Authenticating your Emails with SPF

Authenticating your Emails with SPF By Phil Hollows Following up on last week’s post about Yahoo’s DMARC policy change, here’s how to authenticate mailings that (a) you send, and (b) we send on your behalf.  Before going into this, I want to make this point abundantly clear: FeedBlitz automatically authenticates email we send; you don’t HAVE to do anything. And for the vast majority of our clients, that’s perfect! That said, let’s say you want to authenticate email you send for your site’s domain anyway, and email we send for you as well. OK, sure, can do. In order to make that happen, you must have the ability to add a TXT record to your DNS settings, because that’s how SPF (the authentication protocol we’re going to set up) works. Got that ability? Ok, good. Here’s what you have to do. If you don’t have an SPF record already in place, you can simply add this as a TXT record to your domain’s DNS: v=spf1 include:mail.feedblitz.com ~all What this says is “hey, I’m an SPF authentication record for <my site’s domain>, anything that mail.feedblitz.com sends on my behalf is OK, anything else you should look at closely.”  This SPF entry in your DNS will authenticate email sent by FeedBlitz for your site based on your SPF records (remember, FeedBlitz’s emails already authenticate based on ourSPF records, and your SPF entry won’t change that). It also invites providers to look more closely at other emails that purport to be from you. If this makes you nervous, replace “~all” with “?all” but then the SPF record doesn’t really say much of anything; it’s effectively a test entry that will, in the real world, have no effect at all. You should therefore think about email sent by, or through, other systems on your behalf. Let’s say that you’re using Google Apps, and you send email for your site through your Google Apps account. Here is what Google help says should your SPF record be: v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all So, to tell receiving ISPs that it’s really OK for your domain to have email sent on its behalf by both Google Apps and FeedBlitz, here’s what you should set your SPF record to be in your DNS: v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com include:mail.feedblitz.com ~all In other words, you simply add include:mail.feedblitz.com to any current SPF record (or the example given to you by your provider), and email we send on your behalf will authenticate using both our SPF record and yours. So for the above record, Google Apps will authenticate as well as FeedBlitz. The same approach works whatever ISP or service you use to send your site’s emails through. All you need to do is find out is what you need to have for your SPF record for the system you typically send email through, and then add the include:mail.feedblitz.com text to it. Your provider should be able to help you with the record you need to add for their systems. Now, if you research SPF, you will see that some recommend using “-all” (dash all) instead of “~all” (tilde all) at the end of the SPF record.  It’s a critically important difference, and I really don’t like that advice for bloggers and businesses without dedicated and email-savvy IT staff. You should think very hard before using the “-all” version. Here’s why. The tilde version “~all” says “Look closely at email that doesn’t authenticate, but we’re not saying it’s definitely bad” — effectively leaving ISPs to use their best judgment to determine whether email that purports to be from you but doesn’t authenticate is spam (or not). I certainly recommend using this option, at least at first. It’s the safest way to avoid valid email from you being accidentally junked. ISPs are really pretty good at blocking junk based on things like IP reputation, content filters and other techniques. Most of the time, this is going to be A-OK. Switching to the dash version “-all” says something very different: “Any mail that does not authenticate is definitely junk.” That’s something you should only set if you’re really, really sure that statement is true, because now you’re saying anything and everything else is absolutely spam. How could this possibly go wrong? Well, for example, say you send an email from home via your cable provider’s email servers instead of Google Apps or FeedBlitz for your blog’s domain, assuming that is how you’ve set up your SPF record. The “-all” now says that the email you just sent is junk. As a result, it might not be accepted by your recipient’s email provider at all, and if it is, it will certainly be routed to their spam folder. The same might happen if you use a third party service, such as a shopping cart or help desk system, that sends mail on your behalf, but not using the mail systems you identify in your SPF record. Or, say you switch hosting services or email providers and forget to update the SPF record you created several years ago. All your email will be junked, thanks to that “-all”, until you fix your SPF record. So you need to be very, very sure that email will only be sent from the domains and IP addresses that you specify in your SPF record before you switch to the “-all” version of SPF. And you need to remember to update it as you add, switch or drop online service providers. Now you know how to set up SPF for your domain. After you do this, you should ensure that emails we send on your behalf are from an address on that domain, and not a generic consumer provider, so that the authentication you set up can take effect. The flaw with SPF, which is why it’s imperfect, is that other spammy systems might authenticate correctly for themselves (because of their own SPF records) but still spoof your address. That’s the situation DMARC addresses, (and what caused all the problems with Yahoo), and I’ll cover that tomorrow.         Related Stories DMARC’s (Un)intended Consequences: Why Yahoo is Bouncing Your Emails Email Marketing: A Street Level Analysis FeedBlitz: Rewind the Week   • Email to a friend • Article Search • View comments • Track comments •   More Blitz Bits By FeedBlitz FeedBlitz: Rewind the Week Cop Out of Content Creation With 10 Great Content Curation Tools DMARC's (Un)intended Consequences: Why Yahoo is Bouncing Your Emails FeedBlitz: Rewind the Week Wednesday Wrap: Our Top Five Guest Bloggers of 2014 (So Far!)   Get These Great e-Books from FeedBlitz

