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Otolaryngologist to join cadaver workshop at CDA Presents – CDA (California Dental Association)

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A popular workshop at CDA Presents The Art and Science of Dentistry that uses cone beam computed tomography to preview and identify head and neck anatomy prior to and during dissection will return to the San Francisco convention this fall with an added element. Joining Homayon Asadi, DDS, and David Hatcher, DDS, as a lecturer will be Nancy Appelblatt, MD.

Appelblatt, an otolaryngologist, has had an abiding interest in sleep and sleep-disordered breathing since the early 1990s and has lectured extensively on sleep-disordered breathing in the U.S. She will bring to the hands-on workshop her perspective and expertise, allowing for a new focus on temporomandibular joint dysfunction and airway-related anatomy and disorders.

We learn so much from cone beam in terms of the anatomy that I deal with, and cross-culturally with the dentist, that its turned out to be very fruitful to look at things from a circumferential point of view, said Appelblatt, who attended the CDA Presents Anaheim workshop in order to plan her participation as a lecturer at the San Francisco workshop. Although Appelblatt attended in an unofficial capacity, she occasionally contributed to the discussion, and Hatcher observed the value her clinical perspective added to the course.

Today I noticed we were really able to put the anatomy in clinical context a little better than we did before, Hatcher said. Every time we came upon a piece of anatomy we talked about the clinical correlations of that anatomy, including some of the red flags and areas of concern. For example, anatomic changes can occur when breathing changes over the years and these changes can be seen in some of the soft tissues. Its helpful to correlate those changes when looking at the anatomy and at normal or abnormal radiographs, Appelblatt said.

Workshop attendees, who work in pairs on a half-head cadaver, use real-time CBCT to examine the superficial and deep structures of the face, suprahyoid region, floor of the mouth, neurovascular pathways, masticatory musculature, paranasal sinuses and temporomandibular joint. Real-time computer vision navigation and CBCT are used to guide dissection.

Whereas previous iterations of this workshop, dating back to the inaugural course in fall 2016, concentrated on general head and neck dissection, the workshop this fall will be optimized for sleep medicine, sleep dentistry and TMD and airway issues. Hatcher plans to approach the course again from an imaging point of view the kinds of things we can sense using imaging, he said. As a physician who sees and treats patients, Appelblatt can help triage patients so that they receive the appropriate treatment once the diagnosis has been made, Hatcher said of her role in the workshop and dentistry in general. And Asadi is the anatomist the glue that puts this all together, Hatcher said. He loves anatomy, he loves to teach and hes good at it.

Dr. Asadi is engineering some very clever things here. Hes bringing together disparate experiences to focus on one problem. All of us (Asadi, Hatcher and Appelblatt) work with anatomy but through a different lens, Hatcher said. Hopefully, our combined experience and expertise make a good course.

Were all taking care of our patients and we all want the same thing, which is the best for each and every one of them, so from whatever point of view we come at this, we should talk about things more and thats whats going to happen, Appelblatt added.

Dental Sleep Medicine, Head and Neck, TMD and Airway Dissection and CBCT Cadaver Workshop is scheduled for 9 a.m. to noon, Thursday, Aug. 24, at CDA Presents San Francisco. The three-hour workshop offers 3.0 core units and will repeat at 1:30 p.m.

To learn more about this workshop, watch a video interview with David Hatcher, DDS, and Nancy Appelblatt, MD, on CDA's YouTube channel. Also see the CDA Presents Program that mailed with the June issue of the CDA Journal or view a PDF version of the program. Those who register online by July 25 can save more than 10 percent on this ticketed workshop.

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Otolaryngologist to join cadaver workshop at CDA Presents - CDA (California Dental Association)

CPS draws on psychology to motivate customers to cut energy use in new program – mySanAntonio.com

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By Samantha Ehlinger, Staff Writer

Photo: Courtesy CPS Energy /Courtesy CPS Energy

CPS draws on psychology to motivate customers to cut energy use in new program

CPS Energy is using behavioral science techniques, and some high-tech data analysis, in a new program that taps on deeply rooted psychological drives to reduce energy usage during peak times.

The pilot program will be rolled out to up to 100,000 customers this summer and uses data culled from the companys new smart meters to influence consumer behavior. The strategy itself is relatively simple: showing customers their energy consumption compared with their neighbors and letting their competitive instincts do the rest.

Plucking on their competitive spirit, you can get them to reduce their energy use, anywhere between 1 and 3 percent over the course of a year, said Neel Gulhar, a senior director of product strategy at Oracle Utilities. CPS has contracted with the company to run the program.

Oracle Utilities draws on behavioral science techniques to motivate the change. The most-used technique, according to Gulhar, is called normative comparison.

This is where you compare the energy use of a household to households that are like them, he said, later adding, Time and time again we find that if you use these different behavioral science techniques you can actually change behavior.

Competition is a deeply rooted instinct in human nature, a biological trait that evolved along with the basic need for survival, social psychologist Sander van der Linden at Cambridge University wrote in Psychology Today.

To find out how the program works, click here on ExpressNews.com.

sehlinger@express-news.net

Twitter: @samehlinger

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CPS draws on psychology to motivate customers to cut energy use in new program - mySanAntonio.com

Puma Biotechnology Inc (PBYI) Shares Bought by BB Biotech AG – The Cerbat Gem

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Morning Times
Puma Biotechnology Inc (PBYI) Shares Bought by BB Biotech AG
The Cerbat Gem
Puma Biotechnology logo BB Biotech AG boosted its position in shares of Puma Biotechnology Inc (NYSE:PBYI) by 1.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 245,616 shares of the biopharmaceutical ...
Puma Biotechnology, Inc. (NasdaqGS:PBYI) Company Valuation & Investor ReviewUnion Trade Journal
Puma Biotechnology (PBYI) Research Analysts' Weekly Ratings UpdatesBNB Daily (blog)
Puma Biotechnology Inc (PBYI) Earns Buy Rating from Stifel NicolausStock Observer
BBNS -Chaffey Breeze -Sports Perspectives -SEC.gov
all 22 news articles »

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Puma Biotechnology Inc (PBYI) Shares Bought by BB Biotech AG - The Cerbat Gem

Weike Wang’s ‘Chemistry’ charts a young woman’s toxic reaction to stress – Washington Post

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By Jamie Fisher By Jamie Fisher June 9

Weike Wangs Chemistry is the most assured novel about indecisiveness youll ever read. Consider its opening lines: The boy asks the girl a question. It is a question of marriage. Ask me again tomorrow, she says, and he says, Thats not how this works.

The boy is Eric; the girl, our narrator, goes unnamed. Both are graduate students in chemistry: He has just graduated; she has one year left. They have been together for four years, and their relationship has reached the point where whenever she invites friends over for dinner, they assume she will announce her engagement. But when Eric really does propose, she hovers, uncertain and unnerved.

Eric is cheerful, capable, from small-town Maryland. (The narrator wonders why he left a place where every ice-cream shop is called a creamery to work seventy-hour weeks in lab.) Their relationship is bashful and enormously endearing. He compliments her vials. When he gets the job offer hes been hoping for, he puts a doily on her head and dances her around the kitchen. So why wont she say yes?

The title Chemistry also, of course, alludes to love. But in Chinese the word for chemistry translates to the study of change. The novel is equally about the narrators slow self-transformation and her relationship with Eric. Both have arrived at a catalytic moment: the indecision each reaction faces before committing to its path.

[Yiyun Lis brave look at depression and the consoling power of literature]

Her best friend is a successful doctor, her lab mate miraculously efficient, and the narrator finds it difficult not to compare their careers with her own, which seems to have stalled. In high school she was an award-winning student. As an undergrad she became fascinated with synthetic organic chemistry, not quite anticipating that as a graduate student her job would require, say, repeating step No. 8 of a 24 step synthesis for months, just so I can get the yield up from 50 percent to 65.

Chemistry is narrated in a continual present tense, which, in conjunction with Wangs marvelous sense of timing and short, spare sections, can make the novel feel like a stand-up routine. (Compare the boy asks the girl a question to a classic setup like a horse walks into a bar.) Personal crises are interrupted, to great effect, with deadpan observations about crystal structures and the beaching patterns of whales. The spacing arrives like beats for applause.

But the present tense also suggests the extent to which the past is, for this narrator, an ongoing anxiety. Its hard for her not to contrast her immigrant parents phenomenal will unfavorably against her own. After all, her father made it from the backwaters of rural China to graduate school and America. The narrator explains, Such progress hes made in one generation that to progress beyond him, I feel as if I must leave America and colonize the moon.

Her parents expect nothing less. Growing up, her father instructs, Tell me the time in arc second per second or dont tell me at all. When she confesses to her mother that shes leaving graduate school, her mother screams, You are nothing to me without that degree.

Think small, the narrator counsels herself, think doable, think of something that might impress no one but will still let you graduate and find a job. But she cant think, she doesnt know what she wants, and if she cant decide, she may lose everything: Eric, her career, her self-worth.

Despite its humor, Chemistry is an emotionally devastating novel about being young today and working to the point of incapacity without knowing what you should really be doing and when you can stop. I finished the book and, after wiping myself off the floor, turned back to an early passage when the narrator asks her dog, What do you want from me? You must want something.

It doesnt.

Jamie Fisher is a freelance writer and Chinese-English translator.

Chemistry

By Weike Wang

Knopf. 211 pp. $24.95

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Weike Wang's 'Chemistry' charts a young woman's toxic reaction to stress - Washington Post

Chemistry camp bonds over food science – Herald & Review

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DECATUR Honeybees are smarter than people may realize.

They can do a dance to tell the others where they've found pollen. When the hive gets too populated, the queen takes a group and leaves to start a new colony, and the ones left behind know when their queen is gone and get busy choosing an egg to create into a new queen.

They also know when a person is afraid of them.

Chase Brown of Brown and Brown Farms in Warrensburg was the guest speaker at Millikin University's chemistry camp for high school students on Tuesday. The camp is a collaboration with the University of Illinois Extension and Richland Community College. It offers high school students hands-on research, lunches with food industry entrepreneurs like Brown, preparation for scholarship-ready science projects and a demonstration dinner to wind up the camp experience.

Brown has been a beekeeper, in addition to his other farm endeavors, for a few years.

MacArthur High School student Brian Spicer performs an experiment during the Millikin University High School Chemistry Camp at the Leighty-Tabor Science Center Tuesday.

I have an Amish friend who's had bees for years, Brown told the students. He said when he goes to the hive after a long day, when he's tired and stressed, he always gets stung. If he goes on a Saturday morning, with a cup of coffee, when he's relaxed, they never sting him.

