SAN CLEMENTE, Calif., November 20, 2009 -- Medelita®, maker of breakthrough medical apparel, today announced the launch of its men's lab coats, which are on display at Medica 2009, a leading international trade fair for the medical industry held in Dusseldorf, Germany. Medelita inaugurates its men's collection with three varying lab coat styles, all named after distinguished figures in medicine: The Osler (44 in.), The Laennec (40 in.) and The Fleming (30 in.).

'Sophisticated, prestigious, innovative — these are words that medical professionals do not typically associate with lab coats,' said Lara Manchik, founder, Medelita. 'But with the introduction of Medelita Men's lab coats, male clinicians can now enjoy the same designer tailoring, high performance fabrics and upgrades that our female customers have raved about in our lab coats. The arrival of our men's line is a natural evolution and we are thrilled to bring a product to market that's long overdue.'

All Medelita lab coats are hand sewn in the U.S. using 100 percent pre-shrunk cotton, representing a significant improvement over traditional polyester/cotton blend lab coats with limited breathability. The lab coats feature a modern tailored fit, with finished inside seams and advanced fabric technology for unparalleled soil, stain, fluid and wrinkle resistance. While each style of Medelita Men's lab coat is designed for a specific use, they are all available in contemporary menswear sizes 36-52.

The 44-inch Osler men's lab coat is the modern version of the classic, full-length lab coat. Featuring five total pockets, including a concealed pocket for a PDA or Smartphone, the Osler lab coat is named after Sir William Osler, MD, CM, a Canadian physician, pathologist, educator, bibliophile, historian, and author, who is described as the Father of Modern Medicine.

The 40-inch Laennec lab coat is Medelita's mid-length lab coat featuring abundant upgrades to this versatile physician lab coat. With a tailored, distinguished look and technically innovative features, this new men's lab coat was named for René-Théophile-Hyacinthe Laennec, a French physician who invented the stethoscope in 1816, while working at the Hôpital Necker and pioneered its use in diagnosing various chest conditions.

The 30-inch Fleming lab coat is a hip-length lab coat, often called a 'consultation' or 'student' length lab coat. The Fleming is named after Sir Alexander Fleming, a Scottish biologist and pharmacologist who published many articles on bacteriology, immunology and chemotherapy. He is best-known for receiving the Nobel Peace Prize for the discovery of penicillin, which he shared with two colleagues.

Just as athletes wear high-tech fabrics to achieve optimum performance levels, medical professionals deserve comfort, style and functionality that stands up to the rigors of their demanding workdays. Medelita delivers high performance and functionality while allowing for unrestricted movement, all-day comfort, and a crisp, confident, professional appearance.

DuPont™ Teflon® Advanced Dual Action fabric protector provides a repel-and-release technology that aggressively fights stains, helping lab coats maintain their crisp, white appearance and luxurious feel. Water- and oil-based spills are repelled by an invisible molecular barrier around the individual fibers, while liquid spills (including blood) bead up and roll off. Residue is wiped away easily or blotted with a clean cloth. Ground-in stains are quickly released during laundering or dry cleaning.

As a company, Medelita was established by its founder, Lara Manchik, PA-C, to challenge the notion that boxy, unisex lab coats are the only viable option for medical professionals. Clinician-turned-entrepreneur, Manchik created Medelita as an answer to the cheaply constructed, mass produced lab coats that often require frequent replacement due to staining and deterioration. Medelita men's and women's lab coats upend the idea that 'one-size-fits-all' when it comes to medical apparel.

About Medelita
Medelita has one purpose: to reinvent the way women and men of all healthcare professions present themselves at work by offering the highest quality, best fitting, and most comfortable medical apparel available, including lab coats, embroidered lab coats and medical scrubs. Medelita caters to medical professionals who want their uniforms to embody the poise and confidence already displayed from within. For more information, visit our websites at http://www.medelita.com or http://www.medelita-mens.com, or call 877.987.7979.

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— WebWireID108258 —

Philadelphia, PA - Phthalates are important components of many consumer products, including toys, cleaning materials, plastics, and personal care items. Studies to date on phthalates have been inconsistent, with some linking exposure to these chemicals to hormone disruptions, birth defects, asthma, and reproductive problems, while others have found no significant association between exposure and adverse effects.

A new report by Korean scientists, published by Elsevier in the November 15th issue of Biological Psychiatry, adds to the potentially alarming findings about phthalates. They measured urine phthalate concentrations and evaluated symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) using teacher-reported symptoms and computerized tests that measured attention and impulsivity.

They found a significant positive association between phthalate exposure and ADHD, meaning that the higher the concentration of phthalate metabolites in the urine, the worse the ADHD symptoms and/or test scores.

Senior author Yun-Chul Hong, MD, PhD, explained that 'these data represent the first documented association between phthalate exposure and ADHD symptoms in school-aged children.' John Krystal, MD, the Editor of Biological Psychiatry, also commented: 'This emerging link between phthalates and symptoms of ADHD raises the concern that accidental environmental exposure to phthalates may be contributing to behavioral and cognitive problems in children. This concern calls for more definitive research.'
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in the Summary of their 2005 Third National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals, state that 'very limited scientific information is available on potential human health effects of phthalates at levels' found in the U.S. population. Although this study was performed in a Korean population, their levels of exposure are likely comparable to a U.S. population.

The current findings do not prove that phthalate exposure caused ADHD symptoms. However, these initial findings provide a rationale for further research on this association.

# # #

Notes to Editors:
The article is 'Phthalates Exposure and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in School-Age Children' by Bung-Nyun Kim, Soo-Churl Cho, Yeni Kim, Min-Sup Shin, Hee-Jeong Yoo, Jae-Won Kim, Young Hee Yang, Hyo-Won Kim, Soo-Young Bhang, and Yun-Chul Hong. B-N Kim, S-C Cho, Y Kim, M-S Shin, J-W Kim, Y H Yang, and H-W Kim are affiliated with the Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Institute of Human Behavioral Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea. H-J Yoo is from the Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seong-nam, Republic of Korea. Y-C Hong is with the Department of Preventive Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine and Institute of Environmental Medicine, SNUMRC, Seoul, Republic of Korea. S-Y Bhang is affiliated with the Department of Psychiatry, Ulsan University Hospital, Ulsan, Republic of Korea. The article appears in Biological Psychiatry, Volume 66, Issue 10 (November 15, 2009), published by Elsevier.

The authors' disclosures of financial and conflicts of interests are available in the article.

John H. Krystal, M.D. is Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine and a research psychiatrist at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System. His disclosures of financial and conflicts of interests are available at http://journals.elsevierhealth.com/webfiles/images/journals/bps/Biological_Psychiatry_Editorial_Disclosures_08_01_09.pdf.

Full text of the article mentioned above is available upon request. Contact Jayne M. Dawkins at ja.dawkins@elsevier.com to obtain a copy or to schedule an interview.

About Biological Psychiatry
This international rapid-publication journal is the official journal of the Society of Biological Psychiatry. It covers a broad range of topics in psychiatric neuroscience and therapeutics. Both basic and clinical contributions are encouraged from all disciplines and research areas relevant to the pathophysiology and treatment of major neuropsychiatric disorders. Full-length and Brief Reports of novel results, Commentaries, Case Studies of unusual significance, and Correspondence and Comments judged to be of high impact to the field are published, particularly those addressing genetic and environmental risk factors, neural circuitry and neurochemistry, and important new therapeutic approaches. Concise Reviews and Editorials that focus on topics of current research and interest are also published rapidly.

Biological Psychiatry is ranked 4th out of the 101 Psychiatry titles and 14th out of 219 Neurosciences titles on the 2008 ISI Journal Citations Reports® published by Thomson Scientific.

About Elsevier
Elsevier is a world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. The company works in partnership with the global science and health communities to publish more than 2,000 journals, including The Lancet and Cell, and close to 20,000 book titles, including major reference works from Mosby and Saunders. Elsevier's online solutions include ScienceDirect, Scopus, Reaxys, MD Consult and Nursing Consult, which enhance the productivity of science and health professionals, and the SciVal suite and MEDai's Pinpoint Review, which help research and health care institutions deliver better outcomes more cost-effectively.

