Monthly Archives: March 2012

Philip Morris International, IBM Launch Industry-Focused Systems Biology Verification Challenge

Posted on by

By Bernadette Toner

Tobacco giant Philip Morris International is partnering with IBM in an effort to advance the industrial applications of systems biology and computational modeling.

The initiative, called Industrial Methodology for Process Verification in Research, or IMPROVER, kicked off this week with the Diagnostic Signature Challenge the first of several challenges planned over the next four years.

IMPROVER builds upon similar challenge initiatives in the academic world such as the IBM-led DREAM (Dialogue on Reverse Engineering Assessment and Methods) project and the CASP (Critical Assessment of Protein Structure Prediction) initiative but is intended to focus on the verification of processes that would be of use in the industrial setting, according to the project organizers.

Hugh Browne, R&D scientific spokesperson for PMI, told BioInform that the effort grew out of the company's internal systems biology research, which is directed toward the aim of developing new tobacco products that are "less risky" than those it markets today.

PMI views systems biology and computational modeling as a promising method for predicting the health risks of these products as a complement to clinical studies, but the company's scientists have been frustrated that there is currently no "standard method of verifying their conclusions," Browne said.

As a result, he said the company began working with IBM in 2009 with the aim of organizing something along the lines of DREAM, but targeted specifically toward the needs of industry.

Browne noted that systems biology approaches have applications in a range of industrial fields, including biopharmaceuticals, nutrition, environmental safety, and consumer product development. As such, he believes that any effort to help companies assess their methods would be of great interest in the commercial world, since such tools have been lacking to date.

"Although industry shares many of the same needs for validation as academia, a methodology for verifying research is needed in the industrial setting that recognizes both speed and protection of proprietary data constraints, as well as the importance of market considerations and consumer protection," researchers from PMI, IBM, and elsewhere noted in a paper describing their vision for IMPROVER, which was published in Nature Biotechnology last September.

Browne explained that IMPROVER participants will not be required to disclose the fine details of their methods if they fear that it will compromise their intellectual property position. "We want to attract the broadest possible community," including commercial firms who may consider one another to be competitors, he said. "IP is important, so if participants feel they need to protect that, then they should do that."

Read the original here:
Philip Morris International, IBM Launch Industry-Focused Systems Biology Verification Challenge

Kony 2012: The Anatomy Of A Viral Success

Posted on by

Funny thing about the internet: you cant smell anything on it, but certain stories sure can cause a stink.

Two days ago, we told you about the meteoric rise of the latest viral video, Kony 2012, that didnt make the rounds on the internet so much as it grabbed the internet by the eyeballs and forced everybody to look directly at it. In the four days since it was uploaded to YouTube, the video has amassed nearly 58 million views while viral news of it has no doubt permeated your Facebook and Twitter feeds.

The video, in the impossible case it that hasnt yet osmosis-ed itself into your brain from at least one kind of media outlet, was created and released by Invisible Children, an organization thats been trying for years to draw worldwide attention toward Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony and his Lords Resistance Army. The Lords Resistance army is a special breed of awful because, aside from being Konys personal army, its made up of kidnapped children-turned-soldiers responsible for horrors ranging from hacking apart victims bodies to using abducted girls as sex slaves.

At any rate, you can see how theres high emotional appeal that would likely resonate with most people containing even a sliver of sympathy. More, as with all things that finally have A Moment in the media, there is now the inevitable backlash against Kony 2012 criticizing Invisible Childrens approach.

So it goes.

Whats odd about Kony 2012s success, though, isnt that it went viral so quickly but rather why it went viral in the first place. Invisible Children has been trying to raise awareness about Kony since 2004 when the eponymous Invisible Children film was released, the groups first attempt to bring attention to Konys atrocities. Invisible Children have released 11 films in all yet this is the first one to truly achieve a viral, nigh-zeitgeist status. In fact, its taken Invisible Children so long to finally land a hit with their films that Joseph Kony isnt even in Uganda anymore (he reportedly left in 2006).

Some of the success has been attributed to Invisible Childrens goal of enlisting the help of culturemakers. Others have asserted that Kony 2012 succeeded due to clever marketing on social media. Both of these belie Invisible Childrens previous efforts by assuming such endorsements and technologies werent used to propel their videos into the limelight. For one, Lady Gaga endorses a ton of things but not nearly all of them catch on the way Kony 2012 has. She and others have got a magic, but its far from being a true Midas touch.

The most salient difference between Kony 2012s world and the world of Invisible Childrens previous videos, I believe, is something far more simple: timing. The towering success of the anti-SOPA movement, Planned Parenthood supporters organizing to turn back Susan G. Komens decision to de-fund the organization, or even the recent backlast that has sent supporters fleeing from Rush Limbaugh due to his misogynistic remarks about Sandra Fluke all have helped build and fortify the edifice of social medias power. It could be argued that Kony 2012 was a beneficiary of those previous campaigns that, one, established the social media political infrastructure, and two, demonstrated that it works.

