Monthly Archives: June 2012

NASA Hosts First Multi-Center Social Media Event for Mars Landing

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WASHINGTON -- NASA is inviting its social media followers to the first-ever multi-center NASA Social on Aug. 3 to preview the landing of the Mars Science Laboratory's Curiosity rover on Aug. 6 EDT (Aug. 5 PDT). NASA Socials are in-person meetings with people who engage with the agency through Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and other social networks.

Events will be held simultaneously at six NASA field centers, including Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif.; Glenn Research Center in Cleveland; Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.; Johnson Space Center in Houston; and, Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va. Each center will be connected via a multi-center NASA Television simulcast with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., during its NASA Social, which was previously announced. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission for NASA.

Participants will learn about the Mars Science Laboratory mission and their respective NASA field center. They are encouraged to share their experience with others through their favorite social networks. Along with discussing MSL and Mars, participants will get a unique behind-the-scenes look at the center and the diverse work of the agency through tours and presentations with scientists, engineers and managers. The events also will provide guests the opportunity to interact with fellow social media users, space enthusiasts and members of NASA's social media team.

Registration for the five new NASA Socials opens at noon EDT, Friday, June 29, and closes at noon Tuesday, July 3. NASA randomly will select participants from online registrations. People may register for NASA Socials to be held at multiple locations, but selectees will be chosen for one event only. Each field center's social and number of guests allowed varies. For more information on each center's activities and rules pertaining to NASA Social registration, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/social

It is anticipated that Curiosity will land at Mars' Gale crater at approximately 1:31 a.m. EDT Aug. 6 (10:31 p.m. PDT Aug. 5). During the two-year prime mission, the rover will investigate whether the selected area of Mars offered environmental conditions favorable for microbial life or if evidence of it existed. For more information on the Mars Science Laboratory/Curiosity mission, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/msl

The public can follow the mission on Facebook and Twitter at: http://www.facebook.com/marscuriosity http://www.twitter.com/marscuriosity

For information about connecting and collaborating with NASA, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/connect

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NASA Hosts First Multi-Center Social Media Event for Mars Landing

Research and Markets: Smart Textiles & Nanotechnologies: Applications, Technologies & Markets Report Provides Market …

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DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/z6snfm/smart_textiles_and) has announced the addition of the "Smart Textiles & Nanotechnologies: Applications, Technologies & Markets" report to their offering.

Textiles are getting smarter, and much of this is being enabled by nanotechnology. Smart Textiles and Nanotechnologies: Applications Technologies and Markets provides the most in depth look to date at the impact of nanotechnology on the global textile industry.

Detailed market figures are given from 2012-2022, along with an analysis of the key opportunities, illustrated with 98 figures and 30 tables.

With over a billion Bluetooth enabled devices on the market, ranging from smartphones to set top boxes, and new technologies such as energy scavenging or piezoelectric energy generation being made possible by the use of nanotechnologies , there are opportunities for the textile industry in new markets ranging from consumer electronics to medical diagnostics.

Market Scope:

This report provides an in-depth presentation of recent developments in nanotechnology in textiles and provides market opportunities to 2022. The market is segmented by:

- Clothing & Apparel

- Home Textiles

- Military Textiles

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Research and Markets: Smart Textiles & Nanotechnologies: Applications, Technologies & Markets Report Provides Market ...

FDA urges testing of nanotechnology in food, sunscreen

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Mary Godleski / AP

By Emily Main Rodale.com

Chemicals, minerals, and other materials 40,000 times smaller than a human hair are being added to an astonishingly high number of consumer products, from peanut butter to socks to sunscreen. And in an unusual departure from its usual innocent-until-proven-guilty approach in regulating consumer goods, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a new statement saying that such tiny technology needs more safety testing before it's used in consumer goods.

Related:The 20th Anniversary Of FDA's Biggest Mistake

At issue here is nanotechnology, the science of constructing materials so small they're invisible to most microscopes. In addition to making things like iPhones and solar panels possible, nanotechnology has been used in sunscreens, where nano-size particles of titanium dioxide and zinc oxide prevent white residues, and in food packaging, in which materials like nanoparticles of silver prevent food spoilage.

Although the technology has been in widespread use for the past decade, scientists still have very little to go on with regard to whether products that contain nanoparticles are safe. Some studies have shown that nanoparticles in cosmetics or personal care products can be absorbed by the skin and make it into your brain, causing oxidative stress (essentially, rotting of your brain cells) while others have found that ingested nanoparticles can damage the colon. Because it damages aquatic organisms and can build up in fish and other species, the Environmental Protection Agency regulates nano-silver, used in a large number of products claiming to be antibacterial, as a pesticide. The nonprofit Friends of the Earth has also warned that overuse of nanosilver can lead to antibacterial resistance and the rise of superbugs, such as MRSA.