A global business headquartered in Amsterdam, Elsevier employs 7,000 people worldwide. The company is part of Reed Elsevier Group PLC, a world-leading publisher and information provider, which is jointly owned by Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV. The ticker symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and ENL (New York Stock Exchange).

— WebWireID108235 —

The increased computerization in U.S. hospitals hasn't made them cheaper or more efficient, Harvard researchers say, although it may have modestly improved the quality of care for heart attacks.

The findings, published in today's [Friday's] online edition of The American Journal of Medicine, contradict claims by President Obama and many lawmakers that health information technology (health IT), including electronic medical records, will save billions and help make reform affordable.

"Our study finds that hospital computerization hasn't saved a dime, nor has it improved administrative efficiency," said lead author Dr. David Himmelstein, associate professor at Harvard Medical School and former director of clinical computing at Cambridge Hospital in Massachusetts. "Claims that health IT will slash costs and help pay for the reforms being debated in Congress are wishful thinking."

The study uses data from the most extensive survey ever undertaken of hospital computerization. Data from approximately 4,000 hospitals for the years 2003 to 2007, including those on a list of the "100 Most Wired," were analyzed for evidence of increased quality, cost savings or improvements in administrative efficiency.

The data came from the authoritative Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Analytics annual survey of hospital computerization; Medicare Cost Reports that virtually all hospitals submit annually to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS); and the 2008 Dartmouth Health Atlas, which compiles CMS data on costs and quality of care.

Although the researchers found that U.S. hospitals increased their computerization between 2003 and 2007, they found no indication that health IT lowered costs or streamlined administration, even in the "most wired" institutions. While U.S. hospital administrative costs increased slightly, from 24.4 percent in 2003 to 24.9 percent in 2007, hospitals that computerized most rapidly actually had the largest increases in administrative costs. (By way of comparison, older studies have estimated administrative costs in Canadian hospitals at 12.9 percent).

The study found no evidence of lagged effects, e.g. lower costs in 2007 resulting from information technology introduced in 2003.

Modest quality gains were noted in the treatment of heart attacks (acute myocardial infarction) in more-computerized hospitals, but even these small improvements may merely represent better documentation rather than actual gains to patients.

Himmelstein said a report from the Congressional Budget Office in 2008 signed by Peter Orszag, now Obama's budget director, expressed skepticism about claims by the RAND Corp. and others that health IT could generate $80 billion annually in savings.

"Part of the CBO's skepticism was based on the limited information available to the RAND study and similar studies," Himmelstein said. "But this new, detailed, national survey of diverse hospitals shows such doubts are well-founded. Information technology can't rescue us from our national health care crisis."

Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, professor of medicine at Harvard and study co-author, said several factors may explain why health IT has failed to reduce administrative costs.

"Any savings may have been offset by the costs of purchasing and running new computer systems," she said. "In addition, most software is designed around the accounting and billing needs of hospitals, not the clinical side."

She noted that a computer success story in recent years has been at the Veterans Administration, where global budgets eliminate most billing and internal cost accounting, allowing physicians to focus instead on delivering care.

"The VA system now has our nation's highest quality and patient approval ratings," Woolhandler said. "Congress should take note: to get the most benefit from our health care dollars and from health IT, we should adopt a single-payer, Medicare-for-all program. Nothing short of that will allow us to reap the full potential of computerization or to provide comprehensive, quality and affordable care to all."

******
"Hospital computing and the costs and quality of care: a national study," David U. Himmelstein, M.D., Adam Wright, Ph.D., and Steffie Woolhandler, M.D., M.P.H., The American Journal of Medicine, Nov. 20, 2009 (online).

Physicians for a National Health Program (www.pnhp.org) is an organization of 17,000 doctors who advocate for single-payer national health insurance. To contact a physician-spokesperson near you, visit www.pnhp.org/stateactions or call (312) 782-6006.

— WebWireID108231 —

Every holiday season, millions of Americans travel through the nation's airports, seaports, and train stations to spend time with loved ones. Special holiday get-togethers – and traveling itself – bring people close together but also provide an ideal way for illness to spread. To help travelers avoid the flu this holiday season, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today launched its largest ever public awareness campaign about staying healthy while traveling.

'The holidays are one of the busiest travel times of the year,' said Anne Schuchat, M.D., director of CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. 'People are in close contact – whether they're on a plane, train, ship or just visiting with loved ones. This campaign provides practical advice to help travelers prepare for their trips and stay healthy during their holiday travel.'

CDC is urging people to take the following steps when planning their travel and to stay informed about what to do if they get sick while they're gone, including:

* Traveling only when they are feeling well
* Getting vaccinated for flu (both seasonal flu and 2009 H1N1 if they are in a priority group)
* Washing hands often
* Covering coughs and sneezes with a tissue or sleeve

'We know that flu – and specifically H1N1 this year – is a big concern for people, but flu shouldn't ruin the holidays,' Dr. Schuchat said. 'By practicing a little prevention, people can enjoy their holidays and stay well at the same time.'

CDC developed the campaign in response to the emergence in April of the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic. Since then, flu has spread throughout the country and around the world. In the United States, it has accounted for millions of cases and more than 4,000 deaths since April.

CDC launched the campaign at a joint event with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano today in Washington, D.C. The campaign will run through the holiday season and use a variety of media, including informational posters at major airports, ports of entry and border crossings; national radio and print advertising; and social media and online outreach. CDC will also partner with local health departments, travel professionals, health care professionals, and colleges and universities to further educate the public. Campaign themes include 'Prevention can be Travel-Sized' and 'Stop, Wash and Go.'

For more information about the CDC Travelers' Health campaign, recommendations regarding travel, visit http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/content/novel-h1n1-flu.aspx. For more information about the H1N1 virus, visit http://www.flu.gov.

— WebWireID108219 —

Dell announced a Mobile Clinical Computing (MCC) solution that is designed to eliminate the traditional trade-offs hospitals face between making patient information available to medical staff at the point of care and securing it in the data center to promote compliance with HIPAA regulations.

Data security is a legitimate concern for hospitals and patients. With an estimated average data breach cost of $202 per record1, or $4 to $20 million2 for recent hospital breaches -- hospitals must protect critical information from unauthorized access and use while at the same time sharing it at the point of care for diagnosis and coordination of patient care.

The proliferation of devices such as handhelds, laptops, tablets, carts and desktops—and applications—45 percent of hospitals manage more than 150 applications3 — adds to the complexity of the challenge and highlights the need for a solution. Hospital medical staffs can spend up to 60 minutes a day4 looking for the right workstation with the right applications to do their job. With labor accounting for almost 60 percent5 of hospital care costs and the costs to manage data breaches potentially running into the tens of millions of dollars, that's inefficiency that hospitals can no longer afford. Dell is helping members of the hospital staff work more efficiently by offering a virtual client solution that is easy for clinicians to use and IT teams to manage.

The News:

* Dell Mobile Clinical Computing (MCC) Simplifies Management for IT and Info Access for Medical Professionals and helps improve information security, staff productivity and care quality.
o Data Security: Patient info and applications are protected and managed centrally in the data center
o Hassle-free, Convenient Access: MCC enables access to role-based applications and data from any device anywhere in the hospital. Single sign-on, session roaming and location awareness simplify interaction for clinicians. Silver Cross Hospital's 1,000 medical professionals are saving up to one hour a day per professional with convenient access to the applications and info they need to do their jobs
o Simplified Management: Applications are updated in minutes instead of hours. Silver Cross Hospital cut update time from 80 hours/application to 20 minutes. IT manages digital identities in the data center, not mobile devices on the hospital floor
* Shift from Managing Devices to Managing Identities. MCC simplifies info security and management for IT and information access for medical professionals by locking applications and patient info in the data center and shifting IT focus from managing a growing number of end-user devices to managing user 'digital identities.' Digital identities are a combination of user profile, preferences, applications and privileges that give medical professionals authorized access to applications from any device anywhere in the hospital. Medical professionals perform rounds without hunting for patient paper records or the right device for the job.
* Right Infrastructure for the Job. Dell creates a practical blueprint for the design, implementation and management of a virtual client network that works for the medical professional and for the hospital with the right combination of thin client, virtual desktop, laptop or handheld. IT and medical professionals are no longer locked in to a 'one size fits all' model of client computing.
* A Complete Information-Sharing Solution for Hospitals. Dell is providing a complete solution from design, validation and implementation of the MCC infrastructure, to integration of clients, servers and software with training and 24/7 service and support.
* Managed/Hosted Services. Dell Services, which includes the former Perot Systems, provides end-to-end MCC services including management and hosting to assist clients with any operational scenario. Private cloud solutions can be deployed via traditional capital or utility based expenditure models to optimize resources consumed rather than building idle capacity.
* Availability. MCC is available to hospitals in the U.S. and in Europe.