Brown likes catching wild swarms of bees for his hives because they're already in search of a new hive and already acclimated to Illinois winters, he said. A swarm of bees on a table or tree is most likely a group with their queen looking for new quarters. Before they left the old hive, they gorged on honey, so they'll be mellow and unlikely to sting.

Do you want to get in a fight right after Thanksgiving dinner? Brown asked the students, who laughed at the idea.

Honeybees are endangered, and while scientists are studying the problem, the reasons are still not clear what is killing them off. Brown said he urges people not to spray or kill a swarm, but to call someone like him to come to get them.

We want to know what's killing them so we can stop doing it, he said.

Farming is not what it once was, he told the students, not even for a family farm like his. His grandfather farmed that land before him, and he farms it with his father now, but farming has become big business.

A tractors costs $600,000, and the plow attachment costs $80,000, he said. A bag of seed corn, which will plant 2 acres, is $200. The amount of money the Browns have to borrow to get the crop in is astronomical, he said, and if the weather or markets don't cooperate, it can create a real financial bind.

Times have been good in recent years, with a profit remaining after harvest, but one effect of that is a surplus crop, which means that there's less demand, and prices fall.

The Brown farm is diversified, with cattle and rabbits raised for market, alfalfa to feed their own animals and to sell, corn and soybeans as other Illinois farms have, wheat, hogs, the bees and chickens. Their animals are not given antibiotics unless they're sick and not sold to market until the antibiotics have left their systems, and their food is non-GMO, even though GMOs would make things simpler for them, because consumers prefer it.

Farmers do a little bit of everything, Brown said: He's an agronomist, a botanist, a chemist, though his degree from Illinois State University is in animal nutrition.

Meeting Brown was a lesson in practical application of chemistry and science in general, and students at the camp are also learning some food science, said Garrett Trimble, 17, who is home-schooled. One of the things they are working on is taffy.

We're seeing the effect of the different type of butter on the finished product, Trimble said. With unsalted butter, it takes much less time to cook it because the boiling point is different. He plans to major in chemistry in college but hasn't yet decided what career path to pursue.

Hannah Flickinger, 16, who is also home-schooled, has not yet taken a chemistry course, but it's an interest of hers and she thought the camp would be a good chance to work in a lab and get a head start.

It's a new thing I wanted to try because I'm taking dual-credit classes at Richland (Community College), so I'm taking chemistry next year, and I thought it would be a fun start for that, she said. Anesthesiology is what I'm interested in for a job right now, and there's a lot of chemistry in that.

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Chemistry camp bonds over food science - Herald & Review

Irvington MS student to head to DC for chemistry competition – The Journal News | LoHud.com

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Henry Demarest, an eighth grader at Irvington Middle School, qualified for the 2017 national You Be The Chemist challenge.(Photo: Submitted photo)

An eighth grader fromTarrytown is one of 42 finalists heading to the nation's capital for a national chemistry competition.

Henry Demarest, a student at Irvington Middle School, qualified for this year's You Be The Chemist challenge out of 55,000 middle school students from 40 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Ricowho participated atthe local and state levels.

Participants, who have to be in grades 5-8,had to prove their knowledge of chemistry by taking a series of timed tests and doing question-and-answer portions with thejudges. The final round takes place in Washington, D.C.

Students will competefor more than $20,000 in scholarship funds and prizes at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. on June 19.

The Chemical Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, oversees the competition.

Read or Share this story: http://www.lohud.com/story/news/education/2017/06/10/irvington-m-s-student-head-d-c-chemistry-competition/385177001/

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Irvington MS student to head to DC for chemistry competition - The Journal News | LoHud.com

Carotid Artery Gives Away Human Biological Age – Bioscience Technology

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Russian researchers have provided a new method of determining human biological age. The group hails from the Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russian Clinical Research Center for Gerontology, the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, and other prestigious research centers. The survey was carried out at the National Research Center for Preventive Medicine, as well as the Center for Gerontology. The article was published in the journal Aging. The researchers emphasize determining biological age will play a major role in the development of anti-aging medicine.

Biological age is a concept used to describe the state of a human organism. An average healthy individual has their biological age no different from their chronological age, i.e., the age on their ID. However, with age, these two indicators are likely to become mismatched due to different reasons: environmental factors, bad habits, manifestations of hereditary diseases, etc. So far, there is no established method of predicting biological age. Both medical and scientific researchers are looking for a marker that could accurately and consistently reflect if not the general state of the body then at least that of its systems.

The study is based on a combination of carotid ultrasound and tonometry data. Using machine learning, a model was developed capable of determining the biological age of healthy men and women with a mean absolute error of 6.9 and 5.9 years, respectively. The test set also included subjects with hypertension and Type 2 diabetes, whose biological age turned out to be, on average, three years greater than their actual age.

"Researchers have been trying to find a means to estimate human biological age for decades. The most accurate of the existing techniques are based on DNA analysis (the so-called "epigenetic clock") and can predict human age with the median error of three years. However, they require expensive equipment and skilled laboratory personnel, which is the reason why they are still not widely used in medical practice. Our method relies on a type of patient-related data any modern health care facility can obtain," says Alexey Moskalev, who heads the Laboratory of the Genetics of Aging and Longevity at MIPT's Center for Living Systems.

In their study, the authors relied on information about the cardiovascular system, namely, a set of predictors, all of which reflect its functioning: minimum middle layer thickness of the carotid artery tissue, pulse wave velocity, carotid artery diameter (the degree of stenosis), and augmentation index (the difference between the second and first pressure peaks in a pulse wave). Individually, all of them are established markers used for diagnosing atherosclerosis, hypertension, calcinosis, diabetes, and other conditions. The choice was made after performing a correlation analysis, which is a technique used to measure the association between variables.

The main result of the study is that a model (a formula) has been developed in which biological age is derived from the four clinical parameters stated above. Coefficients for each of the parameters were calculated using machine learning, namely robust regression. For this study, a total of 303 subjects (199 women and 104 men) were selected, their age varied from 23 to 91. All of them had visited the National Research Center for Preventive Medicine in Moscow, Russia, back in 2012. Robust regression analysis provides an alternative to the least squares method, which we remember well from school. It is essentially an attempt to approximate the observed dependence using a formula. In other words, the method seeks to pick the variables in a formula so as to make sure the resulting curve fits experimental data. There are, however, certain fundamental differences between the two alternatives which make robust regression preferable. Machine learning methods have long been used to evaluate biological age. Recent years have seen a rise in popularity of deep neural networks, which enable researchers to build high-accuracy models. And yet their application is not always justifiable as they, among other things, require a large number of tests and parameters, which is not always feasible in clinical practice.

Alexander Fedintsev, a bioinformatics specialist from the Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology of RAS, the first author of the article, clarifies: "We used nonlinear robust regression, since it does not rely on a priori assumptions of the distribution of the dependent variable and therefore is robust to outliers. Since the number of factors is limited, the model can be taught using a relatively small amount of data. In addition to being fairly accurate, it also provides an easy interpretation of the results: We can tell for sure how the predicted age will change if the measured parameters are varied. It is worth noting, though, that qualitative data was at the heart of this research. Thanks to a large database with a variety of biomarkers, we managed to select the most important factors, which helped us maintain a low error rate while predicting age despite the fact that we were using a rather simple and compact model."

To test the validity of the new method, the researchers compared their biological age estimates with the data obtained through other techniques for evaluating the state of an organism. Correlation of predicted biological age with Framingham CVD Prediction Scores -- an algorithm which estimates a patient's risk of developing cardiovascular disease and is not based on carotid ultrasound imaging -- exceeded that with chronological age. Also, the method was compared with other data processing techniques: The findings were contrasted with those obtained using the Klemera-Doubal statistical method. Again, correlation with biological age exceeded that with chronological age.

Olga Tkacheva, director of Russian Clinical Research Center for Gerontology, who co-authored the article, comments: "Since we used cardiovascular system as our only source of information, additional research that would consider other factors is necessary to refine biological age estimates. However, recent research has shown that the relationship between the state of blood vessels and biological age appears to be even stronger than between the state of blood vessels and chemical composition of blood."

Considering that according to WHO statistics heart disease is the leading age-related cause of death, it seems only natural to claim that the technique developed by the researchers is an effective means of determining biological age. The possibility of doing it rapidly and accurately is indeed crucial to the success of the battle against aging.

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Carotid Artery Gives Away Human Biological Age - Bioscience Technology

Former Minnesota Vikings RB Adrian Peterson repeating his big claims of longevity, success – Scout

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Adrian Peterson is repeating his legendary big claims of playing for years and setting records to a fresh audience in New Orleans.

Everything old is new again for former Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson.

For those of us familiar with the unrealistic athletic psyche of Peterson, weve heard these refrains before.

My goal is to rush for 2,500 yards.

I can play until Im 40.

I dont pay attention to the outside noise about age.

All of them have been part of the Peterson presentation for the last several years and, to his credit, when people have counted him out prematurely, he has shoved their negativity right down their throats with aggression.

Coming off his Christmas Eve ligament shredding in 2011, the conventional wisdom was that even elite players dont recover from that kind of injury.

Peterson proved them wrong, coming within a couple more carries of setting the all-time single-season rushing record. His detractors had nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.

When he was shut down in 2014 while litigating child abuse charges, Peterson was again dismissed as never being his dominant self again driven by the 24/7 nature of sports these days with no accountability to defend your short-term hot takes. It can be argued he showed up at Vikings OTAs only after being summarily disrespected by the leagues Top 100 NFL Network projection for players voted on by fellow players that put Peterson behind journeyman RB Justin Forsett.

http://www.scout.com/nfl/vikings/story/1783859-hodges-mismatch-uncertain...

Coincidence? Dont bet on it.

The claims of longevity combined with production have surfaced again.

Its a good number, the 32-year-old Peterson saidwhen asked about playing five more years. Approaching 40.

As he has gotten older and has to work harder behind the scenes to maintain his athletic dominance, Peterson has spit in the eye of Father Time. What has applied to just about everyone else, doesnt apply to A.D.

All Day means all day.

Id be lying to you say it doesnt give you a chip [on your shoulder]. Especially being a competitor," Peterson said, according to the New Orleans Advocate. "Its not my main focus. Its something that drives you a little bit. After 30, because it was the same back then. Oh, hes 30. Then I ended up leading the league in 2015. Same thing the next year. Stuff will continue to repeat itself until I finish.

History will remember Peterson in the conversation as G.O.A.T. among running backs.

As one can presumably think, Paul Bunyan moved on from Minnesota. So did the stories associated with him tall tales that included some truth to them, but legends that are difficult to quantify.

