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Physician-targeted education campaign reduces outpatient antibiotic use in Quebec

Antibiotic overuse and resistance have emerged as major threats during the past two decades. Following an outbreak of Clostridium difficile infections, which often result from antibiotic use, health care professionals in Quebec, Canada targeted physicians and pharmacists with an education campaign that reduced outpatient antibiotic use, according to a study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases and now available online.

26 Jul 2011

Advanced Instruments launches Advanced Automated Osmometer

Advanced Instruments, Inc., today introduced the A2O Advanced Automated Osmometer, a multi-sample instrument that sets new benchmarks for analytical performance, ease of use, and true walk away operation capabilities in osmolality testing.

25 Jul 2011

Specific yeast protein can promote spontaneous prion formation

It's a chicken and egg question. Where do the infectious protein particles called prions come from? Essentially clumps of misfolded proteins, prions cause neurodegenerative disorders, such as mad cow/Creutzfeld-Jakob disease, in humans and animals.

25 Jul 2011

DNA test reveals unlisted ingredients in herbal brews, teas

Take a second look at your iced or steaming tea. Guided by scientific experts, three New York City high school students using tabletop DNA technologies found several herbal brews and a few brands of tea contain ingredients unlisted on the manufacturers' package.

22 Jul 2011

U.S. physicians to receive nearly $10M from Humana's Provider Quality Rewards Program

Humana Inc. has begun distributing nearly $10 million to physicians across the U.S. who participate in Humana's Provider Quality Rewards Program. Approximately 2,800 physician practices will receive payments of as much as $175,000 in recognition of performance improvements their practices made during 2010 related to improved outcomes for Humana's Medicare members.

21 Jul 2011

Randox win Premier Healthcare Alliance contract for Quality Control

Randox Laboratories Ltd is proud to announce that in April 2011 we signed a multi-year agreement with the Premier Healthcare Alliance for the supply of Acusera Quality Control (QC) materials. The agreement will provide the 90,000 plus Premier members with access to our extensive range of quality control products and the benefits they offer clinical laboratories. When asked about the new agreement Laura Coyle Randox Business Manager for the USA revealed that ‘We look forward to strengthening our relationship with Premier and providing added value to their members’.

From Randox Laboratories Ltd. 21 Jul 2011

Ensign acquires nine skilled nursing, assisted living facilities from Careage Management

The Ensign Group, Inc. announced today that Ensign operating subsidiaries have acquired nine skilled nursing and assisted living facilities from Sioux City, Iowa-based Careage Management, LLC.

20 Jul 2011

Two instruments of Thermo Fisher Scientific win 2011 R&D 100 Award

Thermo Fisher Scientific, the world leader in serving science, today announced that two of its instruments are 2011 R&D 100 Award winners: the Thermo Scientific Evolution 200 series UV-Vis spectrophotometer and the Thermo Scientific Dionex ICS-5000 capillary ion chromatography system.

From Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. 20 Jul 2011

Tyco reaches agreement to acquire Chemguard

Tyco International Ltd. announced today that it has reached an agreement to acquire privately-held Chemguard, Inc., a leading provider of firefighting foam concentrates and equipment, foam systems, services and specialty chemicals. Chemguard will be integrated into Tyco's Fire Protection Products business unit.

20 Jul 2011

Global research initiatives to standardize Alzheimer's biomarkers

As the Alzheimer's field moves closer to new and earlier tests for the disease, innovative global research initiatives are taking the first important steps to standardize Alzheimer's biomarkers, as evidenced by two presentations made today at the Alzheimer's Association(R) International Conference 2011 (AAIC 2011) in Paris.

18 Jul 2011

Researchers discover new gene linked to intellectual disability

A gene linked to intellectual disability was found in a study involving the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) - a discovery that was greatly accelerated by international collaboration and new genetic sequencing technology, which is now being used at CAMH.

15 Jul 2011

Experts available to discuss various effects of sun exposure

After many long winter months, Canadians are eager to get outside and enjoy the short and sweet season of warm summer sunshine. Although soaking up the sun can help us forget our winter blues, too much or unprotected exposure can have harmful consequences to your health.

15 Jul 2011

ASTRO develops white paper on safe use of intensity modulated radiation therapy

As part of the Target Safely initiative, the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) has developed a white paper, the first of a series of such papers, on the safe use of integrating intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) into the radiation oncology clinic.

15 Jul 2011

Ion Torrent ships three next-generation sequencers

Ion Torrent, a unit of Life Technologies Corporation, today announced that it is shipping its new 100 Mb Ion 316 chip, which has tenfold more throughput than the original Ion 314 chip, and that its 1 Gb Ion 318 chip will be available in the fourth quarter.

11 Jul 2011

Randox launches Lab Tests Blog

Randox Laboratories is excited to announce the launch of its very own online blog - Lab Tests Blog.

From Randox Laboratories Ltd. 11 Jul 2011

Eighteen scientists receive Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation awards

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on supporting innovative early career researchers, named 18 new Damon Runyon Fellows at its spring Fellowship Award Committee review.

7 Jul 2011

Watson Pharmaceuticals expands Salt Lake City R&D and manufacturing facility

Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc., today formally announced an approximately $44 million expansion of its Salt Lake City, Utah, Watson Laboratories, Inc. site.

23 Jun 2011

FGS expands service offering to European market through ISO 13485 medical certification

Flextronics Global Services (FGS), a business unit of Flextronics, today announced that it is expanding its service offering to the medical market in Europe through ISO 13485 medical certification at its Budapest facility.

22 Jun 2011

Free ADAP 2.0 software upgrade with Biochrom's EZ Read 400 research reader

Busy laboratory environments require a microplate reader with the flexibility to cover many assay types, and software that delivers fast, reliable analysis. With this in mind, Biochrom are offering a free software upgrade from ADAP 2.0 Basic to ADAP 2.0 Plus with purchases of the EZ Read 400 research reader until 30 September 2011. For further information, visit www.biochrom.co.uk.

From Biochrom Ltd. 20 Jun 2011

Bruker launches Hyperspectral Imaging System for detection of gases

Following Bruker's acquisition of Sigma ElectroOptics in December 2010, Bruker is now launching its expanded product line for the remote infrared detection of gases in industrial, environmental and homeland security applications.

20 Jun 2011