Monthly Archives: October 2012

Ventana Unveils the Latest in Digital Pathology and Lab Workflow Solutions at IAP 2012 in Cape …

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TUCSON, Ariz.- At this year's 29th Congress of the International Academy of Pathology (IAP 2012), Ventana Medical Systems, Inc. (Ventana), a member of the Roche Group, will unveil the latest versions of its Virtuoso digital pathology image and workflow management software and VANTAGE workflow solution for histology lab specimen tracking. IAP 2012, one of the premier pathology conferences worldwide, takes place September 30 through October 5, 2012 in Cape Town, South Africa.

"I am thrilled to be presenting our latest products at this year's IAP," explained Steve Burnell, PhD, Lifecycle Leader for Digital Pathology and Workflow for Ventana Medical Systems, Inc. "The global adoption of digital pathology and lab workflow solutions is gaining momentum, driven by benefits to laboratory efficiency and productivity, as well as improvements in patient care. As the established innovation leader in these areas, the Ventana launch of Virtuoso 5.3 - with a user interface now available in 21 languages - and VANTAGE 2.2 - with improved integration, underscores our commitment to pathologists, laboratory staff and patients to deliver the most innovative products in the industry."

Virtuoso web-based software orchestrates the digital slide workflow from the moment the slide is scanned until the slide image is viewed and the case results reported. With Virtuoso 5.3, Ventana has expanded the user interface to 21 languages, making it easy for international customers to adopt this new technology.

"I am pleased to see Ventana continue to take a leadership role in digital pathology with the latest offering of its Virtuoso software released in multiple languages. This is a reflection of the strong interest in digital pathology from labs across the globe. Virtuoso not only increases the effectiveness of labs like mine working with cases from Mexico and the US, but also enables us to improve patient care." Jesus Ellin - Yuma Regional Medical, Yuma, AZ USA.

The market-leading VANTAGE workflow solution automates, streamlines, and integrates lab work and information flow to provide increased productivity and patient safety gains. The VANTAGE 2.2 release introduces increased Laboratory Information System (LIS) integration capabilities, touchscreen workflow enhancements and case assembly improvements in response to global customers' needs. Through its integration with Virtuoso software, the VANTAGE workflow solution enables pathologists and lab managers to track the progress of a slide from preparation to digitization along with other critical slide information, giving a lab unprecedented visibility into its processes and tools to optimize lab workflow.

Ventana's newest scanner, the VENTANA iScan HT slide scanner, will also be showcased at IAP 2012. The VENTANA iScan HT is the most powerful scanner in anatomic pathology today, enabling pathologists and lab managers to optimize their digital pathology workflow with efficiency, convenience, speed, throughput and reliability for unprecedented results. The VENTANA iScan HT slide scanner is ideal for high throughput and high volume applications. It complements the VENTANA comprehensive suite of digital pathology solutions which also includes the iScan Coreo slide scanner, Virtuoso software, and the most comprehensive portfolio of research use only (RUO), CE-IVD and FDA-cleared 510(k) image analysis algorithms available.

"Since the acquisition of BioImagene two years ago, Roche and Ventana have invested heavily in Digital Pathology, bringing a wide range of innovative new products to the market. We believe that by driving the rapid adoption of digital pathology and improved workflow globally, we will help improve patient care. Our customers can expect sustained and unparalleled innovation from Ventana in the future," says Mara G. Aspinall, President of Ventana Medical Systems, Inc.

Watch the video: VENTANA iScan HT.

To view the entire suite of Ventana digital pathology and workflow products, including the Virtuoso -VANTAGE software integration, visit the Roche Diagnostics booth during the 29th Congress of the International Academy of Pathology from September 30th through October 5th, 2012 in Cape Town, South Africa.

About Ventana Medical Systems, Inc.

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Ventana Unveils the Latest in Digital Pathology and Lab Workflow Solutions at IAP 2012 in Cape ...

Healthcare Up 4.6%; New Star Nutrition Distributor; Munson Adopts EMC's IT – Health Min 10/1/12 – Video

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01-10-2012 22:56 Healthcare spending was up by 4.6 percent in 2011, according to a new report by the Health Care Cost Institute. That's higher than the 3.8 percent increase reported for 2010. The report is based on claims data of more than 40 million insured, about 25 percent of all those with employer-sponsored health insurance, ESI. 2011 healthcare spending for people with ESI averaged $4547 per person for the year. Star Nutrition, a California-based health and wellness industry company, has added Peak Performance Products as the newest Canadian distributor for its Incrediwear brand. Incrediwear products, including socks, insoles, and braces, provide benefits such as additional blood flow, thermal regulation, and wicking moisture to allow users to train harder and longer, and recover faster from workouts while aiding pain relief to injured body parts. Other companies working with Peak include Nogii, Dymatize, BPI Sports, Organique, and other athletic, lifestyle, and beauty products. EMC's IT has been adopted by Munson Healthcare, a regional group of eight hospitals and five clinics in Michigan, to transform the system's IT infrastructure and deliver new IT services. Munson has created a Health Information Exchange to enable providers to facilitate a high level of patient care through a private cloud enabled by EMC and VMware technologies. For more information on these and other stories, go to http://www.csrminute.com. The Health Minute is produced for 3BL Media by Video4Good

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Healthcare Up 4.6%; New Star Nutrition Distributor; Munson Adopts EMC's IT - Health Min 10/1/12 - Video

Both obesity and under-nutrition affect long-term refugee populations

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Public release date: 2-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Sumrina Yousufzai syousufzai@plos.org 415-568-3164 Public Library of Science

Both obesity and under-nutrition are common in women and children from the Western Sahara living in refugee camps in Algeria, highlighting the need to balance both obesity prevention and management with interventions to tackle under-nutrition in this population, according to a study by international researchers published in this week's PLOS Medicine.

