Creators Of New Smartphone App Hope To Get Indians To

A startup called Juggernaut is trying to get India’s smartphone users to read more with its new e-books app, Mashable reports.
Although India has the second-largest and one of the fastest-growing smartphone markets in the world, few of its 220 million smartphone users are avid book readers.
Juggernaut is launching its app with 100 book titles, priced as low as 10 rupees (15 cents) and up to 150 rupees ($2.25). Among these, a set of serialized erotic short stories by popular Canadian-Indian star Sunny Leone has generated the most buzz. The list of authors also includes Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy, historian William Dalrymple and American businessman Rajat Gupta.
Chiki Sarkar, Juggernaut co-founder and former Penguin Random House India editor-in-chief, spoke to Mashable about the new app.

"The first premise is, if we bring the world of books into the same space as your phone, will you be more likely to read. What if the price and length became much more accessible?" – Chiki Sarkar

The e-books have been adapted for reading on smartphones, with a focus on short reads and serialized stories. This means that most commissioned books are fewer than 25,000 words in length. The reading design is clean, classic and easy on the eye. There is an emphasis on genres that are the most popular and commercially-successful in India, such as romance, sex, crime, self-help and fantasy, non-fiction, and books for young adults and teens.

While Juggernaut's most obvious parallel is with Amazon, the founders say they're much closer in spirit to Netflix. Co-founder Durga Raghunath says they looked at Netflix's easy user experience, exciting mix of partners and original content, and the way they've matched their users to genres "in a genius way." Like Netflix, its app intuitively suggests books for readers based on their past preferences and will eventually have time-bound subscriptions.
Source- article.wn

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Immunetics BacTx® Test Helps Hospitals Meet FDA Proposed Changes in Platelet Bacteria Testing Practices

Immunetics today announced that the FDA has published updated Draft Guidance for Industry - “Bacterial Risk Control Strategies for Blood Collection Establishments and Transfusion Services to Enhance the Safety and Availability of Platelets for Transfusion”. The proposed changes by the FDA in platelet bacteria testing practices cited the risks of bacterial contamination of platelets and the critical need for means to mitigate these risks. Immunetics BacTx^® Technology provides hospitals with a rapid, low cost, and proven solution to meet this new guidance.
The point-of-issue BacTx^® test allows hospitals to readily facilitate efficient testing of platelets with a rapid testing system for bacterial detection that meets the proposed FDA Guidance. The result is a safer platelet supply, providing transfusion services with a “last look” at the platelet unit just prior to transfusion.
Platelets are associated with a higher risk of sepsis and related fatalities than any other transfusable blood component. In the United States today, blood collection facilities must adhere to AABB Guidelines calling for every platelet to be tested using an FDA approved device. However, the risk of bacterial infection persists- the primary issue being sampling error, as most testing occurs early in the life of the platelet unit when bacteria counts may be too low to be captured during routine sampling. In the updated March 2016 Guidance document, the FDA indicates the need to improve the safety of platelet transfusions by secondary bacterial testing, and confirms that use of a rapid assay such as the BacTx^® test closer to the point of transfusion may mitigate these risks.

About Immunetics:
Immunetics Inc. offers state-of-the-art assay technology for infectious disease diagnosis and blood screening, and for more than ten years has been a leading innovator of tests for bacterial, viral, and parasitic diseases. Immunetics is headquartered in Boston. The company’s mission is to deliver better, cost-efficient care through more accurate diagnosis.

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