In New Orleans, a city that is no stranger to larger-than-life characters, Petersons predictions and prognoses have found a new audience unfamiliar with the outrageous claims that have become so familiar to Vikings fans.

Welcome to the Big Easy, Adrian, where everything old is suddenly new again.

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Former Minnesota Vikings RB Adrian Peterson repeating his big claims of longevity, success - Scout

Want To Employ Behavioral Science For Good? Here's A Helpful Collection Of Ideas – Fast Company

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By Ben Paynter 3 minute Read

For social entrepreneurs and nonprofits seeking to make a dent in the worlds most vexing problems, figuring when and how to use behavioral science can be its own conundrum. While the field is all about creating simple nudgessubtle design cues (sometimes cascades of them) in products, interventions and even basic paperwork that encourage others to make socially good decisions in their own best interest, its not very user friendly for cause groups that might want to implement some of the techniques.

When the work is done right, more people, say, gain access to financial services that help them automatically save money, court summonses designed to ensure they stay out of jail, and academic encouragement that can boost graduation rates. But the industry as a whole is decentralized and jargon-y. Its hard to translate the mostly academic-speak into useful guidelines for how others in the field might use these ideas.

What weve done is brought out more of the details of each product design, so that somebody somewhere else can copy it. [Photo: Hollygraphic/iStock]Recognizing that, three of the sectors top nonprofit and educational playersIdeas42, Innovations for Poverty Action, and the Center for Health Incentives & Behavioral Economics at the University of Pennsylvaniahave joined forces to create a meta-nudge: The Behavioral Evidence Hub, an online public resource to share industry work more widely, and in a way that everyone can understand.

This came about because we started to see certain behavioral innovations that would come up time and again and they were pretty simple to implement, says Piyush Tantia the co-executive director at Ideas42.What weve done is brought out more of the details of each product design, so that somebody somewhere else can copy it.

Of course, the behaviors some groups may seek to modify can be pretty culturally specific. And the approach that aid groups take to do that may depend on how theyre set up to operate. So B-Hub is searchable by issue (criminal justice, environment, social inclusion, etc.), geography (both region or country-specific), and problem type (things like navigating a process or sustaining behaviors and forming habits). Its essentially a decision tree toward various solutions.

For instance, a University of Pennsylvania study about the power of plan-ahead prompts like postcards to increase the number of employees getting flu shots, shows the actual variations that a Midwest utility company mailed out. (Same thing for this text-based medication reminder study by IPA that improved the rate of malaria vaccinations in sub-Saharan Africa.) An Ideas42 effort to keep at-risk freshman enrolled at San Francisco State shows the actual student testimonial video that kicked things off, as well as all the surveys, supportive texts and emails that were used. Its all laid out with catchy charts and graphs, plus theres contact info for the researchers involved.

The site actively solicits other behavioral science practitioners to submit their own studies for review and, perhaps, inclusion. [Photo: Hollygraphic/iStock]Groups who visit the site can also compare their current practices against behaviorally optimized checklists to tweak current letter and email writing campaigns, how they might set up and operate in the field, or how complex multi-step processes actually get executed.

Ideas42, IPA, and CHIBE have also tapped other major field contributors like the Behavioral Insights Group at the Harvard Kennedy School, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and the U.K.s Financial Conduct Authority to chip in studies. The repository currently has over 60evidence-driven examples of whats worked, covering things like how to improve college retention, encourage saving, and improve the likelihood of people consistently taking medication or being vaccinated.

Crucially, the database doesnt just link to whats been previously published elsewhereeverything has been painstakingly reformatted to shares costs, challenges, impact, and results, and real-life examples of what the each nudge actually looked like.

So far though, B-Hub has been visited by people in over 90 countries. The site actively solicits other behavioral science practitioners to submit their own studies for review and, perhaps, inclusion.

This is not a static site. Its a growing tool for people, adds Manasee Desai, vice president at Ideas42, who notes that her group is already analyzing how people are engaging and considering ways to boost interactions. (One obvious missing feature? A discussion forum.) It is an innovation, which means theres no way we got it right the first time, adds Tantia.

Ben Paynter is a senior writer at Fast Company covering social impact, the future of philanthropy, and innovative food companies. His work has appeared in Wired, Bloomberg Businessweek, and the New York Times, among other places.

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Want To Employ Behavioral Science For Good? Here's A Helpful Collection Of Ideas - Fast Company

Living long and living well: Is it possible to do both? – Medical Xpress – Medical Xpress

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June 6, 2017 The roundworm, C. elegans, is a popular model in aging research because its short lifespan allows scientists to quickly assess the effects of anti-aging interventions, including genetic manipulation and drug therapies. Scientists at the MDI Biological Laboratory used C. elegans as a model to identify markers of healthy aging. The study will help scientists assess the tradeoffs between lifespan and health span in humans. Credit: MDI Biological Laboratory

Exactly when does old age begin? Which health markers best predict who will live a long and healthy life versus a life spent in poor health?

Developing metrics to help answer these questions and to understand the tradeoffs between lifespan and health span is the subject of a recent paper by MDI Biological Laboratory scientists in Journals of Gerontology: Biological Sciences, a publication of the Gerontological Society of America.

The authors studied various parameters of health in short-lived strains of the roundworm, C. elegans, with the goal of developing an empirical definition of the onset of old age, and of teasing out which health markers are most predictive of a long and healthy life.

With the development of new genetics tools, scientists are getting closer to developing therapies to extend human lifespan, but the effect of such therapies on health span (the proportion of life spent in good health) is unclear. While it used to be thought that therapies to extend lifespan would also extend health span, new research is showing that may not always be true.

The growing number of anti-aging therapies on the horizon creates a need for the development of new parameters to assess healthy aging. Instead of striving to only to prolong longevity, as has been the case in the past, the use of such tools will allow scientists to focus their efforts on lifespan-enhancing therapies with the greatest positive effects on health.

"All anti-aging interventions aren't created equal," said post-doctoral researcher Jarod Rollins, Ph.D., one of the study's lead investigators. "A recent study in C. elegans found, for instance, that the proportion of life spent in a frail state is longer in long-lived mutants than in wild-type animals. Our research is aimed at developing tools to help scientists assess the effect of lifespan-enhancing interventions on health span."

The molecular mechanisms of aging are a focus of research at the MDI Biological Laboratory, located in Bar Harbor, Maine, which is pioneering new approaches to regenerative medicine focused on the development of drugs to increase healthy lifespan by enhancing the body's innate ability to repair and regenerate lost or damaged tissues and organs.

Rollins works in the laboratory of Aric Rogers, Ph.D., the lead author of the study, in the institution's Kathryn W. Davis Center for Regenerative Biology and Medicine.

C. elegans is a popular model in aging research because its short lifespan of only two to three weeks allows scientists to quickly assess the effects of anti-aging interventions, including genetic manipulation and drug therapies. The tiny, soil-dwelling roundworm also has other advantages for research: it shares many of its genes with humans and its health markers roughly correspond to those in humans.

One marker that the MDI Biological Laboratory scientists found to be predictive of a healthy lifespan in C. elegans was movement speed. Movement speed corresponds to walking speed in humans, which studies have found to be an accurate predictor of longevity. One of the scientists' next steps will be to further develop movement speed as a marker for assessing the effect of anti-aging interventions in C. elegans.

"As science closes in on the mechanisms underlying aging, the tradeoffs between lifespan and health span become a greater cause for concern," said Kevin Strange, Ph.D., president of the MDI Biological Laboratory. "The scientists in the Rogers laboratory are at the forefront of developing metrics to assess the impact of anti-aging interventions on quality of life."

Explore further: Research sheds light on mechanisms underlying aging

More information: Jarod A. Rollins et al. Assessing Health Span in Caenorhabditis elegans: Lessons From Short-Lived Mutants, The Journals of Gerontology: Series A (2017). DOI: 10.1093/gerona/glw248

(Medical Xpress)A large team of researchers from the Netherlands, Italy and the U.S. has found a possible explanation for the injury and death to patients in a clinical trial held last year in France. In their paper published ...

(HealthDay)Exercise doesn't just trim your tummy. It may also improve bone thickness, boost bone quality, and whittle away the fat found inside bones, new animal research suggests.

Despite many studies looking at which bread is the healthiest, it is still not clear what effect bread and differences among bread types have on clinically relevant parameters and on the microbiome. In the journal Cell Metabolism ...

Yale scientists produced increased grooming behavior in mice that may model tics in Tourette syndrome and discovered these behaviors vanish when histaminea neurotransmitter most commonly associated with allergiesis ...

Some bodily activities, sleeping, for instance, mostly occur once every 24 hours; they follow a circadian rhythm. Other bodily functions, such as body temperature, cognitive performance and blood pressure, present an additional ...

Delivering drugs to the brain is no easy task. The blood-brain barrier -a protective sheath of tissue that shields the brain from harmful chemicals and invaders - cannot be penetrated by most therapeutics that are injected ...

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Living long and living well: Is it possible to do both? - Medical Xpress - Medical Xpress

Carotid Artery Gives Away Human Biological Age – Bioscience Technology

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Russian researchers have provided a new method of determining human biological age. The group hails from the Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russian Clinical Research Center for Gerontology, the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, and other prestigious research centers. The survey was carried out at the National Research Center for Preventive Medicine, as well as the Center for Gerontology. The article was published in the journal Aging. The researchers emphasize determining biological age will play a major role in the development of anti-aging medicine.

Biological age is a concept used to describe the state of a human organism. An average healthy individual has their biological age no different from their chronological age, i.e., the age on their ID. However, with age, these two indicators are likely to become mismatched due to different reasons: environmental factors, bad habits, manifestations of hereditary diseases, etc. So far, there is no established method of predicting biological age. Both medical and scientific researchers are looking for a marker that could accurately and consistently reflect if not the general state of the body then at least that of its systems.

The study is based on a combination of carotid ultrasound and tonometry data. Using machine learning, a model was developed capable of determining the biological age of healthy men and women with a mean absolute error of 6.9 and 5.9 years, respectively. The test set also included subjects with hypertension and Type 2 diabetes, whose biological age turned out to be, on average, three years greater than their actual age.

"Researchers have been trying to find a means to estimate human biological age for decades. The most accurate of the existing techniques are based on DNA analysis (the so-called "epigenetic clock") and can predict human age with the median error of three years. However, they require expensive equipment and skilled laboratory personnel, which is the reason why they are still not widely used in medical practice. Our method relies on a type of patient-related data any modern health care facility can obtain," says Alexey Moskalev, who heads the Laboratory of the Genetics of Aging and Longevity at MIPT's Center for Living Systems.

