A vehicle rollover near Medicine Hat is being blamed on the driver being distracted by his cell phone.
Three people were injured in the crash along Highway 41 North near Schuler around 10:30 a.m. MT Saturday.
The 17-year-old male driver is charged with distracted driving including talking on a cell phone and texting while driving.
The teen was airlifted to hospital in Medicine Hat in stable condition.
A 19-year-old man and 20-year-old were also injured.
See more here:
Public release date: 26-Aug-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jim Fessenden james.fessenden@umassmed.edu 508-856-2000 University of Massachusetts Medical School
WORCESTER, MA A team of scientists, including faculty at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS), have discovered a gene that influences survival time in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease). The study, published today in Nature Medicine, describes how the loss of activity of a receptor called EphA4 substantially extends the lifespan of people with the disease. When coupled with a UMMS study published last month in Nature identifying a new ALS gene (profilin-1) that also works in conjunction with EphA4, these findings point to a new molecular pathway in neurons that is directly related to ALS susceptibility and severity.
"Taken together, these findings are particularly exciting because they suggest that suppression of EphA4 may be a new way to treat ALS," said Robert Brown, MD, DPhil, a co-author on the study and chair of neurology at UMass Medical School.
ALS is a progressive, neurodegenerative disorder affecting the motor neurons in the central nervous system. As motor neurons die, the brain's ability to send signals to the body's muscles is compromised. This leads to loss of voluntary muscle movement, paralysis and eventually respiratory failure. The cause of most cases of ALS is not known. Approximately 10 percent of cases are inherited. Though investigators at UMMS and elsewhere have identified several genes shown to cause inherited or familial ALS, almost 50 percent of these cases have an unknown genetic cause. There are no significant treatments for the disease.
Wim Robberecht, MD, PhD, lead investigator of the Nature Medicine study and a researcher at the University of Leuven in Belgium and the Vesalius Research Center, screened for genes in zebrafish that blunt the adverse effect of the ALS mutant gene SOD1. Through this process, his team identified EphA4 as an ALS modifier. Dr. Robberecht's team went on to show that when this gene is inactivated in mice with ALS, the mice live longer.
Dr. Robberecht then turned to UMass Medical School to confirm that turning off EphA4 in human ALS cells would slow the progression of the disease. Dr. Brown and his team identified two human ALS cases with mutations in the EphA4 gene which, like the zebrafish and the mice, had unusually long survival times. This suggests that blocking EphA4 in patients with ALS may be a potential therapeutic target in the future.
In an exciting, related development, a new ALS gene (profilin-1) identified last month by UMMS scientists works in conjunction with EphA4 in neurons to control outgrowth of motor nerve terminals. In effect, gene variants at both the top and the bottom of the same signaling pathway are shown to effect ALS progression. Together these discoveries highlight a new molecular pathway in neurons that is directly related to ALS susceptibility and severity and suggests that other components of the pathway may be implicated in ALS.
"It is exciting that these two studies identify the same pathway in ALS," said John Landers, PhD, associate professor of neurology and lead author of the PFN1 study. "Hopefully this discovery will accelerate efforts to finding a treatment for ALS."
###
Go here to read the rest:
Scientists identify new gene that influences survival in ALS
Get more from Hollywoodlife.com: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter
See the rest here:
Liberty Ross & Rupert Sanders Have Marriage Showdown — Report
Log in to manage your products and services from The New York Times and the International Herald Tribune.
Don't have an account yet? Create an account
E-Mail or Member ID
Password
Remember Me Log In
Link:
Enlarge Photo
TAMPA, Fla. Rep. Ron Paul rewarded thousands of his presidential campaign supporters with a rally here Sunday, vowing that with their help, his small government, anti-war libertarian message will continue after he retires no matter who occupies the White House come January.
Introduced by Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, his son and the would-be heir apparent to the political movement headed by the 77-year-old congressman from Texas, Mr. Paul took the stage at the Sun Dome at the University of South Florida to an ovation so long and so thunderous that he was temporarily at a loss for words.
Is there anything left for me to say? he asked the crowd wryly.
But he went on to tell them that his cause of liberty was bigger than any convention, or even any election and that the Republican big tent eventually wouldnt matter.
We will get into the tent, believe me, he said. Because we will become the tent, eventually.
