston University School of Public Health and the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.