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Tracking Antibiotic Use Reaps Big Hospital Cost Savings
Analysis of a program to monitor unnecessary use of antibiotics shows the program saved one big-city hospital millions of dollars without compromising patient care. That’s the conclusion of a study done by researchers at University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) in Baltimore, where, the study was conducted, as well as colleagues from hospitals in Wilmington,…
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Mini Scanner Developed for Teaching CT Technology
Biomedical engineers at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada have developed a scaled-down computed tomography (CT) scanner to teach about the technology in the classroom. The invention of Jerry Battista, who chairs Western’s biophysics department, and Kevin Jordan of the London Health Sciences Centre is now manufactured, and distributed to other universities by Modus Medical…
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Merck to Fund New Translational Research Institute
The pharmaceutical company Merck in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey unveiled plans today to establish the California Institute for Biomedical Research (Calibr), an independent, not-for-profit organization to speed the translation of basic biomedical research into new medicines to treat disease. Merck is expected to provide up to $90 million financing for Calibr over seven years. Researchers…
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Irish Govt to Fund U.S. Life Sciences VC Presence in Ireland
The government of Ireland plans to invest $37.5 million in Sofinnova Ventures, a venture capital firm in Menlo Park, California that supports start-ups in the health care field, for the company to establish a presence in Ireland. Ireland’s Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton (pictured right) made the announcement today during a visit…
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Traffic Intersection Study Pinpoints Stoplight Danger Zone
Engineers at Oregon State University in Corvallis have identified more about the dangers faced by drivers and pedestrians alike when traffic lights turn yellow at intersections. The findings of transportation engineering professor David Hurwitz and colleagues from OSU and University of Massachusetts in Amherst appear in this month’s issue of the journal Transportation Research Part…
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Algorithm Mines FDA Reports for Drug Interactions
Researchers at Stanford University’s medical school and bioengineering program have devised a computer algorithm that can query millions of adverse drug reports to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by patients and their physicians, and identify many more drug interactions and side effects than were previously known. Their work is described in the journal…
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Hydrogen Power Utility Vehicle Practical, Not Cost-Effective
A pilot test in Switzerland of a street cleaning truck powered by a hydrogen fuel cell shows the vehicle saves energy and is environmentally friendly, but the high costs of the vehicle do not yet make it financially feasible. The test was carried out by the Swiss materials science and technology research institute Empa, with…
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Texas Instruments Opens New Analog Chip Research Lab
Semiconductor manufacturer Texas Instruments launches today a new Silicon Valley research laboratory in Santa Clara, California. The company says the lab will also provide opportunities for collaboration with researchers and students at universities in the region. The company’s 70-acre Silicon Valley Labs plans to focus on R&D involving analog and mixed analog/digital signal circuits. Projects…
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NIH, Eli Lilly to Partner on Drug Effects Profiles
National Institutes of Health and Eli Lilly and Company will produce a public resource that catalogs the effects of thousands of approved and investigational medicines in a variety of testing systems. Biological profiles of these medicines and molecules are expected to help biomedical researchers better predict treatment outcomes and improve drug development. NIH’s new National…
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U.S. Patent Awarded for Isobutanol Production Process
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has granted Gevo Inc. in Englewood, Colorado, a maker of biofuels from renewable feedstocks, a patent for its process of producing isobutanol with reduced accumulation of by-products. Patent no. 8,133,715, “Reduced By-Product Accumulation for Improved Production of Isobutanol,” was awarded today to 12 inventors and assigned to Gevo. Isobutanol…