Nine more test positive for scrub typhus in Shimla |  |
- Nine more test positive for scrub typhus in Shimla
- Johns Hopkins Evidence-based Practice Center awarded $475,000 project
- Competitive Scrabble makes you smarter
- Study aims to improve fuel economy by 30 percent
- UT leads charge to smart grid with NSF-DOE award
- Model shows polar ice caps can recover from warmer climate-induced melting
- Encephalitis claims 55 lives in Bihar
- AIIMS patients to have online access to treatment history
- UofL's Ruth Carrico selected for National Nurse Fellowship
- Does moderate alcohol consumption increase body weight?
| Nine more test positive for scrub typhus in Shimla Posted: 18 Aug 2011 01:51 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Shimla, Aug 18 - Nine patients suffering from scrub typhus, a disease caused by the bite of an infected mite, have been reported here in this Himachal Pradesh capital, an official said here Thursday. 'Nine more patients tested positive for scrub typhus Wednesday,' Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital - medical superintendent K.S. Rana told IANS. Seventy-three patients suffering from the disease have been reported in the IGMCH this year, he said, and added that the arrival of scrub typhus patients would continue till end of October. Forty-four deaths were reported in the state in the past two years due to the disease. However, in the IGMCH no death has been reported so far. 'As many as 1,206 scrub typhus cases were reported in the state in the last two years. Of these, 948 cases were reported last year,' Health Minister Rajeev Bindal informed the assembly March 31. He said 27 patients died in 2010 whereas 17 died in 2009 due to the disease. The symptoms of the disease include fever, headache, muscle pain, cough and gastroenteritis -. http://www.rxpgnews.com    |
| Johns Hopkins Evidence-based Practice Center awarded $475,000 project Posted: 17 Aug 2011 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) An estimated $25 billion is spent annually on treating chronic wounds on patients in the United States. These chronic wounds deeply affect the quality of life of more than six million people who have them. The most common types of chronic skin wounds and skin ulcers are related to venous disease (conditions related to or caused by veins that become diseased or abnormal). Many treatment options are available, but the quality of evidence showing which treatments work better than others is often lacking. It is hard to prove which treatments are effective and should be the standards of care. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) awarded the Johns Hopkins Evidence-based Practice Center a $475,000 project to carry out an extensive research review and create a scientific report to inform health care providers about effective state-of-the-art wound care. Through this project, the Johns Hopkins Wound Center and the Johns Hopkins Evidence-based Practice Center are conducting an evidence-based review of wound care to determine what is known and unknown about it, and to establish strategies of care that are proved to work. Gerald Lazarus, M.D., founder of the Johns Hopkins Wound Center, and professor of dermatology and medicine at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, and Jonathan Zenilman, M.D., newly named director of the Wound Center and professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Johns Hopkins Bayview, are co-principal investigators of this study. Working with Eric Bass, M.D., MPH, director of the Johns Hopkins Evidence-based Practice Center, a team of recognized experts are trying to find important clinical answers to help treat patients with chronic wounds. This research is a unique and important study that underscores the scientific credibility and intellectual honesty of the Wound Center, says Dr. Lazarus. It's a great example of how translational research affects everyday lives. The... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| Competitive Scrabble makes you smarter Posted: 17 Aug 2011 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Since competitive Scrabble players are expert at studying language, University of Calgary researchers sought to determine if and how players' techniques and training changed the process of reading words. They tested competitive Scrabble players to understand the extent to which the players relied on the meaning and physical orientation of words in order to understand them as a part of the English language system. Their study shows, for the first time, that it is possible to develop visual word recognition ability in adulthood, beyond what researchers previously thought was achievable. The average literate adult relies on three components to process and read a word: sound, spelling and meaning, says Penny Pexman, professor of Psychology. When we studied the Scrabble players, we found that there is significant flexibility in the tools they use to read words and that it can include the orientation of the word as well. The Scrabble players in the study were able to recognize English words, compared to nonsense words 20 percent faster than non-Scrabble players. Researchers say competitive players, who dedicate large amounts of time to studying the 180,000 words listed in The Official Tournament and Club Word List, processed words more quickly and were better able to recognize words oriented vertically. Scrabble players have honed their ability to recognize words such that they have actually changed the process of reading words, says Ian Hargreaves, PhD Candidate in Psychology and lead researcher on the study. They have done this in two ways. First the scrabble players showed less difference in the time it took to recognize a word as real when it was positioned vertically than they did for a horizontal word, whereas non-Scrabble players are much slower in reading vertically. The second way is in recognizing words mainly in terms of their visual appearance, and less in terms of the words' meaning. Competitive Scrabble players'... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| Study aims to improve fuel economy by 30 percent Posted: 17 Aug 2011 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) RIVERSIDE, Calif. (www.ucr.edu) -- Researchers at the University of California, Riverside along with their research partners have received a $1.2 million grant from the Department of Energy to study and evaluate technologies that provide feedback to drivers so they can cut harmful emissions and reduce fuel use by up to 30 percent. The three-year project aims to develop and demonstrate a comprehensive driver feedback technology that will improve fuel efficiency of passenger cars and fleet vehicles of businesses and government. This technology already exists on a small scale, but this study will make large advances in a fully integrated feedback system that includes better trip planning and routing, improved efficiency while driving, and comprehensive reporting on a periodic basis. This is one of the first major research studies in the United States to address eco-driving, that is providing drivers advice and feedback to reduce fuel consumption and tailpipe emissions. Several small studies, including one at UC Riverside, have found fuel economy improvements in the range of 5 to 15 percent. Larger-scale eco-driving programs in Asia and Europe have shown fuel improvements up to 20 percent. This grant allows us to go beyond small, anecdotal studies to show, on a large scale, the significant positive economic and environmental impacts of eco-driving principles and the value of feedback systems, said Matthew Barth, the principal investigator on the project and the director of UC Riverside's Center for Environmental Research and Technology at the Bourns College of Engineering. The project is one of 40 being funded through a more than $175 million Department of Energy program aimed at improving the fuel efficiency of the next generation of vehicles. The projects will help insure the technologies are available to help automakers achieve new fuel efficiency standards. Last month, President Obama announced automakers will be required to... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| UT leads charge to smart grid with NSF-DOE award Posted: 17 Aug 2011 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, will be at the forefront of research, education, and technology for sustainable energy systems with a five-year, $18 million award from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy. This is the first time UT Knoxville has been honored to lead an NSF Engineering Research Center (ERC) and the first time an ERC will address power transmission systems. An NSF ERC is historically the most prestigious award given to a university industry team. Since the program's creation in 1984, only 33 of the nation's finest universities have been given the honor to lead a total of 42 ERCs. UT Knoxville will play a central role in President Barack Obama's goal to overhaul the nation's power grid. The president outlined a framework to take America's early-20th century power system into the 21st century through cutting-edge research. The NSF and DOE have partnered to address the nation's critical need to develop a smart grid and has called upon UT Knoxville to lead the charge. Our country is in a defining moment in history as it relates to the urgency to address the aging infrastructure and managing our energy needs, said Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek. This award propels UT to the frontlines both domestically and internationally of smart-grid research. We have the leading experts and the sophisticated tools to develop the transformational technology that will make our power grid greener, safer, and smarter. The new center, called CURENT (Center for Ultra-wide-area Resilient Electric Energy Transmission Networks), involves a consortium of academia, industry and national laboratories. Kevin Tomsovic, head of UT's Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department, will direct CURENT, and Yilu Liu, Governor's Chair for Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, will serve as co-director. The country's electrical grid has chronically been overstretched, manifesting itself in costly and... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| Model shows polar ice caps can recover from warmer climate-induced melting Posted: 17 Aug 2011 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) A growing body of recent research indicates that, in Earth's warming climate, there is no tipping point, or threshold warm temperature, beyond which polar sea ice cannot recover if temperatures come back down. New University of Washington research indicates that even if Earth warmed enough to melt all polar sea ice, the ice could recover if the planet cooled again. In recent years scientists have closely monitored the shrinking area of the Arctic covered by sea ice in warmer summer months, a development that has created new shipping lanes but also raised concerns about humans living in the region and the survival of species such as polar bears. In the new research, scientists used one of two computer-generated global climate models that accurately reflect the rate of sea-ice loss under current climate conditions, a model so sensitive to warming that it projects the complete loss of September Arctic sea ice by the middle of this century. However, the model takes several more centuries of warming to completely lose winter sea ice, and doing so required carbon dioxide levels to be gradually raised to a level nearly nine times greater than today. When the model's carbon dioxide levels then were gradually reduced, temperatures slowly came down and the sea ice eventually returned. We expected the sea ice to be completely gone in winter at four times the current level of carbon dioxide but we had to raise it by more than eight times, said Cecilia Bitz, a UW associate professor of atmospheric sciences. All that carbon dioxide made a very, very warm planet. It was about 6 degrees Celsius (11 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than it is now, which caused the Arctic to be completely free of sea ice in winter. Bitz and members of her research group are co-authors of a paper about the research that is to be published in Geophysical Research Letters. The lead author is Kyle Armour, a UW graduate student in physics, and other co-authors are... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| Encephalitis claims 55 lives in Bihar Posted: 16 Aug 2011 06:41 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, Aug 16 - As many as 55 people, mostly children, have died in Bihar in the last one-and-a-half months due to encephalitis, the Rajya Sabha was informed Tuesday. Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said clinical and epidemiological data suggests that it was an outbreak of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome resulting in 150 cases and 55 deaths, mostly among children. In a written reply, the minister said these cases were reported early June to middle July. He said cases of encephalitis, a rare brain inflammation caused by a virus, were reported from Muzaffarpur and its bordering areas in Bihar. Azad said rapid response teams - consisting of experts in epidemiology, entomology, microbiology and medicine have been trained and positioned at district, state and central levels to mount rapid response to disease outbreaks. He said RRTs at central level are dispatched to affected areas as and when the need arises to support local health authorities in prevention, control, diagnosis and treatment of outbreak-prone diseases. http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| AIIMS patients to have online access to treatment history Posted: 16 Aug 2011 06:26 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, Aug 16 - Soon patients at the All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences - here will have online access to all information on their treatment and care. This information will be made available by the Knowledge Centre, proposed part of the Convergence Centre whose foundation stone was laid by Union Health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad Aug 14, which is expected to be built in the next 18 months. 'The plan is to introduce a database of all types of patients and drugs prescribed,' AIIMS spokesperson Y.K. Gupta said. 'The databank will - contain information related to the surgeries done, clinical research at the institute, and its findings.' Gupta further said: 'The Knowledge Hub will map the disease pattern prevalent in the country and how it is reflected in OPD - patients at AIIMS. The patients will get all recent information on treatment modality.' The Convergence Centre, being built at a cost of Rs.50.85 crore, will house the departments of anatomy, electron microscopy, pathology, bio-chemistry pharmacology and microbiology. http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| UofL's Ruth Carrico selected for National Nurse Fellowship Posted: 16 Aug 2011 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Ruth Carrico, Ph.D., R.N., F.S.H.E.A., C.I.C., an associate professor at the School of Public Health and Information Sciences, University of Louisville, has been named one of just 21 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Executive Nurse Fellows for 2011. Carrico joins a select group of nurse leaders from across the country chosen to participate in this world-class, three-year leadership development program designed to enhance nurse leaders' effectiveness in improving the United States health care system. With more than 30 years' experience in health care, Carrico has focused her nursing practice on infection prevention in the health care and public health sectors, and is board-certified in infection control. She has received training in health care epidemiology and public health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in conjunction with the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University and the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. Carrico has authored or co-authored six books, as well as numerous peer-reviewed manuscripts, abstracts, posters, e-learning modules, and book chapters. Ruth is very deserving of this honor, said Richard Clover, M.D., dean, UofL School of Public Health and Information Sciences. She is a leader in the field of infection prevention and control and was recently appointed to the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) to help advise the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Begun by RWJF in 1998, the RWJF Executive Nurse Fellows (ENF) program strengthens the leadership capacity of nurses who aspire to shape health care locally and nationally. The program will provide Carrico and her colleagues with coaching, education and other support to strengthen their abilities to lead teams and organizations in improving health and health care. The ENF program is... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| Does moderate alcohol consumption increase body weight? Posted: 16 Aug 2011 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) A paper from Spain provides an extensive review of the association between alcohol consumption and body weight. Based on the fact that the energy content in 1 gram of alcohol is 29 kJ or 7.1 kcal, excessive alcohol consumption can lead to weight gain. The study includes descriptions of cross-sectional and prospective studies (and a few small intervention studies) among subjects who varied in age (adolescence to old age), culture (from Americans and Europeans to Asians), and principal type of beverage consumed and pattern of drinking. The authors state that many of the studies they reviewed appear to be contradictory in their results. However, based on their review, they conclude that as positive associations between alcohol and weight gain were mainly found in studies with data on higher levels of drinking, it is possible that an effect on weight gain or abdominal adiposity may only be experienced by heavy drinkers. A second conclusion of the authors is that the type of alcoholic beverage might play an important role in modifying the effect of alcohol consumption on weight gain, with more favourable effects generally seen among consumers of wine. A formal meta-analysis is not provided. The overall conclusions of the authors is that it is currently unclear whether alcohol consumption is a risk factor for weight gain, but if so it appears to occur mainly among heavier drinkers. They also state that light-to-moderate alcohol intake, especially of wine, may be more likely to protect against, rather than promote, weight gain. Forum reviewers agreed with most of the conclusions of the authors, especially that current data do not clearly indicate if moderate drinking increases weight; further, the biologic mechanisms relating alcohol to changes in body weight are not well understood. The Forum review comments on the strong protective effects of moderate drinking on the risk of metabolic syndrome and diabetes, both of which... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
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