 

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ScienceDaily: Top News

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• Dual role of carbon dioxide in photosynthesis: Pioneering findings
• New mouse model could revolutionize research in Alzheimer's disease
• Finding the switch: Researchers create roadmap for gene expression
• Hereditary trauma: Inheritance of traumas and how they may be mediated
• Mechanism, possible treatment, for immune suppression in liver disease uncovered
• Virus-fighting genes linked to mutations in cancer: Genetic evidence supports role of gene family in cancer development
• Ocean Acidification robs reef fish of their fear of predators
• Sharpening microscope images: New technique takes cues from astronomy, ophthalmology
• Greenhouse gas emissions from today will be felt for at least 1000 years
• Cool climate – clean planet: Research suggests cooling action will clean air
• Fecal transplant? Gut microbiota may play a role in development of alcoholic liver disease
• Impressive SVR12 data for once-daily combination to treat HCV genotype 1 patients
• New Chinese herbal medicine has significant potential in treating hepatitis C, study suggests
• Women with diabetes less likely to have a mammogram: Study
• Treatment of complex developmental trauma in children and youth
• To be an organ donor, specific attitudes trump general support, study finds
• 'Nano-anesthesia: New approach to local anesthesia?
• Green space keeps you from feeling blue
• Confirmation of neurobiological origin of attention-deficit disorder
• Sharks contain more pollutants than polar bears

Dual role of carbon dioxide in photosynthesis: Pioneering findings Posted: 13 Apr 2014 12:40 PM PDT Carbon dioxide, in its ionic form bicarbonate, has a regulating function in the splitting of water in photosynthesis, researchers have found. This means that carbon dioxide has an additional role to being reduced to sugar. The pioneering work opens up a new research field where researchers can investigate possible biological and ecological consequences of the dual role of carbon dioxide.

New mouse model could revolutionize research in Alzheimer's disease Posted: 13 Apr 2014 12:40 PM PDT Alzheimer's disease, the primary cause of dementia in the elderly, imposes a tremendous social and economic burden on modern society. Unfortunately, it has proven very difficult to develop drugs capable of ameliorating the disease. After a tremendous burst of progress in the 1990s, the pace of discoveries has slowed. Part of the difficulty is the inadequacy of current mouse models to replicate the real conditions of Alzheimer's disease and allow an understanding of the underlying mechanisms that lead to neurodegeneration. Scientists have now reported the creation of two new mouse models of Alzheimer's disease that may potentially revolutionize research into this disease.

Finding the switch: Researchers create roadmap for gene expression Posted: 13 Apr 2014 11:00 AM PDT In a new study, researchers have taken the first steps toward creating a roadmap that may help scientists narrow down the genetic cause of numerous diseases. Their work also sheds new light on how heredity and environment can affect gene expression. Pinpointing the genetic causes of common diseases is not easy, as multiple genes may be involved with a disease. Moreover, disease-causing variants in DNA often do not act directly, but by activating nearby genes.

Hereditary trauma: Inheritance of traumas and how they may be mediated Posted: 13 Apr 2014 10:59 AM PDT Extreme and traumatic events can change a person -- and often, years later, even affect their children. Researchers have now unmasked a piece in the puzzle of how the inheritance of traumas may be mediated. The phenomenon has long been known in psychology: traumatic experiences can induce behavioural disorders that are passed down from one generation to the next. It is only recently that scientists have begun to understand the physiological processes underlying hereditary trauma

Mechanism, possible treatment, for immune suppression in liver disease uncovered Posted: 13 Apr 2014 10:59 AM PDT The mechanism that underlies the susceptibility of liver disease patients to life-threatening infection has been uncovered by medical scientists, who have also suggested a possible treatment to reverse immune suppression in these patients. Liver disease, or cirrhosis, patients are more than five times more likely to pick up infections in hospital than patients with other chronic conditions, due to reduced immunity which is a well-recognized feature of the disease.