As these movements cycle more regularly and enjoy an ever-quickening ascent-descent with the worlds favor, though, do we run the risk of diminishing the potency of the viral campaign-as-political device the more these campaigns happen? Im in no way saying that itll be Invisible Childrens fault were viral campaigns to falter in the future whatever your feelings about the groups methods, good on IC for finally getting the world to pay attention to how horrible Kony is but rather highlighting the fact that these viral campaigns seem to be happening an awful lot lately.

Indeed, you can have too much of a good thing and so I fear that, after eventually growing tired of the endless parade of Next Big Things from the internet, instead of catching wind of political campaigns that really deserve our attention, the public will begin to simply hold their breath until the trend passes along and disappears into the trunks of internet fads.

Go here to see the original:
Kony 2012: The Anatomy Of A Viral Success

Anatomy of an upset

Posted on by

Friday, March 9, 2012 10:34 PM EST

By Evan Macy Staff Writer

HARTFORD The New Britain boys basketball team pulled off an upset for the ages Thursday night in Hartford, coming from behind repeatedly in a magical 66-61 overtime win over Hartford Public.

The Owls were unbeaten in regular season play. They were taller, more accomplished and held home court advantage.

So how exactly did the Hurricanes pull off the victory, advancing to face Fairfield Prep Monday in the quarterfinals?

Emotions in check

There is no denying New Britain is a team that plays with emotion. The key Thursday was not letting those it the better of them.

We had to stay composed, Stigliano said. Weve been talking about it all the time. I told them the team we played on Tuesday [Danbury] is much different than this team. This team is disciplined; they work hard and have a great coaching staff. Theyre going to come at us and they arent going to roll over and die. We need to make sure that if they make a run we stay composed. Its a long game, our back was against the wall and we just found a way to do it.

There were several points in the game where New Britain could have faltered, but they were able to keep it all business while on the hardwood.

Weve been preaching it, the coach said. The tournament is all about emotion. The environment is hostile. The team that stays composed the longest wins the game. The only way you can make a big play is if your mind is in the right place. As a coach, you try to teach it but you have to let them do it, and they did it. I give them all the credit in the world. They deserved it.

Follow this link:
Anatomy of an upset

Kony 2012: The anatomy of a viral campaign

Posted on by

A particularly savvy media campaign by a nonprofit group called Invisible Children has pushed a debate about Uganda and rebel leader Joseph Kony into a very bright spotlight.

Without getting into the arguments about the political motivations of the nonprofit and the consequences of its campaign check out coverage from The Washington Posts Elizabeth Flock for more information on the situation and its history its astonishing that the groups members have been able to draw this much attention now to a conflict thats been going on since the 1980s.

So how did they do it?

The group launched a campaign called Kony 2012, an effort to raise awareness about Kony and the small force the Obama administration sent to Uganda in October with the intent of killing or capturing him and combating his Lords Resistance Army (LRA).

To get the campaign off the ground quickly, the group had users send messages to 20 culturemakers and 12 policymakers with influential Twitter accounts urging them to support the effort. The list included names such as U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and former President George W. Bush, as well as celebrities such as Angelina Jolie, George Clooney, Mark Zuckerberg and Lady Gaga.

The message that users could send to those people included a hashtag, #Kony2012, that gave the Twitter community something to galvanize around. It read: Help us end #LRA violence. Visit kony2012.com to find out why and how. @rickwarren Join us for #KONY2012

The group also made a well-produced short film that encouraged people to use social media to raise awareness about the movement, which spread quickly over Vimeo and YouTube, where it has garnered more than 57 million views.

The video boils down this complicated issue into a simple one, with a compelling narrative that tugs on the heartstrings and prompts outrage. And it gives users an easy way to take action: Share the video, share the story and dont stop speaking up until they get the result they want.

The group was also able to tap into an already strong social media presence on Facebook and other sites to get the message out in a big, noticeable burst.

And it certainly has worked. The hashtags #stopkony and #kony2012 have been on the list of trending topics worldwide on Twitter ever since launched its campaign Tuesday. Its been a fixture on Googles list of trending topics, and even the debate over the groups methods and message have kept its message afloat.

Continue reading here:
Kony 2012: The anatomy of a viral campaign

Gut Microbes May Drive Evolution

Posted on by

WE ARE ONE: Biologists say common gut microbes such as Bacteroides fragilis may be as important as our genes. Image: Photo Researchers, Inc.

The human body harbors at least 10 times more bacterial cells than human cells. Collectively known as the microbiome, this community may play a role in regulating one's risk of obesity, asthma and allergies. Now some researchers are wondering if the microbiome may have a part in an even more crucial process: mate selection and, ultimately, evolution.

