This book explores the enormous diversity in social perspectives on the emergence of nanotechnologies. The diversity is structured by applying five broad categories: Philosophy, governance, science, representations and arts, and attention is drawn to important research lines and pertinent questions within and across these categories.
Monthly Archives: February 2010
Physicists build basic quantum computing circuit
Exerting delicate control over a pair of atoms within a mere seven-millionths-of-a-second window of opportunity, physicists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison created an atomic circuit that may help quantum computing become a reality.
New material traps radioactive ions using ‘Venus flytrap’ method
Like a Venus flytrap, a newly discovered chemical material is a picky eater - it won't snap its jaws shut for just anything. Instead of flies, however, its favorite food is radioactive nuclear waste.
TDI Wins $600K To Boost Production Of SSL Materials
Technologies and Devices International, Inc. (TDI), part of the Oxford Instruments Group, today announced it has been awarded $600,000 by the Maryland Energy Administration to help industry expedite the broad adoption of energy-efficient LED lighting.
A Word On Tilikum | The Intersection
On Monday, experienced Sea World trainer Dawn Brancheau drowned when a 12,300-pound orca named Tilikum pulled her into a tank after the popular Dine with Shamu show. The tragedy took place in front of dozens of tourists with varying accounts of what exactly occurred.
In the days since, I’ve received many questions about orcas like Tilikum. Several of you want to hear my take on the ethics of captive lifestyles for animals. Some use terms like “compassionate conservation” while others talk about “cruel imprisonment.” Meanwhile, lots of advocacy groups have been speaking out by making lump judgments on all zoos and aquariums–which is not right. To be fair, there is a very broad spectrum in terms of the value of–and responsibility at–each. Further, most handlers I’ve personally met are well-intentioned, and focus on conservation and science. So rather than go into a lengthy discussion on the merits and faults of parks, let’s stick to orcas and this very sad story.
Orcas have evolved to be highly intelligent, social animals, communicating to pod members using sounds that travel underwater. They are also powerful hunters. Tilikum was born wild off the coast of Iceland, where he could travel vast distances until he was captured in 1983. Since then, he’s lived in a comparatively small enclosure, siring offspring, and performing simple tricks for us, over and over and over again.
It’s relatively simple to understand why something might go wrong in this situation.
Restricting Voltage Fluctuation
In Steel melting or making shop, high current electric electrodes insert into the liquid steel to create arcing to produce special quality steel. Due to this, total system voltage of steel melting furnace is being fluctuated heavily. Many motors or other equipments get burnt or damaged due to this f
Definitive Criterion for Cathodic Protection
A paper was presented at two conferences in Brazil last year saying that there is now a definitive criterion for cathodic protection that makes it possible to calculate if corrosion has stopped. The present criteria cannot be computerised as the half-cell is not used as a reference electrode in eit
Electrical Standards
can anyone send me the link of different electrical standards used in industries?
Book Excerpt: You Will Be My Witnesses
John Dear on the power and impact of the life of Dorothy Day on the Church.
What's a Better Spring Shape?
The image below shows a part I am trying to create, it is in effect a square internal circlip. I have envisaged this as 2 square bars held apart by 2 wire form springs. I've drawn these springs with a simple loop but I'm wondering if there is a better shape to ensure that the arms of the springs rem
Practice Fusion: Class D Felony?
“The Future of a Radical Price” indeed.
Practice Fusion is an ad-supported product. Practice Fusion’s medical advertising placements are non-intrusive, completely private and never pop-up. If you decide you don’t like the ads, you can switch to an ad-free version for a $100 a month per practitioner at any time.
if the offense is committed with intent to sell, transfer, or use individually identifiable health information for commercial advantage, personal gain, or malicious harm, be fined not more than $250,000, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.
Scope of Criminal Enforcement Under 42 U.S.C. § 1320d-6
For the foregoing reasons, we conclude that covered entities and those persons rendered accountable by general principles of corporate criminal liability may be prosecuted directly under 42 U.S.C. § 1320d-6 and that the “knowingly” element of the offense set forth in that provision requires only proof of knowledge of the facts that constitute the offense.