Virus-fighting genes linked to mutations in cancer: Genetic evidence supports role of gene family in cancer development Posted: 13 Apr 2014 10:59 AM PDT All cancer-causing processes leave a distinct mutational imprint or signature on the genomes of patients. Researchers have found a major piece of biological evidence to support the role a group of virus-fighting genes has in cancer development. The mutational signature left by the cancer-causing process driven by this family of genes is found in half of all cancer types.

Ocean Acidification robs reef fish of their fear of predators Posted: 13 Apr 2014 10:59 AM PDT Research on the behavior of coral reef fish at naturally-occurring carbon dioxide seeps in Milne Bay in eastern Papua New Guinea has shown that continuous exposure to increased levels of carbon dioxide dramatically alters the way fish respond to predators.

Sharpening microscope images: New technique takes cues from astronomy, ophthalmology Posted: 13 Apr 2014 10:23 AM PDT The complexity of biology can befuddle even the most sophisticated light microscopes. Biological samples bend light in unpredictable ways, returning difficult-to-interpret information to the microscope and distorting the resulting image. New imaging technology rapidly corrects for these distortions and sharpens high-resolution images over large volumes of tissue.

Greenhouse gas emissions from today will be felt for at least 1000 years Posted: 13 Apr 2014 06:41 AM PDT Greenhouse gas emissions from today will greatly affect our descendants for at least 1000 years. In 1000 years, between 15 and 40 per cent of the CO2 we emit today will still be left in the atmosphere," says one professor. "We are talking about effects 30 generations ahead. This is something people need to take to heart now."

Cool climate – clean planet: Research suggests cooling action will clean air Posted: 13 Apr 2014 06:41 AM PDT Ever-rising greenhouse gas emissions and the potential need to deploy untested and expensive climate engineering technologies are just two of the many bits of bad news in a new report. But there's good news hidden in the bad. If we take action to cool the planet, we can also expect the added benefit of cleaner air, particularly in China, the authors say.

Fecal transplant? Gut microbiota may play a role in development of alcoholic liver disease Posted: 12 Apr 2014 06:33 AM PDT Exciting new data shows that the gut microbiota has a potential role in the development of alcoholic liver disease. Though an early stage animal model, a French study highlights the possibility of preventing ALD with fecal microbiota transplantation -- the engrafting of new microbiota, usually through administering human fecal material from a healthy donor into the colon of a recipient.

Impressive SVR12 data for once-daily combination to treat HCV genotype 1 patients Posted: 12 Apr 2014 06:33 AM PDT Results from three Phase III clinical trials evaluating the investigational once-daily fixed-dose combination of the nucleotide analogue polymerase inhibitor sofosbuvir 400mg and the NS5A inhibitor ledipasvir 90mg, with and without ribavirin, for the treatment of genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C virus infection have been presented.

New Chinese herbal medicine has significant potential in treating hepatitis C, study suggests Posted: 12 Apr 2014 06:33 AM PDT A new compound, SBEL1, has the ability to inhibit hepatitis C virus activity in cells at several points in the virus' lifecycle. SBEL1 is a compound isolated from Chinese herbal medicines that was found to inhibit HCV activity by approximately 90%. SBEL1 is extracted from a herb found in certain regions of Taiwan and Southern China. In Chinese medicine, it is used to treat sore throats and inflammations. The function of SBEL1 within the plant is unknown and its role and origins are currently being investigated.

Women with diabetes less likely to have a mammogram: Study Posted: 11 Apr 2014 12:38 PM PDT Women with diabetes are 14 percent less likely to be screened for breast cancer compared to women without diabetes, according to a study. "Managing the demands of a chronic condition such as diabetes is challenging for many women, leaving other preventative actions, like screening for cancer, to fall by the wayside," said a physician and author. "Our study found having diabetes posed a significant barrier to breast cancer screening even after considering a woman's socioeconomic status, a known contributor to disparities in care among women."

Treatment of complex developmental trauma in children and youth Posted: 11 Apr 2014 12:36 PM PDT Children and adolescents in foster care and institutional settings often face complex developmental trauma related to multiple or continuous traumatic experiences. However, successful clinical interventions are difficult to implement because of barriers to accessibility, time constraints, insufficient diagnostic criteria, and other limitations. A new study explores the benefits of Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI), a program designed for caregivers working closely with traumatized children.