In their study, the authors relied on information about the cardiovascular system, namely, a set of predictors, all of which reflect its functioning: minimum middle layer thickness of the carotid artery tissue, pulse wave velocity, carotid artery diameter (the degree of stenosis), and augmentation index (the difference between the second and first pressure peaks in a pulse wave). Individually, all of them are established markers used for diagnosing atherosclerosis, hypertension, calcinosis, diabetes, and other conditions. The choice was made after performing a correlation analysis, which is a technique used to measure the association between variables.

The main result of the study is that a model (a formula) has been developed in which biological age is derived from the four clinical parameters stated above. Coefficients for each of the parameters were calculated using machine learning, namely robust regression. For this study, a total of 303 subjects (199 women and 104 men) were selected, their age varied from 23 to 91. All of them had visited the National Research Center for Preventive Medicine in Moscow, Russia, back in 2012. Robust regression analysis provides an alternative to the least squares method, which we remember well from school. It is essentially an attempt to approximate the observed dependence using a formula. In other words, the method seeks to pick the variables in a formula so as to make sure the resulting curve fits experimental data. There are, however, certain fundamental differences between the two alternatives which make robust regression preferable. Machine learning methods have long been used to evaluate biological age. Recent years have seen a rise in popularity of deep neural networks, which enable researchers to build high-accuracy models. And yet their application is not always justifiable as they, among other things, require a large number of tests and parameters, which is not always feasible in clinical practice.

Alexander Fedintsev, a bioinformatics specialist from the Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology of RAS, the first author of the article, clarifies: "We used nonlinear robust regression, since it does not rely on a priori assumptions of the distribution of the dependent variable and therefore is robust to outliers. Since the number of factors is limited, the model can be taught using a relatively small amount of data. In addition to being fairly accurate, it also provides an easy interpretation of the results: We can tell for sure how the predicted age will change if the measured parameters are varied. It is worth noting, though, that qualitative data was at the heart of this research. Thanks to a large database with a variety of biomarkers, we managed to select the most important factors, which helped us maintain a low error rate while predicting age despite the fact that we were using a rather simple and compact model."

To test the validity of the new method, the researchers compared their biological age estimates with the data obtained through other techniques for evaluating the state of an organism. Correlation of predicted biological age with Framingham CVD Prediction Scores -- an algorithm which estimates a patient's risk of developing cardiovascular disease and is not based on carotid ultrasound imaging -- exceeded that with chronological age. Also, the method was compared with other data processing techniques: The findings were contrasted with those obtained using the Klemera-Doubal statistical method. Again, correlation with biological age exceeded that with chronological age.

Olga Tkacheva, director of Russian Clinical Research Center for Gerontology, who co-authored the article, comments: "Since we used cardiovascular system as our only source of information, additional research that would consider other factors is necessary to refine biological age estimates. However, recent research has shown that the relationship between the state of blood vessels and biological age appears to be even stronger than between the state of blood vessels and chemical composition of blood."

Considering that according to WHO statistics heart disease is the leading age-related cause of death, it seems only natural to claim that the technique developed by the researchers is an effective means of determining biological age. The possibility of doing it rapidly and accurately is indeed crucial to the success of the battle against aging.

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Carotid Artery Gives Away Human Biological Age - Bioscience Technology

‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Firefighters Spinoff Probably Won’t Feature Original Cast Members – Moviefone

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Get ready to see some new faces in Seattle! The planned "Grey's Anatomy" spinoff revolving around firefighters is going to feature all-new characters.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, none of the current regulars on "Grey's Anatomy" are likely to move over to the spinoff. Fans had speculated that Jason George, who plays resident Ben Warren, might star in the spinoff, since he worked closely with firefighters in the season finale. But it seems Shonda Rhimes is opting to focus on new faces.

While the news of the spinoff came as a surprise during ABC's upfronts presentation to advertisers, it's been in the works for some time.

"he discussions have been going on for a while earlier than this season. It was up to Shonda to tell us when she had inspiration for something that made sense, which was pretty recent," ABC Studios president Patrick Moran told THR.

"We talked about the elements of 'Grey's Anatomy' that seem to resonate with the audience emotional storytelling, deep human connection, a high-stakes environment and strong and empowered women and those elements will carry over to the spinoff."

The firefighters project is the second spinoff of "Grey's Anatomy," after "Private Practice." And Rhimes has had other spinoff ideas, like one about Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd) and his history in the military.

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Harmonize conflicting regulations for genetically engineered plants and animals – Nature.com

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Gene-edited cattle such as these hornless cows may come under scrutiny by the US Food and Drug Administration.

In January this year, two US agencies proposed the first substantial overhaul in 30 years of how they regulate genetically altered crops and livestock. Some plant scientists expressed relief. Some animal researchers used more colourful language.

The proposals one to govern plants, the other to govern animals came to wildly different conclusions. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) suggests that many plants whose genomes have been altered by a single DNA letter change should not need approval before being released in the field. However, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) contends that animals whose genomes have been similarly changed might have to go through a rigorous evaluation before being released onto the market.

For the two agencies to evaluate the same problem and come to opposite conclusions is worrisome. The deadline for public comment is 19June researchers should seize this chance to push for a scientific and harmonized approach.

The USDA oversees the transport and release of plants that could pose a threat to the nations agricultural system. The agency used that remit to cover plants that have been genetically altered using molecular tools harvested from plant pathogens. A form of the bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens, for example, was often used to shuttle genes into plant genomes. But even as the regulations were being crafted, technology was marching ahead. Researchers developed ways to express foreign genes in plants without using a pest. By 2011, the USDA found itself unable to oversee a host of new crops because they were engineered by other techniques and could not be classified as potential plant pests.

The FDA, meanwhile, has co-opted regulations that are designed to govern the approval of animal drugs. FDA oversight is triggered by the genetic engineering of an animal (generally taken to mean the splicing together of DNA sequences from different sources). This has left researchers in industry and academia uncertain as to whether the FDA would regulate animals that have been developed using modern gene-editing techniques, which dont necessarily insert foreign DNA. Such techniques are already being used in the lab to develop disease-resistant pigs, among other animals. One company, Recombinetics of St Paul, Minnesota, which is hoping to bring its hornless dairy cattle to market, filed a notification to the FDA a month before the proposals were released.

Almost any gene-edited livestock could be encompassed by the FDAs regulations. Yet gene-edited plants would be regulated only if they are pests or noxious weeds.

It might be asking too much to demand complete consistency across agencies. USDA or FDA staffers are not free to conjure regulations as they see fit: they are also confined by agency-specific statutes. This is why some definitions differ, and some approaches such as treating the engineered genome of a goat as an animal drug do not seem intuitive.

Gene-editing and other technologies clearly pose a challenge for regulators. Legislative definitions can quickly expire with the next technological development. Regulators in Europe, for example, have been struggling for years to incorporate new technologies into their framework. Canada, which regulates its crops on the basis of their attributes rather than the process used to generate them, is one of the few countries with a system that is able to adapt to advances. Meanwhile, it is still hard to tell how consumers will view gene-edited foods when they reach the market.

For the two agencies to evaluate the same problem and come to opposite conclusions is worrisome.

But both the solutions proposed in the United States have the potential to err, albeit in opposite directions. Regulating all gene-edited animals may make little sense for a change that merely reproduces a DNA sequence found in nature, or that could be recreated by using chemicals to randomly mutate DNA. Conversely, waving through many edited crops could under-regulate some with the potential to alter agricultural ecosystems. For example, a herbicide-tolerant plant could lead to changes in spraying that generate herbicide-resistant weeds.

It is unclear whether or how President Donald Trumps appointees will influence the development of these regulations. But researchers should take the opportunity to be heard, to scrutinize proposed definitions, look for loopholes and suggest alternatives to reduce the likelihood that the regulations will soon become outdated. Above all, they should push for regulations that are consistent across agencies, with an emphasis on evaluating the risks posed by the final product. Some researchers may feel that simple gene edits, such as those that reproduce a naturally occurring mutation, deserve no scrutiny. Others may have reservations about those same products. Let all of those voices be heard or endure another 30 years of ill-fitting regulations.

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Harmonize conflicting regulations for genetically engineered plants and animals - Nature.com

FBI gets synthetic biology crash course at CSU – Source

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For one week in May, 11 agents and analysts from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation were on campus for an intensive training program spearheaded by one of the universitys preeminent biotechnologists. The goal: giving the law enforcement personnel foundational knowledge and insight into the rapidly evolving field of synthetic biology.

Jean Peccoud, the Abell Endowed Chair in Synthetic Biology in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, organized the session with the FBI. Peccoud is a computational and cell biologist whose research is in the development of novel DNA molecules, and improving the manufacture of bio-based drugs and vaccines.

At first glance, a relationship between synthetic biology researchers and the nations top law enforcement agency might seem incongruous. Consider, though, the rapid development of genetic engineering techniques over the last several years. The agents who visited campus were part of the FBIs Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate, whose purview includes preventing and responding to chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear incidents.

The WMD Directorate is working to build relationships with universities and industry partners to become educated on trends in biological research from the manufacture of living organism-based vaccines, to the synthesis of new genes in the lab, said William So, Policy and Program Specialist with the FBIs Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorates Biological Countermeasures Unit.

The emergence of big data within the life sciences, and the digitized stores of data that could be vulnerable to cyberattacks, has also pushed the agency to become better versed in these areas. Ultimately, the agency is charged with protecting such systems against terrorism, espionage, or the leaking of proprietary information.

The amount of research and information in the biotechnology fields is increasing exponentially, So said. Its important for us to have hands-on experience to better understand how biological experimentation occurs.

The workshop was the first of its kind at CSU; Peccoud previously led a scaled-down pilot workshop at his former university, Virginia Tech. The CSU workshop consisted of lectures on research trends by Peccoud and other CSU experts. It also included blocks of lab time for training participants to perform typical synthetic biology techniques, such as assembling DNA molecules.

For example, the trainees used Gibson Assembly to make DNA and transfer it to E. coli cells for manufacturing insulin. This lab work was led by Neil Adames, a research scientist in Peccouds lab.

This experiment gave the participants insight into a foundational method of producing biologic drugs within the pharmaceutical industry. It illustrated the aspirations of both scientists and DIYBio communities to engineer genes with powerful new properties.

Our motivation here is to help people working in the field to critically analyze information they are getting about breakthroughs and trends in biological engineering and research, Peccoud said. It is one thing to talk to scientists at conferences or read papers, but it is another to get hands-on training and to have an understanding of what certain concepts mean in practice.

