Cornmeal Coconut Biscotti

When I use grainy flour like cornmeal I always include some fat in the biscotti, and this time I went with coconut oil, which contributes great flavor and a sweet perfume. Use fine or medium-grind cornmeal and make sure to use fine coconut flakes. I used organic sugar (not brown) for these; the sugar is off-white rather than white, and coarser than regular granulated sugar.

  • 125 grams (approximately 1 cup) whole wheat flour
  • 30 grams (approximately 1/4 cup) all-purpose flour
  • 125 grams (approximately 3/4 cup) fine or medium-ground cornmeal
  • 90 grams (approximately 1 cup) unsweetened fine coconut flakes.
  • 5 grams (approximately 1 teaspoon) baking powder
  • Pinch of salt
  • 55 grams (2 ounces) coconut oil
  • 125 grams (2/3 cup tightly packed) organic sugar
  • 165 grams (3 large) eggs
  • 5 grams (approximately 1 teaspoon) vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Whisk together the flours, cornmeal, coconut flakes, baking powder and salt in a bowl.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large bowl with a whisk or electric beater, beat together the coconut oil and sugar at medium speed for 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the beater. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat together for another minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the beater. Turn off the mixer and add the flour mixture. Mix in at low speed until combined. The batter will be moist and sticky.

3. using a spatula or a bowl scraper, scrape out half the batter onto the baking sheet. Moisten your hands so the dough won’t stick, and form a log, about 10 inches long by 2 1/2 inches wide. Repeat with the other half of the batter. The logs can be on the same baking sheet but make sure there is at least 2 inches of space between them.

4. Place in the oven and bake 40 to 45 minutes, until lightly browned, beginning to crack on the top, and dry. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack for 20 minutes (or longer). Place on a cutting board and cut 1/2 inch slices straight across the logs.

5. Place the cookies on baking sheets and return, one sheet at a time, to the middle rack of the oven. Bake 15 minutes and flip the biscotti over. Bake another 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove from the heat and allow cooling.

Yield: 3 dozen biscotti

Advance preparation: You can bake the logs a day ahead and slice and double bake the cookies the next day. Biscotti keep for a couple of weeks in a tin or a jar.

Nutritional information per cookie (3 dozen): 76 calories; 4 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 0 grams monounsaturated fat; 16 milligrams cholesterol; 10 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 22 milligrams sodium; 2 grams protein

Source: The New York Times

 

AIIMS ties up with Australian University for improving trauma care in India

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has tied up with Australia’s Alfred Health and Monash University to strengthen trauma-care systemsacross the country.

Under the project, both the countries will exchange and share their trauma care services, expertise and research information to improve trauma care systems.

The Australian and Indian Governments are investing over 2.6 million dollars through their Australia-India Strategic Research Fund Grand Challenge Scheme, to find the best ways of delivering needed care to injured people.

“Trauma-care systems in India are at a nascent stage of development. Industrialised cities, rural towns and villages co-exist with almost complete lack of organised trauma care. There is gross disparity between trauma services available in various parts of the country,” said Dr Subodh Kumar, Additional Professor of Surgery, Jay Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Centre, AIIMS.

Rural India has inefficient services for trauma care, due to the varied topography, financial constraints and lack of appropriate health infrastructure, he said, adding there is no national lead agency to co-ordinate various components of a trauma system.

 

Further, he said that, there is no mechanism for accreditation of trauma centres and professionals exists.

“A nation-wide survey encompassing various facilities has demonstrated significant deficiencies in current trauma systems,” he said.

The project will be led by AIIMS Director and AIIMS trauma centre chief M C Mishra.

The National Trauma Research Institute is also a lead partner in the collaboration.

The bilateral research and development collaborative sponsored by the Government of India and the Australian Government will be announced at the sixth International Congress–TRAUMA 2013, to be held here between November 8 and 10.

The event is being organised by the Indian Society for Trauma and Acute Care (ISTAC) along with the AIIMS Trauma Centre.

Source: The Economic Times

 

Dr Santosh Honavar wins Jerry A Shields International Award

Dr Santosh G Honavar, director of medical services, Centre for Sight Group of Eye Hospitals, has won the Jerry A Shields International Award for Excellence in Ocular Oncology. The award will be presented to him at the International Symposium of Ophthalmology at Guangzhou, China on November 10.

Dr Honavar currently heads the Centre of Excellence in Ophthalmic and Facial Plastic Surgery and Ocular Oncology at the Centre for Sight, Hyderabad and has established the National Retinoblastoma Foundation for the comprehensive, cost-effective, and evidence-based care of children with retinoblastoma with life, eye and vision salvage.

