Monthly Archives: March 2012

Fielding questions about climate change

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Public release date: 14-Mar-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Clea Desjardins clea.desjardins@concordia.ca 514-848-2424 x5068 Concordia University

This press release is available in French.

Montreal -- Canada defines itself as a nation that stretches from coast to coast to coast. But can we keep those coasts healthy in the face of climate change? Yves Glinas, associate professor in Concordia's Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, has found the solution in a surprising element: iron.

In a study published in Nature, Glinas along with Concordia PhD candidate Karine Lalonde and graduate Alexandre Ouellet, as well as McGill colleague Alfonso Mucci studies the chemical makeup of sediment samples from around the world ocean to show how iron oxides remove carbon dioxide from our atmosphere.

"People around the planet are fighting to reduce the amount of CO2 pumped into the atmosphere in the hopes of reducing climate change. But when it comes to getting rid of the CO2 that's already there, nature herself plays an important role," Glinas explains. CO2 is removed from the atmosphere and safely trapped on the ocean floor through a natural reaction that fixes the molecule to organic carbon on the surface of large bodies of water.

How exactly does that fixation process work? "For well over a decade, the scientific community has held onto the hypothesis that tiny clay minerals were responsible for preserving that specific fraction of organic carbon once it had sunk to the seabed," explains Mucci, whose related research was picked as one of the top 10 Scientific Discoveries of the year by Qubec Science. Through careful analysis of sediments from all over the world, Glinas and his team found that iron oxides were in fact responsible for trapping one fifth of all the organic carbon deposited on the ocean floor.

With this new knowledge comes increased concern: iron oxides are turning into what might be termed endangered molecules. As their name suggests, iron oxides can only form in the presence of oxygen, meaning that a well-oxygenated coastal ecosystem is necessary for the iron oxides to do their work in helping to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. But there has been a worrying decrease in dissolved oxygen concentrations found in certain coastal environments and this trend is expanding. Locations once teeming with life are slowly becoming what are known as "dead zones" in which oxygen levels in the surface sediment are becoming increasingly depleted. That familiar culprit, man-made pollution, is behind the change.

Major rivers regularly discharge pollutants from agricultural fertilizers and human waste directly into lake and coastal environments, leading to a greater abundance of plankton. These living organisms are killed off at a greater rate and more organic carbon is sinking to the bottom waters, causing even greater consumption of dissolved oxygen. This makes the problem of low dissolved oxygen levels even worse. If the amount of oxygen in an aquatic environment decreases beyond a certain point, iron oxides stop being produced, thus robbing that environment of a large fraction of its natural ability to extract carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

But there is hope. "This study also represents an indirect plea towards reducing the quantities of fertilizers and other nutrient-rich contaminants discharged in aquatic systems" explains Lalonde, who Glinas credits with much of the work behind this elemental study. She hopes that better understanding the iron-organic carbon stabilizing mechanism could "eventually lead to new ways of increasing the rate of organic carbon burial in sediments."

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Fielding questions about climate change

SchoolBook: Brooklyn Student Takes Third Place in National Intel Competition

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March 14, 2012, 8:04 a.m.

First Bell starts this spring-like Wednesday morning with some good news: Mimi Yen, a student at Stuyvesant High School, was a top finalist in the prestigious Intel Science Talent Search for her studies of microscopic worms.

Mimi, 17, who lives in Brooklyn, was awarded third-place honors and a $50,000 prize Tuesday night after the final round of the competition in Washington. In a news release, the Intel Science Talent Search folks, who call the annual event the nations most elite and demanding high school research competition, described her work as a study of evolution and genetics, which focuses on microscopic worms, specifically looking at their sex habits and hermaphrodite tendencies.

The news release goes on to say:

Mimi believes that through research such as hers, we may better understand the genes that contribute to behavioral variations in humans. Mimi was born in Honduras and is fluent in Cantonese. She plays French horn and volunteers to prepare and deliver meals to people with serious illnesses.

In January, SchoolBook profiled Mimi and the two other students from New York City who made the Intel finals Huihui Fan, 17, from Staten Island, also from Stuyvesant, who studied how to genetically improve the shape of crop plants roots; and Danielle Goldman, 17, of the Bronx High School of Science, who studied anxiety disorders among young people.

Mimi responded to an e-mail from Elbert Chu, the reporter for that profile, the day before the finals in Washington, saying: The week is winding down now were going to be meeting our senators tomorrow and then were headed to the gala for the awards ceremony.

She went on to say: Ive been making notes of the week thus far, just in case any future finalists from Stuyvesant need some guidance. Its been really fun all the other finalists are such interesting people. Although the judging interviews were pretty brutal, they were also incredibly humbling makes me realize just how much more there is to learn.

Congratulations to Mimi, as well as Huihui and Danielle. And kudos, as well, to a student from Westchester County, who took fifth place and was awarded $30,000 in the competition: Benjamin van Doren of White Plains, who investigated a poorly understood behavior of nocturnal migratory birds, called morning flight, which has potential implications for the growing wind power industry.

