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Many employers do not implement programs to improve quality and value of health benefits

A new survey indicates that among large employers, many have not examined data on physician quality or shared health plan or physician data with employees that could help improve the value and quality of health benefits, according to a study in the November 21 issue of JAMA.

21 Nov 2007

Discovery of proteins key to normal brain function

MIT researchers have identified a family of proteins key to the formation of the communication networks critical for normal brain function.

21 Nov 2007

Sexy dads produce sexy sons, in the insect world at least

While scientists already knew that specific attractive traits, from cricket choruses to peacocks' tails, are passed on to their offspring, the heritability of attractiveness as a whole is more contentious. Now, new research by the University of Exeter, published (20 November) in Current Biology, shows that attractiveness is hereditary.

21 Nov 2007

Influenza vaccine strategies for broad global access

If an influenza pandemic occurred this year, fewer than one-fifth of the approximately 13 billion vaccine doses needed to fully vaccinate the global population would be available within six months in a best-case scenario.

21 Nov 2007

Third Annual Disability Status Report

There is a dramatic employment and poverty gap between working-age people with disabilities and those without disabilities, according to a new Cornell report.

21 Nov 2007

HPA statement on recent media interest in Pseudomonas infections

There has been some recent media interest in Pseudomonas infections.

21 Nov 2007

AIDS statistics revised by WHO in 2007

New data show global HIV prevalence - the percentage of people living with HIV - has levelled off and that the number of new infections has fallen, in part as a result of the impact of HIV programmes.

21 Nov 2007

FDA clears Veridex test for the monitoring of metastatic colorectal cancer

Veridex, LLC has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted an expanded clearance for the CellSearch System to be used as an aid in the monitoring of metastatic colorectal cancer.

21 Nov 2007

Discovery of 300 previously unidentified human genes

Using supercomputers to compare portions of the human genome with those of other mammals, researchers at Cornell have discovered some 300 previously unidentified human genes, and found extensions of several hundred genes already known.

21 Nov 2007

Effect of lead exposure on learning in children

Even very small amounts of lead in children's blood -- amounts well below the current federal standard -- are associated with reduced IQ scores, finds a new six-year Cornell study.

21 Nov 2007

The science of cancer health disparities in racial/ethnic minorities and the medically underserved

The latest biological, clinical and social research behind how cancer affects different racial and ethnic groups will be the focus of the first American Association for Cancer Research conference on the topic, entitled "The Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved."

21 Nov 2007

Binge drinking by adolescents increases long-term risk for heart disease

New research into lifelong alcohol consumption reveals that heavy binge drinking by adolescents and young adults is associated with increased long-term risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and other metabolic disorders.

21 Nov 2007

Bortezomib pushes cancer cells into overdrive, so that they self-destruct

University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers have discovered that bortezomib, a promising cancer drug, is able to strike a blow against melanoma tumor cells by revving up the action of a cancer-promoting gene.

21 Nov 2007

Barr Pharmaceuticals confirms patent challenge of Focalin XR

Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has confirmed that its subsidiary, Barr Laboratories, Inc., has initiated a challenge of the patents listed for Focalin XR (dexmethylphenidate hydrochloride) extended-release capsules, 5mg, 10mg, 15mg & 20mg. Focalin XR is manufactured for the U.S. for Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation by Elan Holdings Inc.

21 Nov 2007

Affiris GmbH granted a Europe-wide patent for key elements of its Alzheimer's vaccine

As a result, the company has exclusive rights of use to the peptide sequences for an innovative approach to vaccine development. The tolerability of the first Affiris vaccine, AFFITOPE AD01, is currently being tested as part of a phase I clinical trial. The lead investor in the company, MIG-Fonds, is extremely satisfied with the expanding patent portfolio of Affiris GmbH.

21 Nov 2007

Rapid response teams in children's hospitals reduce risk of death, cardiac arrests

A children's hospital that added a rapid response medical team for patients not in the intensive care unit saw an 18 percent decrease in the death rate, and about a 70 percent decline in the rate of cardiac and respiratory arrests, according to a study in the November 21 issue of JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.

21 Nov 2007