The best evidence that the microbiome may play this critical role comes from studies of insects. A 2010 experiment led by Eugene Rosenberg of Tel Aviv University found that raising Drosophila pseudoobscura fruit flies on different diets altered their mate selection: the flies would mate only with other flies on the same diet. A dose of antibiotics abolished these preferencesthe flies went back to mating without regard to dietsuggesting that it was changes in gut microbes brought about by diet, and not diet alone, that drove the change.

To determine whether gut microbes could affect an organism's longevity and its ability to reproduce, Vanderbilt University geneticist Seth Bordenstein and his colleagues dosed the termites Zootermopsis angusticollis and Reticulitermes flavipes with the antibiotic rifampicin. The study, published in July 2011 in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, found that antibiotic-treated termites showed a reduced diversity in their gut bacteria after treatment and also produced significantly fewer eggs. Bordenstein argues that the reduction of certain beneficial microbes, some of which aid in digestion and in the absorption of nutrients, left the termites malnourished and less able to produce eggs.

These studies are part of a growing consensus among evolutionary biologists that one can no longer separate an organism's genes from those of its symbiotic bacteria. They are all part of a single "hologenome."

"There's been a long history of separating microbiology from botany and zoology, but all animals and plants have millions or billions of microorganisms associated with them," Rosenberg says. "You have to look at the hologenome to understand an animal or plant." In other words, the forces of natural selection place pressure on a plant or animal and its full array of microbes. Lending support to that idea, Bordenstein showed the closer the evolutionary distance among certain species of wasps, the greater the similarities in their microflora.

Researchers believe that the microbiome is essential to human evolution as well. "Given the importance of the microbiome in human adaptations such as digestion, smell and the immune system, it would appear very likely that the human microbiome has had an effect on speciation," Bordenstein says. "Arguably, the microbiota are as important as genes."

This article was published in print as "Backseat Drivers."

Read more:
Gut Microbes May Drive Evolution

Genetic Engineering – Seven Wonders of the Microbe World (6/7) – Video

Posted on by

29-11-2011 10:08 Free learning from The Open University http://www.open.edu --- This video explores the ways in which humans are learning to exploit microbes to produce medicines, fuel and food. (Part 6 of 7) Playlist link - http://www.youtube.com --- Study 'Biology' at the Open University: www3.open.ac.uk

Follow this link:
Genetic Engineering - Seven Wonders of the Microbe World (6/7) - Video

Gene sequencing falls to $5,000

Posted on by

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIF. In Silicon Valley, the line between computing and biology has begun to blur in a way that could have enormous consequences for human longevity.

Bill Banyai, an optical physicist at Complete Genomics, has helped make that happen. When he began developing a gene sequencing machine, he relied heavily on his background at two computer networking startup companies. His digital expertise was essential in designing a factory that automated and greatly lowered the cost of mapping the three billion base pairs that form the human genome.

The promise is that low-cost gene sequencing will lead to a new era of personalized medicine, yielding new approaches for treating cancers and other serious diseases. The arrival of such cures has been glacial, however, although the human genome was originally sequenced more than a decade ago.

Now that is changing, in large part because of the same semiconductor industry manufacturing trends that opened up consumer devices such as the PC and the smartphone: exponential increases in processing power and transistor density are accompanied by costs that fall at an accelerating rate.

As a result, both new understanding and new medicines will arrive at a quickening pace, according to the biologists and computer scientists.

For all of human history, humans have not had the readout of the software that makes them alive, said Larry Smarr, director of the California Institute of Telecommunications and Information Technology, a research centre that is jointly operated by the University of California, San Diego, and the University of California, Irvine.

Once you make the transition from a data poor to data rich environment, everything changes, said Smarr, who is a member of the Complete Genomics scientific advisory board.

Complete Genomics, based in Mountain View, is one of more than three dozen firms hastening to push the cost of sequencing an entire human genome below $1,000. The challenge is part biology, part chemistry, part computing, and in Complete Genomics case, part computer networking.

Complete Genomics is a classic Silicon Valley startup story. Even the gene sequencing machines, which are housed in a 4,000-square-foot room bathed in an eerie blue light, appear more like a traditional data centre than a biology lab.

In 2005, when Clifford Reid, a successful Silicon Valley software entrepreneur, began to assemble his team, he approached Banyai and asked if he was interested in joining a gene sequencing startup. Reid, who was also trained in physics and math, had spent a year as an entrepreneur-in-residence at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he had become a convert to bioinformatics, the application of computer science and information technologies to biology and medicine.

See the article here:
Gene sequencing falls to $5,000

Team chemistry keys Lions' turnaround

Posted on by

By MIKE CAMUNAS | Special correspondent Published: March 10, 2012 Updated: March 10, 2012 - 12:00 AM

First-year Saint Leo men's basketball coach Lance Randall's one-year plan didn't go exactly according to plan.

