Researchers report in the February 1st issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics that the use of 3D ultrasound with the Clarity(TM) Breast System provided enhanced image information to enable radiation oncologists to better define the treatment region when delivering partial breast irradiation treatment (PBI) for breast cancer. The Clarity Breast System marks the first application of 3D ultrasound technology to Image-Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT) and was developed by Resonant Medical, an innovator of 3D ultrasound image-guided adaptive radiotherapy products.

The study, “3D Ultrasound Can Contribute to Planning CT to Define the Target for Partial Breast Radiotherapy,” conducted at the Radiation Therapy Program, British Columbia Cancer Agency, Vancouver Island Centre and the University of British Columbia, examined 20 consecutive cases of early-stage breast cancer where the patients were treated with breast-conserving surgery. Researchers found that in 40 percent of cases, the variability between lumpectomy cavity contours was reduced when ultrasound was used instead of CT – the current standard of care for planning breast cancer treatment. In particular, 3D ultrasound proved to be particularly beneficial for imaging patients with dense breasts and small cavities.

“Precision in planning and the increased certainty that radiation is being delivered to the exact area where it is needed have never been more critical, with the percentage of patients opting for breast conservation therapy and PBI on the rise,” said Pauline Truong, MD, CM, a researcher on the study. “Following this study, however, it is clear that the benefits of this technology could be applicable to not only PBI patients, but those undergoing whole breast radiation and electron boost therapy – potentially helping an even larger population of women with breast cancer.”

The Clarity Breast System marks the first application of 3D ultrasound technology to Image-Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT) in breast cancer. The Clarity system was cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2004 for guidance in the treatment of prostate and breast cancers.

In addition to its application with treatment planning, the Clarity System is also used to image the lumpectomy cavity daily with each radiation treatment, to get an actual visual image and location of the tumor cavity on a regular basis. While the breast cancer radiation oncology community is aware that the location of the lumpectomy cavity target can change throughout the course of treatment, this issue is still largely unaccounted for in current treatment protocols. Clinical consequences can include delivery of radiation to healthy tissue, application of radiation too close to the chest wall or skin and, in some cases, under-treatment of certain areas. Clarity provides the first method of daily lumpectomy cavity monitoring that is based on visualization of the actual anatomy–rather than an estimation of the location of the cavity. This precision in planning and treatment could enable physicians to reduce the field of radiation they need to deliver, which is always preferable if clinically justified.

Several studies detailing the benefits of the use of Clarity during breast cancer treatment have also been presented in recent months. For example:

– At the 2008 Annual Meeting of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), data from a study conducted at McGill University and the University of Vermont was presented investigating the use of the Clarity system to track tumor cavity movement prior to daily treatments. The study compared the use of 3D ultrasound to CT, and found that these techniques were statistically equivalent. Researchers concluded that because ultrasound is non-ionizing and non-invasive, it is preferable to daily CT for tumor cavity monitoring.

– Additionally, at the 2008 meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), data collected at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York on the use of Clarity when delivering electron boost therapy was examined. Although electron boost treatments have been delivered for quite some time, there has been no way to ensure that the electron dose is treating the correct area. This study found that in 45 percent of treatments, part of the tumor cavity would have been outside of the dose region and would have been missed without ultrasound guidance.

“The Clarity System has been used in the treatment of thousands of prostate cancer patients, and we are encouraged by the results and feedback we have seen and heard from radiation oncologists regarding its application with breast cancer,” said Tony Falco, PhD, FCCP, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Resonant Medical. “This mounting clinical evidence acknowledges the value of the Clarity system for the effective planning and treatment of breast cancer.”

About Resonant Medical

Resonant Medical (Montreal, Canada) develops, manufactures and commercializes 3D ultrasound image-guided adaptive radiotherapy products. Originally developed at McGill University Health Center, Resonant’s technologies are available in more than 50 cancer centers in the U.S., Canada and Europe, helping cancer centers make significant improvements in radiation therapy planning, verification and delivery–advancing patient care. Resonant can be found on the Web at http://www.resonantmedical.com

Surge in anxiety-linked hormone worsens blood sugar level, researchers suggest

Stress may play a key role in the development of type 2 diabetes in obese black women, U.S. researchers say.

