analytica comes of age
21st. Analytica 2008 held in april 2008 in Munich, Germany.
Virtual slide for real analysis
The updated Olympus dotSlide digital virtual microscopy system can scan entire slides at high resolution and fidelity, making them accessible and fully navigable anywhere in the world. Using any of the three models - dotSlide MD (manual); dotSlide SL (fully automated, with slide loader), and dotSlide TMA (with a tissue micro-array module) - users can examine a virtual slide as if seeing the…
AACC emphasises preventive diagnostics
San Diego, California - 20,000 international physicians, scientists and other visitors travelled to the Annual Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) in July, and 750 exhibitors emphasised the increasing importance of this gathering
Determining body weight in the elderly
Elderly people lose their physical reserves and are thus more susceptible to diseases. Very often not only one but several organs are affected. Consequently, prophylactic measures such as control of body weight to determine the patient's nutritional status become crucial.
Long term research project of young children with asthma
Multiple-breath washout (MBW) is a new and sensitive lung function test qualified for use on very young children. In their study Asthma UK and the Institute of Child Health at the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London use MBW among other tests to investigate how asthma affects the growing airways of babies and infants.
CD39 - a cellular marker for Multiple Sclerosis
Scientists from the italian Fondazione Santa Lucia in Rome and the german Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin recently discovered a correlation between the number of a subgroup of regulatory T-cells and Multiple Sclerosis, that perhaps may lead to new treatment options.
Siemens to acquire Dade Behring
With a merger agreement with the US-based Dade Behring, Inc., Siemens Medical Solutions again strengthens its in-vitro diagnostic division and becomes leader in the diagnostic market. Dade Behring, Inc. is a leading clinical laboratory diagnostics company covering the market of clinical laboratory equipment and integrated solutions for routine chemistry testing, immunodiagnostics, hemostasis…
Synthesis of the Senses
For many Europeans the ideal garden is the romantic dream of that safe haven where man and nature, both unspoilt and benign, live in harmony, far away from the ugly and mundane of everyday life. There are red rose bushes and mallow; white rhododendrons and hydrangea nestle in the semi-shade underneath the apple tree; in the grass next to the small pond with the reeds large daisies have been…
Strong market growth for Electronic Lab Notebooks
The market for Electronic Lab Notebooks (ELN) is booming. Experts assume that technological developments and the growing demand to archive and store lab-data and therefore improve the productivity are the main reasons for this positive trend.
Measures to contain obesity
The World Health Organisation (WHO) quotes figures that indicate there are over one billion overweight adults spread across the world, as of 2007, with at least 300 million of these defined as clinically obese (as defined by a BMI (body mass index) of 30).
Beckman Coulter Launches the UniCel® DxI 600 at EuroMedLab 2007
Beckman Coulter, Inc. has launched the next analyser in its series of in vitro diagnostic offerings, the UniCel® DxI 600 Access® Immunoassay System, an innovative immunochemistry instrument designed for mid-volume laboratories, a segment which represents more than 45 percent of the immunodiagnostic testing market, worldwide.
Quicker method for spotting cervical cancer
Scientists developed an easy and fast method to detect cervical cancer cells that especially can be adopted in developing countries. Using the lab facilities available in an Indian hospital, the researchers around Dr Nick Coleman of the Medical Research Council´s Cancer Cell Unit, compared a new cell staining technique to the standard slide searching method.
Screenings beneficial in common tuberculosis areas
In areas of the UK where tuberculosis has a high prevalence, screenings could increase diagnosis both of active and latent forms of the disease and therefore could help prevent its spread.
A simple blood test may reduce mortality in heart failure patients
Researchers at the University of California in Los Angeles found out that the blood level of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), a neurohormone released by the heart when it is stressed or damaged, provided a direct relationship with in-hospital mortality. So a simple blood test can predict in-hospital mortality risk for heart failure patients.
Article • Blood products and radiofrequency identification (RFID)
Bar coding saves blood products
The Sato Corporation specialises in barcode printing - established in Japan, it pioneered the first hand labellers in 1962 and, in 1974, developed a printer able to print barcodes and OCR characters.
A new study could revolutionise drug testing
Researchers have made a breakthrough by detecting the electrical equivalent of a living cell's last gasp. The work takes them a step closer to both seeing the 'heartbeat' of a living cell and a new way to test drugs.
New quick test for MRSA delivers results in just 5 hours
The methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is one of the most common causes of life threatening infections among hospital patients. What makes the bacterium that dangerous is the fact, that due to unspecific symptoms and long lasting testing procedures its detection takes too long. A new test that delivers results in just five hours now offers the possibility of a MRSA screening for…
Better records reveal more bugs
UK - According to new figures obtained from death certificates by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) deaths involving Clostridium difficile rose by 69% to 3,800 in the 2004-05 period, whilst MRSA increased by 39% to 1,629. (In two hospitals in one city, C. difficile was linked to the deaths of 12 patients in just four weeks and, in another city, in one eight-month period, at least 49 people…
Seeking life's chemical processes
Since the human genome was mapped 'systems biology' centres have sprung up all over Europe, including Bioquant in Heidelberg, Germany.
For use with microscopes
The new Olympus E-330 micro-imaging system for microscopy includes the world's first digital SLR camera to show real-time frame images on the LCD, the company reports. `The system is based around a 7.5 Megapixel sensor, which together with an array of unique features delivers incredibly sharp and vibrant images directly onto a 2.5 inch high-resolution colour LCD. Other features of the micro…
Norovirus epidemic in Germany
Fortunately, the influenza virus has not swapped over to Germany yet because the country has enough to do with the norovirus which is expected to attack up to one million people during the next weeks. People affected by the virus suffer from strong nausea and diarrhoea that last at least two days.
Influenza season has begun
Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Scotland, Spain and Switzerland are the first European countries affected by an increase of the influenza virus. Other countries will follow over the coming weeks and should prepare.
Top-Class scientific lectures and lively discussions in Heidelberg
Four times a year, the “Leica Scientific Forum — Advances in Life Science” offers top-class lectures, with eminently respectable speakers in the field of medicine like Noble prize winner Professor Dr. Erwin Neher from the Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, who was guest speaker at the last Forum this year on December 5. The Forum – which takes place in Heidelberg…
Live cell imaging
Bio-imaging Facility at the University of Manchester ordered three new Nikon eC1 confocal microscopes.
