Herbert Gintis, Darwin and modern science, Thu 9 July – Video

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Towards the unification of the behavioural sciences Professor Herbert Gintis (New Mexico, USA / Budapest, Hungary) Summary: Despite their distinct objects of study, the human behavioural sciences all include models of individual human behaviour. Unity in the behavioural sciences requires that there be a common underlying model of individual human behaviour, specialized and enriched to meet the particular needs of each discipline.

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Herbert Gintis, Darwin and modern science, Thu 9 July - Video

Adult Stem Cell Research – Video

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http://www.StemCellTreatment.org Thanks to adult stem cell research, stem cell therapy is going mainstream. Many celebrities and professional athletes are getting adult stem cell treatment and helping to open the doors for eventual full authorization here in the United States. If you need adult stem cell treatment visit our website and fill out the contact information.

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Adult Stem Cell Research - Video

Antioxidants help arteries stay healthy in people at risk for heart disease

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Antioxidants are substances that protect cells against the effects of free radicals -- molecules produced when the body breaks down food or is exposed to environmental toxins and radiation. Free radicals are believed to play a role in heart disease, cancer and other disorders. So it makes sense that antioxidants could help protect or even treat many health problems.

However, some poorly designed studies have given antioxidants mixed results (http://www.dreddyclinic.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=3214&p=3892&sid=258fe62f53a591185a259925b7c55ca3&sid=7e828fa71f84a9557d08255f34ff89c9#p3892) and resulted in the mainstream media reporting that antioxidants are virtually worthless. But new research provides hard evidence that taking antioxidant supplements long-term produces dramatic benefits in people with multiple cardiovascular risk factors.

That's the conclusion of a randomized, controlled trial of vitamin C, vitamin E, coenzyme Q10 and selenium capsules. The research results, just reported in BioMed Central's journal Nutrition and Metabolism, show these dietary antioxidants produce multiple positive effects on sugar and fat metabolism, blood pressure and arterial flexibility (which allows blood to move freely through the body). Read more...

Ayurtox for Body Detoxification

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2nd International Scanner Contest (ISC) – Register Now

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P. Hufnagl1, T. Schrader1, 2, M.G. Rojo3, A. Laurinavicius4, G. Kayser5, Y. Yagi6

1Institute for Pathology, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany, 2University of Applied Sciences Brandenburg, Brandenburg, Germany, 3Servicio de Anatomia Patologica, Hospital General de Ciudad Real. 4National Centre of Pathology, Vilnius, Lithuania, 5Institute of Pathology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany, 6Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, United States

All manufacturers of slide scanners are invited to participate in the Second International Scanner Contest (ISC) in Berlin, under the auspices of the European Society of Pathology, German Society of Pathology, and the Berufsverband Deutscher Pathologen e.V. (German Professional Organization of Pathologists).

The 1st ESC was a great success for manufacturers as well as for pathologists and other users. The results have influenced the ongoing development of scanners and the understanding of image quality and evaluation procedures. This contest helps to identify and clarify the specific requirements of image acquisition and digitalization in diagnostic pathology and initiates innovative discussions between developers, vendors and users.

Formerly established and recently re-evaluated criteria will increase the value of the contest, which may support customers to find the appropriate scanner for their specific tasks. Furthermore, the 2nd ISC will serve the manufacturers as a benchmark.

Schedule & Locations

 The contest consists of two phases as listed below.

 

Phase 1: Event of 2nd ISC in Berlin 

  • Venue: Berlin Congress Center
  • Schedule is linked to the 12th Annual Meeting of the Berufsverband Deutscher Pathologen e.V. (German Professional Organization of Pathologists) and the 96th Annual Meeting of the German Society of Pathology, May 31st – June 3rd, 2012

?      May 29th -30th, 2012: Scanning of slides in different disciplines (see below)

?      May 31st – June 3rd, 2012: Evaluation of the virtual slides by pathologists attending the 12th        meeting, preliminary evaluation and presentation of first results during a dedicated session.

  • Comment: Scanning takes place under supervision of referees. The contest room will be open to a restricted number of staff from each participating company between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. only. Catering for the participants will be provided.

