Rural hospital hinging future on federal incentive

(AP) -- Electronic medical records are a life-or-death issue at Sac-Osage Hospital - not necessarily just for the patients, but for the hospital itself.
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Lead-based consumer paint remains a global public health threat

Although lead content in paint has been restricted in the United States since 1978, University of Cincinnati (UC) environmental health researchers say in major countries from three continents there is still widespread failure to acknowledge its danger and companies continue to sell consumer paints that contain dangerous levels of lead.
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Earth's biogeochemical cycles, once in concert, falling out of sync

What do the Gulf of Mexico's "dead zone," global climate change, and acid rain have in common? They're all a result of human impacts to Earth's biology, chemistry and geology, and the natural cycles that involve all three.

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Use of a restraining device in the subacute phase after a stroke no better than rehabilitation alone

Restraining the use of some patients' unaffected upper limb during the subacute phase following stroke does not appear to generate greater improvements in motor impairment and capacity than standard rehabilitation alone, according to a pilot study published in the June issue of Physical Therapy, the scientific journal of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA).
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Structure of antibiotic ramoplanin reveals promising mechanism

With the "last resort" antibiotic Vancomycin now plagued by the first signs of bacterial resistance, a scientific collaboration centered at Duke University has identified how a candidate successor ...
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Oysters Are on the Rebound in the Chesapeake Bay

After decades of overharvesting along the Virginia shore, large experimental reefs are now home to more than 180 million native oysters, scientists say.


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Vital Signs: Viral Infection May Explain Racial Differences in Oral Cancer Death Rates

African-American patients with head and neck cancers die earlier than whites, researchers say.


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Study shows seed implants a suitable prostate cancer treatment option for men of all ages

Men diagnosed with prostate cancer have a number of treatments to choose from, but it's a daunting task to figure out the right mix of therapies for an individual patient. Trends among medical professionals have tipped the scales in favor of some treatments for younger men diagnosed with prostate cancer, but a new study by scientists at The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research and North Shore-LIJ Health System have found that age doesn't make a difference in the long-term therapeutic outcome.
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Scientists discover bladder cancer stem cell

Researchers at Stanford's School of Medicine have identified the first human bladder cancer stem cell and revealed how it works to escape the body's natural defenses.
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Turbulence Slams Jet, Injuring 26

Fire rescue officials in Miami say four people were seriously injured when Continental Airlines Flight 128 from Rio de Janeiro experienced turbulence. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue spokesman Elkin Sierra says 26 people were injured Monday. Four are in serious condition. Another 22 with bumps and bruises are in stable condition.
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MIT commercial property price index posts record drop

(PhysOrg.com) -- Transaction prices of commercial property sold by major institutional investors fell by 18 percent in the second quarter of 2009, according to an index developed and published by the MIT Center for Real Estate (MIT/CRE).
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Scientists report original source of malaria

Researchers have identified what they believe is the original source of malignant malaria: a parasite found in chimpanzees in equatorial Africa.

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Researchers say after-school programs should promote activity, healthy nutrition

Children's after-school activities often consist of sedentary behavior such as watching television, but after-school programs that offer physical activity and healthy snacks could be the best place for children's health.
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Ripe pineapple and delicious pork

When buying a pineapple, the customer often stands helplessly in front of the supermarket shelf â€" which one is already ripe? If the fruit is eaten immediately it's often still not sweet enough, if it's left too long it has rotten patches. Laboratory tests are too slow and too costly to provide the answers.

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Higher carbon dioxide may give pines competitive edge

Pine trees grown for 12 years in air one-and-a-half times richer in carbon dioxide than today's levels produced twice as many seeds of at least as good a quality as those growing under normal conditions, a Duke University-led research team reported Monday (Aug. 3) at a national ecology conference.

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More ads coming to TV -- even to one-time havens

(AP) -- Coming soon to your TV: More advertising, in places you might not expect. The ads are showing up where people used to enjoy a break from advertising, such as video on demand and on-screen ...
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Pilot's Remains Found in Iraq Desert

The remains of Captain Michael "Scott" Speicher, the first American lost in the Persian Gulf War, have been found in Iraq, the military said Sunday, after struggling for nearly two decades with the question of whether he was dead or alive.
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Dark energy may disguise shape of universe

The interplay between dark energy and the shape of the universe leaves the fate of the cosmos hanging in the balance, warns physicist Pedro Ferreira


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Finding the right connection after spinal cord injury

In a major step in spinal cord injury research, scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have demonstrated that regenerating axons can be guided to their correct targets and re-form connections after spinal cord injury. Their findings will be published in the advance online edition of the journal Nature Neuroscience on August 2.
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King salmon vanishing in Alaska, smokehouses empty

(AP) -- Yukon River smokehouses should be filled this summer with oil-rich strips of king salmon - long used by Alaska Natives as a high-energy food to get through the long Alaska winters. But they're mostly empty.
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US Marshals seize sanitizer for bacteria problems

(AP) -- Officers with the U.S. Marshals Service have seized all skin sanitizers and skin protectants, including ingredients and components, at Clarcon Biological Chemistry Laboratory's facility in Roy, Utah, the Food and Drug Administration said.
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China doctor reveals 100 rules for would-be spacemen (Reuters)

SHANGHAI, Aug. 1, 2009 (Reuters) -- No scars, no history of serious illness in the last three generations of your family, and no tooth cavities. ... > read full story
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Race/ethnicity, family income and education associated with sugar consumption

The intake of added sugars in the United States is excessive, estimated by the US Department of Agriculture in 1999-2002 as 17% of calories a day. Consuming foods with added sugars displaces nutrient-dense foods in the diet. Reducing or limiting intake of added sugars is an important objective in providing overall dietary guidance. In a study of nearly 30,000 Americans published in the August 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, researchers report that race/ethnicity, family income and educational status are independently associated with intake of added sugars. Groups with low income and education are particularly vulnerable to eating diets with high added sugars.
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Astronauts return from space to sushi overload (AP)

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata, center, gets a hug from NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden Jr. as astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria looks on at Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Fla. Friday, July 31, 2009. Wakata returned with Space Shuttle Endeavour after 4 1/2 months in space. (AP Photo/Bruce Weaver, Pool)AP - Koichi Wakata was still getting used to gravity, though it wasn't going to stop him from diving into a deluge of sushi.



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Innovation: Award-winning product design of 2009

See some of New Scientist's favourites from this year's International Design Excellence Awards, including a cookbook you can taste, shoes made from trash, and a genius cheese grater
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Snapshots from inside an exploding star

Physicists at the Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago have used a supercomputer to model the extreme physics of a supernova explosion
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Long-term health and social outcomes for neuroblastoma survivors

Survivors of the childhood cancer neuroblastoma are eight times more likely to have chronic health conditions, less likely to be married, and more likely to have lower incomes than their siblings, according to a study published online July 31 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
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Smaller, cheaper cell phones possible

(PhysOrg.com) -- Ph.D. candidate Sataporn Pornpromlikit played a critical role in research at UC San Diego that made a big impact at a recent conference, and might provide manufacturers with the means for making cell phones both smaller and cheaper.
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BioVault locks up biometrics

A system that allows biometric data to be used to create a secret key for data encryption has been developed by researchers in South Africa. They describe details of the new technology in the International Journal of Electronic Security and Digital Forensics this month.

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Robotics insights through flies' eyes

Common and clumsy-looking, the blow fly is a true artist of flight. Suddenly changing direction, standing still in the air, spinning lightning-fast around its own axis, and making precise, pinpoint landings â€" all these maneuvers are simply a matter of course. Extremely quick eyesight helps to keep it from losing orientation as it races to and fro. Still, how does its tiny brain process the multiplicity of images and signals so rapidly and efficiently?

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Britain to outlaw most private organ transplants (AP)

AP - The British government said Friday that it plans to ban private organ transplants from dead donors to allay fears that prospective recipients can buy their way to the front of the line.
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Weather Channel Captures Tornado Footage

The Weather Channel captures amazing footage of a fast-moving twister in Wyoming. One of the videos lets you look up into the funnel of a tornado - this part is around 14 seconds into the clip.



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NASA: Urban Tornadoes Could Become More Common

A NASA-funded study suggests that conditions for the tornado that whipped through downtown Atlanta a year ago were created by heat and energy generated from the urban landscape. The Wall Street Journal reports that NASA's study suggests that tornadoes are likely to become more common. NASA also has a specific report about the Atlanta tornado here.



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Mac flaw could let hackers get scrambled data

A Mac security expert has uncovered a technique that hackers could use to take control of Apple Inc computers and steal data that is scrambled to protect it from identity thieves.
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Why children paint trees blue

Children up to five years old may colour trees blue or grass red because their memories can't "bind" together the colour and shape of an object
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Smart machines: What's the worst that could happen?

Everything from human-mimicking viruses to machines that self-replicate are being considered by an elite panel of AI scientists as they debate the potential risks of artificial intelligence
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July eclipse is best chance to look for gravity anomaly

Chinese researchers are poised to find out for sure whether gravity fluctuates during a total eclipse – a discovery that would challenge our ideas about how gravity works
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Universe's first stars may have been twins

Born together in clouds of gas, a good fraction of the universe's stars might have been smaller than previously thought, which could resolve a long-standing mystery
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Electronic tags track roaming hospital equipment

Hospitals have resorted to using indoor tracking systems to monitor the whereabouts of equipment that all too easily goes astray
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What NASA's return to the moon may look like

Although an expert panel is now reviewing NASA's future plans, the agency has been developing concepts for lunar bases that could be built by 2030
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