Quotes:

'A proliferation of applications, passwords and end-user equipment throughout the hospital challenged our caregivers and complicated IT's trouble shooting and technical support. To increase the simplicity and reliability of our technology, we needed a new approach,' said David Hillenmeyer, CIO of Silver Cross Hospital, a 300-bed acute care facility located in Joliet, Illinois and a Top 100 Hospital National Award winner five years in a row.

'With MCC, we enjoy five-nines application availability. We can push application updates to these 200 desktops in 20 minutes; a huge savings from the 80 hours it took previously,' said Mr. Hillenmeyer. 'Shorter logins and access to a complete application suite on each workstation is helping our medical professionals reclaim nearly 20,000 hours for patient care this year alone. The solution's roaming capabilities have simplified physician and nurse rounding and documentation. Single sign-on coupled with the swipe cards and proximity detectors enforces password compliance and provides another level of access controls. These added protections help ensure Silver Cross' commitment to patient confidentiality and data security.'

'It's not enough to digitize patient information. We must make it available to medical professionals at the point of care, whether that's in a hospital or in an affiliated physician practice,' said Dr. Jamie Coffin, vice president, Dell Healthcare and Life Sciences. 'Dell is focused on transforming HIT to harness the power of information across our healthcare system to better coordinate and improve patient care and reduce its cost.'

___________________

1 Ponemon Institute: 'Annual Cost of Data Breach Report,' 2009

2 Credant: 'Data Security & Compliance in the Healthcare Market,' 2009

3 HIMSS: 'Healthcare and Integration Survey,' 2008

4 Dell Silver Cross Hospital Case Study, April, 2009

5 American Hospital Association: Trendwatch Chartbook 2009

— WebWireID108216 —

According to the ADA, the cost of diabetes care in the United States in 2007 was more than $174 billion, including $116 billion in excess medical expenditures attributed to diabetes and $58 billion in reduced national productivity. The ADA estimates that people with diabetes, on average, have medical expenditures that are approximately 2.3 times higher than the expenditures would be in the absence of diabetes and that approximately $1 in $10 health care dollars is attributed to diabetes. A significant portion of overall diabetes care costs, approximately $7 billion according to industry sources, is attributable to costs associated with monitoring blood glucose levels, and that market segment is projected to grow substantially by 2010 as patients and their physicians seek ways to manage glucose levels more effectively.

About Echo Therapeutics, Inc.

Echo is developing the Symphony tCGM System as a non-invasive, wireless, transdermal continuous glucose monitoring system for patients with diabetes and for use in acute and critical care. Echo's non-invasive Symphony tCGM System consists of its Prelude SkinPrep System, which incorporates patented and leading-edge skin ablation control technology, and wireless transmission and proprietary transdermal biosensor technologies. Echo's Symphony tCGM System is designed to provide both diabetes and hospital patients with a reliable, needle-free, easy-to-use, affordable and comfortable-to-wear continuous glucose monitoring device. Echo is also developing its needle-free Prelude SkinPrep System for transdermal drug delivery of a wide range of novel topical reformulations of widely-used, FDA-approved products.

The full special report on the company appears today at http://www.stockshaven.com/technical-trading-alert-for-echo-therapeutics-otcecte-ob/

Disclosure: Long ECTE

To feature your publicly traded company in StocksHaven.com Alerts or as a fully profiled company, email us at michaelvlaicu@stockshaven.com or visit http://www.stockshaven.com/ir_contract/ for more info

###

About MiV Investments Inc.

MiV Investments Inc. can be found at StocksHaven.com. It is a company offering a news portal covering the world financial news and equities sector. It features its own blog, free level 2 quotes, two way linking capability, mass e-mail distribution alerts, stock research reports, conference calls, news feeds, mailing list, videos, press release capability, stock commentaries, company reviews and other unique content including expert stock analysis from Michael Vlaicu. The company also offers Investor Relations contracting services.

For more financial and investment news, visit www.StocksHaven.com

Certain sections of this report contain forward-looking statements that are based on our reporters' expectations, estimates, projections and assumptions. Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "plans," "believes," "scheduled," "estimates" and variations of these words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, which include but are not limited to projections of revenues, earnings, segment performance, cash flows, contract awards, FDA announcements, trial and drug approvals, and company stability. Forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks and uncertainties, which are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual future results and trends may differ materially from what is forecast in forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors including but not limited to the status or outcome of legal and/or regulatory proceedings.

All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this report or, in the case of any document incorporated by reference, the date of that document. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to the company or any person acting on the company's behalf are qualified by the cautionary statements in this section. StocksHaven.Com on behalf of MiV Investments Inc. does not undertake any obligation to update or publicly release any revisions to forward-looking statements to reflect events, circumstances or changes in expectations after the date of this report.

— WebWireID108169 —

Only about 1 in 4 Americans aged 50–64 regularly take advantage of preventive services such as screenings and immunizations, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in collaboration with AARP and the American Medical Association (AMA).

The report, 'Promoting Preventive Services for Adults 50–64: Community and Clinical Partnerships,' focuses on opportunities to improve the health of the growing number of adults in the 50–64 age bracket to broaden the use of potentially lifesaving preventive services.

The report identifies recommended preventive services such as influenza vaccine, cholesterol screening, breast and cervical cancer screening, as well as preventive screenings for behaviors that could negatively impact health such as binge drinking.

'People aged 50–64 need access to preventive services to help them improve their overall health and to live vibrant, productive lives,' said CDC Director Thomas Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. 'CDC and our partners AARP and AMA are excited about this new resource because it enables our partners and others to more easily and effectively monitor improvements in health behaviors, screenings and immunizations. Our goal is to enhance the delivery and use of these recommended preventive services.'

By 2015, an estimated 63 million U.S. adults will be between the ages of 50 and 64, comprising 20 percent of the nation's population. They are at greater risk of developing chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer than younger adults. Almost one–third of adults in this age group are uninsured or underinsured, which heightens the challenges of ensuring they receive critical preventive services.

Wayne Giles, M.D., M.S., director of CDC's Division of Adult and Community Health, and a member of the committee that prepared the report, emphasized the importance of addressing disparities in the use of preventive services. 'The racial and ethnic composition of adults in the United States is becoming more diverse. We must take this trend into

account as we promote the use of clinical preventive services to ensure that appropriate strategies are implemented to improve the health of all adults.'

The report describes proven, science–based strategies that highlight clinical and community efforts to promote the delivery of multiple or bundled preventive services. The report also highlights model programs, policies and strategies that communities can adopt, in concert with health care partners, to make sure services reach those in need. Calls to Action identify existing gaps and barriers in research, data and action, and highlight opportunities through model programs, policy and environmental strategies, and enhanced health tracking.

CDC's healthy aging program develops tools and programs designed to help older adults live longer, more productive and independent lives. By promoting health and disease prevention, CDC works to improve the quality of life of older adults and slow the expected growth of health care and long–term costs for this and future generations.

To view the full report and for more information about CDC's health aging activities visit www.cdc.gov/aging.

— WebWireID108191 —

Wide sections of the Southeast, Appalachia, and some tribal lands in the West and Northern Plains have the nation′s highest rates of obesity and diabetes, according to estimates released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In many counties in those regions, rates of diagnosed diabetes exceed 10 percent and obesity prevalence is more than 30 percent.

The estimates, in this week′s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, are the first to provide county–level snapshots of obesity across the United States. They also update diabetes county–level estimates released in 2008.

