Tour DaVita Raises $900,000 for Bridge of Life—DaVita Medical Missions

DaVita®, a division of DaVita HealthCare Partners, Inc. (DVA) and a leading provider of kidney care services announced that its annual charity bike ride, Tour DaVita®, raised $900,000 to support Bridge of Life—DaVita Medical MissionsTM in 2012.

The proceeds from Tour DaVita will help fund nine medical missions taking place in 2013 where Bridge of Life volunteers will be able to install or repair 112 dialysis machines. Through these missions, Bridge of Life will bring dialysis treatment to more than 600 people in communities that otherwise would not have access to this life-sustaining care.

“Tour DaVita participants collectively rode 70,000 miles, which means that for every four miles a rider completed Bridge of Life can provide a dialysis treatment to someone at one of our partnering clinics – someone’s loved one will receive a second chance at life,” said Lori Vaclavik, executive director for Bridge of Life—DaVita Medical Missions. “We are proud of all the riders and sponsors who made this gift possible. Because of them, people will live.”

More than 470 participants each pedaled approximately 250 miles over the course of three days in Iowa Sept. 16-18. The ride kicked off in scenic Wilder Park in Allison, Iowa, continuing on through the rolling hills of the American Heartland – all in the effort to raise awareness and funds in the fight against CKD.
Since it started in 2007, Tour DaVita has helped raise nearly $5 million in the fight against kidney disease. Participants have collectively ridden 420,000 miles over the years, challenging themselves and their fellow riders to go as far as possible.

DaVita thanks the sponsors who made this gift of life possible, including ASD Healthcare, Cigna, Baxter, NxStage, Office Depot, Golden Construction, Henry Schein, Promotional Images, KPMG, Pentec Health, and Tata Consultancy Services.

Life-saving dialysis is not available in most of the developing world. Currently there are 112 countries that do not have resources for dialysis or kidney transplants, which directly results in the death of more than one million people a year from kidney failure. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recognize CKD as a major public health problem that not only reduces the quality and length of life, but is also expensive to treat.

Bridge of Life—DaVita Medical Missions an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization working to reach people who are disproportionately affected by CKD and live in developing countries abroad and disadvantaged communities in the U.S. Kidney disease is reaching epidemic proportions not only in the United States, but worldwide.

For more information about the 2012 Tour DaVita, please visit www.tourdavita.org.
For more information about Bridge of Life—DaVita Medical Missions, please visit www.bridgeoflifemm.org.
DaVita and Tour DaVita are registered trademarks of DaVita Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Life Technologies Launches QuantStudio Dx in Europe with Quidel C. Diff Assay

Life Technologies has received CE IVD marking for its Applied Biosystems QuantStudio Dx platform and launched the instrument in Europe.

In addition, Life Tech is introducing for use on the platform a CE marked Clostridium difficile assay, developed with partner Quidel, and said that the companies plan to introduce assays for several other infectious diseases in 2013.

The QuantStudio Dx is an in vitro diagnostic version of Life Tech's QuantStudio 12K Flex instrument, which the company launched for research use only in October 2011 (PCR Insider, 10/31/2011).

The two platforms have more similarities than differences, but the QuantStudio Dx has several distinct features that make it more amenable to developing and running in vitro diagnostic tests based on real-time PCR.

"In brief, the RUO model offers maximum flexibility that researchers want, whereas the Dx model is focused to the specific needs of diagnostic laboratories," a Life Tech spokesperson told PCR Insider in an email.

Perhaps the biggest difference between the systems is that the QuantStudio 12K Flex is capable of running real-time PCR in nearly any consumable format, including digital PCR. The Flex accepts five interchangeable blocks, from 96-well plates to the OpenArray format with about 12,000 data points per run.

The QuantStudio Dx, on the other hand, accommodates 96- or 384-well plates, "which are typical for diagnostic runs," as well as qPCR microfluidic cards, which can perform 48 tests on eight samples simultaneously, the company said.

In addition, the Dx version has several features to make it easier to use, including touch screen operation, reagent and sample tracking, and LIMS interface; and "sample loading options were simplified and optimized for the clinical lab customer," the spokesperson said.

Two software options are available: QuantStudio Dx software, which runs IVD tests in a secure mode with pre-set run and analysis parameters; and QuantStudio Test Development software, which enables the development of custom tests and supports clinical research projects.

