When we enter a hospital, we expect the very best care available. Yet, some hospitals are unable to give exactly that. There are a wide range of reasons why a hospital might not be up to par, but one of the most common, and least noticed, reasons is that the hospital has not used a professional healthcare linen service to launder its linens. Angelica Corporation, a medical laundry service, has noticed that some hospitals see their laundering of linens as a place where costs can be cut. These facilities see linens as an aspect of hospital life that can be handled either ...

An increase in private demand resulted in more than 6 million unique users searching for new cars on Auto Trader last year, an increase of 21.2% compared with 2011. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders reported that new car registrations in the UK rose 5.3% in 2012 to 2,044,609 units, boosted by a 12.9% rise in private demand, to reach the highest levels since 2008. The top ten most searched new cars on Auto Trader include seven of the top ten best selling cars.* 1. BMW 3-series 2. Ford Focus 3. Volkswagen Golf 4. Ford Fiesta 5. BMW 1-series 6. Mercedes-Benz ...

Biggest Coupon Code today has released approximately 30,000 discount coupons for various software programs. All coupons offered are valid indefinitely, i.e. they never expire and can be redeemed by the respective holders whenever they want. The website achieved this through direct negotiations with the issuing software developers and marketers, proving to them the sales advantage Biggest Coupon Code's strategy is providing. Biggest Coupon Code delivers the best online coupon discounts for many software programs. This is because it relinquishes 99% of its affiliate profits ...

Orthodontic treatment typically carries a significant price tag. For that reason, patients or parents of patients ought to feel confident in their choice of orthodontist, as well as the treatment plan. When in doubt, get a second opinion. Dr. Michael Stosich, an orthodontist in Grayslake who owns iDentity Orthodontics, frequently receives calls from people seeking a second opinion on treatment recommendations from another provider. Stosich recommends getting a second opinion in these situations: 1- An orthodontist recommends emergency treatment. "The ...

MobileSmith, a leading provider of mobile software solutions for enterprise customers, and TVAR Solutions, a value-added reseller of cloud and mobile infrastructure to the US government, announced a strategic partnership to deliver innovative mobile solutions to Federal agencies. "With TVAR's 20 years of experience delivering cloud IT solutions to the government, MobileSmith can now empower more Federal clients to quickly and cost-effectively build, deploy, and manage secure mobile applications for both iOS and Android devices," said Bob Dieterle, Senior VP ...

CyberlinkASP, the leader in hosted virtual desktop and private cloud solutions, today announced the completion of the company's annual SSAE 16 SOC 1 audit. CyberlinkASP enlisted an outside accounting firm and subjected itself to a rigorous third party review of all infrastructure, personnel, policies and procedures across its Dallas, Chicago and London facilities. "This has been a major initiative for us the past few years as more and more firms require documented security policies and procedures relating to IT. We feel it's a must for anyone hosting or managing ...

No doubt, the media tour for the author of "The Four-Star Diet: Based Upon The Wisdom Of General Colin Powell & Other Ridiculously Brilliant Leaders" has only just begun. Explosive sales on Amazon and similar retailers have made it nearly impossible to get your hands on a print version of the book. With the demand continuing to rise to an already "sell out" crowd, Author Laura J. Wellington has received invitations to appear on numerous "Celebrity, Style, and News" shows from as far away as the UAE. She will begin to make those appearances ...

(CHICAGO) – Buphenyl, an FDA-approved medication for hyperammonemia, may protect memory and prevent the progression of Alzheimer's disease. Hyperammonemia is a life-threatening condition that can affect patients at any age. It is caused by abnormal, high levels of ammonia in the blood. Studies in mice with Alzheimer's disease (AD) have shown that sodium phenylbutyrate, known as Buphenyl, successfully increases factors for neuronal growth and protects learning and memory, according to neurological researchers at the Rush University Medical Center. Results from ...

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - March 9, 2013 - The use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), accompanied by mechanical CPR, in patients with massive myocardial infarctions can lead to unexpected survival. These study findings are being presented March 9 at the American College of Cardiology Scientific Sessions. ECMO is an advanced technology that functions as a replacement for a critically ill patient's heart and lungs. This is the first report of combined ECMO, mechanical CPR and therapeutic hypothermia (TH) use within a STEMI Network. "For many patients who present with ...

SAN FRANCISCO (March 9, 2013) — A highly anticipated study evaluating a combination of the vitamin niacin with the anti-flushing agent laropiprant finds the therapy provides no benefit to and may even be harmful for patients with vascular disease, according to research presented today at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session. Detailed trial data is presented here for the first time. Heart Protection Study 2-Treatment of HDL to Reduce the Incidence of Vascular Events (HPS2-THRIVE) is the largest-ever study of niacin, commonly used to raise ...

SAN FRANCISCO (March 10, 2013) —High doses of a popular cholesterol-lowering drug significantly reduced the rate of acute kidney injury caused by dye used in imaging in acute coronary syndrome patients who underwent a coronary procedure, according to research presented today at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session. This group of patients is at high risk for kidney damage related to contrast agents used in imaging tests. Previous studies have demonstrated the kidney-protective value of various statins administered before patients undergo ...

SAN FRANCISCO (March 10, 2013) — The new Sapien XT aortic valve showed a non-significantly lower rate of death and strokes at 30 days than the original model, and both valves demonstrated notably better short-term outcomes than seen with the Sapien system in PARTNER I, according to the first results from the PARTNER II study presented today at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session. PARTNER II is the first randomized clinical trial involving the Sapien XT valve and the only one that compares the new device to the original FDA-approved Sapien ...

