Monthly Archives: August 2012

Lessons From Bangladesh

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Glenn Hicks of the Institute for Integrative Genome Biology teaches a workshop at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh.

PHOTO CREDIT: G. HICKS, UC RIVERSIDE.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. Before he left for Bangladesh to conduct a workshop this summer, Glenn Hicks of the University of California, Riverside did not quite know what to expect. What he knew was that he would be leading a workshop, called Workshop on Genomics and Proteomics, from July 16 through July 24 at the University of Dhaka, the premier public university in Bangladesh. What his brief visit to that countrys capital taught him, though, was that education is critical for all of our futures and that with patience education could help overcome even great cultural and economic differences.

Aimed at providing an overview of genomics and proteomics, the workshop, the first of its kind that UC Riverside has offered in Bangladesh, was funded by the World Bank and hosted by the University of Dhakas Botany Department.

I learned, too, that many of the research projects in the department were biotechnology-oriented towards solving problems that are important for, and in some cases unique to, Bangladesh projects like plant virus and fungal disease resistance, bioremediation, and production of biomass for feeds and fertilizers, he added.

Faculty and students at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, recently attended a workshop presented by UC Riversides Glenn Hicks.

PHOTO CREDIT: G. HICKS, UC RIVERSIDE.

Hicks found that although the University of Dhaka is a large university, its infrastructure is limited in terms of opportunities for the most up-to-date research and postgraduate studies utilizing advanced methods and technologies. For example, the laboratories he toured had basic equipment for molecular biology research, but access to advanced instrumentation was limited. Still, the students and faculty were eager to learn, he found, and sincere in their desire for more high-quality research.

They have a strong hunger for more contemporary knowledge and hands-on scientific training, Hicks said. Many of the faculty are smart and forward looking. They are acutely aware of the need to target new areas for learning. While some of the highest-technology equipment is not available to them as yet, procuring knowledge is what matters as a start. From there, meaningful projects and focused infrastructure can follow. This was noted by the vice chancellor of the University of Dhaka, Professor Siddique, whom I was able to meet. He was very supportive of future interactions with UCR.

The trip to Bangladesh, his first, was an opportunity for Hicks to make a significant contribution beyond the UCR campus. An early difference he made there was getting the workshop participants to ask questions in the ten lectures he presented.

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Lessons From Bangladesh

Your NBA finds a perfect goliath on the across the world accepted

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Dinosaur footprints discovered outside NASA's Maryland flight center

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By Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 15:12 EST, 26 August 2012 | UPDATED: 15:12 EST, 26 August 2012

In their constant bid to break new ground, it's rare for NASA's news to include any mention of dinosaurs.

But thats exactly what happened this week after a massive footprint of a lumbering, armoured dinosaur called a nodosaur was discovered at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

More than a hundred million years before scientists at NASA's Maryland-based centre were working on exploring the universe, it appears that the site was home to herbivore dinosaurs.

Incredible: A 12-inch-wide dinosaur footprint belonging to an armored, tank-like plant-eater called a nodosaur was discovered at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center this summer; NASA confirmed the discovery this week

Discovery: A model of a nodosaur sits in the giant footprint, which was found by amateur dino-hunter Ray Stanford

The incredible discovery was made all the more exciting after a second track - overlapping with the first - was unearthed suggesting that the tank-link nodosaur had a baby in tow.

The first giant footprint, which measures 12 inches wide and shows the imprint of four toes, was discovered earlier this summer by amateur dinosaur tracker Ray Stanford.

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Dinosaur footprints discovered outside NASA's Maryland flight center

NASA flyover a preview for space shuttle's dramatic L.A. entrance

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NASA did some prep work Saturday for the highly anticipated tour across the skies of Southern California for the space shuttle Endeavour.

On Saturday, two NASA jets, a T-38 trainer and an F-18 Hornet, circled low across the Southland for several hours, scouting possible routes and backdrops for a scenic flyover by Endeavor before its Sept. 20 touchdown in Los Angeles, officials said.

NASA awarded the retired orbiter last year to the California Science Center in Exposition Park, where it will be put on permanent display. The shuttle will be ferried to Los Angeles from Florida's Kennedy Space Center on the back of a modified Boeing 747.

NASA spokesman Michael Curie said Saturday's flights, at about 1,500 feet, were intended to help the agency map out the shuttle's arrival, and the viability of a celebratory flyover.