Mr. Paul trotted out his various policy emphases abolishing the Federal Reserve, scaling back the countrys military spending and repealing the provision in the National Defense Authorization Act allowing for the indefinite detention of terrorist suspects without trial, for example before sending off his supporters with both gratitude and a call to arms.
The worst thing we can do is remain silent, he said. I have been taught, and Ive been convinced, that patriotism is that [loyalty] that permits us as a free society to criticize our own government when theyre wrong.
Mr. Paul noted that he visited more than 30 college campuses during the campaign a testament to his popularity among young people as well as old.
Weve come so far in this fight for liberty, said Ashley Ryan, 21, a Republican National Committee member from Maine and the youngest delegate to this years GOP convention. You can truly say this is a revolution.
Read the rest here:
China is firmly opposed to the US' stance that the Diaoyu Islands fall within the scope of the US-Japan security treaty, under which Washington would provide assistance if Tokyo's territories came under an armed attack, a senior Chinese military official told his US counterparts on Friday.
Go here to read the rest:
Prime Minister John Key will lead the New Zealand delegation to the
43rd Pacific Islands Forum in the Cook Islands this week.
"The Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting is an opportunity
for the region to come together and work on the issues we jointly
face," says Mr Key.
"It is also a chance to put the Pacific on the international agenda
and meet with partners from outside the region."
New Zealand hosted the 2011 Forum in Auckland, and this year Mr Key
will formally hand over the chairing of the Forum to Cook Islands
Prime Minister Henry Puna.
Originally posted here:
By Ginger Gibson and Darren Samuelsohn, POLITICO Ginger GibsonDarren SamuelsohnTampa Bay Times In Print: Monday, August 27, 2012
On the eve of the Republican convention in Tampa, Mitt Romney abruptly embraced his Massachusetts health care law Sunday in response to President Barack Obama's attacks that Republicans have declared a 'war on women.' "
"I'm the guy who was able to get all the health care for all the women and men for my state," Romney said in an interview aired on Fox News Sunday. "They were talking about it at the federal level. We actually did something and we did it without cutting Medicare and without raising taxes."
Romney added that he was "very proud" of his signature on the 2006 law when he was governor of Massachusetts while charging that Obama would cut more than $700 million from Medicare to pay for his health care overhaul. During the Republican primary and for much of the general election, Romney has all but ignored his health care bill and has instead emphasized that he would repeal the Affordable Care Act if he were elected.
But as the November election approaches, Romney and senior campaign aides have begun mentioning his Massachusetts reforms with more frequency and enthusiasm.
"Romney has a Hobson's choice: Obama will hit him if he distances himself on the Massachusetts plan, or, Obama will play up the plan as the basis for Obamacare if Romney owns it," GOP strategist Keith Appell said.
"What's important for Romney to do is maintain what he has promised conservatives: that he will repeal Obamacare on Day One of his presidency. And all conservatives in Congress and at the grass roots level need to hold his feet to the fire on that. If he wins and the Republicans control Congress, he has to repeal Obamacare immediately if he wants things to go smoothly from that point forward."
On Thursday, Romney also mentioned the health care law in an interview with a Denver television station. He pointed out that his plan didn't raise taxes.
On Aug. 8, spokeswoman Andrea Saul evoked the law in a Fox News appearance, saying "if people had been in Massachusetts, under Gov. Romney's health care plan, they would have had health care." There was a backlash from conservative pundits who saw their fears that he was moving to center realized.
Saul used the law as a defense to a blistering ad aired by an Obama-allied super PAC accusing Romney for being responsible for the death of a man's wife who died after he lost his job at a Bain-controlled company. Saul said if the couple had lived in Massachusetts, they would have had health care coverage.
Read more from the original source:
BOSTONHealth care officials, financial industry executives and labor unions are pumping hundreds of thousands of dollars into a political action committee that Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick set up to pay for his travels on behalf of President Barack Obama's re-election campaign.
Patrick's Together PAC raised $455,500 from April 1 through the end of June, according to a campaign finance reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.
That brings the PAC's fundraising total to nearly $1.3 million since Patrick formed it last year. The committee ended June with $674,700 left in its account, having already spent $609,900.
The goal of the PAC was to raise money to pay for Patrick's travels and other activities for Obama and the national Democratic Party.
Among those contributing to Patrick's PAC during the most recent reporting period were former U.S. Attorney Wayne Budd and his wife, Jacqueline ($6,000); Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce President Paul Guzzi ($3,000); Stacey Lucchino, wife of Red Sox President Larry Lucchino ($5,000); and Boston attorney Thomas Kiley ($500), whose clients include former House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi.
