Living Childfree – RESOLVE: The National Infertility …

My husband and I struggled with infertility for several years. I going to say on and off for several years, but even when we werent trying there was always the hope that I might get pregnant.

I have unexplained infertility no reason was discovered for my inability to get pregnant. After six failed procedures, and one miscarriage at 11 weeks, we decided to take a break. We wanted our lives back. We were stressed out and exhausted from all aspects of treatment: injectable medications, the monthly anticipation and resulting disappointment with each failed pregnancy test and the cost.

During this break I joined a mind-body group. The stated goal of the group was not to achieve pregnancy, but rather to regain a sense of control, to de-stress, to come together with other women and couples who were also struggling with infertility and talk about our experiences, learn coping techniques and have an emotional outlet. I was very angry and very sad. I felt like my body, which was created to bear children was defective that I was defective. I felt guilty that I was letting my husband down (he didnt make me feel guilty, I brought that on myself). I remember spending time with girlfriends and their new babies and young children and feeling like the girl without a baby. I had a hard time attending baby showers, christenings and celebratory, baby-centric events. In the group I learned relaxation techniques including meditation, which helped me to being to let go of the anger, the guilt, the sadness and the pain. I started journaling. The mind-body group was life-changing.

The decision to remain childfree evolved. As I mentioned earlier, it started as a much needed break from treatment. We tried it on, and it seemed like it might fit. As time went on, we thought about and talked about the option of continuing this way. I saw a therapist who specialized in working with infertile women and couples, and she helped me explore this further. Remaining childfree a term neither my husband nor I really like seemed like a viable option.

I refer to us as a family of two. Its a more positive and accurate description of who we are. Family is important to us. My husband has five siblings, and I have three; we have 19 nieces and nephews. We love spending time with them, and we also treasure spending time together and with our large network of friends. Interestingly, many of our friends, who we have known for years, dont have children for one reason or another. And, of course, many do.

There are certainly many positive things you can identify about not having children, including financial aspects and independence. Those didnt guide our decision, however, which wasnt always easy, even after we were resolute that it was right for us.

Just as my experience with infertility was a journey, so too is the decision to live our life without children of our own. Along the way a sense of control returned to my life. Infertility brings with it a sense of powerlessness. Each month another treatment cycle is attempted, and you hope for the best, knowing you have little or no control over the outcome.

Making this decision was empowering.

It is the first step in a process, the first step in allowing myself to begin to answer the question supposed I didnt have children, what would that be like? The answer continues to unfold everyday.

Contributed by: Jennifer Richmond

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Living Childfree - RESOLVE: The National Infertility ...

Your Comprehensive Guide to Alternative Medicine | Natural …

With its growing acceptance into the mainstream, alternative medicine careers are blossoming. Certificates and degree programs are plentiful, whether you want to work as an herbalist, yoga instructor or naturopathic doctor. One of the most exciting aspects of going back to school to study alternative medicine is the people youll meet. In your classes, youll encounter students from varied backgrounds, from corporate office workers to stay-at-home moms.

Youll have your pick of healing methods. Hypnotherapists work with patients to lessen stress or change habits while an herbalist treats clients with specific recipes. Those who are interested in ancient Chinese medicine will delve into acupuncture, and a massage therapist naturally treats the aches and pains of their clients. While the tasks of each job differ, there is an overarching theme: To heal naturally.

The salary range for alternative medicine practitioners can be wide because different careers require different levels of education. For example, the median annual income for a massage therapist with a certificate is about $30,000 less than a doctorate-level chiropractor. However, for many natural health practitioners, its less about the money and more about feeling fulfilled. You cant put a dollar figure on that.

What do you need to know about enrolling in an alternative medicine program? Consider all the degree and diploma options available. Some career paths require a certificate, which often takes less time to earn than a degree. An alternative medicine degree program will examine the history of medicine and provide an all-encompassing review of various remedies, such as homeopathy, Ayurveda and spiritual healing.

If youre ready to get started, use this guide to lead you in the right direction.

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Conspiracy Theory? US Army Has Admitted to Conducting 100s …

While the United States government claims to be horrified every time there are reports of a chemical attack that was allegedly carried out by the Syrian government, history serves as a reminder that the U.S. is responsible for carrying out a number of chemical attacks on thousands of unsuspecting Americans, and some of the innocent victims are still suffering from the effects today.

In 1977, the U.S. Army admitted that it secretly conducted at least 239 germ warfare tests in the open air in cities across the country between 1949 and 1969. The areas where the lethal germs were simulated on the public were typically in major cities such as Washington D.C., San Francisco, New York City, Key West and Panama City, according to a report the Army submitted to the Senate Health Subcommittee.

In the report, the Army insisted that the purpose of the tests was to study how biological warfare affects the public, in case it needs to defend against it. Calling tests essential, the Army claimed it needed tosubstantiate theories and fill knowledge gaps and to determine vulnerability to attack.

According to areportfrom the Washington Post, the release of the Armys censored report was the most complete official version of this nations biological warfare effort, and it revealed that in addition to public areas, military personnel and their families were also targeted:

The Army listed 27 times that it tested simulated toxins on public property, including releasing spores in two tunnels on a stretch of Pennsylvania Turnpike.In addition to those experiments in public places, the Army secretary used military personnel and their families for open-air experiments by spraying simulated germs into the air at a number of bases, including Fort Detrick, Md.; Fort Belvoir, Va.; and the Marine training school at Quantico, Va. Another 504 workers connected with biological warfare activities at Ft. Detrick, Dugway Proving Ground and the Deseret Test Center in Utah and the Pine Bluff Arsenal in Arkansas suffered infections, according to the Armys count.

The Armys report also noted that while the initial tests were carried out 1942, the testing of biological warfare agents increased drastically in 1961 when the Secretary of Defense ordered the Joint Chiefs of Staff to evaluate the potentialities of biological and chemical warfare, instead of just studying the effects of the agents from a defense standpoint.

While the report from the Army maintained that the live bacteria deployed in tests across the country were deemed harmless at the time, the tests resulted in lifelong illnesses and health problems for many of the innocent victims who were unaware that their quality of life was being compromised by a government experiment.