He said the pilots would examine and photograph potential challenges and hazards in the area, including cellphone, radio and TV towers, and would consider various routes and altitudes. "They need to get as much information as possible ahead of time," he said.

But they also would be looking for the best camera angles for photographs of the shuttle flying over iconic Los Angeles-area landmarks, including the Hollywood sign, Disneyland and the ocean.

"There are a lot of landmarks and beautiful buildings and landscapes in the area that would make tremendous photo ops with the space shuttle flying near it," he said.

When Endeavour's sister shuttle, Discovery, arrived in Washington, D.C., in April, its arrival flight took it past the Capitol, the Washington Monument and other landmarks, creating memorable images.

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NASA flyover a preview for space shuttle's dramatic L.A. entrance

No rest for sleep-medicine practitioners

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By Ben Sutherly

The Columbus Dispatch Sunday August 26, 2012 10:17 AM

Technician Joel Coffing fits Jay Wuersig with sensors to detect his sleep patterns at Central Ohio Sleep Medicine in Gahanna.

Seemingly overnight, sleep medicine has grown into a multibillion-dollar industry. And it shows few signs of dozing off soon.

During the past five years, the sleep-clinic industry has expanded at an average annual rate of more than 13percent, to $5.8 billion in revenue this year, according to market-research firm IBISWorld Inc.Over the next five years, the industrys yearly revenue is expected to near $9 billion on the strength of 9 percent annual growth.

Meanwhile, manufacturers had combined revenue of $1.3 billion last year for sleep-disorder diagnostic and therapy products in the United States, according to research firm InMedica.

And Americans spent $1.7 billion on prescription sleep drugs in 2011, according to research firm IMS Health. That figure has declined in recent years as drug production shifts to less-expensive generics. (It doesnt include spending on over-the-counter sleep aids.)

Experts say the nations obesity epidemic has fueled the industrys growth by contributing to sleep disorders such as apnea. Another possible growth driver, IBISWorld says, is the proliferation of electronic devices, the light from which might interfere with the release of melatonin, a sleep-regulating hormone.

To a large extent, sleep disorders are a modern mans issue, said Joyce E. Gray, secretary/treasurer and founding member of the Ohio Sleep Society.Were seeing more patients come in for different types of disorders.

In Ohio, one sign of the industrys growth is the Ohio Sleep Societys ballooning membership roll. Founded five years ago, the society now counts 125 members, among them pulmonologists, neurologists, cardiologists, psychologists, makers of durable medical equipment, nurses, nurse practitioners and dentists (dental appliances are in some cases emerging as an alternative treatment for sleep apnea).

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No rest for sleep-medicine practitioners

Rollover near Medicine Hat blamed on distracted driving

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A vehicle rollover near Medicine Hat is being blamed on the driver being distracted by his cell phone.

Three people were injured in the crash along Highway 41 North near Schuler around 10:30 a.m. MT Saturday.

The 17-year-old male driver is charged with distracted driving including talking on a cell phone and texting while driving.

The teen was airlifted to hospital in Medicine Hat in stable condition.

A 19-year-old man and 20-year-old were also injured.

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Scientists identify new gene that influences survival in ALS

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Public release date: 26-Aug-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jim Fessenden james.fessenden@umassmed.edu 508-856-2000 University of Massachusetts Medical School

WORCESTER, MA A team of scientists, including faculty at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS), have discovered a gene that influences survival time in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease). The study, published today in Nature Medicine, describes how the loss of activity of a receptor called EphA4 substantially extends the lifespan of people with the disease. When coupled with a UMMS study published last month in Nature identifying a new ALS gene (profilin-1) that also works in conjunction with EphA4, these findings point to a new molecular pathway in neurons that is directly related to ALS susceptibility and severity.

"Taken together, these findings are particularly exciting because they suggest that suppression of EphA4 may be a new way to treat ALS," said Robert Brown, MD, DPhil, a co-author on the study and chair of neurology at UMass Medical School.

ALS is a progressive, neurodegenerative disorder affecting the motor neurons in the central nervous system. As motor neurons die, the brain's ability to send signals to the body's muscles is compromised. This leads to loss of voluntary muscle movement, paralysis and eventually respiratory failure. The cause of most cases of ALS is not known. Approximately 10 percent of cases are inherited. Though investigators at UMMS and elsewhere have identified several genes shown to cause inherited or familial ALS, almost 50 percent of these cases have an unknown genetic cause. There are no significant treatments for the disease.

