London, Nov 10 (IANS) For those agonising over whether they have contracted sexually transmitted infections (STI), help is at hand -- actually, just a mobile phone away.
University of London scientists are developing a self-testing device that will instantly diagnose a host of common infections such as chlamydia.
Users need to pass urine on the device as in a pregnancy test which will then be plugged into a mobile phone or computer.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Researchers Find Text Messages To HIV Patients Improve Adherence, Health Outcomes In Kenya Trial
"Using mobile-phone text messages to remind HIV patients to take their dose of life-saving medications can give a major boost to drug adherence, according to an innovative trial in Kenya unveiled on Tuesday," Agence France-Presse reports.
For the study, which was published online in the Lancet Wednesday, researchers describe how "[b]etween May 2007 and October 2009, 538 patients [initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART)] were enrolled in the WelTel Kenya1 study from three clinics that provided care for HIV/AIDS patients – one in a low-income section of Nairobi, another in a higher-income section of the city, and a third in a rural district. Half of the patients were randomly selected to receive text message support, while the others did not," according to a University of British Columbia press release (11/9).
For the study, which was published online in the Lancet Wednesday, researchers describe how "[b]etween May 2007 and October 2009, 538 patients [initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART)] were enrolled in the WelTel Kenya1 study from three clinics that provided care for HIV/AIDS patients – one in a low-income section of Nairobi, another in a higher-income section of the city, and a third in a rural district. Half of the patients were randomly selected to receive text message support, while the others did not," according to a University of British Columbia press release (11/9).
General Catalyst laying the groundwork for Silicon Valley office in 2011
managing director Hemant Taneja confirmed this afternoon that the Cambridge venture capital group will be opening an office in Palo Alto sometime next year, a project that Taneja is overseeing. He says he may not move out to California permanently, as I'd heard earlier today, but that "we need to hire a bunch of people there, and it's hard to get that done unless there's someone senior enough on the ground." Taneja, who does all sorts of deals at the firm — ranging from cleantech to Internet to medical diagnostics — adds that he's in the midst of wrapping up a significant new investment here in Boston.
General Catalyst already has at least one new partner on the ground in Silicon Valley: Chris Farmer, who started at General Catalyst just this month, according to his LinkedIn profile. (Farmer isn't yet listed on the General Catalyst Web site.) Farmer's LinkedIn page says that he will focus on "early stage investments in consumer Internet, software, and mobile." Farmer had briefly run an executive search firm, and before that was a vice president at Bessemer Venture Partners, another venture capital firm.
Even before joining General Catalyst as a venture partner, Farmer had been helping the firm "do some people-sourcing [in the Valley] as part of his previous gig," Taneja says.
He adds that the managing directors at GC aren't yet sure how big the Palo Alto office will be, but that the firm didn't want to simply hire people by remote control hope for the best. "We felt it was too risky to get some random set of investors you don't know, or have any cultural connection with," he says. Thus, Taneja will spend significant time there to help get the office going.
"Sometime later this year, we'll deal with how we think about numbers [of people in Palo Alto] and the type of team we want to put down there," he says.
Taneja says he hopes to continue co-teaching an MIT course on entrepreneurship called "The Founder's Journey." He is also a founder of the New England Clean Energy Council, a trade group.
General Catalyst already has at least one new partner on the ground in Silicon Valley: Chris Farmer, who started at General Catalyst just this month, according to his LinkedIn profile. (Farmer isn't yet listed on the General Catalyst Web site.) Farmer's LinkedIn page says that he will focus on "early stage investments in consumer Internet, software, and mobile." Farmer had briefly run an executive search firm, and before that was a vice president at Bessemer Venture Partners, another venture capital firm.
Even before joining General Catalyst as a venture partner, Farmer had been helping the firm "do some people-sourcing [in the Valley] as part of his previous gig," Taneja says.
He adds that the managing directors at GC aren't yet sure how big the Palo Alto office will be, but that the firm didn't want to simply hire people by remote control hope for the best. "We felt it was too risky to get some random set of investors you don't know, or have any cultural connection with," he says. Thus, Taneja will spend significant time there to help get the office going.
"Sometime later this year, we'll deal with how we think about numbers [of people in Palo Alto] and the type of team we want to put down there," he says.
Taneja says he hopes to continue co-teaching an MIT course on entrepreneurship called "The Founder's Journey." He is also a founder of the New England Clean Energy Council, a trade group.
British health care mission seeks partnerships
All 15 companies and 17 delegates representing the mission are creative and innovative, and looking for distributors and partners,” he added.
The health care sector is one of the UK’s major high tech strengths with over 2,700 medical device companies and an annual turnover in excess of 10 billion pounds, he said, adding that health care in the Kingdom continues to be a thriving sector with an ongoing investment in health services for a population, which is growing by more than three percent per annum. The Kingdom remains the largest market for medical equipment and health care products in the region.
