New MRI technique quickly builds 3-D images of knees
...cquires the body's signals radially, in a way that looks somewhat like a toy Koosh ball. "We can essentially acquire data during the whole experiment, where in the (conventional) case, a lot of time was spent either prepping for the experiment or returning it to the steady state so that you could do the ne...National Academies advisory: TCE health risks
...aminant, often referred to as TCE. The report also looks at methods for assessing and characterizing the risks and whether enough data exists for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to complete a human health risk assessment. The report will be released Thursday, July 27, at 4 p.m. EDT. ...For-profit research ethics committees: How are they performing?
...vocative "for and against" debate in PLoS Medicine looks at the benefits and risks of using for-profit IRBs. Ezekiel Emanuel, Chair of the Department of Clinical Bioethics, Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, argues that "the crucial question is whether an IRB, regardless of its tax status, i...SOPHE journals examine new research & practice solutions
...Likewise, the complementary July 2006 issue of HPP looks at health funding, politics and policy impacting health disparities. Experts working on the front lines discuss ways to improve health literacy and to encourage communities to eliminate health disparities, as well as innovative mentoring programs to ...Literature review highlights options for self-management of asthma exacerbations
...eroids (ICS) doses as a form of treatment. It also looks at whether increasing ICS to high doses is an alternative to OCS, as well as the effects of increasing the dose of combination therapy during exacerbations. Use of inhaled ICS/LABA for maintenance and relief, and the effectiveness of short- acting ...Microscopic scaffolding offers a 'simple' solution to treating skin injuries
..., which is made from specially developed polymers, looks similar to tissue paper but has fibres 100 times finer. Before it is placed over a wound, the patient's skin cells (obtained via a biopsy*) are introduced and attach themselves to the scaffold, multiplying until they eventually grow over it. When pla...... traumatic brain injury and hemorrhagic shock, and looks for opportunities to improve long-term patient outcomes. "The dramatic exacerbation of damage in experimental traumatic brain injury by superimposing relatively mild shock suggests a potential important therapeutic target particularly since hemorrha...Is expensive new heart rhythm treatment 'worth it'?
...its long-term benefit, the authors say. The study looks at a treatment called left atrial catheter ablation or LACA, which in the last few years has attracted tremendous attention as a new option for the 2.3 million Americans who have a heart-rhythm condition called atrial fibrillation. LACA delivers tin...SAEM endorses Institute of Medicine report on the future of emergency care in the US
...edicine on the Future of Emergency Care report and looks forward to active participation in addressing emergency care needs: Medical Education Medical students should receive education in the emergency care of all patient populations, preferably as a structured clinical EM clerkship. Physician licensure...Womens skin tone influences perception of beauty, health, age, sociobiologists find
...ng that wrinkles aren't the only cue the human eye looks for to evaluate age. Scientists at the Ludwig-Boltzmann-Institute for Urban Ethology (Austria) and the Department for Sociobiology/Anthropology at the University of Goettingen (Germany), have shown that facial skin color distribution, or tone, can ad...Turning the tables on drug discovery
... dedicated to pharmaceutical discovery. The future looks even brighter as Greentech itself has tripled its turnover by applying the technique to cosmetics and nutraceuticals....Women with COPD can fare worse than men
...so received a worse score on the BODE index, which looks at lung function, nutritional status, symptoms and exercise capacity in order to measure a COPD patient's disease severity and predicted survival. COPD is the fourth leading cause of death in America, claiming the lives of 120,000 Americans in 2002. ...New Queen's study of hand-brain function offers insight into recovery for stroke survivors
...st comprehensive study we're aware of to date that looks at brain to muscle control outcomes and detailed hand function in stroke patients." The study found that hand function is directly related to brain activity and that changes in the brain well after the stroke are paralleled by changes in physical abi...World-leading microscope shows more detail than ever
...useful or interesting to look at." The microscope looks set to be a valuable research tool that many different organisations in a wide range of sectors could benefit from using. The team is currently planning to seek funding to support the development of a radical new design that could be even more effect...MDCT shows potential for detecting bladder cancer without surgery or contrast
...te the bladder on its own. Based on our study, it looks like this is a possibility," said Jonathan Willatt, MD, lead author of the study. In addition, the researchers found that it didn't always matter whether contrast was used or not. "The problem with contrast material is that once it has passed from t...Perfectionist fathers can reinforce tendencies
...ung people already preoccupied over their physical looks and subject to the demanding expectations of peers and media, according to a Penn State study. A survey of 424 college students revealed that, with sons and daughters alike, the father, not the mother, is more likely to create pressures leading coll...Dr. McCluskey receives top honor for young taste researchers
...ich creates the opportunity for another model. "It looks like in the older rats, the nerve cells don't func... these nerves regenerate in older rats as well. It looks promising," she says....AMITIZA (lubiprostone) launches in the United States
...prise representatives from both companies. "Takeda looks forward to working with Sucampo to successfully launch AMITIZA and help make it a trusted and valuable therapy for the treatment of chronic idiopathic constipation," said Art Rice, general manager, Gastroenterology. "AMITIZA has been shown to delive...Stroke-associated damage to brain structure may lead to heart attack
...stress the heart. "Some patients can develop what looks like terrible heart failure during the weeks after their stroke," says Walter Koroshetz, MD, director of the MGH Stroke and Neurointensive Care Service, a co-author of the paper. "Animal studies have suggested this could be caused by damage in the i......of day. Specialized nerve cells in that eye, which looks more like a spot on the lizard's forehead, use two types of molecular signals to sense light: those found only in simpler animals, like scallops, and those found only in more complex animals like humans. Although the blue-green color comparison meth...