Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Study finds dramatic increase in hospitalization of US children with inflammatory bowel disease

Study finds dramatic increase in hospitalization of US children with inflammatory bowel disease [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 25-Jun-2013
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Contact: Alicia Reale
alicia.reale@uhhospitals.org
216-844-5158
University Hospitals Case Medical Center

Researchers from UH Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital report reasons behind the increase are unclear

The largest investigation to date has found a dramatic increase in the number of hospitalizations for children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) during the past decade in the United States.

The new study, published online and scheduled for the August 2013 print issue of the Journal of Investigative Medicine, found a 65 percent increase in IBD hospital discharges from 2000 to 2009. The number increased from 11,928 discharges in 2000 to 19,568 discharges in 2009.

IBD refers to a group of inflammatory conditions of the colon and small intestine. The major types of IBD are Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). When looking at these two types of IBD individually, the authors found a 59 percent increase in CD discharges and a 71 percent increase UC discharges.

The study looked at more than 11 million hospitalization records of patients 20 years old and younger using a federal children's inpatient database. For the decade, they identified more than 61,000 pediatric discharges with an IBD diagnosis.

According to the study's principal investigator, Thomas J. Sferra, MD, Division Chief of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition at UH Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, this increasing trend was present in each age category and across all geographic regions (Northeast, Midwest, South and West).

"The reason for this large increase in hospitalizations of children with IBD is not clear," said Dr. Sferra. "We also found an increase in IBD-related complications and co-existing conditions which suggest an increase in the severity of this disease has contributed to a greater need for hospitalization. However, we will need to perform more research to determine whether patients were admitted to the hospital due to IBD or for an unrelated medical condition. Also, while we're seeing more kids being discharged with IBD, we cannot with certainty say that the incidence and prevalence of childhood IBD has increased in U.S."

The trend found by this nationwide study reflects what appears to be a phenomenon that has been reported for specific regions within the US and for other countries -- Canada, Scotland, and Finland.

###

Other authors of this study are with the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and Cleveland Clinic.

No support or grant was received for this study.

The complete study can be found online: http://journals.lww.com/jinvestigativemed/Abstract/publishahead/Trends_in_Hospitalizations_of_Children_With.99687.aspx

About University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital

Located on the campus of University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio, University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital is a 244-bed, full-service children's hospital and academic medical center dedicated to the healthcare needs of children. A trusted leader in children's healthcare for more than 125 years, UH Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital consistently ranks among the top children's hospitals in the nation. As the region's premier resource for pediatric referrals, UH Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital's dedicated team of more than 1,300 pediatric specialists uses the most advanced treatments and latest innovations to deliver the complete range of pediatric specialty services for more than 700,000 patient encounters each year. Learn more at RainbowBabies.org.

Among the nation's leading academic medical centers, UH Case Medical Center is the primary affiliate of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, a nationally recognized leader in medical research and education.


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Study finds dramatic increase in hospitalization of US children with inflammatory bowel disease [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 25-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Alicia Reale
alicia.reale@uhhospitals.org
216-844-5158
University Hospitals Case Medical Center

Researchers from UH Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital report reasons behind the increase are unclear

The largest investigation to date has found a dramatic increase in the number of hospitalizations for children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) during the past decade in the United States.

The new study, published online and scheduled for the August 2013 print issue of the Journal of Investigative Medicine, found a 65 percent increase in IBD hospital discharges from 2000 to 2009. The number increased from 11,928 discharges in 2000 to 19,568 discharges in 2009.

IBD refers to a group of inflammatory conditions of the colon and small intestine. The major types of IBD are Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). When looking at these two types of IBD individually, the authors found a 59 percent increase in CD discharges and a 71 percent increase UC discharges.

The study looked at more than 11 million hospitalization records of patients 20 years old and younger using a federal children's inpatient database. For the decade, they identified more than 61,000 pediatric discharges with an IBD diagnosis.

According to the study's principal investigator, Thomas J. Sferra, MD, Division Chief of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition at UH Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, this increasing trend was present in each age category and across all geographic regions (Northeast, Midwest, South and West).

"The reason for this large increase in hospitalizations of children with IBD is not clear," said Dr. Sferra. "We also found an increase in IBD-related complications and co-existing conditions which suggest an increase in the severity of this disease has contributed to a greater need for hospitalization. However, we will need to perform more research to determine whether patients were admitted to the hospital due to IBD or for an unrelated medical condition. Also, while we're seeing more kids being discharged with IBD, we cannot with certainty say that the incidence and prevalence of childhood IBD has increased in U.S."