Also donating to Patrick's PAC was Cape Wind President James Gordon, who gave $5,000. Patrick has been a vocal advocate for both land-based and offshore wind power including Cape Wind, which aims to be the nation's first offshore wind farm.
Patrick also received contributions from the 1199 Service Employees International Union PAC ($5,000) and the Laborers' International Union of North America ($5,000).
Alex Goldstein, the Together PAC's executive director, said Patrick's political activities are separate from his day job as governor.
"Contributions have absolutely no bearing whatsoever on administration policies," Goldstein said.
Patrick also received $5,000 contributions from top executives at health care organizations like Steward Health Care, Partners Health Care, Shields Health Care Group and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
Read the original here:
August 26, 2012 - Frontier League (FL) Florence Freedom Florence, KY - The Washington Wild Things(39-51) won a seesaw affair over the Florence Freedom (51-39) Sunday night to avoid a three game sweep by the score of 7-5.
There were three ties at 1-1, 3-3, and 5-5 however it was Washington getting a clutch hit in the 9th to give them the win.
The Freedom took an early 1-0 lead in the 1st inning on a Peter Fatse SAC fly. Washington matched the Freedom with a solo homerun from Mark Samuelson.
The Wild Things then took a 2-1 lead in the 3rd on an RBI single by Gus Benusa. They stretched the lead to 3-1 on another Samuelson solo homer in the 4th.
The Freedom's Junior Arrojo then tied the game in the 5th with his two run homerun, his second homer of the series and his fifth of the season.
The Freedom retook the lead in the 6th with a two out two run double by David Harris.
With the Freedom leading 5-3 in the 7th, the Wild Things began to chip away at the Freedom bullpen. AJ Nunziato delivered a SAC fly to cut the lead to 5-4. Then in the 8th, Samuelson provided a SAC fly to tie the game at 5-5.
With the game on the line in the 9th, with two runners aboard it was Samuelson again delivering the blow. He lined a two run single over first baseman Drew Rundle to give the Wild Things a 7-5 lead. Samuelson went 3-5 against his former team with two homers and had 5 RBI's.
The Freedom attempted to rally in the 9th against closer Orlando Santos. Fatse drew a two out walk, but Eddie Rodriguez struck out swinging to end the ballgame.
Jhonny Montoya (3-3) earned the win out of Washington's bullpen pitching 2.2 innings of scoreless baseball. Ian Durham (1-2) suffered the loss as Santos notched his 10th save.
More here:
Four imprisoned fiends convicted in the 1988 assassination of rookie NYPD cop Edward Byrne are set to appear before their parole boards for the first time this fall to seek their freedom, The Post has learned.
The quartet of craven killers Philip Copeland, Scott Cobb, Todd Scott and David McClary shot Byrne, a 103rd Precinct patrol cop, on Feb. 26, 1988, inside his marked patrol car in Jamaica, Queens.
The thugs shot the 22-year-old Byrne five times in the head in exchange for $8,000 in blood money from their drug boss, who had been busted by officers a day earlier and offered the dough to anyone who killed a cop in retaliation.
Edward Byrne
Byrnes death made national headlines as a stark reminder of the surging tide of urban violence often associated with the distribution of crack cocaine and became a defining moment in the citys war on crime.
The crimes brutality led President Ronald Reagan to call the family to express his condolences and Vice President George H.W. Bush to carry the slain officers NYPD badge with him on the campaign trail.
Edward Byrnes merciless assassins should leave prison only in coffins, Patrolmens Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch told The Post recently, referring to the cons bid at freedom.
Carole Weaver, a spokeswoman for the state Division of Parole, said that beginning in November, each of the convicts will undergo separate interviews with parole-board commissioners at the prisons where they are now inmates.
The Byrne family have been told to show up on the morning of Oct. 5 at the West 40th Street offices of the state Division of Parole to provide victim impact statements about the pending parole bids, sources said.
Lawrence Byrne, a lawyer who is the slain officers brother, did not return calls for comment.
See more here:
ScienceDaily (Aug. 26, 2012) Harvard scientists have, for the first, time created a type of "cyborg" tissue by embedding a three-dimensional network of functional, bio-compatible nanoscale wires into engineered human tissues.