As The Free Thought Projectreported, the largest experiment was carried out in San Francisco, California, in 1950. The Army sprayed the city with the microbeSerratia marcescensin an attack that was called Operation Sea-Spray. They claimed San Francisco was chosen as the target because it is close to the ocean and because it has a unique geography, tall buildings, and dense population.

For six days in September 1950, military members used giant hoses to spray clouds ofSerratiaalong the San Francisco coastline, which resulted in the citys 800,000 residents receiving heavy doses of the chemical. It is also estimated that residents in the neighboring communities of Albany, Berkeley, Daly City, Colma, Oakland, San Leandro, and Sausalito, were exposed to it.

While the military insisted thatSerratia marcescens is rarely a cause of illness, Discover Magazinenotedthat there were a number of serious illnesses and even one tragic death reported as a result of the governments chemical attack:

A week after the spraying, 11 patients were admitted to the now-defunct Stanford University Hospital in San Francisco with severe urinary tract infections, resistantto the limited antibiotics available in that era. One gentleman, recovering from prostate surgery, developed complications of heart infection asSerratiacolonized his heart valves. His would be the only death during the aftermath of the experiment Later, the repeated occurrence of urinary-tract infection by this organism, with bacteremia in two patients and death in one, indicated the potential clinical importance of this group of bacteria.

While the idea that the U.S. government would willingly poison its own citizens may seem shocking to some, it is not unprecedented. Earlier this year, a study found that the Pentagon has contaminatedmore than 40,000 sitesacross the United States, exposing hundreds of thousands of Americans to dangerous chemicals.

The investigation, which was conducted by ProPublica and Vox,revealedthat by testing and disposing of deadly chemical weapons in the United States, the Pentagon haspoisoned drinking water supplies, rendered millions of acres of land unsafe or unusable, and jeopardized the health of often unwitting Americans.

The study noted that while the Pentagon has spentmore than $40 billionin an effort to clean up the contaminated sites over the years, the results have been overwhelmingly inadequate, and many Americans are still at risk, even after the government claims that the sites have been rendered safe for public use.

The Department of Defense and its contractors are also currently using at least 61 active military sites across the country to burn and detonate unused munitions and raw explosives in the open air with no environmental emissions controls,according to a series ofreportsfrom ProPublica.

Ultimately, while the U.S. claims that it must engage in the War on Terror to protect Americans from terrorists, the fact remains that some of the most harmful warfare launched against Americans on U.S. soil has resulted from secret experiments backed by the Pentagon. Yet none of the officials from the government agencies who are responsible have been held accountable for poisoning countless innocent Americans with the attacks.

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Transhuman Aliens – TV Tropes

"We were like you once, but now we are different... certain weaknesses have been removed."Related to the Earth All Along ending, and sort of like Was Once a Man for an entire species, this is where a group of alien/future creatures (typically those encountered by normal humans) are revealed to be the future evolutionary path of humanity. These creatures are often monstrous in appearance and behavior and this idea generally has a strong element of Humans Are the Real Monsters. Compare with Not Even Human; in this case, they are worse because they are. Note that there are occasional instances of uplifted humans who having experienced The Singularity are benevolent and god-like.Compare/contrast with Human All Along and Human Subspecies. Not to be confused with Ultraterrestrials. See also No Transhumanism Allowed and Transhuman.

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Being Childfree …

Any life choice has its positives and negatives, and parenting versus not-parenting is no different. Lets examine three advantages and three disadvantages of each option.

Three advantages of being a parent:

You fit in better with your peer group.

Almost everyone is a parent, and if you like to feel like youre part of the mainstream, then parenting is for you. Not being a parent when in your 20s, 30s, and 40s can mean spending a lot of time alone, as your peers are getting together for play-dates with their children. Even when the little ones are not around, the conversation is likely to be about what the children are doing.

You have something to focus on other than yourself.

Self-focus is uncomfortable for many people, and frankly, having a child immediately puts the emphasis on this dependent being. Having a child means that youll have at least eighteen years of endless focus on the needs of another being.

Youre never bored.

For a person who has trouble filling his or her time, having a child might be the answer. You simply wont have time to be bored, because once you spend eight hours on childrearing tasks youll be so tired that youll be ready for bed.

Three disadvantages of being a parent:

You have limited time and energy for your own pursuits. Many parents are spread way too thin, and they suffer by missing sleep, not having time for exercise, and having neglected marriages that end in divorce. And thats not to mention the hobbies that one might wish to pursue such as art, travel, writing, or golf, and to not have to wait until the golden retirement years to do so.

You have to worry about a child who is dependent on you. Im hearing more and more stories about adult children who are still living at home or have returned home after college. Many of these kids appear to be quite immature and not only financially, but also emotionally dependent on mommy and daddy. Parents these days seem to have trouble cutting the old apron strings.

You have to make life decisions based on whats best for someone else, rather than whats best for yourself.

When you become a parent, you ideally put your own selfish desires behind those of your child. This is all well and good, but what if it means passing up a job opportunity in another city, staying in a dead marriage, or neglecting old friendships?

Three advantages of being childfree

You have time for self-care and for other relationships.

I love spending time alone with my husband, and we have a lot of this due to not being busy raising a family. I also enjoy nurturing my terriers, and for me the time and energy this takes meets my personal caretaking needs. Its also great to have the ability to carve out time to write letters, make phone calls, or meet with friends socially.

You can dedicate your time to your career or to other interests that will help the world as a whole.

Lets face it, parenting takes a lot of time; time experts say that it takes eight hours a day to raise two children to the age of 18. Im amazed at how people, especially women with children, can manage a fulltime job on top of parenting. They often appear to be exhausted and less than enthusiastic about being at work, and its apparent that theyre spread too thin.

The world will be less crowded and resources less depleted.

Think about a future with fewer mouths to feed and the possibility that we might restore diminishing natural resources such as life in the sea and fresh water. I am hearing more and more young people these day say that parenting is not a given, and Im hopeful that only those who truly want to be parents will become moms and dads.

Three disadvantages of being childfree:

You will be a misfit among your peer group.

There have been many occasions when I looked around the room and realized that I was the only one who didnt have kids. This can be a real problem when Im with women friends, as they tends to always want to talk about their children; now that Im entering my fifties, some friends are talking about grandchildren. One in five women who have reached the end of their childbearing years is not a motherthat means that four out of five are!

You will miss out of what many consider to be a crucial life role.