Now, at least, the FDA has said that companies who use nanoparticles in food packaging, food additives, or other food-contact applications have to prove the technology is safe before unleashing this tiny technology on the public. Rather than falling under the category of "generally recognized as safe," as nearly all food additives do, nanoparticles will have to undergo additional safety testing, and companies will have to show documented safety records.

Related: The Supermarket Food Label You Need To Fight For

Unfortunately, the same will not hold true for cosmetics. The agency has said that cosmetics containing nanoparticles--sunscreens, lipsticks, lotions, and the like--will be regulated as all cosmetics are, which, in FDA parlance, essentially means not at all.

Even more unfortunately, the same law that allows cosmetic companies to sell untested products also allows companies to be vague on ingredient labels. Any material used in a lotion or lipstick, for instance, can be nanosize without the company informing you of that.

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FDA urges testing of nanotechnology in food, sunscreen

Today on New Scientist: 25 June 2012

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Corporate money men fill the political void at Rio+20

It may have been a damp squib politically, but business leaders at the Earth Summit in Rio were on hand to commit cash for UN green initiatives

In Why Does the World Exist? Jim Holt spans physics, philosophy and literature to examine the mystery of why there is something rather than nothing

Ferrofluids - a mix of oil and nano-sized iron particles - are normally used in computer hard drives, but their weird properties can make for great liquid art

Twisting individual beams of light in different ways allows more data to be transmitted in the same signal

A swallowable ultrasound device called uPill could end the need for painful daily injections

If life arises wherever conditions are right, why haven't we heard from aliens yet? Biochemist Nick Lane thinks he might have an answer

The Atlantic coast of North America is a hotspot of sea level rise, suggesting that a major Atlantic current is slowing down

Which is more likely to derail the decades-long battle to rid the world of polio? The Taliban, or the financial crisis?

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Today on New Scientist: 25 June 2012

UCLA-led research team develops world's most powerful nanoscale microwave oscillators

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Public release date: 25-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Matthew Chin mchin@support.ucla.edu 310-206-0680 University of California - Los Angeles

A team of UCLA researchers has created the most powerful high-performance nanoscale microwave oscillators in the world, a development that could lead to cheaper, more energy-efficient mobile communication devices that deliver much better signal quality.

Today's cell phones, WiFienabled tablets and other electronic gadgets all use microwave oscillators, tiny devices that generate the electrical signals used in communications. In a cell phone, for example, the transmitter and receiver circuits contain oscillators that produce radio-frequency signals, which are then converted by the phone's antenna into incoming and outgoing electromagnetic waves.

Current oscillators are silicon-based and use the charge of an electron to create microwaves. The UCLA-developed oscillators, however, utilize the spin of an electron, as in the case of magnetism, and carry several orders-of-magnitude advantages over the oscillators commonly in use today.

UCLA's electron spinbased oscillators grew out of research at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). This research focused on STT-RAM, or spin-transfer torque magnetoresistive random access memory, which has great potential over other types of memory in terms of both speed and power efficiency.

"We realized that the layered nanoscale structures that make STT-RAM such a great candidate for memory could also be developed for microwave oscillators for communications," said principal investigator and research co-author Kang L. Wang, UCLA Engineering's Raytheon Professor of Electrical Engineering and director of the Western Institute for Nanoelectronics (WIN).

The structures, called spin-transfer nano-oscillators, or STNOs, are composed of two distinct magnetic layers. One layer has a fixed magnetic polar direction, while the other layer's magnetic direction can be manipulated to gyrate by passing an electric current through it. This allows the structure to produce very precise oscillating microwaves.

"Previously, there had been no demonstration of a spin-transfer oscillator with sufficiently high output power and simultaneously good signal quality, which are the two main metrics of an oscillator hence preventing practical applications," said co-author Pedram Khalili, project manager for the UCLADARPA research programs in STT-RAM and non-volatile logic. "We have realized both these requirements in a single structure."

The SNTO was tested to show a record-high output power of close to 1 micro-watt, with a record narrow signal linewidth of 25 megahertz. Output power refers to the strength of the signal, and 1 micro-watt is the desired level for STNOs to be practical for applications. Also, a narrow signal linewidth corresponds to a higher quality signal at a given frequency. This means less noise and interference, for a cleaner voice and video signal. It also means more users can be accommodated onto a given frequency band.

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UCLA-led research team develops world's most powerful nanoscale microwave oscillators

Team develops world's most powerful nanoscale microwave oscillators

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Schematic representation of a spin-transfer nano-oscillator (STNO) with free and pinned magnetic layers (left), and a scanning-electron-microscopy (SEM) image of a cross-section of an STNO (right), showing top and bottom metallic electrodes used for electrical connections. The lateral size of the STNO is about 100nm. (Image courtesy of UCLA Engineering)

(Phys.org) -- A team of UCLA researchers has created the most powerful high-performance nanoscale microwave oscillators in the world, a development that could lead to cheaper, more energy-efficient mobile communication devices that deliver much better signal quality.