As described in a paper published August 26 in Nature Materials, a multi-institutional research team led by Charles M. Lieber, the Mark Hyman, Jr. Professor of Chemistry at Harvard and Daniel Kohane, a Harvard Medical School professor in the Department of Anesthesia at Children's Hospital Boston developed a system for creating nanoscale "scaffolds" which could be seeded with cells which later grew into tissue.
Also contributing to the work were Robert Langer, from the Koch Institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Zhigang Suo, the Allen E. and Marilyn M. Puckett Professor of Mechanics and Materials at Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
"The current methods we have for monitoring or interacting with living systems are limited," said Lieber. "We can use electrodes to measure activity in cells or tissue, but that damages them. With this technology, for the first time, we can work at the same scale as the unit of biological system without interrupting it. Ultimately, this is about merging tissue with electronics in a way that it becomes difficult to determine where the tissue ends and the electronics begin."
The research addresses a concern that has long been associated with work on bioengineered tissue -- how to create systems capable of sensing chemical or electrical changes in the tissue after it has been grown and implanted. The system might also represent a solution to researchers' struggles in developing methods to directly stimulate engineered tissues and measure cellular reactions.
"In the body, the autonomic nervous system keeps track of pH, chemistry, oxygen and other factors, and triggers responses as needed," Kohane explained. "We need to be able to mimic the kind of intrinsic feedback loops the body has evolved in order to maintain fine control at the cellular and tissue level."
Using the autonomic nervous system as inspiration, Bozhi Tian, a former doctoral student under Lieber and former postdoctoral fellow in the Kohane and Langer labs, and collaborator Jia Liu worked in Lieber's lab at Harvard to build mesh-like networks of nanoscale silicon wires -- about 30 -- 80 nm in diameter -- shaped like flat planes or in a reticular conformation.
The process of building the networks, Lieber said, is similar to that used to etch microchips.
Beginning with a two-dimensional substrate, researchers laid out a mesh of organic polymer around nanoscale wires, which serve as the critical nanoscale sensing elements. Nanoscale electrodes, which connect the nanowire elements, were then built within the mesh to enable nanowire transistors to measure the activity in cells without damaging them. Once complete, the substrate was dissolved, leaving researchers with a net-like sponge or a mesh that can be folded or rolled into a host of three dimensional shapes.
Once complete, the networks were porous enough to allow the team to seed them with cells and encourage those cells to grow in 3D cultures.
More:
'Cyborg' tissues: Merging engineered human tissues with bio-compatible nanoscale wires
By Jerry E. Esplanada Philippine Daily Inquirer
INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines Several prestigious foreign travel publications like Travel + Leisure Magazine have reaffirmed the Philippines fame as having some of the best beaches in the world.
However, lifeguards manning those beaches have not been accredited in compliance with the law.
More than two years after Republic Act No. 9993, or the Philippine Coast Guard Act of 2009 was signed into law, not a single lifeguard in the country has been certified by the PCG as required by the new PCG law.
When contacted, Lt. Cmdr. Armand Balilo, PCG spokesman, acknowledged that RA 9993 mandates the Coast Guard to regulate safety in beaches nationwide, through the issuance of lifeguard certificates, among other functions.
Go here to read the rest:
PH beaches among the ‘best’ in the world but have no accredited lifeguards
Cebu Daily News
MANILA Several prestigious foreign travel publications like Travel + Leisure Magazine have reaffirmed the Philippines fame as having some of the best beaches in the world.
However, lifeguards manning those beaches have not been accredited in compliance with the law.
More than two years after Republic Act No. 9993, or the Philippine Coast Guard Act of 2009 was signed into law, not a single lifeguard in the country has been certified by the PCG as required by the new PCG law.
When contacted, Lt. Cmdr. Armand Balilo, PCG spokesman, acknowledged that RA 9993 mandates the Coast Guard to regulate safety in beaches nationwide, through the issuance of lifeguard certificates, among other functions.
However, Balilo admitted that PCG, a Department of Transportation and Communications-attached agency, is still finalizing the guidelines covering the issuance of lifeguard certificates.
See more here:
PH beaches ranked among ‘best’ but still no accredited lifeguards
Sunday, August 26, 2012 9:14 PM EDT
By ROBERT STORACE STAFF WRITER
They said the show was awful, said Grice, 49. It caught me off guard. I didnt realize astronomy was not accessible until that group pointed it out to me.