The health care sector is one of the UK’s major high tech strengths with over 2,700 medical device companies and an annual turnover in excess of 10 billion pounds, he said, adding that health care in the Kingdom continues to be a thriving sector with an ongoing investment in health services for a population, which is growing by more than three percent per annum. The Kingdom remains the largest market for medical equipment and health care products in the region.
Carrier Ethernet - RAD Unveils 10-Gigabit Carrier Ethernet Aggregation Switch
RAD Data Communications (News - Alert), a manufacturer of high quality access and backhaul equipment for data communications and telecommunications applications, announced a 10-Gigabit Carrier Ethernet aggregation switch named ETX-1002.
“Ten Gigabit Ethernet access and aggregation rings are key elements in making packet switched networks (PSNs) a true replacement for SDH/SONET transport and in defining carriers' ability to meet the service expectations of enterprises, operators and service providers,” according to Ami Barayev, product line manager at RAD Data Communications.
“Ten Gigabit Ethernet access and aggregation rings are key elements in making packet switched networks (PSNs) a true replacement for SDH/SONET transport and in defining carriers' ability to meet the service expectations of enterprises, operators and service providers,” according to Ami Barayev, product line manager at RAD Data Communications.
Synovate, Domor to measure ROI for brands
MUMBAI: Market research firm Synovate India and specialist consulting firm Domor Communication Consulting have partnered to initiate a marketing effectiveness study, Consumer Response to Investment in Entertainment Properties (CRIEP).
CRIEP is aimed at helping brands understand their return on investment (ROI) of using big entertainment properties as a marketing platform.
Initially, the measurement is being done for Bigg Boss Season 4 (Colors) and KBC Season 4 (Sony Entertainment Television).
CRIEP is aimed at helping brands understand their return on investment (ROI) of using big entertainment properties as a marketing platform.
Initially, the measurement is being done for Bigg Boss Season 4 (Colors) and KBC Season 4 (Sony Entertainment Television).
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Diagnosing STDs with smartphones -- there's an app for that
WASHINGTON -- British researchers are trying to create mobile phone software that can diagnose sexually transmitted diseases.
If they can pull it off, smartphone users will have this to look forward to: place urine or saliva on a USB-sized computer chip, plug it into a cell phone, and get a diagnosis within minutes.
The spread of diseases Brits refer to as STIs -- sexually transmitted infections -- is rampant in the United Kingdom, with nearly 500,000 cases last year.
Two-thirds of women and one-half of men diagnosed with STIs last year were under 25 years old, and public health officials tell The Guardian that many of them are too embarrassed to seek treatment.
"Britain is one of the worst (countries) in western Europe for teenage pregnancy and STIs. That there's a major embarrassment factor here, especially among young people, makes the situation worse," says University of London consultant Dr. Tariq Sadiq.
Many doctors are skeptical. A sexual disease specialist at Australia's University of New South Wales tells The Sydney Morning Herald that a recent study of home-testing kits for chlamydia were inaccurate 90-percent of the time.
"They were just a joke," says Prof. Basil Donovan. "I think in our lifetime it will happen and at the moment there are rapid home tests available for some conditions like HIV that are actually quite good."
The premise is not so far-fetched. For many years, researchers have been developing mobile diagnostics, sometimes called "a laboratory in a backpack," that public health workers could take into remote regions or underdeveloped countries to diagnose diseases using digital technology.
If they can pull it off, smartphone users will have this to look forward to: place urine or saliva on a USB-sized computer chip, plug it into a cell phone, and get a diagnosis within minutes.
The spread of diseases Brits refer to as STIs -- sexually transmitted infections -- is rampant in the United Kingdom, with nearly 500,000 cases last year.
Two-thirds of women and one-half of men diagnosed with STIs last year were under 25 years old, and public health officials tell The Guardian that many of them are too embarrassed to seek treatment.
"Britain is one of the worst (countries) in western Europe for teenage pregnancy and STIs. That there's a major embarrassment factor here, especially among young people, makes the situation worse," says University of London consultant Dr. Tariq Sadiq.
Many doctors are skeptical. A sexual disease specialist at Australia's University of New South Wales tells The Sydney Morning Herald that a recent study of home-testing kits for chlamydia were inaccurate 90-percent of the time.
"They were just a joke," says Prof. Basil Donovan. "I think in our lifetime it will happen and at the moment there are rapid home tests available for some conditions like HIV that are actually quite good."
The premise is not so far-fetched. For many years, researchers have been developing mobile diagnostics, sometimes called "a laboratory in a backpack," that public health workers could take into remote regions or underdeveloped countries to diagnose diseases using digital technology.
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