Phase 2: Presentation of results, award ceremony 

Report from 2nd ISC 

  • Venue: Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista, in Venice, Italy
  • Schedule is linked to the 11th European Congress on Telepathology and 5th International Congress on Virtual Microscopy, on June 6th to 9th 2012

 

Results & Award Ceremony 

  • Venue: Prague Congress Centre, Prague, Czech Republic
  • Schedule is linked to the 24th European Congress of Pathology, on Sept. 8th to13th, 2012

 

Contest Areas

 

The following table gives an overview of the planned domains of the 2nd International Scanner Contest:

No 

Domain 

Description 

# slides 

Criteria 

1 

High throughput

A: 20x

35 (H&E)

Speed, focus, particles

 

 

B: 40x

35 (H&E)

Speed, focus, particles

2 

Quality

A: 20x

10

Focus, manual quality assessment

 

 

B: 40x

10

Focus, manual quality assessment

3 

Image analysis and Quantification

Image analysis, quantification

3 TMA

Focus, quality, quantitative data

4 

Fluorescence

A: 20x

3

Focus, qualitative data

 

 

B: 40x

3

Focus, qualitative data

5 

Technical

Mesh grids,

color calibration slide

3

Geometry, scanning area, color fastness, acoustic camera

 

 

Sound check

 

 

 

 

Power consumption

 

 

 

General rules

Each company is invited to participate in any of the offered contests with one or more scanners. The organizing committee provides all glass slides. Independent referees who will be responsible for the handling of the slide series and the time measurements supervise the contest room.  The participating companies may participate at the contest with several different scanners. These scanners may be identical or of different types. The results will be analyzed and displayed separately if different scanners are used.  The participants are allowed to review and comment the evaluated results.

 

Evaluation of the results

The organizing scientists will supervise the evaluation process. Beside the evaluation criteria further parameters will be documented such as:

  • Scanning time for the test sets of High quality, Fluorescence
  • File size of resulting images
  • Number of scans failed/ broken slides/ software crashes
  • Additional technical parameters and capabilities

For the evaluation and presentation of results see http://scanner-contest.charite.de.

All involved parties are welcome to propose additional evaluation procedures.

 

Participants

Currently we have received completed registrations from seven vendors with nine devices overall. Two further vendors have announced their participation. Participants originate from Asia, Europe and North America. The ISC proves to be the global forum for Slide Scanner evaluation and benchmarking.

Registration for the 2012 contest is still open! 

Interested Slide Scanning vendors are invited to participate with their devices in the contest to evaluate and proof their individual strengths. Please register via online registration form: http://scanner-contest.charite.de/en/news/online_registration/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Posthum(or)ous recognition of Pick a Pathologist Pal Day

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A reader recently let me know that I failed to recognize "Pick a Pathologist Pal Day" on Tuesday, December 13th:

Pick A Pathologist Pal Day

Wellcat strikes again with Pick A Pathologist Pal Day claiming Pathologists and coroners are an especially jovial lot, and befriending one of them offers an ongoing reminder than “tomorrow” is not necessarily a guarantee.

 They consider coroners and pathologists a happy group of people. They suggest being friends with one will help you realize tomorrow is no guarantee. Buddhists would call this "living in the now." Live in the Now suggests these methods for enjoying each moment:

* Say yes to the present moment by accepting it or taking action to make changes now (not later).

* Just breathe, focus on your breath.

* Stop and enjoy the details of your life.

Turns out beyond picking a pathologist day, sites such as these remind us that important interesting news happens everyday that is not nonsensical, like also being important to eating ice cream, music, end of war (sort of) and national cocoa day.

Read more at http://news.yahoo.com/dec-13-ice-cream-violins-day-20th-anniversary-234300678.html

Seems to be enough that marks December 13.  Perhaps they should move this pathologist pal day item to another less important day.  

And when is Digital Pathology Day, Immunohistochemistry Day or FISH Day?

 

 

 

 

 

 

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UCT Digital Pathology Collection

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An online catalogue with thousands of pathology specimens used as a teaching collection. Detailed cases and exhibitions are available.