The authors, led by Carlos Grijalva-Eternod and Andrew Seal from the UCL Institute of Child Health in London, surveyed 2005 households in this refugee population who have been living in four refugee camps since 1975 and measured and weighed 1,608 young children and 1,781 women. They found that obesity and overweight in women affected more households than acute malnutrition, stunting and underweight in children: 9.1% children had acute malnutrition, 29.1% were stunted, 8.6% were underweight and 2.4% were overweight, while among the women, 14.8% were stunted, 53.7% were overweight, and 71.4% had central obesity.

Overall, the authors classified a third of households as being overweight, a quarter as undernourished, and a quarter as affected by the double burden of obesity and malnutrition.

These results are important: 15.4 million refugees (based on 2010 figures) are dependent on host governments and international humanitarian agencies for their food, so it is essential that these governments and organizations provide appropriate food assistance programs to refugees, especially long-term refugees.

The authors say: "The results raise crucial and challenging issues for the design of refugee assistance programmes, and the future provision of care for obesity-associated co-morbidities among Sahrawi refugees and other similar populations."

They continue: "Careful policy and advocacy work will be required to convey the complexity of the situation, and to ensure that continued support for life-saving food assistance programmes and the tackling of under-nutrition and nutritional deficiencies is not jeopardised as the threat of obesity to refugee health receives the attention it deserves."

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Funding: This work was partly funded by the European Community Humanitarian Office, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and the United Nations World Food Programme. Part of this work was undertaken at the Centre for Paediatric Epidemiology and Biostatistics, which benefits from funding support from the MRC in its capacity as the MRC Centre of Epidemiology for Child Health. The UCL Institute of Child Health receives a proportion of funding from the Department of Health's National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centres funding scheme. UNHCR personnel participated in the study design, data collection, data interpretation, and contributed revisions to the manuscript. All other sponsors of the study had no role in study design, data collection, data analysis, data interpretation, writing of the report, and in the decision to submit the paper for publication.

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Both obesity and under-nutrition affect long-term refugee populations

Obesity and under-nutrition prevalent in long-term refugees living in camps

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Public release date: 2-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: David Weston d.weston@ucl.ac.uk 44-020-310-83844 University College London

A quarter of households in refugee camps in Algeria are currently suffering from the double burden of excess weight and under-nutrition. According to a study published in the journal PLOS Medicine, obesity is an emerging threat to this community, with one in two women of childbearing age being overweight, whilst nutritional deficiencies such as iron-deficiency anaemia and stunted growth remain a persistent problem.

The collaborative study by the UCL Institute of Child Health (ICH), the Emergency Nutrition Network (ENN), and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), looked at the prevalence of the 'double burden' of malnutrition under-nutrition and obesity - among Western Sahara (Sahrawi) refugees living in a prolonged emergency situation, who rely mostly on humanitarian food assistance for survival.

Over 1,600 children and 1,700 women from 2,005 households took part in a routine UNHCR nutrition survey in 2010, which collects and monitors health and nutrition indicators of refugee children under five and women of childbearing age (15-49 years). The Sahrawi refugees are based in four camps originally set up in 1975 near Tindouf city in Algeria. Many adults have, from birth, received food assistance as their main source of food, and their children are now the second or third generation living on a diet consisting mainly of refined starchy foods.

The nutrition survey recorded the weight and height of women and children, and waist circumference of women, to determine the prevalence of global acute malnutrition (GAM, which includes thin 'wasted' children and those with nutritional oedema or swelling), stunting (a low height for age) and underweight, and overweight (a low and high weight for age, respectively) in children; and stunting, underweight and overweight (a body mass index lower than 18.5 kg/m2 and higher than 25 kg/m2, respectively), and central obesity (a waist circumference of more than 80 cm) in women.

Nine per cent of children were found to have GAM, while 29 per cent were stunted, 18 per cent were underweight, and 2.4 per cent were overweight. In women, 15 per cent were stunted, 54 per cent were overweight or obese, and 71 per cent had central obesity. Notably, central obesity and overweightness in women affected more households than under-nutrition in children. Overall, a third of the households were classified as overweight, a quarter as undernourished, and a quarter as double burden-affected.

Based on the findings, the paper makes a number of recommendations: to revise food assistance policies to take into consideration the longer term effects of meeting minimum nutritional needs in emergencies; and to promote long-term food security in protracted emergencies, for example by encouraging the refugee community to adopt small-scale gardening and food-growing schemes. Innovative approaches and resources may be needed to encourage behavioural change in these communities, given that a more sedentary lifestyle may also be contributing to the rise in obesity.

