Interview • Lifestyle tests
The dangers of commercial direct-to-consumer tests
Lifestyle tests that pretend to be medical procedures are inherently problematic in terms of clinical, medical and privacy issues.
News • Nuts
Hard shell – healthy kernel
Colon cancer: nutritionists at University of Jena clarify protective effect of nuts.
News • Infections
Philips and Diagnostics Development win European Union ‘Horizon Prize – Better Use of Antibiotics’
Philips and Diagnostics Development, a P&M Venge company, evaluate the novel human neutrophil lipocalin (HNL) biomarker for the rapid detection of bacterial infection. Based on Philips’ Minicare I-20 handheld diagnostics platform, the Minicare HNL assay is recognized for its potential to provide physicians with 10-minute confirmation of bacterial infection, helping to ensure that…
News • Infections
Viruses Overheard Talking to One Another
Viruses may be stealthy invaders, but a study at the Weizmann Institute of Science reveals a new, chatty side of some: for the first time, viruses have been found communicating with one another. This communication – short “posts” left for kin and descendants – helps the viruses reading them to decide how to proceed with the process of infection. The research was reported in Nature.
News • Infections
World still “grossly underprepared” for infectious disease outbreaks
The world remains “grossly underprepared” for outbreaks of infectious disease, which are likely to become more frequent in the coming decades, warn a team of international experts in The BMJ today.
Article • Infections
Seeking the role of messenger substances in infections
Using computer-based simulations and mouse experiments, researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig and at the Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg (OVGU), have disentangled the effects of pro-inflammatory signalling molecules on the postinfluenza susceptibility to pneumococcal coinfection.
Sponsored • POCT Interfaces
EKF - Connectivity now available on HbA1c Analyzers
EKF Diagnostics are previewing the new connectivity solution for their range of point-of-care HbA1c analyzers at Arab Health 2017 on stand number Z1.H30.
News • Infections
UV Light Can Aid Hospitals’ Fight to Wipe Out Drug-Resistant Superbugs
Adding UV light to standard cleaning cut transmission of 4 resistant bacteria by 30 percent
News • Healthy Eating
Study Finds Association Between Eating Hot Peppers and Decreased Mortality
Like spicy food? If so, you might live longer, say researchers at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont, who found that consumption of hot red chili peppers is associated with a 13 percent reduction in total mortality – primarily in deaths due to heart disease or stroke – in a large prospective study. The study was published recently in PLoS ONE.
Article • Laboratories
Emergency POCT
Point-of-care testing can play an influential role in reducing overcrowding in hospital emergency departments.
News • Brain Activity
Sensory Stimuli Control Dopamine in the Brain
Type and intensity of stimuli control the activity of nerve cells that release the neurotransmitter dopamine
News • Antibiotics
Bacterial protein structure could aid development of new antibiotics
Bacterial cells have an added layer of protection, called the cell wall, that animal cells don't. Assembling this tough armor entails multiple steps, some of which are targeted by antibiotics like penicillin and vancomycin.
News • Alzheimer's
Concussion linked to brain changes in people at genetic risk for Alzheimer's
Moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury is a known risk factor for diseases that gradually destroy the brain - such as late-onset Alzheimer's disease. Now, a new study links mild traumatic brain injury, or concussion, in people at genetic risk for Alzheimer's to accelerated brain deterioration and mental decline associated with the disease.
News • Wound Management
Using fat to help wounds heal without scars
Doctors have found a way to manipulate wounds to heal as regenerated skin rather than scar tissue. The method involves transforming the most common type of cells found in wounds into fat cells – something that was previously thought to be impossible in humans. Researchers began this work at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, which led to a large-scale, multi-year…
Article • Catheter systems
Ousting out-dated recommendations
Recommendations on the currently valid prevention of intravascular catheter-related infections from the Commission for Hospital Hygiene and Infection Prevention at the Robert Koch-Institute (KRINKO) are now 14 years old and therefore out-dated.
Article • Innovation
A swift new lab automation system
‘Every single hour, more than 200,000 people worldwide are being diagnosed or treated with our devices,’ Michael Reitermann, COO of Siemens Healthineers, proudly reports. No reason, however, for Siemens to rest on its laurels. Quite the contrary: the company continues to drive innovation.
Article • Parsimony in genetic data study
Simplifying what is complex
Genetics stepping ahead as Spain-based researchers develop biomedical robots that can help in the study of rare diseases, neurodegenerative disorders and cancer, as well as the creation of orphan drugs.
News • PSP test
Most rapid sepsis point of care diagnostics
Abionic SA announced the receipt of CE Mark (Conformité Européenne) for two novel tests using its easy to use testing platform, abioSCOPE. The CE Mark allows Abionic to commercialize its tests for sepsis risk assessment and management (PSP Test) and iron deficiency throughout the European Union.
Interview • Neurological diseases
No case for a psychiatrist’s couch
Up to ten years ago only a handful of antibodies that could be detected in the blood were known to neurology.
Scientists tissue-engineer part of human stomach
Researchers at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center grew functional stomach and intestinal tissues to study diseases and new drugs. They use pluripotent stem cells to generate human stomach tissues in a petri dish that produce acid and digestive enzymes.
News • Oncology
One more piece in the puzzle of liver cancer identified
Researchers at University of Vienna discover unexpected role of signalling protein in hepatocellular carcinoma.
News • Study
Molecular Roots of Alzheimer’s
Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have detailed the structure of a molecule that has been implicated in Alzheimer’s disease. Knowing the shape of the molecule — and how that shape may be disrupted by certain genetic mutations — can help in understanding how Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases develop and how to prevent and treat them.
News • Neurology
Neural stem cells found in brain of epilepsy patients
Neural stem cells have been found in epileptic brain tissue - outside the regions of the brain where they normally reside. In a group of patients who underwent surgery for epilepsy, over half had stem cells where healthy individuals do not have them, according to a study from Sahlgrenska Academy.
Article • Pathology
Fusing microscopy and mass spectrometry
Pathology does not appear to have much in common with satellites, but the concept that satellites combine spatial resolution and image quality will be the future of disease diagnosis, according to researchers.
Article • Molecular diagnostics
A one-step system for faster turnaround of hospital samples
A new molecular diagnostics system is revolutionising analysis of hospital samples across an area of northern Italy. The Greater Romagna Area Hub Laboratory has recently installed the Beckman Coulter DxN VERIS Molecular Diagnostics System and is already reporting improved workflow and quicker turnaround time for results.