Wim Robberecht, MD, PhD, lead investigator of the Nature Medicine study and a researcher at the University of Leuven in Belgium and the Vesalius Research Center, screened for genes in zebrafish that blunt the adverse effect of the ALS mutant gene SOD1. Through this process, his team identified EphA4 as an ALS modifier. Dr. Robberecht's team went on to show that when this gene is inactivated in mice with ALS, the mice live longer.

Dr. Robberecht then turned to UMass Medical School to confirm that turning off EphA4 in human ALS cells would slow the progression of the disease. Dr. Brown and his team identified two human ALS cases with mutations in the EphA4 gene which, like the zebrafish and the mice, had unusually long survival times. This suggests that blocking EphA4 in patients with ALS may be a potential therapeutic target in the future.

In an exciting, related development, a new ALS gene (profilin-1) identified last month by UMMS scientists works in conjunction with EphA4 in neurons to control outgrowth of motor nerve terminals. In effect, gene variants at both the top and the bottom of the same signaling pathway are shown to effect ALS progression. Together these discoveries highlight a new molecular pathway in neurons that is directly related to ALS susceptibility and severity and suggests that other components of the pathway may be implicated in ALS.

"It is exciting that these two studies identify the same pathway in ALS," said John Landers, PhD, associate professor of neurology and lead author of the PFN1 study. "Hopefully this discovery will accelerate efforts to finding a treatment for ALS."

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Paul forecasts a libertarian storm brewing

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TAMPA, Fla. Rep. Ron Paul rewarded thousands of his presidential campaign supporters with a rally here Sunday, vowing that with their help, his small government, anti-war libertarian message will continue after he retires no matter who occupies the White House come January.

Introduced by Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, his son and the would-be heir apparent to the political movement headed by the 77-year-old congressman from Texas, Mr. Paul took the stage at the Sun Dome at the University of South Florida to an ovation so long and so thunderous that he was temporarily at a loss for words.

Is there anything left for me to say? he asked the crowd wryly.

But he went on to tell them that his cause of liberty was bigger than any convention, or even any election and that the Republican big tent eventually wouldnt matter.

We will get into the tent, believe me, he said. Because we will become the tent, eventually.

Mr. Paul trotted out his various policy emphases abolishing the Federal Reserve, scaling back the countrys military spending and repealing the provision in the National Defense Authorization Act allowing for the indefinite detention of terrorist suspects without trial, for example before sending off his supporters with both gratitude and a call to arms.

The worst thing we can do is remain silent, he said. I have been taught, and Ive been convinced, that patriotism is that [loyalty] that permits us as a free society to criticize our own government when theyre wrong.

Mr. Paul noted that he visited more than 30 college campuses during the campaign a testament to his popularity among young people as well as old.

Weve come so far in this fight for liberty, said Ashley Ryan, 21, a Republican National Committee member from Maine and the youngest delegate to this years GOP convention. You can truly say this is a revolution.

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Paul forecasts a libertarian storm brewing

US' islands stance opposed

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China is firmly opposed to the US' stance that the Diaoyu Islands fall within the scope of the US-Japan security treaty, under which Washington would provide assistance if Tokyo's territories came under an armed attack, a senior Chinese military official told his US counterparts on Friday.

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US' islands stance opposed

PM to visit Cook Islands for Pacific Islands Forum

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Prime Minister John Key will lead the New Zealand delegation to the

43rd Pacific Islands Forum in the Cook Islands this week.

"The Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting is an opportunity

for the region to come together and work on the issues we jointly

face," says Mr Key.

"It is also a chance to put the Pacific on the international agenda

and meet with partners from outside the region."

New Zealand hosted the 2011 Forum in Auckland, and this year Mr Key

will formally hand over the chairing of the Forum to Cook Islands

Prime Minister Henry Puna.

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PM to visit Cook Islands for Pacific Islands Forum

Mitt Romney embraces his Massachusetts health care law

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By Ginger Gibson and Darren Samuelsohn, POLITICO Ginger GibsonDarren SamuelsohnTampa Bay Times In Print: Monday, August 27, 2012

On the eve of the Republican convention in Tampa, Mitt Romney abruptly embraced his Massachusetts health care law Sunday in response to President Barack Obama's attacks that Republicans have declared a 'war on women.' "

"I'm the guy who was able to get all the health care for all the women and men for my state," Romney said in an interview aired on Fox News Sunday. "They were talking about it at the federal level. We actually did something and we did it without cutting Medicare and without raising taxes."