Carlos Grijalva-Eternod, lead-author, UCL Institute of Child Health, says: "Over a third of the children surveyed showed signs of malnutrition and 15 per cent of women showed signs of having experienced nutritional deficiencies during their development; at the same time, over half the women surveyed were overweight. These high levels of obesity do not imply that this population receives excessive or even adequate nutrition, given the high prevalence of undernourished children and stunted women. Rather, the population's diet may be suboptimal for health."

"A number of reasons may account for these trends. This traditionally nomadic population itself once favoured larger women, and has an excessive sugar consumption habit. However, other factors come into play, such a predominance of starchy foods, pulses and blended foods in food assistance packages, but with few, if any, fresh or dried vegetables and fruit. We need to find ways of boosting the supply of fresh produce to improve the adequacy and diversity of their diets."

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Obesity and under-nutrition prevalent in long-term refugees living in camps

New antibiotic cures disease by disarming pathogens, not killing them

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Public release date: 2-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jim Sliwa jsliwa@asmusa.org 202-942-9297 American Society for Microbiology

A new type of antibiotic can effectively treat an antibiotic-resistant infection by disarming instead of killing the bacteria that cause it. Researchers report their findings in the October 2 issue of mBio, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology.

"Traditionally, people have tried to find antibiotics that rapidly kill bacteria. But we found a new class of antibiotics which has no ability to kill Acinetobacter that can still protect, not by killing the bug, but by completely preventing it from turning on host inflammation," says Brad Spellberg of the UCLA Medical Center and David Geffen School of Medicine, a researcher on the study.

New drugs are badly needed for treating infections with the bacterium Acinetobacter baumannii, a pathogen that most often strikes hospital patients and immune- compromised individuals through open wounds, breathing tubes, or catheters. The bacterium can cause potentially lethal bloodstream infections. Strains of A. baumannii have acquired resistance to a wide range of antibiotics, and some are resistant to every FDA-approved antibiotic, making them untreatable.

Spelling and his colleagues found that in laboratory mice it was possible to mitigate the potentially lethal effects of the bacterium by blocking one of its toxic products rather than killing it.

"We found that strains that caused the rapidly lethal infections shed lipopolysaccharide [also called LPS or endotoxin] while growing. The more endotoxin shed, the more virulent the strain was," says Spellberg. This pinpointed a new therapy target for the researchers: the endotoxin these bacteria shed in the body.

Blocking the synthesis ofthe endotoxin with a small molecule called LpxC-1 prevented infected mice from getting sick. Unlike traditional antibiotics, Spellberg says, LpxC-1 doesn't kill the bacteria, it just shuts down the manufacture of the endotoxin and stops the body from mounting the inflammatory immune response to it that is the actual cause of death in seriously ill patients.

Spellberg says this is a direction few researchers have taken when exploring ways to treat infections but that it could make the difference in finding an effective drug. The results also highlight how important it is to find new, physiologically relevant ways of screening potential antibiotics for pathogens with a high degree of resistance, write the authors. Molecules like LpxC-1 that inhibit rather than kill bacteria wouldn't pass muster with traditional antibiotic screens that are based on killing effectiveness.

Liise-anne Pirofski of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and a reviewer of the study for mBio says neutralizing virulence factors is showing a lot of promise as an alternative route for treating infections. "There's a growing movement in infectious disease therapy to control the host inflammation response in treatment rather than just 'murdering' the organism," says Pirofski. "This is a very elegant and important validation that this approach can work at least in mice."

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New antibiotic cures disease by disarming pathogens, not killing them

Longevity Global Inc. Made The Season's Biggest Launch By Unveiling An Advanced Model Of TIG Welder

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Longevity Global Inc. has made the season's best launch this Monday. The company has launched the most advanced aluminum welder the world has ever seen. Their new model TigWeld 200SX is a multi- purpose welding equipment which is fully loaded with the most advanced features.

Hayward, CA (PRWEB) October 02, 2012

Industries have grown significantly and welding has become one of the most important elements for almost every industry, may it be directly or indirectly related. With people growing as per their standard of living, they have started building houses that are stronger, and to achieve that strength usage of metals in important and welding gets involved. Welding is a process in which two or more metal pieces are merged with the help of a molten solution. As the name implies, aluminum welding utilizes aluminum during the welding process. Aluminum is a versatile metal with usage in several areas. Aluminum welder equipment can be used for repairing corroded regions, oil impregnated areas and other areas which need aluminum welding. Even if a person does not know anything about this, he can use and operate aluminum welder equipment easily.

There are several models of aluminum welders available in the product line of Longevity Global Inc. Although there are vast numbers of welding equipment available at Longevity's inventory but aluminum welder machine TigWeld 200SX is that precise welding device which can further enhance the quality of welding jobs. This compact, dual-voltage voltage, versatile unit offers the user a simple array of controls to accurately set the welder to perform under a wide variety of situations including fine aluminum welding. The TIGWELD 200 SX allows the welder to easily switch from 220v to 110v with the adapter plug that is included while being able to produce 200 amps on both AC and DC TIG and 160 amps on Stick. Whether welding aluminum or any other metal, the TIGWELD 200 SX benefits from cutting edge inverter technology. This allows Longevity to offer a welder with more stability while at the same time the unit is more lightweight and reliable.