Life Tech noted that customers can use its 8-by-48 microfluidic cards to design and implement custom molecular diagnostic assays, and that Life Tech is currently using the format to develop diagnostic tests in house.

In general, the platform can perform a variety of diagnostic applications, including pathogen detection, gene expression analysis, SNP genotyping, copy number analysis, mutation detection, microRNA and other non-coding RNA analysis, and high-resolution melt analysis.

"We recognize that clinical laboratories have multiple needs," Ronnie Andrews, president of medical sciences at Life Tech, said in a statement. "Accuracy and reliability are paramount when running diagnostic tests for physician reporting. In addition, medical research labs need instrumentation that supports experimental work. The QuantStudio Dx instrument addresses both these needs."

News of the QuantStudio Dx's development first leaked in July, with the company advertising that it would offer a preview of the platform to attendees of July's American Association of Clinical Chemistry in Los Angeles (PCR Insider, 7/26/2012).

Around that time, clinical diagnostics firm Quidel disclosed in an earnings call that it had signed an agreement with Life Tech to develop and commercialize real-time PCR assays for the QuantStudio Dx. The companies already had an agreement in place under which Life Tech is marketing Quidel's PCR-based assays for use on the ABI 7500 system in Europe.

Life Tech said this week that the QuantStudio Dx platform would launch in Europe with the Quidel Molecular Assay for C. difficile, with Life Tech serving as distributor of the test.

More Quidel tests for the QuantStudio Dx are currently under development and will be available in 2013. These include assays for influenza A and B, human metapneumovirus and respiratory syncytial virus, herpes simplex virus 1 and 2, and varicella zoster virus.

Life Tech said that it plans to submit the QuantStudio Dx for 510(k) clearance to the US Food and Drug Administration in December.

Discovered in Antarctica: Ancient life under 60 feet of ice

Lake Vida is devoid of light and oxygen. That hasn't stopped life from finding a way
Lake Vida, a salty lake buried under a 60-foot-thick sheet of ice in Antarctica, has renewed scientists' hopes of finding alien life in space, even in the most inhospitable places. The lake, which has been completely sealed off from the rest of the world for thousands of years, is surprisingly teeming with microbial life. "By seeing what the boundaries of life are on Earth, that helps us when we go out and look for examples elsewhere," says Peter T Doran, a professor at the University of Illinois’ Earth and Environmental Science department. Here, a guide to this mysterious lake:

Where exactly is Lake Vida?
Victoria Valley in Antarctica. The lake is covered year-round by the thickest non-glacial ice on earth, measuring at least 60 feet deep. This layer of ice has isolated the lake from the surface for 2,800 years, and as a result, the water contains no oxygen or light. It is seven times saltier than average sea water, which keeps the lake water from freezing completely despite its extremely cold temperature of roughly 8 degrees Fahrenheit.

But scientists discovered life there?
They sure did. After taking samples from the core of the ice, researchers were surprised to find previously unknown species of bacteria. The lake contains about one-tenth the amount of microbial life found in freshwater lakes.

How could this bacteria possibly survive in this lake?
Researchers aren't completely sure, but they suspect a chemical reaction between the salt water and the rocks below is producing hydrogen, which could serve as a fuel source. Whatever the answer, "the fact that things are alive in Lake Vida at all further extends the idea that where there is water, there is life," says Colin Schultz at Smithsonian. 

What does this have to do with alien life?
If life can survive in Lake Vida's harsh conditions, imagine what that means in the hunt for life elsewhere in our solar system. "This provides us with new boundary conditions on the limits for life," says Doran.

New York Life Promotes Michael Del Secolo to Senior Vice President

New York Life announced today that Michael Del Secolo has been promoted to senior vice president and chief technology officer, reporting to Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer Sue Ericksen.

Mr. Del Secolo now serves as chief technology officer and has oversight of technology strategy. He is responsible for guiding the development of the company’s technical strategy, research and innovation. Mr. Del Secolo joined New York Life in 2010 as vice president of architecture. In 2011 he added responsibility for engineering, leading the management of IT architecture and engineering for the company.

Prior to joining New York Life, Mr. Del Secolo worked at Automatic Data Processing (ADP), where he held positions of increasing responsibility including vice president of IT engineering, vice president of Internet and network services, and vice president and chief information security officer, where he was responsible for designing and implementing infrastructures for ADP’s Web hosting and Software as a Service (SaaS) initiative. Before that, he held progressively more responsible roles at Sea-Land Service, Inc., Salomon Brothers, Inc., and RAV Communications.