Today's cell phones, WiFienabled tablets and other electronic gadgets all use microwave oscillators, tiny devices that generate the electrical signals used in communications. In a cell phone, for example, the transmitter and receiver circuits contain oscillators that produce radio-frequency signals, which are then converted by the phone's antenna into incoming and outgoing electromagnetic waves.

Current oscillators are silicon-based and use the charge of an electron to create microwaves. The UCLA-developed oscillators, however, utilize the spin of an electron, as in the case of magnetism, and carry several orders-of-magnitude advantages over the oscillators commonly in use today.

UCLA's electron spinbased oscillators grew out of research at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). This research focused on STT-RAM, or spin-transfer torque magnetoresistive random access memory, which has great potential over other types of memory in terms of both speed and power efficiency.

"We realized that the layered nanoscale structures that make STT-RAM such a great candidate for memory could also be developed for microwave oscillators for communications," said principal investigator and research co-author Kang L. Wang, UCLA Engineering's Raytheon Professor of Electrical Engineering and director of the Western Instituteof Nanoelectronics (WIN).

The structures, called spin-transfer nano-oscillators, or STNOs, are composed of two distinct magnetic layers. One layer has a fixed magnetic polar direction, while the other layer's magnetic direction can be manipulated to gyrate by passing an electric current through it. This allows the structure to produce very precise oscillating microwaves.

"Previously, there had been no demonstration of a spin-transfer oscillator with sufficiently high output power and simultaneously good signal quality, which are the two main metrics of an oscillator hence preventing practical applications," said co-author Pedram Khalili, project manager for the UCLADARPA research programs in STT-RAM and non-volatile logic."We have realized both these requirements in a single structure."

The SNTO was tested to show a record-high output power of close to 1 micro-watt, with a record narrow signal linewidth of 25 megahertz. Output power refers to the strength of the signal, and 1 micro-watt is the desired level for STNOs to be practical for applications. Also, a narrow signal linewidth corresponds to a higher quality signal at a given frequency. This means less noise and interference, for a cleaner voice and video signal. It also means more users can be accommodated onto a given frequency band.

In addition, the new nanoscale system is about 10,000-times smaller than the silicon-based oscillators used today. The nano-oscillators can easily be incorporated into existing integrated circuits (computer chips), as they are compatible with current design and manufacturing standards in the computer and electronic device industries. And the oscillators can be used in both analog (voice) and digital (data) communications, which means smart phones could take full advantage of them.

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Team develops world's most powerful nanoscale microwave oscillators

Nano-sandwich technique slims down solar cells, improves efficiency

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Researchers from North Carolina State University have found a way to create much slimmer thin-film solar cells without sacrificing the cells' ability to absorb solar energy. The active layer can be as little as 70 nanometers thick. Credit: Dr. Linyou Cao, North Carolina State University

(Phys.org) -- Researchers from North Carolina State University have found a way to create much slimmer thin-film solar cells without sacrificing the cells' ability to absorb solar energy. Making the cells thinner should significantly decrease manufacturing costs for the technology.

"We were able to create solar cells using a 'nanoscale sandwich' design with an ultra-thin 'active' layer," says Dr. Linyou Cao, an assistant professor of materials science and engineering at NC State and co-author of a paper describing the research. "For example, we created a solar cell with an active layer of amorphous silicon that is only 70 nanometers (nm) thick. This is a significant improvement, because typical thin-film solar cells currently on the market that also use amorphous silicon have active layers between 300 and 500 nm thick." The "active" layer in thin-film solar cells is the layer of material that actually absorbs solar energy for conversion into electricity or chemical fuel.

"The technique we've developed is very important because it can be generally applied to many other solar cell materials, such as cadmium telluride, copper indium gallium selenide, and organic materials," Cao adds.

The new technique relies largely on conventional manufacturing processes, but results in a very different finished product. The first step is to create a pattern on the substrate using standard lithography techniques. The pattern outlines structures made of transparent, dielectric material measuring between 200 and 300 nm. The researchers then coat the substrate and the nanostructures with an extremely thin layer of active material, such as amorphous silicon. This active layer is then coated with another layer of dielectric material.

Using dielectric nanostructures beneath the active layer creates a thin film with elevated surfaces evenly spaced all along the film like crenellations at the top of a medieval castle.

"One key aspect of this technique is the design of the 'nanoscale sandwich,' with the active materials in the middle of two dielectric layers. The nanostructures act as very efficient optical antennas," Cao says, "focusing the solar energy into the active material. This focusing means we can use a thinner active layer without sacrificing performance. In the conventional thin-film design, using a thinner active layer would impair the solar cell's efficiency."

More information: The paper, Dielectric Core-shell Optical Antennas for Strong Solar Absorption Enhancement, is published online in Nano Letters. Lead author of the paper is Yiling Yu, a Ph.D. student at NC State.