Longevity Global Inc. is providing its dedicated service since 2001. It is growing at a phenomenal pace with high customer satisfaction, new and used welders, cutters and efficient industrial production for welding purposes. It works in different parts of world with distributors in Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, United Kingdom, and multiple other countries. Longevity Global Inc. serve globally with manufacturing facilities with its logistic companies to effectively distribute products in a punctual and effective manner.

To know more visit http://www.longevity-inc.com.

Simon Katz Longevity, Inc. 1.877.566.4462 Email Information

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Longevity Global Inc. Made The Season's Biggest Launch By Unveiling An Advanced Model Of TIG Welder

Fasano Life Settlement & Longevity Conference Agenda: Cutting Edge!

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WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Fasano Associates released the agenda for its October 29th Life Settlement and Longevity Conference, which Fasanos President, Michael Fasano, described as Investor Focused and Cutting Edge.

The Conference will include keynote presentations by award winning political analyst, Howard Fineman, and Dr. Mark Lacks, Chief of Geriatrics at Cornell Universitys Weill Medical College. Fineman will speak to the Impact of the Upcoming Elections, while Dr. Lacks will present the Impact of Functional Status on Longevity in the Elderly. Said Michael Fasano, Investors have been given all kinds of esoteric analyses to explain why some people outlive others; but for some reason, many lose sight of the basics. Dr. Lacks, who is a renown expert in geriatrics, will explain why Activities of Daily Living and Functional Status are among the most important and basic markers of longevity in the elderly.

The Conference also will include groundbreaking research by Drs. Kent Smetters and Daniel Gottlieb of the Wharton School demonstrating How Life Settlements Enhance Consumer Welfare and a point-counterpoint discussion with litigators from Drinker Biddle and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe on the Future of Life Settlement Litigation.

Fasano added, Our Conference has earned a reputation for excellence and this years agenda is as good as it gets. Drs. Jochen Russ and Daniel Bauer will be presenting cutting edge research on A New Methodology for Measuring Actual to Expected Performance, while investment experts, Jeff Serra of Vida Capital and Bill Corry of Corry Capital, will raise questions on the relevance of the traditional provider model in their panel on the Advantages of Investor/Provider Vertical Integration.

The Conference will also include a presentation on the Use of Indices and Other Synthetic Structures in Financial Markets by Olivier Dauget, Managing Director of Societe Generale.

The Fasano Conference is a one-day event, with cocktails and dinner following the presentations. With a registration fee of only $395 and eight original presentations, Fasano characterized its Conference as the best value in the business. The detailed agenda and information about invitations to the Conference are available at http://www.fasanoassociates.com.

About Fasano Associates:

Fasano Associates is a leading underwriting consulting firm serving the life, health and life settlement industries.

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Animals engineered with pinpoint accuracy

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A cow in New Zealand has been genetically modified to produce hypoallergenic milk.

AgResearch

Two genetically engineered farm animals reported today illustrate how far from Frankensteins stitched-together monster animal biotechnology has come. One of those animals, a cow, secretes milk that lacks an allergy-inducing protein because researchers accurately blocked its production using the technique of RNA interference1. And in pigs, scientists have used an enzyme called a TALEN2 to scramble a gene that would normally help remove cholesterol.

RNA interference (RNAi) and TALENs are more accurate at targeting the gene in question than are earlier genetic engineering techniques. For years, researchers tried to remove the allergy-inducing milk protein beta-lactoglobulin from cow's milk, which can cause diarrhea and vomiting in some toddlers. They tried replacing the gene encoding beta-lactoglobulin with a defective form, but this proved nearly impossible because the techniques available to introduce foreign genes into animal genomes were not precise, and misplaced genes failed to express themselves correctly.

In 2006, scientists at AgResearch in Hamilton, New Zealand began to experiment with molecules that interfere with the messenger RNA go-between that enables translation of a gene into protein. In mice, they discovered a short chunk of RNA, called a microRNA, that targeted beta-lactoglobulin messenger RNA directly to prevent its translation. They inserted DNA encoding a version of this microRNA into the genome to create genetically modified cow embryos that they hoped would grow into cows without the allergen in their milk. Out of 100 embryos, one calf yielded beta-globulin-free milk. This isnt a quick process, says Stefan Wagner, a molecular biologist at AgResearch. That's why it has taken so long to succeed in making an allergen-free cow, he says.

Wagner says that TALENs, which were not readily available when he began his research, might speed up the process, and that the team plans to use them to eliminate beta-lactoglobulin. RNAi cannot eliminate the protein completely because some messenger RNA slips past the blockade, but each TALEN targets a specific DNA sequence in the genome and cuts it. As the body repairs the break, mutations are often introduced that render the targeted gene non-functional. The TALEN technology is staggeringly easy, quick, and leaves no mark in the genome, says Bruce Whitelaw, a molecular biologist at the Roslin Institute near Edinburgh in the United Kingdom, who contributed to the work in pigs. In essence, we are just mimicking an evolutionary process with precise, man-made editors.

