Medicaid is expected to save billions of dollars a year as patents for several blockbuster antipsychotic medications expire and use of generic versions of these drugs increases, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. These savings may provide relief from the high costs of these medications and allow policymakers to lift restrictions on patients' access, the researchers argue. The study forecast that annual Medicaid payments for antipsychotic medicines will decrease by nearly $1.8 billion (or nearly 50 percent) by 2016 ...

HOUSTON - (Aug. 20, 2015) - Rice University chemists who developed a unique form of graphene have found a way to embed metallic nanoparticles that turn the material into a useful catalyst for fuel cells and other applications. Laser-induced graphene, created by the Rice lab of chemist James Tour last year, is a flexible film with a surface of porous graphene made by exposing a common plastic known as polyimide to a commercial laser-scribing beam. The researchers have now found a way to enhance the product with reactive metals. The research appears this month in the ...

Leading scientists and experts in the field of rhino conservation state in a new paper that it is safe to consider the Sumatran rhinoceros extinct in the wild in Malaysia. The survival of the Sumatran rhino now depends on the 100 or fewer remaining individuals in the wild in Indonesia and the nine rhinos in captivity. Despite intensive survey efforts, there have been no signs of the wild Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) in Malaysia since 2007, apart from two females that were captured for breeding purposes in 2011 and 2014. Scientists now consider the species ...

An international team of scientists headed by biologists at UC San Diego has discovered that an important class of stem cells known as human "induced pluripotent stem cells," or iPSCs, which are derived from an individual's own cells, can be differentiated into various types of functional cells with different fates of immune rejection. The scientists also found that these cells may not be rejected by the immune system if iPSCs are turned into retinal pigment epithelium cells destined for the eye. Their discovery provides hope for the development of human stem cell therapies ...

A team of Swiss geneticists from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), and the University of Lausanne (UNIL) discovered that genetic variation has the potential to affect the state of the genome at many, seemingly separated, positions and thus modulate gene activity, much like a conductor directing the performers of a musical ensemble to play in harmony. These unexpected results, published in Cell, reveal the versatility of genome regulation and offer insights into the way it is orchestrated. Chromatin, a ...

An international group of researchers led by Carnegie Mellon University physicists Mathias Lösche and Frank Heinrich have established the structure of an important tumor suppressing protein, PTEN. Their findings provide new insights into how the protein regulates cell growth and how mutations in the gene that encodes the protein can lead to cancer. The study is published online in Structure, and will appear in the Oct. 6 issue. Phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) is a known tumor suppressing protein that is encoded by the PTEN gene. When expressed normally, the ...

The hippocampus in the brain's temporal lobe is responsible for more than just long-term memory. Researchers have for the first time demonstrated that it is also involved in quick and successful conflict resolution. The team headed by Prof Dr Nikolai Axmacher from the Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB), together with colleagues from the University Hospital of Bonn as well as in Aachen and Birmingham, reported in the journal "Current Biology". Decision conflicts occur often in everyday life In their everyday life, people are constantly confronted with decision conflicts, ...

Researchers estimate the 20-year breast cancer-specific death rate for women diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ to be 3.3 percent, although the death rate is higher for women diagnosed before age 35 and for black women, according to an article published online by JAMA Oncology. Ductal carcinoma in situ breast (DCIS) cancer, which is also referred to as stage 0 breast cancer, accounts for about 20 percent of the breast cancers detected through mammography. Some women with DCIS experience a second breast cancer (DCIS or invasive) and a small proportion of patients ...

People with psychopathic characteristics are less likely to be affected by "contagious yawning" than those who are empathetic, according to a Baylor University psychology study. Yawning after spotting someone else yawn is associated with empathy and bonding, and "catching" yawns happens with many social mammals, among them humans, chimpanzees and dogs, researchers say. The study -- "Contagious yawning and psychopathy" -- involved 135 college student respondents and was published online in the journal Personality and Individual Differences. "You may yawn, even if you ...

NEW YORK (August 20, 2015) - No single genetic strain of the widespread Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) bacteria appears to be any more harmful than other strains, according to new research published online today in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. The findings contradict previous research suggesting that the emergence of the most severe C. difficile infections (CDI) could be linked with a particular strain known as Ribotype 027 (R027). C. difficile is a highly infectious diarrhea that ...

Bethesda, MD (Aug. 19, 2015) -- Frustrated by a maintenance of certification process that doesn't improve patient care, the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) this week released a proposed alternate pathway to recertification that is based on established learning theory. 1,3 It eliminates the high-stakes examination and replaces it with active, adaptive, self-directed learning modules that allow for continuous feedback. AGA shared the proposed pathway with the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), which runs the current maintenance of certification ...

Working parents often worry about sending their toddlers to daycare. But the results of a new study that tracked almost 1,000 Norwegian children enrolled in daycare indicate that working parents can breathe a sigh of relief: The amount of time children spent in daycare had little impact on aggressive behavior. The study is published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. "From a public perspective, our findings are important because they should help ease parents' fears about the potential harms of early non-parental child care," ...

Tropical Storm Danny became the fourth named storm of the season on August 18 when it formed in the central Atlantic about 1,660 miles east of the Windward Islands. The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission core satellite passed over Danny the next day and analyzed the structure of its rainfall. Danny originated from an African easterly wave that moved off of the coast of Africa 4 days earlier on the 14th of August. Storms that form in this region are known as Cape Verde storms and typically form towards the height of hurricane season. In a typical season, ...

