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Tiberiu Sammak is a 24-year-old guy who currently lives in Bucharest. He spent most of his childhood and teenage years surfing the Internet (mostly searching things of interest) and playing video games. One of his hobbies used to be the construction of paper airplanes, spending a couple of years designing and trying to perfect different types of paper aircrafts. Academically, he never really excelled at anything. In fact, his high school record was rather poor. Some of his current interests include cosmology, medicine and cryonics. His highest score on an experimental high-range I.Q. test is 187 S.D. 15, achieved on Paul Cooijmans' Reason -Revision 2008. He discusses: interests; thy those interests; some of the cutting-edge interests in the fields of cryonics; the specific interests in cosmology; the specific interests in medicine; a really good paper aircraft; great reasoning ability with poor academic performance; drawing; other examples of some of the drawings; solace in drawing; the largest drawing projects; hopes for some of the high-IQ communities; meaning out of life; the supernatural; the greatest painters, artists, or cartoonists; a profoundly gifted individual from a genius; any resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian issue; the importance of the examples of interfaith marriages; interfaith marriages; the unanswered questions; life; some of the emotionally difficult and trying times; if the high reasoning ability creates difficulties in life; and if the high reasoning ability reduces difficulties in life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent publication of a World Scientistsʼ Warning to Humanity highlighted the fact that climate change, absent strenuous mitigation or adaptation efforts, will have profound negative effects for humanity and other species, affecting numerous aspects of life. In this paper, we call attention to one of these aspects, the effects of climate change on medicinal plants. These plants provide many benefits for human health, particularly in communities where Western medicine is unavailable. As for other species, their populations may be threatened by changing temperature and precipitation regimes, disruption of commensal relationships, and increases in pests and pathogens, combined with anthropogenic habitat fragmentation that impedes migration. Additionally, medicinal species are often harvested unsustainably, and this combination of pressures may push many populations to extinction. A second issue is that some species may respond to increased environmental stresses not only with declines in biomass production but with changes in chemical content, potentially affecting quality or even safety of medicinal products. We therefore recommend actions including conservation and local cultivation of valued plants, sustainability training for harvesters and certification of commercial material, preservation of traditional knowledge, and programs to monitor raw material quality in addition to, of course, efforts to mitigate climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most popular types of personal health device is the activity monitor, which is attached to the user’s wrist or waist in order to measure physical activity data such as exercise time/duration and calorie consumption. However, for the purpose of checking the physical conditions, medical staffs may want to check remotely the movement of a patient’s body parts. Given that it has an activity sensor to measure the speed of a user’s movement, an activity monitor can also be used to track the movement of a user’s body part. In this paper, a multipurpose smart activity monitoring system for personalized health services is proposed. The purpose of the system is twofold. The first purpose is to perform easily smart monitoring of a user’s physical activity. The system proposed in this paper is referred to as “smart” because the personal activity monitor can be managed remotely through the management commands issued by the monitoring server. The personal data, device data or programs installed in the personal activity monitor can be updated remotely by the monitoring server or medical staffs, and error reports can be delivered to the server or the medical staffs for personalized health services. To do this, the ISO/IEEE 11073 and OMA DM communication protocols are extended and the protocol transformation between two protocols is performed. The second purpose is to perform convenient motion tracking of a user’s body part in order to monitor the speed of the body part, as well as its tracking path. The system is also referred as “multipurpose” since the activity monitor can be used in motion tracking as well as in activity monitoring. The objects in motion to be tracked remotely by medical staffs can be a human body part. To do this, in addition to the acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor is installed in the personal activity monitor and the movement data captured by the activity monitor is analyzed to show 2-way views of the movement of the body part on which the activity monitor is attached. Then medical staffs can check remotely the physical conditions of the body part in various ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article cites key findings from several research studies on cardiovascular medicine that were published in medical journals in 2006. Key issues discussed include an examination of whether obesity is correlated to the risk of myocardial infarction and the metabolic syndrome's clinical value for the long-term prediction of cardiovascular and total mortality.