His team used TALENs to disrupt genes encoding low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptors. Without these receptor proteins to remove cholesterol-containing LDLs from the blood, LDLs build-up and lead to atherosclerosis. Pigs with this condition may be reliable models of human atheroscelerosis in biomedical research.

The TALEN-modified pig is not the first model of human heart disease (see Model pigs face a messy path), but the technique makes genetic engineering less costly and more efficient. Id be exaggerating if I said that pigs and cows can now be thought of as big mice, but we are moving in that direction, says Heiner Niemann, a bioengineer at the Institute of Farm Animal Genetics in Neustadt, Germany.

The excitement surrounding these technological advances is bittersweet, however. Originally, engineered animals were produced with the aim of making food safer, healthier and more abundant. Yet despite years of investment, almost no animal has been approved by regulatory agencies around the world. Wagner says he has not tasted the milk from his special cow because hes not permitted to under New Zealand law. We must restrict our research to scientific analysis, he says. The current climate for animal biotech is not very good, and therefore, we are nowhere near getting this to the consumer."

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Animals engineered with pinpoint accuracy

DNA construction technology makes genetic engineering cheaper, faster

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Sequencing, splicing and expressing DNA may seem to be the quintessence of cutting-edge scienceindeed DNA manipulation has revolutionized fields such as biofuels, chemicals and medicine. But in fact, the actual process can still be tedious and labor-intensive, something Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) scientist Nathan Hillson learned the hard way.

After struggling for two days to design a protocol to put together a genetic circuit with 10 pieces of DNAusing a spreadsheet as his primary toolhe was dismayed to discover that an outside company could have done the whole thing, including parts and labor, for lower cost than him ordering the oligonucleotides himself. "I learned two things: one, I never wanted to go through that process again, and two, it's extremely important to do the cost-effectiveness calculation," said Hillson, a biochemist who also directs the synthetic biology program at the Berkeley Lab-led Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI). "So that was the genesis of the j5 software. This is the perfect thing to teach a computer to do."

The j5 software package, which has attracted users from more than 250 institutions worldwide since it was made available last year, is now the basis for the latest startup to emerge from JBEI, a Department of Energy research center established in 2007 to pursue breakthroughs in the production of cellulosic biofuels. By building on j5 and adding modules for commercial users, TeselaGen Biotechnology, founded by Hillson and two partners, says it will significantly reduce the time and cost involved with DNA synthesis and cloning, a multibillion-dollar market.

"It's like AutoCAD for biology," said TeselaGen co-founder and CEO Mike Fero. "Modern cloning is a computational problem. We are the missing informatic piece to making modern scarless DNA assembly methods a reality for the majority of biologists. Otherwise it's a small cadre of people who can do it."

Recombinant DNA assemblies are critical tools in a number of scientific pursuits: for understanding how cells are altered in diseases such as cancer, for building better antibiotics, for converting plant biomass to biofuels and for basic scientific understanding of cellular pathways. Standard cloning techniques have been in use for 40 years and are still the industry standard.

"Our biggest competition is traditional cloning, or inertia," said Fero, who was a particle physicist for 10 years before pursuing a career in biotech. "We have to make it so easy people will happily switch to the newer methods."

TeselaGen licensed j5 from Berkeley Lab, the lead institutional partner of JBEI, and currently has more than 100 scientists and engineers from large industrial and pharmaceutical companies in private beta.

"We are so pleased with the startup of TeselaGen, based on a deceptively simple idea but clearly providing a solution to a very difficult problem," said Cheryl Fragiadakis, director of technology transfer at Berkeley Lab. "It is a great example as well of a company coming out of our JBEI activities.The Lab's Tech Transfer encourages and supports entrepreneurial ventures, providing education and networking for our scientists, as a great way to get technologies out for the benefit of society."

The cloud-based software not only designs DNA construction protocols, it will compare methods to determine the one that is most cost-effective, weighing, for example, if it is cheaper to outsource a portion of the DNA construction.The more complex the task, the more time and money the program can save. The greatest savings are with combinatorial libraries, collections of hundreds to millions of related DNA assemblies, each with a different combination of genes or parts that perform similar functions in different organisms.

For example, simple construction of a metabolic pathway that takes two and a half weeks and costs $1,400 using traditional cloning can be cut down to two weeks and less than half the cost with j5. A more complex task of constructing a combinatorial protein library (with 243 constructs) would drop from $122,000 and 11 months with traditional cloning to under $30,000 and 1.5 months with j5. The same task using direct DNA synthesis would cost $538,000 and take 2.3 months.

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DNA construction technology makes genetic engineering cheaper, faster

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DNA on gun matches Thompson’s, expert testifies at trial

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DNA found on the gun allegedly used to murder a Dartmouth taxi driver matches that of Chaze Lamar Thompson, a Halifax jury was told Tuesday.

Michelle Fisher, an expert in forensic DNA analysis, testified that theres a one-in-79-million chance that DNA swabbed from the grip of the gun belongs to a black Canadian other than Thompson.

The 22-year-old Thompson is on trial in Nova Scotia Supreme Court for first-degree murder in the death of Sergei Kostin, a driver for Bobs Taxi.

Thompson, of Dartmouth, is accused of shooting Kostin in the head from the back seat of his cab on Johnson Road in Cherry Brook on the afternoon of Jan. 17, 2009.