SAN FRANCISCO (March 10, 2013) — In a match-up of Japan's top drug-releasing stent and a new device featuring a biodegradable coating, the newcomer delivered statistically comparable one-year results, according to data from the NEXT trial presented today at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session. Drug-eluting stents are structures placed inside narrowed coronary arteries to restore proper blood flow. A polymer coating on these devices slowly releases a drug designed to prevent restenosis—another blockage at the same site—and prevent a second ...

SAN FRANCISCO (March 10, 2013) — Patients with a type of coronary lesion linked with poor prognosis fared significantly better with the stent technique known as double kissing crush than with culotte stenting, according to data from the DKCRUSH-III trial presented today at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session. DKCRUSH-III is the first head-to-head comparison of double kissing (DK) crush and culotte stent techniques in coronary artery disease. The study focused on bifurcation lesions, which involve a main branch and a smaller side branch ...

SAN FRANCISCO (March 10, 2013) — The experimental anti-clotting drug cangrelor solidly outperformed commonly used clopidogrel in a large global trial of patients who underwent coronary stent procedures, according to data from the phase III CHAMPION PHOENIX study presented today at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session. Cangrelor and clopidogrel interfere with the P2Y12 receptor, a platelet-surface protein that helps regulate blood clotting. Currently approved drugs in this class are effective in cutting down ischemic events—blood-flow reductions ...

A new and experimental anti-clotting drug, cangrelor, proved better than the commonly used clopidogrel and was significantly more effective at preventing blood clots in a large trial of patients who underwent coronary stent procedures. These data, from the phase III CHAMPION PHOENIX study, were presented at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session and published simultaneously in the New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers report that the new drug, which is administered intravenously, reduced the odds of complications from stenting procedures. ...

Physicians and parents must be aware of the growing danger of magnet ingestion by children because magnets can adhere to each other and cause life-threatening problems such as bowel perforations, a new case study illustrates in CMAJ. "Modern magnet technology has transformed what was once an esoteric subtype of foreign-body ingestion into a common and lethal threat," writes Dr. Daniel Rosenfield, Department of Paediatrics, The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), with coauthors. In the past, magnet ingestion generally could be treated with a wait-and-see approach, ...

Two University of Colorado Cancer Center studies show that the protein receptor Mer is overexpressed in many leukemias, and that inhibition of this Mer receptor results in the death of leukemia cells – without affecting surrounding, healthy cells. The first study, published today in the journal Oncogene, worked with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), for which current chemotherapies offer a cure rate of only about 55 percent. "In about 2/3 of all AML patients and about 90 percent of adult AML patients, we found that the Mer receptor was upregulated. Mer receptor protein ...

Alexandria, VA – Much like our voices create sound waves with a variety of low and high pitches, or frequencies, earthquakes produce seismic waves over a broad spectrum. The seismic waves' frequencies determine, in part, how far they travel and how damaging they are to human-made structures. However, the inaccessibility of fault zones means that very little is known about why and how earthquakes produce different frequencies. With the help of a new tabletop model, scientists have now identified how a process known as fault healing can shape seismic waves and potentially ...

Shenzhen, China, March 11, 2013- BGI Tech Solutions Co., Ltd., also referred to as "BGI Tech", introduced today its novel assembly solution for facilitating heterozygous genomes research. This marks another technological breakthrough for BGI in heterozygous genome assembly after the completed genome sequencing of oyster, diamondback moth and pear. The availability of a reference genome for a species is the cornerstone for the in-depth understanding of its biological secrets and commercial values. However, a major obstacle that prevents scientists to easily crack the genome ...

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) —A scientific survey of more than 1,600 gun retailers in the U.S. has found that gun buyers frequently try to make illegal purchases and that gun retailers take a dim view of fellow sellers who engage in illegal activity — regardless of whether they are actively breaking the law or simply looking the other way. The survey, conducted in 2011 by Garen Wintemute, professor of emergency medicine and director of the UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program, is believed to be the first scientific study of a large group of gun retailers to determine ...

Researchers of five European universities have developed a cloud-computing platform for robots. The platform allows robots connected to the Internet to directly access the powerful computational, storage, and communications infrastructure of modern data centers - the giant server farms behind the likes of Google, Facebook, and Amazon - for robotics tasks and robot learning. With the development of the RoboEarth Cloud Engine the team continues their work towards creating an Internet for robots. The new platform extends earlier work on allowing robots to share knowledge ...

For years, researchers have developed thin films of bismuth telluride (Bi2Te3) – which converts heat into electricity or electricity to cooling – on top of gallium arsenide (GaAs) to create cooling devices for electronics. But while they knew it could be done, it was not clear how – because the atomic structures of those unlikely pair of materials do not appear to be compatible. Now researchers from North Carolina State University and RTI International have solved the mystery, opening the door to new research in the field. "We've used state-of-the-art technology to solve ...

Vegetation growth at Earth's northern latitudes increasingly resembles lusher latitudes to the south, according to a NASA-funded study based on a 30-year record of land surface and newly improved satellite data sets. An international team of university and NASA scientists examined the relationship between changes in surface temperature and vegetation growth from 45 degrees north latitude to the Arctic Ocean. Results show temperature and vegetation growth at northern latitudes now resemble those found 4 degrees to 6 degrees of latitude farther south as recently as 1982. "Higher ...

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators have described what may be a newly identified disease that appears to explain some cases of widespread chronic pain and other symptoms in children and young adults. Their report that will appear in the April issue of the journal Pediatrics, and has received early online release, finds that most of a group of young patients seen at the MGH for chronic, unexplained pain had test results indicating small-fiber polyneuropathy, a condition not previously reported in children. The MGH investigators call this new syndrome juvenile-onset ...