Eighty–one percent of counties in the Appalachian region that includes Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia have high rates of diabetes and obesity. So do three–quarters of counties in the southern region that includes Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina.

'Diabetes is costly in human and economic terms, and it′s urgent that we take action to prevent and control this serious disease,' said Dr. Ann Albright, director of CDC′s Division of Diabetes Translation. 'The study shows strong regional patterns of diabetes and can help focus prevention efforts where they are most needed.'

The estimates come from the agency′s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), which uses self–reported data from state–based adult telephone surveys, and 2007 census information. The information may help public health workers, health care providers, community organizations, and policymakers focus on high–risk regions to prevent type 2 diabetes and its complications as well as other chronic diseases linked to obesity, including heart disease, stroke, and some cancers.

The proportion of U.S. adults who are obese was 26.1 percent in 2008, according to BRFSS data. CDC estimates that nearly 8 percent of the population, or about 24 million people, have diabetes. Of these, 5.7 million are undiagnosed.

'The small–area estimates for obesity will be an important tool to help communities better understand and battle this serious public health problem. Communities are in the best position to prevent and reduce obesity among their citizens through innovative programs," said Dr. William H. Dietz, director of CDC's Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity.

The medical costs of obesity reached an estimated $147 billion in 2008, and the medical costs of diabetes were $116 billion. People with diagnosed diabetes have medical costs that are 2.3 times higher than those without the disease.

Obesity is one of several factors linked to type 2 diabetes. Where people live, how much money they earn, their culture and their family history also play a role. An unhealthy diet, lack of physical activity, and socioeconomic factors contribute to both obesity and type 2 diabetes as well as to complications of diabetes. Some population groups also are at higher risk, including a number of racial and ethnic minorities.

CDC and its partners are working on a variety of initiatives to prevent type 2 diabetes and to reduce obesity. CDC has recommended 24 community strategies to prevent obesity, from providing greater access to healthy foods to redesigning communities to encourage more physical activity. The agency is also in a new partnership with state, federal, and nonprofit agencies targeting health disparities in Mississippi, which has the nation′s highest obesity rate and one of the highest rates of diabetes. CDC′s national diabetes prevention and control program provides resources and technical assistance to state health departments, national organizations, and communities.

To see county–level estimates of obesity and diagnosed diabetes, go to www.cdc.gov/diabetes/statistics. For more information on diabetes and preventing the disease, visit www.cdc.gov/diabetes. To learn more about CDC′s efforts in the fight against obesity or for more information about nutrition, physical activity, and maintaining a healthy weight, go to www.cdc.gov/obesity/index.html.

— WebWireID108185 —

The major objection from the CHMP was the lack of a comparator arm without Avastin in the BRAIN study, an investigational phase II trial. The CHMP tends to base its approval decisions on Phase III studies only. Roche decided to submit this data set to regulatory authorities globally based on Avastin's remarkable clinical activity seen in BRAIN. Roche remains convinced that the results of the BRAIN study, which were published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology in October 20091 are robust and remain valid. Adverse events in the BRAIN study were consistent with those previously seen with Avastin and no new safety signals were reported.1

'We are very disappointed with the CHMP opinion which will result in a delay to patients receiving an important new treatment option. We strongly believe that Avastin is a new treatment option for physicians within the EU which would bring hope to GBM patients and their families as it is today in the US and other countries,' said William M. Burns, CEO of Roche's Pharmaceuticals Division. 'Relapsed glioblastoma is a rare condition and represents a very high unmet medical need. These patients deserve effective additional therapies to manage this devastating disease. We remain committed to bringing Avastin to patients with newly diagnosed GBM in Europe'.

In May 2009 Avastin was granted accelerated approval for the treatment of GBM patients with progressive disease following prior therapy from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) based on data from the BRAIN study (AVF3708g) and an NCI study (NCI 06-C-0064E). Switzerland and ten other countries have already recognised the significant clinical benefits Avastin offers to GBM patients by giving approval.

Roche continues to further explore the role of Avastin in GBM through various investigator-led studies. In addition, a large phase III study (AVAGLIO) in over 900 patients with newly diagnosed GBM is currently underway with the aim of a global filing5.

Avastin has proven survival benefits across several types of cancer. It is approved in Europe for the treatment of the advanced stages of four common types of cancer: colorectal cancer, breast cancer, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and kidney cancer. These types of cancer collectively cause over 2.5 million deaths each year6,7,8. Over half a million patients have been treated with Avastin so far.
About Glioblastoma

Glioma is the most common type of primary brain tumour, accounting for approximately one third of all cases diagnosed9. Glioma also represents around 80% of all primary malignant brain tumour cases9. Glioblastoma (or glioblastoma multiforme; GBM) is the most common and the most aggressive type of glioma9. The prognosis for patients with GBM is poor. The treatment options for GBM depend on many factors including the location and size of the tumour, and the overall health and age of the patient10.

Glioblastoma affects approximately 17,000 people per year in the EU2. Following initial treatment, glioblastoma tumours nearly always return and currently, there are limited treatment options for patients when these relapses occur and their prognosis is particularly poor3. According to historical estimates, less than 10 percent of patients with recurrent GBM respond to treatment and approximately 15 percent will live six months without their disease getting worse1,5. GBM is a compelling therapeutic target for Avastin as these tumours have very high levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)11.
About the BRAIN study (AVF3708g)

The BRAIN study was a US based open-label, multicentre, non-comparative phase II study including 167 patients with histologically confirmed GBM that had progressed following initial treatment with temozolomide and radiation. The primary endpoints of the BRAIN trial were progression free survival-6 (PFS-6), (defined as the percentage of patients who remained alive and progression free at 24 weeks) and objective response rate (ORR), (defined as a complete or partial response on two consecutive MRIs obtained 4 weeks apart). Secondary endpoints explored included OS, PFS, duration of response to treatment and safety. The BRAIN study evaluated Avastin at a dose of 10mg/kg every two weeks, as a single agent (BEV), or in combination with irinotecan chemotherapy (BEV-IRI).

The BRAIN study demonstrated that:

* When Avastin was evaluated as a single agent, the study showed that at six months over 40% (42.6%) of the patients were alive without their disease getting worse, as defined by PFS-6. When Avastin was combined with irinotecan, this figure increased to 50.3%1.
* In the study, over a quarter (28%) of patients responded to Avastin as a single agent, meaning tumours decreased in size by at least 50%. When Avastin was combined with irinotecan, 38% of patients responded to Avastin1.
* Patients receiving Avastin alone had a median overall survival of 9.2 months; this was 8.7 months for those receiving Avastin in combination with irinotecan, which was a secondary endpoint in the study1.
* Adverse events in the BRAIN study were consistent with those previously seen with Avastin and no new safety signals were reported1.
* Recent results showed the potential for additional positive impact on patients' daily lives. Of those patients who responded to Avastin-based therapy, a majority had a stabilisation or improvement in neurocognitive function at the time of the response and a reduction in their dose of steroids from baseline4.

About the AVAGLIO study

The AVAGLIO study is an international, multicentre, randomised, double blind, phase III study including over 900 patients with newly diagnosed histologically confirmed GBM which will investigate the efficacy and safety of treatment with Avastin combined with standard of care (temozolomide chemotherapy and radiotherapy) following surgery.

The primary endpoints of the AVAGLIO trial are progression free survival, (defined as the duration for which patient remains alive without their disease worsening) and overall survival. Secondary endpoints that will be explored include one and two year survival rates, safety and health related quality of life.
About Avastin

Avastin is an antibody that specifically binds and blocks the biological effects of VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor). VEGF is a key driver of tumour angiogenesis – an essential process required for a tumour to grow and to spread (metastasize) to other parts of the body. Avastin's precise mode of action allows it to be combined effectively with a broad range of chemotherapies and other anti-cancer treatments. Avastin helps to control tumour growth and extend survival with only a limited impact on the side effects of chemotherapy.

Avastin has proven survival benefits across several types of cancer. It is approved in Europe for the treatment of the advanced stages of four common types of cancer: colorectal cancer, breast cancer, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and kidney cancer. These types of cancer collectively cause over 2.5 million deaths each year6,7,8. In the US, Avastin was the first anti-angiogenesis therapy approved by the FDA and it is now approved for the treatment of five tumour types: colorectal cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, breast cancer, brain (glioblastoma) and kidney (renal cell carcinoma).