He is picked up for the award in recognition of his work on the management of advanced retinoblastoma with improved life, eye and vision salvage. His original clinical research has culminated in safe and cost-effective management protocols for advanced retinoblastoma that have resulted in over 95 per cent patient survival, 90 per cent eye salvage, and 85 per cent vision salvage, a paradigm change from the dismal 50 per cent mortality and 70 per cent chance for loss of an eye only a few years ago, according to a media release.

Retinoblastoma is the most common cancer of the eye in children. Its significance lies in the fact that in countries like India, it is often left undiagnosed, and hence untreated for too long, resulting in high mortality. Over 75 per cent of the children present with very advanced tumours in India, and 50 per cent of them would die, before Dr Honavar applied the existing treatment protocol, the release said.

Dr Honavar’s research has had significant impact on the diagnosis and management of retinoblastoma and its outcome. His major contributions encompass all aspects of diagnosis and management of retinoblastoma including recognition of atypical manifestations, high-dose chemoreduction to optimize visual potential, refinement of the enucleation technique, identification of histopathologic high-risk factors and adjuvant therapy to reduce the risk of metastasis, multimodal therapy for orbital retinoblastoma and identification of genetic mutations.

The work on retinoblastoma led to Dr Honavar being conferred the Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar Award by the Government of India in 2009. But it has had other, more important consequences; it has led to the consolidation of a distinct subspecialty in eye care, ocular oncology, with students completing their training, and moving on to take this approach to care to other centres in India and elsewhere, the release added.

Source: India medical times

 

Officials ink deal to create medical school in Las Vegas

Nevada’s university leaders have signed a partnership agreement to begin establishing a new M.D.-granting medical school in Southern Nevada.

The agreement, or memorandum of understanding, outlines a vision for UNLV and the University of Nevada School of Medicine at UNR to work together to create a four-year medical school at UNLV that would mint medical doctors.

The UNLV medical school would open under the University of Nevada medical school’s accreditation, but will eventually become its own independently operated, separately accredited and financially-sustainable medical school.

Nevada System of Higher Education Chancellor Dan Klaich, UNR President Marc Johnson, University of Nevada School of Medicine Dean Tom Schwenk and UNLV President Neal Smatresk signed the agreement on Wednesday. Nevada regents are expected to vote on the agreement at their December board meeting.

“Increasing the medical education and health care options for Nevadans has always been a top priority for the Nevada System of Higher Education,” Klaich said in a statement. “I’m proud of the collaboration between our two universities and their efforts to bring these long-discussed plans from the drawing board to reality.”

Earlier this year, Nevada’s higher education leaders — led by Regent Mark Doubrava — directed UNLV and UNR to begin developing plans for a UNLV medical school while continuing to develop the medical school at UNR. UNLV’s faculty senate and graduate student government also supported plans for an on-campus medical school.

Currently, UNR operates the University of Nevada School of Medicine; students complete their core classes in Reno and can complete their clinical training in Reno and at University Medical Center in Las Vegas.

Proponents of a UNLV medical school have long argued that the current model for medical education in Nevada has not served Southern Nevada, by solving its shortage of physicians. Las Vegas is the largest metropolitan area in the United States without an allopathic medical school.

Over the years, Nevada’s higher education leaders have proposed different ways to expand the current medical school’s footprint in Southern Nevada by purchasing a Las Vegas home for the medical dean and kicking around the idea for a $220 million academic medical center at UNLV.

Ultimately, regents decided upon creating a separate medical school for Southern Nevada that could educate high-quality physicians, spur new medical businesses and make Las Vegas a mecca for medical tourism.

“We’ve known for a long time that it is imperative that we build the health care capacity of Southern Nevada,” UNLV’s Smatresk said in a statement. “This collaborative agreement is a substantial step forward and offers a path that effectively utilizes the resources of two great institutions to address our critical needs in health care.”

The signed partnership agreement between UNR and UNLV would not only kickstart a second medical school in Nevada but help the two universities attract federal funding for medical research that would benefit northern, southern and rural communities.

“The ultimate goal is to best apply our resources and steward the investment placed in our organizations to result in improved medical care, health care services and quality of life for Nevadans,” UNR’s Johnson said in a statement.

Developing a Southern Nevada medical school will require a collaborative partnership not only between UNR and UNLV, but also among UMC, Las Vegas hospitals and the medical community. All parties must coordinate designing, financing and building a medical facility that will house clinical research and medical science training.

