Scientists Create the First Complete Picture of a Key Flu Virus Machine
November 20th 2014If you planned to sabotage a factory, a recon trip through the premises would probably be much more useful than just peeping in at the windows. Scientists looking to understand – and potentially thwart – the influenza virus have now gone from a similar window-based view to the full factory tour, thanks to the first complete structure of one of the flu virus’ key machines. The structure, obtained by scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Grenoble, France, allows researchers to finally understand how the machine works as a whole. Published today in two papers in Nature, the work could prove instrumental in designing new drugs to treat serious flu infections and combat flu pandemics.
Outsourcing Healthcare Laundry Services
November 19th 2014Outsourcing is a strategy that healthcare institutions employ to help curb the escalating costs of providing services. In healthcare, as in other industries, outsourcing entails hiring an external contractor that assumes responsibility for managing a service line. Because the contractor specializes in providing a specific service and can achieve economies of scale, the entity can provide a service more efficiently and less expensively than the healthcare organization. In the case of healthcare laundry outsourcing, moving this service that is peripheral to the institutions primary operation of providing clinical services may also enable administrators and staff to concentrate more efficiently on their core business.