Other activities included a talk about CRISPR and genome editing by University Distinguished Professor Jan Leach; a visit to the biochemistry protein purification facility; a tour of BioMARC, the universitys biologics manufacturing research facility; and an overview of CSUs biosafety policies led by Bob Ellis of the Office of the Vice President for Research.

Peccoud envisions the weeklong training to be offered regularly, and possibly to become available to other federal agencies and corporate partners

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FBI gets synthetic biology crash course at CSU - Source

Ecologists protest sudden end of NSF dissertation grants – Science Magazine

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NSF grants for doctoral dissertations have helped researchers address a wide range of questions, including how land use affects insects that pollinate economically important cotton plants.

By Jeffrey MervisJun. 9, 2017 , 1:00 PM

A grants program at the National Science Foundation (NSF) that has helped launch the careers of thousands of U.S. biologists and environmental scientists is ending after becoming a victim of its own popularity.

On 6 June, NSFs biology directorate shocked the scientific community by announcing it would no longer fund Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grants (DDIGs). The small awards help support work, typically field studies or large-scale data analyses, by students pursuinggraduate degrees. The agency said managing the program had become too labor intensive and was making it harder for program officers to do other parts of their job.

Biologys decision to pull out of the long-running programthe funding mechanism remains in place for students in the social and behavioral scienceshas raised a hue and cry throughout the ecological community. This program generates one of the greater returns on investment of anything NSF does, says Casey Dunn, an associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Brown University. His 2003 DDIG laid the groundwork for research that, 8 years later, helped him win NSFs top award for young scientists, and he now encourages his students to apply. They may be small amounts of money, but they can have an extraordinary impact on someones career.

In a letter yesterday to directorate officials, the 10,000-member Ecological Society of America, based in Washington, D.C., asks the Arlington, Virginiabased NSF to preserve the dissertation grants within biology and offers to help it find ways to reduce high workloads and meet changing program priorities. The letter highlights the multiple benefits of the dissertation grants: They not only allow graduate students to go beyond their advisers research expertise, but they also teach them important career skills, including how to write a grant proposal and manage a budget.

Senior managers in the biology directorate said they terminated the program reluctantly, with the hope that it will ease a growing workload on program officers in the two divisionsenvironmental biology (DEB) and integrated organismal systems (IOS)now offering them. At roughly $20,000 each, dissertation awards are much smaller than bread-and-butter research grants, which average $230,000 a year across the entire directorate. But they require the same level of scrutiny by NSFs vaunted peer-review system, meaning program officers must put in the same effort in selecting reviewers, running panels, and processing the paperwork for every grant thats made. In the last 2 years DEB has handed out nearly the same number of DDIGsas full awards, roughly 130 a year in each category.

The time needed to manage the DDIGs has impinged on the other things program officers are expected to do, say NSF senior managers, including staying abreast of developments in their field, developing new research initiatives, and remaining active scientists. Something had to give, they concluded, and the ax fell on DDIGs. Nobody doubts the value of this program, but it was a necessity, says Heinz Gert de Couet, head of IOS.

Despite their budget of less than $3 million a year, the biology DDIGs have made a remarkable impression on the community over the decades they have been awarded. Hopi Hoekstra, an evolutionary biologist at Harvard University, says that applying for a DDIG is practically a rite of passage in her lab. Ive had nine students who have had them, says Hoekstra, who boasts that at one point her lab enjoyed a 100% success rate in nabbing the awards.

She, too, is a former recipient. As a graduate student, she recalls, she explored the evolution of sex chromosomes in mammals while her adviser worked with birds. Although both were doing population genetics, she says, My project was completely independent of his work. A DDIG gives students the freedom to chart their own scientific path, says Hoekstra, who studies the genetic basis of adaptation in wild mice and other vertebrates, and thats a big part of what makes doing science so much fun, right?

Dunn worries that ending the DDIG program could have a negative impact across the entire field of biology. Now, when a student says to their adviser, I want to do this new thing that youre not doing, they can apply for a DDIG, he says. Its a chance to explore all the nooks and crannies, and who knows what they might discover. Without the program, the acorn will have to stay closer to the tree.

NSFs directorate for the social, behavioral, and economic (SBE) sciences has run a nearly identical program for decades and administrators remain pleased with the results. We think its a very sound investment, says Thomas Baerwald, a senior science adviser within SBEs division of behavioral and cognitive sciences. It has allowed us to support high-quality work, and we see top-notch papers appearing soon after the students complete their dissertation. Baerwald says that hes made grants to four generations of scientists in the 29 years hes worked at NSF, which he regards as testament to their lasting value.

With a fiscal storm brewingthe 2018 budget submitted last month by President Donald Trump proposes an 11.3% cut to NSFsome scientists have speculated that the biology directorate is battening down the hatches. But senior managers say the presidents budget request played no part in their decision. In a word, its a workload issue, says Paula Mabee, head of DEB.

At the same time, they acknowledge that the additional work stems in part from insufficient resources. The number of proposals in DEB has doubled over the last 10 years, and theres been no growth in staffing for more than 20 years, Mabee notes. Weve done all the streamlining we can do without compromising the quality of merit review.

NSFs abrupt announcement has left the ecological community scrambling to find a way to address the workload problem without sacrificing the dissertation grants. Its important for us to recognize the constraints on NSF and then think about how to step up, Dunn says. Maybe this is an opportunity to think about new strategies for reviewing across NSF.

One idea being floated would have professional societies manage the DDIG peer review through a grant from NSF, which would continue funding the actual dissertation projects. Youd need some type of NSF support, plus the collaboration of several major societies to ensure there would be sufficient breadth of scientific expertise to review all the relevant proposals, says Dean Adams, executive vice president of the 670-member Society of Systematic Biologists.

Adams, a professor of theoretical ecology at Iowa State University in Ames who studies phenotype variation in salamanders, says the society is still reeling from this weeks NSF announcement, but that he expects its governing council to discuss ideas for responding later this month. The need to preserve the grants should be obvious, he says, calling them one of the most cost-effective ways for NSF to foster the next generation of ecologists.

But Adams worries that losing the NSF imprimatur could reduce their value. The grants might take a hit in terms of prestige, he says. Right now its a huge feather in their cap for a student to get a DDIG.

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Ecologists protest sudden end of NSF dissertation grants - Science Magazine

Behavioral 'Nudges' Offer a Cost-Effective Policy Tool – Harvard Business School

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Governments around the world have increasingly turned to behavioral science to help address various policy problems new research shows that some of the best-known strategies derived from behavioral science, commonly referred to as nudges, may be extremely cost effective. The new study, which examined the cost-effectiveness of nudges and typical intervention strategies like financial incentives side-by-side, found that nudges often yield particularly high returns at a low cost when it comes to boosting retirement savings, college enrollment, energy conservation, and vaccination rates.

The findings are published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

The changes in behavior produced by nudges tend be quite cost effective relative to those produced by traditional policy tools so there is a big opportunity to use nudging more widely in government in conjunction with traditional policy tools, says Professor Katherine L. Milkman of The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, one of the authors of the new study.

Our findings show that its important to calculate and report the cost effectiveness of available policy tools, and not simply the impact of an intervention without an adjustment for cost, adds study co-author Professor John Beshears of Harvard Business School. This will facilitate wiser decisions by governments and other organizations regarding which policy tools to use under various circumstances.

Nudges which are now being tested and implemented by government agencies in the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, Singapore, and the United States diverge from traditional policy tools in that they encourage certain behaviors without restricting an individuals options or exacting financial penalties.

Read more about the findings in Psychological Science.

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New report: Social, behavioral, and economic sciences contribute to advancing NSF mission – Phys.Org

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June 9, 2017

The social, behavioral, and economic (SBE) sciences make significant contributions to the National Science Foundation's mission to advance health, prosperity and welfare, national defense, and progress in science, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. NSF should undertake a systematic and transparent strategic planning process that defines SBE research priorities, the required resources, and how success in addressing SBE priorities will be evaluated over time.

Although it is commendable that NSF consults with advisory groups and the broader scientific community to identify needs and opportunities in the SBE sciences, such as those outlined in its "Rebuilding the Mosaic" document, in the absence of a strategic plan, it is unclear how this input is combined and integrated in the agency's SBE research priorities.

"Nearly every major challenge the United States facesfrom alleviating unemployment to protecting itself from terrorismrequires understanding the causes and consequences of people's behavior," said Alan Leshner, chief executive officer emeritus, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and chair of the committee that conducted the study and wrote the report. "The diverse disciplines of the social, behavioral, and economic sciences produce fundamental knowledge and tools that provide a greater understanding of why people and societies respond the way they do, what they find important, and what they believe and valuewhich is critical for the country's well-being."

In addition, the understanding, tools, and methods provided by the SBE sciencesincluding research supported by the NSFprovide an essential foundation that helps other agencies achieve their missions, the report says. For example, NSF-supported research has provided valuable information about the patterns of behavior of hackers and the vulnerabilities of the nation's cyber networks. These analyses served as the foundation for the development of tools and applications that contribute to military capability in current conflicts and the prevention of future conflicts, as well as to efforts to combat terrorism, which are central to the missions of the U.S. Department of Defense, intelligence agencies, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The SBE sciences have also provided advances applicable to business and industry and enhanced the U.S. economy, the report says. For example, social science methods such as polling and forecasting are routinely used to inform consequential business decisions related to marketing, customer relations, and product development. In addition, the original version of the Google search engine resulted from a formula developed with NSF funding in the late 1990s. Researchers recognized that the decision to link pages to each other required conscious effort and the need to reflect human judgment about the significance of the link's destination, which led researchers to treat the collection of links as a network.

The NSF should continue to support the development of tools, methods, and research teams that can be used to advance the SBE sciences, facilitate interactions with other scientific fields, and help NSF and other agencies and organizations more effectively address important national needs. The report also includes recommendations for NSF to support training to prepare the next generation of scientists to be more data-intensive, interdisciplinary, and team-oriented, as well as to undertake more systematic efforts to communicate the results and value of the SBE research it supports and how NSF grants advance its mission.

The committee emphasized that it could not conduct an exhaustive review and analysis of all SBE research funded at the NSF in the time allotted, and as a result, the report does not claim that all SBE research serves the NSF mission or national needs.

Explore further: Federal agencies need to prepare for greater quantity, range of biotechnology products

Provided by: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

A profusion of biotechnology products is expected over the next five to 10 years, and the number and diversity of new products has the potential to overwhelm the U.S. regulatory system, says a new report from the National ...

The U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) has made significant accomplishments to advance the science of global environmental change and improve the understanding of its impact on society through activities such as ...