In other news this Wednesday, The Daily News reports that Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is trying to drum up public support for the deal he brokered in January with the teachers unions that established the framework for a new teacher evaluation system.

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SchoolBook: Brooklyn Student Takes Third Place in National Intel Competition

Brooklyn Student Takes Third Place in National Intel Competition

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March 14, 2012, 8:04 a.m.

First Bell starts this spring-like Wednesday morning with some good news: Mimi Yen, a student at Stuyvesant High School, was a top finalist in the prestigious Intel Science Talent Search for her studies of microscopic worms.

Mimi, 17, who lives in Brooklyn, was awarded third-place honors and a $50,000 prize Tuesday night after the final round of the competition in Washington. In a news release, the Intel Science Talent Search folks, who call the annual event the nations most elite and demanding high school research competition, described her work as a study of evolution and genetics, which focuses on microscopic worms, specifically looking at their sex habits and hermaphrodite tendencies.

The news release goes on to say:

Mimi believes that through research such as hers, we may better understand the genes that contribute to behavioral variations in humans. Mimi was born in Honduras and is fluent in Cantonese. She plays French horn and volunteers to prepare and deliver meals to people with serious illnesses.

In January, SchoolBook profiled Mimi and the two other students from New York City who made the Intel finals Huihui Fan, 17, from Staten Island, also from Stuyvesant, who studied how to genetically improve the shape of crop plants roots; and Danielle Goldman, 17, of the Bronx High School of Science, who studied anxiety disorders among young people.

Mimi responded to an e-mail from Elbert Chu, the reporter for that profile, the day before the finals in Washington, saying: The week is winding down now were going to be meeting our senators tomorrow and then were headed to the gala for the awards ceremony.

She went on to say: Ive been making notes of the week thus far, just in case any future finalists from Stuyvesant need some guidance. Its been really fun all the other finalists are such interesting people. Although the judging interviews were pretty brutal, they were also incredibly humbling makes me realize just how much more there is to learn.

Congratulations to Mimi, as well as Huihui and Danielle. And kudos, as well, to a student from Westchester County, who took fifth place and was awarded $30,000 in the competition: Benjamin van Doren of White Plains, who investigated a poorly understood behavior of nocturnal migratory birds, called morning flight, which has potential implications for the growing wind power industry.

In other news this Wednesday, The Daily News reports that Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is trying to drum up public support for the deal he brokered in January with the teachers unions that established the framework for a new teacher evaluation system.

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Brooklyn Student Takes Third Place in National Intel Competition

Teenager Unlocks Potential Pathways for Breast Cancer Treatments, Wins Intel Science Talent Search

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WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

From medical treatments to alternative energy solutions, innovation has been top of mind in our nations capital this week. Honoring high school seniors with exceptional promise in math and science, Intel Corporation and Society for Science & the Public (SSP) recognized the winners of the nations most elite and demanding high school research competition, the Intel Science Talent Search.

Nithin Tumma, 17, of Fort Gratiot, Mich., won the top award of $100,000 from the Intel Foundation for his research, which could lead to more direct, targeted, effective and less toxic breast cancer treatments. He analyzed the molecular mechanisms in cancer cells and found that by inhibiting certain proteins, we may be able to slow the growth of cancer cells and decrease their malignancy. Nithin is first in his class of 332, a varsity tennis player and a volunteer for the Port Huron Museum, where he started a restoration effort for historical and cultural landmarks.

Second place honors and $75,000 went to Andrey Sushko, 17, of Richland, Wash., for his development of a tiny motor, only 7 mm (almost 1/4 inch) in diameter, which uses the surface tension of water to turn its shaft. Born in Russia, Andrey worked from home to create his miniature motor, which could pave the way for other micro-robotic devices. Andrey, a long-time builder of small boats, recently filed for a Guinness World Record for the smallest radio-controlled sailing yacht.

Third place honors and $50,000 went to Mimi Yen, 17, of Brooklyn, N.Y., for her study of evolution and genetics, which focuses on microscopic worms, specifically looking at their sex habits and hermaphrodite tendencies. Mimi believes that through research such as hers, we may better understand the genes that contribute to behavioral variations in humans. Mimi was born in Honduras and is fluent in Cantonese. She plays French horn and volunteers to prepare and deliver meals to people with serious illnesses.

These finalists join the ranks of other notable Science Talent Search alumni who over the past 70 years have gone on to win seven Nobel Prizes, two Fields Medals, four National Medals of Science, 11 MacArthur Foundation Fellowships and even an Academy Award for Best Actress.

We invest in Americas future when we recognize the innovative achievements of our nations brightest young minds, said Intel President and CEO Paul Otellini. Hands-on experience with math and science, such as that required of Intel Science Talent Search finalists, encourages young people to think critically, solve problems and understand the world around them. Rather than simply memorizing facts and formulas, or repeating experiments with known outcomes, this competition engages students in an exciting way and provides a deeper level of understanding in such important but challenging subjects.