To be an organ donor, specific attitudes trump general support, study finds Posted: 11 Apr 2014 12:36 PM PDT Most Americans say they support the idea of organ donation, yet fewer than half of eligible donors ever register, national polls show. That may be because supporting a good cause doesn't mean people will take action. However, people are more likely to sign up if they have positive attitudes specifically about registering as a donor, according to research.

'Nano-anesthesia: New approach to local anesthesia? Posted: 11 Apr 2014 12:34 PM PDT A technique using anesthesia-containing nanoparticles —- drawn to the targeted area of the body by magnets —- could one day provide a useful alternative to nerve block for local anesthesia in patients, suggests an experimental study.

Green space keeps you from feeling blue Posted: 11 Apr 2014 12:33 PM PDT If you start feeling better as spring begins pushing up its tender shoots, you might be living proof of a trend discovered in data from a new study: The more green space in the neighborhood, the happier people reported feeling. "The greening of neighborhoods could be a simple solution to reducing stress," says the lead author. "If you want to feel better, go outside."

Confirmation of neurobiological origin of attention-deficit disorder Posted: 11 Apr 2014 06:17 AM PDT The neurobiological origin of attention-deficit disorder (ADD), a syndrome whose causes are poorly understood, has just been confirmed by a study carried out on mice. Researchers have identified a cerebral structure, the superior colliculus, where hyperstimulation causes behavior modifications similar to those of some patients who suffer from ADD. Their work also shows noradrenaline accumulation in the affected area, shedding light on this chemical mediator having a role in attention disorders.

Sharks contain more pollutants than polar bears Posted: 11 Apr 2014 06:14 AM PDT The polar bear is known for having alarmingly high concentrations of PCB and other pollutants. But researchers have discovered that Greenland sharks store even more of these contaminants in their bodies. Greenland sharks live in deep water, at depths of 200 to 600 meters, and live farther north than any other shark. It is also long lived, and can live to be 100 years old. They are also known as the grey shark or gurry shark.

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ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News

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• New mouse model could revolutionize research in Alzheimer's disease
• Finding the switch: Researchers create roadmap for gene expression
• Hereditary trauma: Inheritance of traumas and how they may be mediated
• Mechanism, possible treatment, for immune suppression in liver disease uncovered
• Virus-fighting genes linked to mutations in cancer: Genetic evidence supports role of gene family in cancer development
• Lifelong premature ejaculation can be treated by pelvic floor exercises
• Sharpening microscope images: New technique takes cues from astronomy, ophthalmology
• Low vitamin D linked to fatty liver disease in UK children
• Fecal transplant? Gut microbiota may play a role in development of alcoholic liver disease
• Impressive SVR12 data for once-daily combination to treat HCV genotype 1 patients
• New Chinese herbal medicine has significant potential in treating hepatitis C, study suggests
• Quarter of men drop out of prostate cancer monitoring, casting doubt on safety of 'active surveillance'
• Women with diabetes less likely to have a mammogram: Study
• Treatment of complex developmental trauma in children and youth
• School violence intervention program effective in pilot study
• To be an organ donor, specific attitudes trump general support, study finds
• 'Nano-anesthesia: New approach to local anesthesia?
• Green space keeps you from feeling blue
• Abstention from alcohol has increased sharply among Australian adolescents
• New PET/CT scanner more patient friendly
• Policy paper on medical liability crisis released
• Enzyme revealed as promising target to treat asthma, cancer
• New towns going up in developing nations pose major risk to the poor

New mouse model could revolutionize research in Alzheimer's disease Posted: 13 Apr 2014 12:40 PM PDT Alzheimer's disease, the primary cause of dementia in the elderly, imposes a tremendous social and economic burden on modern society. Unfortunately, it has proven very difficult to develop drugs capable of ameliorating the disease. After a tremendous burst of progress in the 1990s, the pace of discoveries has slowed. Part of the difficulty is the inadequacy of current mouse models to replicate the real conditions of Alzheimer's disease and allow an understanding of the underlying mechanisms that lead to neurodegeneration. Scientists have now reported the creation of two new mouse models of Alzheimer's disease that may potentially revolutionize research into this disease.

Finding the switch: Researchers create roadmap for gene expression Posted: 13 Apr 2014 11:00 AM PDT In a new study, researchers have taken the first steps toward creating a roadmap that may help scientists narrow down the genetic cause of numerous diseases. Their work also sheds new light on how heredity and environment can affect gene expression. Pinpointing the genetic causes of common diseases is not easy, as multiple genes may be involved with a disease. Moreover, disease-causing variants in DNA often do not act directly, but by activating nearby genes.

