About ICAP ICAP at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health is a global leader in public health, with a broad portfolio of research, training, health system strengthening, and service delivery programs in the United States and around the world. Founded in 2004, ICAP is committed to addressing critical health issues and to bettering lives by improving access to high-quality, equitable, and affordable health services. Working hand-in-hand with in-country partners, ICAP has supported more than 1,200 health facilities across 21 countries, including the US. More ...

AURORA, Colo. -- As scientists continue making breakthroughs in personalized cancer treatment, delivering those therapies in the most cost effective manner has become increasingly important. Now researchers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine have identified new ways of doing just that, allowing more patients to benefit from this revolution in cancer care. In a paper published in the British Journal of Cancer, health economist Adam Atherly, PhD, of the Colorado School of Public Health (CSPH) and medical oncologist D. Ross Camidge, MD, PhD, of the University ...

A neutron star is the closest thing to a black hole that astronomers can observe directly, crushing half a million times more mass than Earth into a sphere no larger than a city. In October 2010, a neutron star near the center of our galaxy erupted with hundreds of X-ray bursts that were powered by a barrage of thermonuclear explosions on the star's surface. NASA's Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) captured the month-long fusillade in extreme detail. Using this data, an international team of astronomers has been able to bridge a long-standing gap between theory and observation. "In ...

Cyclone Irina has lived a long life and caused a lot of trouble, damages and death over the course of its life, and it appears to be finally fading over the Mozambique Channel. On March 8 at 1500 UTC (10 a.m. EST), Irina's winds had finally dropped below 45 knots (51.7 mph/83.3 kph) to 35 knots (40.2 mph/64.8 kph) making it a minimal tropical storm. Irina was still in the southern Mozambique Channel, centered near 29.5 South and 37.8 East. That is about 350 miles southeast of Maputo, Mozambique. Irina is moving to the west at 8 knots (9.2 mph/14.8 kph). The Moderate ...

Hot towers, or towering thunderclouds that give off an excessive amount of latent heat, usually indicate a tropical cyclone will strengthen in six hours, and NASA's TRMM satellite saw some of them as it passed by Tropical Storm Koji. The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite passed directly above an intensifying tropical storm in the South Indian Ocean called Koji on March 8, 2012 at 2053 UTC (3:53 p.m. EST). A rainfall analysis was made from TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI) and Precipitation Radar (PR) data. Those TRMM data reveal that Koji was getting organized ...

At the law offices of Michael T. Norris, Ltd. and John W. Callahan, Ltd., we know how to fight for the rights of the accused. After his arrest by the Hanover Park Police Department, our client was facing a difficult situation. The officers who stopped him claimed they could smell a strong odor of alcohol coming from his breath. They noted that his eyes were watery, glassy and bloodshot. Our client admitted to police that he had consumed alcohol at a local bar over the course of the evening. He later took a breath test which yielded a blood alcohol content of 0.17. Upon ...

Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have identified a regulator protein that plays a crucial role in kidney fibrosis, a condition that leads to kidney failure. Finding this regulator provides a new therapeutic target for the millions of Americans affected by kidney failure. The research is published in the March 11 issue of Nature Medicine. Led by John Cijiang He, MD, PhD, Professor of Nephrology and Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics; and Avi Ma'ayan, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, the ...

MARSEILLES, FRANCE -- As food and energy production intensify around the world, their demands on dwindling water resources have prompted the search for an innovative and collaborative solution. On Friday, March 16, a High Level Panel convened by the EDF Group and the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF) will gather in Marseilles at the Sixth World Water Forum (WWF6) to share experiences and results. The panel will discuss how to embrace a "nexus" approach to water management, in which projects that tap water resources are planned and executed with input from ...

DURHAM, N.C. – A team of researchers at Duke University has determined the structure of a key molecule that can carry chemotherapy and anti-viral drugs into cells, which could help to create more effective drugs with fewer effects to healthy tissue. "Knowing the structure and properties of the transporter molecule may be the key to changing the way that some chemotherapies, for example, could work in the body to prevent tumor growth," said senior author Seok-Yong Lee, Ph.D., assistant professor of biochemistry at Duke. The article was published in Nature online on ...

A team of Australian scientists has bred salt tolerance into a variety of durum wheat that shows improved grain yield by 25% on salty soils. Using 'non-GM' crop breeding techniques, scientists from CSIRO Plant Industry have introduced a salt-tolerant gene into a commercial durum wheat, with spectacular results shown in field tests. Researchers at the University of Adelaide's Waite Research Institute have led the effort to understand how the gene delivers salinity tolerance to the plants. The research is the first of its kind in the world to fully describe the improvement ...

The Greenland ice sheet is likely to be more vulnerable to global warming than previously thought. The temperature threshold for melting the ice sheet completely is in the range of 0.8 to 3.2 degrees Celsius global warming, with a best estimate of 1.6 degrees above pre-industrial levels, shows a new study by scientists from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Today, already 0.8 degrees global warming has been observed. Substantial melting of land ice could contribute to long-term sea-level rise of several meters ...

In a study released today in Nature Genetics, researchers have found that Chlamydia has evolved more actively than was previously thought. Using whole genome sequencing the researchers show that the exchange of DNA between different strains of Chlamydia to form new strains is much more common than expected. The team highlights that current clinical testing methods do not capture the variation between Chlamydia strains. Changes to the genome structure are not the aim of current diagnostics for Chlamydia. The researchers are working with hospitals to use their results ...

Hospitals in Arizona and across the country are burying their mistakes, according to a new study recently released by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General Daniel R. Levinson. The study found that 15,000 Medicare patients die every month in part due to inadequate treatment in hospitals. The types of medical malpractice detailed in the study are gruesome and include surgical fires, objects left inside patients after surgery and surgeries performed on the wrong patients. If your loved one has died due to hospital negligence, you need to speak with ...