Dielectric Core-shell Optical Antennas for Strong Solar Absorption Enhancement

Authors: Yiling Yu and Linyou Cao, North Carolina State University; Vivian E. Ferry and A. Paul Alivisatos, U.C. Berkeley

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Nano-sandwich technique slims down solar cells, improves efficiency

Veracyte Announces Study Results Published Online in New England Journal of Medicine Which Suggest that Its Afirma® …

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HOUSTON, June 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Veracyte, Inc., a molecular diagnostics company that is pioneering the emerging field of molecular cytology, today announced results from a large, prospective, multicenter study, which demonstrated the potential for the Afirma Gene Expression Classifier, a gene expression test, to reduce the large number of unnecessary surgeries in thyroid cancer diagnosis by more than half.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120625/SF29625LOGO)

The results are being shared during a late-breaking data presentation at The Endocrine Society's ENDO 2012: The 94th Annual Meeting & Expo in Houston, Texas, and coincide with online publication by the New England Journal of Medicine. The study is scheduled to appear in the journal's August 23, 2012 print issue.

The two-year study involved 265 indeterminate thyroid FNA samples collected from 49 academic and community sites around the United States. The findings showed that the Afirma Gene Expression Classifier can reclassify as "benign" with a high degree of accuracy thyroid nodule fine needle aspirate (FNA) samples that were originally deemed inconclusive by cytopathology review using a microscope. When applied to the major categories of indeterminate samples (those with cytology labeled: "atypical of an undetermined significance" or "follicular neoplasm"), the genomic test had a negative predictive value (NPV) of 95 and 94 percent, respectively. Overall, the NPV was 93 percent, based on the study's cancer prevalence rate of 32 percent. The overall NPV increases to 95 percent when a lower cancer prevalence rate of 24 percent, which is more representative of thyroid cases across the U.S., is applied. The test had a sensitivity of 92 percent and a specificity of 52 percent.

"Presently, patients with cytologically indeterminate thyroid nodules are usually referred for thyroid surgery to ensure that thyroid cancer is not present," said co-principal study investigator Erik K. Alexander, M.D., of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School. "The gene expression test, when benign, should now enable physicians to consider recommending against surgery and confidently monitor patients in a more conservative fashion. Approximately half of all patients with indeterminate thyroid nodule cytology will have a benign gene expression test. This means that tens of thousands of thyroid nodule patients in the U.S. each year can potentially be spared a thyroid surgery they do not need."

Indeterminate thyroid nodule cytology results are a significant problem in thyroid cancer diagnosis. Thyroid nodules are common and, while most are benign, 5-15 percent prove malignant, prompting diagnostic evaluation, typically via FNA sampling. Approximately 450,000 thyroid nodule FNAs a minimally invasive procedure to extract cells for examination under a microscope are performed in the U.S. each year. Such cytology samples, however, produce indeterminate results in 15-30 percent of cases, or approximately 100,000 patients each year in the U.S. Current medical guidelines recommend that most of these patients have all or part of their thyroids removed for final diagnosis. However, the majority (70-80 percent) prove to have benign conditions. These surgeries are invasive, costly and typically result in lifelong hormone therapy for the patient. Additionally, these patients are unnecessarily exposed to a 2-10 percent risk of surgical complications.

"Our results showed that the gene expression test can substantially reclassify otherwise inconclusive thyroid nodule cytology results," said co-principal study investigator Bryan R. Haugen, M.D., professor of medicine and pathology head, Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism & Diabetes at the University of Colorado. "When the gene expression test is benign, this conveys the same level of predictive accuracy comparable to patients who had a benign cytopathology result."

An accompanying New England Journal of Medicine editorial concludes, "In this era of focusing on high-quality outcomes at lower cost, this new gene-expression classifier test is a welcome addition to the tools available for informed decision making about the management of thyroid nodules."

The two-year study enrolled 3,789 patients and prospectively collected 4,812 thyroid FNA samples from nodules larger than or equal to 1.0 cm. Samples were simultaneously collected for local cytopathology analysis, as well as for the study. If the local cytopathology result was indeterminate, the study sample was then analyzed using the gene expression test. Thyroid surgery was performed based on the judgment of the treating physician who was blinded to the genomic test results. At completion of the study, the gene expression test results were compared to gold-standard histopathology diagnosis provided by two blinded experts following review of surgically removed tissue samples.

"This rigorous study is the largest of its kind ever conducted to assess thyroid diagnosis and further confirms the strength and utility of our Afirma Gene Expression Classifier to help prevent avoidable surgeries," said Bonnie Anderson, Veracyte's cofounder and chief executive officer. "Ultimately, these results should underscore the potential of the genomic test to help physicians make more informed treatment decisions early, thus improving patient care and helping to take significant costs out of the healthcare system."

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Veracyte Announces Study Results Published Online in New England Journal of Medicine Which Suggest that Its Afirma® ...

Caris Life Sciences Launches Caris Target Now™ Select for NSCLC, Melanoma, and Cancers of the Breast, Colon, and Ovary

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IRVING, Texas, June 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/--Caris Life Sciences, a leading biosciences company focused on enabling precise and personalized healthcare through molecular profiling and blood-based diagnostic services, today announced the launch of Caris Target Now Select, an advanced, evidence-based molecular profiling service for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), melanoma, and cancers of the breast, colon and ovary. In addition, the company has enhanced the original Caris Target Now comprehensive molecular profiling service offering for all solid tumors.