The trend found by this nationwide study reflects what appears to be a phenomenon that has been reported for specific regions within the US and for other countries -- Canada, Scotland, and Finland.

###

Other authors of this study are with the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and Cleveland Clinic.

No support or grant was received for this study.

The complete study can be found online: http://journals.lww.com/jinvestigativemed/Abstract/publishahead/Trends_in_Hospitalizations_of_Children_With.99687.aspx

About University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital

Located on the campus of University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio, University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital is a 244-bed, full-service children's hospital and academic medical center dedicated to the healthcare needs of children. A trusted leader in children's healthcare for more than 125 years, UH Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital consistently ranks among the top children's hospitals in the nation. As the region's premier resource for pediatric referrals, UH Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital's dedicated team of more than 1,300 pediatric specialists uses the most advanced treatments and latest innovations to deliver the complete range of pediatric specialty services for more than 700,000 patient encounters each year. Learn more at RainbowBabies.org.

Among the nation's leading academic medical centers, UH Case Medical Center is the primary affiliate of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, a nationally recognized leader in medical research and education.


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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-06/uhcm-sfd062513.php

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Strong data trigger Wall Street rebound

It's sickening to imagine that some of the world's most iconic species, like elephants, polar bears and tigers could go extinct on our watch. But data tracking the recent explosion in the illegal wildlife trade indicates that this seemingly absurd possibility is actually an inevitability, if something doesn't change and change quickly.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/strong-data-trigger-wall-street-rebound-201635528.html

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Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Enhancing desalination efficiency, a new language for the deaf and blind, and electricity from tomato juice: Meet the Science in Action finalists, Part 3

On June 27, the winner of the second annual $50,000 Scientific American Science in Action Award, powered by the Google Science Fair, will be announced. In this blog series we ask the finalists to describe their projects and themselves. ?Meet six innovative students from Saudi Arabia, the United States and Kenya.

Project: Enhancing Desalination Efficiency of Cellulose Acetate Membranes Using Modern Optimizations

Name (Age): Motasim Zawawi (18)

Country: Saudi Arabia

Summary: Thermal treatment and stirring, two modern optimization techniques, were applied to cellulose acetate membranes to test their performance in desalinating seawater.

Motasim Zawawi

How does your project impact the community you grew up in?
Two-thirds of the world?s population will suffer from water scarcity by 2025. The desalination trend is heading toward inexpensive high quality?techniques that can lessen the?water crisis.?Low cost cellulose acetate membranes with a high flux and a high salt rejection will help alleviate the water scarcity by producing large amounts of fresh water in less time with less cost and higher quality.

Who are your scientific inspirations and why?
My scientific inspiration is, with no doubt, the one and only Albert Einstein. The jump he made from a normal introverted child to a genius is fascinating.

Do you have a favorite singer?
Lana Del Rey

Do you have a favorite sports team?
Manchester United Football Club!

Name: Rozan El-Qishawi (13)

Country: United States

Project: The ?BLIDEF? Language: A Complete Guide to a Global Standard Deaf and Blind English Alphabet

Summary: Using only one hand, a series of taps and finger positions can create the letters of an alphabet intended to enable blind people to communicate directly with deaf people without an interpreter.

Rozan El-Qishawi

How does your project impact the community you grew up in?
Alabama has one of the largest deaf and blind institutes in the South, yet it has very few interpreters. Year after year, the number of people taking jobs in interpretation is declining. The goal of my project is to create a standard global method of communication between blind and deaf people without the presence of an interpreter.

Who are your scientific inspirations and why?
Watching the Helen Killer movie, I wondered how could a blind person who hears communicate with a deaf person who can see. My first guess was by touching. I visited the AIDB (Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind) and met with Mr. Larsen Turk, the director, who happens to be blind. It was a very inspiring visit. Mr. Turk introduced me to students at my grade level who are blind and deaf.

If you could have dinner with any three scientists throughout time, whom would you choose?
I would like to meet?Benjamin Franklin, Sir Alexander Fleming, and Louis Braille.

What is your favorite color?
Pink ? Pink?Pink

Name (Age): Himanshi Sehgal (14), Souparni Roy (14), Richa Nagda (14)

Country: Kenya

Project: Can Heat and Tomatoes Produce Electricity

Summary: Sunlight reflected in a mirror and then focused through a lens heats tomato juice in a copper container. This creates steam that drives rotors to produce electricity.

Himanshi Sehgal, Souparni Roy, and Richa Nagda

Who are your scientific inspirations and why?