Ive missed an entire chapter of life that is considered by many to be essential. Sometimes I feel out of step, especially when Im ahead in many ways such as saving for the future and building a career. Many women are just, at my age, returning to work after years of part-time employment or none at all.

You wont have anyone to take care of you in your old age.

I live far from my parents, but we talk at least weekly by phone and they know that they can count on me if need be. Not having kids, Im aware of how critical it is for me to be making plans for my future, whether this is putting my wishes down in writing or saving up to be able to pay for the help Ill need.

Its great to realize that young people today truly have more choice, and that theyre stepping back and evaluating whats best for them rather than simply following the common path.

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TMS Engineering – Home

TMS Engineering, Inc. is committed to providing the highest quality engineering and consulting services available to our clients while meeting schedule and budget requirements. Through our almost 30 year history, we have successfully upheld this commitment to our clients.

TMS has developed a philosophy and approach to engineering and design that we believe is the most efficient and cost effective for the client. In an effort to make the project a success, TMS makes every effort to understand the project objectives, not simply the engineering objectives. With this information, we can make the most informed and smart decisions during the design phase that will promote a successful project, not just a good engineering package.

Whether working in the preliminary phases of a project such as project scope and cost estimate development, or in the detail design phase, or in the execution phase of the project providing scheduling and planning, project management, or construction management, the staff at TMS Engineering has proven to add value with our practical project approach and hands on philosophy for engineering and consulting.

First and foremost, our emphasis is on quality of service. For large projects or small, TMS Engineering will constantly strive to achieve our ultimate goal:

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TMS Therapy Center of Tulsa – Cutting Edge Depression …

Dr. Rao has over 20 years of experience treating major depressive disorder. The majority of his patients are people who have had depression for many years, if not for their whole life. Their depression has been recurrent, meaning that it keeps coming back despite treatment; or chronic, meaning that theyve experienced some level of depression, even low-grade baseline depression, that has never lifted; or they are people who say theyve been depressed since their teenage years. The traditional treatment for depression has been psychotherapy, the most effective of which is cognitive behavioral therapy. There are some patients who have great results with this treatment, but not everybody. The second type of treatment for depression is antidepressant medication. Similarly, many patients have great success with this type of treatment but we know from experience that about 50-60% have either an inadequate response or no response at all.

Dr. Rao has expertise in treating recurrent or chronic depression which has not responded to these ordinary treatments. Using new protocols for treating depression with antidepressants and TMS, our patients have a greater-than 60% rate of recovery, meaning full remission of their depressive symptoms. In addition, another 20-30% improve from severe or very severe levels of depression to the mild range with only residual symptoms remaining.

Dr. Rao offers comprehensive evaluation and treatment of clinical depression. Evaluations include complete psychiatric, medical and neurologic histories; medical and neurological examination; and state-of-the-art laboratory testing including genetic testing. Genetic testing can indicate why a patient has not responded to an antidepressant and can suggest what other types of antidepressants the patient might respond to.

TMS is the newest modality available to combat clinical depression. FDA guidelines indicate that TMS therapy is indicated for depressed patients who have undergone a course of psychotherapy and/or a course of 1 or more antidepressants that failed to eliminate the depressive episode. TMS is not a treatment of last resort, but rather a mainstream treatment that can be used routinely along with psychotherapy and medication.

More importantly, TMS has become an important or essential component of treatment of recurrent or chronic depression. Frequently patients who have had only a partial response to antidepressants achieve significant improvement, if not recovery, from depression.

The best candidate for TMS is a patient with clinical depression that has not had a satisfactory response to antidepressants; and/or has not improved with psychotherapy; and/or has experienced intolerable side effects.Mission Statement. The purpose of this Center and its sister practice is to provide outstanding psychiatric care based on the most recent advances in the field, including advances in psychotherapy, psychopharmacology and neuroscience.

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TMS Therapy Center of Tulsa - Cutting Edge Depression ...

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Ethereum Price Forecast: Big Corporate Moves Could Bolster ETH Prices

Crypto Rally Slows Down
As I write this report, cryptocurrency prices are in the middle of a vicious tug of war between the bulls and the bears. And the bears are winning right now.

Most, if not all, of our favorite cryptocurrencies trended down over the last seven days, erasing the progress they made in earlier weeks.

Short-term volatility is completely overtaking the market, making it tough for existing holders of crypto assets.

But…

If you’re someone who is looking to enter the market, a sell-off is exactly the right time. How many times have I heard investors say, “If I had bought Bitcoin two years ago, I would have made [insert insane profits.

The post Ethereum Price Forecast: Big Corporate Moves Could Bolster ETH Prices appeared first on Profit Confidential.

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Ethereum Price Forecast: Big Corporate Moves Could Bolster ETH Prices

Libertarian Party of Illinois

Welcome to the Home of the Libertarian Party of Illinois!

If you love Liberty and Peace, youve come to the right place. The Libertarian Party is the only political party that fights for all of your rights, all of the time.

Please look around our website and discover who we are and what we do. Check out our Calendar of events on the About tab, or visit our Volunteer page to find out how you can help. You can also go to our Contact page and send us a message. We look forward to hearing from you.

DuPage - Itasca & Wood Dale Memorial Day Parades

Division: Chapter

Time: 8:30am - noon

Location: The Villages of Itasca and Wood Dale

Details:The DuPage Libertarians will be marching in two parades back to back this morning, the villages of Itasca and Wood Dale. The Itasca parade kicks off at 9am, and the Wooddale parade kicks off at 11am. Many groups participate in both, and we will do the same.

The Itasca's Memorial Day Parade begins at St. Matthew's Church @ Bryn Mawr and Catalpa Ave (check in time is at 8:30am) and ends near Usher Park by the railroad tracks.

The Wood Dale Memorial Day Parade staging begins at 10 am on Elizabeth Drive between Addison and Wood Dale Road, and kicks off from there heading north on Addison Rd.

We need people to pass out literature, pass out candy, hold signs, and lead the parade by carrying the banner. We expect to have many candidates with us, so we will need more volunteers to help make up the difference.

If you are interested in joining in, do not hesitate to contact us and let us know as soon as possible so we can plan out exactly who will be with us that morning.