Other top honors from the competition include:

Fourth Place: Fengning (David) Ding of Albany, Calif. received a $40,000 award for his work on representation theory of Cherednik algebras, a topic in theoretical mathematics that sheds light on deformations of important symmetries, which are related to conservation laws.

Fifth Place: Benjamin van Doren of White Plains, N.Y. received a $30,000 award for investigating a poorly understood behavior of nocturnal migratory birds, called morning flight, which has potential implications for the growing wind power industry.

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Teenager Unlocks Potential Pathways for Breast Cancer Treatments, Wins Intel Science Talent Search

Anatomy of a Sunset

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Story published: 03-14-2012 Print Article E-mail Story to a Friend

Anatomy of a Sunset

By Lacy Hilliard

Freelance writer/photographer

The silhouette cast by the setting sun paints everything it touches in abstract perfection. To gaze upon the sky at sunset is to feel the presence of something larger than ourselves. From fiery red to gentle purple, the discovery of the history behind the setting sun is fascinating.

Native Americans regarded sunset as the most sacred of hours. Many ceremonies were set to be performed at this blessed hour. Taoism teaches that sunset is the time when one is most likely to achieve Zen or absolute enlightenment. The Aztecs believed that sunset brought a blessing of fertility.

The colors of the sunset are determined be the wavelength of light provided by the sun and the disbursement of molecules in the atmosphere. Red and orange are the most common colors experienced at sunset because they have the longest wavelengths of any visible light. The intensity of these colors is determined by the amount of molecular activity taking place in the atmosphere; more molecular activity works to scatter the weakest wavelengths (blue and violet) away from our eyes and intensify the orange and red hues, less activity makes for a clearer violet tinted sunset.

An appreciation for the sunset is something human beings have shared from the beginning of time. In a world where it often seems difficult to agree on anything, the setting of the sun proves that beauty is universal.

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Anatomy of a Sunset

"Grey's Anatomy," Live and Singing

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Grey's Anatomy

Several members of the "Grey's Anatomy" cast will sing at Royce Hall on Sunday, March 18.

When"Grey's Anatomy" first debuted back in 2005, it was presented as a medical drama. Stories of a hospital, and the people who work there, and love there, and the patients they love and treat.

It wasn't sold as a musical extravaganza a la "Smash" or "Glee"or, yep,"CopRock"(c'mon -- "Cop Rock"! Miss that show). But history, and thousands of CD racks, tell the further story; "Grey's" is very much associated with the pleasures of song, both via its best-selling soundtracks and the tunes the characters have actually sung on the show itself.

Now several cast members will be gathering together at Royce Hall on Sunday,March 18.They won't be in their scrubs (at least we expect not); they'll be gussied up and ready to belt a few showstoppers. "Grey's Anatomy:The Songs Beneath the Show"won't round up nearly every member in the large, multi-year cast, but look at the stellar performers set to show:Jessica Capshaw, Sandra Oh, and Sara Ramirez, who we wish would be singing somewhere in our immediate vicinity nearly every hour of the day.

Several other actors are set to show, and here's the reason why:They'll be raising money for TheActors Fund, which is a really good and important fund to support, least of all because we live in an actor-heavy community. The reasons are manifold.

The VIPticket is $250, and that nets you a few nice additionals beyond the performance, like a cast Q&A.

Follow NBCLA for the latest LA news, events and entertainment: Twitter: @NBCLA // Facebook: NBCLA

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"Grey's Anatomy," Live and Singing

With MDx Usage and Costs on the Rise, UnitedHealthCare Urges Reimbursement Reform

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By Turna Ray

Amid rising adoption and costs of molecular diagnostics to personalize treatment decisions, insurer UnitedHealthCare is calling for improvements in the medical claims coding system that will enable accurate test utilization tracking.

In a working paper released this week by its Center for Health Reform & Modernization, UnitedHealthcare also advocates payor-supported clinical utility studies to demonstrate that molecular tests are improving patient outcomes and reducing healthcare costs.

"Reimbursement approaches used today, which involve setting an initial rate and subsequent indexing for inflation, may not reflect appropriately the value to the delivery system of a new technology and its continued use," UHC states in the report. "They also may contribute to the rising costs of new and complex tests. New approaches are needed and the working paper discusses some of the options."

In the paper, the insurer reports that its health plan participants racked up nearly $500 million in genetic and molecular diagnostic testing costs in 2010, a 14 percent increase on a per-person basis since 2008. Overall, national spending on genetic tests and molecular diagnostics "may have reached around $5 billion" in 2010 and could reach as high as $25 billion by 2021, according to the report.

The report also includes the results of a survey of consumers and physicians to gauge their attitudes about genetic testing. A poll of more than 1,200 physicians showed that more than 75 percent of doctors identified the cost of tests and reimbursement issues as the most difficult barrier to incorporating genetic tests in their practice.

