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Daily Rounds: Four Loko Busted; Scrutinizing Mass. Reform; Salt-Teens; Bill Gates On Cell Phone Global Health; Jane Goodall's Jealous Chimp

F.D.A. Expected to Take a Stand on Alcoholic Energy Drinks - NYTimes.com "The agency declined to say what it would do, but several food safety lawyers who once worked for it said a likely option was to use warning letters to inform manufacturers that the drinks were adulterated and, therefore, not safe." (The New York Times)

and locally...

Boston City Council to hold hearing on Four Loko "Connolly said the city could take a number of different approaches. It could, for example, ban Four Loko sales; persuade local retailers to voluntarily ban the product; or work with colleges and universities to get the product banned on campuses." (Boston Globe)

YouTube - Four Years After Health Reform, an Update on Care in Massachusetts PBS NewsHour profiles health reform in Massachusetts (youtube.com)

For A Healthier Middle-Aged Heart, Try Less Salt As A Teen | WBUR & NPR "Using a computer simulation, researchers found that cutting teens' salt intake by 3 grams a day — about half a teaspoon's worth — would reduce by 100,000 the number of teens who get cardiovascular disease by age 50." (WBUR | 90.9 FM)

Bill Gates - What I'm Thinking - Cell Phone Science - The Gates Notes "Peter Lillehoj and Chih-Ming Ho of the University of California, Los Angeles, received a grant to develop a disposable malaria biosensor based on a SIM card platform. The SIM card-biosensor will allow malaria detection to be performed using a cell-phone, which will make diagnostic testing more widely available in rural and remote areas. ..Terry Ferrari of World Vision will be field testing the use of two cell phone modules that will help community health workers in Mozambique caring for pregnant women and newborns to assess, to take action, and to refer cases with complications and emergencies. Another mobile-phone based tool being developed by Marc Mitchell of D-Tree International uses clinical algorithms to quickly identify women at risk during labor and delivery and assist with emergency transfer to a hospital." (thegatesnotes.com)

A Conversation With Jane Goodall - 50 Years of Chimpanzees - NYTimes.com "They didn’t know what to make of me...For instance, I had written that when Fifi’s (one of the Gombe chimps) brother was born, she was jealous of the others coming to try to touch him. Robert said, “You can’t say ‘jealous’ because you can’t prove it.” And I said, “Well, I’m sure she was!” And he said, “I suggest you say, ‘Fifi behaved in such a way that had she been a human child, you would say she was jealous.’ ” That is so clever. No one can say anything about that. There’s nothing that isn’t fact." (The New York Times)

This program aired on November 16, 2010. The audio for this program is not available.

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