Our inspirations are Thomas Alva Edison and Albert Einstein. We admire Edison for his kaleidoscopic thinking; he was able to solve and think about problems from various angles. We admire Einstein for his determination. Even though people didn?t believe Einstein?s theories and thought he was insane, he still continued his work. Today, he is considered one of the best.

What do you think was the most revolutionary invention of the past 100 years and why? The past 10 years?
The most revolutionary invention in the past 100 years was the telephone invented by Alexander Graham Bell. The most revolutionary invention in the past 10 years is Wi-Fi.

What is your favorite food?

Richa likes pastries, Himanshi likes sweetmeats and Souparni likes vegetarian Indiana pizza.

Do you have a favorite band or song?

Our favorite song is 22 by Taylor swift.

?

Source: http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=enhancing-desalination-efficiency-a-new-language-for-the-deaf-and-blind-and-electricity-from-tomato-juice-meet-the-science-in-action-finalists-part-3

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Vitamin D improves mood and blood pressure in women with diabetes

June 25, 2013 ? In women who have type 2 diabetes and show signs of depression, vitamin D supplements significantly lowered blood pressure and improved their moods, according to a pilot study at Loyola University Chicago Niehoff School of Nursing.

Vitamin D even helped the women lose a few pounds.

The study was presented at the American Diabetes Association 73rd Scientific Sessions in Chicago.

"Vitamin D supplementation potentially is an easy and cost-effective therapy, with minimal side effects," said Sue M. Penckofer, PhD, RN, lead author of the study and a professor in the Niehoff School of Nursing. "Larger, randomized controlled trials are needed to determine the impact of vitamin D supplementation on depression and major cardiovascular risk factors among women with Type 2 diabetes."

Penckofer recently received a four-year, $1.49 million grant from the National Institute of Nursing Research at the National Institutes of Health to do such a study. Penckofer and her Loyola co-investigators plan to enroll 180 women who have type 2 diabetes, symptoms of depression and insufficient levels of vitamin D. Women will be randomly assigned to receive either a weekly vitamin D supplementation (50,000 International Units) or a matching weekly placebo for six months. The study is titled "Can the Sunshine Vitamin Improve Mood and Self Management in Women with Diabetes?

About 1 in 10 people in the United States has diabetes, and the incidence is projected to increase to 1 in 4 persons by 2050. Women with type 2 diabetes have worse outcomes than men. The reason may be due to depression, which affects more than 25 percent of women with diabetes. Depression impairs a patient's ability to manage her disease by eating right, exercising, taking medications, etc.

Many Americans do not get enough vitamin D, and people with diabetes are at especially high risk for vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency. Reasons include limited intake of foods high in vitamin D, obesity, lack of sun exposure and genetic variations.

The pilot study included 46 women who were an average age of 55 years, had diabetes an average of 8 years and insufficient blood levels of vitamin D (18 ng/ml). They took a weekly dose (50,000 International Units) of vitamin D. (By comparison, the recommended dietary allowance for women 51 to 70 years is 600 IU per day.)

After six months, their vitamin D blood levels reached sufficient levels (average 38 ng/ml) and their moods improved significantly. For example, in a 20-question depression symptom survey, scores decreased from 26.8 at the beginning of the study (indicating moderate depression) to 12.2 at six months (indicating no depression. (The depression scale ranges from 0 to 60, with higher numbers indicating more symptoms of depression.)

Blood pressure also improved, with the upper number decreasing from 140.4 mm Hg to 132.5 mm Hg. And their weight dropped from an average of 226.1 pounds to 223.6 pounds.

Penckofer is internationally known for her research on vitamin D, diabetes and depression. In October, she will be inducted as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing for her scientific contributions in improving the health and quality of life of women with chronic disease. And she recently was appointed as the first nurse researcher to the Chicago Diabetes Center for Translational Research.

Co-authors of the study are Todd Doyle, PhD, Patricia Mumby, PhD, Mary Byrn, Mary Ann Emanuele, MD and Diane Wallis, MD.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/DPhOiwJotg4/130625091841.htm

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Screen middle-aged adults for hepatitis C: panel

By Genevra Pittman

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Adults born between 1945 and 1965 should be screened once for hepatitis C, a government-backed panel recommended today.

The statement, from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), is stronger than draft recommendations published in November, which advised doctors to "consider offering screening" to members of the Baby Boom generation (see Reuters Health story of Nov 26, 2012 here: http://reut.rs/WsjtVA).

The final recommendations - which also call for screening people at high risk of hepatitis C, such as injection drug users - were published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The "moderate" net benefit of screening was supported by studies showing people with the chronic infection who take medicine and have a very low level of the virus in their blood - known as a sustained viral response - are at lower risk of liver cirrhosis, cancer and death.