Building a Southern Nevada medical school will require “substantial incremental funding” from state and private sources, according to the partnership agreement. The construction cost for the UNLV medical school is expected to cost about $80 million.

The agreement calls for funding to be maintained to the UNR medical school and for more funding to create fellowships and residencies to keep physician interns in Nevada, where they are more likely to settle down and open a local practice.

“The quality of life and economic development of the state are dependent on our ability to educate more medical students, train more residents and fellows in more specialties and subspecialties, and improve the quality of care through clinical research,” Schwenk said in a statement. “This agreement is a huge step forward in accomplishing those goals.”

Earlier this year, UNLV’s Lincy Institute commissioned Tripp Umbach, a top national health care consulting firm, to conduct an economic impact study for a Southern Nevada medical school.

Tripp Umbach estimated that a UNLV School of Medicine could have a $1.9 billion total economic impact to Nevada, including the creation of 5,353 jobs and and $94 million in tax revenue by 2030. That represents six times the current economic impact of the UNR medical school, at $285 million.

The firm also recommended that UNLV medical school begin in 2016 with an initial class of 60 medical students, and grow to an incoming class of 120 students by 2030. To support its new medical school graduates and to retain them in-state, Tripp Umbach also advised that Las Vegas must create a minimum of 240 new residency positions.

In the coming months, higher education leaders will discuss the Tripp Umbach recommendations and set a timetable for the construction, programming, financing and accreditation of a UNLV medical school.

Source: Las vegas Sun

 

Burning Fats In The Winter With Chili Peppers

When you wake up in the dark at 7:00 am in the morning, you know that winter is here. For me, this is the time of the year when I crave for hot spicy stews every meal. But like most girls, I am afraid of gaining weight from eating so much and constantly find myself on the dilemma of whether to dig in or not. If you find yourself in the same situation as me, here is the good news! Research has found that low temperatures and chili peppers could help burn our body fat!

Researchers from the Hokkaido University of Japan recently found that spending time in cold weather and consuming chili peppers allow a person to burn more energy because low temperature and the chemicals in chili peppers seem to stimulate and increase the activity of brown fat cells.

There are two types of fat in our body, namely the brown adipose tissue and thewhite adipose tissue. While brown fat cells burn off energy, white fat cells store energy and are responsible for making some people fat. Brown fat cells appear red-brown because they contain many mitochondria, which produce a large amount of energy in the form of ATP. And white fat cells appear white, or pale, under the microscope. Below is a clip which I found very clear on explaining the differences between the two different fats.

In the Japanese study, eight subjects with little brown fat tissue were recruited and exposed to a low temperature of 17 °C for two hours daily for six weeks. Comparing with the control participants who went about their normal lives during the experiment, the study found that the eight subjects who were exposed to low temperature had an average of 5% less body fat and less white fat cells. They also burned on average more energy than those in the control group.

In addition, the researchers studied people who ate chili peppers, which contain capsinoids, or substances that give chili peppers the hot taste. It was also found the participants burned more energy than the control group when exposed to cold. This result was consistent with a previous study which found that Ingesting capsinoids increased the levels of fat breakdown in our body, showing that capsinoid plays a pivotal role in fat reduction in mildly obese individuals.

Even though the reduction of white adipose tissue from cold exposure was somewhat expected, it was not expected that capsinoid in chili pepper would have an impact on energy and fat metabolism. The researchers concluded the study by stating that “capsinoids appear to [simulate] brown fat in the same way as cold, by ‘capturing’ the same cellular system that the body’s nervous system uses to increase heat production.”

While chemicals like capsinoids, which stimulate brown fat cells, demonstrate potential application in obesity treatments in the future, it is comforting to know that eating a bit more hot spicy stew than normal will not have a significant impact weight for now!

Source: Communicating science

Helmets May Never Prevent Concussions

A third of Americans said they’re less likely to allow their boys to play football because they understand the head injury risks it poses, a poll showed last week. So it’s no wonder that helmet companies are racing to reassure parents that their products can lessen that risk. Meanwhile, researchers are analyzing whether helmet technology really plays a role in reducing concussions.

A current study of high school players found no differences among brand or age of helmet, said study co-author and University of Wisconsin — Madison Assistant Professor of sports medicine Alison Brooks. She will present the abstract at an American Academy of Pediatrics conference in Orlando today.

What happens to a player’s brain during hard tackles, and what can be done to keep the athletes safe?