“Much attention has been given to the role of obesity in the development of type 2 diabetes, but stress may be as important in this at-risk population,” study co-author Anastasia Georgiades, of Duke University in Durham, N.C., said in a news release.

The study included 62 healthy, non-diabetic black women who were asked to recall stressful life events. As they did, the researchers measured the women’s levels of blood sugar and epinephrine, the “fight or flight” hormone that’s released in reaction to stress.

Women with high epinephrine levels (25 picograms or more per milliliter of blood) while recalling stressful events and with more belly fat (33 percent or more of total body fat) had significantly higher fasting glucose scores (about 100 milligrams per deciliter) than women with lower epinephrine levels and less belly fat (85 mg/dl). A fasting blood glucose level of 100 mg/dl is considered within the low range of pre-diabetes, and a level of 125 mg/dl is the benchmark for type 2 diabetes.

Women with high epinephrine levels and more belly fat also had bigger increases in blood sugar levels during the stress test.

The findings were to be presented this week at the annual scientific meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society.

“While we don’t fully understand the nature of the association, women with abdominal obesity may be more vulnerable to the impact of stress — causing their body to increase blood sugar production and elevating their risk for diabetes,” Georgiades said.

Further research is needed to determine exactly how epinephrine production affects blood sugar levels in black women. Nearly one in four black women in the United States has type 2 diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association.

More likely than mates to show signs of metabolic syndrome in strained unions, study finds

The cardiovascular damage wrought by an unhappy marriage may be greater for women than men, a new study shows.

While both men and women in “strained” unions, those marked by arguing and being angry, were more likely to feel depressed than happier partners, the women in the contentious relationships were more likely to develop high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high blood sugar and other markers of what’s known as “metabolic syndrome,” said study author Nancy Henry, a doctoral candidate in clinical healthy psychology at the University of Utah.

Metabolic syndrome is known to boost the risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

While many studies have linked poor marriages with poor health, Henry said she believes her is the first to tie in depression as a possible route through which the strain boosts the risk of metabolic syndrome. “The negativity triggers the depression, which is associated with the metabolic syndrome,” said Henry. This was found true, she said, only for the women in her study.

For the study, she interviewed 276 couples, median age 54, by questionnaires, asking about positive aspects of marriage quality such as mutual support and sharing, and negative aspects such as arguing, feelings of hostility and disagreeing over important issues such as kids, sex, money and in-laws. She asked about depressive symptoms.

Couples were married, on average, 27.5 years, most in their original marriage.

“For the most part, you could say, these were happily married couples,” Henry said. About 20 percent of the men and 12 percent of the women in the study had metabolic syndrome (diagnosed when three of the five risk factors were present).

The men were as likely as the women to become depressed with marital strain, but the link between negativity, depression and metabolic syndrome only applied to women, she said. The depression in women accounted for the metabolic syndrome, she said.

Exactly why isn’t known, but Henry speculated that women may take the negativity more to heart and ruminate about it more than men.

Henry can’t say specifically how much risk of metabolic syndrome is attributed to the negativity. Earlier research has linked negativity in marriage with an increased risk of heart disease for both men and women.

She was expected to present her findings Thursday at the American Psychosomatic Society annual meeting, in Chicago.

Another researcher in the field called the findings interesting, especially the new focus on depression as a possible mechanism through which the strain influences the metabolic syndrome.

“The study raises the importance of increasing our understanding of how depression influences biological processes that result in metabolic syndrome — and why these processes might be stronger for women than men,” said Debra Umberson, a professor of sociology at the University of Texas at Austin.

The findings, Umberson said, fit in with her research finding a strong effect of marital strain on partners’ overall health. But the gender difference finding differs from her research. “Basically, we find that marital strain undermines the health of men and women,” she said, adding that perhaps the men in Henry’s study had their health influenced in a different way.

More research is needed, Henry said, to figure out how the pieces fit together.