Here in Illinois, Libertarians are on the move. Our membership is growing. Our chapters are springing up all over the state. And our candidates are looking for your support. To get the nomination, our many candidates are attending meetings and marching in parades. Everywhere you look, the Libertarian message is on the rise and the party is in the news. You can also find where Libertarians are marching in parades or attending community events at the calendar.

With the 2018 nominating convention behind us, our campaigns are in full swing. Get to know our candidates, check out their websites and donate or volunteer to help. Also watch for our candidates at your local parade or fair.

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Libertarian Party of Illinois

Knights of Unicron (SG) – Transformers Wiki – TFWiki.net

The Knights of Unicron are a heroic Autobot subgroup from the Shattered Glass continuity family.

The Knights of Unicron were once evil Autobots, but the benevolent god of extropy Unicron reformatted them into his agents of peace. Now, they serve truth and justice across known space. Their members are:

Following their defeat at Decepticon City on Earth, Optimus Prime's forces retreated aboard Sky Lynx for Cybertron. Memory's Splinter Midway through, however, Sky Lynx announced that they would have to lighten the load. Rodimus took the opportunity to dump Optimus, Brawn, Prowl, Inferno, and Ratchet out the airlock. The five badly injured Autobots then found themselves in the presence of Unicron. Familiar Reflections Now dominated by good due to the Shroud, the god of extropy offered Optimus and his troopers truth and enlightenment. After Unicron showed Optimus a vision of his greatest victory, Prime accepted, and Unicron healed and reformatted them. The newly-formed Knights were then sent to Cybertron to stop Rodimus's chaos. Arriving in Rodimus's throne room, the Autotroopers took on the evil Autobots while Nova went head to head with Rodimus. Nova succeeded, sending Rodimus tumbling down into the depths of Cybertron. Restoration The Knights soon had the Autobots arrested, but Unicron contacted Nova to warn him that a greater threat awaited. Cybertron then seemingly began to fall apart. While the Knights barely maintained their footing, Rodimus reappeared and ordered his Autobots to evacuate. Cybertron then completed its transformation into the physical form of the Cybertronians' creator-god, Primus. Awakened by Rodimus and dominated by evil due to the Shroud, the dark Primus observed the nearby dimensionally-displaced Earth and tried to destroy it. However, Earth revealed itself as another Transformer god, Primus's sister Gaea. As the titans clashed, the Knights came to Gaea's aid, taking out Primus's eyes. Gaea then destroyed Primus and transformed herself into a new Cybertron as a home to both heroic Autobot and heroic Decepticon. The Knights became the guardians of the new joint society as a new age of peace dawned. The Future Buried...

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Knights of Unicron (SG) - Transformers Wiki - TFWiki.net

Mind uploading | Transhumanism Wiki | FANDOM powered by Wikia

In transhumanism and science fiction, mind uploading (also occasionally referred to by other terms such as mind transfer, whole brain emulation, or whole body emulation) refers to the hypothetical transfer of a human mind to a substrate different from a biological brain, such as a detailed computer simulation of an individual human brain.

The human brain contains a little more than 100 billion nerve cells called neurons, each individually linked to other neurons by way of connectors called axons and dendrites. Signals at the junctures (synapses) of these connections are transmitted by the release and detection of chemicals known as neurotransmitters. The brain contains cell types other than neurons (such as glial cells), some of which are structurally similar to neurons, but the information processing of the brain is thought to be conducted by the network of neurons.

Current biomedical and neuropsychological thinking is that the human mind is a product of the information processing of this neural network. To use an analogy from computer science, if the neural network of the brain can be thought of as hardware, then the human mind is the software running on it.

Mind uploading, then, is the act of copying or transferring this "software" from the hardware of the human brain to another processing environment, typically an artificially created one.

The concept of mind uploading then is strongly mechanist, relying on several assumptions about the nature of human consciousness and the philosophy of artificial intelligence. It assumes that strong AI machine intelligence is not only possible, but is indistinguishable from human intelligence, and denies the vitalist view of human life and consciousness.

Mind uploading is completely speculative at this point in time; no technology exists which can accomplish this.

The relationship between the human mind and the neural circuitry of the brain is currently poorly understood. Thus, most theoretical approaches to mind uploading are based on the idea of recreating or simulating the underlying neural network. This approach would theoretically eliminate the need to understand how such a system works if the component neurons and their connections can be simulated with enough accuracy.

It is unknown how precise the simulation of such a neural network would have to be to produce a functional simulation of the brain. It is possible, however, that simulating the functions of a human brain at the cellular level might be much more difficult than creating a human level artificial intelligence, which relied on recreating the functions of the human mind, rather than trying to simulate the underlying biological systems.[citation needed]

Thinkers with a strongly mechanistic view of human intelligence (such as Marvin Minsky) or a strongly positive view of robot-human social integration (such as Hans Moravec and Ray Kurzweil) have openly speculated about the possibility and desirability of this.

In the case where the mind is transferred into a computer, the subject would become a form of artificial intelligence, sometimes called an infomorph or "nomorph." In a case where it is transferred into an artificial body, to which its consciousness is confined, it would also become a robot. In either case it might claim ordinary human rights, certainly if the consciousness within was feeling (or was doing a good job of simulating) as if it were the donor.

Uploading consciousness into bodies created by robotic means is a goal of some in the artificial intelligence community. In the uploading scenario, the physical human brain does not move from its original body into a new robotic shell; rather, the consciousness is assumed to be recorded and/or transferred to a new robotic brain, which generates responses indistinguishable from the original organic brain.

The idea of uploading human consciousness in this manner raises many philosophical questions which people may find interesting or disturbing, such as matters of individuality and the soul. Vitalists would say that uploading was a priori impossible. Many people also wonder whether, if they were uploaded, it would be their sentience uploaded, or simply a copy.

Even if uploading is theoretically possible, there is currently no technology capable of recording or describing mind states in the way imagined, and no one knows how much computational power or storage would be needed to simulate the activity of the mind inside a computer. On the other hand, advocates of uploading have made various estimates of the amount of computing power that would be needed to simulate a human brain, and based on this a number have estimated that uploading may become possible within decades if trends such as Moore's Law continue.[citation needed]

If it is possible for human minds to be modeled and treated as software objects which can be instanced multiple times, in multiple processing environments, many potentially desirable possibilities open up for the individual.