This website gives electronic access to several thousand pathology specimens in our pathology teaching collection. It is intended for use by undergraduate and postgraduate students in the health sciences. There are currently three main catalogues for (1) the anatomical pathology collection (2) the forensic pathology collection and (3) the obstetrics and gynaecology collection. (A paediatric pathology section is in the pipeline).

This is an historical collection (begun in the 1920’s) so the cataloguing is rather old fashioned. The specimens are catalogued by organ or system e.g. “kidneys” and then by broad pathological category e.g. “neoplasms”. Each specimen has a brief description and commentary along with good quality photographs. The emphasis is on macroscopic pathology; we are aiming to include more radiographic imaging and also microscopy going forward.

The site also includes a more detailed section with “student cases” that are useful as teaching cases, "specialist cases" presenting unusual cases, and a few online exhibitions around special topics.

The website is a work in progress so much of our material is still in the process of being reviewed and uploaded. 

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Ventana Medical Systems, Inc. and Advanced Cell Diagnostics Enter Worldwide Co-Promotion Agreement for Fully Automated RNA In Situ Hybridization Assay Systems

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TUCSON, Ariz., Dec. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Ventana Medical Systems Inc. (Ventana), a member of the Roche Group, and Advanced Cell Diagnostics Inc. (ACD), announced today they have entered a worldwide co-promotion agreement for the first commercially available, fully automated RNA in situ hybridization (ISH) assay system capable of robust detection and visualization of virtually any expressed gene in routine clinical specimens at single-molecule sensitivity.

VENTANA MEDICAL SYSTEMS, INC. MOUSE BRAIN TISSUE mRNA of Nav1.7, a sodium channel, expressed in normal mouse brain tissue detected by automated RNAscope XT assay. Single mRNA molecules (i.e. the individual dots of the hybridization signal) can be observed in the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus on both neuronal cell bodies and dendrites. This image is taken with 100x objective lens. (PRNewsFoto/Ventana Medical Systems, Inc.) TUCSON, AZ UNITED STATES

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20111213/DE21304 )

The two companies have partnered to automate this assay system on the VENTANA DISCOVERY series slide staining platforms. The product offerings are expected to become commercially available in the first quarter of 2012 and will initially be offered for research-use only (RUO) applications.

"Given the fact that the majority of biomarkers are discovered from genomic research and are RNA by nature, the automation of RNAscope represents an important milestone that will accelerate biomarker research into a new level of sophistication," said Dr. Yuling Luo, founder, president and CEO of ACD. "RNAscope will become an equally indispensable tool alongside immunohistochemistry, fluorescence in situ hybridization and polymerase chain reaction for researchers in life sciences and drug development."

Luo said the ability to generate robust and reproducible results from routine clinical specimens "makes the technology a compelling platform for clinical diagnostic applications in the foreseeable future."

The RNAscope® FFPE Reagent Systems automated on the VENTANA DISCOVERY ULTRA and DISCOVERY XT offers researchers a powerful tool with unprecedented levels of performance.

"The combination of RNAscope reagent system and our sophisticated and flexible DISCOVERY platform and detection systems delivers a powerful solution for biomarker discovery and validation," said Bill Crawford, director of marketing, Discovery, with Ventana. "It has significant potential to advance cell- and tissue-based biomarker analyses for future clinical and companion diagnostics development."

RNA in situ hybridization is an indispensable method to analyze gene expression in the context of tissue architecture in areas of oncology, virology, and neuroscience research. RNAscope is an award-winning breakthrough technology that provides researchers the unique capability to interrogate the function and disease relevance of any expressed genes in situ, especially for the approximately 5,000 genes and 15,000 non-coding RNAs in the human genome where no other technologies can adequately address. In addition, RNAscope allows researchers to tap into the estimated 400 million clinically-annotated, archived formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue specimens for retrospective clinical studies in translational research.

The DISCOVERY XT and DISCOVERY ULTRA systems provide scientists and research professionals who require more than conventional IHC and ISH research methods with an array of fully automated applications, which improve flexibility and freedom and provide the necessary, reproducible results that optimize patient care.

About Advanced Cell Diagnostics, Inc.

