A Surgical Semiconductor Laser With More Precision And Power
... inserting induce negative bending, resulting in a net bend of zero for the laser beamand keeping it sharply focused." While a prototype has yet to be built, Agrawal says that the new laser performed well in computer simulations. Headds that since the inserted layers are made of the same semiconduct...Duke Study Uses Tiny Temperature Changes To Probe Water-Exclusion At Protein Binding Sites
...ding site were not important, he reasoned,then the net temperature changes should be the same regardless ...normal andheavy water. By examining the tiny net heat changes, he concluded that by the veryact of leaving the protein binding sites, water drives th...... with a mammogram -- we intend to provide a safety net for theexpert-human analysis that may be susceptible to fatigue factors." The system is not intended to replace radiologists or other medicalor manufacturing professionals, Barnes says. It will merely suggestregions of mammograms or other data that ...New Stroke Treatment Likely To Decrease Health Care Costs And Increase Quality Of Life
...lot-busting drug t-PA couldresult in a substantial net cost savings to the health care system. Thesesavi...ys anddecreases long-term disabilities, there is a net savings. For 1,000 t-PApatients, the researchers estimate an initial increase in hospital costs of......The study's key findings include: The estimated net cost per case of HIV infection averted with the AZT regimenis $832 for rural Tanzania, $10,885 for urban Thailand with low HIV prevalence,and $3,163 for urban Thailand with high prevalence. Cost effectiveness declines rapidly when the HIV prevalence......est that though finasteride lowers DHT levels, the net effect ofhormones acting on the prostate may be unchanged by the drug, according to Ross.That may be because of rising testosterone levels in the men taking finasteride.Although not as potent as DHT, testosterone can also spur prostate cell growth."T...Controlling Collagen Levels May Be Key To Fighting Organ Failure Caused By High Blood Pressure
...ns. When synthesisexceeds degradation, there is a net accumulation of collagen that can eventuallybecome fibrosis. When blood vessels become stiff because of fibrosis, the heart worksharder to keep blood flowing through the vessels and blood pressure increases. As fibrosis progresses, cells in ...Magnetic Hearing Aid Could Open New "Window" For Hearing Impaired
...e, when coupledwith the natural sound pattern, the net effect the user actually hears is littleor no sound at all; each sound wave is the opposite of the other and they canceleach other out. Spindel said he envisions a human prototype with a separate external controldevice used to tune in the desired fre...Study Shows Foreign-Trained Doctors Can Ease Rural Physician Shortages
...rnational medical graduates are animportant safety net in rural America," said Baer. "Their role in alleviatingunderserviceshould not be easily dismissed." The Federal Office of Rural Health Policy supported the study.Information analyzed came from the American Medical Association and the U.S....New Book Says Cross-Train Your Brain To Increase Mental Function
...or your thought processes. It may give youa richer net of connectivity within your brain, so that you have more possibleavenues for solving problems and thinking creatively, and even just rememberingthings," he said. "It may also allay some of your fears about aging because you're doingsomething a...IOM Report Offers New Look At U.S. Vaccine Priorities
...criteria: anticipated health benefits and expected net savings ofhealth care resources. As new data emerge, specific elements of the model canbe changed or new candidate vaccines can be assessed. "We are pleased that this model provides U.S. policy makers with a common toolto compare vastly divergent ...... begins to exceed bone replacement, resulting in a net bone loss. Most osteoporosis drug development has focused on agents that suppress boneremoval. Estrogen; selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMS), such asraloxifene; biophosphonates (alendronate); and calcitonin are the primary drugsin use. Par...Follow-up care can reduce hospital readmission rate, cost
...e groups. "The model was a way to develop a safety net for very vulnerable groups while addressing controls on health care costs,"she said. "It was a method to examine the quality of health care as reflected in patient outcomes and costs." The randomized clinical study involved 363 patients age 65 and ol...Universal antenatal HIV screening needed in areas of high prevalence
...timated to be a cost effective intervention with a net cost of less than 4,000 for each life year gained. In a separate paper, also in this week's BMJ, Dr Wendy Simpson from the University of Edinburgh along with colleagues from Glasgow investigated the effect on uptake of antenatal HIV testing (which...UI study finds types of decision-making deficiencies depend on area of brain damage
... the later losses were even greater, for anoverall net loss. Decks C and D had immediate lower gains but the later losseswere even lower for an overall net gain. The researchers attached electrodes to the subjects' palms to measure skinconductance respons...One in seven adolescents still doesn't have health insurance
...ent, butthere has been no change in ten years -- a net no gain," Irwin said.Newacheck said experts have offered several explanations why private insurancecovers fewer adolescents, including higher premiums and a shift of jobs to theservice sector of the economy where employers are less likely to offer he...Study reveals how brain controls eating in normal rats
... a potent appetite-stimulating neuropeptide. The net effect is that the leptin-sensitive cells send appetite-suppressing signals to key nerve cells in the lateral hypothalamus thought to control several behaviors including feeding, including a group that release the MCH neuropeptide. Last year, co-auth...Study: foreign-trained physicians vital to poor, under-served patients
...offoreign-trained physicians as health-care safety net providers and may haveimportant policy implications, the authors said. "Many policy-makers want to reduce the number of foreign-trainedphysicians coming into the United States," said Baer, a doctoral candidate ingeography at UNC-CH. "The que...Novel neural net recognizes spoken words better than human listeners
...ns in biological systems."Remarkably, USC's neural net system uses an architecture consisting of just 11n...ing rule that allows thetemporal properties of the net connections to change. The USC research was funded by the Office of Naval Research; the DefenseDepar...The silent time bomb: divorce, health care and the baby boom generation
...e divorce almost is the norm and the family safety net is tattered. While some economists blame social programs for the demise of the traditional family, Pezzin sees social programs as more of the cure than the disease. It may require changing those programs, however. "We can at least design policies tha...