Malaria in Greece

Source: ECDC

ECDC Epidemiological update, October 2011: Malaria in Greece

Between 21 May and 26 October, 2011, 61 cases of Plasmodium vivax infection have been reported in Greece. Thirty-three of these cases were Greek citizens without travel history to an endemic country. Twenty seven cases are reported from the area of Evrotas, a 20 km2 river delta area, located in the district of Lakonia in Pelloponese, southern Greece. The remaining six cases are from the municipalities of Attiki, Evoia, Viotia and Larissa.



Read full article

News - Epidemiological update: Malaria in Greece,...

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Prostate Cancer

Source: NEJM

Screening for Prostate Cancer

A 50-year-old, non-Hispanic white man comes for a new-patient appointment and wants to discuss prostate-cancer screening. He has no family history of prostate cancer and says that he does not have any lower urinary tract symptoms. What would you advise?

Read an expert opinion from The New England Journal of Medicine

Screening for Prostate Cancer — NEJM


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Medical Laboratory and Biomedical Science got 5000 likes on Facebook

Source: Medical Laboratory and Biomedical Science

5000 Medical Laboratory Professionals

Our community page at Facebook reached 5000 likes at this week.
Join the page and share your knowledge and comments with other laboratory medicine and biomedical science professionals.

Open page and "Like"

Pathology Video Gallery

Source: Life Science Video Share

Pathology Video

On the video gallery:

• Histopathology Video Series - Bladder and Gallbladder: Acute cholecystitis, Transitional cell carcinoma, Urothelial carcinoma (transitional cell carcinoma) in-situ, Urothelial carcinoma
• Histopathology Video Series - Blood: Chronic lymphocytic leukemia, Chronic myelogenous leukemia, Acute leukemia.
• Histopathology Video Series - Bone and Bone Marrow: Hyperparathyroidism, Chondroma, Osteoarthritis, Paget disease, Rickets, Osteomyelitis and chondritis, Osteosarcoma

And many others.


Open gallery here:

Pathology Video

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Top Ten Superbug Images

Source: New Scientist

Top ten superbug super-villains

Drug-resistant superbugs are potentially deadly strains of micro-organisms that we once had the power to control. Now these mutants take on the best of our medical weapons, wreaking havoc on the world's health. Here is our rogue's gallery of the micro most wanted.


Open gallery here and enjoy

Gallery - Top ten superbug super-villains - New Scientist

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Medical Laboratory Quality Control

Source: Clinical Laboratory News

A New Approach to Quality Control

Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) has published a long-awaited guideline which is enabling labs to customize QC to match both changing technology and the uniqueness of each lab. This new guideline, EP-23, Laboratory Quality Control Based on Risk Management, translates the time-honored concept of risk management used in manufacturing, defense, aerospace, and other industries into the language of the clinical lab. However, in what form accrediting organizations will adopt or endorse it remains to be seen.

November article of Clinical Laboratory News highlights following issues:

• Risk in the Lab
• Doing the Right QC
• Beyond the Analytical Phase
• A New Option for Regulators? 

Read full article

November 2011 Clinical Laboratory News: A New Approach to Quality Control


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International Federation of Biomedical Laboratory Science

Source: IFBLS

IFBLS - New Web Page

IFBLS has renewed its Internet service.
New web service is clear and informative.



The objectives of IFBLS are:

• To support, advance and promote good laboratory practice through the development and adherence to high quality standards in diverse environments throughout the world;
• To support, advance and promote the education, training and professional development of Biomedical Laboratory Scientists and technologists;
• To support, advance and promote ethical and professional values in the biomedical laboratory profession;
• To promote the exchange of ideas and the active participation of biomedical laboratory professionals through seminars, research and educational forums;
• To promote the coordination of activities within the healthcare and biomedical laboratory professions,through the development of international partnerships and programs and;
• To support, promote and advance such activities of the Corporation as are incidental and ancillary to the foregoing objects.

Please visit IFBLS:

International Federation of Biomedical Laboratory Science

Blood Cell Morphology - Can you identify these cells?

Source: Medical Laboratory and Biomedical Science

Can you identify these leukocytes?

Please enter your suggestions here

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Global Handwashing Day 15 October

Source: Globalhandwashingday.org

Clean hands save lives

Global Handwashing Day was created by the Global Public-Private Partnership for Handwashing in 2008 to:

• Foster and support a global culture of handwashing with soap.
• Shine a spotlight on the state of handwashing in every country.
• Raise awareness about the benefits of handwashing with soap.

Global Handwashing Day was originally created for children and schools, but can be celebrated by anyone promoting handwashing with soap. Each year, over 200 million people are involved in celebrations in over 100 countries around the world. Global Handwashing is endorsed by a wide array of governments, international institutions, civil society organizations, NGOs, private companies, and individuals.

Read more

Global Handwashing Day - Clean hands save lives



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Phlebotomy Best Practices Webinars Series

Source: Center for Phlebotomy Education

2011–2012 Phlebotomy Best Practices webinar series

Target Audience for webinars is healthcare professionals around the world who draw blood samples for clinical laboratory testing including phlebotomists laboratory testing personnel, managers, nurses, medical assistants, EMS personnel, physicians, nurse practitioners, physicians assistants, etc. Sessions are not country-specific, but rely heavily on the standards and guidelines promulgated by U.S. organizations and agencies.

