How do neuronal populations in the auditory cortex represent sounds? Although sound-evoked neural responses in the anesthetized auditory cortex are mainly transient, recent experiments in the unanesthetized preparation have emphasized subpopulations with other response properties.

Roche announced that the European Commission (EC) has given its approval for the significantly wider use of its anti-angiogenic agent Avastin (bevacizumab) in patients suffering from metastatic colorectal cancer. This new broader label will now allow Avastin to be used in combination with any chemotherapy, including Roche’s oral chemotherapy Xeloda (capecitabine)*, for 1st and later treatment lines in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.

A more limited approach to craniotomy—the procedure through which a patient’s skull is opened up to expose the brain—than has traditionally been used by neurosurgeons can maximize resection and minimize lasting side effects when tumours within or near language pathways are removed, according to the results of a prospective study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The European Medicines Agency (EMEA) has been formally notified by Ipsen Ltd of its decision to withdraw its application for an extension of indication for the centrally authorised medicine NutropinAq (somatropin).

The Federal Trade Commission has settled a case with the online marketer Herbs Nutrition and its principal, Syed Jafry, following an FTC complaint that the company made false claims about the health benefits of its alternative hormone replacement therapy products, CQ HealthBeat reports. FTC in September 2007 filed administrative complaints against Herbs Nutrition and six other online pharmacies.

Reckitt Benckiser, manufacturer of E45, has welcomed the recommendation by the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) that emollient use is the foundation of the management of atopic eczema in children and urges healthcare professionals (HCPs) to prescribe patients emollients in quantities recommended by NICE.

Product RED — which benefits the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria — exemplifies a new kind of “creative capitalism” that could help eradicate poverty worldwide, Bill Gates, co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said on Thursday at the

President Bush on Monday during his last State of the Union address is expected to reiterate his call for a $30 billion, five-year extension of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, USA Today reports (Wolf/Page, USA Today, 1/25).

Department of Labor officials on Thursday announced that they have proposed new regulations governing the Family and Medical Leave Act to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget for approval, the

Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) on Thursday said a temporary funding increase for states’ Medicaid programs could be included in the Senate’s version of an economic stimulus package, CQ HealthBeat reports.