Mary Agnes Carey, associate editor of CQ HealthBeat, discusses recent House and Senate actions, including SCHIP reauthorization legislation, a bill that would overhaul FDA, the nominee for the new U.S. surgeon general and legislation aimed at improving veterans’ health care benefits in this week’s ” [click link for full article]

Many animals, including humans, frequently face the task of getting from one place to another. Although many navigational strategies exist, all vertebrate species readily use geometric cues; things such as walls and corners to determine direction within an enclosed space. Moreover, some species such as rats and human children are so influenced by these geometric cues that they often ignore more reliable features such as a distinctive object or colored wall. [click link for full article]

Two new studies may lead to the development of more effective therapies for individuals with multiple myeloma (MM), a common and incurable blood cell cancer. The research, published by Cell Press in the August issue of the journal Cancer Cell, provides new insight into the molecular mechanisms that underlie aberrant NF-kB activity in MM tumor cells and underscores the relevance of the NF-kB signaling pathway as a target for MM therapy. [click link for full article]

More than 4,000 children in China who have received cochlear implants and other devices will soon benefit from a speech perception test offered in Mandarin. The Mandarin Early Speech Perception (MESP) test was developed in collaboration between Sigfrid D. Soli, Ph.D. [click link for full article]

Carie Summers, CFO of the Georgia Department of Community Health, last week discussed a budget proposal being considered by the department that would increase reimbursements for physicians and hospitals treating Medicaid and PeachCare beneficiaries, the [click link for full article]

Fair or poor housing conditions are associated with the risk of developing diabetes in urban, middle-aged African-Americans according to a study published in the Aug. 15 issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology by a team of investigators from Indiana University School of Medicine, the Regenstrief Institute, Washington University in St. Louis and other institutions.The researchers studied men and women in their homes (apartment or house) and environs in two St. [click link for full article]

The House has “quietly funneled hundreds of millions of dollars to specific hospitals and health care providers” under the SCHIP reauthorization bill passed earlier this month, the New York Times reports (Pear, New York Times, 8/12). [click link for full article]

A constitutional amendment approved by Missouri voters in November 2006 that was expected to expand and protect human embryonic stem cell research in the state has “run into political and financial roadblocks, putting the future of the research in doubt,” the New York Times reports. [click link for full article]

The number of men in the United States with undiagnosed diabetes has declined sharply over the past 25 years, with Hispanics and African-Americans no longer more likely than whites to unknowingly have the disease, according to a RAND Corporation study just issued.Study author James P. [click link for full article]

The Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Thomas More Law Center on Thursday filed a lawsuit in federal court in Lansing, Mich., against Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) alleging she has discriminated against state residents who are opposed to human embryonic stem cell research by not allowing them to post a petition on her Web site, the [click link for full article]