"This latest effort by Caris is another significant step in what I call health improvement, while at the same time fulfilling on the promise of personalized medicine," said David D. Halbert, Chairman and CEO, Caris Life Sciences. "With these enhancements, we believe we can prolong the lives of patients and improve outcomes, while also lowering costs to the healthcare system."

Caris Target Now Select incorporates updated, evidence-based technology platforms to determine the genomic information unique to a patient's tumor based on the presence of relevant biomarkers. In addition to providing focused biomarker profiles designed for earlier-stage cancer patients, it offers the advantages of known "on-Compendium-only" drug associations, faster turnaround time, the capability to derive meaningful results from smaller tissue samples, up to 30 reported biomarkers per patient (depending on tumor type), and for the first time Clinical Trials Connector, a service that enables biomarker-specific clinical trial matching.

"Caris Target Now Select is an important new tool to assist physicians in choosing among standard drug choices earlier in the course of treatment, where molecular profiling can have the largest benefit to patient care," said Tom Spalding, Oncology Senior Vice President and Group Head, Caris Life Sciences. "In addition, the new Clinical Trials Connector uncovers even more possibilities by linking patients to open and enrolling clinical trials based upon their individual biomarker status."

Using the strongest clinical evidence, Caris Target Now Select highlights known therapeutic associations with appropriate, tumor-specific treatments for the five target tumor types, as identified in the National Comprehensive Cancer Network Drug & Biologics Compendium[1]. In addition, the newly enhanced version of Caris' original molecular profiling service (now renamed Caris Target Now Comprehensive) provides both on- and off-Compendium therapeutic associations for all solid tumors, across a wide range of evidence.

"Caris Target Now Select is an evidence-based molecular profiling service that can help both earlier-stage and later-stage cancer patients, as it employs the most relevant biomarkers and technologies to help decode a patient's tumor," said Sandeep Reddy, MD, Clinical Professor of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Senior Medical Director at Caris. "This service allows physicians to augment their years of experience with advanced theranostic resources, further personalizing cancer care based on the expression status of specific biomarkers."

Through analysis with multiple, highly integrated technology platforms such as immunohistochemistry (IHC), fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and DNA sequencing, both the Caris Target Now Select and Comprehensive services provide vital information that may be useful to oncologists in individualizing therapeutic regimens for cancer patients. By utilizing the most relevant, evidence-based molecular profiling technologies to determine the biomarkers unique to a patient's tumor, and performing an extensive review of clinical literature correlating biomarkers to drug response, Caris Target Now Select can help illuminate the benefit (or lack thereof) of specific agents, and may reveal appropriate treatments not previously considered.

Both services can be requested for cancer patients by physicians seeking to utilize biomarker analysis to inform therapeutic decision-making. For more information, visit http://www.caristargetnow.com.

About Caris Life Sciences

Caris Life Sciences is a leading biosciences company focused on developing and delivering innovative molecular diagnostic, prognostic, and theranostic services. The company's evidence-based molecular profiling service, Caris Target Now, matches molecular data generated from a patient's tumor with biomarker/drug associations derived from the world's leading clinical cancer literature. Caris Target Now uses the most advanced and clinically relevant technologies to provide physicians with information to aid in the selection of personalized cancer treatments more likely to work for each patient. Caris is also developing a series of blood tests based on the company's patented Carisome platform a proprietary, blood-based testing technology for diagnosis, prognosis, and theranosis of cancer and other complex diseases. Through the precise and personalized information provided by technologies like Caris Target Now and Carisome, the company believes that the quality of healthcare can be dramatically improved, while also significantly reducing costs. Headquartered in the Dallas metroplex, Caris Life Sciences offers services throughout the United States, Europe, and other international markets. To learn more, please visit http://www.carislifesciences.com or http://www.caristargetnow.com.

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Caris Life Sciences Launches Caris Target Now™ Select for NSCLC, Melanoma, and Cancers of the Breast, Colon, and Ovary

Allegro Diagnostics Appoints Clinical and Scientific Advisory Board Comprised of Experts in Pulmonology, Lung Cancer …

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MAYNARD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Allegro Diagnostics today announced the formation of its Clinical and Scientific Advisory Board. Allegro has developed a molecular testing platform that utilizes gene expression of normal epithelial cells in the respiratory tract to detect early signs of lung cancer.

Our advisory board is comprised of some of the most respected and prolific clinicians, researchers and pioneers in the fields of pulmonary medicine, lung cancer and cancer diagnostics, said Michael D. Webb, President and Chief Executive Officer of Allegro Diagnostics. These individuals will play a central role in advising Allegro on its research and development efforts, as well as on the product development strategy for the BronchoGen genomic test, which is approaching commercialization.