Webinars

Nov 17th, 2011 Safety Survey: How Vulnerable Are You to a Needlestick?
Dec 13th, 2011 Preanalytical Benchmarks: How Does Your Lab Compare?
Jan 17th, 2012 The Ten Commandments of Phlebotomy
Feb 14th, 2012 Seizing Control of Blood Culture Contamination Rates

Read more abd register

Center for Phlebotomy Education presents Phlebotomy Best Practices Webinar Series

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Gram stain of Sputum

Source: Medical laboratory and Biomedical Science

Can you find any microbes?

Leave your comments and suggestions here

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What are these leukocytes

Source: Medical laboratory and Biomedical Science

Can you identify these leukocytes?

Leave your comments and suggestions here

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High Quality Blood Pressure Monitoring With iPhone

Source: Singularity Hub

Another Step Towards Dr. iPhone – High Quality Blood Pressure Monitoring On the Go

Withings, a French healthcare innovation firm, has modernized blood pressure monitoring by hooking up an electronic version of the iconic cuff to your iOS mobile devices. Now you can measure your blood pressure, records the results, even share the readings with your medical professional, all with your iPhone or iPad.

Read more and watch the Withings iOS blood pressure monitor in action in the video:

Another Step Towards Dr. iPhone – High Quality Blood Pressure Monitoring On the Go

Lab Equipment Maintenance and Repair

Source: Lab Manager Magazine

Free Webcast: Lab Equipment Maintenance and Repair

Tuesday October 11th, 2011
12:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time (US)

Repair and preventive maintenance for laboratory instruments to ensure instrument uptime, better results, and increased productivity.
In this webinar, the speakers will talk about new lab equipment maintenance and repair models available to labs that focus on efficiency improvements, which can deliver both cost savings and enhanced service quality. The most important questions around when and why a centralized, integrated service model should be put in place and the pros and cons of doing so will also be discussed.

Read more and register to free webinar
Webcast: Lab Equipment Maintenance and Repair - Lab Manager Magazine®


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Laboratory Quality Control Webinars 2011

Source: CLSI

Laboratory Quality Control Based on Risk Management

Clinical laboratories conduct a number of activities that are considered risk management. One activity focused on quality control, allows for hazards to be identified in a laboratory procedure and appropriate controls to be identified to reduce the risk to a clinically acceptable level. By doing this, laboratories can create a quality control plan (QCP) that will ensure result quality. Each QCP is unique to the device, the laboratory, and the clinical application of the test result. This webinar will define risk management and review the new CLSI document EP23 which describes good laboratory practice for developing a QCP based on manufacturer’s risk mitigation information, applicable regulatory and accreditation requirements, and the individual health care and laboratory setting.

Webinars
October    25, 2011 • 1:00–2:00 PM Eastern (US) Time
November   8, 2011 • 1:00–2:00 PM Eastern (US) Time
November 30, 2011 • 1:00–2:00 PM Eastern (US) Time

Read more from

CLSI | CLSI Webinar


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Top 50 iPad Medical Applications

Source: Mobile Health News

iPad Applications for Healthcare Professionals

In September, Apple added a new section to its AppStore for healthcare professionals.

It has been an ongoing challenge for healthcare professionals to find useful apps for care settings. While a handful of blogs exist with recommendations from individual medical students or physicians, Happtique has emerged as a filtered medical app store of sorts that intends to make it easier for healthcare facilities to distribute apps.

Check here the top 50 list

Apple’s top 50 iPad apps for doctors | mobihealthnews


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The PCR Song

Source: Youtube

Scientists for Better PCR - Music Video


PCR (short for Polymerase Chain Reaction) is a relatively simple and inexpensive tool that you can use to focus in on a segment of DNA and copy it billions of times over. PCR is used every day to diagnose diseases, identify bacteria and viruses, match criminals to crime scenes, and in many other ways.

Here is a cool music video to promote PCR and medical laboratory technology.

The PCR Song - YouTube

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Hemoglobinopathies and thalassemias

Source: Medical Laboratory Observer

Hemoglobinopathy and thalassemia detection

Two types of disorders may affect globin chains (haemoglobin)—qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative disorders are hemoglobinopathies (as Hb S and Hb C), deletion of a portion of the amino acid sequence (as in Hb Gun Hill), abnormal hybridization between two chains during meiosis (as in Hb Lepore) or abnormal elongation of the globin chain (as in Hb Constant Spring). Thalassemias are quantitative disorders affecting the rate of otherwise normal hemoglobin synthesis.



MLQ article highlights several detection methods:

• Electrophoretic hemoglobin separation methods
• Alkaline and acid agarose electrophoresis
• Isoelectric focusing
• High pressure liquid chromotagraphy
• Capillary electrophoresis
• Newborn screening with dried blood spot samples
  

Read full article

Hemoglobinopathy and thalassemia detection >> Medical Laboratory Observer October 2011



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