Kostins burned-out cab was discovered three days later, parked in woods at the end of Downey Road in North Preston.

His body was found that April 1 under the roots of a fallen tree along Upper Governor Street in North Preston.

Wayne McAvoy, Thompsons first cousin, led police to the body and was given immunity from prosecution after agreeing to testify for the Crown.

McAvoy said a gun found by police at Thompsons sisters apartment in Dartmouth in February 2009 was the murder weapon.

Part of the gun was in a couch and part was by a refrigerator.

Fisher testified Tuesday that of five swabs taken from the gun, only one was suitable for a meaningful comparison. The swab was from both sides of the guns grip.

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Polo Biology Completes Sale of its Operating Subsidiary; Listing to be moved to the NEX Board of the TSX Venture …

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VANCOUVER , Oct. 2, 2012 /CNW/ - Polo Biology Global Group Corporation (the "Company") (PGG.V) announced today that it has completed the sale of its active business (see the Company's August 17 , July 24 , and June 6, 2012 news releases for further details), for gross proceeds of CDN$760,000.00. As the Company now has no active business, its listing is being moved to the NEX Board of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange"). In continuing with its reorganization, management is proceeding with a 1:10 consolidation of capital and name change. The consolidation of capital and move to the NEX are subject to approval of the Exchange. Management members are also actively pursuing business opportunities with a view to making an acquisition that will qualify the Company, at a minimum, for listing on Tier 2 of the Exchange.

This news release contains "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the plans for completion of the disposition of all or substantially all of the Company's undertaking, future plans and objectives of the Company, estimation of profitability, the timing and content of upcoming business plans, capital expenditures, success of business operations, risks, and limitations on insurance coverage. In certain cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, delays in obtaining regulatory approvals on acceptable terms; delays in obtaining shareholder approval; risks related to international operations; actual results of planned expansion activities; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; future prices of supplies and market prices for products; exchange rates for Canadian, Chinese and any other currencies material to the Company's businesses; accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the industries that the Company is currently operating in; delays in obtaining governmental approvals or financings or in the completion of development activities; Chinese government policies impacting the Company's businesses; general economic, market or business conditions. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements or information made in this news release, except as required under applicable securities legislation.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its "Regulation Services Provider", as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange, accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this News Release.

SOURCE: Polo Biology Global Group Corporation

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Polo Biology Completes Sale of its Operating Subsidiary; Listing to be moved to the NEX Board of the TSX Venture ...

Simple reaction makes the building blocks of a nucleic acid

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Origin-of-life researchers face a deceptively straightforward question: how did simple chemicals produce complex biochemistry? The complexity of this starts to come in when you consider the many complex biomolecules that would have been useful or essential to the first biochemical reactions. And it gets worse when you consider that there are lots of simple organic chemicals that plausibly could have been present on the early Earth. Figuring out which reactions to even start looking at can be a real challenge.

The extent of that challenge was highlighted a few years back, when a Cambridge lab suggested most earlier researchers had gone down a dead end. Previously, researchers tried to build up a sugar and a nucleic acid base separately, and then link to them from precursors of DNA and RNA. But the group from Cambridge showed it was possible to build relatively simple compounds into a three-ring chemical that could then be converted into cytosine, an RNA component. Now, they've revisited that work and shown that all of the precursors of that reaction can be made with little more than cyanide.

The reaction the group reported back in 2009 only required a set of two or three carbon precursors, but these molecules were already somewhat complex: cyanamide, cyanoacetylene, glycolaldehyde, and glyceraldehyde. We don't know that all of these chemicals would be common on a pre-biotic Earth, which leaves its relevance to the origin of life a somewhat open question.

In a new paper, the same lab tackles forming the simple, two- and three-atom sugars used in their earlier work (glycolaldehyde and glyceraldehyde). To get there, they started with nothing more complex than hydrogen cyanide, a simple molecule comprised of one atom each of hydrogen, carbon, and nitrogen. Hydrogen cyanide forms readily under a variety of conditions, and has been found on several bodies in our Solar System, as well as in the interstellar medium.

The authors were intrigued by reports in the literature of a cycle that involves a set of six cyanide molecules, coordinated by two copper atoms. In a water solution, this complex can cycle, driven by ultraviolet light, through a set of reactions that alternately spit out cyanide, protons, and electrons. These electrons get temporarily attached to water molecules, and typically end up being taken up by a scavenger molecule, typically nitrate. However, some reports in the literature noted that, when nitrate isn't added to the reaction, some undefined larger molecules formed.

The authors went back and checked these reaction products, and found that they included both glycolaldehyde and glyceraldehydethe two chemicals that were key building blocks of the reaction that produced the RNA precursor. And all the reaction required was copper ions and some UV light.

If left to continue cycling, the products of the reaction also included some more complex, five-atom ringed structures that incorporate nitrogen and oxygen in the ring. But the authors suspect that with the right conditionsnamely the ones identified in the earlier paperthe products of this new cycle could be sent directly on to form cytosine. They also suggest the addition of other metals could shift the products to additional chemicals that may have biological relevance.

Hopefully, it's safe to assume the lab already has these projects in the works.

Nature Chemistry, 2012. DOI: 10.1038/NCHEM.1467 (About DOIs).