Over half a million patients have been treated with Avastin so far. A comprehensive clinical programme with over 450 clinical trials is investigating the use of Avastin in various tumour types (including colorectal, breast, non-small cell lung, brain, gastric, ovarian, prostate and others) and different settings (advanced or early stage disease).
About Roche

Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is a leader in research-focused healthcare with combined strengths in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. Roche is the world's largest biotech company with truly differentiated medicines in oncology, virology, inflammation, metabolism and CNS. Roche is also the world leader in in-vitro diagnostics, tissue-based cancer diagnostics and a pioneer in diabetes management. Roche's personalised healthcare strategy aims at providing medicines and diagnostic tools that enable tangible improvements in the health, quality of life and survival of patients. In 2008, Roche had over 80,000 employees worldwide and invested almost 9 billion Swiss francs in R&D. The Group posted sales of 45.6 billion Swiss francs. Genentech, United States, is a wholly owned member of the Roche Group. Roche has a majority stake in Chugai Pharmaceutical, Japan. For more information: www.roche.com.

All trademarks used or mentioned in this release are protected by law.

References
1.Friedman H et al. J Clin Oncol 2009; 31 August [Epub ahead of print as doi/10.1200/JCO.2008.19.8721] Last accessed 1 September 2009 at http://jco.ascopubs.org/cgi/content/abstract/JCO.2008.19.8721v1.
2.Decision Resources, Cancer Incidence in 5 Continents Version IX, CI5 IX, World Population Prospects, Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States, National Swedish Brain Tumour Registry
3.Medscape. Recurrent Glioblastoma Multiforme: Definition of Recurrent GBM. Last accessed 10 August 2009 at: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/540150_2
4.Vredenburgh, J. et al. ECCO 15 ESMO 34 2009; Abstract #8707.
5.Chinot, O. et al. ECCO 15 ESMO 34 2009; Poster #46
6.Garcia M et al. Global Cancer Facts & Figures. Atlanta, GA: American Cancer Society, 2007
7.WHO Cancer Factsheet N°297 – updated July 2008. Last accessed 24 March 2009 at http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs297/en/index.html.
8.Parkin DM et al. CA Cancer J Clin 2005; 55: 74-108.
9.Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States (CBTRUS). Primary Brain Tumours in the United States Statistical Report.
10.Stupp R et al. Ann Oncol 2007; 18 (supplement 2): ii69–ii70.
11.Takano S et al. Cancer Res 1996; 56: 2185-2190.

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Joe Fabiani, Munio RMS Chairman and CEO, stated, 'We were in the process of building out our own software platform when we came across the services and products of deverus. We could see right away that they could bring us to market months ahead of time with significant cost savings. They have become our IT software department.' Fabiani added, 'We believe that vendor screening is an emerging best practice, and that our partnership with deverus puts this emerging best practice on the best platform in the industry.'

Tony Cordaro, Vice President Sales for deverus said, 'Meeting and working with Joe and his team has been a natural fit. Munio's needs included some customizations that were easily delivered by our internal development team. Coupling that fact with our extremely flexible Verocity 2009 software allowed us to get Munio to market several months ahead of schedule. And, with our cost-effective fee matrix, Munio will realize ongoing savings by not having constant IT outlay expenses.'

deverus' Verocity 2009 software continues to surpass the competition in its functionality and feel with its client module and other user-friendly tools. deverus has been developing software exclusively for the background screening industry for over ten years and continues to be the industry leader. deverus can accommodate various sized companies looking to grow their background screening services to their clients. They offer state-of-the-art technology with good old-fashioned service to meet clients' needs by exceeding their expectations.

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1. Don't focus on body image. Comments about weight should be avoided. Instead consider compliments such as, "You look healthy and happy!"
2. Don't watch what others eat. If someone wants to eat more or less than you during the holidays, do not make that the focus of your concern. If you focus on what you are eating, you can set a healthy example. If you tell others to eat more or less, you are adding pressure to those who are already struggling with eating issues.
3. Thanksgiving is a day of eating. If you have eating issues, then understand that Thanksgiving is the most difficult day of the year for you. See this day as a good challenge for you and all the people around the world who struggle with eating disorders. You are not alone.
4. Create your own bubble of comfort. Set your own eating boundaries and do not allow the comments or expectations of others to change what is comfortable for you. If you give yourself the freedom to say "no" to others who are trying to get you to eat more, then you can feel good about not letting others push you out of your comfort zone.
5. Allow yourself to be human. Allow yourself the freedom to have some stress and not react perfectly especially during the most difficult holiday for people with eating issues.

If you need more help, find an eating disorder treatment professional in your area by using the easiest and most comprehensive treatment search site on the Internet, www.edreferral.com. This is the site that has been helping others find ED treatment since 1999 and is used by most eating disorder professionals.

Christine Hartline, MA Director, EDReferral.com

EDReferral.com is a free service that helps people with eating disorders. Referrals are available 24 hours a day for those seeking help with Anorexia, Bulimia, Obesity, Binge Eating Disorder and many other eating disorders. EDReferral.com was founded by Christine Hartline, MA, who herself had an eating disorder and found it difficult to find assistance. She now runs the world's largest and most respected referral service for eating disorder treatment. "EDReferral.com helps thousands of individuals every single day," said Ms. Hartline, "Not only in the U.S. but all across the world...we are providing hope for recovery." The respect placed on EDReferral.com is not only due to the amazing efforts of Ms. Hartline, but also because many in the eating disorder field applaud the fact that EDReferral.com is not affiliated with any one treatment center. "There are a few organizations that say they are a referral service, but they only point you to their own treatment center in the end," said Dr. Kevin Grold who is the Chief Administrator of the ever-expanding service. Dr. Grold: 'We try to make EDReferral.com as easy to use and friendly as we can because we know that those seeking treatment are already a bit stressed." "We hear over and over how the holidays -- with the family meals --are an especially trying time for those who are trying to recover from an eating disorder. It is simple to find help when every therapist, treatment center, and support group are all listed in one place. EDReferral.com makes it easy to start on the path toward recovery.'

www.edreferral.com

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Portland, OR. Today at SC 09, the supercomputing conference, IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced significant progress toward creating a computer system that simulates and emulates the brain's abilities for sensation, perception, action, interaction and cognition, while rivaling the brain's low power and energy consumption and compact size.

The cognitive computing team, led by IBM Research, has achieved significant advances in large-scale cortical simulation and a new algorithm that synthesizes neurological data -- two major milestones that indicate the feasibility of building a cognitive computing chip.

BlueMatter

BlueMatter, a new algorithm created in collaboration with Stanford University, exploits the Blue Gene supercomputing architecture in order to noninvasively measure and map the connections between all cortical and sub-cortical locations within the human brain using magnetic resonance diffusion weighted imaging. Mapping the wiring diagram of the brain is crucial to untangling its vast communication network and understanding how it represents and processes information.

Scientists, at IBM Research - Almaden, in collaboration with colleagues from Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, have performed the first near real-time cortical simulation of the brain that exceeds the scale of a cat cortex and contains 1 billion spiking neurons and 10 trillion individual learning synapses.

Additionally, in collaboration with researchers from Stanford University, IBM scientists have developed an algorithm that exploits the Blue Gene® supercomputing architecture in order to noninvasively measure and map the connections between all cortical and sub-cortical locations within the human brain using magnetic resonance diffusion weighted imaging. Mapping the wiring diagram of the brain is crucial to untangling its vast communication network and understanding how it represents and processes information.

These advancements will provide a unique workbench for exploring the computational dynamics of the brain, and stand to move the team closer to its goal of building a compact, low-power synaptronic chip using nanotechnology and advances in phase change memory and magnetic tunnel junctions. The team's work stands to break the mold of conventional von Neumann computing, in order to meet the system requirements of the instrumented and interconnected world of tomorrow.