Reports on the conduct of a review by the government's Committee on Safety for controversial paper that claimed to find link between MMR and neurodevelopmental disorders.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to ask what role robustness plays in current medicine and in how far medical practices influence human robustness and thus the ability to be adapted and survive under changing conditions. Design/methodology/approach - In order to do this Bateson's concepts of learning and network pathologies are applied to the medical topic of immune reaction. Findings - Current medical research does not take sufficiently into account that natural stimuli and therapeutic interventions might lead to a large-scale of changes. This is mainly due to the lack of related epistemological tools. Practical implications - This lack leads to a restricted validity of many medical findings. There is even some evidence that the current therapeutic approach might lead to a decline of human robustness. Originality/value - This paper shows how systemic concepts can contribute to a deeper understanding of the therapeutic processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the relationship between alternative treatment and mainstream medicine in the United States.

The article presents the discussion on concept of "silent inflammation" or "silent inflammation" lacks a definitive definition in medicine to date. Topics include Silent inflammation typically refers to inflammation with only mildly to minimally elevated inflammatory markers; and foreign invasion by activating the surrounding immune system through inflammation, thereby combating the pathogens.

Abstract: Many studies in biomedical fields are carried out using diagnoses reported by different raters to evaluate the agreement of multiple ratings. The most popular indices of agreement are kappa measures including Cohen’s kappa and weighted kappa for binary and ordinal outcomes, respectively. However, when raters assess the same observation on two or more occasions, these ratings are dependent and so the correlation between kappa estimates must be considered when making inferences. In this paper, we focus on testing the equality of correlated kappa coefficients using the generalized estimating equation (GEE) approach and applying quasi-likelihood under the independence model criterion (QIC) measures for model selection. Simulation studies are conducted to compare the performance between GEE with and without QIC measures, weighted least squares (WLS) and independence approaches for binary and ordinal data. Two applications are illustrated: a comparison of two methods for assessing cervical ectopy, and similarity in myopic status for monozygous twins and dizygous twins. We conclude that when performing the QIC model-selection procedure in GEE models and taking into account the correlation between kappa measures, it leads to nominal type I errors and larger powers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Context One of the goals set forth in the National Institutes of Health's Office of Dietary Supplements, (ODS) 2004-2009 Strategic Plan, is to stimulate research on how dietary supplements can enhance the biomarkers of optimal health and improved performance. One area where dietary supplements offer a potential for improved performance and optimal health is in addressing the progressively declining state of Americans' bone health, a problem set forth in the U.S. Surgeon General's (SG) 2004 Bone Health Report to the Nation. The SG reported that inadequate nutrition, increasingly sedentary lifestyles, poor health literacy among adolescents, and an increasingly aging population, have "...placed America's bone health in jeopardy." To address this problem, the SG issued a "call to action" for the researchers and the healthcare industry to develop programs that can help reverse this trend by developing bone-health programs based on three fundamentals: (I) improved health literacy, (2) increased physical activity and (3) improved nutrition. Objective The objective of this paper was to conduct a meta analysis to assess the extent to which using glyconutritional supplements (GLC) led to improved bone health by maintaining or facilitating increased bone mineral density (BMD). Design, Setting, and Participants All subjects were free-living community-dwelling adults who were recruited for a variety of clinical trials over approximately the same time period, from the same population base, were tested by the same group of technicians using the DEXA technology, and had similar baseline body composition measurements. Interventions Comparisons were made between BMD changes found in participants consuming glyconutritional supplements with expected changes and changes in placebo and control groups, as well as subjects using different dietary supplements in the researcher's database. Main Outcome Measures Measurements were obtained from 1,056 subjects who completed the same beginning and ending BMD test using the same Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) equipment. All data were adjusted to a common 75-day study period. Results Within-group analyses of the group taking glyconutrients revealed that the age, gender and ethnic differences were highly consistent with the differences found by other investigators. In contrast to an expected or predicted decrease in BMD, all five groups increased their BMD during the study period, although, using a repeated measures t test. the within-group change in the CTL and DIS failed to reach statistical significance. The increase in BMD in the GLC was statistically greater (P<0.001) than that found in all groups, a difference magnified when adjusting for baseline differences in BMD. Analysis of a small randomized, placebo-controlled double-blinded five-group pilot study of ˜10 participants per group revealed that while small decreases in BMD were found in the PLA. the three treatment groups showed increased BMD. The GLC group had 0.006 g/cm", 3.2+J annualized change+ although this increase failed to reach statistical significance. It was concluded that supplementation with glyconutrients when combined with a lifestyle behavior modification program could increase bone density. Conclusions These data suggest the intriguing possibility that consumption of glyconutrients with an accompanying behavior modification plan can lead to short-term increases in BMD. In addition to highly consistent within-group differences in age, gender and ethnicity, the increases in BMD found in the GLC were significantly greater than those found in the PLA, CTL and DS groups, in spite of the fact that the GLC group was older and lost more body weight than the other groups--differences that typically decrease BMD. It seems reasonable to conclude that the dietary supplements used in this study can lead to short-term increases in bone densities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper models the impact of urbanization on infectious disease transmission by integrating a CA land use development model, population projection matrix model and CA epidemic model in S-Plus. The innovative feature of this model lies in both its explicit treatment of spatial land use development, demographic changes, infectious disease transmission and their combination in a dynamic, stochastic model. Heuristically-defined transition rules in cellular automata (CA) were used to capture the processes of both land use development with urban sprawl and infectious disease transmission. A population surface model and dwelling distribution surface were used to bridge the gap between urbanization and infectious disease transmission. A case study is presented involving modelling influenza transmission in Southampton, a dynamically evolving city in the UK. The simulation results for Southampton over a 30-year period show that the pattern of the average number of infection cases per day can depend on land use and demographic changes. The modelling framework presents a useful tool that may be of use in planning applications. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article informs that the first rough pencil sketch of a DNA molecule by the late Francis Crick was made available online for the first time on Monday. The scribble, along with an archive of his work, will give a unique insight into the discovery of the legendary double helix. The 1953 breakthrough heralded a new era of genetic science and earned Crick and James Watson a share of the 1962 Nobel prize for medicine. Crick's doodle is one of 350 documents and images posted online by the Wellcome Trust, some from Crick's personal archive, including his original research papers on DNA and genetic codes. The hope is that the finished archive compiled with the help of U.S. National Library of Medicine will contain 11,000 items.