If the mental processes of the human mind can be disassociated from its original biological body, it is no longer tied to the limits and lifespan of that body. In theory, a mind could be voluntarily copied or transferred from body to body indefinitely and therefore become immortal, or at least exercise conscious control of its lifespan.

Alternatively, if cybernetic implants could be used to monitor and record the structure of the human mind in real time then, should the body of the individual be killed, such implants could be used to later instance another working copy of that mind. It is also possible that periodic backups of the mind could be taken and stored external to the body and a copy of the mind instanced from this backup, should the body (and possibly the implants) be lost or damaged beyond recovery. In the latter case, any changes and experiences since the time of the last backup would be lost.

Such possibilities have been explored extensively in fiction: This Number Speaks, Nancy Farmer's The House of the Scorpion, Newton's Gate, John Varley's Eight Worlds series, Greg Egan's Permutation City, Diaspora, Schild's Ladder and Incandescence, the Revelation Space series, Peter Hamilton's Pandora's Star duology, Bart Kosko's Fuzzy Time, Armitage III series, the Takeshi Kovacs universe, Iain M. Banks Culture novels, Cory Doctorow's Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, and the works of Charles Stross. And in television sci-fi shows: Battlestar Galactica, Stargate SG-1, among others.

Another concept explored in science fiction is the idea of more than one running "copy" of a human mind existing at once. Such copies could either be full copies, or limited subsets of the complete mentality designed for a particular limited functions. Such copies would allow an "individual" to experience many things at once, and later integrate the experiences of all copies into a central mentality at some point in the future, effectively allowing a single sentient being to "be many places at once" and "do many things at once".

The implications of such entities have been explored in science fiction. In his book Eon, Greg Bear uses the terms "partials" and "ghosts", while Charles Stross's novels Accelerando and Glasshouse deal with the concepts of "forked instances" of conscious beings as well as "backups".

In Charles Sheffield's Tomorrow and Tomorrow, the protagonist's consciousness is duplicated thousands of times electronically and sent out on probe ships and uploaded into bodies adapted to native environments of different planets. The copies are eventually reintegrated back into the "master" copy of the consciousness in order to consolidate their findings.

Such partial and complete copies of a sentient being again raise issues of identity and personhood: is a partial copy of sentient being itself sentient? What rights might such a being have? Since copies of a personality are having different experiences, are they not slowly diverging and becoming different entities? At what point do they become different entities?

If the body and the mind of the individual can be disassociated, then the individual is theoretically free to choose their own incarnation. They could reside within a completely human body, within a modified physical form, or within simulated realities. Individuals might change their incarnations many times during their existence, depending on their needs and desires.

Choices of the individuals in this matter could be restricted by the society they exist within, however. In the novel Eon by Greg Bear, individuals could incarnate physically (within "natural" biological humans, or within modified bodies) a limited number of times before being legally forced to reside with the "city memory" as infomorphic "ghosts".

Once an individual is moved to virtual simulation, the only input needed would be energy, which would be provided by large computing device hosting those minds. All the food, drink, moving, travel or any imaginable thing would just need energy to provide those computations.

Almost all scientists, thinkers and intelligent people would be moved to this virtual environment once they die. In this virtual environment, their brain capacity would be expanded by speed and storage of quantum computers. In virtual environment idea and final product are not different. This way more and more innovations will be sent to real world and it will speed up our technological development.

Regardless of the techniques used to capture or recreate the function of a human mind, the processing demands of such venture are likely to be immense.

Henry Markram, lead researcher of the "Blue Brain Project", has stated that "it is not [their] goal to build an intelligent neural network", based solely on the computational demands such a project would have[1].

Advocates of mind uploading point to Moore's law to support the notion that the necessary computing power may become available within a few decades, though it would probably require advances beyond the integrated circuit technology which has dominated since the 1970s. Several new technologies have been proposed, and prototypes of some have been demonstrated, such as the optical neural network based on the silicon-photonic chip (harnessing special physical properties of Indium Phosphide) which Intel showed the world for the first time on September 18, 2006.[3] Other proposals include three-dimensional integrated circuits based on carbon nanotubes (researchers have already demonstrated individual logic gates built from carbon nanotubes[4]) and also perhaps the quantum computer, currently being worked on internationally as well as most famously by computer scientists and physicists at the IBM Almaden Research Center, which promises to be useful in simulating the behavior of quantum systems; such ability would enable protein structure prediction which could be critical to correct emulation of intracellular neural processes.

Present methods require use of massive computational power (as the BBP does with IBM's Blue Gene Supercomputer) to use the essentially classical computing architecture for serial deduction of the quantum mechanical processes involved in ab initio protein structure prediction. If necessary, should the quantum computer become a reality, its capacity for exactly such rapid calculations of quantum mechanical physics may well help the effort by reducing the required computational power per physical size and energy needs, as Markram warns would be needed (and thus why he thinks it would be difficult, besides unattractive) should an entire brain's simulation, let alone emulation (at both cellular and molecular levels) be feasibly attempted. Reiteration may also be useful for distributed simulation of a common, repeated function (e.g., proteins).

Ultimately, nano-computing is projected by some[citation needed] to hold the requisite capacity for computations per second estimated necessary, in surplus. If Kurzweil's Law of Accelerating Returns (a variation on Moore's Law) shows itself to be true, the rate of technological development should accelerate exponentially towards the technological singularity, heralded by the advent of viable though relatively primitive mind uploading and/or "strong" (human-level) AI technologies, his prediction being that the Singularity may occur around the year 2045.[5]

The structure of a neural network is also different from classical computing designs. Memory in a classical computer is generally stored in a two state design, or bit, although one of the two components is modified in dynamic RAM and some forms of flash memory can use more than two states under some circumstances. Gates inside central processing units will often also use this two state or digital type of design as well. In some ways a neural network or brain could be thought of like a memory unit in a computer, but with an extremely vast number of states, corresponding with the total number of neurons. Beyond that, whether the action potential of a neuron will form, based upon the summation of the inputs of different dendrites, might be something that is more analog in nature than that which happens in a computer. One great advantage that a modern computer has over a biological brain, however, is that the speed of each electronic operation in a computer is many orders of magnitude faster than the time scales involved for the firing and transmission of individual nerve impulses. A brain, however, uses far more parallel processing than exists in most classical computing designs, and so each of the slower neurons can make up for it by operating at the same time.