The members of the advisory board are:

About the Allegro Platform

Allegro Diagnostics molecular testing platform utilizes gene expression of normal epithelial cells in the respiratory tract to detect early signs of lung cancer. The field of injury principle on which the platform is based refers to the common molecular response that occurs throughout the respiratory tract in current and former smokers with lung cancer. These changes can be detected in a gene expression signature from non-malignant airway cells and indicate the presence of malignancy remotely in the lung. Allegro has applied this platform to generate multiple product candidates.

About Allegro Diagnostics

Allegro Diagnostics is a molecular diagnostics company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative genomic tests for the diagnosis, staging and informed treatment of lung cancer and other lung diseases. Allegro has developed a molecular testing platform that utilizes a genomic biomarker to detect early signs of lung cancer in current and former smokers. The companys lead product is the BronchoGen genomic test for use in combination with standard bronchoscopy for the diagnosis of lung cancer. http://www.allegrodx.com

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Allegro Diagnostics Appoints Clinical and Scientific Advisory Board Comprised of Experts in Pulmonology, Lung Cancer ...

DOST gives full scholarship to 10 outstanding Molecular Medicine students

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by Alma L. Tingcang

MANILA The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) proudly announced their third batch of scholars for the MD-PhD Program in Molecular Medicine.

DOST undersecretary Fortunato de la Pea said this during the MD-PhD in Molecular Medicine Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signing held recently at Hyatt Hotel Manila.

The MD-PhD program in Molecular Medicine is a scholarship grant under the DOST Accelerated Science and Technology Human Resource Development Program (ASTHRDP), which aims to develop human resource capacities to meet the biomedical research and development (R&D) needs of the country.

Through this program, the countrys global competitiveness and capability to innovate in health R&D will be improved. I commend our new batch of scholars who have chosen molecular medicine as their study course. You are exactly what the country needs right now, a doctor-scientist who will conduct biomedical research especially on emerging diseases, said de la Pea.

The scholars are Crizelda Jean Cruz, Sheriah Laine De Paz, Maria Isabel Idolor, Ana Joy Padua, Joyce Ann Robles, Ian Kim Tabios and Cherry Joy Tumampo from UP Diliman; Josept Mari Poblete and Jayson Trinchera of UP Manila, and Angelo Sumalde of UP Los Baos.

All the scholars obtained at least a 90 percent score in the National Medical Admission Test (NMAT), which is one of the requirements to qualify for the scholarship program. Seven of the scholars graduated Summa Cum Laude, six were Magna Cum Laude and three Cum Laude.

They are the cream of the crop, the best in terms of academic performances, and our future scientists and researchers that will lead our scientific communities in the development of effective drugs, vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutic agents for patient management and clinical care, de la Pea said.

For the latest Zamboanga City and Philippine news stories and videos, visit ZamboTimes.com

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DOST gives full scholarship to 10 outstanding Molecular Medicine students

On My Mind – Cody Simpson (COVER) – Video

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25-06-2012 12:50 hello guys. how are you doing today? So, I'm uploading a new cover today because my 17th birthday is TOMORROW (June 26) and I think I will have no time to come here and upload this. This song is kinda important cause it says everything I'd like to tell to the guy I'm in love with. What song should I cover next? love you. and wish me HAPPY B-DAY

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On My Mind - Cody Simpson (COVER) - Video

Hypnosis – Suggestibility Tests – #3 Rapid Induction And The Arm Lock ( Re-Upload ) – Video

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26-06-2012 00:04 Today i have got a treat i am going to be doing a suggestibily test agian but this time i am also showing you an induction that you can try on your freinds Again comment telling me weather this worked or not Comment Rate and Subscribe And Thanx for watching tags (ignore) Funny Hello Prank Hey Marine cod Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 3 "Hypnosis (Literature Subject)" Control Mind Youtube Stay Together Brain Mp4 Body Player Upload Davis Out toys "Literature (Literary School Or Movement)" Remote Power Media Stargate Daniel Atlantis Korn Reason Samantha Forever Jonathan Jack John All Amanda Sg1 Playing Awake Joni Should "Call Duty" "Jonathan Of Dunblane (Religious Leader)" Mw2 Cod4 Carter Richard Montage Toy Neill Claudia "Stargate Atlantis" "Stargate Sg1" Family Guy Whos The Bosses Fixes it Chair Im Sitting Lay Down On The Floor It Usually Kinda Fixes It Thumbs lol funny as lmao hi sup bro "Family Guy (TV Program)" comedy series parody spoof short film police traffic cop nice funny cute dumb crazy weird silly happy goofy laugh haha humor humour hilarious actor hollywood actor joke jokes joking fun man woman guy girl dude handsome pretty car automobile auto sketch skit animation animated theme song strange surprise driver driving ticket street lights TV show theme song jingle catchy tune music sketch comedy web series home video police officer law enforcement law force cops crime

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Hypnosis - Suggestibility Tests - #3 Rapid Induction And The Arm Lock ( Re-Upload ) - Video