"Our plan was to win right away with no short cuts, but whether or not the one-year plan translated into (going to the NCAA Tournament), we're not sure, but we're here and we couldn't be happier," Randall said in a phone interview from Huntsville, Ala.

The Lions (18-11) are happy as they prepare for the program's first NCAA Division II Tournament berth in the team's 40-plus-year history. One of only eight teams selected, No. 5 Saint Leo will face No. 4-seeded Florida Tech (22-6) tonight at approximately 9:30 in Spragins Hall at the University of Alabama-Huntsville and marks a remarkable turnaround season from 12-16 that had only two conference wins.

This season is the Lions best since 1997-98 when they finished 19-9.

"I think we've been more concerned with the process than the product," said Randall, who, as the program's 10th head coach, also helped guide Wisconsin-Stevens Point to the 2010 NCAA Division III National Championship. "When we sat down with these recruits, we told them that we're an intense staff that will demand a lot on and off the court and to be expected to be pushed. Everyone bought in and learned what it would take to win.

"The chemistry off our players has been the key."

While junior guard Trent Thomas has been averaging 14.9 points per game, Randall points to Marcus Ruh (13.4 ppg), Shaun Adams (9.1 ppg, 5.4 rpg) and Dominick Robinson (8.1 ppg) being vital to a team that returned just three players from last season.

"We needed some locker-room kids," said Randall, a Wisconsin native who has brought success to every level he's coach, including high-school state titles and taking a 2-23 Webster University team in 1997 and turning it into conference champions and NCAA contenders. "We wanted character kids, which we got, and why we got better in season."

As is, that one-year plan was in jeopardy, as the Lions started the season 2-3, then had a three-game losing streak in late January. Following that, Saint Leo got scorching hot, winning 10 of its last 11 games, including nine in a row before losing in the SSC championship game to Florida Southern, a No. 7 seed.

See the original post here:
Team chemistry keys Lions' turnaround

Anatomy of an upset

Posted on by

Friday, March 9, 2012 10:34 PM EST

By Evan Macy Staff Writer

HARTFORD The New Britain boys basketball team pulled off an upset for the ages Thursday night in Hartford, coming from behind repeatedly in a magical 66-61 overtime win over Hartford Public.

The Owls were unbeaten in regular season play. They were taller, more accomplished and held home court advantage.

So how exactly did the Hurricanes pull off the victory, advancing to face Fairfield Prep Monday in the quarterfinals?

Emotions in check

There is no denying New Britain is a team that plays with emotion. The key Thursday was not letting those it the better of them.

We had to stay composed, Stigliano said. Weve been talking about it all the time. I told them the team we played on Tuesday [Danbury] is much different than this team. This team is disciplined; they work hard and have a great coaching staff. Theyre going to come at us and they arent going to roll over and die. We need to make sure that if they make a run we stay composed. Its a long game, our back was against the wall and we just found a way to do it.

There were several points in the game where New Britain could have faltered, but they were able to keep it all business while on the hardwood.

Weve been preaching it, the coach said. The tournament is all about emotion. The environment is hostile. The team that stays composed the longest wins the game. The only way you can make a big play is if your mind is in the right place. As a coach, you try to teach it but you have to let them do it, and they did it. I give them all the credit in the world. They deserved it.

Go here to read the rest:
Anatomy of an upset

Meet Your Merchant: The Gelbers' cutting edge practice gives a facelift to Incline

Posted on by

INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. Aging is a natural, necessary part of life. Over time, your body begins to illustrate the bends, twists and turns your life has taken. Wrinkles and sun spots reflect damage from days spent under the intense glow of harmful ultraviolet rays. Joint and muscle pains may indicate too little or even too much exercise over a lifespan. Skin sags in places you wish it wouldn't, fat cells accumulate in unflattering proportions, and hormone imbalances only expedite the aging process.

But what if you could rehabilitate a torn meniscus without surgery and a long recovery process? What if you could lose weight quickly without going under the knife? What if you could look 10 years younger without the painful aid of a face lift?

Dr. Rebecca Gelber is proving that you can.

As founder of Tahoe Medical Spa in Incline Village, Gelber's mission is to bring minimally invasive anti-aging therapies to the aesthetic medical field through innovative treatments and technologies. At her boutique-like practice, which she co-owns with her husband Michael, Gelber offers an abundance of non-invasive services like dermal fillers, vein sclerotherapy and weight loss plans.

It sounds vain; however, Gelber is anything but.

In fact, until opening the medical spa nearly two years ago, Gelber had dedicated her life's work to emergency response medicine. After graduating from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1993, Gelber completed her residency at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center where she met the love of her life, Michael.