There are many ethical issues concerning mind uploading. Viable mind uploading technology might challenge the ideas of human immortality, property rights, capitalism, human intelligence, an afterlife, and the Abrahamic view of man as created in God's image. These challenges often cannot be distinguished from those raised by all technologies that extend human technological control over human bodies, e.g. organ transplant. Perhaps the best way to explore such issues is to discover principles applicable to current bioethics problems, and question what would be permissible if they were applied consistently to a future technology. This points back to the role of science fiction in exploring such problems, as powerfully demonstrated in the 20th century by such works as Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four, each of which frame current ethical problems in a future environment where those have come to dominate the society.

Another issue with mind uploading is whether an uploaded mind is really the "same" sentience, or simply an exact copy with the same memories and personality. Although this difference would be undetectable to an external observer (and the upload itself would probably be unable to tell), it could mean that uploading a mind would actually kill it and replace it with a clone. Some people would be unwilling to upload themselves for this reason. If their sentience is deactivated even for a nanosecond, they assert, it is permanently wiped out. Some more gradual methods may avoid this problem by keeping the uploaded sentience functioning throughout the procedure.

True mind uploading remains speculative. The technology to perform such a feat is not currently available, however a number of possible mechanisms, and research approaches, have been proposed for developing mind uploading technology.

Since the function of the human mind, and how it might arise from the working of the brain's neural network, are poorly understood issues, many theoretical approaches to mind uploading rely on the idea of emulation. Rather than having to understand the functioning of the human mind, the structure of underlying neural network is captured and simulated with a computer system. The human mind then, theoretically, is generated by the simulated neural network in an identical fashion to it being generated by the biological neural network.

These approaches require only that we understand the nature of neurons and how their connections function, that we can simulate them well enough, that we have the computational power to run such large simulations, and that the state of the brain's neural network can be captured with enough fidelity to create an accurate simulation.

A possible method for mind uploading is serial sectioning, in which the brain tissue and perhaps other parts of the nervous system are frozen and then scanned and analyzed layer by layer, thus capturing the structure of the neurons and their interconnections[6]. The exposed surface of frozen nerve tissue would be scanned (possibly with some variant of an electron microscope) and recorded, and then the surface layer of tissue removed (possibly with a conventional cryo-ultramicrotome if scanning along an axis, or possibly through laser ablation if scans are done radially "from the outside inwards"). While this would be a very slow and labor intensive process, research is currently underway to automate the collection and microscopy of serial sections[7]. The scans would then be analyzed, and a model of the neural net recreated in the system that the mind was being uploaded into.

There are uncertainties with this approach using current microscopy techniques. If it is possible to replicate neuron function from its visible structure alone, then the resolution afforded by a scanning electron microscope would suffice for such a technique[7]. However, as the function of brain tissue is partially determined by molecular events (particularly at synapses, but also at other places on the neuron's cell membrane), this may not suffice for capturing and simulating neuron functions. It may be possible to extend the techniques of serial sectioning and to capture the internal molecular makeup of neurons, through the use of sophisticated immunohistochemistry staining methods which could then be read via confocal laser scanning microscopy[citation needed].

A more advanced hypothetical technique that would require nanotechnology might involve infiltrating the intact brain with a network of nanoscale machines to "read" the structure and activity of the brain in situ, much like the electrode meshes used in current brain-computer interface research, but on a much finer and more sophisticated scale. The data collected from these probes could then be used to build up a simulation of the neural network they were probing, and even check the behavior of the model against the behavior of the biological system in real time.

In his 1998 book, Mind children, Hans Moravec describes a variation of this process. In it, nanomachines are placed in the synapses of the outer layer of cells in the brain of a conscious living subject. The system then models the outer layer of cells and recreates the neural net processes in whatever simulation space is being used to house the uploaded consciousness of the subject. The nanomachines can then block the natural signals sent by the biological neurons, but send and receive signals to and from the simulated versions of the neurons. Which system is doing the processing biological or simulated can be toggled back and forth, both automatically by the scanning system and manually by the subject, until it has been established that the simulation's behavior matches that of the biological neurons and that the subjective mental experience of the subject is unchanged. Once this is the case, the outer layer of neurons can be removed and their function turned solely over to the simulated neurons. This process is then repeated, layer by layer, until the entire biological brain of the subject has been scanned, modeled, checked, and disassembled. When the process is completed, the nanomachines can be removed from the spinal column of the subject, and the mind of the subject exists solely within the simulated neural network.

Alternatively, such a process might allow for the replacement of living neurons with artificial neurons one by one while the subject is still conscious, providing a smooth transition from an organic to synthetic brain - potentially significant for those who worry about the loss of personal continuity that other uploading processes may entail. This method has been likened to upgrading the whole internet by replacing, one by one, each computer connected to it with similar computers using newer hardware.

While many people are more comfortable with the idea of the gradual replacement of their natural selves than they are with some of the more radical and discontinuous mental transfer, it still raises questions of identity. Is the individual preserved in this process, and if not, at what point does the individual cease to exist? If the original entity ceases to exist, what is the nature and identity of the individual created within the simulated neural network, or can any individual be said to exist there at all? This gradual replacement leads to a much more complicated and sophisticated version of the Ship of Theseus paradox.

It may also be possible to use advanced neuroimaging technology (such as Magnetoencephalography) to build a detailed three-dimensional model of the brain using non-invasive and non-destructive methods. However, current imaging technology lacks the resolution needed to gather the information needed for such a scan.

Such a process would leave the original entity intact, but the existence, nature, and identity of the resulting being in the simulated network are still open philosophical questions.

Another recently conceived possibility[citation needed] is the use of genetically engineered viruses to attach to synaptic junctions, and then release energy-emitting molecular compounds, which could be detected externally, and used to generate a functional model of the synapses in question, and, given enough time, the whole brain and nervous system.

An alternate set of possible theoretical approaches to mind uploading would require that we first understand the functions of the human mind sufficiently well to create abstract models of parts, or the totality, of human mental processes. It would require that strong AI be not only a possibility, but that the techniques used to create a strong AI system could also be used to recreate a human type mentality.

Such approaches might be more desirable if the abstract models required less computational power to execute than the neural network simulation of the emulation techniques described above.