As the amount of digital data that we create continues to grow massively and the world becomes more instrumented and interconnected, there is a need for new kinds of computing systems – imbued with a new intelligence that can spot hard-to-find patterns in vastly varied kinds of data, both digital and sensory; analyze and integrate information real-time in a context-dependent way; and deal with the ambiguity found in complex, real-world environments.

Businesses will simultaneously need to monitor, prioritize, adapt and make rapid decisions based on ever-growing streams of critical data and information. A cognitive computer could quickly and accurately put together the disparate pieces of this complex puzzle, while taking into account context and previous experience, to help business decision makers come to a logical response.

'Learning from the brain is an attractive way to overcome power and density challenges faced in computing today,' said Josephine Cheng, IBM Fellow and lab director of IBM Research - Almaden. 'As the digital and physical worlds continue to merge and computing becomes more embedded in the fabric of our daily lives, it's imperative that we create a more intelligent computing system that can help us make sense the vast amount of information that's increasingly available to us, much the way our brains can quickly interpret and act on complex tasks.'

To perform the first near real-time cortical simulation of the brain that exceed the scale of the cat cortex, the team built a cortical simulator that incorporates a number of innovations in computation, memory, and communication as well as sophisticated biological details from neurophysiology and neuroanatomy. This scientific tool, akin to a linear accelerator or an electron microscope, is a critical instrument used to test hypotheses of brain structure, dynamics and function. The simulation was performed using the cortical simulator on Lawrence Livermore National Lab's Dawn Blue Gene/P supercomputer with 147,456 CPUs and 144 terabytes of main memory.

The algorithm, when combined with the cortical simulator, allows scientists to experiment with various mathematical hypotheses of brain function and structure of how structure affects function as they work toward discovering the brain's core computational micro and macro circuits.

After the successful completion of Phase 0, IBM and its university partners were recently awarded $16.1M in additional funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for Phase 1 of DARPA's Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics (SyNAPSE) initiative. This phase of research will focus on the components, brain-like architecture and simulations to build a prototype chip. The long-term mission of IBM's cognitive computing initiative is to discover and demonstrate the algorithms of the brain and deliver low-power, compact cognitive computers that approach mammalian-scale intelligence and use significantly less energy than today's computing systems. The world-class team includes researchers from several of IBM's worldwide research labs and scientists from Stanford University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Cornell University, Columbia University Medical Center and University of California- Merced.

'The goal of the SyNAPSE program is to create new electronics hardware and architecture that can understand, adapt and respond to an informative environment in ways that extend traditional computation to include fundamentally different capabilities found in biological brains,' said DARPA program manager Todd Hylton, Ph.D.

Modern computing is based on a stored program model, which has traditionally been implemented in digital, synchronous, serial, centralized, fast, hardwired, general-purpose circuits with explicit memory addressing that indiscriminately over-write data and impose a dichotomy between computation and data. In stark contrast, cognitive computing – like the brain – will use replicated computational units, neurons and synapses that are implemented in mixed-mode analog-digital, asynchronous, parallel, distributed, slow, reconfigurable, specialized and fault-tolerant biological substrates with implicit memory addressing that only update state when information changes, blurring the boundary between computation and data.

For more information about IBM Research, please visit www.ibm.com/research.

Technical insight and more details on the SyNAPSE project and recent milestones can also be found on the Cognitive Computing blog at http://modha.org/.

The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official policies, either expressly or implied, of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or the U.S. Government.

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BOLOGNA, Italy. IBM (NYSE: IBM)announced today that its Research scientists are working with the Rizzoli Orthopedic Institute, in Bologna, Italy, to use information technology to better address treatment and research for rare genetic skeletal diseases.

Scientists from the two organizations are collaborating on a system called BioMIMS -- short for BioMedical Imaging Management Solution -- which integrates different types of medical data such as images, phenotype data, and genomic data. The system will enable advanced analytics on family trees that are dynamically created by the system to correlate between patients who show similar signs of the disease.

As scientists gain insight into genetic diseases at the molecular level, the critical role played by family history is becoming more apparent at all levels of treatment. However, until now, there has been no complete system for easily collecting, classifying and analyzing family histories for patients suffering from hereditary skeletal diseases like single and multiple exostoses. Unfortunately, most of this information traditionally sits in different hospitals and databases, and in different formats.

The new technology being developed by IBM and the Rizzoli Institute, will enable doctors to call upon all information related to a hereditary disease -- including genetic information, observations studied, and imaging data from the perspective of the treatment history for any family members -- so diagnosis and treatment becomes faster, less expensive, and more personalized. The project is scheduled to be completed in mid to late 2010.

The system will also build family history records, collect and classify, allowing research into advanced pedigree analytics. Because the disease is hereditary, it's critical to have access to data for all patients that are connected to the same pedigree. For example, when a child is being diagnosed, it's vital for physicians to see observations and clinical/genomic information from the parents, aunts, uncles, and other close relatives. The new system, from IBM Research - Haifa, will take the pedigrees and automatically assign them to groups based on common characteristics. These groupings have the potential to help doctors identify new research directions to better understand the correlation between genotype and the observable characteristics (phenotype) of the disease.

"BioMIMS will provide us with access to an invaluable collection of information so we can compare data to the records obtained from other patients and family members," noted Luca Sangiorgi, Manager of Medical Genetics at Rizzoli. "This holds the promise of significantly deepening our clinical knowledge about rare skeletal diseases, helping us diagnose and treat individual patients more accurately. Bridging the two worlds of information technology and healthcare will help lead the way towards new answers and new cures."

"This project demonstrates how new information technology solutions are allowing medical personal to make more accurate diagnoses and select treatment programs that have a much higher potential for success," noted Boaz Carmeli, manager of IT for healthcare and Life Science group at IBM Research Haifa. "Integrating information from various sources, and realizing the vision of interoperability and cooperation between healthcare organizations, is a surefire key to smarter healthcare solutions and better insight into the treatment of diseases."

The Rizzoli Orthopedic Institute is the second largest institute in the world for the study of rare skeletal diseases. Established in 1896 as a specialized hospital for orthopedics and traumatology, it evolved into a musculoskeletal center that distinguishes itself through pioneering clinical and research advancements. Physicians at the Institute see about 150,000 patients and perform about 18,000 surgeries annually.

IBM's track record of improving healthcare through scientific achievements and collaboration with healthcare companies dates back to the 1950s. In the last decade, IBM has developed a national digital mammography archive with the University of Pennsylvania; developed a clinical trial participant system with the Mayo Clinic; collaborated with Scripps to understand how influenza viruses mutate and proactively develop treatments; collaborated with European universities to develop better methods to decide on antiretroviral therapies for HIV; launched the World Community Grid, which has done projects on cancer, aids, dengue fever; and much more.

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Zurich, Switzerland. IBM (NYSE: IBM) scientists have created a one-step point-of-care-diagnostic test, based on an innovative silicon chip, that requires less sample volume, is significantly faster, portable, easy to use, and can test for many diseases, including one of world's leading causes of death, cardiovascular disease*. The results are so quick and accurate that a small sample of a patient's serum or blood, could be tested immediately following a heart attack, to enable the doctor to quickly take a course of action to help the patient survive.

View Images: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ibm_research_zurich/sets/72157622597913688/

Point of Care Diagnostics

As reported in Lab on a Chip, December 2009, Volume 9, Issue 23, IBM Research - Zurich scientists Luc Gervais and Emmanuel Delamarche, in collaboration with the University Hospital of Basel in Switzerland, have developed a new diagnostic test that uses capillary forces to analyze tiny samples of serum, or blood, for the presence of disease markers, which are typically proteins that can be detected in people's blood for diagnostic purposes. Capillary action force is the tendency of a liquid to rise in narrow tubes or to be drawn into small openings. An everyday example of a capillary action force can be viewed by dipping a paper towel in a cup of water - the microstructures in the paper fiber enable the towel to absorb the water.

"This point of care test has achieved the trifecta for medical staff in that it is portable, fast and requires a very small volume of sample," comments Emmanuel Delamarche, scientist, IBM Research - Zurich. "We are giving back precious minutes to doctors so they can make informed and accurate decisions right at the time they need them most to save lives".