When I started looking for a job with a university, Michael said to me, I'll follow you any place in world as long as it's in California and not within 3 hours of Los Angeles,' Gelber said, turning to her husband with a grin stretched across her angelic face.

Without hesitation, Gelber followed her heart's desire to Northern California where she worked as an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of California Davis Medical Center for eight years before relocating to Tahoe in 2000.

With a passion still burning for emergency medicine, Gelber went to work in the ER unit at Renown Medical Center and also taught classes at UNR, but the chaos and hardships of emergency response began to take their toll on Gelber's graceful spirit.

I really did enjoy emergency medicine, but after a long period of time, you start to want to develop relationships with your patients that are ongoing you really want to help people be well, and what you're seeing in emergency medicine is the end result of people who haven't been able to take care of themselves, Gelber said.

Read this article:
Meet Your Merchant: The Gelbers' cutting edge practice gives a facelift to Incline

Global Biochips Market to Reach US$4.6 Billion by 2017, According to New Report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

Posted on by

GIA announces the release of a comprehensive global report on Biochips markets. Global market for Biochips is projected to reach US$4.6 billion by the year 2017. A promising market on the growth curve, Biochips are opening up new avenues for research and science, owing to the trend towards miniaturisation, parallelisation and the high alacrity of analysis. Besides genome analysis, Biochips are increasingly finding use in areas such as protein, diagnostics, toxicological, and biochemical research applications.

San Jose, CA (PRWEB) March 09, 2012

As stated by the new market research report on Biochips, the US continues to remain the largest regional market, with its technological superiority. Segment-wise, DNA Chips constitute the largest market. Despite plummeting market share, the segment is likely to continue its dominance in the biochip products market through 2017. Global Protein Biochips market is set for robust growth driven by anticipated rise in demand from proteomics and gene expression profiling applications. Gene expression profiling is expected to continue as the leading application area for biochips, while pharmacogenomics is expected to register robust growth.

Major players in the marketplace include Affymetrix Inc., Agilent Technologies., Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc., Caliper Life Sciences Inc., Cepheid Inc., Fluidigm Corporation, GE Healthcare Ltd., Illumina, Inc., and Life Technologies Corporation, among others.

The research report titled "Biochips: A Global Strategic Business Report" announced by Global Industry Analysts, Inc., provides a comprehensive review of trends, issues, strategic industry activities, and profiles of major companies worldwide. The report provides market estimates and projections (US$ Million) for the years 2009 through 2017 across global and regional markets for product segments including DNA Chips, Protein Chips, and Lab Chips. Geographic markets analyzed include the US, Canada, Japan, Europe, and Rest of World.

For more details about this comprehensive market research report, please visit

http://www.strategyr.com/Biochips_Market_Report.asp

About Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

Global Industry Analysts, Inc., (GIA) is a leading publisher of off-the-shelf market research. Founded in 1987, the company currently employs over 800 people worldwide. Annually, GIA publishes more than 1300 full-scale research reports and analyzes 40,000+ market and technology trends while monitoring more than 126,000 Companies worldwide. Serving over 9500 clients in 27 countries, GIA is recognized today, as one of the world's largest and reputed market research firms.

Follow us on LinkedIn

Read the original here:
Global Biochips Market to Reach US$4.6 Billion by 2017, According to New Report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

Bio-marker predicts rate of mental decline in Alzheimer's patients

Posted on by

A new marker of Alzheimer's disease can predict how rapidly a patient's memory and other mental abilities will decline after the disorder is diagnosed, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Just released in Neurology were the results of a three-year long study that followed 60 patients with early Alzheimer's disease. The study found that rapid mental decline was predicted by the presence of larger levels of visinin-like protein 1 (VILIP-1) in the spinal fluid.

Part of the devastating effects of Alzheimer's disease is not knowing how rapidly or slowly the mental changes, memory loss, and eventually loss of personal identity will progress in your family member. Will you be able to celebrate your 50th wedding anniversary, or will it simply be a reminder of how much your and your spouse have lost? The general prognosis is known, but the rate at which the disease progresses varies widely from patient to patient, leaving both patient and caregivers in a sea of uncertainty.

In this study, patients with very mild or mild Alzheimer's disease were identified using an extensive battery of tests to assess their cognitive function. The researchers then measured VILIP-1 levels in the patient's spinal fluid. Cognitive testing was repeated yearly to provide data on rates of cognitive decay.

Two additional indicators were examined for predictive accuracy in the same study, the proteins amyloid beta and tau. They appear to reflect different aspects of the disease's progress. Changes in the amyloid beta and tau levels are associated with the formation of abnormal deposits of these proteins in the brain. VILIP-1 levels appear to reflect how much brain cell damage has actually occurred as the result of Alzheimer's.

