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.
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.
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.
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…
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…
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.
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, 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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…
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…
Since the human genome was mapped 'systems biology' centres have sprung up all over Europe, including Bioquant in Heidelberg, Germany.
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…
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.
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.
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…
Bio-imaging Facility at the University of Manchester ordered three new Nikon eC1 confocal microscopes.
Human genetic testing centre gains international quality accreditation.
Advia LabCell Modular Automation Systems integrate clinical chemistry, immunodiagnostics, haematology, urinalysis, and other hospital and laboratory areas.
The Leica DMD108 has been designed to ease the growing workload in histopathology laboratories.
