The big news in the HIV/AIDS world is reported by the New York Times (If AIDS Went the Way of Smallpox). Statistical significance was found in a vaccine study! Ring the bells and release the doves! Wait a minute. Looking at the numbers, 51 high-risk people from Thailand were infected after 3 years of taking [...]
Continue reading about Statistical Significance is Not Practical Significance
The Post (Democrats Target Bank Overdraft Charges) reports on the curbing of bank fees, particularly the overdraft fee. Transactions are automatically allowed if customers go over their limit, and legislation is planned to ensure customers opt-in.
The Post (You Have No Idea What Health Costs) sums up what we’re likely to get in this country: Rather than saving hundreds of billions of dollars with a single dramatic intervention that transforms the system, they [small tweaks and fixes] provide for the accretion of modest savings and small efficiencies.
The Post reports (House Votes to End Subsidies to Student Loan Firms) to end subsidized student loan lending for banks. These loans have carried low risk (the government guarantees 97%) and high returns for banks. This earlier article in the Times (Plan to Change Student Lending Sets Up a Fight) presents the lame rationale for [...]
Continue reading about Easy Money for Banks Ending with Student Loan Overhaul
The BBC reports (Antibiotic resistance clue found) bacterial enzymes that produce nitric oxide and confer resistance to anti-biotic drugs have been isolated by researchers. From the article: The researchers then showed that eliminating nitric oxide production in the bacteria allowed the antibiotics to work at lower, less toxic doses. Clinical trials (comparative effectiveness research) is [...]
Continue reading about Bacterial Anti-biotic Mechanism Isolated
The Washington Post reports (In Africa, Courts Shape Views on AIDS: Rulings Hold Power To Ease or Deepen Stigma of Disease) on the human rights issues reflecting the intersection between sociocultural stigma and legal methods of control. From the article: Laws crafted to deal with such a vast constituency, experts say, could help curb the [...]
Continue reading about Punishment or Protection for People Living with HIV-AIDS (PLWHA)
USAToday reports (Census Bureau severs ties with ACORN in 2010 count) on the dust kicked up by ACORN and the GOP. The article calls the 2010 Census a “high-stakes population count.” Numbers really are political.
The BBC (Antibodies ‘may aid HIV jab hunt’) reports that two new antibodies have been discovered that target a protein that produces the “spike” HIV uses to enter cells. From the article: “HIV vaccine research will be a long-term effort and we certainly shouldn’t expect these findings to lead to a vaccine in a few years.” [...]