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Comparative Research Institute Agenda Posted for Comment
The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) today released for comment a draft of its research priorities and agenda, which it says will guide future funding announcements. The institute, established by the 2010 Affordable Care Act (health care reform law) to fund comparative effectiveness and related research, is accepting comments on the document through 15 March…
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Process IDs Rice Traits to Help Tsunami-Hit Rice Growers
A collaboration between scientists in Japan and the U.K. is developing methods to identify genetic markers that can help cut the time needed to breed salt-tolerant and shorter rice to help Japanese growers recover from the tsunami in March 2011. The new process, called MutMap, is described online in the journal Nature Biotechnology (paid subscription…
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U.S. VC Investments Up for 2011, Flat for Science Companies
Venture capital (VC) investors in the U.S. increased in 2011 compared to 2010, both in terms of numbers of deals and amount of money invested. However, the fourth quarter of the year was an unusually slow period, according to Dow Jones VentureSource that compiled the data, and consumer Web companies appeared to benefit from the…
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High Levels of MRSA Found in Retail Pork Products
Researchers at University of Iowa College of Public Health and Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy in Minneapolis have found a higher prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria (MRSA) in U.S. pork products than previously identified. The team’s findings appear in the online journal PLoS One. MRSA is a serious bacteria, causing infections resistant to…
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Industrial Robotics Software Repository Established
Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in San Antonio has set up a repository of software routines for industrial automation that work under the Robot Operating System. The software collection of tools, libraries, and drivers is publicly accessible and licensed under the open-source Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) license. The Robot Operating System (ROS) provides functions and routines…
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Antimicrobial Scrubs Can Help Reduce MRSA Risk to Patients
A Virginia Commonwealth University research team in Richmond has found that hospital scrubs impregnated with antimicrobial compounds, along with good hand hygiene, can reduce the burden of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) on health care workers’ apparel and help decrease the risk of MRSA transmission to patients. Their findings appear online the journal Infection Control and…
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Aspirin Could Help Prevent Cervical Cancer in Women with HIV
Research by global health investigators and cancer specialists suggests that aspirin should be evaluated for its ability to prevent development of cervical cancer in HIV-infected women. The findings by a team from New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York, with colleagues from Qatar and Haiti, are published in the current issue…
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Consortium Develops Virtual Mouse for Lab Testing
Simcyp Ltd. in Sheffield, U.K., a consortium of pharmaceutical and biotech companies and research universities, has created a virtual lab mouse for use in cancer and toxicological research. Simcyp is a spin-off enterprise from Sheffield University that develops modeling and simulation tools for lab testing. Lab mice are used frequently in the development of new drugs…
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Benefits Found for Telemedicine in Diagnosis, Disease Mgmt
Dermatologists in the University of California at Davis Health System that use videoconferencing technology, have found live interactive consultations can improve clinical outcomes for patients from beneficial changes in medical diagnosis and disease management that otherwise might not occur. Their findings appear in the current issue of the journal Archives of Dermatology (paid subscription required).…
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Report: Asia Closing Gap in U.S. R&D Leadership
National Science Foundation’s new report on global research and development (R&D) trends, Science and Engineering Indicators 2012, shows in the last decade, U.S. leadership in research and development has come under severe challenge from China and other countries in Asia. The report from NSF’s policy-making body, the National Science Board, shows between 1999 and 2009,…