MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'comparison'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:05:35 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4883562&cid=t_205293_87_f&fid=36941&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mazecordblood.com%2Fblog%2F%3Fp%3D1348 Is saving your child’s cord blood a wise investment for future stem cell therapy?  That is the question many parents are asking when they learn they are pregnant. CNN reports via parenting.com that it is important to do your research carefully and find the appropriate cord blood bank that fits your needs.  According to the article it can cost $3600 or more over the course of your 18 year investment.However, MAZE Cord Blood Laboratories is 55% less costly than other banks which charge a yearly fee to store the blood. The reason? MAZE does NOT charge an annual fee, rather, they have one price which can be paid in full or over time, and that is it.  You can read here for further information. {Click here for a free information packet and special coupon for MAZE Cord Blood Labora... Cord Blood News blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4883562 Tue, 31 May 2011 16:08:52 +0100 4883562 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4455502&cid=t_205293_180_f&fid=38607&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fsuccessbeginstoday%2FBHWQ%2F%7E3%2FAWU1uKwwfIo%2F When starting any project or planning out our goals it’s great to have a list of needed items and supplies. While there are all sorts of project planners available, I usually like to start with a basic checklist. I created one in MS Word that has two columns, each with 25 rows of check boxes. At the top of each column is a title box to keep things straight. The download zip file has a Word 2003 and Word 2007 version and is fillable onscreen or with a pen or pencil. It’s simple and it works. The two columns can be used for different items or can be used as a comparison tool. Here are a couple of examples… Basic Supply Checklist Comparison Checklist Download: Basic Checklist Question: What other things could you use this checklist for? (Source: Success Begins Today) Success Begins Today blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4455502 Wed, 09 Feb 2011 14:50:05 +0100 4455502 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4331014&cid=t_205293_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbuzcooper.files.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F01%2Fmedpac-fig-2c.png MedPAC has released another report in which they have tried to explain variation in healthcare utilization among metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), of which there are approximately 400. MSAs more-or-less correspond to Dartmouth’s 306 hospital referral regions (HRRs), and the conclusions reached by the Dartmouth folks and MedPAC tend to correspond. In commenting about MedPAC’s last report, issued in December 2009, I noted that the major variation was caused by high Medicare expenditures in seven southern states, where patients are poorer and sicker and use much more care.    In their new report, MedPAC went a step beyond measuring expenditures, which they adjusted for prices and other factors in their last report, to measuring the actual units of service, a far better way to ass... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4331014 Mon, 10 Jan 2011 18:00:23 +0100 4331014 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4313962&cid=t_205293_86_f&fid=36669&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffadelibrary.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F01%2F05%2Fdiversity-and-health-care-2010-vol-7-no-4%2F Diversity and Health Care 2010 Vol. 7 No. 4 Contents Page Fade Fave: A comparative study of traditional postpartum practices and rituals in the UK and Taiwan Fade Skinny: This paper discusses a study comparing postpartum practices and rituals in women in the UK and Taiwan, with 3 months of delivering. Ritual practices followed in both countries consist of those associated with choosing and predicting the gender of the baby, food fads, taboos and the use of herbs during the postnatal period. The most helpful person reported during the postnatal period is the mothers’ husband or partner. An NHS Athens password is required to access this article online, alternatively contact the Library for a copy of this article. Filed under: Athens Password, Current Awareness, E-Journals, Journals, Oo... Fade Library blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4313962 Wed, 05 Jan 2011 09:02:49 +0100 4313962 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4309609&cid=t_205293_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fbreast-implants-a-geographical-comparison%2F2011.01.04 This article (full reference below, free access) came to my attention via MDLinx. It was interesting to read. The conclusion verified my expectations rather than surprised me. The authors conducted a retrospective review of patient demographics and implant information from three university settings: Kelowna (British Columbia, Canada), Loma Linda (California, USA), and Temple (Texas, USA). Each cohort included 100 consecutive breast augmentation cases. Characteristics analyzed included age, height, weight, BME, parity, and average implant volume.  When considering the 300 as one cohort, the average age was 34 years with a height of 163 cm (5’4”), weight of 58.1 (127.8 lb) and parity of 1.7 . The average implant size was 370 ml. (more…) *This blog post was originally p... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4309609 Tue, 04 Jan 2011 16:00:00 +0100 4309609 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3903093&cid=t_205293_134_f&fid=35187&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FDiabetesDaily%2F%7E3%2FjD8H4-Zcsy0%2Freview-tiniboy-lancets.php I visited the Tiniboy Lancet booth at the Children With Diabetes conference and was amazed at how small these lancets looked. In fact, they were so fine and so short that even with my reading glasses I really had trouble seeing them. Full disclosure: at my request, Tiniboy sent me a free box of lancets to try out. I didn't receive anything else from them for this blog post.Wire (and lancet) thickness in measured in gauges. Bigger gauge number values mean finer (and less painful) lancets. The Tiniboy lancets are 36 gauge, prior to this the finest lancet I'd found was the BD Ultra-Fine 33 lancets, which are 33 gauge. Here's a composite picture from the Tiniboy website.Note that they're comparing against the BD Ultra-Fine 30 gauge. These composite pictures are never very satisfying, so I dug ... Diabetes Daily blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3903093 Thu, 26 Aug 2010 02:49:44 +0100 3903093 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3710605&cid=t_205293_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F06%2F29%2Femotional-trauma-in-the-womb%2F The caller complained, “I’ve been sad all my life. I’ve been to many therapists and none have been able to help me get rid of my sadness. Do you think you can help me?” Since I have seen many similar cases like this before, I told the caller, “I have a good hunch on what is going on. Come on over and lets see if I can help.” After briefly treating the person, the sadness was gone and it has stayed that way ever since. I have treated hundreds of these situations where individuals have been able to experience release of seemingly hopeless issues. What has made the difference? There is a growing body of research showing that babies in the womb feel, taste, learn, and have some level of consciousness. One study had babies in the womb receiving “vibroacoustic stimulation” (Gonz... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3710605 Tue, 29 Jun 2010 21:23:02 +0100 3710605 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3655582&cid=t_205293_87_f&fid=36941&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mazecordblood.com%2Fblog%2F%3Fp%3D537 Another private cord blood bank is offering something called “Afford-A-Cord” and the company is pitching it as unique to their particular cord blood collection, processing and storage system.  We thought it was important to bring two issues to the fore as you evaluate your choices in private cord blood banking: 1- This program is based on a third party credit provider, GE Capital, a large finance company and is marketed under the name Care Credit. Several other private cord blood banks, including MAZE, offer this type of financing. 2- If you opt for the Afford-A-Cord plan publicized in the news, the upfront is indeed very low; however, the total cost at the end of your storage period is $6914.  That compares with MAZE’s total cost of $2010 for processing and free 20 yea... Cord Blood News blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3655582 Fri, 11 Jun 2010 16:41:36 +0100 3655582 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3652677&cid=t_205293_147_f&fid=39202&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnicolaziady.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F06%2F10%2Fstudy-women-outnumber-men-on-most-social-networks%2F Online reputation company, Rapleaf, published a study of 49 million people, revealing sizable gender and age data about social network users. In the most popular tools, Bebo, Facebook, etc. women outnumber men by a notable amount. In the Facebook domain the 18 – 24 year old age group is the largest with 1,658,029 women in the category compared to 977,753 men! The same numbers can be found in MySpace, where the same age group dominates, with 7,091,214 women and 5,226,788 men. The only social network involved in the study that did not have more women than men in the 18-24 year old group was  LinkedIn where the 25-34 age group was tops. Highlights of the study: Women aged 14-24 dominate activity on social networks and have more friends than men of the same age. Men aged 35+ are more a... Nicola Ziady blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3652677 Thu, 10 Jun 2010 18:19:26 +0100 3652677 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3231109&cid=t_205293_77_f&fid=37259&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.horizonpress.com%2Fblogger%2F2010%2F02%2Fmicrobial-phylogenetics-historical.html When at the end of the 19th century information began to accumulate about the diversity within the bacterial world, scientists started to include the bacteria in phylogenetic schemes to explain how life on Earth may have developed. Some of the early phylogenetic trees of the prokaryote world were morphology-based; others were based on the then-current ideas on the presumed conditions on our planet at the time that life first developed. Around 1950 many leading microbiologists had become pessimistic with respect to the possibility of ever reconstructing bacterial phylogeny. The concept of the prokaryote-eukaryote dichotomy did little to clarify phylogenetic relationships. The developing technology of nucleic acid sequencing, together with the recognition that sequences of building blocks in... Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3231109 Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:19:00 +0100 3231109 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3003724&cid=t_205293_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fl9onG7CQuoI%2F Most international comparisons conclude that America’s health care sector under-performs those of other advanced nations.  Aside from other serious flaws, those studies typically ignore each nation’s contribution to medical innovation — the discovery of new knowledge and practices that improve health in all nations. Today, the Cato Institute releases a new study — the most comprehensive study of its kind — that helps fill that void. In “Bending the Productivity Curve: Why America Leads the World in Medical Innovation,” economist Glen Whitman and physician Raymond Raad conclude that the United States far and away outperforms other nations on medical innovation, but that the legislation moving through Congress threatens America’s ability to in... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3003724 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:19:52 +0100 3003724 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2522836&cid=t_205293_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F1lvUfpxccEg%2F A thorough new study of 30 nations from the Institut Constant de Rebecque in Switzerland reveals serious shortcomings in America’s tax system. The report, entitled “Tax burden and individual rights in the OECD: An International Comparison,” creates a Tax Oppression Index based on three key variables: the overall tax burden, public governance, and taxpayer rights. The good news is that the United States has a comparatively low aggregate tax burden, though America’s score on this measure would be much better in the absence of a punitively high corporate tax rate. The bad news is that corruption and inefficiency in Washington drag down America’s score for public governance. The ugly news is that America has a very low rating for protecting taxpayer rights — l... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2522836 Fri, 26 Jun 2009 12:44:36 +0100 2522836 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1853649&cid=t_205293_131_f&fid=35005&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Ffungalcompgenomics%2F%7E3%2F412456461%2F A paper (Park et al, BMC Genomics) from Fungal Bioinformatics Lab at Seoul University in South Korea describes their new "Fungal P450 Database". The database contains sequence, names, and genome links for P450's (or Cytochrome P450s) identified by similarity and phylogenetic classification from genome annotations.  The group is using most of annotated genomes in GenBank (and I think some from elsewhere) of bacterial, fungi, animals, and plants. I find the current nomenclature for this family of genes confusing but it has been I am sure a difficult job and wrangled to a large part by David Nelson (who also has a new paper on the CYPome of Aspergillus nidulans). I have found it difficult to follow the logic for naming these members, as it didn't seem to be particularly phylogenetic a... Fungal Genomes and Comparative Genomics blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1853649 Mon, 06 Oct 2008 04:43:33 +0100 1853649 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1108701&cid=t_205293_97_f&fid=35050&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmaGazette%2F%7E3%2F203596875%2Ftool_bar_to_compare_prescripti.html RxPop.com, an internet prescription price comparison site and licensed online pharmacy now brings you a tool bar that will compare the prices of your prescription medication across the internet.RxPop offers comparison shopping on over 13,000 prescription drugs and compares up-to-date pricing on about 50 of the Internet's largest and most reputable online pharmacies. The site is a top 5,000 site and has over 48,000 U.S. monthly unique visitors beating out its 3 largest competitors."RxPop.com's groundbreaking toolbar also enables users to block annoying pop-ups, fill out web forms with a single click, bookmark frequently visited pages, share web pages with friends and much more," says William Hill, CEO and founder of RxPop.com. "We believe that RxPop.com is the only vi... PharmaGazette blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1108701 Thu, 20 Dec 2007 17:00:16 +0100 1108701 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=676603&cid=t_205293_137_f&fid=35426&url=http%3A%2F%2Falzheimersreadingroom.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F06%2Fmyriad-genetics-mygn-presents.html Current Flurizan™ Phase 3 Study Design May Demonstrate Disease Modification (Alzheimer's)"We are excited about this persuasive mathematical comparison of clinical trial designs," said Adrian Hobden, PhD, President of Myriad Pharmaceuticals, Inc. "We believe that this mathematical proof, coupled with the Flurizan trial design may strengthen the Company's position with the FDA in favor of a disease modification label for Flurizan."Myriad Genetics Presents Mathematical Comparison of Disease Modification Trial Designs at Alzheimer's ConferenceSalt Lake City, UT, Jun 11, 2007—Myriad Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ: MYGN) (www.myriad.com) announced today that it presented a mathematical comparison of a "Staggered Start" and a "Randomized Withdrawal" clinical trial design with a "Natural History Stagg... Alzheimer's Reading Room, The blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=676603 Mon, 11 Jun 2007 04:00:00 +0100 676603