FDA :: Actions Program for Medical Devices – Enhancing Patient Safety
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today announced its action plan for strengthening the way it monitors the safety of medical devices after they reach the marketplace.
Health
Protein :: Manmade protein shows promise for cancer, macular degeneration
Potentially blinding blood vessel growth in the cornea resulting from eye injury or even surgery can be reduced by more than 50 percent with a new manmade protein, researchers say.
Memories :: Brain to “package” the memory
Researchers at UC Irvine have found that how much detail one remembers of an event depends on whether a certain portion of the brain is activated to “package” the memory.
Heart :: Seven-point system gauges seriousness of heart failure in elderly – Washington University
A simple points system may soon help guide treatment of elderly heart failure patients. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that by counting how many of seven easy-to-obtain health factors a patient has, physicians can estimate the patient’s risk of dying.
Venus :: Happy birthday, Venus Express!
One year after its launch on 9 November 2005 and a few months into its science phase, ESA’s Venus Express keeps working well and continues to gather lots of data about the hot and noxious atmosphere of the planet. Newly released images show additional details of the thick cloud deck that surrounds Venus.
Climate :: Climate changes are linked between Greenland and the Antarctic
Even if climate records from Greenland and Antarctic ice cores look different, climate of Artic and Antarctic are directly linked. Investigations of an Antarctic ice core indicate a principle connection between both hemispheres by a “bipolar seesaw.”
Brain :: RNA map provides first comprehensive understanding of alternative splicing
A new RNA map, created by a team of researchers at Rockefeller University and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, shows for the first time how the specific location of short snippets of RNA affects the way that alternative splicing is controlled in the brain.
Education :: Nonminority medical students more satisfied than minority students – Mayo study
Minorities account for 30 percent of the U.S. population, but only eight percent of the physician workforce, and experience less personal satisfaction during medical school than nonminority students, finds a Mayo Clinic study published in the November issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
Cancer :: Growth factor signals influence balance between normal growth and cancerous growth – USA
Too much of a signaling protein called insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) may fan the flames of cancer, while too little of the protein may cause short stature, dementia and osteoporosis. New research investigates how the growth hormone/IGF system is affected by the important tumor suppressor gene p53. This interplay of two signaling pathways reinforces questions about the long-term risks of prescribing growth hormone, while suggesting a future new avenue for cancer therapy.
Ecology :: 1st international study group for new ‘movement’ discipline – Hebrew University
Movement ecology is on the move, with the world’s first international research group on this topic having begun its work this fall at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Institute for Advanced Studies.