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When blood is exposed to air, it clots. Heparin allows the blood to come in direct contact with air without clotting.
In the United States, there is a birth every 8 seconds, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's Population Clock.
The first successful kidney transplant was performed in 1954 and occurred in Boston. A kidney from an identical twin was transplanted into his dying brother's body and was not rejected because it did not appear foreign to his body.
As many as 28% of hospitalized patients requiring mechanical ventilators to help them breathe (for more than 48 hours) will develop ventilator-associated pneumonia. Current therapy involves intravenous antibiotics, but new antibiotics that can be inhaled (and more directly treat the infection) are being developed.
More than 2,500 barbiturates have been synthesized. At the height of their popularity, about 50 were marketed for human use.