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Suicide Rates Lowest On Record, England
The number of suicides in England are at an all-time low, Care Services Minister Phil Hope announced as he published the latest annual report on suicide prevention.

Help GPs Spend More Time Preventing Illness, Australia
The Medicare rebate system should be reformed to enable General Practitioners to spend more time helping patients to avoid preventable health problems, the AMA said today.
News of the day
Sen. McConnell Says Filibuster Of Supreme Court Nominee Sotomayor Remains Possible
Appearing on CBS" "Face the Nation" on Sunday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnel (R-Ky.) said that Senate Republicans have not ruled out a filibuster on the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, The Hill reports. Although McConnell acknowledged that he has "consistently opposed filibustering judges," he added that the "precedent was established" when Democrats filibustered Miguel Estrada, an appeals court nominee under former President George W. Bush. When asked to clarify his statement, McConnell added, "The Democrats have firmly established that as a precedent, but that doesn"t mean you are going to use it" (Blake, The Hill, 6/14). McConnell also said that it is "way too early to be talking about whether or not anybody opposes this nominee" (Schieffer, "Face the Nation," CBS, 6/14).According to The Hill, McConnell is the first top GOP senator to state that a filibuster is a possibility, as most other Republicans have said only that it is too early to determine if it should be an option. Republicans "face a difficult path" if they choose to filibuster Sotomayor because party members have long decried judicial filibusters, The Hill reports (The Hill, 6/14).
Mental Health

Researchers Draft 3-D Protein Map To Aid Stroke, Cancer Research

A new three-dimensional computer protein map is helping researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) unravel the biological pathways that control brain-cell death after a stroke. The new map will help identify new drug targets and test compounds to slow brain-cell death, halt brain cancer and improve pain control, the study authors said. The findings are published online in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. Starting with known cell coordinates, biological structures and other data, UAB researchers focused on a protein called acid-sensing ion channel-1, or ASIC-1. This protein acts as a gateway on the surface of brain cells called neurons. The researchers generated a 3-D computer map of ASIC-1, which greatly simplifies the testing of any drug or compound designed to protect neurons, regulate their molecular interactions or isolate brain tumors. "This protein ASIC-1 has a lot of little nooks and crevices where other molecules can sit and interact with the channel," said Yawar Qadri, a graduate student in the UAB Department of Physiology and Biophysics and the study"s lead author. "With the map we"ve generated and the area we"ve described, researchers can fine-tune their ideas and tailor experimental compounds." Dale Benos, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Physiology and Biophysics and a co-author on the study, said the ASIC-1 map is an invaluable tool in the ongoing search for new drugs that will specifically act on this biological pathway. "The hope is that when a person has a stroke or they get diagnosed with a brain tumor, the patient can be given a drug that will keep his or her neurons alive and functioning longer, or we can keep cancer from migrating further," Benos said. The study began with a toxin found only in the venom of the Trinidad chevron tarantula. In earlier laboratory research, this venom toxin proved capable of slowing neuronal death, inhibiting cancer growth and improving other biological disorders. UAB researchers wanted to simplify the search for non-venom agents that interact with ASIC-1 for positive results. Qadri and his UAB colleagues generated the map of ASIC-1 with a software program called Modeller, developed by engineers at the University of California, San Francisco. The UAB ASIC-l map study includes validation work confirming its accuracy. University of Alabama at Birmingham


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