IBM scientists have encoded the forces of capillary action on a microfluidic chip made of a silicon compound, similar to those used in computer chips, thus leveraging IBM's vast experience in developing and manufacturing silicon semiconductor wafers. The chip, which measures 1 × 5 centimeters, contains sets of micrometer wide channels where the test sample flows through in approximately 15 seconds, several times faster then traditional tests. Uniquely, the filling speed can be adjusted to several minutes when the chip requires additional time to read a more complex disease marker.

The microfludic chip, which is based on nearly three years of research and development, consists of a microscopic path for liquids with five innovative stages:

Stage 1: A one microliter sample, 50 times smaller than a tear drop, is pipetted onto the chip, where the capillary forces begin to take effect

Stage 2: These forces push the sample through an intricate series of mesh structures, which prevent clogging and air bubbles from forming

Stage 3: The sample then passes in a region where microscopically small amounts of the detection antibody have been deposited. These antibodies have a fluorescent tag and similar to the antibodies within our body, they recognize the disease marker and attach to it within the sample. Only seventy picoliters (a volume one million times smaller than a tear) of these antibodies are used, making their dissolution in the passing sample extremely fast and efficient.

Stage 4: The most critical stage is called the "reaction chamber" and it measures 30 micrometers in width and 20 micrometers in depth, roughly the diameter of a strand of human hair. Similar to a common pregnancy test, in this stage the disease marker that was previously tagged is captured on the surface of the chamber. By shining a focused beam of red light, the tagged disease markers can be viewed using a portable sensor device that contains a chip similar to those used by digital cameras, albeit this one being much more sensitive. Based on the amount of light detected, medical professionals can visually confirm the strength of the disease marker in the sample to determine the next course of treatment.

Stage 5: Less a stage and more a part of the entire process is the capillary pump. The capillary pump, which has a depth of 180 micrometers, contains an intricate set of microstructures, the job of which is to pump the sample through the device for as long as needed and at a regular flow rate, just like the human heart. This pump makes the test accurate, portable and simple to use. IBM scientists have developed a library of capillary pumps so that tests needing a variety of sample volumes or test times can still be done without having to re-engineer the entire chip.

Collaboration

True to IBM's strategy of open collaboration, scientists in Zurich tested their ideas with academic and healthcare partners. This research also would not have been possible without the generous support of KTI/CTI, an organization which fosters innovation in Switzerland.

"This microfluidic chip is the next step in the evolution of point of care devices. We look forward to working with the scientists at IBM Research - Zurich to develop this innovation even further," said Thierry Leclipteux, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Science Officer, Coris BioConcept.

IBM scientists designed the chip with flexibility in mind in both its form and uses. Due to its small size the chip can be embedded in several types of form factors, depending on the application, including a credit card, a pen or something similar to a pregnancy test. Besides diagnosing diseases, the test is also flexible enough to test for chemical and bio hazards.

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Raritan, NJ. Epilepsy and seizures affect nearly 3 million Americans of all ages and in 70 percent of new cases, no cause is apparent. Those who live daily with the condition have no way of knowing when the next seizure will occur, how long it will last or where they will be, often experiencing a roller coaster of emotions as they cope with the condition. The wonder behind the diagnosis, the perseverance in managing it, and the support received through family and friends are some examples of the stories told through artwork in the 2009 Expressions of Courage® art contest, a national art competition inviting people with epilepsy to submit creative artwork conveying their feelings of living with epilepsy.

Expressions of Courage® is a program developed and funded by Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., in partnership with the Epilepsy Foundation. Today, they announced the winners of the 2009 contest which showcases the artistic talent and inspirational stories of people with epilepsy during National Epilepsy Awareness Month, recognized each November.

"Every year I look forward to announcing the Expressions of Courage® contest winners, as each individual has a unique way of demonstrating his or her feelings of living with the condition in a way that words cannot," said Eric R. Hargis, president and CEO of the Epilepsy Foundation. "We are truly proud of the Expressions of Courage® participants for giving a voice to what it's like to live with epilepsy, standing up and sharing their personal experiences with the public."

The 2009 contest winners include:

* Breanna Plessinger, 11, Covington, Ohio; In Plessinger's artwork titled, "Special," she drew a koala bear that represents one of the "special things" she enjoys while at epilepsy camp.
* Travis Johnson, 10, Houston, Texas; In Johnson's artwork titled, "Shadow," he showed his appreciation of his epilepsy service dog, Shadow, by creating a construction paper mosaic piece.
* Rhiannon Monroe, 14, Galveston, Texas; In Monroe's artwork titled, "The Red Dragon of Courage," the red dragon she drew represents courage in the face of epilepsy.
* Eliana Silbermann, 17, Memphis, Tenn.; In Silbermann's artwork titled "Jamais Vu," she visually represented one experience she encounters with her epilepsy condition called Jamais Vu, or deja vu.
* Richard Davis, 47, Spring Hill, Fla.; In Davis' artwork titled, "A Drop of Warmth in the Midst of Cold," he shows his solitary feelings in dealing with epilepsy through a cowboy, painted in water color, alone in the cold, yet who longs for warmth from others who have never experienced seizures.
* Timothy Minkley, 39, Waukusha, Wisc.; In Minkley's artwork titled, "Roaring Tiger," he captures the beauty, grace and fierceness of the animals he has painted, which reflect his perseverance in coping with epilepsy.
* Gabrielle Gati, 12, El Dorado, Ark.; In Gati's artwork titled, "Emotions in Color," she portrays her complex feelings about her epilepsy.
* Giovani Rodriguez Orraca, 10, Urb. Eldorado, Puerto Rico; In Rodriguez Orraca's artwork titled, "Muneca," he painted a doll during his time at epilepsy camp.
* Darla Renae Tobianski, 14, Dallas, Texas; In Tobianski's artwork titled, "Sunflower Days," she created a finger painting of three sunflowers, because she enjoys painting to express herself.
* Austin Kristof, 17, East Moline, Ill.; In Kristof's artwork titled, "Moving On," he demonstrates that he feels ready to "move on" now that his absence seizures have lessened.
* Katie Martin, 20, Perkiomenville, Pa.; In Martin's artwork titled, "The Yellow Finch," she painted a finch sitting on a tree branch, because she loves painting things in nature.
* Adam F. Snyder, 27, Forrest City, Ark.; In Snyder's artwork titled, "Angelic," he describes the people and blessings around him through art.

To view the 2009 contest artwork and learn about each artist's personal experience with epilepsy, visit www.ExpressionsofCourage.com. Winners were chosen by a panel of seven judges who based their selections on creativity and the ability to demonstrate their feelings of living with epilepsy through art. Panelists included:

* Elizabeth Thiele, MD, PhD, director of the Pediatric Epilepsy Program at Massachusetts General Hospital
* Lillian Fitzgerald director of Fitzgerald Fine Art; curator of the Clinical Center Art Program at the National Institutes of Health and member of the Society of Arts in Healthcare
* Eric Hargis, Epilepsy Foundation president and CEO
* Jude Rouslin, of Sarasota, Fla., 2005, 2006 and 2008 Expressions of Courage® contest winner, an accomplished oil painter who shares her artwork through various displays
* Pamela Davis of Arcadia, Fla., 2004, 2005 and 2008 Expressions of Courage® contest winner, an accomplished artist who holds a leadership role with the Desoto County Arts and Humanities Council
* Bridget Bobinger, of Cincinnati, Ohio, 2007 Expressions of Courage® contest winner, holds a Masters in Art Education from Xavier University and volunteers frequently in art education
* Walter Danker, PhD, Manager, Professional Education, Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

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The 'Get Body Beautiful' program, which kicked off Nov. 1, is an interactive, multi-media program that includes: on-site community fitness classes at local malls and churches; radio programs; Internet-based tracking; and a dedicated Web site to help women track their progress.

'Get Body Beautiful' is the brainchild of Atlanta's Andrea Riggs, a national lifestyle and wellness expert. Her company, 'Body Beautiful,' a minority- and women-owned firm founded in 1998, helps women of color achieve better health through lifestyle, nutrition and fitness.

