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.
Hospital Auxilio Mutuo an EHR Pioneer with McKesson Paragon® HIS
Puerto Rico provider becomes first in Caribbean to implement electronic health records
In a move to improve patient care and financial performance, the largest hospital in the Caribbean has successfully implemented McKesson’s Paragon ® hospital information system (HIS) . With this deployment, Puerto Rico-based Hospital Auxilio Mutuo has become one of the first Caribbean hospitals to implement electronic health records (EHRs) for its patients and provide its caregivers with clinical IT tools.
The hospital has a history of innovation in specialties, including cardiology, organ transplantation and oncology. However, the 581-bed hospital in San Juan relied on manual, paper-based patient care documentation throughout its 127-year history. Auxilio Mutuo expects the new technology to facilitate reimbursement and ensure that clinical information is consistent and available in a format that can be easily shared across the care team.
In a move to improve patient care and financial performance, the largest hospital in the Caribbean has successfully implemented McKesson’s Paragon ® hospital information system (HIS) . With this deployment, Puerto Rico-based Hospital Auxilio Mutuo has become one of the first Caribbean hospitals to implement electronic health records (EHRs) for its patients and provide its caregivers with clinical IT tools.
The hospital has a history of innovation in specialties, including cardiology, organ transplantation and oncology. However, the 581-bed hospital in San Juan relied on manual, paper-based patient care documentation throughout its 127-year history. Auxilio Mutuo expects the new technology to facilitate reimbursement and ensure that clinical information is consistent and available in a format that can be easily shared across the care team.
BUYINS.NET: APU, BIOF, SRDX, BBX, MNTX, CADE Expected To Be Down After Next Earnings Releases
BUYINS.NET / www.squeezetrigger.com is monitoring the performance of all stocks with earnings being released Wednesday, November 10th 2010 and determining how the stocks have performed After their last 12 quarterly, 6 quarterly and November earnings reports. AMERIGAS PARTNERS-LP (NYSE: APU | PowerRating), BIOFUEL ENERGY CORP (NASDAQ: BIOF | PowerRating), SURMODICS INC (NASDAQ: SRDX | PowerRating), BANKATLANTIC BANCORP INC-A (NYSE: BBX | PowerRating), MANITEX INTERNATIONAL INC (NASDAQ: MNTX | PowerRating), CADENCE FINANCIAL CORP (NASDAQ: CADE | PowerRating) are all expected to be Down After their earnings are released Wednesday. The movement of stock prices in the days and weeks leading to and following these earnings announcements may follow a predictable pattern. Most companies stock price histories show random or unpredictable
Monday, November 8, 2010
There is an acknowledged requirement for all companies to satisfy the constant pressures to increase operational efficiency, reduce costs and maintain
HMI (human machine interface) devices report faults in automation systems either automatically as system diagnostics (with no configuration and no cost implication in SIMATIC solutions) or via manual intervention. However, with an estimated 80% of faults during any operation process related, and the fact that diagnostics are plant-specific and cannot be integrated into the controller resulting in programming needs and increased cost – the role of diagnostic tools in helping to alleviate ever-spiralling overheads, as well as keeping plants running and available has never been more important.
Mobile phones can save lives of mothers in childbirth, infants and children
Cell phones can save the lives of mothers in childbirth, and improve the care of newborns and children, reaching underserved populations in remote areas, according to experts.
"With mobile technologies for health, called 'mhealth' or 'mobile health,' we're extending capabilities to where they don't exist today," says David Aylward, who heads mHealth Alliance.
"At the most basic level, mobile phones can be used to keep track of people, call for emergency assistance, remind them of appointments and share information," said Julian Schweitzer, former chair of The Partnership for Maternal,
"With mobile technologies for health, called 'mhealth' or 'mobile health,' we're extending capabilities to where they don't exist today," says David Aylward, who heads mHealth Alliance.
"At the most basic level, mobile phones can be used to keep track of people, call for emergency assistance, remind them of appointments and share information," said Julian Schweitzer, former chair of The Partnership for Maternal,
Keynote Systems Launches MITE 2, the Most Advanced Tool for Mobile Content Testing and Verification
SAN MATEO, Calif. — Keynote ® Systems (NASDAQ:KEYN), the global leader in Internet and mobile cloud monitoring, today announced the launch of MITE 2 (Mobile Internet Testing Environment™), the most advanced tool for automated testing and verification of mobile content. With MITE, mobile content developers as well as operations and QA teams can instantly test and verify mobile Web content using a built-in library of 1,800 devices and 11,000 devices profiles. MITE 2 is available for free download at mite.keynote.com.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Westbury centre plan faces D-day
A decision on a new £5million primary care centre in Westbury is likely to be made this week despite a delay in the application due to a dispute over the land.
The centre is planned for land off Mane Way, on the Leigh Park estate, in a joint funded venture between Westbury Group Practice, comprising Eastleigh and White Horse Surgeries in Westbury, Bratton Surgery, and NHS Wiltshire.
The development would include nine GP rooms, five treatment areas, a minor operations suite, a seminar room, mobile diagnostics centre, an outpatient X-ray facility and a dental surgery.
Cell phones help save the lives of mothers, infants and children
Simple mobile technology, like basic cell phones, can be used to save the lives of mothers in childbirth, and improve the care of newborns and children, reaching underserved populations in remote areas.
More advanced mobile technology can do even more, such as checking on patients, keeping records, improving diagnosis and treatment in the field, and letting community health workers consult general practitioners and specialists for guidance.
"With mobile technologies for health, called 'mhealth' or 'mobile health,' we're extending capabilities to where they don't exist today," says David Aylward, who heads mHealth Alliance, a partnership founded by the United Nations Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Vodafone Foundation.
More advanced mobile technology can do even more, such as checking on patients, keeping records, improving diagnosis and treatment in the field, and letting community health workers consult general practitioners and specialists for guidance.
"With mobile technologies for health, called 'mhealth' or 'mobile health,' we're extending capabilities to where they don't exist today," says David Aylward, who heads mHealth Alliance, a partnership founded by the United Nations Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Vodafone Foundation.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)