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The Mathematical Sciences in 2025, a new report from the National Research Council, finds that the mathematical sciences are an increasingly integral component of many disciplinesincluding biology, medicine, the social ...

Despite broad understanding of volcanoes, our ability to predict the timing, duration, type, size, and consequences of volcanic eruptions is limited, says a new report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and ...

As the nation discusses repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, the National Academy of Medicine today released a publication on crosscutting priorities that provides a succinct blueprint to address challenges to ...

(Phys.org)Online chemistry journal Synlett, which is published by Thieme, has tested the idea of intelligent crowd reviewing of scientific papers. The project was the brainchild of Benjamin List, a journal editor (and ...

(Phys.org)The transition from breastfeeding to a nonmilk diet is a developmental milestone, influencing future health and survival of mammals, including humans. Breast milk is highly beneficial to infants, conferring easily ...

Archaeologists have found that a 20-foot high mound in Slough, thought to be a Norman castle motte and for centuries the centrepiece of a bizarre Eton College ceremony, is actually a rare Saxon monument, built 1,500 years ...

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New report: Social, behavioral, and economic sciences contribute to advancing NSF mission - Phys.Org

Molecular Genetics – Cell and Gene Therapy Conferences

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Sessions/Tracks

Track 1:Molecular Biology

Molecular biologyis the study of molecular underpinnings of the processes ofreplication,transcription,translation, and cell function. Molecular biology concerns themolecularbasis ofbiologicalactivity between thebiomoleculesin various systems of acell,gene sequencingand this includes the interactions between theDNA,RNAand proteinsand theirbiosynthesis. Inmolecular biologythe researchers use specific techniques native to molecular biology, increasingly combine these techniques and ideas from thegeneticsandbiochemistry.

RelatedMolecular Biology Conferences| Genetics Conferences|Gene Therapy Conferences|Biotechnology Conferences| Immune Cell Therapy Conferences

2nd World Congress onHuman Genetics&Genetic Disorders, November 02-03, 2017 Toronto, Canada; 9th International Conference onGenomicsandPharmacogenomics, June 15-16, 2017 London, Uk; 6th International Conference and Exhibition onCellandGene Therapy, Mar 27-28, 2017 Madrid, Spain; Gordon Research Conference,Viruses&Cells, 14 - 19 May 2017, Lucca, Italy;Human Genome Meeting(HGM 2017), February 5-7 2017, Barcelona, Spain; Embl Conference:Mammalian GeneticsAndGenomics:From Molecular Mechanisms To Translational Applications, Heidelberg, Germany, October 24, 2017;GeneticandPhysiological Impacts of Transposable Elements, October 10, 2017, Heidelberg, Germany.

American Society for Cell Biology;The Society for Molecular Biology & Evolution;American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology;The Nigerian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology;Molecular Biology Association Search Form - CGAP.

Track 2:Gene Therapy and Genetic Engineering

Thegenetic engineeringis also called asgenetic modification. It is the direct manipulation of an organism'sofgenomeby usingbiotechnology. It is a set of technologies used to change the genetic makeup of the cell and including the transfer of genes across species boundaries to produce improved novelorganisms. Genesmay be removed, or "knocked out", using anuclease.Gene is targetinga different technique that useshomologousrecombinationto change anendogenous gene, and this can be used to delete a gene, removeexons, add a gene, or to introducegenetic mutations. There is an dna replacement therapy, Genetic engineering does not normally include traditional animal and plant breeding, gene sequencing, in vitro fertilization, induction of polyploidy,mutagenesisand cell fusion techniques that do not use recombinant nucleic acids or a genetically modified organism in the process,diseases treated with gene therapywas initially meant to introduce genes straight into human cells, focusing on diseases caused by single-gene defects, such as cystic fibrosis, hemophilia, muscular dystrophy and sickle cell anemia

RelatedMolecular Biology Conferences| Genetics Conferences|Gene Therapy Conferences|Biotechnology Conferences| Immune Cell Therapy Conferences

8thWorld Congress onMolecular Pathology, June 26-27, 2017 San Diego, USA; 11thInternational Conference onSurgical Pathology& Practice, March 27-28, 2017, MADRID, SPAIN; 13th EuropeanPathologyCongress, Aug 02-03, 2017, MILAN, ITALY; 28th Annual Meeting, Austrian Society ForHuman GeneticsAnd The Swiss Society OfMedical GeneticsCombined Meeting 2017 march 29, 2017 - March 31, 2017, bochum , Germany.

Association for Clinical Genetic Science;Genetics Society of America | GSA;Association of Genetic Technologists;Molecular Genetics - Human Genetics Society of Australasia;Genetic Engineering - Ecological Farming Association.

Track 3:Cell & Gene Therapy

Cell therapy is also calledcellular therapyorCyto therapy, in which cellular material is injected into patient this generally means intact, living cells. The first category iscell therapyin mainstream medicine. This is the subject of intense research and the basis of potential therapeutic benefit. Such research can be controversial when it involves human embryonic material. The second category is in alternative medicine, and perpetuates the practice of injecting animal materials in an attempt to cure disease.Gene therapyis the therapeutic delivery of nucleic acid polymers into a patient's cells as a drug to treat disease. Gene therapy is a way to fix agenetic problemat its source. The polymers are either translated into proteins, interfere with targetgene expression, or possibly correct genetic mutations. The most common form uses DNA that encodes a functional,therapeutic gene to replace a mutated gene. The polymer molecule is packaged within a "vector", which carries the molecule inside cells. Vectors used in gene therapy, the vector incorporates genes intochromosomes. The expressed nucleases then knock out and replace genes in the chromosome. The Center forCell and Gene Therapyconducts research into numerous diseases, including but not limited to PediatricCancer, HIV gliomaandCardiovascular disease.

RelatedMolecular Biology Conferences| Genetics Conferences|Gene Therapy Conferences|Biotechnology Conferences| Immune Cell Therapy Conferences

2nd World Congress onHuman Genetics&Genetic Disorders, November 02-03, 2017 Toronto, 27 Canada ; 7th International Conference onPlant Genomics, July 03-05, 2017, Bangkok, Thailand ; American Society ofGeneandCell Therapy(ASGCT) 20th Annual Meeting, 10 - 13 May 2017, Washington, DC;Genomic Medicine for Clinicians(course), January 25-27, 2017, Hinxton , Cambridge, UK; Embo Conference:ChromatinandEpigenetics, Heidelberg, Germany, May 3, 2017; 14th International Symposium on Variants in theGenomeSantiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain, June 5 - 8, 2017;

Genetics and Molecular Medicine - American Medical Association;Genetics Society of America / Gsa;British Society for Genetic Medicine;British Society for Gene and Cell Therapy; Australasian Gene Therapy Society.

Track 4:Cell Cancer Immunotherapy

Immunologydeals with the biological and biochemical basis for the body's defense against germs such as bacteria, virus and mycosis (fungal infections) as well as foreign agents such asbiological toxinsand environmental pollutants, and failures and malfunctions of these defense mechanisms. Cancer immunotherapy is the use of the immune system to treat cancer. Immunotherapies can be categorized as active, passive or hybrid (active and passive). Antibodies are proteins produced by the immune system that bind to a target antigen on the cell surface. The immune system normally uses them to fight pathogens. A type of biological therapy that uses substances to stimulate or suppress the immune system to help the body fight cancer, infection, and other diseases. Some types of immunotherapy only target certain cells of the immune system. Others affect the immune system in a general way. Types of immunotherapy include cytokines, vaccines, bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG), and some monoclonal antibodies.

RelatedMolecular Biology Conferences| Genetics Conferences|Gene Therapy Conferences|Biotechnology Conferences| Immune Cell Therapy Conferences

9thAnnual Meeting onImmunologyandImmunologist, July 03-05, 2017 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; 8th MolecularImmunology&ImmunogeneticsCongress, March 20-21, 2017 Rome, Italy; 8th EuropeanImmunologyConference, June 29-July 01, 2017 Madrid, Spain; July 03-05, 2017; B Cells and T Follicular Helper Cells Controlling Long-Lived Immunity (D2), April 2017, 2327, Whistler, British Columbia, Canada; Mononuclear Phagocytes in Health,Immune Defense and Disease, 304 May, Austin, Texas, USA;Modeling Viral Infections and ImmunityMAY 2017, 14, Estes Park, Colorado, USA; IntegratingMetabolism and Immunity(E4)292 June, Dublin, Ireland.

The American Association of Immunologists;Clinical Immunology Society ; Indian Immunology Society;IUIS - International Union of Immunological Societies;American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics.

Track 5:Clinical Genetics

Clinical geneticsis the practice of clinical medicine with particular attention tothe hereditary disorders. Referrals are made togenetics clinicsfor the variety of reasons, includingbirth defects,developmental delay,autism,epilepsy, and many others. In the United States, physicians who practice clinical genetics are accredited by theAmerican Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics(ABMGG).In order to become a board-certified practitioner of a Clinical Genetics, a physician must complete minimum of 24 months of his training in a program accredited by the ABMGG. Individual seeking acceptance intoclinical geneticstraining programs and should hold an M.D. or D.O. degree (or their equivalent)and he/she have completed a minimum of 24 months of their training in ACGME-accredited residency program internal medicine, pediatrics and gynecology or other medical specialty.

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Belgian Society OfHuman GeneticsMeeting 2017 february 17, 2017, Belgium; American College Of Medical Genetics 2017 AnnualClinical GeneticsMeeting march 21-25 2017, phoenix , United States; German Society Of Human Genetics 28th Annual Meeting, Austrian Society ForHuman GeneticsAnd The Swiss Society OfMedical GeneticsCombined Meeting 2017 march 29, 2017 - March 31, 2017, bochum , Germany; Spanish Society OfHuman GeneticsCongress 2017april 25, 2017 - April 28, 2017 madrid , Spain;

Clinical Genetics Associates;Clinical Genetics Society(CGS);The genetic associate;International Conference on Clinical and Medical Genetics;Association for Clinical Genetic Science;The American Society of Human Genetics.

Track 6:Pharmacogenetics

Pharmacogeneticsis the study of inherited genetic differences in drug metabolic pathways which can affect individual responses towards the drugs, both in their terms of therapeutic effect as well as adverse effects. In oncology, Pharmacogenetics historically is the study ofgerm line mutations(e.g., single-nucleotide polymorphisms affecting genes coding forliver enzymesresponsible for drug deposition and pharmacokinetics), whereaspharmacogenomicsrefers tosomatic mutationsin tumoral DNA leading to alteration in drug response.