“We were surprised that there was not a statistically significant difference in concussion incidence when comparing older age helmets (purchased in 2008 or older) to newer helmets,” she said.

But Stefan Duma, who has studied the Virginia Tech football team for years as head of the Virginia Tech-Wake Forest School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences, says that there are big differences among helmets. His research led to a rating system, the Summation of Tests for Analysis of Risk (STAR) ratings, that ranks helmets from 1 to 5. He’s guessing that most of the players in Brooks’s study were already wearing quality helmets.

“The important thing is, there’s a big difference between the bad and the good,” he said. “There’s a big difference between a 1-star helmet and a 4-star. There’s not so much difference between a  4-star and 5-star.”

Analyzing nine years of data from Virginia Tech, in which players wore helmets equipped with sensors, Duma’s team found an 85 percent reduced risk of concussion in a 4-star helmet vs. a 1-star helmet.

Brooks’ study will factor helmet ratings in in the next year of research, which involves 1,332 players from 36 high schools, she said. Brooks also found that brands of mouth guards probably aren’t important in terms of reducing concussion risk: Players who were generic, school-issued mouth guards actually had fewer concussions than those who wore specialized mouth guards.

Helmets alone won’t solve the concussion problem. That’s partly because of the nature of the brain’s anatomy.

“The anatomy of the brain floating freely inside the skull and the subsequent mechanism of injury will make it difficult to significantly reduce concussion risk using helmet technology alone,” Brooks said. “I think focus could be better spent on rule enforcement and coaching education on tackling technique to limit/avoid contact to the head, perhaps limiting contact practices, and behavior change about the intent of tackling to injure or ‘punish’ the opponent.’”

Duma agrees that future technology probably won’t change concussion rates in football much more. Current technology in football helmets is “about as good as we can get,” he said.

Still, sports in which helmets haven’t been focused on to the same extent may have more room to benefit. Duma’s team will present a rating system for hockey helmets this fall, and they plan on rating lacrosse helmets next. And new technology, perhaps in the form of a headband, may be on the horizon for youth soccer.

Source: Daily me

 

Contaminated spices can cause salmonella

Imported spices are contaminated at a rate twice that of other imported food, according to an analysis by the Food and Drug Administration.

Not only were 7 percent of the spices it examined contaminated with the toxic bacteria salmonella, but 12 percent contained parts of insects, rodent hair or other filth. Salmonella is a bacterium that occurs mainly in the gut, especially a serotype causing food poisoning.

The agency’s findings “are a wake-up call” to spice producers, Jane M. Van Doren, a food and spice official at the F.D.A., told The New York Times. “It means: ‘Hey, you haven’t solved the problems.’”

During the three-year examination, the agency found more than 80 different types of salmonella. Many shipments were refused entry into the U.S.

There are almost 1.2 million annual salmonella illnesses in the United States every year, but the illness is hard to track back to spices because people don’t always keep track or remember what spices they’ve consumed. And because the amount of a spice consumed is so small, there is less of a chance of becoming ill.

How Does Salmonella Get Into Eggs?

Most of the spices eaten in the United States are imported. They come from a variety of farms and countries. Almost a quarter of spices, oils and food colors come from India. Mexico and India had the highest rates of contamination. Officials suspect that insects often find their way into spices during storage.

The FDA is “not recommending that consumers stay away from spices,” Michael Taylor, FDA’s deputy commissioner for foods, told NBC. New safety rules, he said, should help reduce the problem.

Source: Business day

Woman hosts dancing party before surgery

Undergoing a double mastectomy can be a scary experience.  Yet for one woman, her surgery became a much more upbeat occasion.

Breast cancer patient Deborah Cohan checked into Mount Zion Hospital in San Francisco on Wednesday to have both of her breasts removed. But before she went under the knife, she hosted a dance party with her team of doctors.

In a now viral video, Cohan and her doctors can be seen smiling as they dance to Beyonce’s “Get Me Bodied” in the operating room.

Oh her CaringBridge site, Cohan also asked family and friends to organize their own dance party flash mobs in the hallway of her hospital room the day after her surgery.

“I have visions of nurses, patients, my community members (and maybe a few surgery residents) transforming the solemn space of a hospital into a vibrant healing ward,” she wrote.

Several other videos of Cohan’s family and friends dancing in the halls of Mount Zion have been posted to YouTube.  On her site, Cohan even encouraged people she did not know to send her pictures or videos of themselves dancing, so that she could make a dancing montage.