From that moment in Boston, Grice has been on a mission to make astronomy accessible to everyone including the hearing and visually impaired, those with mobile impairments and neurological disorders. She went on to write five tactile books all touchable about astronomy for the visually impaired. Her book Touch the Universe was the first book in braille ever on Amazon.com.
Last month, Grice, who was raised in Walden, Mass., published her sixth book: Everyones Universe: Second Edition as a guide for educators to better teach those with impairments and disabilities about astronomy. The book is $27.95 and as available at Barnes & Noble in Farmington and at Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com.
The first half of her 336-page book deals with how educators can better communicate with their students. For example, there is a section on working with the visually impaired. Grice notes there are several things educators can do to help that part of the population learn about the world of astronomy, which is the study of places beyond the earth, such as stars, planets and moons.
I write about how to pictorially describe images available through the telescope and ways to provide a tactile tour of the telescope, she said. I also explain how to enlarge images from the telescope to the monitor, which will make it more accessible for someone with low vision.
She also worked with the American School for the Deaf in West Hartford in offering educators ideas on how to better teach the hearing impaired about astronomy.
The second half of the book is a guide to accessible astronomy destinations. There are none in central Connecticut and the closest one is at the Western Connecticut State University Observatory Planetarium in Danbury, she said.
They have tactile images available to accompany planetarium shows, she noted.
View original post here:
Author makes astronomy accessible to the visually and hearing impaired
PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
CEO and founder, Behrooz Rezvani, Ph.D, has launched Seyyer Inc., a cloud-based video software artificial intelligence company that offers users the first customized, cognitive video realization (CVR) platform built to easily create massive amounts of individualized, authentic video content, instantly and inexpensively. Seyyers interactive video personalization platform is targeted to online commercial producers, advertising agencies and other multimedia developers to create infinitely transformative video avatar content based on real people, in less time and at significantly lower cost than traditional filming and editing techniques.
Seyyers CVR platform applies artificial intelligence and machine learning to make computer-generated modifications to original video footage of a persons facial expressions, gestures and speech, resulting in a hyper-realistic, customizable and extensible avatar with authentic detail to be extremely convincing to the viewer. This is done though text-to-instant-video realization (TTV) that is both instant and inexpensive.
Until now, filming people for web commercials, online videos and other applications has been a time-intensive and expensive process that does not align with the fast-paced dynamics of advertising, mobile marketing and social commerce, said Rezvani. Our solution enables video to be super targeted, relevant and interactive while delivering massive amounts of customizable, authentic video content, faster and at significantly lower cost than any traditional methods available today.
Customer Applications
With Seyyers CVR platform, developers can create human video, then adapt, regenerate and extend content with its unique combination of gesture recognition, micro-expression and speech-modeling technology. To enhance the learning process, educational content can be generated using interactive, personalized video-based curricula. Advertisers can develop highly targeted and almost instantly updatable mobile and online marketing campaigns that drive deeper consumer engagement. Retailers using the latest social commerce engines can create advanced avatars to further augment and complement the consumer experience.
Seyyers interactive video platform could be a game-changer for our clients, said Dave Benton, Creative Director of Metajive, a full-service interactive and social media agency. At Metajive we look to create authentic messages that enable connections to the brand, leveraging interactive video to deliver content in the most direct, compelling and creative manner possible. Deploying Seyyers text to instant video realization capability gives us an extraordinary new tool for deeply engaging campaigns with extremely realistic interactive video avatars.
Rezvani is a repeat entrepreneur who also founded Ikanos Communications (VDSL, Very high speed Digital Subscriber Line) in 1999 to a successful IPO in 2005 and co-founded Quantenna Communications (Wi-Fi) in 2006. Seyyer is an angel-backed, cloud-based video software artificial intelligence company.
View Demo and Availability
Seyyer has provided a demonstration of the companys interactive video personalization platform at http://www.seyyer.com. The CVR platform is available today and the company is engaged with brands and companies across industries.
Read the original here:
August 26, 2012
Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online
The next time you leave your DNA behind be forewarned that you are now not only leaving your biological fingerprint behind for prying eyes, but also leaving evidence of what color your hair and eyes are. Until the mid-1980s, DNA at a crime scene went largely unchecked due to lack of technology to search it out. And for the last two decades, in order for a crime scene detective to match DNA to a suspect, samples had to be taken from possible matches.
