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More Camden, N.J., Residents Using Needle Exchange Programs
A pilot needle exchange program in Camden, N.J., - one of four in the state - "was off to a slow start" when it began 18 months ago, but "now, 976 drug users have registered with the program - more people than those at the other pilot sites in Atlantic City, Newark or Paterson," the Cherry Hill Courier-Post reports. "In Camden, 854 people are living with HIV/AIDS, the eighth-highest number among New Jersey municipalities, according to the latest data from the state Department of Health and Senior Services. About a third of them were infected by dirty needles," the Courier-Post reports. Bob Baxter, who oversees Newark"s program, said needle exchanges provide "the most immediate benefit at the cheapest cost," in reducing the spread of blood-borne diseases. "While there"s no way to count the number of people who are no longer sharing needles because of the program, organizers say they hope to see their success correlate to lowered communicable disease rates," the article states (Hirsch, 7/20).
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Hospital Room Design Can Have Effect On Patient Care, Outcomes, Studies Show
Hospital room design can help reduce medical errors, infections and falls, as well as patient stress, according to results emerging from more than 1,500 studies, the New York Times reports. For instance, a study at Bronson Methodist Hospital found that hospital-acquired infection rates dropped by 11% when more single-patient rooms were added, with well-located sinks and better air-flow designs. In addition, research from the Pebble Project -- an effort by the Center for Health Design -- found that lowering noise levels around patients improved self-reported sleep quality by nearly 50%, from 4.9 on a scale of 10 to 7.3. Other studies have suggested that natural light can help with patient depression and that nature scenes can help lower reported pain levels, the Times reports. Anjali Joseph, director of research at the Center for Health Design, said that many new hospitals also are replacing centralized nurses" stations with smaller ones located near patients. Insurance companies want some assurance that upgrades and new features will do more than just attract patients, the Times reports. Susan Pisano, a spokesperson for America"s Health Insurance Plans, said, "When a hospital makes a change -- buys a new machine, builds a new building -- they need to be prepared to discuss those changes with the people purchasing their services," adding, "They have to make the case that these changes will improve quality and safety and efficiency" (Campbell, New York Times, 5/19).
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Neuropsychological Perspectives On The Mechanisms Of Imitation
For over a century neurologists and psychologists have investigated how the human brain processes and controls the imitation of gestures, and looked for differences depending on whether the gestures were meaningful, such as grabbing an object, or meaningless, on the goal of the action, and on the body part used.
Oncology

Classification Methods For Identifying The Neural Characterics Of Antidepressant Treatment

Depression is a major public health problem, and one of the most important challenges for psychiatrists is to determine whether an individual with depression should receive cognitive-behavioral therapy or treatment with antidepressant medication. A study by researchers from Emory University, presented at the Annual Meeting of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping in San Francisco, used brain imaging along with sophisticated statistical techniques to examine the differences in brain function that result from these two different kinds of treatment. Forty individuals with depression were scanned with magnetic resonance imaging after undergoing cognitive behavioral therapy or antidepressant therapy. The researchers found that they could distinguish the brain activity of individuals undergoing the two different treatments, and in particular that the two treatments differently affected the communication of the brain areas that are thought to play a role in depression, including the communication between the prefrontal cortex and the nucleus accumbens, and between the subgenual cingulate and the thalamus. The results provide a basis for future research that will try to predict which individuals will benefit from different treatments for depression. Authors: S. Chen, G. Derado, Y. Guo, F.D. Bowman, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States Organization for Human Brain Mapping


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