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System to recognize human gestures

A system that can recognize human gestures could provide a new way for people with physical disabilities to interact with computers.

18 Dec 2008

Smoking during the first trimester of pregnancy linked to oral clefts

Smoking during the first trimester of pregnancy is clearly linked with an increased risk of cleft lip in newborns.

18 Dec 2008

Fewer hospitalizations for bleeding in digestive system

Improved treatments for acid reflux disease, ulcers, arthritis and other conditions helped reduce hospital admission rates for internal bleeding in the upper gastrointestinal tract by 14 percent from 1998 to 2006, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

18 Dec 2008

FDA approves Mozobil (plerixafor) for multiple myeloma or non-Hodgkin's lymphomas

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Mozobil (plerixafor), a drug that helps increase the number of blood stem cells for bone marrow transplantation in patients with certain forms of blood cancer.

18 Dec 2008

EPA should assess health risk of phthalates and other chemicals

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency should examine whether combined exposures to chemicals known as phthalates could cause adverse health effects in humans, says a new report from the National Research Council. In addition, this analysis, called a cumulative risk assessment, should consider other chemicals that could potentially cause the same health effects as phthalates, instead of focusing on chemicals that are similar in structure, which is EPA's current practice.

18 Dec 2008

Scientists coax bright white light from zinc oxide

Duke University and United States Army scientists have found that a cheap and nontoxic sunburn and diaper rash preventative can be made to produce brilliant light best suited to the human eye.

18 Dec 2008

Doctors question standardized training requirements

Doctors lack confidence in their procedural skills after completing the current NHS postgraduate training curriculum.

18 Dec 2008

New guidelines for malignant melanoma

The German Cancer Society has worked out new guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of malignant melanoma - a disease with unfavorable prognosis.

18 Dec 2008

Alfuzosin fails to reduce symptoms in chronic prostatitis

Alfuzosin, a drug commonly prescribed for men with chronic prostatitis, a painful disorder of the prostate and surrounding pelvic area, failed to significantly reduce symptoms in recently diagnosed men who had not been previously treated with this drug, according to a clinical trial sponsored by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

18 Dec 2008

Human parechovirus may trigger type 1 diabetes

Human parechovirus is a harmless virus which is encountered by most infants and displays few symptoms.

18 Dec 2008

Trial tests adult stems cells to treat congestive heart failure

The University of California, San Diego Medical Center is the first hospital in California to enroll patients in a multi-center clinical trial, sponsored by Angioblast Systems Inc., to examine the safety and feasibility of administering adult stems cells to treat congestive heart failure.

18 Dec 2008

Blocking mechanism found for antibiotic resistance in bacteria

It's as simple as A, T, G, C. Northwestern University scientists have exploited the Watson-Crick base pairing of DNA to provide a defensive tool that could be used to fight the spread of antibiotic resistance in bacteria -- one of the world's most pressing public health problems.

18 Dec 2008

Gold nanowires zap cancer

The next big thing in cancer treatment may be hotter, covered in more gold, and even be a better swimmer than recent Olympic champion Michael Phelps.

18 Dec 2008

Drug eluting stents provide better outcomes that bare metal stents in angioplasty

Patients receiving drug eluting stents (DES) - stents coated with medication to prevent narrowing of the artery - as part of an angioplasty had better outcomes one year later than patients with bare metal stents, according to a new study to be published in CMAJ.

18 Dec 2008

Evidence that Alzheimer's disease affects women differently than men

Nearly 4.5 million people suffer from Alzheimer's disease (AD) in our country, and more than half of them are women, according to the National Institute on Aging in Bethesda, Md.

18 Dec 2008

New method offers direct access to the brain through the nose to treat stroke

UT Health Science Center San Antonio researchers, working in a mouse model of stroke, are delivering neuroprotective drugs to the brain by spraying them onto the lining of a nerve in the nose.

18 Dec 2008

Spending time in nature keeps supresses mental fatigue

If you spend the majority of your time among stores, restaurants and skyscrapers, it may be time to trade in your stilettos for some hiking boots.

18 Dec 2008

New understanding of RNA and evolution

With the aid of a straightforward experiment, researchers have provided some clues to one of biology's most complex questions: how ancient organic molecules came together to form the basis of life.

18 Dec 2008

Compound from olive-skin pomace protects against colon-cancer

Researchers from the University of Granada and the University of Barcelona have shown that treatment with maslinic acid, a triterpenoid compound isolated from olive-skin pomace, results in a significant inhibition of cell proliferation and causes apoptotic death in colon-cancer cells.

18 Dec 2008