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Rise In Computer-Related Injuries
While back pain, blurred vision and mouse-related injuries are now well-documented hazards of long-term computer use, the number of acute injuries connected to computers is rising rapidly. According to a study published in the July 2009 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers from the Center for Injury Research and Policy and The Research Institute at Nationwide Children"s Hospital; and The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus have found a more-than-sevenfold increase in computer-related injuries due to tripping over computer equipment, head injuries due to computer monitor falls and other physical incidents.
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New Figures Highlight Hidden Human Cost Of Alcohol Misuse In Scotland
Commenting on new figures published yesterday which show that one in 20 deaths are attributable to alcohol, Dr Peter Terry, Chairman of the BMA in Scotland, said:
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Access To Abortion Services In Kansas Hindered After Closure Of Tiller's Clinic
After the murder of abortion provider George Tiller and the closure of his Wichita, Kan., clinic, residents of the city face about a three-hour drive to the nearest abortion provider, a distance experts say is not uncommon for access to abortion services in southern and midwestern states, the Wichita Eagle reports. Jenny O"Donnell of the Abortion Access Project said that southern and midwestern states have the heaviest restrictions on abortion, adding that "substantial populations don"t have an abortion provider" in states such as Mississippi and Arkansas. According to 2005 statistics from the Guttmacher Institute, 87% of U.S. counties have no abortion provider; the figure rises to 94% of counties in the Midwest and 96% of counties in Kansas. The number of abortion providers in Kansas declined from 15 in 1992 to seven in 2005, while the number of providers nationwide dropped from 2,380 to 1,787 over the same time period, according to Guttmacher. Experts say the decline is the result of several factors, including public pressures, increased regulation that has driven up the cost and complexity of providing abortion and a general trend in the health care industry toward consolidated, more specialized practices.Vicki Saporta, president and CEO of the National Abortion Federation, said that the decrease in the number of abortion providers is misleading on some levels. The decline primarily has occurred among hospitals and small providers who perform a few procedures a year, while major clinics that specialize in abortion have remained essentially stable, Saporta said. Peter Brownie, executive director of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, said that the group"s clinics have experienced an increase in contacts from women from south-central Kansas since Tiller"s clinic closed a little more than one week ago. He added, "At the present time, there"s no place between Denver and Kansas City where a woman can obtain abortion care. That"s a significant barrier for women throughout the state that have that need." NAF has established a national hotline to offer referrals for women who have to make new arrangements for abortion care because of the closure of Tiller"s clinic, Saporta said (Lefler, Wichita Eagle, 6/9).
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Scientists Tackle Viral Mysteries

Scientists know that some cancers are triggered by viruses, which take over cellular systems and cause uncontrolled cell growth. Doctors and patients who get shingles late in life have also known for many years that some viruses, particularly the herpes virus, can lie dormant in a person"s cells for long periods of time and then reactivate, causing disease. These viruses also cause significant disease in immunosuppressed people and those living with HIV/AIDS. A recent study led by Blossom Damania, Ph.D., associate professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, focuses on the intersection of these two scientific puzzles, resulting in new discoveries about how one herpesvirus known to cause cancer may reactivate when the infected cell senses another type of virus entering it. Damania, who is also a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, focused on Kaposi"s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), an agent associated with Kaposi"s sarcoma, primary effusion lymphoma and another syndrome called Castleman"s disease. "We hypothesized that a secondary viral infection could serve as the trigger for KSHV, so we took cells infected with KSHV and activated immune receptor proteins called toll-like receptors that are present on the body"s cells. Toll-like receptors are the guardians of the cell and essentially function to alert the cell to the presence of an intruder. These proteins act as an alarm system to tell the cell that a foreign organism is trying to enter it," said Damania. Ten human toll-like receptors have been identified by scientists thus far, but the UNC team found that activation of only two of them, TLR7 and TLR8, reactivated the virus, allowing it to reproduce itself. The cells self-destruct in an attempt to kill the virus, but by the time the cell dies, the virus has already replicated and escaped, moving on to infect other cells in the body. "This is a very exciting finding because it helps us better understand how a latent virus can suddenly reactivate, replicating and spreading throughout the body. Additionally, since Kaposi"s sarcoma is a cancer that is associated with this phase of viral infection, it is plausible that the virus" activation and replication may eventually lead to the development of Kaposi"s sarcoma in an infected individual. "Laboratory experiments in a controlled research environment often do not reflect the real world, where we are constantly exposed to many different environmental factors and other microorganisms. This finding is an important reminder that multiple factors are involved in causing disease," she added. The research was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Study co-authors from the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center include first-author Sean Gregory, graduate student; John West, Ph.D. postdoctoral fellow; Patrick Dillon, Ph.D. postdoctoral fellow; and Dirk Dittmer, Ph.D., associate professor of microbiology and immunology. This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. Damania is a Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Scholar and a Burroughs Wellcome Fund Investigator in Infectious Disease. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School


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