In an earlier study, members of this research team showed that healthy subjects with high levels of VILIP-1 were more likely to develop cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease over a two- to three-year follow-up period. The predictive ability of measuring VILIP-1 levels thus appears to extend to healthy or presymptomatic individuals, as well as those who present with early Alzheimer's.

"Memory and other mental abilities declined faster in patients with the highest levels of VILIP-1," according to lead author Rawan Tarawneh, MD, now an assistant professor of neurology at the University of Jordan. "VILIP-1 appears to be a strong indicator of ongoing injury to brain cells as a result of Alzheimer's disease ... VILIP-1 seems to be at least as good as - and potentially even better than - the other prognostic indicators we used in the study. That could be very useful in predicting the course of the disease and in evaluating new treatments in clinical trials."

Washington University in St. Louis

View original post here:
Bio-marker predicts rate of mental decline in Alzheimer's patients

Nanowire Forest Splits Water with Sunlight

Posted on by

Nanotechnology has a checkered past in improving fuel cell technology. I have cataloged some of the missteps previously. At the time, the areas in which researchers were attempting to apply nanotechnology to fuel cellsnamely improved catalysts and hydrogen storagedidnt address the real problems that have prevented fuel cells from receiving wider adoption.

One of the fundamental problems with fuel cells has been the cost of producing hydrogen. While hydrogen is, of course, the most abundant element, it attaches itself to other elements like nitrogen or fluorine, and perhaps most ubiquitously to oxygen to create the water molecule. The process used to separate hydrogen out into hydrogen gas for powering fuel cells now relies on electricity produced from fossil fuels, negating some of the potential environmental benefits. So in the last few years, a new line of research has emerged that uses nanomaterials to imitate photosynthesis and break water down into hydrogen and oxygen thereby creating a more cost-effective and environmentally-friendly method for producing hydrogen.

Angela Belcher at MIT reported on just such a method two years ago when she used man-made viruses to serve as a scaffold to attract molecules of the catalyst iridium oxide and a biological pigment (zinc porphyrins). Once these two molecules attached themselves to the scaffold, the viruses would become wire-like, which enabled them to split the water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen because of the precise spacing in the wire.

Now researchers at University of California, San Diego have developed a quite different approach to mimicking photosynthesis for splitting water molecules by using a 3D branched nanowire array that looks like a forest of trees.

According to Deli Wang, professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering, this tree-like structure enables both trees and the nanowire arrays to capture the maximum amount of solar energy. To illustrate what he means, Wang points to satellite imagery in which flat surfaces like oceans or deserts simply reflect the light back and forests remain dark because they are absorbing the light.

The nanowire forest that Wang and his colleagues have created uses the process of photoelectrochemical water-splitting to produce hydrogen gas. The method used by the researchers, which was published in the journal Nanoscale, found that the forest structure of the nanowires, which has a massive amount of surface area, not only captured more light than flat planar designs, but also produced more hydrogen gas.

With this structure, we have enhanced, by at least 400,000 times, the surface area for chemical reactions, said Ke Sun, a PhD student in electrical engineering who led the project.

While it appears from the press release that the researchers are more interested in pursuing the photosynthesis aspect of this research to expand its use into capturing carbon dioxide, it could be a cost-effective way for producing hydrogen gas.

Read the original:
Nanowire Forest Splits Water with Sunlight

Nanotube technology leading to fast, lower-cost medical diagnostics

Posted on by

The new findings have almost tripled the speed of prototype nano-biosensors, and should find applications not only in medicine but in toxicology, environmental monitoring, new drug development and other fields.

The research was just reported in Lab on a Chip, a professional journal. More refinements are necessary before the systems are ready for commercial production, scientists say, but they hold great potential.

With these types of sensors, it should be possible to do many medical lab tests in minutes, allowing the doctor to make a diagnosis during a single office visit, said Ethan Minot, an OSU assistant professor of physics. Many existing tests take days, cost quite a bit and require trained laboratory technicians.

This approach should accomplish the same thing with a hand-held sensor, and might cut the cost of an existing $50 lab test to about $1, he said.

The key to the new technology, the researchers say, is the unusual capability of carbon nanotubes. An outgrowth of nanotechnology, which deals with extraordinarily small particles near the molecular level, these nanotubes are long, hollow structures that have unique mechanical, optical and electronic properties, and are finding many applications.

In this case, carbon nanotubes can be used to detect a protein on the surface of a sensor. The nanotubes change their electrical resistance when a protein lands on them, and the extent of this change can be measured to determine the presence of a particular protein such as serum and ductal protein biomarkers that may be indicators of breast cancer.

The newest advance was the creation of a way to keep proteins from sticking to other surfaces, like fluid sticking to the wall of a pipe. By finding a way to essentially grease the pipe, OSU researchers were able to speed the sensing process by 2.5 times.