Hereditary trauma: Inheritance of traumas and how they may be mediated Posted: 13 Apr 2014 10:59 AM PDT Extreme and traumatic events can change a person -- and often, years later, even affect their children. Researchers have now unmasked a piece in the puzzle of how the inheritance of traumas may be mediated. The phenomenon has long been known in psychology: traumatic experiences can induce behavioural disorders that are passed down from one generation to the next. It is only recently that scientists have begun to understand the physiological processes underlying hereditary trauma

Mechanism, possible treatment, for immune suppression in liver disease uncovered Posted: 13 Apr 2014 10:59 AM PDT The mechanism that underlies the susceptibility of liver disease patients to life-threatening infection has been uncovered by medical scientists, who have also suggested a possible treatment to reverse immune suppression in these patients. Liver disease, or cirrhosis, patients are more than five times more likely to pick up infections in hospital than patients with other chronic conditions, due to reduced immunity which is a well-recognized feature of the disease.

Virus-fighting genes linked to mutations in cancer: Genetic evidence supports role of gene family in cancer development Posted: 13 Apr 2014 10:59 AM PDT All cancer-causing processes leave a distinct mutational imprint or signature on the genomes of patients. Researchers have found a major piece of biological evidence to support the role a group of virus-fighting genes has in cancer development. The mutational signature left by the cancer-causing process driven by this family of genes is found in half of all cancer types.

Lifelong premature ejaculation can be treated by pelvic floor exercises Posted: 13 Apr 2014 10:59 AM PDT For the first time, researchers have demonstrated that pelvic floor exercises can be effective in treating premature ejaculation in men who have had lifelong problems. Premature Ejaculation (PE) affects a significant minority of men at some point in their lives. There are a variety of treatments, some more effective than others. PE is defined as "ejaculation within a minute."

Sharpening microscope images: New technique takes cues from astronomy, ophthalmology Posted: 13 Apr 2014 10:23 AM PDT The complexity of biology can befuddle even the most sophisticated light microscopes. Biological samples bend light in unpredictable ways, returning difficult-to-interpret information to the microscope and distorting the resulting image. New imaging technology rapidly corrects for these distortions and sharpens high-resolution images over large volumes of tissue.

Low vitamin D linked to fatty liver disease in UK children Posted: 12 Apr 2014 06:33 AM PDT A UK study investigating the link between low vitamin D status and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in British children has identified a genetic variant associated with the disease's severity.

Fecal transplant? Gut microbiota may play a role in development of alcoholic liver disease Posted: 12 Apr 2014 06:33 AM PDT Exciting new data shows that the gut microbiota has a potential role in the development of alcoholic liver disease. Though an early stage animal model, a French study highlights the possibility of preventing ALD with fecal microbiota transplantation -- the engrafting of new microbiota, usually through administering human fecal material from a healthy donor into the colon of a recipient.

Impressive SVR12 data for once-daily combination to treat HCV genotype 1 patients Posted: 12 Apr 2014 06:33 AM PDT Results from three Phase III clinical trials evaluating the investigational once-daily fixed-dose combination of the nucleotide analogue polymerase inhibitor sofosbuvir 400mg and the NS5A inhibitor ledipasvir 90mg, with and without ribavirin, for the treatment of genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C virus infection have been presented.

New Chinese herbal medicine has significant potential in treating hepatitis C, study suggests Posted: 12 Apr 2014 06:33 AM PDT A new compound, SBEL1, has the ability to inhibit hepatitis C virus activity in cells at several points in the virus' lifecycle. SBEL1 is a compound isolated from Chinese herbal medicines that was found to inhibit HCV activity by approximately 90%. SBEL1 is extracted from a herb found in certain regions of Taiwan and Southern China. In Chinese medicine, it is used to treat sore throats and inflammations. The function of SBEL1 within the plant is unknown and its role and origins are currently being investigated.

Quarter of men drop out of prostate cancer monitoring, casting doubt on safety of 'active surveillance' Posted: 12 Apr 2014 06:32 AM PDT A long-term follow up of prostate cancer patients shows that the option of monitoring slow-growing prostate cancer may not be as safe as thought, due to a quarter of men dropping out of the monitoring program. Research shows that with advancing age, most men are likely to have a cancer of the prostate, although for many the cancer will be so slow growing that it does not create a real problem.