“Nothing brings me greater joy than catalyzing others to dance, move, be in their bodies,” she wrote.

Source: airing news

 

Giant Ball of Fungus Removed from Farmer’s Lung

A man who suffered from a bloody cough that persisted for more than a year was surprised to find that the cause was a giant ball of fungus growing in his lung, according to a recent report of his case

The man, a farmworker in Italy, may have contracted a fungal infection, called aspergilloma, while working in the fields. For a year, he struggled with not only the cough but also fever and weight loss. His symptoms hadn’t improved despite several courses of antibiotics, according to the report published Oct. 24 in the journal BMJ Case Reports.

Aspergilloma, a fungal infection that mainly infects the lungs, is relatively uncommon, and this particular clump of fungus was extremely large, at nearly 3 inches (7.6 centimeters) wide.

“My experience is very large, and it’s the biggest I’ve ever seen,” said study co-author Dr. Marcello Migliore, a thoracic surgeon at the University of Catania in Italy.

Aspergilloma enters the lungs through the respiratory tract. It creates a cavity inside the lungs, and then a ball of fungus grows inside that space. The fungus typically infects people with suppressed immune systems or lung problems such as tuberculosis. If left untreated, aspergillomas can cause pneumonia and death, Migliore said. (7 Devastating Infectious Diseases)

When the 42-year-old farmworker, a chronic smoker, initially came to see doctors, he had lost 77 pounds (35 kilograms) over the previous a year. Despite taking antibiotics for several months, the man’s symptoms worsened.

A computed tomography (CT) scan revealed a 2.75-inch by 2.5-inch (7 cm by 6.5 cm) “vegetative” mass in the left upper lobe of his lung. Depending on whether the man was lying down or sitting up, the position of the lesion moved.

Still, the doctors didn’t know at that point what was causing the cavity, though the CT scans did reveal a suggestive halo around the lesion that is a signature of the fungus.

“When there is a large cavity like that, medical therapy does not do anything, so we must remove it,” Migliore told LiveScience.

When Migliore performed the surgery, he realized it was a large ball of fungus — the biggest he had ever seen. (Image of the fungus)

When the doctors followed up with the man 16 months after the surgery, they found he had improved greatly, and no longer had any troublesome symptoms.

“Now that half of the lung is away, things are going well, he is now happy,” Migliore said.

Source: Discovery news

Is Medical Education in a Bubble Market?

The costs of medical education must be reduced as part of efforts to rein in health care costs more generally, according to a Perspective published online this week in the New England Journal of Medicine. The currently high costs of medical education – which at some schools rise above $60,000 per year – are sustainable only if physician salaries remain high, which the authors, led by a physician from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, say is less likely because of efforts to reduce health care costs.

 

Noting that students leave medical school with debt that often exceeds $150,000, the authors argue: “If we want to keep health care costs down and still have access to well-qualified physicians, we need to keep the cost of creating those physicians down by changing the way that physicians are trained. From college through licensure and credentialing, our annual physician-production costs are high, and they are made higher by the long time we devote to training.”

 

“People wonder whether we are in a bubble market in medical education,” says lead author David A. Asch, MD, MBA, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Center for Health Care Innovation at Penn Medicine.  In bubble markets, such as the recent US housing market and the dotcom bubble of 2000, prices rise based on speculation rather than intrinsic value, as people buy houses or stocks with the hope of reselling them to those with even more optimistic views of their valuation. When clearer thinking returns, those who haven’t sold are left having overpaid, holding an asset they cannot unload.  “In the case of medical education, students buy their education from medical schools and resell that education in the form of services to patients.  Medical education can remain expensive only so long as there are patients, insurers, and employers who are willing to pay high prices for health care. But if prices for physician services decline, then the cost of medical education will have to decline too, or people won’t be willing to pay for medical school in the first place,” Asch says.

 

The authors warn that high debt-to-income ratios drive students away from less financially rewarding fields.  “Debt-to-income ratios reveal how much a student has to go into the hole financially for education compared to what a graduating student might earn,” says Asch.  “For example, it costs approximately the same to become an orthopedist, psychiatrist, or primary care physician, but orthopedists earn much more.”

 

That might suggest that there is already a medical education bubble for psychiatry and primary care, but as bad as the debt-to-income ratios might be for those fields, they are even worse for some other fields outside of medicine.  The authors note that veterinary medicine is closer to a bubble market situation, which could burst when potential students recognize that the high costs of becoming a veterinarian aren’t matched by high income later.

 

Source: Penn News