photoFreshwater Rotifier photo wins 2001 Nikon Small World competition
Now in its 27th year, the annual Nikon International Small World Competition recognizes excellence in photography through the microscope. Over the years, winning entries have included visually stunning images across a full spectrum of subjects, from ordinary household items to subjects of advanced industrial and life science research. The competition, open to anyone with an interest in photomicrography, is regarded as the premier forum for images of the mysterious, unseen universe captured through a light microscope.

A photograph of a freshwater rotifer feeding on debris, shot by Harold Taylor of England in his garden pond, has been awarded first prize in the 2001 competition. This image reflects the photographer’s belief that any great photo of a natural subject can inspire and arouse interest in the world around us. Using darkfield hybrid illumination, the photo merges the techniques of scientific inquiry with aesthetic beauty. It was shot at 40X with electronic flash and color transparency film. Harold Taylor receives Nikon photo equipment valued at $5,000.

Max Gratrix of La Jolla, Calif., is this year’s second prize winner. He used fluorescence to shoot the sagittal section of mouse cerebellum infected with cytomegalovirus at 10X. He will receive a Nikon Coolpix 990 digital camera.

Photos in this year’s competition were judged on the basis of originality, informational content, technical proficiency and visual impact. In all, 20 winners and eight honorable mentions in the 2001 competition were honored in festivities held on Nov. 28, 2001, in New York City. The fifth prize winner was an audience favorite at the reception. It depicts coated stock paper at 20x, and was submitted by Russell Kerschmann of Corte Madera, Calif.

Eighteen of the 28 winners and honorable mentions for 2001 are digital images, signaling a new age of imaging and photomicrography. Entries for the 2002 Nikon International Small World Competition are due by June 28, 2002. They will be judged on originality, informational content, technical proficiency and visual impact. Any photograph shot in a 35mm transparency format through a light microscope qualifies. Digital and still video images are actively encouraged, and may be submitted by uploading to the Small World Competition entry area on the www.nikonusa.com website.


Sunquest Information Systems is now Misys Healthcare Systems
Misys plc, of Raleigh, NC, has announced the creation of Misys Healthcare Systems, formed from the convergence of three market-leading companies — Medic Computer Systems, Sunquest Information Systems and Home Care Information Systems (HCIS). With revenues of nearly $400 million, Misys Healthcare Systems is one of the top five companies serving the healthcare IT marketplace. The company’s Hospital Systems business unit, formerly Sunquest, provides information systems for hospital laboratories, hospital pharmacies, hospital radiology departments, healthcare networks, independent laboratories and clinics. Users of the Sunquest Flexilab information system will see a change in name to Misys Laboratory, but all products and operations, including scheduled updates, will remain the same.

Misys’ three business units serve a well-established customer base with 85,000 physicians, 1,200 hospitals, 850 home care providers, and hundreds of laboratories, clinics and managed service organizations.

“As demand grows for outstanding IT solutions in healthcare, Misys Healthcare Systems is now able to deliver advanced and efficient products under a global brand name which will bring benefits to customers, shareholders and employees alike,” said Kevin Lomax, Misys plc chairman.


New CDC bioterrorism Web site offers lab professionals resources and protocols
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has redesigned a comprehensive web site to aid laboratory and health professionals in emergency preparedness and response to bioterrorist agents and threats. The site, at www.bt.cdc.gov, provides current and accurate information on a full list of biological, chemical and radiological agents.

The site contains guidelines for preparation and planning, emergency response, and lab testing for presumptive agent identification and confirmatory clinical diagnostics. Lab professionals can access comprehensive protocols for handling precautions, specimen packaging, equipment, reagents and media, testing procedures, and result interpretation and reporting. Biosafety containment methods, vaccines and case identification are also covered. This information is available in both English and Spanish.

Biological agents in high priority Category A include: anthrax, botulism, plague, smallpox, tularemia, and viral hemorrhagic fevers. These agents require special action for public health preparedness. Category B agents include: brucellosis, epsilon toxin, Q fever, ricin toxin, and staph B. Category C biological agents include: hanta viruses, multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, tickborne encephalitis viruses, tickborne hemorrhagic fever viruses, and yellow fever.

Chemical agents covered include specific nerve agents, blister agents and pulmonary agents, with recommended laboratory tests for patients with these exposures.

Designed in response to the overwhelming demand for credible information during the anthrax crisis, the site provides planning templates, updates testing and containment protocols, and features reference materials. In October 2001, the CDC experienced more than a 100 percent increase in traffic to its web site, with 9.1 million unique visits making it the most frequently used federal government site.


Igen awarded $505 million in Roche lawsuit; Roche to appeal
A jury has awarded Igen International, Inc., Gaithersburg, Md., rights to Roche’s Elecsys diagnostics product line, along with $105 million in compensatory damages and $400 million in punitive damages. The suit arose over claims related to Igen’s licensing of its electrochemiluminescence (ECL) technology to Roche Diagnostics. Although the jury decision permits Igen to terminate the licensing agreements, they may not do so until all appeal proceedings are completed. Roche will continue in that time to market the instruments and assays covered under the scope of the litigation, and to develop new assays for the Elecsys system.

The jury also found that Igen is entitled under terms of its agreement with Roche to certain other technologies owned or developed by Roche, including PCR, a nucleic acid amplification technology.

According to Igen’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, “this sets the stage for Igen to compete in all diagnostic markets, by opening doors to the multi-billion dollar immunoassay and molecular probe markets.” The head of Roche’s diagnostics division, Heino von Prondzynski, says he is confident that through appeal Roche will “ultimately reach a resolution that will ensure our customers to have long-term, reliable access to the products covered by the licensing agreement.”