Further work is needed to improve the selective binding of proteins, the scientists said, before it is ready to develop into commercial biosensors.

Electronic detection of blood-borne biomarker proteins offers the exciting possibility of point-of-care medical diagnostics, the researchers wrote in their study. Ideally such electronic biosensor devices would be low-cost and would quantify multiple biomarkers within a few minutes.

This work was a collaboration of researchers in the OSU Department of Physics, Department of Chemistry, and the University of California at Santa Barbara. A co-author was Vincent Remcho, professor and interim dean of the OSU College of Science, and a national expert in new biosensing technology.

Link:
Nanotube technology leading to fast, lower-cost medical diagnostics

Shaker Heights University School enrichment program assists young surgeons

Posted on by

SHAKER HEIGHTS -- Students in University Schools Young Surgeons Club are getting the kind of experience some dont receive until medical school.

The Young Surgeons Club at University School Shaker Campus is an afterschool enrichment program started last year by middle school science teachers Dr. Roberta Brown and Kathy Osborne.

Osborne said when Brown came on board at University School, the teachers were required to find another dimension of teaching. While other teachers coached sports teams after school, Osborne and Brown honed in on a medicine course they could develop. Out of that idea came the Young Surgeons Club.

Club Activities

The club consists of 12 seventh and eighth grade boys who get to experience the ins and outs of the medical field. Recently, the group took a trip to MetroHealth and attended an emergency room simulation where they learned intubation and resuscitation.

The simulation lends them the opportunity to understand a more hands-on approach and what a medical staff needs in an emergency, Brown said. They can see a combination of how technology can be used in medical training. They can use their communication abilities so each person knows what his partner is doing together to help a patient.

Osborne said the group also got to conduct ultrasounds on each other, got to see the Metro Life Flight helicopter up close and met the medical crew and pilots during the visit.

They were trained how an intern or resident would be trained. They got to see the training dummy that breaths, has a pulse and bleeds. The doctors spent a lot of time with them, she said.

The group plans to take a trip to the Cleveland Clinic Beachwood Family and Health Center to take a tour of the surgical suite and learn how to scrub in for surgeries.

Brown said the students enthusiasm is infectious. Its very satisfying to see them get excited about learning about medicine, learning to use tools and dissections.

Read the original post:
Shaker Heights University School enrichment program assists young surgeons

Med school recognized for conflict-of-interest policies

Posted on by

SACRAMENTO The UC Davis School of Medicine ranks among the top medical schools on the 2012 American Medical Student Association (AMSA) PharmFree Scorecard, a national assessment of medical school policies governing how the pharmaceutical industry interacts with faculty and students.

UC Davis received an "A" rating on the scorecard, which it has received every year since AMSA established the scorecard in 2007. Of the 152 U.S. medical schools and colleges of osteopathic medicine included in the report, 28 received As (18 percent) 74 Bs (49 percent), 15 Cs (10 percent), and 13 Ds (9 percent) and 9 Fs (6 percent).

The AMSA PharmFree Scorecard uses letter grades to assess a school's performance in 11 potential areas of conflict, including gifts and meals from industry to doctor; paid promotional speaking for industry; acceptance of free drug samples; interaction with sales representatives and industry; and funded education. It offers a comprehensive look at the current and changing landscape of conflict-of-interest policies across American medical education, as well as more in-depth assessment of individual policies that govern industry interaction. The report included 98 percent of all eligible medical institutions in the United States.

UC Davis's policies scored highest in six specific domains AMSA assessed, including policies related to acceptance of gifts and meals from industry; limiting pharmaceutical samples accepted; individuals with financial conflicts participating in university purchasing decisions; financial support for attending industry-sponsored lectures and meetings (off-campus); industry support for scholarships and trainee funds; and inclusion of education about conflict of interest within the academic curriculum. The report also noted the presence of oversight and sanctions for noncompliance, although these factors were not included in the grade calculation.

Other schools receiving an A grade included UCLA, UC San Francisco, UC Irvine and UC San Diego, which adopted strong policies modeled after those first introduced at UC Davis, as well as the University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and the University of Pennsylvania.

According to AMSA, the PharmFree Scorecard reflects the growing public outcry over conflicts of interest, both real and perceived, that are occurring throughout the health-care industry. The organization notes the increasing concerns among the public, policymakers and medical professionals focused on the potential for these conflicts to influence medical care, with profit potentially taking precedence over the interests of patients. A major part of the national discussion aims to balance the benefits of industry partnerships with the risks of industry marketing adversely impacting medical care, clinical research and medical education.

The UC Davis School of Medicine is among the nation's leading medical schools, recognized for its research and primary-care programs. The school offers fully accredited master's degree programs in public health and in informatics, and its combined M.D.-Ph.D. program is training the next generation of physician-scientists to conduct high-impact research and translate discoveries into better clinical care. Along with being a recognized leader in medical research, the school is committed to serving underserved communities and advancing rural health. For more information, visit UC Davis School of Medicine at medschool.ucdavis.edu.

