Proficiency testing (PT) schemes seek to improve and maintain consistency in asbestos fibre counting by circulating mounted samples to laboratories, which return counts for comparison with consensus reference values. This study compares the level of these consensus values in three (Spanish, Belgian and UK) national PT schemes. It also assesses the effect of the imminent change in the European s...

BACKGROUND Proficiency testing (PT) is a means of verifying the reliability of laboratory results, but such programmes are not readily available to laboratories in developing countries. This project provided PT to laboratories in Nigeria. OBJECTIVES To assess the proficiency of laboratories in the diagnosis of HIV, tuberculosis and malaria. METHODS This was a prospective study carried out b...

UNLABELLED Although nanoparticles research is ongoing since more than 30years, the development of methods and standard protocols required for their safety and efficacy testing for human use is still in development. The review covers questions on toxicity, safety, risk and legal issues over the lifecycle of inorganic nanoparticles for medical applications. The following topics were covered: (i) ...

The diagnosis of endemic and invasive fungal disease remains challenging. Molecular techniques for identification of fungi now play a significant and growing role in clinical mycology and offer distinct advantages as they are faster, more sensitive and more specific. The aim of this mini-review is to provide an overview of the state of the art of molecular diagnosis of endemic and invasive fung...

PURPOSE Persistent uncertainty over the clinical significance of various pathological continuous electroencephalography (cEEG) findings in the intensive care unit (ICU) has prompted efforts to standardize ICU cEEG terminology and an ensuing debate. We set out to understand the reasons for, and a satisfactory resolution to, this debate. METHOD We review the positions for and against standardiz...

This study presents classification of different magnetic single- and multi-core particle systems using their measured dynamic magnetic properties together with their nanocrystal and particle sizes. The dynamic magnetic properties are measured with AC (dynamical) susceptometry and magnetorelaxometry and the size parameters are determined from electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering. Usi...

NMR-based metabolomics has shown considerable promise in disease diagnosis and biomarker discovery because it allows one to nondestructively identify and quantify large numbers of novel metabolite biomarkers in both biofluids and tissues. Precise metabolite quantification is a prerequisite to move any chemical biomarker or biomarker panel from the lab to the clinic. Among the biofluids commonly...

− The Accredited Laboratories at their Certificate have described its best measurement capabilities (BMCs) for the more or less routine calibrations. This BMCs were usually evaluated by interlaboratory comparisons (ILCs), the proficiency testing (PT) schemes as described by the ISO Guide 43. The NMIs traditionally organize the ILCs for the NABs providing the travelling standards, the reference(...

Performance in proficiency testing (PT) schemes is an objective measure of a laboratory's best performance. We examined the performance of participants in two parasitology PT schemes in South Africa from 2004 through 2010. The average rates of acceptable scores over the period were 58% and 66% for the stool and blood parasite schemes, respectively. In our setting, participation in PT alone is i...

Standardization is one of the foundational features of modern-day engineering, and the use of standardized parts and processes is a key element that distinguishes bona fide synthetic biology from traditional genetic engineering. Here, we discuss the role of standardization in natural product synthetic biology, focusing on standardization of data on biosynthetic pathways and gene clusters, as we...