Hypnosis – Suggestibility Tests – #4 The Eye Lock Test ( Re-Upload ) – Video

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26-06-2012 00:09 This one will make your eyes locked shut and this might not work just like the others and this one is most likely not to work I will be uploading more videos soon of hypnosis on other people and giving them suggestions and such but for now im just going to make these Comment Rate and Subscribe Tags(ignore) tags (ignore) Funny Hello Prank Hey Marine cod Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 3 "Hypnosis (Literature Subject)" Control Mind Youtube Stay Together Brain Mp4 Body Player Upload Davis Out toys "Literature (Literary School Or Movement)" Remote Power Media Stargate Daniel Atlantis Korn Reason Samantha Forever Jonathan Jack John All Amanda Sg1 Playing Awake Joni Should "Call Duty" "Jonathan Of Dunblane (Religious Leader)" Mw2 Cod4 Carter Richard Montage Toy Neill Claudia "Stargate Atlantis" "Stargate Sg1" Family Guy Whos The Bosses Fixes it Chair Im Sitting Lay Down On The Florr It Usually Kinda Fixes It Thumbs lol funny as lmao hi sup bro "Family Guy (TV Program)" comedy series parody spoof short film police traffic cop nice funny cute dumb crazy weird silly happy goofy laugh haha humor humour hilarious actor hollywood actor joke jokes joking fun man woman guy girl dude handsome pretty car automobile auto sketch skit animation animated theme song strange surprise driver driving ticket street lights TV show theme song jingle catchy tune music sketch comedy web series home video police officer law enforcement law force cops crime

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Hypnosis - Suggestibility Tests - #4 The Eye Lock Test ( Re-Upload ) - Video

Disney Sprinkles Magic On Canada With The Launch Of The New Disney Baby Brand and Collection!

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~ Brand comes to Canada for the first time with a new product line for babies and parents alike ~

TORONTO, June 26, 2012 /CNW/ - This year Disney has brought plenty of excitement to Canada with the launch of the all-new Disney Baby collection, a line of products to help parents create magical moments right from the start, available exclusively at Babies"R"Us. The new Disney Baby collection provides feel-good, unique products tailored to everyday moments with baby throughout the day, including, In the Nursery, Dressing Baby, On-the-Go, Mealtime, and Bathtime.

"We are thrilled to launch Disney Baby in Canada and celebrate the fact that life with baby is filled with so many magical moments to be cherished," said Peter Crighton, Manager, National Marketing, Disney Consumer Products. "In order to provide Canadian parents with the best "raising-baby" experience, the new Disney Baby collection is designed to provide quality products essential to baby moments throughout the day with a touch of Disney magic."

Whether it's Minnie Mouse on-the-go, Mickey keeping baby cuddly and cozy, Nemo in the tub or Simba on a jungle adventure in the nursery, the new Disney Baby collections offer an extensive selection of delightful products for every magical moment!

Disney Baby also recently introduced DisneyBaby.com, an online destination featuring the Disney Baby Magical Moments upload tool and gallery, inspirational ideas, mom-tested tips and a comprehensive Disney Baby product showcase for expecting and new parents.

New Product Collections include:

Dressing Baby - The only infant bodysuit with a patent-pending design that "grows" with baby, the DISNEY CUDDLY BODYSUIT features a second row of snaps for an inch of longer wear. Now available in new playful patterns and character-inspired designs starring Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, and characters from Finding Nemo and The Little Mermaid; there is a bodysuit for every little character. New bodysuit sets all include coordinating shorts.

On-the-Go - A little Minniea lot of cozy. Everything you need - all in one place! Cruise around in style with the new Minnie Mouse gear collection from Graco! Collection includes Graco Fast Action Fold Stroller, Graco Pack 'N Play Playard with Cuddle Cove Rocking Seat, Graco SnugRide 30 Infant Car Seat, Graco Contempo Premiere High Chair, Graco Sweet Snuggle Swing.

In the Nursery - Turn baby's nursery into a sleep time safari with the new Disney Baby Lion King Nursery Collection. The collection furnishes parents with everything they need to outfit a nursery, including a four-piece crib bedding set, lamp, a musical mobile and an animal print window valance, among other wildly adorable items.

Mealtime - As one of the most important times of day for baby, Disney Baby offers parents products essential to baby's development specially designed for their gentle little mouths. Available in designs featuring Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and The Lion King, the Born Free products include bottles that allow baby to control the flow of milk and pacifiers that fit the natural shape of baby's palate and gums.

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Disney Sprinkles Magic On Canada With The Launch Of The New Disney Baby Brand and Collection!

Beyond iPhone and Android: 5 hot new platforms for developers

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A long time ago in a mind-set far away, I spent a lunch with friends trying to figure out what we'd do if we could reprogram our cellphones. Our ideas were, in retrospect, lame. Maybe we would change the font on the dialer or come up with a screensaver animation. Wouldn't it be cool if we could get flying toasters running on the screen of our cellphone?

