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Biopolymers: The key to the 21st‑century medical revolution
Adolfo Benedito EngineeringWe have so much hope for medical innovation in the near future. Words such as nanotechnology, immune therapy, stem cells and tissue creation are becoming more and more common in the medical world, generating a current of optimism that we may soon find cures and treatments for many complex diseases and conditions.
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Teens and food: How a fatty diet can disrupt muscle response
Dorothy L. Tengler Sports & FitnessToday, about 1 in 3 American kids and teens is overweight or obese. Tripling from 1971 to 2011, childhood obesity is now the No. 1 health concern among parents in the United States, topping drug abuse and smoking. Despite a social emphasis on being thin, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) reports that among those in the age group 12 to 19, the incidence being overweight increased from 11 percent to 17 percent.
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Driving the bus of your nursing career
Keith Carlson Medical & Allied HealthcareIn our nursing careers, we can often feel buffeted by winds over which we feel little control. We can feel like we "should" do this or that, make choices that others feels are best for us, or take paths that feel prescribed for us, not chosen by us. This career paradigm can indeed feel uncomfortable.
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Advances in wireless wearable brain‑computer interface systems
Dr. Afsaneh Motamed-Khorasani Science & TechnologyWe have witnessed the rapid growth of research in the field of brain-computer interface (BCI) in the last 15 years. This process now has the potential to further advance in terms of accuracy and speed through training and practice. EEG-based BCI systems basically decode the user's neurophysiological intention signals and produce commands that can control an external device, such as computer applications, home appliances and prosthetic devices.
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RFA therapy shows promise in treating pancreatic cancer
Dr. Afsaneh Motamed-Khorasani Medical & Allied HealthcarePancreatic cancer has been ranked as the fourth-leading cause of cancer-related mortality in the West with 20 percent, 40 percent and 40 percent of the cases presented with a resectable lesion, unresectable locally advanced and metastatic disease, respectively.
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Future implications of the increase in middle-aged hip replacements
Dorothy L. Tengler Medical & Allied HealthcareMore than 300,000 total hip replacements are performed in the U.S. each year, and that number is expected to increase to 500,000 by the year 2030. The number of THRs nearly doubled among middle-aged patients from 2002-2011, primarily because of the increasing middle-aged U.S. population. This continued growth in hip replacement surgeries in patients age 45 to 64, an increase in revision surgeries for this population as they age, and a nearly 30 percent decline in the number of surgeons who perform THRs could all have significant implications for future healthcare costs.
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How to avoid health system staff turnover and employee poaching
Scott E. Rupp Healthcare AdministrationStaffing shortages and turnover problems have become two of healthcare's biggest problems. Not only is finding quality talent a problem, keeping it is, causing concerns for hiring managers and recruiters in the current healthcare economy. Experts offer a few tips for retaining staff.
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What is the origin of Nurses Week?
Joan Spitrey Medical & Allied HealthcareEach year, Nurses Week begins on May 6 and runs through May 12, Florence Nightingale's birthday. This is a week where the worker bees of the healthcare world get some time in the spotlight. Many nurses look forward to the week of gifts, praises and a reminder of the greatness of nursing. But how did all this celebrating actually originate?
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New Mexico police shape up after fatal helicopter crash
Mark Huber Transportation Technology & AutomotiveThe National Transportation Safety Board has taken state police forces to task for a series of fatal helicopter crashes in recent years from Maryland to Alaska. But perhaps the board levied its heaviest criticism at the New Mexico State Police (NMSP) for the fatal crash of its AgustaWestland AW109E back in 2009. Dead bodies tend to generate self-reflection, and to its credit, the NMSP instituted reforms, and shared them with the rotorcraft community at large at this year's Heli-Expo during an NTSB safety forum.
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Mental Health Awareness Month aims to knock down stigma
Jessica Taylor Mental HealthcareWords of hopelessness are spoken day in and day out from individuals with mental illnesses, but they're often pushed to the side. Because of the stigma around mental health, it’s harder for people who may need help to seek out the resources that are available to them. Since May is Mental Health Awareness Month, there's no time like the present to discuss what can be done.
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