New HITECH Enforcement: Effective 17 February 2010
111 H.R. 1 § 13404. Application of Privacy Provisions and Penalties to Business Associates of Covered Entities
(b) …shall apply to a business associate described in subsection (a), with respect to compliance with such subsection, in the same manner that such section applies to a covered entity, with respect to compliance with the standards…
(c) In the case of a business associate that violates any provision of subsection (a) or (b), the provisions of sections 1176 and 1177 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320d-5, 1320d-6) shall apply to the business associate with respect to such violation in the same manner as such provisions apply to a person who violates a provision of part C of title XI of such Act.
111 H.R. 1 § 13410. Improved Enforcement
(d) Enforcement by State Attorneys General
…in any case in which the attorney general of a State has reason to believe that an interest of one or more of the residents of that State has been or is threatened or adversely affected by any person who violates a provision of this part, the attorney general of the State, as parens patriae, may bring a civil action on behalf of such residents of the State in a district court of the United States of appropriate jurisdiction
111 H.R. 1 § 13411 Audits.
The Secretary shall provide for periodic audits to ensure that covered entities and business associates that are subject to the requirements of this subtitle and subparts C and E of part 164 of title 45, Code of Federal Regulations, as such provisions are in effect as of the date of enactment of this Act, comply with such requirements.
Template Letter to Medical Providers
[Medical Provider] has contracted with third party Practice Fusion to disclose Protected Health Information (PHI) for commercial advantages including medically relevant advertising, marketing, and research in exchange for free telecommunication and Health Information Technology (HIT) services including Electronic Medical Record (EMR) search, storage, and transmission. This contractual agreement cannot be reconciled with federal law and PHI policy which forbids such a disclosure by a covered entity and its business associates. This violation is subject to federal civil penalty as per 42 USC § 1320d-5.
The witnessed receipt of this message satisfies the discovery of noncompliance as specified in 42 USC § 1320d-5(b). The law provides that you 30 days to comply without imposed penalty on the first date the person liable for the penalty knew that the failure to comply occurred.
Statement of Non Retaliation
This publication is federally protected. 45 CFR § 160.316
A covered entity may not threaten, intimidate, coerce, harass,discriminate against, or take any other retaliatory action against anyindividual or other person for … (c) Opposing any act or practice made unlawful by this subchapter provided the individual or person has a good faith belief that the practice opposed is unlawful, and the manner of opposition is reasonable and does not involve a disclosure of protected health information
Commentary
“The highest return on your investment because Practice Fusion is free.”
The biggest unexpected expenses for small medical providers are legal compliance and forced obligations to vendors providing services beyond the technical sophistication of local staff. I disagree that Practice Fusion “is the highest return on your investment” because it’s illegal and that’s expensive.
It’s also a bad idea.
Example: Greenwich Hospital spent $225 million for an electronic systems upgrade this year, and Greenwich Hospital is already one of the most technologically sophisticated hospitals in the nation. How does the return on Greenwich Hospital’s $225 million investment compete with Practice Fusion when Practice Fusion is free? Know: Regionally-aggregated Protected Health Information is the most valuable information in the world. It is the most complete demographic information of all people. It includes life history financial details rivaled by the IRS. It is professionally audited by medical doctors, government agencies, and health institutions from birth until death.
$225 million is value difference between sharing control and keeping control of Protected Health Information —per hospital.
Protected Health Information so valuable that the federal government makes it a Class D Felony to disclose it unless absolutely necessary.
And companies like Practice Fusion —and their advertisers— want all that Protected Health Information in exchange for “free use” of software that’s about a $300k and 6 months of software contract in Adobe Flex to build yourself.
As proudly published by Practice Fusion, as featured in Wired Magazine, as announced on Practice Fusion’s blog —Practice Fusion’s Intent:
Sell access to your data.
Aside: Today, a CTO of a start up company that I like asked me what I thought of Practice Fusion. Answer:
The first rule of healthcare is that you do not disclose healthcare. The second rule of healthcare is that everybody is stupid. That’s why healthcare is 1/6 of the national economy. Everybody is just too stupid to illegally sell their business for $100 to internet advertisers. They’re too busy earning 8% on gross revenue sending faxes.