Romney added that he was "very proud" of his signature on the 2006 law when he was governor of Massachusetts while charging that Obama would cut more than $700 million from Medicare to pay for his health care overhaul. During the Republican primary and for much of the general election, Romney has all but ignored his health care bill and has instead emphasized that he would repeal the Affordable Care Act if he were elected.

But as the November election approaches, Romney and senior campaign aides have begun mentioning his Massachusetts reforms with more frequency and enthusiasm.

"Romney has a Hobson's choice: Obama will hit him if he distances himself on the Massachusetts plan, or, Obama will play up the plan as the basis for Obamacare if Romney owns it," GOP strategist Keith Appell said.

"What's important for Romney to do is maintain what he has promised conservatives: that he will repeal Obamacare on Day One of his presidency. And all conservatives in Congress and at the grass roots level need to hold his feet to the fire on that. If he wins and the Republicans control Congress, he has to repeal Obamacare immediately if he wants things to go smoothly from that point forward."

On Thursday, Romney also mentioned the health care law in an interview with a Denver television station. He pointed out that his plan didn't raise taxes.

On Aug. 8, spokeswoman Andrea Saul evoked the law in a Fox News appearance, saying "if people had been in Massachusetts, under Gov. Romney's health care plan, they would have had health care." There was a backlash from conservative pundits who saw their fears that he was moving to center realized.

Saul used the law as a defense to a blistering ad aired by an Obama-allied super PAC accusing Romney for being responsible for the death of a man's wife who died after he lost his job at a Bain-controlled company. Saul said if the couple had lived in Massachusetts, they would have had health care coverage.

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Mitt Romney embraces his Massachusetts health care law

Travel fundraising for Mass. Gov. Patrick tops $1M

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BOSTONHealth care officials, financial industry executives and labor unions are pumping hundreds of thousands of dollars into a political action committee that Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick set up to pay for his travels on behalf of President Barack Obama's re-election campaign.

Patrick's Together PAC raised $455,500 from April 1 through the end of June, according to a campaign finance reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.

That brings the PAC's fundraising total to nearly $1.3 million since Patrick formed it last year. The committee ended June with $674,700 left in its account, having already spent $609,900.

The goal of the PAC was to raise money to pay for Patrick's travels and other activities for Obama and the national Democratic Party.

Among those contributing to Patrick's PAC during the most recent reporting period were former U.S. Attorney Wayne Budd and his wife, Jacqueline ($6,000); Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce President Paul Guzzi ($3,000); Stacey Lucchino, wife of Red Sox President Larry Lucchino ($5,000); and Boston attorney Thomas Kiley ($500), whose clients include former House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi.

Also donating to Patrick's PAC was Cape Wind President James Gordon, who gave $5,000. Patrick has been a vocal advocate for both land-based and offshore wind power including Cape Wind, which aims to be the nation's first offshore wind farm.

Patrick also received contributions from the 1199 Service Employees International Union PAC ($5,000) and the Laborers' International Union of North America ($5,000).

Alex Goldstein, the Together PAC's executive director, said Patrick's political activities are separate from his day job as governor.

"Contributions have absolutely no bearing whatsoever on administration policies," Goldstein said.

Patrick also received $5,000 contributions from top executives at health care organizations like Steward Health Care, Partners Health Care, Shields Health Care Group and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

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Travel fundraising for Mass. Gov. Patrick tops $1M

Wild Things Rally Past Freedom, Avoid Sweep

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August 26, 2012 - Frontier League (FL) Florence Freedom Florence, KY - The Washington Wild Things(39-51) won a seesaw affair over the Florence Freedom (51-39) Sunday night to avoid a three game sweep by the score of 7-5.

There were three ties at 1-1, 3-3, and 5-5 however it was Washington getting a clutch hit in the 9th to give them the win.

The Freedom took an early 1-0 lead in the 1st inning on a Peter Fatse SAC fly. Washington matched the Freedom with a solo homerun from Mark Samuelson.

The Wild Things then took a 2-1 lead in the 3rd on an RBI single by Gus Benusa. They stretched the lead to 3-1 on another Samuelson solo homer in the 4th.

The Freedom's Junior Arrojo then tied the game in the 5th with his two run homerun, his second homer of the series and his fifth of the season.