But now, according to a team of researchers, led by professor Manfred Kayser of Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, a new forensic test can predict both the hair and eye color of a possible suspect using DNA at a crime scene. The team said it could provide valuable leads in cases where suspects cannot be identified through DNA profiling.
The test, called the Hirisplex system, could allow crime scene investigators to narrow down a large group of possible suspects, making it easier to pinpoint the perpetrator. Details of the research appear in the journal Forensic Science International: Genetics.
Predicting phenotypes is quickly becoming an emerging field in forensics. The current approach, genetic profiling, involves comparing crime scene DNA to possible suspects or to a database of stored profiles. Genetic profiling relies on the person either being among a pool of suspects identified by police or having their profile previously stored.
The Hirisplex approach could be very useful in cases where a perpetrator is completely unknown to the authorities, said Kayser.
The test includes the 24 currently best eye and hair color predictive DNA markers, Kayser said in a press release. In its design we took care that the test can cope with the challenges of forensic DNA analysis such as low amounts of material.
The test is very sensitive and produces complete results on even smaller DNA amounts than usually used for forensic DNA profiling.
Kayser told BBC News Paul Rincon that the research article outlines everything needed to establish the test in a forensic lab, but that the team was also in touch with industry regarding their knowledge about hair and eye color prediction.
See the rest here:
New DNA Test Can Now Determine Hair, Eye Color Of A Possible Suspect
Are you a graduating senior, graduate student, or alumnus who would like to spend a year outside of the U.S., either serving as an English Teaching Assistant or taking courses and/or doing research? Consider applying for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. The campus deadline for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program is less than a month away, but there's still time to put together a competitive application. The Office of Nationally Competitive Scholarships will be holding one last information session for this year's application cycle: Fulbright U.S. Student Program Information Session Tuesday, August 28 @ 2:30pm Room to be determined Please RSVP to Dr. Jeff Thibert at thibert@email.arizona.edu to receive an update on the room location. You're welcome to come even if you're not eligible to apply this year. You can also contact Dr. Thibert if you cannot attend but would like more information. Finally, if you're currently working on an application, but have not yet heard from Dr.Thibert, send him an email right away.
Source:
http://physiologynews.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss
“For 25 years now, the CIO 100 awards have honored the innovative use of technology to deliver genuine business value,” said Maryfran Johnson, Editor in Chief of CIO magazine & events. “Our 2012 winners are an outstanding example of the transformative power of IT to drive everything from revenue growth to competitive advantage.”
“Quest Diagnostics is honored to receive a CIO 100 award in recognition of our Gazelle mobile health app,” said David Evans, Vice President of Information Technology for Quest Diagnostics, who accepted the award at the CIO 100 Symposium & Awards Ceremony. ”In today’s digital world, patients are increasingly relying on smartphones and tablets to better manage every aspect of their lives, including their health.”
Gazelle has delivered more than 220,000 laboratory results directly to patients to help in the management of their health. Where state regulations allow, patients can receive many of their laboratory test results on their smartphones. Currently, 38 states allow patients to have access to their lab data. Rhode Island and Arizona recently granted patients this access and currently the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has a proposed rule that would empower patients by allowing direct access to their laboratory test results, via proposed amendments to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA), to create a uniform, national standard.
“Seven percent of patients never receive notification of abnormal results, and nine percent of lab tests are repeated because the results are not available to patients or their current physician,” said Jon R. Cohen, M.D., Quest Diagnostics Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer. “At Quest Diagnostics, we believe that increased transparency by providing lab results directly to patients after they have been received by the ordering physician can further help patients understand and engage in managing their healthcare. Gazelle is but one example of our commitment to patient empowerment.”
About Quest Diagnostics
Quest Diagnostics is the world’s leading provider of diagnostic testing, information and services that patients and doctors need to make better healthcare decisions. The company offers the broadest access to diagnostic testing services through its network of laboratories and patient service centers, and provides interpretive consultation through its extensive medical and scientific staff. Quest Diagnostics is a pioneer in developing innovative diagnostic tests and advanced healthcare information technology solutions that help improve patient care. Additional company information is available at QuestDiagnostics.com. Follow us atFacebook.com/QuestDiagnostics and Twitter.com/QuestDX.