Given that the US healthcare system is spending more on molecular diagnostics that will likely get more complex with advancing knowledge about the human genome, UHC makes a number of recommendations that could help payors ensure that they are paying for tests that are robustly validated, improve patient outcomes, and ultimately reduce healthcare costs.

"A new coding system could be a foundation for better analytics, evidence development and coverage," UHC states. "Such a system would assign specific codes to individual genetic tests and genetic testing services."

UHC's recommendations come amid a number of ongoing efforts to update the molecular diagnostic coding system.

The American Medical Association has created a two-tier current procedural terminology coding system for single analyte molecular diagnostics that will likely move into use next year. The AMA has also begun issuing Category 1 codes for multi-analyte, algorithm-based assays, such as Vermillion's OVA1 ovarian cancer test (PGx Reporter 3/7/2012).

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With MDx Usage and Costs on the Rise, UnitedHealthCare Urges Reimbursement Reform

Research and Markets: Stephens' Detection and Evaluation of Adverse Drug Reactions: Principles and Practice (6th …

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DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/831b19/stephens_detectio) has announced the addition of John Wiley and Sons Ltd's new book "Stephens' Detection and Evaluation of Adverse Drug Reactions: Principles and Practice (6th Edition)" to their offering.

Written with practitioners in mind, this new edition of Stephen's Detection of Adverse Drug Reactions: Principle and Practice continues to be one of the corner stones of the pharmaceutical medicine list. The classic text covers the issues and problems involved in the detection of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) throughout the life cycle of a medicine from animal studies through to clinical trials, its introduction to the market, followed by wide clinical use, and eventual decline in use or withdrawal. The sixth edition is completely revised and updated including five new chapters on pharmacogenomics, ADRs with herbal medicines, safety of medical devices, safety issues with oncology drugs, and economic aspects of ADRs. All tables and web information needed in order to practice are included to make this sixth edition a complete primer for the new practitioner and a reference for the more experienced.

Key Topics Covered:

Authors:

John Talbot, Senior Lecturer, University of Hertfordshire, UK. Formerly Director, Global Drug Safety, AstraZeneca R&D Charnwood, Loughborough, Leicestershire, UK

Jeffrey Aronson, Reader in Clinical Pharmacology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK and President Emeritus of the British Pharmacological Society

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/831b19/stephens_detectio

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Research and Markets: Stephens' Detection and Evaluation of Adverse Drug Reactions: Principles and Practice (6th ...

Fighting Cancer with Nanotechnology – Roundtable Discussion

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Newswise Imagine a test that sifts through millions of molecules in a drop of a patient's blood to detect a telltale protein signature of a cancer subtype, or a drug ferry that doesn't release its toxic contents until it slips inside cancer cells.

These and other nanotechnologies could be game changers in how we diagnose, monitor and treat cancer. To more fully understand the impact, The Kavli Foundation held a roundtable teleconference with four pioneers in the field.

* Anna Barker - Former Deputy Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and current Director of Arizona State University's Transformative Healthcare Networks; * Mark E. Davis - Professor of Chemical Engineering at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), and a member of the Experimental Therapeutics Program of the Comprehensive Cancer Center at the City of Hope; * James Heath - Professor of Chemistry at Caltech and a founding Board member of Caltech's Kavli Nanoscience Institute; * Michael Phelps - Norton Simon Professor, and Chair of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology at the University of California Los Angeles.

The researchers discussed how nanotechnology holds the promise of revolutionizing the way medicine wages war against cancer, from providing new ways to combine drugs to delivering gene-silencing therapeutics for cancer cells. "What's really exciting to me is the patient evidence that reveal nanoparticles are actually going into tumor cells and releasing their payloads," said Davis. "[We're also] starting to see preliminary evidence that these therapies are having some effects in patients while also giving them a high quality of life."

Another promising technology is PET molecular imaging probes, which can rapidly search for cancer throughout all tissues of the body, as well as characterize each cancer lesion it detects within an individual patient. "All cancer treatments are in need of better molecular diagnostics... to better characterize the biology of cancer," said Phelps.

These technologies add a layer of precision, insight and invention to cancer treatment that can be transformative. Said Heath, "Nanotechnology is an amazing discovery tool ...giving us a new set of eyes that are opening up a whole new world." Regarding the future, he added, "All evidence suggests that when you do careful engineering of these nanotechnologies, the benefits are great." Barker agreed. "The nanotechnologies that are currently in use in the cancer community are actually making cancer therapies safer. They are uniformly increasing the efficiency, while reducing the toxicity for patients."