Advanced Cell Diagnostics, Inc. (ACD) is a leader in the emerging field of molecular pathology, developing cell- and tissue-based diagnostic tests for personalized medicine. The company's products and services are based on its proprietary RNAscope® technology, the first multiplex fluorescent and chromogenic in situ hybridization platform capable of detecting and quantifying RNA biomarkers in situ at single-molecule sensitivity. ACD partners with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to validate biomarkers for targeted therapeutic development in cancer and other diseases. These partnerships provide the foundation for ACD to develop companion diagnostic tests in conjunction with partners' targeted therapeutics. ACD also pursues internal programs to develop proprietary diagnostic tests in cancer management. Learn more about ACD and RNAscope technology at http://www.acdbio.com.

About Ventana Medical Systems, Inc.

Ventana Medical Systems, Inc. ("VMSI") (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY), a member of the Roche Group, innovates and manufactures instruments and reagents that automate tissue processing and slide staining for cancer diagnostics. VENTANA solutions are used in clinical histology and drug development research laboratories worldwide. The company's intuitive, integrated staining, workflow management platforms, and digital pathology solutions optimize laboratory efficiencies to reduce errors, support diagnosis and inform treatment decisions for anatomic pathology professionals. Together with Roche, VMSI is driving personalized medicine through accelerated drug discovery and the development of "companion diagnostics" to identify the patients most likely to respond favorably to specific therapies. Visit http://www.ventana.com to learn more.

RNAscope products are for research use only and not intended for diagnostic applications.

RNAscope, HybEZ, CTCscope, and DNAscope are registered trademarks or trademarks of Advanced Cell Diagnostics, Inc. in the United States or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Ventana products are for in vitro diagnostic use for specific applications and are research use only for other applications. The VENTANA DISCOVERY products are for research use only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.

SOURCE Ventana Medical Systems, Inc.

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Transferring Laboratory Data Into The Electronic Medical Record: Technological Options For Data Migration In The Laboratory Information System

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FREE Special Edition White Paper

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Download Your FREE Special Report Today!
Simply Complete the Form Below

 

cover-white-paper-transfering-data-to-EHR

In an increasingly competitive economic environment for healthcare services, clinical diagnostic laboratories are looking at tools that can improve their efficiency and increase their profits. Of primary interest are sophisticated laboratory information systems (LIS) that can interact with the facility or institution’s electronic medical record (EMR) system and/or electronic health record (EHR).

Although the LIS concept is not new, advances in technology have made them more sophisticated than ever, offering clinical and non-clinical applications, Web-based connectivity, customizable configurations and rule-writing, scalability, and modular units that can offer data handling for the most cutting-edge laboratory techniques and testing.

The Dark Report is happy to offer our readers a chance to download our recently published FREE White Paper “Transferring Laboratory Data Into The Electronic Medical Record: Technological Options For Data Migration In The Laboratory Information System” at absolutely no charge. This free download will provide readers with a detailed explanation of technology options for data migration in the LIS System.

download your report now!

—

Among other topics, this FREE White Paper specifically addresses:

  1. Overview of the U.S. Clinical Laboratory System
  2. What is HL7’s mission statement?
  3. Software as a Service (SaaS)/ASP
  4. Selecting your lab’s LIS approach

For more about transferring lab data to EHR, please CLICK HERE

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Table of Contents

Introduction — Page 3

Chapter 1. The Laboratory LIS and IT Environment — Page 4

Chapter 2. Challenges in the Current Marketplace for Moving Lab Data from LIS to EMR — Page 12

Chapter 3. Middleware — Page 19

Chapter 4. Software As A Service (SaaS)/ASP — Page 23

Chapter 5. Case Studies — Page 28

 Chapter 6. Selecting Your LIS Approach — Page 32

 Chapter 7. Implementing Your LIS Choice — Page 34

Conclusion — Page 36

 References — Page 37

Appendices

A-1 About Mark Terry — Page 39

A-2 About About NetLims — Page 40

A-3 About DARK Daily — Page 41

A-4 About The Dark Intelligence Group, Inc., and THE DARK REPORT — Page 42

A-5 About the Executive War College on Laboratory and Pathology Management — Page 43

A-6 About Julie Pekarek — Page 45

 Terms of Use — Page 48


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