About Gazelle
Launched in 2010, the secure Gazelle mobile health app helps patients to make meaningful improvements to their health. Patients can see, store and share their Quest Diagnostics laboratory test results as well as manage physician names, specialties, and contact information; hospital and pharmacy numbers; even insurance plan, group, and policy numbers. Gazelle is an easy way to capture and manage personal health information, including vital statistics, medical history and conditions, food and medication allergies, travel history and immunizations, and medication names, doses, frequency, and start/end dates. Where state regulations allow patients can receive lab test results directly from Quest Diagnostics. In states where direct delivery to patients does not exist, patients can have results sent to them from their medical practitioner that uses the Care360. To help patients understand their results, Gazelle includes a brief explanation of the normal and abnormal values for the most common lab tests. For more information about Gazelle’s features visit http://www.MyGazelleApp.com.
About the CIO 100
The recipients of this year’s CIO 100 award were selected through a three-step process. First, companies filled out an online application form detailing their innovative IT and business initiatives. Next, a team of judges reviewed the applications in depth, looking for unique practices and substantial results. Finally,CIO editors reviewed the judges’ recommendations and voted on the final 100.
Complete coverage of the 2012 CIO 100 awards will be online at http://www.cio.com on August 1, 2012 and in the August 1st issue of CIO magazine.
Quest Diagnostics Contacts:
Media: Caitlin McHugh, 973-520-2800
Investors: Kathleen Valentine, 973-520-2900
SOURCE: Quest Diagnostics Incorporated
There are many angles and points to this news and one post on the matter will not do the implications for us users, consumers, clients, customers, prospects and technophlies justice. I hope this will the first installment of many as more details emerge about the deal.
Perhaps not too surprising would be that the story on Tuesday mentioning Leica buying Aperio turned out to be only a slightly more popular post than a recent post about a 10-year old with Asperger's giving a personal medal to the Canadian Olympic team, confirming again that everyone likes a story with a happy ending (pending SEC clearance and the deal closing).
Also of note was the large laboratory presence in staining, instrumentation and clinical microscopy Leica brought to the table with great optics and solid software applications.
What was missing then as it was until a few days ago was a scanner of their own, the ability to support multiple sites on a common database, a portfolio of FDA 510K cleared image analysis applications that Aperio has in its portfolio and a polished sales and marketing staff.
A perfect fit for both companies. Leica gains a product that can network, cleared IHC algorithms, a larger sales and marketing force very familiar with clinical, educational and research markets as well as instant major market share purchasing the leader in the space with 1100 systems deployed worldwide.
2 years ago today, Roche announced it was buying BioImagene, the sale came approximately 2 years after Dr. Ajit Singh joined the company as CEO. When he joined the company, clearly his job was to get the company sold.
Fast forward to November of last year when Aperio appointed healthcare veteran David Schlotterbeck as CEO of Aperio following an appointment on the board and replacing founder Dirk Soeksen as CEO. Clearly his job was to get Aperio sold. Mission accomplished. In less than a year.
Customers appeared to be choosing Aperio over Leica on most head-to-head deals based on proven experience and ability to define customer needs and match products and services. Leica did hot have as broad a product offering or enough boots on the ground to compete, particularly in North America.
Some questions come to mind:
Did Aperio's market prowess impact Leica's ability to win new digital pathology business? Did a lack of IHC image analysis with FDA clearance hurt them considering reads of ER/PR/HER2 appear to be solid use cases for digital pathology? And if you can't beat 'em, buy 'em?
In the end, Leica combines a long history of laboratory products and manufacturing processes to go head-to-head with Roche for a combined solution for staining/scanning/analysis for cancer diagnostics and prognostics and Aperio gets a suitor.
Many questions remain I do not know the answer to:
How much?
Is there/Will there be measurable culture clash in this acquisition?
What will the new combined branding look like i.e. "Leica Biosystems ePathology Solutions Powered by Aperio" much like Roche/Ventana's "Powered by BioImagene" byline?
Here is where I think are now with market segments in the digital pathology space:
1. IHC image analysis (Roche and Leica) - groups with in-house IHC, independent labs, reference labs, consultation capabilities across a network.
2. PACS integration (Philips and GE) - large integrated health care delivery systems, hopspital owned groups and perhaps virtual IHC offerings or large consultation/referral combined networks through PACS integration.
3. Small volume, low cost (DigiPath and Mikroscan) - coverage for remote frozen sections, FNAs, ad hoc intramural/extramural consults (low volume of slides and transactions), in-office laboratories, low cost solution for risk mitigation in low volume circumstances.
Source:
Source: