Tag: Europe
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Pump Designed for Lab-on-a-Chip Medical Diagnostics
Researchers at Linköping University in Sweden have developed a new miniaturized pump that fits on diagnostic chips that can lead to better home medical testing. The findings from this faculty-student team appear in the March issue of the journal Electrophoresis (paid subscription required). Nathaniel Robinson, who leads the Transport and Separations Group at Linköping University…
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New Blood Test Evaluation Identifies More Heart Attacks
A more sensitive blood test protocol developed at University of Edinburgh and other research institutes in the U.K. could help identify heart attacks in thousands of patients who would otherwise have gone undiagnosed. The research team published its findings this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association (paid subscription required). The standard blood…
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Study: Food Scares and Product Recalls Increasing
Researchers at Queen’s University in Belfast, U.K. have completed the first analysis of all food recalls announced in the U.S., U.K., and Ireland over the last decade. The findings will be presented at the Food Integrity and Traceability Conference taking place at Queen’s University this week. The research by Antony Potter at the university’s Centre…
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Univ. Bioenergy Lab to Develop Low Carbon Technologies
Aston University in Birmingham, U.K. plans to build new £16.5 million ($26.7 million) engineering laboratories to develop and demonstrate renewable low carbon technologies including a biomass fueled power plant. The facility (artist’s drawing pictured right) is scheduled to open on the Aston campus in October 2012. The labs include photo-bioreactors harnessing algae, and a 0.4MW…
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Green Rust Can Protect Groundwater Against Radioactive Waste
Researchers in Denmark have found a naturally occurring substance called green rust can help protect groundwater against radioactive contamination from stored reactor waste. Bo Christiansen’s findings are published in the March issue of the journal Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (paid subscription required). Christiansen (pictured left) is a geochemist at the University of Copenhagen who has…
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Drug in Development Targeting Nicotine Metabolism
Research underway at the Academy of Finland in Helsinki is developing a new type of drug that could help smokers quit the habit. The new drug would slow down the metabolism of nicotine, which would help reduce the addictive power of their smoking. Nicotine is absorbed quickly through the lungs and the lining of the…
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Novartis to Close U.K. Plant, Consolidate R&D Sites
The pharmaceutical company Novartis, headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, says it has begun talks to close its factory in Horsham, U.K. and consolidate its R&D facilities in Europe. According to the Financial Times, Novartis will continue its other U.K. plants in Grimsby, Liverpool, and Dundee. Closing the Horsham plant will mean the loss of 550 jobs,…
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U.K., Indian Spin Offs to Partner on Drug Discovery
InhibOx Ltd. in Oxford, U.K. and COSMIC Discoveries in Hyderabad, India, signed a partnership to offer drug discovery services combining their computational, medicinal, and synthetic chemistry capabilities. Both companies are spin-off enterprises of academic or research institutions — Oxford University and the Institute of Life Sciences, respectively. InhibOx provides computational drug discovery services, and has…
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Solar/Thermal Power Alternative Being Developed for Soldiers
A new type of personal power pack in development by six universities in the U.K. could reduce the weight troops carry when engaged on the battlefield. The solar and thermoelectric-powered system aims to weigh up to fifty per cent less than conventional chemical battery packs used by British infantry. The two-year project is being developed…
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U.K. Company Licenses Harvard Graphene DNA Technology
Oxford Nanopore Technologies Ltd. in Oxford, U.K. said today it signed a licensing agreement with Harvard University to commercialize graphene technology from Harvard’s labs for DNA sequencing. The company already has a deal with Harvard’s technology transfer office to develop basic sensing methods through solid-state nanopores. Graphene is a robust, single-atom thick lattice of carbon…