Month: May 2011

  • Diagnostics Company Gets State Grant for Blood Platelet Test

    Immunetics Inc. in Boston, Massachusetts, received a Small Business Matching Grant (SBMG) to commercialize its BacTx test for detecting bacterial contamination in blood platelets. The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center made the $500,000 award. Platelets enable clotting, and patients suffering from trauma, surgical procedures, cancer, or chemotherapy must receive platelet transfusions to survive. The company says…

  • Patients’ Mobile Phones Found to Carry Resistant Bacteria

    Researchers at Inonu University in Turkey found many mobile phones used by hospital patients and visitors to carry potentially dangerous bacteria, with some of those bacteria considered resistant to antibiotics. Their findings appear in the June issue of the American Journal of Infection Control (paid subscription required). Inonu University’s Mehmet Sait Tekerekoglu and six colleagues…

  • Adverse Effects Found with Permanent Hair Dye, Moisturizers

    The Norwegian Institute of Public Health issued its first report of adverse effects from cosmetic products and found permanent hair dyes  and face and body moisturizers to register the most severe or highest number of reports from health professionals. The institute defines cosmetic products as “all products that are applied to the external parts of…

  • Global Entrepreneurship Week to Recognize 50 New Start-Ups

    Startup Open has launched its search for the 50 most promising new start-ups around the world as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) 2011. Winners of the competition will be announced on 15 October 2011, with those companies then competing for the top honors. The competition, now in its second year, is open to entrepreneurs…

  • Solvay to Form Research Center at Korean Women’s University

    Solvay, a chemical company in Brussels, Belgium, says it will locate its Korean research center on the campus of EWHA Women’s University in Seoul. The company’s investment in this venture will total EUR 16.8 million (USD 24.0 million). Solvay plans to invest EUR 13 million in a Research, Development and Technology (RDT) Centre at EWHA.…

  • Memorial Day Observed; Light Posting Today

    In honor of Memorial Day today, a holiday for honoring fallen veterans in the USA, we will have fewer stories than usual. Our regular posting volume will resume tomorrow. *     *     *

  • Engineers Build Compact Diagnostic Biosensor

    Engineers at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee have developed a small silicon-based sensor for medical diagnostics and detecting toxins. Their findings appear in current issue of the journal Optics Express. The sensor was originally designed to detect particular DNA sequences, which can be helpful in identifying if a person is predisposed to disorders or conditions…

  • State, Industry Funding Support University Solar Center

    The State of Ohio and several companies are contributing funds for an R&D center at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland to boost the lifetime of solar energy technologies. The Solar-Durability and Lifetime Extension (S-DLE) Center at Case Western Reserve will have labs and test facilities to evaluate materials and components under extreme conditions. The…

  • Researchers Testing Red Wine Compound to Treat Concussions

    Trauma specialists at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas are testing a component in red wine and grapes that could help reduce the short- and long-term effects of concussions. In the study, the researchers are enlisting the help of professional boxers and trainers. The research involves resveratrol, a compound found in grapes and…

  • Process Devised for Custom-Made Composite Materials

    Materials scientists and engineers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge have developed a process for generating composite materials with customized mechanical properties. The team published its findings last month in the journal Advanced Materials (paid subscription required). The research, funded by the U.S. Army, started looking into materials that could serve as armor for…