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GAO Report Finds Veterans Affairs Facilities Do Not Comply With Privacy Standards For Women
All Department of Veterans Affairs outpatient clinics and hospitals are failing to fully comply with federal privacy standards for women, according to a Government Accountability Office report, the AP/Boston Globe reports. The report comes as thousands of female veterans are entering the VA health system after returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.GAO auditors said that many VA facilities had gynecological tables that faced the door. In one instance, a gynecological table faced a door opening to a waiting room. The investigation also found cases where women had to walk through waiting rooms to use the restroom -- a violation of VA policy requiring adjoining restrooms. Four VA hospitals did not guarantee women access to private bathing facilities. In two of those cases, the facilities did not have locks.Nearly 20% of female veterans have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, and many of them have experienced sexual trauma while serving, according to the report. The report also said that most female veterans at VA facilities are ages 20 to 29. On average, female veterans using VA facilities are much younger than male VA patients, it noted.Randall Williamson, director of health care issues at GAO, said that although top VA officials are committed to improving care for female veterans, facilities are not always taking simple steps, such as repositioning exam tables. Patricia Hayes, chief consultant for VA"s veterans strategic health care group, said that the agency recognizes issues and is making changes to address disparities in care. She noted that VA is creating a long-term plan for construction improvements to address space and building layout challenges (AP/Boston Globe, 7/15).

Study Estimates Cost Added To Private Health Insurance Premiums To Cover Uncompensated Care
The average U.S. family and their employers paid an additional $1,017 in health care premiums in 2008 to pay for care of the uninsured, according to a study released on Thursday by Families USA, USA Today reports (Kim, USA Today, 5/28). According to the study, which examined federal data, the uninsured received $116 billion in health care from hospitals, physicians and other providers in 2008 and paid 37% of that amount. Government programs and charities covered an additional 26%, which left another 37%, or about $43 billion, unpaid. The study then estimated how those costs are when spread across the insured through higher premiums, the study found. According to the study, prepared by the actuarial firm Milliman, the average additional amount paid under private coverage for single individuals was about $370 per year (Werner, AP/Austin American-Statesman, 5/28). Families USA Executive Director Ron Pollack said, "This is a hidden tax on all insurance premiums, whether it is paid by business for their work or by families when they purchase their own coverage" (USA Today, 5/28).The study is available online.
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From Oxygen Transport To Melanin Formation: Activation Mechanism Of Key Enzymes Explained

Pandinus imperator, the emperor scorpion, is not only popular as a pet, but is also of interest for research purposes. The reason for this is its blue blood, which transports oxygen and distributes it throughout the body. Like tyrosinase, the key enzyme in melanin synthesis, the blue blood pigment hemocyanin found in the emperor scorpion and other arthropods belongs to a group of special molecules that occur in all organisms and that have many different functions: coloring the skin, hair and eyes, immune response, wound healing or the brown discoloration of fruit. "When these enzymes mutate, this may result in albinism, or in birth marks when production of the pigment melanin increases, as often seen in melanoma," explains Professor Heinz Decker of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. The biophysicist has been studying hemocyanins and the associated tyrosinases for the past 20 years. In cooperation with researchers, Dr. Cong and Dr. Chiu, from the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston he has now been able to show for the first time exactly how the enzymes become active, thereby fulfilling their various functions. This work was published in the journal Structure on 13 May. The researchers investigated the hemocyanin molecules of the emperor scorpion with the aid of cryo-electron microscopy. This is done by dissolving the molecules in an extremely thin film of water and then freezing it. The use of this technology means that the water does not form crystals, but an amorphous film of ice, which can then be examined by means of electron microscopy. "The benefit of this method lies in the fact that we can use it to penetrate the inside of the molecules and therefore see exactly what takes place there," says Decker. The molecules house the "active center", the part of the enzyme that carries out its function. Access to the active center is at first blocked. Once the researchers have triggered an appropriate stimulus the structure changes. "We have seen that a specific domain of the molecules must move before the door to the active center is opened, thus triggering enzyme activity. This allows bulky phenols to reach the active center as a substrate and be converted into active quinones by bonding with oxygen; these quinones can then independently synthesize to melanin". For many years, Decker had been proposing this activation mechanism as a hypothesis in his work, but now it has been directly observed for the first time. The observations made regarding the oxygen transport molecule hemocyanin can also be applied to tyrosinases. Hemocynanin is so closely related to tyrosinases that it can even be converted into tyrosinases by means of the activation mechanism described. This, too, has been demonstrated in several experiments. New opportunities have thus been created for an improved understanding of disorders or diseases such as albinism and malignant melanoma. The cosmetics industry is interested in this interrelationship, as the color of the skin and hair is determined by the formation of melanin. The food industry could make use of the information to prevent the discoloration of fruit, such as banana peels for example, by inhibiting this mechanism. This study was funded by the National Center for Research Res, the Roadmap Initiative for Medical Research (in Houston) and the German Research Foundation (DFG, SFB490) as well as the newly established Research Focus of Computational Sciences in Mainz (CMS) and Research Center for Immunology in Mainz. Mainz Universitaet


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