Meanwhile, Umberson said: “Choose your partner carefully. A strained marriage is bad for your health.” If it’s already strained, she said, focus on reducing conflict.

Dr. Joseph Ravenell, assistant professor of internal medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center, has received a Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development Award from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The $416,558 award supports his research for the next four years.

The Harold Amos award was created to increase the number of academic medicine faculty from historically disadvantaged ethnic, financial or educational backgrounds. The awards identify researchers who have excelled in their education and who have completed or are completing formal clinical training. Recipients are committed to pursuing academic careers, serving as role models for students and fellow faculty, decreasing health disparities, and improving the health and well-being of the underserved.

A native of New Jersey, Dr. Ravenell completed medical school at the University of Chicago, where he first became interested in academic medicine and in treating underserved patients.

“I had the opportunity to work on a black men’s health project where we did focus groups with underserved patients,” said Dr. Ravenell, who completed his residency at the University of Pennsylvania and a clinical epidemiology fellowship at Cornell University Medical Center. “The results of that study were used to get funding to start a black men’s health clinic.”

He was recruited to UT Southwestern in 2005 by Dr. Ronald Victor, professor of internal medicine and principal investigator of the Barbershop Project, a barber-run program aimed at improving diagnosis and treatment of hypertension in black men. Dr. Ravenell said the Barbershop Project is key in linking clinical work and research designed to benefit underserved patients.

Dr. Ravenell said funding from the Harold Amos award will allow him to study a phenomenon known as “physician inertia,” where doctors may be reluctant to aggressively treat hypertension in African-American men.

“I’m interested in studying reasons why doctors may not be more aggressive in initiating or intensifying therapy for high blood pressure,” he said. “Poorly controlled hypertension in patients can have severe and devastating consequences.”

The award was named in honor of Dr. Harold Amos, who was the first African-American to chair a department, now the Department of Microbiology and Medical Genetics, at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Ravenell is the seventh UT Southwestern researcher to win this prestigious grant. Other UT Southwestern winners and the years grants were received include: Dr. Richard King, assistant professor of neurology (2006); Dr. Ohwofiemu Nwariaku, associate professor of surgery (2002); former faculty members Dr. Edsel Arce-Hernandez (1999), Dr. Carmela Morales (1996) and Dr. Ivor Benjamin (1985); and former fellow Dr. David Wilkes (1992).

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel on Tuesday examined efforts by the University of Florida’s Health Science Center to increase the number of minority students and doctors in the area. While there are more black and Hispanic students entering the medical field and health care is generally more diverse than other fields, only 6% of physicians in the U.S. are American Indian, black or Hispanic, according to a report from the Association of American Medical Colleges. Those groups make up 26% of the U.S. population, the report said.

According to the Sun-Sentinel, the number of minority students in the university’s College of Nursing is above the national average, though the school has a shortage of minority professors. The Nursing and Dentistry colleges have one black professor each, while 15 out of the 973 faculty members in the College of Medicine are black and 44 are Hispanic. The number of minority students entering the academic field is small, and retention of minority faculty is an issue for the university. The Health Science Center last year created a new office aimed at increasing the number of underrepresented minority faculty members.

Rebecca Rainer Pauly, associate vice president for diversity and equity in the Health Science Center, also has established an advisory board of university and community leaders who try to address issues related to diversity. The center in November had a “Diversity Dialogue” to help bring more attention to the issue of diversity. In addition, Pauly has started a program to encourage middle school students to enter the science field. The university’s College of Medicine Office of Minority Affairs also brings in high school students to expose them to medicine, research and other health professions.

Pauly said, “We want students to be able to look up to faculty with whom they can identify. Also, all faculty should have equal opportunity, and with cultural competence and consciousness, better outcomes are seen in health care. Patients are more compliant. There’s better preventive medicine” (South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 1/1).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation© 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

Efforts to train more physicians to serve an aging U.S. population might increase health care costs, as well as expenses for Medicare, according to researchers at Dartmouth Medical School, the Washington Times reports.