Women with diabetes less likely to have a mammogram: Study Posted: 11 Apr 2014 12:38 PM PDT Women with diabetes are 14 percent less likely to be screened for breast cancer compared to women without diabetes, according to a study. "Managing the demands of a chronic condition such as diabetes is challenging for many women, leaving other preventative actions, like screening for cancer, to fall by the wayside," said a physician and author. "Our study found having diabetes posed a significant barrier to breast cancer screening even after considering a woman's socioeconomic status, a known contributor to disparities in care among women."

Treatment of complex developmental trauma in children and youth Posted: 11 Apr 2014 12:36 PM PDT Children and adolescents in foster care and institutional settings often face complex developmental trauma related to multiple or continuous traumatic experiences. However, successful clinical interventions are difficult to implement because of barriers to accessibility, time constraints, insufficient diagnostic criteria, and other limitations. A new study explores the benefits of Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI), a program designed for caregivers working closely with traumatized children.

School violence intervention program effective in pilot study Posted: 11 Apr 2014 12:36 PM PDT Violent behavior and beliefs among middle school students can be reduced through the implementation of a targeted violence intervention program, according to a pilot study. "I think the power of what we are doing is the power of community and, in this case, the power of doctors partnering with educators," an author said. "When things get to me, it is too late. People are victims of violent injuries, but we are on the back end of the problem instead of the front end.

To be an organ donor, specific attitudes trump general support, study finds Posted: 11 Apr 2014 12:36 PM PDT Most Americans say they support the idea of organ donation, yet fewer than half of eligible donors ever register, national polls show. That may be because supporting a good cause doesn't mean people will take action. However, people are more likely to sign up if they have positive attitudes specifically about registering as a donor, according to research.

'Nano-anesthesia: New approach to local anesthesia? Posted: 11 Apr 2014 12:34 PM PDT A technique using anesthesia-containing nanoparticles —- drawn to the targeted area of the body by magnets —- could one day provide a useful alternative to nerve block for local anesthesia in patients, suggests an experimental study.

Green space keeps you from feeling blue Posted: 11 Apr 2014 12:33 PM PDT If you start feeling better as spring begins pushing up its tender shoots, you might be living proof of a trend discovered in data from a new study: The more green space in the neighborhood, the happier people reported feeling. "The greening of neighborhoods could be a simple solution to reducing stress," says the lead author. "If you want to feel better, go outside."

Abstention from alcohol has increased sharply among Australian adolescents Posted: 10 Apr 2014 04:46 PM PDT A broad change in drinking behavior has occurred among Australian adolescents in the last decade. The percentage of Australians aged 14-17 who do not drink alcohol has increased from almost 33 percent in 2001 to over 50 percent in 2010. This trend has occurred broadly across a wide range of regional, socio-economic, and demographic subgroups.

New PET/CT scanner more patient friendly Posted: 10 Apr 2014 04:43 PM PDT A new patient-friendly PET/CT scanner does combined exams in just 15 or 20 minutes, and the patient is never completely enclosed. The state-of-the-art system is improving the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, heart disease, epilepsy, Alzheimer's disease and other conditions. "It is the most patient-friendly system of its kind," said a hospital's medical director of Nuclear Medicine.

Policy paper on medical liability crisis released Posted: 10 Apr 2014 12:36 PM PDT A policy paper on the medical liability crisis, which continues to have a profound effect on the medical system, has been published. The paper provides an update of the medical liability landscape, state-based activity on medical liability reform, and summarizes traditional and newer reform proposals and their ability to affect system efficiency and encourage patient safety.

Enzyme revealed as promising target to treat asthma, cancer Posted: 10 Apr 2014 12:35 PM PDT An enzyme involved in the regulation of immune system T cells that could be a useful target in treating asthma and boosting the effects of certain cancer therapies, report scientists, citing results of a recent mouse study. By untangling the different effects of SKG1, researchers have advanced efforts to fine-tune immune responses in patients. "We're not suppressing or exacerbating the immune system, we're regulating it," the lead author noted. "We're regulating it to do exactly what we want it to do."

New towns going up in developing nations pose major risk to the poor Posted: 10 Apr 2014 09:22 AM PDT Satellite city projects across the developing world are putting an increasing number of poor people at risk to natural hazards and climate change, according to a new study. New towns often sit in high flood risk zones but designers have minimized the dangers through land elevation, new building codes and quality construction. The problem, the researcher says, are the informal settlements that invariably crop up beside these new cities and supply their labor force. When cyclones or monsoons occur, they suffer flooding along with diseases like cholera, hepatitis and dysentery.

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