RelatedMolecular Biology Conferences| Genetics Conferences|Gene Therapy Conferences|Biotechnology Conferences| Immune Cell Therapy Conferences

Spanish Society OfHuman GeneticsCongress 2017april 25, 2017 - April 28, 2017, madrid , Spain; 8th World Congress onPharmacology, August 07-09, 2017 Paris, France; World Congress onBio therapeutics, May 22-23, 2017, Mexico City, Mexico; 8th World Congress OnPharmacologyAndToxicology, July 24-26, 2017, Melbourne, Australia; German Society Of Human Genetics 28th Annual Meeting, Austrian Society ForHuman GeneticsAnd The Swiss Society OfMedical GeneticsCombined Meeting 2017march 29, 2017 - March 31, 2017 bochum , Germany.

Pharmacogenomics - American Medical Association;Associate Principal Scientist Clinical Pharmacogenetics;European Society of Pharmacogenomics and Personalised Therapy;Genome-wide association studies in pharmacogenomics.

Track 7:Molecular Genetic Pathology

Molecular genetic pathologyis an emerging discipline withinthe pathologywhich is focused in the study and diagnosis of disease through examination of molecules within the organs, tissues or body fluids. A key consideration is more accurate diagnosis is possible when the diagnosis is based on both morphologic changes in tissuestraditional anatomic pathologyand onmolecular testing. Molecular Genetic Pathology is commonly used in diagnosis of cancer and infectious diseases. Integration of "molecular pathology" and "epidemiology" led tointerdisciplinaryfield, termed "molecular pathological epidemiology" (MPE),which representsintegrative molecular biologicand population health science.

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8th World Congress OnMolecular Pathology, June 26-27, 2017 San Diego, USA; 11th International Conference OnSurgical Pathology& Practice, March 27-28, 2017, Madrid, Spain; 13th EuropeanPathologyCongress, Aug 02-03, 2017, Milan, Italy; Embl Conference:Mammalian GeneticsAndGenomics, Heidelberg, Germany, October 24, 2017; Embo|Embl Symposium: TheMobile Genome: Genetic And Physiological Impacts Of Transposable Elements, Heidelberg, Germany, October 10, 2017.

Clinical Pathology Associates Molecular Pathology; Association mapping Wikipedia;Association for Molecular Pathology(AMP);Molecular Pathology - Association of Clinical Pathologists;SELECTBIO - Molecular Pathology Association of India.

Track 8:Gene Mapping

Genomemappingis to place a collection of molecular markers onto their respective positions ongenome.Molecular markerscome in all forms. Genes can be viewed as one special type of genetic markers in construction ofgenome maps, and the map is mapped the same way as any other markers. The quality ofgenetic mapsis largely dependent upon the two factors, the number of genetic markers on the map and the size of themapping population. The two factors are interlinked, and as larger mapping population could increase the "resolution" of the maps and prevent the map being "saturated". Researchers begin a genetic map by collecting samples of blood or tissue from family members that carry a prominent disease or trait and family members that don't. Scientists then isolate DNA from the samples and closely examine it, looking for unique patterns in the DNA of the family members who do carry the disease that the DNA of those who don't carry the disease don't have. These unique molecular patterns in the DNA are referred to as polymorphisms, or markers.

RelatedMolecular Biology Conferences| Genetics Conferences|Gene Therapy Conferences|Biotechnology Conferences| Immune Cell Therapy Conferences

3rd WorldBio Summit&Expo, Abu Dhabi, UAE, June 19-21, 2017; 9th International Conference onGenomicsandPharmacogenomicsJune 15-16, 2017 London, Uk; Keystone Symposium: Mononuclear Phagocytes in Health,Immune DefenseandDisease, 304 May 2017, Austin, Texas, USA;Molecular Neurodegeneration(course) Hinxton, Cambridge, UK, January 9-14, 2017;

Association for Clinical Genetic Science;Genome-wide association study Wikipedia;Gene mapping by linkage and association analysis NCBI;Gene mapping by linkage and association analysis | Springer Link.

Track 9:ComputationalGenomics

Computational genomics refers to the use of computational and statistical analysis to decipherbiologyfromgenome sequencesand related data, including DNA and RNA sequence as well as other "post-genomic" data. This computational genomics is also known asComputational Genetics. These, in combination with computational and statistical approaches to understanding the function of the genes and statistical association analysis, this field is also often referred to as Computational and Statistical Genetics/genomics. As such, computational genomics may be regarded as a subset of bioinformatics and computational biology, but with a focus on using whole genomes rather than individual genes to understand the principles of how the DNA of a species controls its biology at the molecular level and beyond. With the current abundance of massive biological datasets, computational studies have become one of the most important means to biological discovery.The field is defined and includes foundations in thecomputer sciences,applied mathematics, animation, biochemistry, chemistry, biophysics,molecular genetics,neuroscienceandvisualization. Computational biology is different from biological computation, which is a subfield of computer engineering using bioengineering and biology to build computers, but is similar tobioinformatics.

RelatedMolecular Biology Conferences| Genetics Conferences|Gene Therapy Conferences|Biotechnology Conferences| Immune Cell Therapy Conferences

Modeling Viral Infections and Immunity,10. MAY 2017, 14, Estes Park, Colorado, USA;Integrating Metabolism and Immunity(E4)292 June, Dublin, Ireland; EMBL Conference:Mammalian GeneticsandGenomics, Heidelberg, Germany, October 24, 2017; EMBO|EMBL Symposium: The Mobile Genome:GeneticandPhysiological Impacts of Transposable Elements, Heidelberg, Germany, October 10, 2017;

American Association of Bio analysts - Molecular/Genetic Testing;ISCB - International Society for Computational Biology;International Society for Computational Biology Wikipedia;Bioinformatics societies OMICtools;Towards an Australian Bioinformatics Society.

Track 10:Molecular Biotechnology

Molecular Biotechnologyis the use of living systems and organisms to develop or to make products, or "any technological application that uses the biological systems, living organisms or derivatives, to make or modify products or processes for specific use. Molecular biotechnology results from the convergence of many areas of research, such as molecular biology, microbiology, biochemistry, immunology, genetics and cell biology. It is an exciting field fueled by the ability to transfer genetic information between organisms with the goal of understanding important biological processes or creating a useful product. The completion of the human genome project has opened a myriad of opportunities to create new medicines and treatments, as well as approaches to improve existing medicines. Molecular biotechnology is a rapidly changing and dynamic field. As the pace of advances accelerates, its influence will increase. The importance and impact of molecular biotechnology is being felt across the nation. Depending on the tools and applications, it often overlaps with the related fields of bioengineering,biomedical engineering, bio manufacturing andmolecular engineering.Biotechnologyalso writes on the pure biological sciences animalcell culture, biochemistry,cell biology, embryology, genetics, microbiology, andmolecular biology.

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8th EuropeanImmunologyConference, June 29-July 01, 2017 Madrid, Spain; World Congress onBio therapeutics, May 22-23, 2017, Mexico City, Mexico;Human Genome Meeting(HGM 2017), February 5-7 2017, Barcelona, Spain;Integrating MetabolismandImmunity (E4), 292 June, Dublin, Ireland.

Biotech Associations - Stanford University;Indian Society of Genetics, Biotechnology Research & Development;Genetics and Molecular Medicine - American Medical Association;Genetics Society of America | GSA, British Society for Genetic Medicine;Heritability in the Era of Molecular Genetics - Association for Psychological science.

Track 11:Genetic Transformation

Genetic Transformationis the genetic alteration of cell resulting from the direct uptake and incorporation ofexogenous genetic materialfrom its surroundings through thecell membrane. Transformation is one of three processes for horizontal gene transfer, in which exogenous genetic material passes from bacterium to another, the other two being conjugation transfer of genetic material between two bacterial cells in direct contact andTransductioninjection offoreign DNAby a bacteriophage virus into thehost bacterium. And about 80 species of bacteria were known to be capable of transformation, in 2014, about evenly divided betweenGram-positiveandGram-negative Transformation" may also be used to describe the insertion of new genetic material into non-bacterial cells, including animal and plant cells.

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13th EuropeanPathologyCongress, Milan, Italy; Embl Conference:Mammalian GeneticsAndGenomics, Heidelberg, Germany, October 24, 2017; Embo|Embl Symposium: TheMobile Genome: Genetic And Physiological Impacts Of Transposable Elements, Heidelberg, Germany, October 10, 2017; 2nd World Congress onHuman Genetics&Genetic Disorders, November 02-03, 2017 Toronto, Canada; 9th International Conference onGenomicsandPharmacogenomics, June 15-16, 2017 London, Uk;

American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy: ASGCT;Gene Therapy Societies and Patient Organizations - Gene Therapy Net;European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ESGCT);British Society for Gene and Cell Therapy;Gene Therapy - American Medical Association.

Track 12:Genetic Screening

Genetic screenis an experimental technique used to identify and select the individuals who possess a phenotype of interest inmutagenized population. A genetic screen is a type ofphenotypic screen. Genetic screen can provide important information on gene function as well as the molecular events that underlie a biological process or pathway. While thegenome projectshave identified an extensive inventory of genes in many different organisms, genetic screens can provide valuable insight as to how thosegenes function.

RelatedMolecular Biology Conferences| Genetics Conferences|Gene Therapy Conferences|Biotechnology Conferences| Immune Cell Therapy Conferences

13th EuropeanPathologyCongress, Aug 02-03, 2017, Milan, Italy; 2nd World Congress onHuman Genetics&Genetic Disorders, November 02-03, 2017 Toronto, 27 Canada; 7th International Conference onPlant Genomics, July 03-05, 2017, Bangkok, Thailand; Embl Conference:Mammalian GeneticsAndGenomics, Heidelberg, Germany, October 24, 2017; Embo|Embl Symposium: TheMobile Genome: Genetic And Physiological Impacts Of Transposable Elements, Heidelberg, Germany, October 10, 2017, 10 - 13 May 2017, American Society ofGeneandCell Therapy(ASGCT) 20th Annual Meeting, Washington, DC;

Association for Clinical Genetic Science; Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP);Mapping heritability and molecular genetic associations with cortical;Genetics and Molecular Medicine - American Medical Association.

Track 13:Regulation of Gene Expression

Regulation of Gene expressionincludes a wide range of mechanisms that are used by cells to increase or decrease the production of specific gene products (protein or RNA), and is informally termed gene regulation. Sophisticated programs of gene expression are widely observed in biology, Virtually any step of gene expression can be modulated, fromtranscriptional initiation,RNA processing, and post-translational modificationof a protein. Often, one gene regulator controls another in a gene regulatory network. Any step of gene expression may be modulated, from theDNA-RNA transcriptionstep to post-translational modification of a protein.