For the complete dialogue, visit: http://www.kavlifoundation.org/science-spotlights/nanoscience-fighting-cancer-nanotechnology

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Fighting Cancer with Nanotechnology - Roundtable Discussion

Research and Markets: Nanotechnology for Medical Diagnostics Report – Nanodiagnostics will be a $50-Billion Market by …

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DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Research and Markets(http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/7d08dd/nanotechnology_for) has announced the addition of the "Nanotechnology for Medical Diagnostics" report to their offering.

Cientifica's "Nanotechnology for Medical Diagnostics" looks at emerging nanoscale technologies

The healthcare market, poised to see some of the earliest benefits of nanotechnology over the next decade, will be one of nanotech's highest growth sectors. Technology is advancing on all fronts, from highly affordable point-of-care diagnostics with the potential to make mass screening and early detection of disease possible, through to highly targeted therapeutics with drugs being delivered and released only where needed.

Nanotechnology promises to revolutionize medical diagnostics: earlier detection of disease, higher sensitivity, higher accuracy, higher throughput capability, more results per assay; time saving and cost-effectiveness.

The implications are enormous, said Tim Harper, CEO of Cientifica Ltd. Diagnostic tools using nanotechnology are pushing the envelope in terms of speed, sensitivity and cost and are beginning to have an impact on almost every sector. In 10 years' time the idea of taking a blood sample and sending it away to be analyzed will be seem as old fashioned as buying music from a 'record' store.

Cientifica estimates medical imaging is the sector showing the highest growth and impact of nanomaterials. Already a $1.7-billion market, with gold nanoparticle applications accounting for $959 million, imaging will continue to be the largest nanodiagnostics sector, with gold nanoparticles, quantum dots and nanobiosensors all easily exceeding $10 billion.

Getting onboard with the right technology at the right time is crucial, said Harper. The use of exosomes in diagnosis, for instance, a relatively new technique and a tiny market, is set to reach close to half a billion dollars by 2021.

Nanotech enabled medical diagnostics promise to improve just about everything that can be improved from a diagnostics point of view: earlier detection of disease, higher sensitivity, higher accuracy, higher throughput capability, more results per assay; time saving and cost-effectiveness.

This report provides a market numbers for the nanotech enabled medical diagnostic market between 2000-2010 and a market forecast for the period 2011-2021.

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Research and Markets: Nanotechnology for Medical Diagnostics Report - Nanodiagnostics will be a $50-Billion Market by ...

Small but perfectly formed: Scientists use world's fastest 3D printer to create amazingly detailed F1 car (… that …

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By Eddie Wrenn

PUBLISHED: 12:44 EST, 13 March 2012 | UPDATED: 08:53 EST, 14 March 2012

The attention to detail is exquisite - and the craftsmanship is even more impressive when you appreciate the scale of the endeavour.

This little Formula 1 car is just 0.028cm across - or to put it another way, less than a third of a millimetre.

So this tiny little motor could fit into the space of the full-stop at the end of the sentence.

If that isn't impressive enough, the Vienna Institute of Technology created the 100-layer nano-structure in just four minutes - a huge increase on previous technology.

Tiny detail: The F1 nano-car was created by the Vienna Institute of Technology in a record-breaking four minutes

The precision model uses a technique called two-photon lithography, which uses highly-focused light beams to manipulate then harden the resin molecules in exactly the right position.

The technology is still new, and is generally limited right now to solid plastic shapes - but the field is moving forwards

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Small but perfectly formed: Scientists use world's fastest 3D printer to create amazingly detailed F1 car (... that ...

3D-printer with nano-precision

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The 3D printer uses a liquid resin, which is hardened at precisely the correct spots by a focused laser beam. The focal point of the laser beam is guided through the resin by movable mirrors and leaves behind a polymerized line of solid polymer, just a few hundred nanometers wide. This high resolution enables the creation of intricately structured sculptures as tiny as a grain of sand. Until now, this technique used to be quite slow, says Professor Jrgen Stampfl from the Institute of Materials Science and Technology at the TU Vienna. The printing speed used to be measured in millimeters per second our device can do five meters in one second. In two-photon lithography, this is a world record.

This video is not supported by your browser at this time.

The video shows the 3d-printing process in real time. Due to the very fast guiding of the laser beam, 100 layers, consisting of approximately 200 single lines each, are produced in four minutes.

A model of St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna. Credit: Klaus Cicha

The London Tower Bridge. Credit: Klaus Cicha

Because of the dramatically increased speed, much larger objects can now be created in a given period of time. This makes two-photon-lithography an interesting technique for industry. At the TU Vienna, scientists are now developing bio-compatible resins for medical applications. They can be used to create scaffolds to which living cells can attach themselves facilitating the systematic creation of biological tissues. The 3d printer could also be used to create tailor made construction parts for biomedical technology or nanotechnology.

Provided by Vienna University of Technology

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3D-printer with nano-precision

3D-Printer with Nano-Precision (with video)

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Ultra-high-resolution 3D Printer Breaks Speed-Records at Vienna University of Technology.