The iPhone was still several years away when we came up with those ideas. The millions of ways people would be reprogramming smartphones just a few short years later was beyond our comprehension. The App Store and the effort of tens of thousands of programmers changed that.

[ Beware the 7 myths of programming, and verse yourself in the 10 hard truths developers must accept. | Test your smarts with our programming IQ tests: Round 1 and round 2 and "Hello, world": Programming languages quiz. | Learn how to work smarter, not harder with InfoWorld's roundup of the tips and trends programmers need to know in the Developers' Survival Guide. | Keep up on key application development insights with the Developer World newsletter. ]

The smartphone has proven that a marketplace for delivering code can appear seemingly out of nowhere, and developers would have another choice for showcasing their wares. It's not that the App Store was new -- you could develop for Nokia, Windows Mobile, and Java phones long before it came along. But Apple eased the process and provided enough features that made it worthwhile for developers to start creating.

So when we say that some day in the possible near future you may be targeting your apps at users' shirt pockets, not what they put in them, you may think it's time for the straitjackets. But all it takes is a market. The technology is already there -- sort of.

To help you get a jump on these promising platforms, we did a little digging in what might seem to be unlikely places. In many cases, raw APIs are already well-established, ready for apps to exploit them. Scratch the surface, and you'll get an idea of the potential of porting your wares beyond the smartphone/PC paradigm. You can bet the manufacturers of these products are interested in establishing their own app ecology. And as we've seen with both the PC and smartphone, the first to arrive is often the one whose app gets the most sales.

Emerging development platform No. 1: Your car

The computers buried in your car are better platforms for developing software than your cellphone. While car batteries do run down and cars do run out of gas, they're still more reliable sources of electricity than that tiny battery in your smartphone. The dashboard is already engineered to be at the driver's fingertips, and much of the car is already accepting digital commands through the OBD-II (On-Board Diagnostics) interface built into all new cars. Though you can forget your smartphone when you go on a road trip, you can't forget your car. Automobiles are made for apps, and their manufacturers know it.

Safety comes into play when developing apps for cars, and this is among car builders' greatest detractions in opening up their platforms. While people can manage to change radio stations while driving, changing a CD isn't nearly as safe. Plus, some argue, even the best-designed hands-free interfaces can't solve the cognitive limitations of the human brain. The driver's brain should put driving first; even talking on a hands-free phone can be suspect.

That's just the surface. Computer programmers aren't known for building crash-free products, and in the auto business, the word "crash" has much more ominous overtones. It's one thing to let the curious programmer monkey around with the OBD-II interface to suck down statistics about the combustion efficiency of the engine, but what if that same programmer stumbles onto a switch that changes an important setting irrevocably? Curiosity may not always kill the cat, but it only takes a few high-profile mistakes to sully the platform.

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Beyond iPhone and Android: 5 hot new platforms for developers

Perfect Balance Of Performance, Mobility

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Sony Philippines has launched the new VAIO S Series, a powerful new mobile PC with a full range of features in a light-weight body. The new VAIO S Series is available in a 13.3" LCD screen and designed mainly with serious users in mind who want high-performance mobile computing. The Vaio S is also capable of extended battery life with the optional Extended Battery accessory, ideal for business ...

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Perfect Balance Of Performance, Mobility

Deadly B.C. flooding continues to prompt evacuations, highway closures

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Residents and emergency officials in British Columbia's flood-ravaged Interior are cleaning up and bagging sand after weekend storms forced hundreds from their homes, left one man dead, and damaged homes and property.

Almost 700 people across the province have been evacuated, while more than 1,000 have been placed on evacuation alert, meaning they'll have to leave at a moment's notice.

Weeks of rapid snowmelt and wet weather caused river levels to rise in the B.C. Interior, the Kootenay region and the Fraser Valley, and a weekend of heavy rain and violent thunderstorms pushed many rivers and creeks in those areas to the brink.

Edward Posnikoff, a 72-year-old resident of Crescent Valley, was swept away and drowned in one of those raging rivers, the B.C. Coroners Service announced on Monday.

Posnikoff was standing on a bridge at the edge of his property on Saturday evening as the bridge collapsed.

To the north, residents and even visitors in the hard-hit community of Sicamous, which evacuated about 350 people from their homes Sunday, began their week by cleaning up and filling sandbags.

At least one home was swept away, and many more homes and dozens of cars were damaged after flash floods tore through the community, where the local district declared a state of emergency.

Audible in the air during the cleanup was the din of heavy equipment powering through gravel and sludge,

"It's a little overwhelming," said Patricia Norbeck, 40, while standing in front of the flooded gift shop where she works at the Twin Anchors marina.

While she was able to empty a trailer full of merchandise, Norbeck said there's still water everywhere and the carpet inside the business is ruined. Luckily, the foundation is concrete, so the building should be okay, she said.

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Deadly B.C. flooding continues to prompt evacuations, highway closures