The Association of American Medical Colleges recommends that by 2015 medical schools increase their enrollments by 30%, or 5,000 students annually. According to the Council on Graduate Medical Education, the class of 17,800 students who enrolled in medical schools in 2007 is the largest in U.S. history and represents a 2.3% increase from 2006. AAMC President Jordan Cohen said, “Given the extensive time it takes to educate and train tomorrow’s doctors, efforts to increase enrollment must get under way as soon as possible to ensure that the health care needs of the nation in 2015 and beyond are met.”

However, David Goodman, a professor of pediatrics and family medicine at Dartmouth Medical School, said, “Calling for more doctors, like prescribing more drugs, for an already overmedicated patient, may only makes things worse.” He said, “We already have a crisis in Medicare, we know that. We don’t know how to pay for future Medicare expense at present, and no one has considered the implication of adding a large number of physicians,” adding, “The physicians’ fees are expensive, but once they enter the medical marketplace, no one has estimated the cost of the decisions they make. They order tests, prescribe medications, they really control health care cost in the U.S.”

In addition, Goodman said, “There are not enough incentives in the market for doctors to go where they are needed most,” adding, “More doctors does not mean the aging population will get the care it needs” (Lopes, Washington Times, 1/2).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation© 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

Katherine Freed, undergraduate at Stevens Institute of Technology, won first place at the International ISPE Undergraduate Poster Contest in Las Vegas in November 2007. Freed was the first competitor from New Jersey to win this ISPE award. Her winning poster, “Impedance Mammography,” was based on a project she created with her Senior Design team at Stevens.

In April 2007, the New Jersey Regional ISPE Poster Contest was hosted by the Stevens ISPE Student Chapter. Freed was one of the two first place winners at that contest. Her team members included Megan Caldeira, Rachel Ostroff, and Esther Rodriguez. The team’s faculty advisors were Dr. Vikki Hazelwood, Senior Lecturer in the Chemical, Biomedical and Materials Engineering Department, and Dr. Rainer Martini, Assistant Professor of Physics and Engineering Physics.

The NJ Regional contest was hosted by Dr. Richard S. Berkof, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Stevens, Director of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Engineering Program, and Faculty Advisor for the Stevens Student Chapter of ISPE. The contest was attended by students and faculty from New Jersey Institute of Technology (Dr. Piero Armenante, Faculty Advisor), Rutgers University (Dr. Henrik Pedersen, Faculty Advisor), and Stevens Institute of Technology, as well as pharmaceutical industry executives, some of whom served as judges for the posters and presentations. The ISPE New Jersey Chapter’s Tom Malone, Joe Manfredi, Leonid Shnayder, and Lorraine Gallo helped make the April event a success.

Twenty posters were submitted at that competition of which six were chosen to go on to compete in Las Vegas in November. The other finalists included the “Automatic Pill Bottle Opener” by Jorge DaSilva (Stevens), “Effect of Dry Particle Coating on Packing Density” by Lauren Beach (NJIT), “Physics Based Modeling of Tablet Dissolution” by Dan Braido (Rutgers), “Experimental and Computational Determination of the Hydrodynamics in a Stirred Tank Reactor Provided with a Retreat Blade Impeller” by Giuseppe DiBenedetto (NJIT), and “Examining Feeding Systems for Continuous Mixing” by Warren Schmidt (Rutgers).

The Biophysical Society has announced the winners of its student travel award to attend the Joint Meeting of the Biophysical Society and the International Biophysics Congress in Long Beach, California, February 2-6, 2008. The recipients of this competitive award are selected based on scientific merit, with priority given to those who will present a paper at the conference. Each awardee receives a travel grant and will be recognized at a reception on Saturday, February 2, 2008.

The 2008 recipients of the Student Travel Award are:

* Joshua K. Au, Yale University, “Widely-distributed Residues in Thymosin â4 are Critical for Actin Binding.”

* Khajak Berberian, Cornell University, “Improved Nanofabricated Electrochemical Detector Arrays for Monitoring Exocytosis.”