Printing three dimensional objects with incredibly fine details is now possible using "two-photon lithography". With this technology, tiny structures on a nanometer scale can be fabricated. Researchers at the Vienna University of Technology (TU Vienna) have now made a major breakthrough in speeding up this printing technique: The high-precision-3D-printer at TU Vienna is orders of magnitude faster than similar devices (see video). This opens up completely new areas of application, such as in medicine.

Setting a New World Record

The 3D printer uses a liquid resin, which is hardened at precisely the correct spots by a focused laser beam. The focal point of the laser beam is guided through the resin by movable mirrors and leaves behind a polymerized line of solid polymer, just a few hundred nanometers wide. This high resolution enables the creation of intricately structured sculptures as tiny as a grain of sand. "Until now, this technique used to be quite slow", says Professor Juergen Stampfl from the Institute of Materials Science and Technology at the TU Vienna. "The printing speed used to be measured in millimeters per second - our device can do five meters in one second." In two-photon lithography, this is a world record.

The video shows the 3d-printing process in real time. Due to the very fast guiding of the laser beam, 100 layers, consisting of approximately 200 single lines each, are produced in four minutes.

This amazing progress was made possible by combining several new ideas. "It was crucial to improve the control mechanism of the mirrors", says Jan Torgersen (TU Vienna). The mirrors are continuously in motion during the printing process. The acceleration and deceleration-periods have to be tuned very precisely to achieve high-resolution results at a record-breaking speed.

Photoactive Molecules Harden the Resin

3D-printing is not all about mechanics - chemists had a crucial role to play in this project too. "The resin contains molecules, which are activated by the laser light. They induce a chain reaction in other components of the resin, so-called monomers, and turn them into a solid", says Jan Torgersen. These initiator molecules are only activated if they absorb two photons of the laser beam at once - and this only happens in the very center of the laser beam, where the intensity is highest. In contrast to conventional 3D-printing techniques, solid material can be created anywhere within the liquid resin rather than on top of the previously created layer only. Therefore, the working surface does not have to be specially prepared before the next layer can be produced (see Video), which saves a lot of time. A team of chemists led by Professor Robert Liska (TU Vienna) developed the suitable initiators for this special resin.

Researchers all over the world are working on 3D printers today - at universities as well as in industry. "Our competitive edge here at the Vienna University of Technology comes from the fact that we have experts from very different fields, working on different parts of the problem, at one single university", Juergen Stampfl emphasizes. In materials science, process engineering or the optimization of light sources, there are experts working together and coming up with mutually stimulating ideas.

Because of the dramatically increased speed, much larger objects can now be created in a given period of time. This makes two-photon-lithography an interesting technique for industry. At the TU Vienna, scientists are now developing bio-compatible resins for medical applications. They can be used to create scaffolds to which living cells can attach themselves facilitating the systematic creation of biological tissues. The 3d printer could also be used to create tailor made construction parts for biomedical technology or nanotechnology.

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3D-Printer with Nano-Precision (with video)

Gala dedicated to raising funds for medical scholarships

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Gala dedicated to raising funds for medical scholarships

UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and the Foundation of UMDNJ will host their annual Student Scholarship Gala, welcoming alumni and friends to celebrate and raise funds in support of medical education, at 6:30 p.m. on April 21 at The Heldrich in New Brunswick.

Last years inaugural gala raised more than $205,000 in support of Robert Wood Johnson Medical School students.

The scholarship gala will bring together alumni, faculty and friends of the medical school, to support our medical students who are being challenged by increasing tuition rates, said Dr. Peter S. Amenta, dean of Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

Three individuals will be honored for their dedication to promoting medical and scientific education, research, philanthropy, care and community health.

HarveyA. Holzberg, president emeritus at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital

(RWJUH), will receive the Meritorious Service Award for his leadership and dedication to improving health care in New Jersey. As a leader in health care administration, and president and CEO of RWJUH for 15 years, Holzbergs work laid the foundation for todays medical center.

Dr. Donald Rose, class of 1980, clinical associate professor of orthopedic surgery, New York University School of Medicine, founding director, Harkness Center for Dance Injuries at the NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases, will receive the DistinguishedAlumniAward for his accomplishments in sports and dance medicine, as well as arthroscopic surgery. He is a nationally and internationally recognized specialist in the field of dance injuries, having founded the world-famous Harkness Center.

Dr. Stephen F. Lowry, former professor and chair, Department of Surgery, and senior associate dean for education at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, will receive the Honorary Alumni Award posthumously, for his work in advancing medical research and mentoring. Lowry, who passed away in June 2011, epitomized the academic physician scientist. His research accomplishments were rivaled only by his ability to develop and mentor other physicians and scientists.

In an age of increasing tuition costs in medical schools across the country, it is more important now than ever to support physicians of the future, said Dr. George F. Heinrich, vice chairman and CEO of the Foundation of UMDNJ. This gala will provide us with a wonderful opportunity to show these future doctors that we encourage their efforts as they work toward realizing their own dreams of helping those in need.