This article reports about top medical journals have devised a plan to prevent drug firms from suppressing negative results of their clinical trials. The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors says its members will refuse to publish papers on clinical trial results if the trial was not recorded publicly at its outset. The journals involved include The New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet and The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The register — to be set up over the next 12 months — would record the size, design and purpose of each trial. This should prevent companies from selectively reporting positive results or spinning data to suppress inconclusive or unflattering conclusions, says Catherine De Angelis, editor-in-chief of JAMA.

Focuses on the American Medical Association's dismissal of Dr. George Lundberg, editor of the `Journal of the American Medical Association.' Lundberg's publication of a paper on whether college students think oral sex is actually having sex; Allegation that he was trying to influence the impeachment trial of United States President Bill Clinton.

The article focuses on a biological computer that diagnoses and treats cancer. In 1999, Ehud Shapiro, a researcher at the Weizmann Institute in Israel, suggested a design for a computer built out of carefully engineered biological molecules. Two years later Shapiro, together with a team of other scientists from the Weizmann Institute, built it. It was made of DNA. Now, Shapiro and his colleagues have taken their research one step further by showing how such work might be useful. This week they claim, in an online paper in "Nature," that they have programmed a biological computer to diagnose and treat cancer. What the team have built is known as a Turing machine, a notional type of computer first proposed in 1936 by Alan Turing. This British mathematician imagined a general-purpose computer that worked by manipulating a paper tape divided into cells. Shapiro's computer diagnoses an imbalance that indicates the presence of prostate cancer. After diagnosis it releases short strands of DNA designed to kill these cancer cells. Shapiro's team is interested in applications where direct processing of biological information is needed--such as medicine.

The article focuses on the transformation of data from paper to digital form, with reference to life sciences and medicine. It is stated that electronic medical records have replaced paper records, and electronic access is being provided by the healthcare systems. But this has created a possibility of security breaches, affecting individiual privacy and personal security.