Researchers from Queen Mary, University of London and the University of Surrey have found a protein inside blood vessels with an ability to protect the body from substances which cause cardiovascular disease. The findings, published online in the journal Cardiovascular Research, have revealed the protein protein pregnane X receptor (PXR) can switch on different protective pathways in the blood vessels. Co-author Dr David Bishop-Bailey, based at Queen Mary's William Harvey Research Institute, said they found the protein was able to sense a wide variety of drugs, foreign ...

NEW YORK, NY -- A study by Columbia researchers suggests that cells in the patient's intestine could be coaxed into making insulin, circumventing the need for a stem cell transplant. Until now, stem cell transplants have been seen by many researchers as the ideal way to replace cells lost in type I diabetes and to free patients from insulin injections. The research—conducted in mice—was published 11 March 2012 in the journal Nature Genetics. Type I diabetes is an autoimmune disease that destroys insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. The pancreas cannot replace these ...

Medical professionals have long thought that traumatic brain injuries do not affect young children as significantly as they do adults. Two new studies, however, suggest otherwise. Young children suffering from severe traumatic brain injuries (TBI) may actually suffer continued impairment later in life than experts first thought. The studies yielded important new information on childhood traumatic brain injuries. Children who suffered severe traumatic brain injuries, for example, had slower intellectual functioning, showing that the traumatic brain injury may have affected ...

A retinoid called all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), which is a vitamin A-derivative, is already used successfully to treat a rare sub-type of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), however this drug has not been effective for the more common types of AMLs. Team leader Arthur Zelent, Ph.D., and colleagues at the ICR have been working to unlock the potential of retinoids to treat other patients with AML. In a paper published in Nature Medicine today, they show that the key could be an antidepressant called tranylcypromine (TCP). "Retinoids have already transformed one rare type ...

The newly renovated Comfort Inn & Conference Center Northeast in Atlanta, near Doraville, offers special rates to fans attending the 2012 NCAA South Regional Men's Basketball Tournament at the Georgia Dome in downtown Atlanta, GA. The Road to the Final Four , the NCAA South Regional (Division I) tournament will be held from March 23 - 25, 2012. Featuring the NCAA "Sweet 16 " and "Elite Eight " Rounds of the NCAA Tournament, this year's winner of the two-day event will be awarded a spot in the 2012 NCAA Final FOUR that will be held in New Orleans. Located ...

Sheraton Atlanta Perimeter Hotel North, located in Sandy Springs, GA near Atlanta Perimeter Center, announces a new special savings package. Travelers can enjoy luxury for less with this exclusive offer for members of the Starwood Preferred Guest program. Book weekend stays now through March 31, 2013 and enjoy: - Up to 35% off Best Available rates - Continental breakfast for two Reference rate plan SPG35B. Offer is subject to availability; some restrictions may apply. "Conveniently situated only 15 miles north of downtown Atlanta and near many of the areas points ...

Peritectic solidification involves the nucleation and growth of the primary phase, the peritectic reaction of the primary phase with the remnant liquid phase, and the microstructural evolution of the product peritectic phase. It provides an effective approach for the synthesis or processing of various kinds of advanced materials. Professor WEI Bingbo and his group from the Department of Applied Physics, Northwestern Polytechnical University (NPU), in Xi'an, China, have demonstrated novel dual solidification mechanisms for a ternary Fe47.5Cu47.5Sn5 peritectic-type alloy. ...

Rodriguez MD, a leading Lawrenceville clinic and bilingual Lawrenceville family practice near Gwinnett Medical Center, is currently offering spring allergy testing and treatments. This includes treatments for inhalant allergies, reactions to foods, hay fever, chronic sinus problems, immune disorders, eczema, and hives. Rodriguez MD offers comprehensive evaluations; then they will provide diagnosis and sustainable treatment plans. This may include giving allergy shots. The spring season is a common time for people to experience increased reactions to allergies caused ...

A new analysis led by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has found that circumcision before a male's first sexual intercourse may help protect against prostate cancer. Published early online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study suggests that circumcision can hinder infection and inflammation that may lead to this malignancy. Infections are known to cause cancer, and research suggests that sexually transmitted infections may contribute to the development of prostate cancer. Also, certain sexually transmitted infections ...

The number of children with conditions such as muscular dystrophy, neurodegenerative disorders or severe cerebral palsy who are surviving into adulthood has been underestimated, a new study shows. Research led from the University of Leeds, has shown that the number of children and young adults in England with a 'life limiting condition'* is far higher than had previously been thought and is increasing year on year. As numbers continue to rise, this will place a growing burden on paediatric palliative care providers and young adult services, particularly in deprived areas. The ...

Energy is a multi-billion dollar industry in the United States. Prior to deregulation, there was an energy monopoly which generally set the rates that consumers paid. Because of the lack of competition, it became very easy for a company to make tremendous profits at the expense of the consumer. When deregulation came into the picture, the energy industry opened its doors for competition in the marketplace - creating a win/win situation for the consumer. Ambit Energy is a leading energy provider supplying natural gas and electricity to residents in Texas, New York, Illinois, ...

Gemstone dealer with over 20 years' experience investigates the mysterious Mayan crystal skull. Wayne Sedawie, founder of Gemrockauctions.com, has been wholesaling and cut over a million gemstones and sold over 1000 crystal skulls and has an experienced understanding of all aspects of how a crystal skull could have been carved! With in-depth gemstone knowledge and practical experience he has researched and investigated the crystal skull mystery and used his experience from operating Gemstone cutting factories, Opal mining operations and International gemstone wholesale ...