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7th International Conference onPlant Genomics, July 03-05, 2017, Bangkok, Thailand; EMBO|EMBL Symposium: The Mobile Genome:GeneticandPhysiological Impacts of Transposable Elements, Heidelberg, Germany, October 10, 2017; 10. MAY 2017, 14, Estes Park, Colorado, USA,Modeling Viral Infections and Immunity; 292 June, Dublin, Ireland,Integrating Metabolism and Immunity(E4); MAY 2017, 14, Estes Park, Colorado, USA,Modeling Viral InfectionsandImmunity; 8th EuropeanImmunologyConference, June 29-July 01, 2017 Madrid, Spain; 9th International Conference onGenomicsandPharmacogenomics, June 15-16, 2017 London, Uk;

Gene Therapy Societies and Patient Organizations - Gene Therapy Net;European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ESGCT);British Society for Gene and Cell Therapy;Gene Therapy - American Medical Association

Track 14: Cancer Gene Therapy

Cancer is an abnormal growth of cells the proximate cause of which is an imbalance in cell proliferation and death breaking-through the normal physiological checks and balances system and the ultimate cause of which are one or more of a variety of gene alterations. These alterations can be structural, e.g., mutations, insertions, deletions, amplifications, fusions and translocations, or functional (heritable changes without changes in nucleotide sequence). No single genomic change is found in all cancers and multiple changes (heterogeneity) are commonly found in each cancer generally independent of histology. In healthy adults, the immune system may recognize and kill the cancer cells or allow non-detrimental host-cancer equilibrium; unfortunately, cancer cells can sometimes escape the immune system resulting in expansion and spread of these cancer cells leading to serious life threatening disease. Approaches to cancer gene therapy include three main strategies: the insertion of a normal gene into cancer cells to replace a mutated (or otherwise altered) gene, genetic modification to silence a mutated gene, and genetic approaches to directly kill the cancer cells. Pathway C represents immunotherapy using altered immune cells. Another unique immunotherapy strategy facilitated by gene therapy is to directly alter the patient's immune system in order to sensitize it to the cancer cells. One approach uses mononuclear circulating blood cells or bone marrow gathered from the patient.

RelatedMolecular Biology Conferences| Genetics Conferences|Gene Therapy Conferences|Biotechnology Conferences| Immune Cell Therapy Conferences

8th EuropeanImmunologyConference, June 29-July 01, 2017 Madrid, Spain; World Congress onBio therapeutics, May 22-23, 2017, Mexico City, Mexico;Human Genome Meeting(HGM 2017), February 5-7 2017, Barcelona, Spain;Integrating MetabolismandImmunity (E4), 292 June, Dublin, Ireland.

Biotech Associations - Stanford University;Indian Society of Genetics, Biotechnology Research & Development;Genetics and Molecular Medicine - American Medical Association;Genetics Society of America | GSA, British Society for Genetic Medicine;Heritability in the Era of Molecular Genetics - Association for Psychological science.

Track 15:Genetic Transplantation

Transplantation genetics is the field of biology and medicine relating to the genes that govern the acceptance or rejection of a transplant. The most important genes deciding the fate of a transplanted cell, tissue, or organ belong to what is termed the MHC (the major histocompatibility complex). Genetic Transplantation is the moving of an organ from one body to another or from a donor site to another location on the person's own body, to replace the recipient's damaged or absent organ. Organs and/or tissues that aretransplantedwithin the same person's body are calledauto grafts. Transplants that are recently performed between two subjects of the same species are calledallografts. Allografts can either be from a living or cadaveric source Organs that can be transplanted are the heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas, intestine, and thymus. The kidneys are the most commonlytransplanted organs, followed by the liver and then the heart. The main function of the MHC antigens is peptide presentation to the immune system to help distinguish self from non-self. These antigens are called HLA (human leukocyte antigens). They consists of three regions: class I (HLA-A,B,Cw), class II (HLA-DR,DQ,DP) and class III (no HLA genes)

RelatedMolecular Biology Conferences| Genetics Conferences|Gene Therapy Conferences|Biotechnology Conferences| Immune Cell Therapy Conferences

8th World Congress onPharmacology, August 07-09, 2017 Paris, France; International Conference onClinicalandMolecular Genetics, Las Vegas, USA, April 24-26, 2017; Aug 02-03, 2017, 13th EuropeanPathologyCongress, Milan, Italy; Embl Conference:Mammalian GeneticsAndGenomics, Heidelberg, Germany, October 24, 2017; 7th International Conference onPlant Genomics, July 03-05, 2017, Bangkok, Thailand.

American society of Transplantation;American Society of Transplant Surgeons: ASTS; Patient associations. Donation and transplantation;American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy ASGCT;Gene Therapy Societies and Patient Organizations - Gene Therapy Net.

Track 16:Cytogenetics

Cytogeneticsis a branch ofgeneticsthat is concerned withstudy of the structure and function of the cell, especially thechromosomes. It includes routine analysis of G-banded chromosomes, othercytogenetic banding techniques, as well as molecular Cytogenetics such as fluorescent in suitable hybridization FISH and comparativegenomic hybridization.

RelatedMolecular Biology Conferences| Genetics Conferences|Gene Therapy Conferences|Biotechnology Conferences| Immune Cell Therapy Conferences

9thAnnual Meeting onImmunologyandImmunologist, July 03-05, 2017 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; 8th MolecularImmunology&ImmunogeneticsCongress, March 20-21, 2017 Rome, Italy; 8th EuropeanImmunologyConference, June 29-July 01, 2017 Madrid, Spain; July 03-05, 2017; B Cells and T Follicular Helper Cells Controlling Long-Lived Immunity (D2), April 2017, 2327, Whistler, British Columbia, Canada.

European Cytogeneticists Association;Association of Genetic Technologists;Association for Clinical Genetic Science;Cytogenetics - Human Genetics Society of Australasia;European Cytogeneticists Association

Molecular Biology 2016

Molecular Biology 2016 Report

2ndWorld Bio Summit & Molecular Biology Expowas organized during October 10-12, 2016 at Dubai, UAE. The conference was marked with the attendance ofEditorial Board Members of supporting journals, Scientists, young and brilliant researchers, business delegates and talented student communities representing more than 25 countries, who made this conference fruitful and productive.

This conference was based on the theme Recent advances in Bio Science which included the following scientific tracks:

Molecular Biology

Microbiology

Analytical Molecular Biology

Bioinformatics

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Molecular Biology and Biotechnology

Cancer Molecular Biology

Computational Biology

Molecular Biology of the Cell

Molecular biology of the cardiovascular system

Molecular Biology in Cellular Pathology

Molecular Biology of Diabetes

Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering

Enzymology and Molecular Biology

Molecular Biology of the Gene

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Molecular Genetics - Cell and Gene Therapy Conferences

Chemistry Communications Uses PulsePoint To Make Content … – AdExchanger

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As Chemistry Communications clients created more content and more ambitious distribution plans, manually distributing that content to dozens of native and social platforms became untenable.

Chemistry turned to Story by PulsePoint to make content distribution more cost- and time-efficient. The agency serves clients not only in content marketing, but through media buys across digital, video and radio.

The platform allows Chemistry to buy across more than 25 platforms, including social media platforms Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, native platforms like Sharethrough and TripleLift and content discovery tools Outbrain and Taboola.

With the platform, Chemistry Communications can buy media and optimize campaigns based on a metric it cares about: cost per engagement, with 15 seconds spent on a site post-click.

Our platform has been built from the ground up to focus on what happens once the reader arrives at the domain, said Andrew Stark, PulsePoints SVP of content solutions. The platform tracks details like scroll depth and scroll velocity and uses those metrics to feed optimization.

Because of the focus on post-click engagement, Chemistry saw its clients results improve when it switched to the platform.

What was shocking was that we were seeing lower CPEs and lower CPMs than all the direct platforms we were using in the past, said Jason Dille, VP of media at Chemistry Communications.

The platform which PulsePoint recently redesigned for self-service clients also improves the workflow and automates more processes.

For example, adapting images, headlines and text for 10 stories across 30 platforms adds up to at least 300 creative variations. PulsePoints platform automatically builds ad creative for each platform, which a campaign planner can immediately approve, automatically optimize or adjust either through PulsePoints suggestions or manually.

The platform also can yield qualitative insights about the clients content. A top-performing alternate headline could become the main one. And looking at how different stories resonate with audiences informs future content creation.

Although Chemistry initially used PulsePoints managed services, it has since migrated to the software-as-a-service platform to improve the workflow.

We prefer to stay away from managed service because transparency can be an issue and margins can be there, Dille said. And the agency prefers to be more hands-on. We want to make the changes for our clients.

However, the managed service did let the agency test out the solution with smaller budgets, Dille said.

Though Chemistry handles all forms of media for its clients from digital video to radio Dille believes that content marketing will evolve like the DSP landscape, as technologies emerge to deliver more strategic placements.

They are adding targeting thats similar to what we have in the DSP space, like ISP targeting, that will further evolve what performance looks like, he said. In addition, Story by PulsePoint clients can upload their own data for targeting, or use an individual platforms targeting definitions like how Facebook defines women 35-44.

As targeting and automation improve, more budgets will shift to content distribution, Dille predicted. This is going to be the future of digital advertising, he said. Content is where we are going to see higher engagement rates in the future.

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Chemistry Communications Uses PulsePoint To Make Content ... - AdExchanger

North Forsyth grad plans to study biotechnology – Winston-Salem Journal

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As if the stress of senior year isnt enough of a headache, Michael Vega began his final chapter of high school with a serious concussion.

A soccer injury in May 2016 had mandated three months recovery time, stealing a summer of soccer training from the North Forsyth graduate.

It hit me hard that I couldnt play, coming in with a big concussion, said Vega, a two-time all-conference award recipient. I had to jump right back into it.

Vega, 17, was cleared to play in the final round of the Forsyth Cup last year, helping his team secure a victory in the championship round for the second year in a row, making school history.

Vega, who spent three years on the varsity team, said one of his favorite high school moments was scoring the conference-winning goal against Asheboro High School as a sophomore.

It was a great experience; theres nothing like it, said Vega, who plays goalie and center back. I knew half the guys from growing up, so its hard to say good-bye.

While Vega said he will not play soccer in college, he will continue playing with the Hispanic League.

Graduation is bittersweet, but Vega said he is glad to have AP Biology and AP Chemistry behind him and is applying to Forsyth Tech to study biotechnology.

Ive learned to surround myself with the right people and never give up, Vega said. Im excited for graduation.

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North Forsyth grad plans to study biotechnology - Winston-Salem Journal