Team Develops DNA Compounds That Could Help Treat Lupus
A research team led by a University of Iowa investigator has generated DNA-like compounds that effectively inhibit the cells responsible for systemic lupus erythematosus -- the most common and serious form of lupus. There currently is no cure for this chronic autoimmune condition that damages the skin, joints and internal organs and affects an estimated one million Americans.
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Researchers at the Peninsula Medical School in Plymouth and Exeter have received a grant of ÷£9,600 from the Northcott Devon Medical Foundation to continue its research into the genetic causes of eye movement disorders. Last year, the team - along with colleagues from the Children"s Hospital in Boston (USA) and King"s College London - identified a gene that, when mutated, causes Duane syndrome. Duane syndrome is a congenital eye movement disorder that causes eye
muscles to contract and relax when they should not. It develops in the womb where it affects nerve growth in the eye. Sufferers of the syndrome have limited eye movement sideways towards the ear or nose. When the eye moves towards the nose the eyeball pulls into the socket, closing the eyelids and sometimes forcing the eye movement up or down. 
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has issued a new warning urging parents in Scotland to keep their children away from construction sites so they stay safe. Dozens of children are seriously injured on construction sites every year, and HSE is concerned that there may be an increased danger this year with more sites being mothballed during the economic downturn. Companies are being reminded that, even if no work is taking place, regular checks should be carried out to
make sure people are not able to get onto sites and they are in a safe condition. John Blackburn, HM Principal Inspector of Construction, said: "We want children to enjoy playing outside during the summer holidays but it"s vital they stay safe. Construction sites often appeal to young people as they look like giant adventure playgrounds, but they can be extremely dangerous. 
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced today proposed changes to policies and payment rates for services to be furnished during calendar year (CY 2010) by over 1 million physicians and nonphysician practitioners who are paid under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS). The MPFS sets payment rates for more than 7,000 types of services in physician offices, hospitals, and other settings. CMS is making several proposals to refine Medicare payments
to physicians, which are expected to increase payment rates for primary care services. The proposals include an update to the practice expense component of physician fees. For 2010, CMS is proposing to include data about physicians" practice costs from a new survey, the Physician Practice Information Survey (PPIS), designed and conducted by the American Medical Association.
Pregnant women who are indigenous to the Andes Mountains deliver more blood and oxygen to their fetuses at high altitude than do women of European descent. The study helps explain why babies of Andean descent born at high altitude weigh more than European babies born at altitude. The research, published in The American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology found that at high altitude: * the uterine artery of Andean women delivered more blood
and oxygen to the fetus compared to women of European descent * the babies of Andean women weighed an average of nine ounces more at birth * the greater the mother"s Andean heritage, the greater the uterine artery blood flow, the greater the oxygen delivery to the fetus and the greater the baby"s birth weight These differences between the Andean and European women and their babies did not exist at low altitude. The question of why babies born at high altitude are smaller is not an academic one.