What Is A Bird (a k a Euornithine Ornithothoracine Pygostylian…etc.)? | The Loom
My post on birds and dinosaurs yesterday led to a little debate on Facebook, including this, from paleontologist Thomas Holtz:
All living birds share a common ancestor that would also be considered a bird, so they are a monophyletic group. Nevertheless, that group is deeply nested among euornithine ornithothoracine pygostylian avialian eumaniraptoran paravian metornithine maniraptoran maniraptoriform tyrannoraptoran coelurosaurian avetheropodan tetanurine averostran neotheropod theropod saurischian dinosaurs.
…and breathe.
Beauty in violence | Bad Astronomy
The European Southern Observatory just released a very pretty picture of the nebula NGC 346. Check this out:
I strongly urge you to click that to ennebulanate to the higher-res version; I had to shrink and compress it quite a bit to fit it here.
The picture is lovely, showing a star-forming region in the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy to our own. The nebula’s about 200 light years across, and 200,000 light years away.
I won’t go into details; you can go to the ESO site for that. But there’s something I want to point out. The sharp wisps you see strewn this way and that inside the gas are due to vast and powerful winds of subatomic particles blowing from the surfaces of massive stars that are newly-born from that very gas. These streams slam into the gas, compressing it across trillions of kilometers, producing storm fronts that are thinner than a laboratory vacuum but are still so voluminous that the mass adds up to many times that of the Sun’s. Added to that is a flood of high-energy ultraviolet light from these massive stars, energy blasting out as they furiously churn out energy in their cores, leading ultimately to their demise in supernovae explosions.
So while you gaze at this nebula and wonder at its beauty, remember that in our Universe, beauty is borne by great violence. If there’s a life lesson in there I’m unaware of it. But it is worth pondering.
Flameproof Class 1, Div 1 Compliance
I am working on a project which needs the product should be of Flame proof and class 1 division 1 complience. My question is we are using an aluminium plate of 1/2" thickness. Rectangular slot (5.9"X0.4") with 2" depth is made within the aluminium plate. Heaters are placed in the holes which is
Maximum Load on 500-KVA DG
on 500 KVA DG 0.8 pf what can be the max load either 400kw 0.8 pf or 500 kw at unity pf. pl clear doubt
Axial Flux Coils for Stator
I have coils that I have taken out of micro wave transformers ,one coil is fine wire the other is 14gauge and they are wound very tight and I would like to use the 14ga coils in a axial flux alternator but they are larger than the Hugh Piggot design so the magnets need to be larger or multiple . I a
Solar UPS
solar ups
Sheath Bonding Arrangement
HAI ALL,
WHY BONDING CABLE USED IN TRANSMISSION CABLE JOINT (i.e.132kv or 400kv) LOCATION AND WHAT IS THE USE OF IT? HOW AND WHERE TO USE SOLID OR CROSS BONDING ARRAGEMENT?
Pen Production
how to produce apen
Marriage Rules in Massachusetts
The marriage laws in Massachusetts specify the following:
No man shall marry his mother, grandmother, daughter, granddaughter, sister, stepmother, grandfather's wife, grandson's wife, wife's mother, wife's grandmother, wife's daughter, wife's granddaughter, brother's daughter, sister's daughter, father's sister or mother's sister.
No woman shall marry her father, grandfather, son, grandson, brother, stepfather, grandmother's husband, daughter's husband, granddaughter's husband, husband's grandfather, husband's son, husband's grandson, brother's son, sister's son, father's brother or mother's brother.
Presumably the demand for such marriages is small. But should policy prohibit them?
Thanks to Joel Pollak for the tip (he noticed a sign with this information when he applied for his own marriage license).
Pollak is the Republican (libertarian sympathizing) candidate for the 11th Congressional district in Illinois; see here for more information. I met Pollak recently when he visited Harvard.
See here for a faceoff over subprime lending between Pollak and Barney Frank; see here for a follow-up interview of Pollak by Greta Van Susteren.