* Yi Cao, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, “How Do Chemical Denaturants Affect the Mechanical Folding and Unfolding of Proteins”"

* Ashley R. Carter, JILA and University of Colorado, Boulder, “Stepping of Individual RecBCD Molecules.”

* Thomas Chadwick, North Carolina State University, “Molecular Mechanism of Phospholipid Transfer by Lipid Transporter Protein Sec14p.”

* Hao Chen, Purdue University, “Predicting the Error of Template-Based Protein Structure Modeling by Suboptimal Alignment Stability.”

* Logan R. Chieffo, Boston University, “Vibrational Lifetime of the Anesthetic Gas Nitrous Oxide as a Probe of Interfacial Water in Biological Systems.”

* Sepehr Dadsetan, University of California, Davis, “Store-Operated Ca2+-Induced Ca2+ Release Amplifies Cytosolic Ca2+ Signaling and Prevents Store Refilling in Jurkat T Cells.”

* Angel M. Davey, The Pennsylvania State University, “Dynamics Imaging of Membrane Nanostructural Changes Associated with Antigen-Mediated IgE Receptor Signaling in Mast Cells.”

* Isabelle C. Dragomir, Drexel University, “Characterization of Phenylalanine Based Short Peptides at Varying pHs, Temperatures, and Concentrations via Electronic Circular Dichroism and Absorption Spectroscopy.”

* Kyle P. Eagen, Cornell University, “Effect of a Mutation on the Channel-opening Equilibrium of a Malfunctioning GABA(A) Receptor Linked to Epilepsy.”

* Thomas C. Edrington, University of Connecticut, “The Effect of Bleaching on the Thermal Stability of Native and Cross-linked Rhodopsin.”

* Daniel W. Farrell, Arizona State University, “Constraint-Based Prediction of Essential Degrees of Freedom in Proteins.”

* Thomas E. Frederick, University of Florida, “Characterization of Acyl Chain Dynamics, Packing, and Vesicle Morphology of 18:1 BMP: An NMR and EPR Investigation.”

* Aurelia R. Honerkamp-Smith, University of Washington, “Line Tensions, Correlation Lengths, and Critical Exponents in Lipid Membranes Near Critical Points.”

* Alexandra P. Few, University of Washington, “An Asynchronous Calcium-dependent Current Conducted by Cav2.1 and Cav2.2 Channels: Implications for Asynchronous Neurotransmitter Release.”

* John C. Fisher, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, “How PUMA Attacks its Prey: Understanding the Molecular Basis of PUMA-Induced Cell Death.”

* Eric W. Frey, Miami University, Ohio, “Fluorescence-based Calcium-ion Sensing at High Hydrostatic Pressures.”

* Debanjan Goswami, National Center for Biological Sciences, Bangalore, India, “Steady State Distribution and Dynamics of GPI-anchored Protein-nanoclusters in Cell Membranes Is Modulated by Cortical Actin Activity.”

* Travis J. Gould, University of Maine, “Nanoscale Dynamics of Hemagglutinin Clusters in Live Cell Membranes Quantified by Fluorescence Photoactivation Localization Microscopy.”

* Pia Guinto, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, “in Silico and in vitro Characterization of Cardiac Troponin T Mutations Known to Cause Familial Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.”

* Nicholas R. Guydosh, Stanford University, “Direct Observation of Individual Head Motions in Kinesin Dimers.”

* Sejin Han, University of Maryland, College Park, “Abnormal Formation and Remodeling of Fibers Containing Type I Collagen Homotrimers.”

* Pengying Hao, Wellesley College, “Metal Ion Selectivity and Affinity of the LIN-12/Notch-Repeat.”

* Sarah K. Higgins, University of North Carolina Wilmington, “A Synthetic Variant of Cecropin A is Significantly More Active Toward Pure POPC Membranes.”

* Jill B. Jensen, University of Washington, “FRET Reveals Kinetic Steps of Receptor-mediated Modulation of Kv7 K+ Current and PIP2.”

* Sarah G. Kamper, Calvin College, “The Effect of Tether Length in Single Molecule Force Spectroscopy.”