Mr. Del Secolo is a graduate of Pratt Institute with a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering degree. He resides in Marlboro, New Jersey, with his wife and son.

New York Life Insurance Company, a Fortune 100 company founded in 1845, is the largest mutual life insurance company in the United States* and one of the largest life insurers in the world. New York Life has the highest financial strength ratings currently awarded to any life insurer by all four of the major credit rating agencies.** Headquartered in New York City, New York Life’s family of companies offers life insurance, retirement income, investments and long-term care insurance. New York Life Investments*** provides institutional asset management and retirement plan services. Other New York Life affiliates provide an array of securities products and services, as well as institutional and retail mutual funds.

Allergy-Friendly Help From Enjoy Life Foods Provided to Victims of Hurricane Sandy

Enjoy Life Foods, a leading manufacturer of gluten-free and allergy-friendly products in North America, and one of the few companies that produces its products in a dedicated nut and gluten-free facility, has donated product that will feed close to 6000 families whose lives have been upended due to the devastation of Hurricane Sandy.

After the recent devastation caused by the violent and deadly Hurricane Sandy, thousands of people were left without shelter and food. Although donations have already been made by many organizations and individuals, families with food allergies and intolerances, or those requiring gluten-free foods have continued to struggle, as most food donations made thus far have not taken their special needs into consideration. In an effort to alleviate some of their struggles, Enjoy Life Foods has donated product that will help serve this need. The donations will be divided among various food banks throughout New York and New Jersey, to ensure that all victims requiring special diets are able to access the foods.

“Our hearts go out to all the victims of the hurricane and the resulting floods,” said Joel Warady, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer of Enjoy Life Foods. “In particular, we understand the challenges facing those people in the community who live their everyday life with food intolerances, and hope this donation offers some relief as they deal with the aftermath.”

Life imprisonment means jail term for entire life: SC

Life imprisonment implies a jail term for the convict’s entire life, the Supreme Court has held, clearing a misconception on this sentence.

The apex court also said that its Constitution bench’s landmark judgement of 1980 on criterion for imposing death penalty needs a “fresh look” as there has been “no uniformity” in following its principles on what constitutes “the rarest of rare” cases.

“It appears to us there is a misconception that a prisoner serving a life sentence has an indefeasible right to be released on completion of either fourteen years or twenty years imprisonment. The prisoner has no such right.

“A convict undergoing life imprisonment is expected to remain in custody till the end of his life, subject to any remission granted by the appropriate government,” a bench of Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and Madan B. Lokur said.

The bench, however, clarified that under remission the appropriate government cannot reduce the period of sentence less than 14 years for a life convict.

“In the case of a convict undergoing life imprisonment, he will be in custody for an indeterminate period. Therefore, remissions earned by or awarded to such a life convict are only notional. In his case, to reduce the period of incarceration, a specific order under Section 432 of the CrPC will have to be passed by the appropriate government. However, the reduced period cannot be less than 14 years as per Section 433-A of the CrPC,” the apex court said.

The apex court order also seeks to put an end to the practice of en-masse release of the convicts by various governments on “festive” occasions and said each release requires a case-by-case basis scrutiny.

As Prison Life Deteriorates in Portugal, Some Stay

Life inside Portugal’s prisons has become intolerable, as budgets cuts render them overcrowded, short of necessities and rife with abuse — and that is the view of the prison guards. So it was a surprise to Júlio Rebelo, the president of one of the guards’ unions, that some prisoners did not seem to want to leave.

“We’re in a situation of such austerity that many prisoners don’t even apply for prison leave because at least their meals are paid inside,” Mr. Rebelo said. “It’s the first time I’ve seen this, but it seems families just don’t have the means to welcome prisoners back at home.”

Indeed, much of the reason for the deteriorating conditions inside Portugal’s prisons is the deteriorating conditions outside. Government cuts and mounting hardship have added dangerous new burdens to a system that guards and prisoners alike warn is already stretched beyond its limits. Things are so bad, Mr. Rebelo said, “We have to bring our own toilet paper to work these days.”

Approaching its fifth year of economic crisis, Portugal is increasingly feeling the bite but perhaps nowhere more sharply than in its prisons. The crisis has sent petty crime soaring. Thefts in the second quarter this year rose almost 14 percent, and were up 22 percent from the same time in 2008.