John Timmer / John became Ars Technica's science editor in 2007 after spending 15 years doing biology research at places like Berkeley and Cornell.

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Simple reaction makes the building blocks of a nucleic acid

Tellagence Launches Industry-First Technology to Predict Network Behavior

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PORTLAND, OR and SANTA CLARA, CA--(Marketwire - Oct 2, 2012) - DEMO Fall 2012 - Tellagence today is launching a new technology able to predict how information moves across and within any network: social networks, enterprise networks, and eventually, closed networks like the government.The company's first product, Tellagence for Twitter, will be unveiled today at DEMO.

Tellagence is the first enterprise technology to successfully unite human behavioral science with big data computer modeling. By injecting context into the analysis of online connections and conversations, Tellagence can accurately determine the ideal online relationships and most relevant network equations that will motivate individuals to pass along, and ultimately lead people to act upon, your messages.

While many businesses use social media to communicate to their audiences, information delivery is typically based on two flawed practices: Intuition (or gut), which does not systematically analyze relationship context; or Influencers, which blindly targets individuals based on the number of followers they have in an assigned nexus.

Tellagence uniquely bases its solution on the science of human behavior, and is able to:

The result: Tellagence can accurately predict -- and thus identify -- the perfect combination of relationships and information for the most effective, and efficient, delivery of a message.

"Ironically, it is our understanding of the constant presence of change among online relationships that allows us to drive more accurate, effective message delivery," said Matt Hixson, CEO and co-founder of Tellagence. "We are able to effectively predict word of mouth behavior within the millions of big data transactions and help companies predict how to extend their messages and reach their most effective and natural advocates.

"It's like the weather. Just because it rained the last five days doesn't mean it will rain tomorrow.And just because someone talked about, say, the iPhone 5 last week doesn't mean they will talk about it next week.We can help predict the weather for communications, essentially.Many companies are trying, but to our knowledge we are the only company that has successfully taken data prediction to this level and scope."

Tellagence is currently in beta with several major enterprise companies as well as social and interactive agencies.

For a complete look at information on Tellagence, visit our online press page at: Tellagence.com/the-company

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Tellagence Launches Industry-First Technology to Predict Network Behavior

Rwandan Ambassador to Address First Graduating Class at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology's Washington, D …

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WASHINGTON, Oct. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Washington, D.C. campus of The Chicago School of Professional Psychology (TCSPP) the largest nonprofit, private graduate school devoted exclusively to psychology and related behavioral science will hold its first commencement ceremony October 12 with keynote speaker The Honorable James Kimonyo, ambassador of Rwanda to the U.S. The graduates will be comprised of nearly all women and at least half minority, and will be earning master's degrees in counseling and forensic psychology.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100518/DC07134LOGO)

"The Chicago School of Professional Psychology is honored to have such a distinguished diplomat as Ambassador Kimonyo to provide instrumental guidance to our first graduating class," said Orlando Taylor, Ph.D., president of TCSPP Washington, D.C. campus. "Our students are walking away with not just degrees, but also a global perspective that gives them priceless opportunities to apply their knowledge in diverse communities anywhere in the world."

The institution's Washington campus serves approximately 300 students a little more than 40 percent are African American and nearly 80 percent women and the population is growing exponentially as more students from the local region and nationally enroll at the richly diverse campus.

"We are extremely proud of our first group of students to graduate at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology's Washington, D.C. campus," said Dr. Michele Nealon-Woods, TCSPP's national president. "They are now equipped with invaluable tools from both the classroom and thousands of hours of real-world experience to serve diverse communities and make a truly meaningful difference."

The campus is also preparing to launch its "Center for African Psychology" early next year, where students will have the opportunity to broaden their perspective by visiting African countries to study diverse cultures, and the campus, in turn, will host international students, faculty and partners. The Chicago School of Professional Psychology has a growing international student body with students attending the institution from more than 30 countries. The institution recently announced the winners of its first Global Impact Scholarship, which encourages students to share their journey from their home country, and explore how their experiences combined with their education can give them the tools to apply psychological principles to international settings.

About The Chicago School of Professional Psychology Founded in 1979, The Chicago School of Professional Psychology (TCSPP) is the largest nonprofit, private graduate school devoted exclusively to psychology and related behavioral sciences. It serves more than 4,300 students across campuses in Chicago; Southern California (L.A., Irvine, Westwood); and Washington D.C. The institution is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, and its Clinical Psychology doctoral program in Chicago is accredited by the American Psychological Association. A member of the National Council of Schools and Programs of Professional Psychology, TCSPP is recognized for its distinguished service and outstanding contributions to cultural diversity and advocacy. Its community service initiatives have also earned it recognition on the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for five consecutive years. With more than 20 graduate degree programs, thousands of hours of real-world training, and a wealth of international opportunities, TCSPP is a leader in professional psychology education. To learn more, visit http://www.thechicagoschool.edu.

Contact: Carol Soudah (213) 615-7292 csoudah@thechicagoschool.edu

SOURCE The Chicago School of Professional Psychology

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‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Season 9 Trailer: A Shocking Proposal & 4 More Spoilers

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Whos getting married? Whos having (tons of) sex? Watch this new trailer for a look at the drama to come on Greys Anatomy!

