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Scientific American examines global progress toward clean drinking water, sanitation goals

"U.N. Development Goals for better drinking water have already been reached, but a closer look shows that the measures fail to truly account for the lack of access to safe water," Scientific American reports in a feature story.

24 May 2012

Phi29 DNA packaging nanomotor connector can aid in early disease diagnosis

A new study led by University of Kentucky researchers shows a new way to precisely detect a single chemical at extremely low concentrations and high contamination.

23 May 2012

Food safety tips while barbecuing

Barbecue season has begun and Health Canada would like to remind Canadians of steps they can take to avoid foodborne illness caused by bacteria such as E. coli, Salmonella and Campylobacter.

18 May 2012

Researchers identify novel base modification in RNA

Over the past decade, research in the field of epigenetics has revealed that chemically modified bases are abundant components of the human genome and has forced us to abandon the notion we've had since high school genetics that DNA consists of only four bases.

18 May 2012

Cockroaches can trigger allergy and asthma attacks

In recognition of National Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month, celebrated in May, the National Pest Management Association (NPMA) is reminding people that cockroaches can trigger asthma and allergy attacks, along with other pertinent diseases.

15 May 2012

IBN develops biochip for investigating the effect of drugs on cancer stem cells

Researchers at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN), the world's first bioengineering and nanotechnology research institute, have developed a miniaturized biochip for investigating the effect of drugs on cancer stem cells (CSCs). Published recently in Nano Today, this new technology could boost the development of more effective cancer drugs.

9 May 2012

Reusable grocery bag can play a role in spreading norovirus infection

Oregon investigators recently mapped the trail of an outbreak of a nasty stomach bug among participants in a girls' soccer tournament to a reusable open top grocery bag stored in a hotel bathroom. Their findings, which illustrate the role that inanimate objects can play in spreading norovirus infection, appear in The Journal of Infectious Diseases.

9 May 2012

Cascades Tissue Group applauds third annual ‘STOP! Clean Your Hands Day’

North America's fourth largest producer of towel and tissue paper, Cascades Tissue Group, applauds the third annual "STOP! Clean Your Hands Day," today, May 7, for building greater awareness for the importance of hand hygiene. The day also marks a good time to note that paper towels are the most hygienic choice when it comes to drying hands.

8 May 2012

Pall in-line filters can reduce severe complications, length of hospital stay in PICU

A recently published clinical study on infusion therapy indicates in-line filters from Pall Corporation can reduce severe complications and the length of a patient's stay in the pediatric intensive care unit.

From Pall Corporation 8 May 2012

Small, disposable vaginal speculum introduced at ACOG Annual Clinical Meeting

Welch Allyn, a leading global provider of medical diagnostic solutions, today introduced the industry's first extra small, disposable vaginal speculum at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) Annual Clinical Meeting in San Diego.

7 May 2012

Stay safe and out of ER during Memorial Day Weekend

The unofficial "kickoff" to summer is only a few weeks away. While we hope everyone has fun this coming Memorial Day weekend, the nation's emergency physicians want everyone to stay safe and out of the ER.

7 May 2012

Chesapeake Regional Medical Center rolls out automated disinfection robot

Chesapeake Regional Medical Center rolled out the newest member of its environmental team last week, a five-foot, automated disinfection robot named Tru-D (Total Room Ultraviolet Disinfection). Implementation of the mobile, high-tech disinfection device is part of a $2 million CDC grant awarded to Duke University for the prevention of healthcare-associated infections (HAI's).

7 May 2012

Hot water pasteurisation reduces amount of E. coli on meat

Following the E. coli case in Norway in 2006, when 17 people fell ill and one child died after eating mutton sausages, the meat industry introduced a number of measures in order to reduce the risk of food poisoning from meat. Clean animals and good hygiene during slaughtering are essential preconditions for food safety.

7 May 2012

PNNL receives 2012 FLC Interagency Partnership Award

Creators of a nanotech-based system that captures carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere within a submarine, while providing a more environmentally friendly removal process, have won the Federal Laboratory Consortium Interagency Partnership Award for 2012. The technology - Self Assembled Monolayers on Mesoporous Supports, or SAMMS - is destined for incorporation into future submarines to improve air quality for sailors who serve on them.

5 May 2012

FDA issues draft guidelines on approval process for use of nanoparticles in food and cosmetics

The United States Food and Drugs Administraton (FDA) has proposed that food companies that want to use tiny engineered particles called nanoparticles in their packaging may have to provide extra testing data to show the products are safe.

23 Apr 2012

FDA warns about contaminated ultrasound gel

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued warnings for doctors, hospitals and clinics regarding contaminated ultrasound gel produced by a New Jersey company that infected 16 cardiac patients and could pose serious risks to pregnant women and others who undergo ultrasound imaging and treatment.

22 Apr 2012

U.S. Marshals seize contaminated ultrasound gel of Pharmaceutical Innovations

U.S. Marshals, acting at the request of the Food and Drug Administration, have seized Other-Sonic Generic Ultrasound Transmission Gel located at Pharmaceutical Innovations Inc. in Newark, N.J., after an FDA analysis found that product samples contained dangerous bacteria. The seizure included all lots of the gel product manufactured between June 2011 and December 2011.

19 Apr 2012

Poultry producers still use FDA-banned antibiotics

In a joint study, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Arizona State University found evidence suggesting that a class of antibiotics previously banned by the U.S. government for poultry production is still in use. Results of the study were published March 21 in Environmental Science & Technology.

6 Apr 2012

Drug dispensing robots can harbor dangerous bacteria

Drug dispensing robots designed to quickly prepare intravenous medications in a sterile environment can harbor dangerous bacteria, according to a report in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.

5 Apr 2012

Anti-ceramide antibody may prevent radiation gastrointestinal syndrome

A new study offers the first evidence of a drug capable of preventing lethal damage to the gastrointestinal (GI) tract caused by exposure to high levels of ionizing radiation, such as those occurring during a nuclear incident.

5 Apr 2012