The article announces the winners of the 2004 Nobel prizes in physiology or medicine, physics, and chemistry. In recognition of more than a decade of pioneering exploration of the sense of smell, two Americans received the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. The researchers, Richard Axel of Columbia University and Linda Buck of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, will share the nearly $1.4 million prize. The award largely honors the pair's close collaboration on a paper published in Cell in 1991 and their continuing independent efforts. Before the paper appeared, scientists knew little about the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the olfactory system, which transmits information on odorant molecules from the nose to the brain. Three physicists who developed a theory to explain the strong interaction that holds together atomic nuclei--one of the four basic forces in the universe-have won the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physics. David J. Gross of the University of California, Santa Barbara, H. David Politzer of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, and Frank Wilczek of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) will share the $1.36 million prize. This year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry goes to three scientists for their discovery in the early 1980s of how cells mark proteins for destruction. The key turned out to be the molecular tag called ubiquitin. Aaron Ciechanover and Avram Hershko of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa and Irwin Rose of the University of California, Irvine will share the prize.

The article presents information about China's research and treatments with stem cells. A study by Halla Thorsteinsdottir of the McLaughlin Rotman Centre for global Health has found that China is the fifth largest source of stem cell research papers in the world. The study also found that, even though there are many fraudulent practices in this field in China, there are also many properly conducted clinical trials using stem cells for heart-muscle damage, liver disease, and other conditions.

Presents news briefs on the pharmaceutical industry as of December 2004. Information on the talk paper on the addition of a boxed warning to the labelling for Bextra regarding severe skin reactions; Changes in the U.S. labelling of erythropoietin products; Recommendations of the European Medicines Agency regarding the use of paroxetine.

Presents several news briefs related to advancements in medicine. An anticancer vaccine which has increased the survival of high-risk melanoma patients; A paper test that has been developed to detect gum disease earlier than traditional tests; Research which shows that cancer patients often receive improper care unless they get a second opinion; Others.

Provides information on electronic medical journals. Overview of the Medscape General Medicine electronic journal of medical doctor George Lundberg; Plans of the National Institutes of Health to publish E-biomed online; Discussion on the embargo system for paper journals with controversial articles; Comments from editors of paper journals.

Discusses the quality of medical information that is available on the World Wide Web. Effect of poor information gathered from the Web; Value of scientific papers; Clarity of information as a virtue; Compounding of doctor-patient relationship through information revolution.

A conference paper about national fibromyalgia guidelines developed by multispecialty panels in Canada, Israel and Germany discussed at the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology is presented. Topics discussed include recommendations regarding the treatment of fibromyalgia, nonpharmacologic therapies and self management strategies such as aerobic exercise, cognitive behavioral therapy and psychologic therapies. It mentions complementary and altemativemedicine (CAM) practice.

Marissa Mayer ignited a firestorm when she banned telecommuting throughout Yahoo. But there?s little hard data about the value of working at an office versus at home. One researcher who has studied the problem is Jason Owen-Smith, an associate professor of sociology and organizational studies at the University of Michigan, and one of the four coauthors of a paper titled "Zone Overlap and Collaboration in Academic Biomedicine." He talked with Steven Cherry about it for IEEE Spectrum?s podcast series, "Techwise Conversations." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents brief information on articles and research papers related to the field of medicine published in various medical journals. According to the study published in the "Journal of Public Health," it was found that diagnostic ultrasound services in primary care are associated with shorter waiting times than services provided by NHS trusts. It was reported in the "Archives of Internal Medicine," that the incidence of bleeding and thromboembolic events increases sharply with age in patients on oral anticoagulation therapy. According to the study published in the "Archives of Neurology," statin use is not associated with a reduced risk of dementia.

The article presents quotes of veterinarians from their papers that are published in the December 2004 issue of the journal "DVM: The Newsmagazine of Veterinary Medicine."

Reports that British Health Secretary John Reid will seek the views of general practitioners on smoking, alcohol, sexual health, obesity and other key issues as part of a public debate leading to publication of a health White Paper in late 2004.

Comments on mainstream medicine's dismissal of bioterrorism incidents as episodes of mass hysteria. Background on the paper `Mass Psychogenic Illness Attributed to Toxic Exposure at a High School,' published in the January 13, 2000, issue of the `New England Journal of Medicine' periodical.

Reports that BioMedNet has added Evaluated MEDLINE to its MEDLINE database of 8.5 million records. The evaluated MEDLINE as unique because leading experts evaluate the papers; BioMedNet's new Meeting Rooms facility for members; Contact point.