Singapore medical company can diagnose H1N1 in 2 hours

A Singapore medical diagnostics company has announced on Monday that a chip it produced has tested successfully on confirmed pandemic H1N1-2009 influenza positive samples. VereFlu influenza chip is developed by Veredus Laboratories, a local medical diagnostics company in conjunction with ST Microelectronics, a global leader in silicon chip design and manufacturing, according to a statement issued by Veredus Laboratories on Monday. The VereFlu chip is a portable lab-on-chip application that canidentify and differentiate human strains of Influenza A and B viruses in a single test with high accuracy and sensitivity. It is a portable lab-onchip application for rapid detection of all major influenza types at the point of need in a single test. Unlike existing diagnostic methods, VereFlu can detect infection with high accuracy and sensitivity within two hours, providing genetic information of the infection that traditionally would take days to weeks to learn. The chip has been tested successfully in a joint trial with the Singapore Health Ministry’s National Public Health Laboratory (NPHL). The ability of the chip to simultaneously lock on multiple segments of the genes of the H1N1 influenza virus enables it to identify the virus with a much higher degree of confidence compared to other tests.

Boeing 787 Dreamliner first flight postponed for 5th time

Chicago-based Boeing Company announced on Tuesday that the first flight of the 787 Dreamliner, which is scheduled by the end of this month and has already been two years delayed, will be postponed for the fifth time due to a need to reinforce an area within the side-of-body section of the aircraft. In a statement, Boeing said the need was identified during the recent regularly scheduled tests on the full-scale static test airplane. Preliminary analysis indicated that flight test could proceed this month as planned. However, after further testing and consideration of possible modified flight test plans, the decision was made late last week that first flight should instead be postponed until productive flight testing could occur. Boeing has postponed the first flight for four times in past two years, citing parts shortages, defects, redesign work and problems with suppliers for disrupting develop-ment.

Andres could grow into hurricane, brush Mexico

Tropical Storm Andres was expected to grow into the Pacific season’s first hurricane Tuesday and deal a glancing blow to southwestern Mexico before churning its way up the coast past pictu-resque towns popular with foreign retirees. Mexico issued a hurricane warning for the Pacific coast from just south of Manzanillo north to near Puerto Vallarta. To the south, officials in Acapulco prepared 120 shelters and warned residents to stay indoors, especially some 15,000 people in zones most at risk for flooding. Heavy rains late Sunday knocked down a few trees in the resort city. Forecasters said Andres was likely to brush the coast at hurricane strength around the port city of Manzanillo on Tuesday. Forecast models showed its centre later pushing up the coast near towns such as Barra de Navidad that are home to some American and Canadian expatriates. At Barra de Navidad, northwest of Manzanillo, Agapito Garcia Martinez, security manager at the Grand Bay Hotel-Isla Navidad Resort, said Monday that hotel staff were preparing, like taking in beach furniture and protecting hotel windows, but had not yet been advised by authori-ties to so.

Autopsies suggest Air France jet broke up in sky

Autopsies have revealed fractures in the legs, hips and arms of Air France disaster victims, injuries that — along with the large pieces of wreckage pulled from the Atlantic — strongly suggest the plane broke up in the air, experts said Wednesday. With more than 400 bits of debris recovered from the ocean’s surface, the top French investigator expressed optimism about discovering what brought down Flight 447, but he also called the conditions — far from land in very deep waters — “one of the worst situations ever known in an accident investigation.”

French investigators are beginning to form “an image that is progressively less fuzzy,” Paul- Louis Arslanian, who runs the French air accident investigation agency BEA, told a news conference outside Paris. “We are in a situation that is a bit more favorable than the first days,” Arslanian said. “We can say there is a little less uncertainty, so there is a little more optimism. ... (but) it is premature for the time being to say what happened.” A spokesman for Brazilian medical examiners told The Associated Press on Wednesday that fractures were found in autopsies on an undisclosed number of the 50 bodies recovered so far. The officialspoke on condition henot be named due to department rules.

Chinese star Jet Li ‘takes Singapore citizenship’

Chinese action star Jet Li has taken up Singapore citizenship and bought a property in the city state worth nearly 20 million Singapore dollars (14 million US), according to a report.The Business Times did not say when the Beijing-born star took up his new nationality or bought the upmarket property. It did not give its source. Singapore’s Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) would not confirm the newspaper report when contacted by AFP for reasons of confidentiality. A Beijing-based staff member at Li’s One Foundation contacted by AFP declined comment. Li is the latest Chinese star to have taken up Singapore citizenship, following in the footsteps of leading actress Gong Li, who shot to fame with her roles in “Farewell My Concubine” and later “Memoirs of a Geisha.”

Myanmar entrepreneurs win Best Organizer Award in Kunming Trade Fair

A Myanmar delegation led by Vice-president U Thaung Tin of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI), including CEC member U Myo Thant, executive U Htay Oo and 42 entrepreneurs, took part in the South Asia China Kunming Import & Export Commodities Fair held at Kunming, Yunnan Province, the People’s Republic of China from 6 to 10 June. Forest products, agricultural paroduce, marine products and foodstuff booths were put on display in the fair by UMFCCI and Muse-Namhkam Border Trade Merchants’ Association. The Best Organizer Award was presented by the trade organizing committee to Myanmar entrepreneurs.