So hard pressed are many Portuguese that they can no longer afford to pay fines even for drunk driving or traffic violations and instead spend three or six months in prison, helping swell the population 10 percent beyond capacity.

Let alone toilet paper, budget cuts have coincided with the new burdens to leave the system wanting everything from guards to cells to more prisons, which have been put on hold as the government chops away at spending to meet the targets set by its international creditors.

Before Portugal was forced to request a €78 billion, or $102 billion, international bailout last year, the government had planned to build 10 new prisons, at a cost of €750 million. Now the government is building just one, in the Azores.

The surge of prisoners has made life “completely chaotic for the inmates and for those who work there,” said Jorge Alves, the president of another guards’ union.

Portugal’s prison authorities would not grant a reporter and photographer access to one of its prisons, and the justice ministry declined a request for an interview. But early this year, Portugal’s justice minister, Paula Teixeira da Cruz, recognized that conditions inside some prisons had become “shameful” and promised a €31 million overhaul of the system.

Prison guards, social workers and lawyers say those plans have fallen far short of what is needed, adding room by 2015 for just 1,137 more prisoners — less than the overpopulation of prisons in Portugal as of June. Portugal’s most recent official statistics indicate that its prisons had an occupancy rate of 110 percent, amounting to a surplus of 1,413 prisoners. The total number of inmates rose to 12,344 at the end of June from 11,099 in 2009.

In terms of overcrowding, Portugal ranks 13 out of 56 countries in greater Europe, including central Asian states like Azerbaijan, according to a study by the U.K.-based International Center for Prison Studies.

For his part, Mr. Alves works at the Custóias prison, which is built for 700 inmates. In the two months to mid-October, the number of prisoners there rose from 800 to 1,034, he said.

Mr. Rebelo, the other union leader, accused the government of manipulating statistics to play down the overcrowding problem. In Mr. Rebelo’s prison, Sintra, the number of inmates is set to rise to 753 from 630 under a plan to add bunk beds. Sintra, one of Portugal’s newest prisons, was built in 2004 to hold 600 inmates.

“They’ve changed their calculations for available space from square to cubic meters, so that bodies can basically be piled up while keeping ratios officially unchanged,” he said.

 The one thing the guards and the inmates can agree on is that conditions are terrible. “Guards are now working under the worst conditions that I’ve seen — so I’ve got some sympathy for that — but the real problem is that when guards are in such a bad state of mind, their response is unfortunately to pile on the abuses and violence,” said Carlos Santos, a former inmate.

Mr. Santos knows Portugal’s prison system only too well. He was released this year after 18 years in jail, spent in five different prisons for crimes that included homicide, drug trafficking and theft.

Mr. Santos said he spent his last year sharing a two-person cell with five other inmates. In September, inmates staged a strike to denounce beatings by guards, as well as worsening food and sanitary conditions, including having to share cells with inmates diagnosed with infectious diseases.

Former inmates claim basic items like shampoo and detergents, previously distributed for free, must now be bought, with guards in turn overcharging inmates and pocketing the difference. “In a crisis, corruption takes whatever little money is available out of the system,” Mr. Santos said.

Portugal’s prison guards insist the country’s economic crisis has made their situation even more intolerable than that of the inmates. They complain of crumbling infrastructure and delays of six months to replace damaged security cameras. Meanwhile, the maintenance company that handles the prison fleet is refusing to repair any more vehicles until it gets paid for previous work.

After the guards already went on strike for several days last November, the government agreed to hire 240 new guards. The guards, however, say that 800 new recruits are needed to maintain order in overcrowded jails. “It would be a big mistake to underestimate what prison guards can do when they are put under intolerable pressure,” Mr. Rebelo said.

While prisoners are complaining about more physical abuse by guards, Mr. Rebelo claimed that the number of assaults against guards had climbed as much as 200 percent in the past three years, in part because of the overcrowding.

The prospects for those who leave jail are gloomier as well. After spending 15 years in jail, Jorge Montero, 35, was released in 2009, just as joblessness started to rise. Unemployment is now almost 16 percent.

Unable to find work in Portugal, he said he had managed to avoid sinking into poverty only by traveling regularly to Switzerland, where he has family, and working there as a carpenter on short-term contracts.

“If you come out of jail in Portugal now, you’ve got almost zero chance of not going straight back in,” he said, “because there’s just nothing for you to do except sit around and stay poor and depressed.”