Johns Hopkins flu expert calls for mandatory vaccination of health care workers
...mandatory TB tests." Neither state nor federal law requires workers to provide medical details when they call in sick so it is difficult to precisely link seasonal hospital absenteeism and high rates of non-vaccination, she notes. "We need to close the very serious gap between knowledge and behavior that exis...Multilateral initiative on malaria seeks international effort
...s and imposes costs that cripple entire economies, requires a new internationally funded effort dedicated to training and supporting a critical mass of African malaria researchers, according to a new plan launched today by the Multilateral Initiative on Malaria (MIM) at the Fourth MIM Pan-African Malaria Conf...Synaptic connections need nurturing to retain their structure and keep outsiders at bay
...y of the brain to transmit and process information requires a lifelong commitment to maintaining the integrity...f Nature Neuroscience. This long-term commitment requires proteins called synaptotrophins, the prototype of which is Cbln1, to maintain countless millions of ...Aspirin reduces stroke risk in women, not men
...bility of aspirin to prevent stroke is unclear and requires further investigation," Berger said. "The bigger question this study raises is that there may be biological differences in how the genders response to other drugs we prescribe patients. This study raises the question for one drug aspirin." Berger sa...A fast diagnosis for bacterial meningitis
.... Bacterial meningitis is a medical emergency that requires immediate diagnosis and treatment, however doctors have always faced difficulty in diagnosis, both in children and adults. Professor Tania Sorrell and her team at Westmead Millennium Institute have discovered a quick and effective diagnostic for iden...Warning labels on high-risk drugs inconsistently heeded by doctors
...n BBWs in package inserts. Designing such a system requires complete, consistent, and current lists of BBW medicines and clinical circumstances associated with risk of morbidity and mortality. The authors of this study recommend that the FDA establish and maintain such a list. "This will require new informati...Use of laparoscopic procedure for gallbladder removal varies widely
... begins using the laparoscopic technique, but then requires "converting" to an open laparotomy for gall bladder removal). "The application of LC in the emergency condition is technically demanding and certainly needs to be performed by experienced laparoscopic surgeons," they assert. "The present study demons...Two studies find ways to block the 'freshman 15'
...irst 12 weeks of college. "Preventing weight gain requires knowledge," Levitsky said. "What we're finding is that some knowledge about portion size and regular feedback about people's weight may be enough to people prevent a gradual but typical weight gain that occurs in this country over time." Levitsky sai...Children with HIV-infection benefit from zinc supplements
... in resource-poor settings. However, the HIV virus requires zinc for its structure and function, and zinc activates lymphocytes that are target cells for HIV-1 replication. For these reasons the safety of zinc supplementation in children with HIV-infection has been uncertain. To study the affect of zinc sup......the coordination of public officials at all levels requires open and ethical decision making. The Influenza Pa...eview decisions. Proportionality Proportionality requires that restrictions to individual liberty and measures taken to protect the public from harm should no...ESA participating in UN's Montreal summit working for a better atmosphere
...vegetation, especially forests. What the Protocol requires for such offsetting to take place is annual reporting of land use changes especially afforestation, reforestation and deforestation (ARD) - associated with shifts in the terrestrial carbon stock, to be carried out at the national level. This is whe...Men, check your blood pressure before checking in for plastic surgery
...cker skin than women and more blood vessels, which requires more blood flow. The hair follicles on men's faces produce the fastest-growing hair on a man's body, also requiring a greater blood supply. To decrease the risk of hematoma, all patients should undergo a careful preoperative evaluation by their pla...Squinting while staring at a computer monitor can cause painful dry eye
...versity. "Blinking rewets the eyes. So if your job requires a lot of reading or other visually intense work, you may be blinking far less than normal, which may cause eye strain and dry eye." Squinting serves two purposes: It improves eyesight by helping to more clearly define objects that are out of focus. ...Distance from radiation therapy facility impacts breast cancer treatment
... as mastectomy in terms of long time survival, but requires multiple follow-up visits for the radiation therapy. Despite professional recommendations that--unless there are contraindications--BCSR is the standard of care for localized breast cancer, studies show that women, particularly the elderly, ethnic mi...Less-invasive ultrafiltration device may be practical alternative to diuretics
...orm of rescue therapy. Traditional ultrafiltration requires invasive central intravenous access, monitoring in an intensive care unit and specialized nursing care. The ultrafiltration device used in this study can be operated by standard hospital nurses outside the setting of the intensive care unit, does not...New pain research: Routine Tylenol for nursing home residents with dementia increases activity
... can't tell you about it. Standard pain assessment requires levels of communication and language comprehension that people with advanced dementia, by definition, do not have." The Saint Louis University research team included Raymond C. Tait, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry, and Bonnie Harman, Ph.D., assistant...Liver transplants may not be indicated for cystic fibrosis patients with bleeding complication
...the author notes that the timing of the transplant requires careful thought. Some studies have shown favorable outcomes for liver transplants performed early due to complications of portal hypertension (such as variceal bleeding), which was presumably contributing to decreased lung function. The current study...Specialized neurons allow the brain to focus on novel sounds
... humans' understanding of speech. "Speech fluency requires a predictive strategy. Whatever we have just heard allows us to anticipate what will come next, and violations of our predictions are often surprising or humorous," Covey said. "Without prediction we would be listening syllable by syllable and we w...JCI table of contents: December 1, 2005
...th issue. The life-saving response to hypoglycemia requires rapid sensing of decreases in glycemia. Thorens and co-workers report that glucose sensing in mice lacking GLUT2 is restored by re-expression of GLUT2 in glial cells, but not neuronal cells. In an accompanying commentary, Amira Klip writes, "perhaps ...Breast CT is more comfortable than mammography and may detect tumors better, research shows
...east is squeezed between two plates, the breast CT requires no breast compression. The patient lies face down on a padded table. The table has a circular opening in it, through which the patient places one breast at a time. A CT machine under the table rotates around each breast. Scanning takes about 17 secon...