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Gala dedicated to raising funds for medical scholarships

Med School rankings rise in primary care, fall in research

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The Alpert Medical School slid six spots in research, but moved up four spots in primary care in the annual U.S. News and World Report rankings of the nations top graduate schools released Tuesday. The report released rankings for graduate programs in computer science, engineering, humanities, medical education and the sciences.

Medical schools are ranked in two main categories expertise in primary care for patients and research. In an improvement from last year, the Med School moved from 28th to 24th in primary care. The Med School was ranked 35th in research, a drop from its ranking of 29th place last year. Under the research category, the Med School was ranked 9th in the alcohol and drug abuse research category.

Med School administrators pay some attention to the rankings, said Ed Wing, dean of medicine and biological sciences, but he added that the Med School is not driven by them. We want to pick the best students, and we dont just go by the numbers, Wing said.

The Med School works on criteria that factor into ranking decisions such as attracting high-profile faculty, seeking federal funding in research and accepting students with high Medical College Admission Test scores, Wing said, but he added we dont go overboard with it.

The U.S. News rankings place a great emphasis on a universitys financial resources, resulting in higher rankings for colleges with larger endowments like Harvard, according to Wing. But he added that the Med School has made progress in recent years when compared to larger institutions.

Were still a new medical school and still growing our research profile, Wing said, adding that the University actually outranks Harvard in terms of funding from the National Institutes of Health per faculty member. The administration is focused on attracting the best faculty members available while pushing for greater federal funding for research, Wing said.

Wing pointed to the annual variability of the rankings as proof of their role as only a rough indication of a universitys strength.

Sometimes its hard to figure out why theres variability, Wing said. Its been very widely criticized by deans of medical schools.

The report also ranked many of the Universitys other graduate programs highly, including ranking computer science 20th, economics 19th, English 13th, history 17th, math 14th and engineering 46th, one lower than its ranking of 45th last year. In certain sub-fields, the University scored high rankings, including a score of 5th in applied math.

The University does not consider improvement in rankings an impetus for changes at the grad school, wrote Peter Weber, dean of the graduate school, in an email to The Herald. He called the rankings one of many tools available to prospective students, but wrote students should focus on the individual training environments at respective schools. Weber highlighted the graduate schools close mentoring of students and described the open curriculum as key to the Universitys success. Brown has a collaborative, flexible environment with strong support and training for graduate students, Weber wrote.

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Med School rankings rise in primary care, fall in research

LSU, Tulane medical school seniors learning residency destinations

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Surrounded by relatives and friends, seniors at LSU 's and Tulane 's medical schools Friday will learn where they'll go for postgraduate training. On Friday, which is known asMatch Day in medical-school circles, LSU seniors and their entourages will gather at the Sugar Mill, 1021 Convention Center Blvd., and the Tulane contingent will be at the River City Ball Room at Mardi Gras World, 1380 Port of New Orleans Place.

Each ceremony will start at 11 a.m., the moment when medical-school seniors across the country will rip open white envelopes containing information that could chart the course for the rest of their lives.

The life-shaping aspect comes from this fact: Studies have shown that most doctors wind up putting down roots where they do their residencies.

Because of that factor, the numbers from LSU are regarded as indicators of the state's future supply of physicians becauseLSU's medical schools in New Orleans and Shreveportaccept only Louisiana residents. Of the 178seniorsin last year's match at LSU's New Orleans campus, 104 -- 58.4 percent -- landed Louisiana residencies, as did 60 of the 108 Shreveport seniors, or 55.6 percent.

Tulane does not have a residency requirement. Last year, nearly one-fouth of its medical graduates -- 44 out of 178 -- stayed in Louisiana.

This year, there will be 177 Tulane students in the match, 171 from LSU's medical school in New Orleans and 109 from LSU's medical campus in Shreveport.

Match Day got its name because it is the culmination of a computer-driven matchmaking process. After medical-school seniors interview at hospitals where they would like to go, they and the people with whom they speak rate each other. The information is fed into a computer, which produces the resultsthat go into the envelopes.

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LSU, Tulane medical school seniors learning residency destinations

Tiger Woods Faces Tough Task with Achilles’ Injury: Fan Take

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The Achilles' tendon is so named after the Greek legend of Achilles. When he was blessed with immortality upon being dipped into the river Styx, Achilles' one weak spot was on his heel. His mother, the goddess Thetis, had to hold on to her son in some fashion.

Now Tiger Woods's Achilles' heel is literally his Achilles' heel. He withdrew from the Cadillac Championship during the final round March 11. Golf Digest reports unlike other times in his career, Woods withdrew instead of playing through the pain. His victory at the 2008 U.S. Open was legendary in that his leg was broken in not one but two places.

Age has final worn down the Tiger. He's in his mid-30s, hardly a spring chicken anymore. Even though he plays golf as opposed to football, decades of practicing the same sport over and over take its toll eventually.

