The history and origins of proficiency testing of clinical laboratories are reviewed. Since the introduction of proficiency testing in the late 1940s, dramatic improvement in laboratory performance has been demonstrated. Nonetheless, the poor performance found two decades earlier was summoned to support the passage of the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act of 1967 (CLIA '67).

The objective of this paper is to evaluate the effect of Plant Variety Protection (PVP) on the productive merit ⁄yield increases of US seed varieties. As an example, we use wheat varieties, which are and have been available as both protected and unprotected under PVP from both the public and private sectors. We find evidence that PVP has contributed to the genetic improvement of wheat, using va...

Brazil is the second country on equine embryo world production. Problems related to the application of equine embryos transfer in Brazil are discussed in this article. The main factor related to low efficacy of Equine Embryos Transfer programs consists in the difficulty to induce multiple ovulations Among the most common difficulties and limitations faced in our country, we emphasize the utiliz...

In 1988, Congress passed the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendment (CLIA), thereby extending coverage of the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act of 1967 to include quality standards for all laboratory-based testing. The CLIA was enacted to ensure the accuracy, reliability, and timeliness of patient test results, regardless of the location where the tests were performed. This article assesse...

Microbial cellulases find applications in various industries and constitute a major group of the industrial enzymes. Recently, there is resurgence in utilization of biomass for fuel production employing cellulases and hence forth in obtaining better yields and novel activities. Improving the economics of such processes will involve cost reduction in cellulase production which may be achieved by...

The aim of this project was to optimise selection indices for efficient lean meat growth. Traditionally, genetic improvement of lean meat growth and feed efficiency has been based on ad libitum feeding. However, selection for lean meat growth and feed conversion ratio under ad libitum feeding has led to a reduction in feed intake in modern genotypes to the extent that feed intake is often not s...

Chemiluminescent immunoassay (CLIA) has been applied in different fields, including environmental monitoring, clinical diagnosis, food safety and pharmaceutical analysis, as a promising approach for selective, sensitive, rapid and simple analysis. It is often necessary to detect a large number of complicated or low-abundance samples. However, traditional methods need great consumption of time, ...