URI launches online
biotechnology class
free to the public
KINGSTON – The University of Rhode Island’s College of the Environment and Life Sciences has launched a Web-based biotechnology course that will allow people around the world to enroll at any time and learn the key concepts in that discipline, free of charge.
High school students who pay just $195 when they enroll can get college credit.
Offered in classrooms for three years at URI’s Kingston and Providence campuses, and field-tested as a Web-based class last year, it incorporates lectures by experts, online readings and tests.
“The tools of biotechnology are being used in an increasing number of industries, and understanding the issues involved are important for everyone,” said Jeff Seemann, URI’s dean of environmental and life sciences.
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The course was designed by Albert Kausch, a URI biotechnology professor, with input from researchers and industry representatives, including people at Pfizer and Amgen. It is supported by Life.edu, a biotech nonprofit founded by Kausch with industry support.
Carcieri announces plan
to stop online predators
PROVIDENCE — Gov. Donald L. Carcieri announced on Oct. 17 a plan to protect children from online predators.
The four-point proposal would increase the state police’s capabilities to track predators seeking to lure children via the Internet; toughen the penalties for online stalking; and enhance the training for local police departments, and for children and their parents.
“The Internet has become a breeding ground for those who want to take advantage of our children, and we must do all that we can to protect them from these predators,” Carcieri said.
The proposal follows the arrest this month of a 48-year-old Exeter man who allegedly used the social site MySpace.com to lure girls between the ages of 12 and 15 to his trailer to smoke marijuana.
The plan, dubbed Combating Online Predators (COP), would establish an online anti-predator unit within the R.I. State Police, adding two positions to the force in fiscal 2008.
KVH posts $19.3M in 3Q
revenue, a 15% increase
MIDDLETOWN – KVH Industries Inc. says its revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30 was $19.3 million, up 15 percent from the third quarter of 2005.
Net income for the quarter was $626,000, or 4 cents per diluted share, including a non-cash charge of about $400,000, or 2 cents per diluted share, related to the company’s adoption of a new financial standard that requires the expensing of stock options and other equity compensation. Net income in the third quarter of 2005 was $674,000 or 5 cents per share.
For the nine months ended Sept. 30, revenue was $61.5 million, up 15 percent from the year-ago period’s $53.4 million, and net income was $3.6 million, or 24 cents per diluted share.
President and CEO Martin Kits van Heyningen said the results reflect “the benefits of the product-line overhaul that we launched a year ago.” He cited “strong” demand for KVH’s maritime TracVision M3 satellite TV system; growth in the recreational vehicle market; and growth in KVH’s defense business.
Van Heyningen also said KVH had “actively pursued an acquisition opportunity” but “ultimately terminated the process,” and the effort had cost the company about $300,000.
Amgen opens new lab
to manufacture Enbrel
WEST GREENWICH – Amgen this month unveiled a $26 million process development laboratory where it intends to refine production methods for its drug Enbrel, used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and other conditions.
The 29,000-square-foot lab will house 78 chemists and 48 machines (bioreactors) that deal with the genetically engineered cell cultures that produce the protein used in Enbrel. The new lab, due to open in November, will replace a 3,600-square-foot facility that had 30 staffers and 28 bioreactors.
FarSounder announces
its 2nd patent this year
PROVIDENCE – FarSounder Inc. this month said it has received its second patent this year from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for three-dimensional forward-looking sonar technology.
Used on commercial and private ships for obstacle avoidance and shallow-water navigation, the FarSounder FS-3 sonar can generate a three-dimensional image of the sea floor and in-water objects at navigationally significant ranges with a single ping, the company says.
“This new sonar technology revolutionizes marine navigation, especially in shallow areas,” the company said in a news release. FarSounder said it also is working on a Small Business Innovation Research project with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
LighthouseMD partners
with MEDCIN developer
PROVIDENCE – LighthouseMD, a provider of revenue-cycle management, integrated practice management and EMR solutions to medical groups, last week announced a partnership with Medicomp Systems, the Nevada-based developer of the MEDCIN intelligent database of clinical documentation.
This alliance will provide LighthouseMD customers with advanced electronic medical record functionality by early next year, the companies said. With the addition of the MEDCIN database, CareTracker’s EMR system will include more than 270,000 clinical data elements – symptoms, history, physical examination, tests, diagnoses and therapy – all available at the point of care, they said.
“This relationship represents the future of EMRs for our physician practice customers,” said Russell Keene, CEO of LighthouseMD. “We chose to partner with Medicomp for two reasons – connectivity and content. Not only does MEDCIN offer an amazingly fast interface … [it] has proven to have the most comprehensive content on the market.”