More:
Med school recognized for conflict-of-interest policies

Parents turn up the heat on UBC medical school for acceptance

Posted on by

VANCOUVER - Parents desperate to see their sons and daughters get a highly coveted seat at the University of B.C. medical school are trying everything, from calling their MLAs and the dean to waving around their chequebooks.

We do get a number of calls, requests and even offers to pull out chequebooks from people who say, What would it take to get [my kid] into this medical school? said Dr. Gavin Stuart, dean of the UBC medical school.

Although I am fairly shielded from the process, I do get sporadic calls from angry people yelling at me. Its a competitive process, a highly charged area, he added.

The school accepts 288 into its four- year, undergraduate medical degree program, but gets about 1,800 applications a year. Its considered to be in the top tier of Canadas 17 medical schools. The competition for spots is so overheated that, as an internal memo obtained by The Vancouver Sun attests, even prominent individuals are not above asking for special consideration.

The memo, sent nearly a year ago by former admissions director Denis Hughes to Dr. David Snadden, executive associate dean of education at the medical school, states:

Allowing submission of late documents has become a recurring theme this cycle. We have made more exceptions this cycle than in all three previous years combined. I find this troubling on many fronts.

The memo, which contains some blacked-out parts, mentions one case in which the applicants father contacted UBC to plead for late filing of documents due to circumstances beyond his daughters control. In that case, the father was a Victoria surgeon with an affiliation to UBC. His email message included his full signature clinical faculty, UBC and University of Victoria.

The memo states that the applicant was allowed to file late documents even though she was given six (automated) email reminders that her application would become ineligible if she missed the deadline.

Hughes, who left his position last summer, confirmed he wrote the memo. It ends with this statement:

It is in the best interest of the faculty of medicine to uphold a transparent and unbiased admissions process.

Go here to read the rest:
Parents turn up the heat on UBC medical school for acceptance

World's Oldest People

Posted on by

In the Broadway musical Fame, Carmen sings about wanting to live forever. Unfortunately, that's not possible: According to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the average life expectancy of the world's population is 67.59 years; it's approximately 78 in the United States. But there's a group of people who surpass that average by leaps and bounds. While thousands of folks live to 100, only a handful--so-called"supercentenarians"--can look back on more than 110 years of life. Even more impressive, a few hit the supercentenarian milestone and just keep going.

The U.S.-based Gerontology Research Group (GRG) maintains a list of the world's current supercentenarians. As of March 6, 2012, 71 people (65 women and six men) were listed, the youngest being 110-year-old Jeanne Rannou of France (born on Sept. 14, 1901). Each person on the GRG's list must produce documents proving their longevity, which are then verified by GRG claims investigators. Using this data, U.S. News pays tribute to the world's oldest living citizens.

[See: 10 Hotspots for Human Longevity]

10. Hina Shikawatari and Tome Takaoka (Born Jan. 1, 1899--Tied)

These women share the No. 10 spot. Both have spent their entire lives in Japan, a country with above-average life expectancy. As of September 2010, Shikawatari was living on Japan's western coast, while Takaoka resided on the opposite coast of Japan's main island. Not much else is known about these two supercentenarians, other than that they both turned 113 in January.

9. Hatsue Ono (Born Oct. 31, 1898)

Hatsue Ono was born in 1898 in Iwate Prefecture along Japan's northeast coast. Sometime in the past century, this woman moved further north to Hokkaido prefecture, Japan's second-largest island. This is where she will spend her 114th birthday in October. Hokkaido is also known for its seafood-heavy diet, rich in omega-3 fatty acids that help reduce blood pressure and may lower the risk of cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and dementia. Hokkaido is also known for its lush natural landscape (home to several national parks) and chilly climate. It seems that Hokkaido has been good to Ono: She is the forth-oldest living person in Japan, trumping Hina Shikawatari and Tome Takaoka by just two months.

[See: 8 Healthy Ways to Load Up on Healthy Omega-3 Fats]

8. Mamie Rearden (Born Sept. 7, 1898)

Mamie Rearden (ne Mamie Julia Lewis) is the oldest living black person in the world. She was born in Edgefield County, S.C., in 1898, where she still lives today. After earning her teaching certificate in 1918, Rearden married her husband, Ocay, and they 11 children. She resides with two of her kids--her son, David, and her daughter, Martha--and remains in good health, having celebrated her 113th birthday in September. Her longevity secret? "Always treat others as you want to be treated. Tend to your own business and live a good, clean life and the Lord will bless you," Rearden told the Augusta Chronicle last year.

See the original post:
World's Oldest People