Another theoretically possible method of mind uploading from organic to inorganic medium, related to the idea described above of replacing neurons one at a time while consciousness remained intact, would be a much less precise but much more feasible (in terms of technology currently known to be physically possible) process of "cyborging". Once a given person's brain is mapped, it is replaced piece-by-piece with computer devices which perform the exact same function as the regions preceding them, after which the patient is allowed to regain consciousness and validate that there has not been some radical upheaval within his own subjective experience of reality. At this point, the patient's brain is immediately "re-mapped" and another piece is replaced, and so on in this fashion until, the patient exists on a purely hardware medium and can be safely extricated from the remaining organic body.

However, critics contend[citation needed] that, given the significant level of synergy involved throughout the neural plexus, alteration of any given cell that is functionally correspondent with (a) neighboring cell(s) may well result in an alteration of its electrical and chemical properties that would not have existed without interference, and so the true individual's signature is lost. Revokability of that disturbance may be possible with damage anticipation and correction (seeing the original by the particular damage rendered unto it, in reverse chronological fashion), although this would be easier in a stable system, meaning a brain subjected to cryosleep (which would imbue its own damage and alterations).[citation needed]

It has also been suggested (for example, in Greg Egan's "jewelhead" stories[8]) that a detailed examination of the brain itself may not be required, that the brain could be treated as a black box instead and effectively duplicated "for all practical purposes" by merely duplicating how it responds to specific external stimuli. This leads into even deeper philosophical questions of what the "self" is.

On June 6, 2005 IBM and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne announced the launch of a project to build a complete simulation of the human brain, entitled the "Blue Brain Project".[9] The project will use a supercomputer based on IBM's Blue Gene design to map the entire electrical circuitry of the brain. The project seeks to research aspects of human cognition, and various psychiatric disorders caused by malfunctioning neurons, such as autism. Initial efforts are to focus on experimentally accurate, programmed characterization of a single neocortical column in the brain of a rat, as it is very similar to that of a human but at a smaller scale, then to expand to an entire neocortex (the alleged seat of higher intelligence) and eventually the human brain as a whole.

It is interesting to note that the Blue Brain project seems to use a combination of emulation and simulation techniques. The first stage of their program was to simulate a neocortical column at the molecular level. Now the program seems to be trying to create a simplified functional simulation of the neocortical column in order to simulate many of them, and to model their interactions.

With most projected mind uploading technology it is implicit that "copying" a consciousness could be as feasible as "moving" it, since these technologies generally involve simulating the human brain in a computer of some sort, and digital files such as computer programs can be copied precisely. It is also possible that the simulation could be created without the need to destroy the original brain, so that the computer-based consciousness would be a copy of the still-living biological person, although some proposed methods such as serial sectioning of the brain would necessarily be destructive. In both cases it is usually assumed that once the two versions are exposed to different sensory inputs, their experiences would begin to diverge, but all their memories up until the moment of the copying would remain the same.

By many definitions, both copies could be considered the "same person" as the single original consciousness before it was copied. At the same time, they can be considered distinct individuals once they begin to diverge, so the issue of which copy "inherits" what could be complicated. This problem is similar to that found when considering the possibility of teleportation, where in some proposed methods it is possible to copy (rather than only move) a mind or person. This is the classic philosophical issue of personal identity. The problem is made even more serious by the possibility of creating a potentially infinite number of initially identical copies of the original person, which would of course all exist simultaneously as distinct beings.

Philosopher John Locke published "An Essay Concerning Human Understanding" in 1689, in which he proposed the following criterion for personal identity: if you remember thinking something in the past, then you are the same person as he or she who did the thinking. Later philosophers raised various logical snarls, most of them caused by applying Boolean logic, the prevalent logic system at the time. It has been proposed that modern fuzzy logic can solve those problems,[10] showing that Locke's basic idea is sound if one treats personal identity as a continuous rather than discrete value.

In that case, when a mind is copied -- whether during mind uploading, or afterwards, or by some other means -- the two copies are initially two instances of the very same person, but over time, they will gradually become different people to an increasing degree.

The issue of copying vs moving is sometimes cited as a reason to think that destructive methods of mind uploading such as serial sectioning of the brain would actually destroy the consciousness of the original and the upload would itself be a mere "copy" of that consciousness. Whether one believes that the original consciousness of the brain would transfer to the upload, that the original consciousness would be destroyed, or that this is simply a matter of definition and the question has no single "objectively true" answer, is ultimately a philosophical question that depends on one's views of philosophy of mind.

Because of these philosophical questions about the survival of consciousness, there are some who would feel more comfortable about a method of uploading where the transfer is gradual, replacing the original brain with a new substrate over an extended period of time, during which the subject appears to be fully conscious (this can be seen as analogous to the natural biological replacement of molecules in our brains with new ones taken in from eating and breathing, which may lead to almost all the matter in our brains being replaced in as little as a few months[11]). As mentioned above, this would likely take place as a result of gradual cyborging, either nanoscopically or macroscopically, wherein the brain (the original copy) would slowly be replaced bit by bit with artificial parts that function in a near-identical manner, and assuming this was possible at all, the person would not necessarily notice any difference as more and more of their brain became artificial. A gradual transfer also brings up questions of identity similar to the classical Ship of Theseus paradox, although the above-mentioned natural replacement of molecules in the brain through eating and breathing brings up these questions as well.

A computer capable of simulating a person may require microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), or else perhaps optical or nano computing for comparable speed and reduced size and sophisticated telecommunication between the brain and body (whether it exists in virtual reality, artificially as an android, or cybernetically as in sync with a biological body through a transceiver), but would not seem to require molecular nanotechnology.

If minds and environments can be simulated, the Simulation Hypothesis posits that the reality we see may in fact be a computer simulation, and that this is actually the most likely possibility.[12]

Uploading is a common theme in science fiction. Some of the earlier instances of this theme were in the Roger Zelazny 1968 novel Lord of Light and in Frederik Pohl's 1955 short story "Tunnel Under the World." A near miss was Neil R. Jones' 1931 short story "The Jameson Satellite", wherein a person's organic brain was installed in a machine, and Olaf Stapledon's "Last and First Men" (1930) had organic human-like brains grown into an immobile machine.