The Freedom retook the lead in the 6th with a two out two run double by David Harris.

With the Freedom leading 5-3 in the 7th, the Wild Things began to chip away at the Freedom bullpen. AJ Nunziato delivered a SAC fly to cut the lead to 5-4. Then in the 8th, Samuelson provided a SAC fly to tie the game at 5-5.

With the game on the line in the 9th, with two runners aboard it was Samuelson again delivering the blow. He lined a two run single over first baseman Drew Rundle to give the Wild Things a 7-5 lead. Samuelson went 3-5 against his former team with two homers and had 5 RBI's.

The Freedom attempted to rally in the 9th against closer Orlando Santos. Fatse drew a two out walk, but Eddie Rodriguez struck out swinging to end the ballgame.

Jhonny Montoya (3-3) earned the win out of Washington's bullpen pitching 2.2 innings of scoreless baseball. Ian Durham (1-2) suffered the loss as Santos notched his 10th save.

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Wild Things Rally Past Freedom, Avoid Sweep

Freedom bid for ’88 cop killers

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Four imprisoned fiends convicted in the 1988 assassination of rookie NYPD cop Edward Byrne are set to appear before their parole boards for the first time this fall to seek their freedom, The Post has learned.

The quartet of craven killers Philip Copeland, Scott Cobb, Todd Scott and David McClary shot Byrne, a 103rd Precinct patrol cop, on Feb. 26, 1988, inside his marked patrol car in Jamaica, Queens.

The thugs shot the 22-year-old Byrne five times in the head in exchange for $8,000 in blood money from their drug boss, who had been busted by officers a day earlier and offered the dough to anyone who killed a cop in retaliation.

Edward Byrne

Byrnes death made national headlines as a stark reminder of the surging tide of urban violence often associated with the distribution of crack cocaine and became a defining moment in the citys war on crime.

The crimes brutality led President Ronald Reagan to call the family to express his condolences and Vice President George H.W. Bush to carry the slain officers NYPD badge with him on the campaign trail.

Edward Byrnes merciless assassins should leave prison only in coffins, Patrolmens Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch told The Post recently, referring to the cons bid at freedom.

Carole Weaver, a spokeswoman for the state Division of Parole, said that beginning in November, each of the convicts will undergo separate interviews with parole-board commissioners at the prisons where they are now inmates.

The Byrne family have been told to show up on the morning of Oct. 5 at the West 40th Street offices of the state Division of Parole to provide victim impact statements about the pending parole bids, sources said.

Lawrence Byrne, a lawyer who is the slain officers brother, did not return calls for comment.

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'Cyborg' tissues: Merging engineered human tissues with bio-compatible nanoscale wires

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ScienceDaily (Aug. 26, 2012) Harvard scientists have, for the first, time created a type of "cyborg" tissue by embedding a three-dimensional network of functional, bio-compatible nanoscale wires into engineered human tissues.

As described in a paper published August 26 in Nature Materials, a multi-institutional research team led by Charles M. Lieber, the Mark Hyman, Jr. Professor of Chemistry at Harvard and Daniel Kohane, a Harvard Medical School professor in the Department of Anesthesia at Children's Hospital Boston developed a system for creating nanoscale "scaffolds" which could be seeded with cells which later grew into tissue.

Also contributing to the work were Robert Langer, from the Koch Institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Zhigang Suo, the Allen E. and Marilyn M. Puckett Professor of Mechanics and Materials at Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

"The current methods we have for monitoring or interacting with living systems are limited," said Lieber. "We can use electrodes to measure activity in cells or tissue, but that damages them. With this technology, for the first time, we can work at the same scale as the unit of biological system without interrupting it. Ultimately, this is about merging tissue with electronics in a way that it becomes difficult to determine where the tissue ends and the electronics begin."

The research addresses a concern that has long been associated with work on bioengineered tissue -- how to create systems capable of sensing chemical or electrical changes in the tissue after it has been grown and implanted. The system might also represent a solution to researchers' struggles in developing methods to directly stimulate engineered tissues and measure cellular reactions.

"In the body, the autonomic nervous system keeps track of pH, chemistry, oxygen and other factors, and triggers responses as needed," Kohane explained. "We need to be able to mimic the kind of intrinsic feedback loops the body has evolved in order to maintain fine control at the cellular and tissue level."