'The health disparities that exist in the African-American and Hispanic communities are simply unacceptable,' says Nancy Flake Johnson, president and CEO of the Atlanta Urban League. 'Whether you're talking about heart disease, diabetes, obesity or breast cancer, all of these conditions are preventable with proper nutrition and regular physical activity. The Atlanta Urban League is thankful for the Aetna grant and proud to partner with Andrea Riggs and 'Body Beautiful' to bring 'Get Body Beautiful' to women of color throughout the metro Atlanta area, because it's a fun and effective way to learn about nutritious delicious food, shopping and cooking techniques and strategies and to get physically active with other women who care about their health. And Andrea makes it so much fun we know we can help metro Atlanta women to engage in healthier lifestyles for themselves and their families with this program.'

'Body Beautiful' focuses on health and wellness campaigns for corporate and community groups, and produces high-energy, fitness content for TV and distribution. Riggs is a regular on the Atlanta business and social scene, the 'Atlanta's Biggest Loser' trainer on WXIA Alive, and contributes monthly to several national publications. She often trains celebrities and Atlanta's business executives, all while doing business and building the Body Beautiful and GET LEAN brands with leading corporations and consumers.

"With 78 percent of African American women overweight and at risk for major illnesses like heart disease and diabetes, this program equips women with the lifestyle and fitness tools they need to increase their physical activity and improve their health, feeling and looking good for life,' Riggs said.

'This is a dynamic, upbeat program that empowers African-American women to take control of their lives, improve their health and serve as positive role models for everyone they touch,' said Cynthia Follmer, president of Aetna's Georgia market. 'As a company that shares that passion for promoting wellness and healthy living, Aetna is proud to participate in this effort.'

Aetna provides health benefits to more than 600,000 members in Georgia.

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The Visante® Omni is the first system to combine OCT and Placido disk technologies, which creates a new dimension in corneal and anterior segment evaluation. According to Dr Goldberg, the new technology will result in better screening for abnormal corneas as well as enable him to provide more accurate counseling regarding candidacy for laser vision correction.

Visante OCT delivers valuable pre- and post-surgical information for use in excimer laser surgery and corneal transplants as well as pre-and post-glaucoma surgical care and phakic IOL implantations. The OCT will image intraocular lens implants and aid in diagnosis of proper intraocular lens size and position.

To learn more about NJ LASIK Surgery options, visit Dr Goldberg's website at http://www.goldberg4lasik.com/

About Dr Daniel Goldberg
Dr. Daniel Goldberg specializes in comprehensive refractive surgery including LASIK eye surgery and refractive intraocular lens and cataract surgery. As a member of the elite team of doctors who performed clinical trials of LASIK in its early stages, Dr Goldberg was named by other eye physicians as one of the best doctors in America. His initial research and findings led to the FDA approval of LASIK. Dr Goldberg has 25 years of experience in refractive surgery and has performed over 10,000 LASIK surgery procedures. He recently became the first New Jersey eye surgeon to use the implantable contact lens (ICL) - a new technology to correct nearsightedness in individuals with extremely high prescriptions.

More information on Dr Goldberg is available at http://www.lasiksurgery-nj.com/

About The Atlantic Laser Vision Center

The Atlantic Laser Center in Little Silver where Daniel B Goldberg MD FACS is Director of Refractive/LASIK Surgery is committed to providing the best environment and the best technology for laser vision correction in New Jersey. The Atlantic Laser Vision Center is the first in New Jersey, and one of the first in the US, to combine the Intralase femtosecond all-laser, no-blade flap with the VISX customized excimer laser platform.

The center also uses the WaveScan Wavefront analyzer. The WaveScan is estimated to be 25X more accurate than measurements with lenses used in eyeglasses and contact lenses. All of these technology advances result in safer, more accurate laser vision correction results for patients.

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HARTFORD, Conn., 'At the mall, after using the bathroom, some people put water on their hands and just leave. They don't really use soap. To me, that's disgusting. That's just not right.' Kids tell it like it is in a new video on preventing H1N1 virus infection. Ranging in age from 11 months to 13 years, young 'experts' share their unique perspective on preventing the spread of germs and staying healthy. You can find their advice on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8g6OzM7X6mg or on Aetna's website at http://media1.aetna.com/wmedia/aet/web/novprevention.wvx. Aetna (NYSE: AET) is sharing the video widely in the hope that parents will watch it with their children, and that the video will reinforce public messages about how to keep our communities healthy.

'Aetna wanted a fun way to reinforce the message of how important it is to carefully wash your hands and follow common sense preventive measures in order to reduce the risk of H1N1 infection and help prevent the spread of disease,' said Bill Fried, MD, Aetna's medical director heading the company's pandemic flu response initiative. 'Kids listen to other kids. Adults should listen too. We've all heard the advice about washing your hands and covering your cough, but sometimes kids say it best. After all, who knows more about germs than kids?'

Advice from kids often comes with a twist, making it more memorable. Here's a recommendation you won't hear everywhere. 'If you cough onto someone, they can get sick. So cough into a tissue. Then throw it into the garbage and wait for the garbage truck to come.'
Or this reminder: 'If you sneeze into your hands and then grab the remote to change the channel, there are germs on the remote.'

While the video is lighthearted and endearing, the message is serious. A recent ABC News/Washington Post survey found nearly four in ten parents do not plan to have their children immunized with the H1N1 vaccine despite evidence the virus is having a bigger impact on the young than on other priority groups identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The poll numbers are also sobering for adults. Only 35 percent of U.S. adults indicated they plan to be vaccinated.

The CDC recommends that vaccination efforts should focus first on people in five target groups who are at higher risk for complications of H1N1 flu or who could transmit flu viruses to others at high risk. These groups include pregnant women, people who live with or provide care for infants younger than 6 months, health care and emergency medical services personnel, people 6 months through 24 years of age, and people 25 years through 64 years of age who have certain medical conditions that put them at higher risk for influenza-related complications.

In light of these facts, Aetna is continuing to reach out to members with information about the H1N1 flu, vaccine safety, and preventing infection. Aetna's website www.aetna.com provides fact sheets, Q&As, and tips on what to do if you get sick or are caring for someone who is sick. There is also a self-evaluation tool made available by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and developed in collaboration with Emory University School of Medicine that helps people understand their flu symptoms so they can make informed decisions about whether they need to see their doctor or even proceed to the nearest emergency room. All of the materials use plain language techniques to make them easy to understand.

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As a solution, a Florida-based healthcare technology company has announced the launch of a new patent-pending, cellular and GPS-enabled mobile personal emergency response system (M-PERS) for seniors and those with special medical needs.

Headquartered in Boca Raton, Medical Mobile Monitoring has launched MobileHelp™, offering 24/7 medical and emergency monitoring services with real-time notification capabilities through the use of a GPS and cellular-enabled help button.

When subscribers need help, they simply press their help button and are connected via two-way voice to a central monitoring station that is live 24/7/365. By year's end, the new technology will also allow family members to see the location of their loved ones over the Web and be notified via mobile phone and email.

'MobileHelp addresses many of the limitations that exist with traditional medical alert systems currently on the market, namely the problem of the current technology only working in the home,' said Elias Janetis, founder and CEO of Medical Mobile Monitoring. 'Statistics show that 40% of fall-related injuries happen outside the home and only MobileHelp will have someone covered in these instances.'

'With our system, individuals are no longer confined to their homes and will have help when and where they need it with our anywhere help button,' he added.

The patent-pending technology has taken nearly four years to develop and gives peace-of-mind to family members and caregivers. The product is beneficial for those who desire to live independently and need access to emergency assistance at the touch of a button, no matter their location.

Medical Mobile Monitoring offers its product through a subscription-based service that requires a small monthly monitoring fee. Cost for the service and unit are comparable to the older products that are currently on the market.

'We are able to deliver significantly more features for about the same cost or less as the older in-home technology,' said Janetis. 'MobileHelp is a cost-effective way to significantly improve the quality of life of individuals and their families.'

In addition to its GPS medical alert system, Medical Mobile Monitoring also offers ClassicHelp, a traditional in-home medical alert system.

The company is currently offering free activation and a free month of service to anyone upgrading from a traditional alert system through year's end.

For more information, visit http://www.mobilehelpsys.com or call 1-877-827-6207.

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