Do you hate linear storytelling? Good, because the next few episodes ofGreys Anatomyare givingLosta run for its money in terms of time-jumping. A brand new trailer reveals that well get to see once again what really happened in the aftermath of the horrific plane crash, and its more devastating than anything weve seen so far.

Heres a quick rundown of the spoilers revealed in the trailer:

1. Arizona (Jessica Capshaw)made Callie (Sara Ramirez)promiseher she wouldnt amputate her leg, which she obviously did.

2.Cristina (Sandra Oh) isnt just running away from Seattle Grace shes fleeing!

3. Jackson (Jesse Williams)asks April (Sarah Drew), Do youwantto get married?

4. Derek (Patrick Dempsey)and Meredith (Ellen Pompeo)celebrate their survival with a sex marathon.

Watch the full trailer below,then drop a comment with your hopes, fears and predictions for the coming season:

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‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Season 9 Trailer: A Shocking Proposal & 4 More Spoilers

5 Major Spoilers from the Grey’s Anatomy Season 9 Trailer

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Sandra Oh

Now that the fates of the Grey's Anatomy docs have been revealed, ABC has finally released the Season 9 trailer, which shows not only what's in store for this Thursday's episode which flashes back to when the docs were rescued from the plane crash but also from the forthcoming episodes... and boy, are these new scenes juicy!

We dissected the trailer, which you can watch below, in case you miss any of the five major spoilers:

Grey's Anatomy Scoop: Jessica Capshaw discusses Arizona's fate and what's next

1. Derek (Patrick Dempsey) returns to the scene of the crash. Not literally, but he does get to see the destroyed plane again.

2. Callie (Sara Ramirez) will do her best to take care of Arizona (Jessica Capshaw), but even that's not enough. We see that Arizona crashes while at Seattle Grace is that where she loses her leg?

3. Jackson (Jesse Williams) and April (Sarah Drew) are... getting married? Well, he asks her if she wants to get married, not to marry him, but she does respond with a kiss, so maybe wedding bells will be ringing soon?

Grey's Anatomy: Where were we and what's next?

4. Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) tries to convince Cristina (Sandra Oh) to stay in Seattle, but that clearly didn't work so well since the latter twisted sister is in Minnesota now. Still, Meredith appears to be fine, judging from the sexy times between her and Derek.

5. Cristina is catatonic following the crash, but it looks like things are on the up-and-up, considering we see her hooking up with someone but is it Owen (Kevin McKidd)?

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5 Major Spoilers from the Grey’s Anatomy Season 9 Trailer

Zephyr Palace Has Been Voted as Costa Rica's Leading Hotel

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Puntarenas, Costa Rica (PRWEB) October 02, 2012

This top award was given by the travel savvy voters of the World Travel Awards website and travel advisors. The awards were handed out to leading travel brands from across the Caribbean and Americas at the World Travel Awards Ceremony hosted at Beaches Turks & Caicos Resort Villages & Spa on September 14, 2012. A packed delegation of VIPs, senior tourism figures and international media travelled from more than 30 nations to attend WTAs Caribbean & The Americas Ceremony 2012.

Zephyr Palace is part of the Villa Caletas complex hotel in Costa Rica. This luxury mansion shines like a jewel in Costa Ricas Central Pacific coast and has seven thematic luxury suites that have been carefully decorated. Each suites detail and dcor will transport guests to a different time and style according to the rooms theme. The name and design of this Palace was inspired by the mythological Greek God of the west wind. Zephyros, considered the gentlest wind. Even today Zephyr means a warm and light breeze. Its over the top design and architecture makes guests feel a world away. Feel the enchantment of the mansion sunbathing in a private pool or relaxing in an African inspired suite.

Zephyr Palace is part of Villa Caletas, one of the first boutique hotels in Costa Rica. It not only boasts top services and facilities but a unique way to see Costa Rica. Located 1000 feet over the Pacific Ocean and surrounded by the rain forest, experience the best of Costa Rica. Zephyr Palace has access to a private beach where guests can relax in the year round pleasant weather as well as horizon pools where the views are endless. To explore Costa Rica, there are many attractions nearby such as beaches, National Parks, zip lining, sport fishing etc.

The World Travel Awards serves to acknowledge, reward and celebrate excellence across all sectors of the global travel and tourism industry. Winning a Word Travel Award is the highest commendation in the travel and tourism industry and this triumph serves as a testament of Zephyr Palaces excellence over the last 12 months. To Celebrate this great award Villa Caletass Zephyr Palace is offering this great package: Stay 3 nights, pay for 2! Total for three nights: $746 in Egyptian, 20 Years or New World Suite *Taxes included. Valid until December 15, 2012. Offer valid for two people per suite.

For reservations please contact: reservations(at)villacaletas(dot)com +(506) 2630-3000

For more information and reservations for the hotel, visit:http://www.zephyrpalace.com& http://www.villacaletas.com or join the Facebook to keep up with the latest news and promotions http://www.facebook.com/villacaletascr

For more information on the World Travel Awards: http://www.worldtravelawards.com

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Zephyr Palace Has Been Voted as Costa Rica's Leading Hotel