TORONTO, ON, August 20, 2015 - Women diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) are twice as likely to die from breast cancer compared to the general U.S. population, according to a new study led by Dr. Steven Narod. "Our work shows that DCIS has more in common with small invasive cancers than previously thought," explains Dr. Narod, a scientist with Women's College Research Institute and a professor with the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. "In these cases, we've found that there's an inherent potential for DCIS to spread to other ...

Afatinib (trade name: Giotrif) has been approved since September 2013 for the treatment of adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with activating EGF receptor mutations who have not been treated with an EGF receptor tyrosine-kinase inhibitor (EGFR TKI). After a first early benefit assessment in February 2014, the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) now reexamined whether the drug offers an added benefit over the appropriate comparator therapy. The new benefit assessment was conducted because a ...

Putnam Valley, NY. (Aug. 20, 2015) - Tendon injuries, especially those acquired while engaging in sports, are not easily healed due to the fibrous nature of tendon tissues which transmit forces from muscle to bone and protect surrounding tissues against tension and compression. Tendon injuries to wrists, knees, elbows and rotator cuffs, often from over use when playing golf or tennis, are increasingly common for both professional and amateur athletes ("weekend warriors") alike. Previous studies in which human fetal progenitor tenocyte (hFPT) transplantation stimulated ...

Researchers from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) have announced results from the first published basket study, a new form of clinical trial design that explores responses to drugs based on the specific mutations in patients' tumors rather than where their cancer originated. Published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the early phase II study, led by MSK Physician-in-Chief and Chief Medical Officer José Baselga, MD, PhD, looked at the effect of vemurafenib (Zelboraf®) in multiple nonmelanoma BRAFV600-mutated cancers in 122 patients from 23 ...

HOUSTON - (Aug. 20, 2015) - Texans without health insurance are twice as likely to skip seeking primary and mental health care because of cost. That's one of the findings of a new survey released today by Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy and the Episcopal Health Foundation. The report found that in the past year 32 percent of uninsured adult Texans said they had skipped primary care due to costs, compared with 16 percent of adults who have health insurance. When it comes to mental health care or counseling, 12 percent of uninsured Texans said they had ...

NASA's CloudSat Satellite passed over Super Typhoon Atsani as it moved through the western North Pacific Ocean. CloudSat looked at the super typhoon from the side, revealing heavy rainfall in a sloping eyewall. Typhoon Atsani strengthened into a super typhoon on August 19, 2015 at 0000 UTC. CloudSat flew over Atsani at 03:27 UTC, shortly after it became a super typhoon when maximum sustained winds were near 130 knots (150 mph). Atsani was equivalent to a category 4 strength hurricane. CloudSat's cloud profiling radar (CPR), passed just to the west of Super Typhoon Atsani's ...

In the 1930s, Irving Langmuir and his colleague Katharine Blodgett were working long days in the General Electric Company's research laboratory. Together, they discovered that by spreading molecules with volatile organic solvents on the surface of water, they could create a one-molecule-thick film and use it as an anti-reflective coating for glass. Later named Langmuir-Blodgett assembly, this thin-film fabrication technique became popular for creating molecule or nanoparticle monolayers and is commonly used until this day. Since Langmuir-Blodgett assembly was first reported ...

Reston, Va. (August 20, 2015) - A molecular imaging biomarker is able to detect fast-growing primary prostate cancer and distinguish it from benign prostate lesions, addressing an unmet clinical need. The new research, published in the July 2015 issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine, is significant for patients with suspected prostate cancer that has not been confirmed by standard biopsy. "We were able to demonstrate in our research that PSMA PET imaging was more specific than MR imaging for detection of clinically significant high-grade prostate cancer lesions, and ...

WASHINGTON, D.C., August 20 -- A first-of-its-kind, nationally representative study of siblings supports previously published research on unrelated individuals that links specific genotypes to educational attainment among adults in their mid-20s to early 30s. The research, published today in AERA Open, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Educational Research Association, found that, within families, an adolescent with a higher "polygenic score"--which summarizes previously identified genome-wide associations for educational attainment--than her or his sibling tended ...

Summary: The ideal management strategy for primary cardiogenic shock is a matter of debate. After some early discouraging experiences, the use of extracorporeal life support for patients with cardiogenic shock is having a resurgence. A report from researchers in Padua, Italy finds that patients who have an acute onset of cardiogenic shock, for example following a heart attack, and are placed on extracorporeal life support, fare better than those who have a chronic cardiac pathology. In an accompanying editorial, Dr. Vivek Rao of the University of Toronto puts the findings ...

Virginia Tech researchers have identified a biomarker in pre-diabetic individuals that could help prevent them from developing Type II diabetes. Publishing in Clinical Epigenetics, the researchers discovered that pre-diabetic people who were considered to be insulin resistant -- unable to respond to the hormone insulin effectively -- also had altered mitochondrial DNA. Researchers made the connection by analyzing blood samples taken from 40 participants enrolled in the diaBEAT-it program, a long-term study run by multiple researchers in the Fralin Translational Obesity ...

(BOSTON) - Last year, a Wyss Institute team of scientists described the development of a new device to treat sepsis that works by mimicking our spleen. It cleanses pathogens and toxins from blood circulating through a dialysis-like circuit. Now, the Wyss Institute team has developed an improved device that synergizes with conventional antibiotic therapies and that has been streamlined to better position it for near-term translation to the clinic. The improved design is described in the October volume 67 of Biomaterials. Sepsis is a common and frequently fatal medical ...