* Ann C. Kimble-Hill, Indiana University-Purdue University, “Biophysical Mechanisms of Protein Recruitment to Raft Domains Studied Using Planar Model Membranes: Recruitment by Native Binding Ligands versus GPI-anchored Proteins.”

* Joel M. Kralj, Boston University, “The Protonation State of Glu142 Differs in the Green and Blue Absorbing Variants of Proteorhodopsin.”

* Kareen L. Kreutziger, University of Washington, “Coupled Interactions of Troponin C Ca2+-Binding Kinetics and Strong Crossbridge Formation in Cardiac Muscle Contraction.”

* Khamir Mehta, University of Michigan, “Quantitative Inference of Protein Binding Affinities from FRET Imaging Data.”

* Brannon McCullough, Yale University, “The Actin Severing Protein, Cofilin, Modulates the Mechanical Properties of Actin Filaments.”

* Moritz Mickler, TU Munich, Garching, Germany, “Single Molecule Fluorescence Studies on the Hsp90.”

* Hau B. Nguyen, Florida State University, “Solution Structure of Integral Membrane Protein from Mycobacterium tuberculosis: Insight into Rv0008c — An FtsZ Inhibitor and Its Complex.”

* Michelle A. O’Malley, University of Delaware, “Biophysical Characterization of the Human Adenosine A2a G-Protein Coupled Receptor.”

* Laura J. Porter-Peden, Calvin College, “Kinetics and Thermodynamics of Enzyme-Inhibitor Interactions.”

* Ronak N. Shah, Drexel University, “Heme-Protein Interactions in Horse Heart Ferricytochrome c Induced By Changes of Ionic Strength and Anion Binding to Protein Surface Charges.”

* Leila Shokri, Northeastern University, “The Reaction of Glyoxal with Single DNA Molecules: Structural Evidence of Force-Induced DNA Melting.”

* Suman Nag Tata, Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India, “Kinetics of Misfolding and Aggregation of Amyloid Proteins.”

* Sarah B. Scruggs, University of Illinois at Chicago, “Ablation of Ventricular Regulatory Light Chain Serine-15 Phosphorylation in Mice Leads to Cardiac Dysfunction in Vivo and Affects Neighboring Myofilament Protein Phosphorylation.”

* Peter A. Sims, Harvard University, “Force Measurements and Submillisecond Tracking of Dynein- and Kinesin-Driven Cargoes in Living Cells.”

* James R. Thompson, University of Oxford, United Kingdom, “Single-Molecule Fluorescence Imaging of Alpha-Hemolysin Assembly Using Water-in-Oil Droplet on Hydrogel Bilayers.”

* Christopher P. Toseland, MRC-National Institute for Medical Research, London, United Kingdom, “Helicase Superfamily 1 and 2 ATPase Mechanisms.”

* Martijn E. van Raaij, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands, “Quantitative Atomic Force Microscopy Establishes Free Energy Parameters of Amyloid Fibril Formation.”

* James A. Svetlovics, University of North Carolina Wilmington, “Domain Formation of POPC/DPPC Binary System Investigated by Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer and Monte Carlo Simulations.”

* Nathaniel Traaseth, University of Minnesota, “Binding Interface of Phospholamban and Ca2+-ATPase(SERCA) in Lipid Bilayers by Solid-State NMR.”

* Srinivasan P. Venkatachalan, University of Wisconsin-Madison, “An intrasubunit Salt-Bridge Linking Loop A and Loop 2 is Critical for GABAA Receptor Activation.”

* Paula A. Vivas, University of Illinois at Chicago, “New Insights into the Transition Pathway from Nonspecific to Specific Complex of DNA with Escherichia coli Integration Host Factor.”

* Irmgard Waldner-Scott, Institute of Biophysics and Nanosystems Research, Graz, Austria, “Low Resolution Model of Solubilized Apolipoprotein B-100.”

* Qi Wang, Cornell University, “Structure and Plasticity of Endophilin and Sorting Nexin 9.”

* Yi Wang, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, “Dissecting Lipid- and Protein-Mediated Exchange of Gas Molecules across Biological Membranes.”