Using the autonomic nervous system as inspiration, Bozhi Tian, a former doctoral student under Lieber and former postdoctoral fellow in the Kohane and Langer labs, and collaborator Jia Liu worked in Lieber's lab at Harvard to build mesh-like networks of nanoscale silicon wires -- about 30 -- 80 nm in diameter -- shaped like flat planes or in a reticular conformation.

The process of building the networks, Lieber said, is similar to that used to etch microchips.

Beginning with a two-dimensional substrate, researchers laid out a mesh of organic polymer around nanoscale wires, which serve as the critical nanoscale sensing elements. Nanoscale electrodes, which connect the nanowire elements, were then built within the mesh to enable nanowire transistors to measure the activity in cells without damaging them. Once complete, the substrate was dissolved, leaving researchers with a net-like sponge or a mesh that can be folded or rolled into a host of three dimensional shapes.

Once complete, the networks were porous enough to allow the team to seed them with cells and encourage those cells to grow in 3D cultures.

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'Cyborg' tissues: Merging engineered human tissues with bio-compatible nanoscale wires

PH beaches among the ‘best’ in the world but have no accredited lifeguards

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By Jerry E. Esplanada Philippine Daily Inquirer

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines Several prestigious foreign travel publications like Travel + Leisure Magazine have reaffirmed the Philippines fame as having some of the best beaches in the world.

However, lifeguards manning those beaches have not been accredited in compliance with the law.

More than two years after Republic Act No. 9993, or the Philippine Coast Guard Act of 2009 was signed into law, not a single lifeguard in the country has been certified by the PCG as required by the new PCG law.

When contacted, Lt. Cmdr. Armand Balilo, PCG spokesman, acknowledged that RA 9993 mandates the Coast Guard to regulate safety in beaches nationwide, through the issuance of lifeguard certificates, among other functions.

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PH beaches among the ‘best’ in the world but have no accredited lifeguards

PH beaches ranked among ‘best’ but still no accredited lifeguards

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Cebu Daily News

MANILA Several prestigious foreign travel publications like Travel + Leisure Magazine have reaffirmed the Philippines fame as having some of the best beaches in the world.

However, lifeguards manning those beaches have not been accredited in compliance with the law.

More than two years after Republic Act No. 9993, or the Philippine Coast Guard Act of 2009 was signed into law, not a single lifeguard in the country has been certified by the PCG as required by the new PCG law.

When contacted, Lt. Cmdr. Armand Balilo, PCG spokesman, acknowledged that RA 9993 mandates the Coast Guard to regulate safety in beaches nationwide, through the issuance of lifeguard certificates, among other functions.

However, Balilo admitted that PCG, a Department of Transportation and Communications-attached agency, is still finalizing the guidelines covering the issuance of lifeguard certificates.

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PH beaches ranked among ‘best’ but still no accredited lifeguards

Author makes astronomy accessible to the visually and hearing impaired

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Sunday, August 26, 2012 9:14 PM EDT

By ROBERT STORACE STAFF WRITER

They said the show was awful, said Grice, 49. It caught me off guard. I didnt realize astronomy was not accessible until that group pointed it out to me.

From that moment in Boston, Grice has been on a mission to make astronomy accessible to everyone including the hearing and visually impaired, those with mobile impairments and neurological disorders. She went on to write five tactile books all touchable about astronomy for the visually impaired. Her book Touch the Universe was the first book in braille ever on Amazon.com.

Last month, Grice, who was raised in Walden, Mass., published her sixth book: Everyones Universe: Second Edition as a guide for educators to better teach those with impairments and disabilities about astronomy. The book is $27.95 and as available at Barnes & Noble in Farmington and at Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com.

The first half of her 336-page book deals with how educators can better communicate with their students. For example, there is a section on working with the visually impaired. Grice notes there are several things educators can do to help that part of the population learn about the world of astronomy, which is the study of places beyond the earth, such as stars, planets and moons.

I write about how to pictorially describe images available through the telescope and ways to provide a tactile tour of the telescope, she said. I also explain how to enlarge images from the telescope to the monitor, which will make it more accessible for someone with low vision.

She also worked with the American School for the Deaf in West Hartford in offering educators ideas on how to better teach the hearing impaired about astronomy.

The second half of the book is a guide to accessible astronomy destinations. There are none in central Connecticut and the closest one is at the Western Connecticut State University Observatory Planetarium in Danbury, she said.

They have tactile images available to accompany planetarium shows, she noted.

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Author makes astronomy accessible to the visually and hearing impaired