"New evidence came out since the draft recommendation, which gave us greater confidence in the linkage between a sustained viral response and important outcomes," Dr. Albert Siu, co-vice chair of the task force, told Reuters Health.

The USPSTF also found that tools used to assess liver health and guide treatment are becoming safer, and that the harms of hepatitis C medication, including headaches and flu-like symptoms, are "small."

Hepatitis C is treated with a combination regimen of ribavirin and peginterferon alfa (also commonly known as Pegasys and Peg-Intron), to which newer drugs - known as boceprevir (Victrelis) and telaprevir (Incivek) - can be added.

Siu, from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, said the rate of hepatitis C among people born in 1945 through 1965 is about 4 percent, compared to about 1 percent among other Americans.

That difference is likely due to "risky behavior that was engaged in during this time," he said.

Many people living with hepatitis C are not aware they have the condition, the task force said, and may go years without showing symptoms.

Stanford University's Jeremy Goldhaber-Fiebert, who worked on one of the studies that influenced the updated recommendation, told Reuters Health that screening middle-aged adults seems to be effective and cost-effective - but that there are other considerations as well.

"It's really important that when screening is rolled out, that we ensure that those people who screen positive have access to timely, high-quality treatment," he said.

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/bN9DEh Annals of Internal Medicine, online June 24, 2013.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/screen-middle-aged-adults-hepatitis-c-panel-210358846.html

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Monday, June 24, 2013

Africa-Focused Savannah Fund Graduates Its First Batch of Startups

Screen Shot 2013-06-24 at 6.29.55 PMEven though it’s still nascent, Sub-Saharan Africa continues to grow pools of capital and entrepreneurial know-how in hubs like Nairobi, Kenya. Today, the Nairobi-based Savannah Fund, which is raising up to $10 million for startups in the region, just graduated its first batch of companies at PivotEast, a Disrupt-like competition for African mobile startups. They include a Ghanaian e-commerce startup that sells electronics called Ahonya, a Ugandan mobile game developer called Kola Studios that’s popularized a local card game and SafariDesk, a site that helps travelers find off-the-beat experiences and places for luxury camping. Mbwana Alliy, who returned to East Africa after business school at Stanford University, said he picked these companies out of about 170 applicants across the continent. He then puts them through a three-month accelerator in Nairobi, Kenya, where he’s arranged sessions with mentors like Aardvark’s Max Ventilla or other Silicon Valley-based or foreign entrepreneurs who come through the region. They take about a 15 percent equity stake for about $25,000, which does sound steep. But Alliy says he’s seen a fair amount of deals where other angels might have taken 40 percent of a company for as little as $10,000. The reality is, with a much lower per capita GDP, the economics of founding a company in Kenya or Nigeria are very different than they are in the Valley. Alliy says the whole process of setting up the fund, for which he’s still raising funding, has been a big learning experience. When he announced the fund last year, he set it up with i/o Ventures managing director Paul Bragiel and Erik Hersman, who co-founded Ushahidi, a mobile platform that’s been used to crowdsource information during disasters and elections. “When I started, people asked me, ‘Mbwana, are you going to copy and paste i/o onto Africa?’ And I was well aware that it couldn’t be like that.” Certain things have gone well. “The biggest thing I was surprised by was that we put together quite a few solid mentor sessions over the past three to four months,” he said, noting that big names in tech like Eric Schmidt have passed through Nairobi on visits to the local iHub. “A lot of global talent shows up here.” Schmidt’s Tomorrow Ventures followed on with an early Savannah investment in biNu, a platform that optimizes app use on basic feature phones. He’s also taken initial funding from angels like Yelp’s

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Lhg8hXZGsts/

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Edward Snowden tells South China Morning Post he took Booz Allen job to collect NSA information

Edward Snowden may now be far from Hong Kong, but the South China Morning Post has just revealed more details from an interview he granted on June 12th while he was still there. According to the paper, Snowden reportedly said that he took a job with NSA-contractor Booz Allen Hamilton in order to gather additional evidence about the spy agency's activities. "My position with Booz Allen Hamilton granted me access to lists of machines all over the world the NSA hacked," he said. "That is why I accepted that position about three months ago." He reportedly further said "correct on Booz," when asked if he specifically went to Booz Allen to gather evidence of surveillance. As the paper notes, Snowden also said that he took pay cuts "in the course of pursuing specific work" in an online Q&A with The Guardian last week, and he's also indicated that he has more information he intends to leak, saying that he'd like to "make it available to journalists in each country to make their own assessment."

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Source: South China Morning Post

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/aE-i8TCdsX4/

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