* Ling Wu, University of Illinois at Chicago, “Conformational Study of Different Beta-turns Coupled to a Cyclic Disulfide Bond to Model the Turn Roles in â-hairpin Stability.”

* Qianru Yu, The Pennsylvania State University, “Fluorescence-based Biochemistry on Intrinsic Cofactors in Human Breast Normal and Cancerous Cells.”

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Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
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The Biophysical Society’s Annual Meeting is the world’s largest meeting of biophysicists -over 6,000 attendees are expected. Over 3000 scientific abstracts have already been submitted for presentation at this event. Complete information about the Meeting can be found at http://www.biophysics.org/meetings/2008/.

The International Union for Pure and Applied Biophysics is a member of the ICSU (International Council for Science) family. Affiliated to it are the national adhering bodies of 50 countries. Its function is to support research and teaching in biophysics. Its principal regular activity is the triennial International Congresses and General Assemblies.

Source:
Ellen R. Weiss
Biophysical Society

African-American Collaborative Obesity Research Network: The network, based at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, has received a five-year, $3.5 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to conduct research on ways to reduce obesity among black children and adolescents. The network’s research will look at how to develop community-based efforts to prevent obesity among black youth (University of Pennsylvania Almanac, 12/18).

University of New Mexico: UNM’s Health Sciences Center and the Santa Fe Indian School are collaborating on an effort intended to prepare students for admission to UNM’s School of Medicine, as well as provide educational guidance and opportunities to American Indian students who want to become health professionals (UNM release, 12/17).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc., a leading diagnostic imaging provider committed to furthering medical education, announced two new advanced technologist courses in CT and MR available at the Toshiba Education Center in Irvine, Calif.

“Toshiba offers a blended approach to healthcare training, offering courses from basic to advanced, to provide an effective, comprehensive learning experience,” explained Sharon Yoon, director, Education and Sales Support, Toshiba. “These advanced courses in CT and MR are designed to not only train technologists in advanced applications and operations, but also to teach them why these applications are important and how they impact and improve overall patient care.”

Toshiba’s two new advanced courses are:

Advanced Cardiac CT Course – Toshiba’s Aquilion™ 64-slice CT system

The Advanced Cardiac CT training course for technologists provides a foundation of cardiac anatomy and physiology with ECG and cardiac gating concepts. This three-day course is accredited for continuing education by the ASRT Education Foundation and uses the same protocol as the CorE64 worldwide, multi-center trial. Technologists experienced with the operational functions of the Toshiba Aquilion™ 64 system should attend. After completing this program, technologists will be proficient in:

- Cardiac anatomy and physiology
- SURECardio CTA scanning
- Coronary artery calcium scoring
- Cardiac functional analysis

Advanced MR Breast Imaging Course – Toshiba’s Vantage MR system

The Advanced MR breast imaging course is a two-day training course for technologists that provides a foundation of breast anatomy and physiology, patient preparation and positioning and parameter selection. Advanced concepts taught in this course include an overview of the ACR guidelines for breast MRI, evaluation of breast cancer, implant rupture and the use of CAD. After completing this program, the technologists will be proficient in the following applications and operations:

- Breast anatomy
- Physiology and disease process
- Scanning of patients for breast cancer
- Implant rupture
- Image processing

Course enrollment and further information about Toshiba’s training offerings can be found at http://www.ToshibaLearningCenter.com.

About Toshiba

With headquarters in Tustin, Calif., Toshiba America Medical Systems markets, sells, distributes and services diagnostic imaging systems, and coordinates clinical diagnostic imaging research for all modalities in the United States. Toshiba Medical Systems Corp., an independent group company of Toshiba Corp., is a global leading provider of diagnostic medical imaging systems and comprehensive medical solutions, such as CT, Cath & EP Labs, X-ray, Ultrasound, Nuclear Medicine, MRI and information systems. Toshiba Corp. is a leader in information and communications systems, electronic components, consumer products, and power systems. Toshiba has approximately 191,000 employees worldwide and annual sales of $60 billion.