Even though golf involves swinging with the arms, an Achilles' tendon is vital to mobility no matter what you do in everyday life. Walking is impossible without that tendon. WebMD states the Achilles' tendon connects your calf muscle to the heel bone. Even swelling of the tendon can make walking difficult. PGA Tour pros are not allowed to use golf carts and must walk the 7,500 yards per day. Adding practice rounds earlier in the week and the miles literally add up.

Considering there are 1,760 yards in a mile, a golfer can walk a mile in five holes. At 7,500 yards per round, a PGA pro walks over four miles per round. If you practice a round per day on Tuesday and Wednesday, golfers walk a minimum of 16 miles if they don't make the cut. That's a lot of traction on an Achilles' tendon.

Woods became single-minded in his practice habits as he conquered golf. The strain and wear on his body has made recovering from his previous surgeries more problematic. The die-hard and everyday practice regarding golf has given Woods something that may be akin to a permanent pain in his leg.

All of the earlier glory in his career is finally showing. Even though he's just 36, just like any other elite athlete the body wears out. If Woods can't come back from this latest injury, his PGA days may be done.

William Browning has covered sports for the Yahoo! Contributor Network including golf and local golf courses in southwest Missouri. He currently resides in Branson, Mo.

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Tiger Woods Faces Tough Task with Achilles’ Injury: Fan Take

Michael Young claims immortality, but hasn’t seen Chipper Jones lately

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Jones (left) sounds like a man ready to hang 'em up and go fishing. Young does not. (AP)

Five years must make a great amount of difference in a Major League Baseball career.

To read the post Tuesday about 35-year-old Michael Young in the Dallas Morning News, you'd swear he was giving reporter Evan Grant the lowdown on where theTexas Rangers kept the Fountain of Youth. It's somewhere in his locker. Young might just play forever, his "competitive drive" is so superior.

Conversely, to read the post about almost-40-year-old Chipper Jones in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, you'd swear reporter Dave O'Brien had just interviewed a thoroughbred race horse who broke his leg and was begging to be put down. Chipper is just so darned beaten up, heck, "tomorrow" might be his last day wearing an Atlanta Braves uniform.

First, Young:

"Father Time doesn't mean anything to me.People who lose their competitive edge or their drive, those are the ones when age starts creeping up. There are a lot of people who have beaten Father Time I feel like I'm competing with myself and my own expectations As far as age or anybody thinking about any magic numbers, that means nothing to me."

Nothing, huh? Jones, 0 for 8 so far this spring and troubled by a sore knee and legs, sounds like he's about to turn 80:

"Tomorrow might be my last day," he said "I don't know. I don't really focus on it that much. The body is starting to tell me every morning when I wake up that it's getting close. I'm signed through the end of this year. If I play in a certain amount of games, I got an option for next year. I don't know what next year entails.

"I don't know if I can make it through this year."

All right, that's enough. In their own way, each of these guy is full of baloney. Enough with the lionizing of Michael Young, who is such a hard worker (and weaker players aren't) that the law of physics don't apply to him. OK, Mike. We all get older, as Larry Wayne Jones will tell you. And tell you. And tell you.

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Michael Young claims immortality, but hasn’t seen Chipper Jones lately

Sperm Goes Limp With Fatty Foods While Fish Perks Them Up

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By Ryan Flinn - Wed Mar 14 00:01:00 GMT 2012

Mike Peres RBP SPAS Custom Medical Stock/Newscom

Human sperm under microscope.

Human sperm under microscope. Photographer: Mike Peres RBP SPAS Custom Medical Stock/Newscom

Men who eat fatty foods may be harming their chances for fatherhood, researchers say.

Sperm samples from almost 100 men on a range of diets showed those with the highest total of saturated fat intake had lower semen counts and concentrations, according to the study published today by the journal Human Reproduction. Men who ate more omega-3 fatty acids, found in some fish and flax, had a larger amount of normal-shaped sperm, scientists said.

Infertility affects about 15 percent of couples, with mens health linked to the issue 40 percent to 60 percent of the time, researchers said. While an earlier study showed an association between obesity and fewer healthier sperm, todays analysis looked at types of fats consumed among overweight individuals, said Jill Attaman, lead author.

This is the first study to demonstrate such an association, Attaman, an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Dartmouth Medical School in Hanover, New Hampshire, said in an interview.

The study examined sperm samples and food surveys from 99 men, 71 percent of whom were obese or overweight, taken from 2006 to 2010 at Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center in Boston. Participants were asked how often in the past year they ate specific foods. Men in the top third of fat consumption had 43 percent fewer sperm and 38 percent lower sperm concentration than those in the lowest fat intake group.

A reduced sperm count and concentration can decrease the odds of fertilizing an egg, according to the Mayo Clinic. Having normal-shaped sperm, or morphology, is also important.

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Sperm Goes Limp With Fatty Foods While Fish Perks Them Up