Biofield therapies, which claim to use subtle energy to stimulate the body’s healing process, are promising complementary interventions for reducing the intensity of pain in a number of conditions, reducing anxiety for hospitalized patients and reducing agitated behaviors in dementia, over and above what standard treatments can achieve. However, longer-term effects are less clear. Dr. Shamini Jain, from the UCLA Division of Cancer Prevention and Control Research, and Dr.

Mobile phones are on the verge of becoming powerful tools to collect data on many issues, ranging from global health to the environment. Computer scientists at the University of Washington have used Android, the open-source mobile operating system championed by Google, to turn a cell phone into a versatile data-collection device.

Preventing the havoc wrought when freezing rain collects on roads, power lines, and aircrafts could be only a few nanometers away. A University of Pittsburgh-led team demonstrates in the Nov. 3 edition of Langmuir a nanoparticle-based coating developed in the lab of Di Gao, a chemical and petroleum engineering professor in Pitt’s Swanson School of Engineering, that thwarts the buildup of ice on solid surfaces and can be easily applied.

Missing Grain Deliveries in South Sudan Suggest Corruption Or Mismanagement, Finance Minister Says David Deng Athorbei, South Sudan’s finance minister, “said he was trying to track down hundreds of millions of dollars worth of missing grain deliveries, at the heart of what could be a massive case of mismanagement or corruption,” Reuters reports.

“A drought in India and typhoons in the Philippines have damaged large tracts of rice paddies, threatening to upset the fragile food market amid fears of shortages and riots, experts said Wednesday,” the

Athletes who use anabolic steroids may gain muscle mass and strength, but they can also destroy their kidney function, according to a paper being presented at the American Society of Nephrology’s 42nd Annual Meeting and Scientific Exposition in San Diego, CA. The findings indicate that the habitual use of steroids has serious harmful effects on the kidneys that were not previously recognized. Reports of professional athletes who abuse anabolic steroids are increasingly common.

James Pivarnik, Ph.D., FACSM, spends most of his days in the classroom, the exercise science lab, or fulfilling his duties as research integrity officer at Michigan State University. But the current President of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) will take on a different a role in January - that of Torchbearer in the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay. Pivarnik was selected for the honor by Coca-Cola, a founding partner of the

Researchers from Tufts University School of Medicine have determined that patients over 65 years of age with knee osteoarthritis (OA) who engage in regular Tai Chi exercise improve physical function and experience less pain. Tai Chi (Chuan) is a traditional style of Chinese martial arts that features slow, rhythmic movements to induce mental relaxation and enhance balance, strength, flexibility, and self-efficacy.

The Natural Products Foundation (NPF) recently met with officials from both U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to turn over the names of 10 companies that have continued to make drug or disease claims in their advertising and other promotional materials. These meetings were part of an ongoing effort through the foundation’s Truth in Advertising (TIA) program, which aims to first educate advertisers to help them bring their advertising into compliance.

Researchers studying the health effects of the chemical bisphenol A (BPA) gathered in North Carolina to launch an integrated research initiative to produce data that will allow for a comprehensive assessment of its possible human health effects. Researchers who just received funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to study BPA were brought together to meet with scientists from academia and government already working on the compound. The meeting was held Oct.