Another of the "firsts" is the novel Detta r verkligheten (This is reality), 1968, by the renowned philosopher and logician Bertil Mrtensson, in which he describes people living in an uploaded state as a means to control overpopulation. The uploaded people believe that they are "alive", but in reality they are playing elaborate and advanced fantasy games. In a twist at the end, the author changes everything into one of the best "multiverse" ideas of science fiction. Together with the 1969 book Ubik by Philip K. Dick it takes the subject to its furthest point of all the early novels in the field.

Frederik Pohl's Gateway series (also known as the Heechee Saga) deals with a human being, Robinette Broadhead, who "dies" and, due to the efforts of his wife, a computer scientist, as well as the computer program Sigfrid von Shrink, is uploaded into the "64 Gigabit space" (now archaic, but Fred Pohl wrote Gateway in 1976). The Heechee Saga deals with the physical, social, sexual, recreational, and scientific nature of cyberspace before William Gibson's award-winning Neuromancer, and the interactions between cyberspace and "meatspace" commonly depicted in cyberpunk fiction. In Neuromancer, a hacking tool used by the main character is an artificial infomorph of a notorious cyber-criminal, Dixie Flatline. The infomorph only assists in exchange for the promise that he be deleted after the mission is complete.

In the 1982 novel Software, part of the Ware Tetralogy by Rudy Rucker, one of the main characters, Cobb Anderson, has his mind uploaded and his body replaced with an extremely human-like android body. The robots who persuade Anderson into doing this sell the process to him as a way to become immortal.

In the 1997 novel "Shade's Children" by Garth Nix, one of the main characters Shade (a.k.a. Robert Ingman) is an uploaded consciousness that guides the other characters through the post-apocolyptic world in which they live.

The fiction of Greg Egan has explored many of the philosophical, ethical, legal, and identity aspects of mind uploading, as well as the financial and computing aspects (i.e., hardware, software, processing power) of maintaining "copies". In Egan's Permutation City and Diaspora, "copies" are made by computer simulation of scanned brain physiology. Also, in Egan's "Jewelhead" stories, the mind is transferred from the organic brain to a small, immortal backup computer at the base of the skull, with the organic brain then being surgically removed.

The Takeshi Kovacs novels by Richard Morgan was set in a universe where mind transfers were a part of standard life. With the use of cortical stacks, which record a person's memories and personality into a device implanted in the spinal vertebrae, it was possible to copy the individual's mind to a storage system at the time of death. The stack could be uploaded to a virtual reality environment for interrogation, entertainment, or to pass the time for long distance travel. The stack could also be implanted into a new body or "sleeve" which may or may not have biomechanical, genetic, or chemical "upgrades" since the sleeve could be grown or manufactured. Interstellar travel is most often accomplished by digitized human freight ("dhf") over faster-than-light needlecast transmission.

In the "Requiem for Homo Sapiens" series of novels by David Zindell (Neverness, The Broken God, The Wild, and War in Heaven), the verb "cark" is used for uploading one's mind (and also for changing one's DNA). Carking is done for soul-preservation purposes by the members of the Architects church, and also for more sinister (or simply unknowable) purposes by the various "gods" that populate the galaxy such gods being human minds that have now grown into planet- or nebula-sized synthetic brains. The climax of the series centers around the struggle to prevent one character from creating a Universal Computer (under his control) that will incorporate all human minds (and indeed, the entire structure of the universe).

In the popular computer game Total Annihilation, the 4,000-year war that eventually culminated with the destruction of the Milky Way galaxy was started over the issue of mind transfer, with one group (the Arm) resisting another group (the Core) who were attempting to enforce a 100% conversion rate of humanity into machines, because machines are durable and modular, thereby making it a "public health measure."

In the popular science fiction show Stargate SG-1 the alien race who call themselves the Asgard rely solely on cloning and mind transferring to continue their existence. This was not a choice they made, but a result of the decay of the Asgard genome due to excessive cloning, which also caused the Asgard to lose their ability to reproduce. In the episode "Tin Man", SG-1 encounter Harlan, the last of a race that transferred their minds to robots in order to survive. SG-1 then discover that their minds have also been transferred to robot bodies. Eventually they learn that their minds were copied rather than uploaded and that the "original" SG-1 are still alive.

The Thirteenth Floor is a film made in 1999 directed by Josef Rusnak. In the film, a scientific team discovers a technology to create a fully functioning virtual world which they could experience by taking control of the bodies of simulated characters in the world, all of whom were self-aware. One plot twist was that if the virtual body a person had taken control of was killed in the simulation while they were controlling it, then the mind of the simulated character the body originally belonged to would take over the body of that person in the "real world".

The Matrix is a film released the same year as The Thirteenth Floor that has the same kind of solipsistic philosophy. In The Matrix, the protagonist Neo finds out that the world he has been living in is nothing but a simulated dreamworld. However, this should be considered as virtual reality rather than mind uploading, since Neo's physical brain still is required to reside his mind. The mind (the information content of the brain) is not copied into an emulated brain in a computer. Neo's physical brain is connected into the Matrix via a brain-machine interface. Only the rest of the physical body is simulated. Neo is disconnected from this dreamworld by human rebels fighting against AI-driven machines in what seems to be a neverending war. During the course of the movie, Neo and his friends are connected back into the Matrix dreamworld in order to fight the machine race.

In the series Battlestar Galactica the antagonists of the story are the Cylons, sentient computers created by man which developed to become nearly identical to human beings. When they die they rely on mind transferring to keep on living so that "death becomes a learning experience".

The 1995 movie Strange Days explores the idea of a technology capable of recording a conscious event. However, in this case, the mind itself is not uploaded into the device. The recorded event, which time frame is limited to that of the recording session, is frozen in time on a data disc much like today's audio and video. Wearing the "helmet" in playback mode, another person can experience the external stimuli interpretation of the brain, the memories, the feelings, the thoughts and the actions that the original person recorded from his/her life. During playback, the observer temporarily quits his own memories and state of consciousness (the real self). In other words, one can "live" a moment in the life of another person, and one can "live" the same moment of his/her life more than once. In the movie, a direct link to a remote helmet can also be established, allowing another person to experience a live event.

Followers of the Ralian religion advocate mind uploading in the process of human cloning to achieve eternal life. Living inside of a computer is also seen by followers as an eminent possibility.[13]

However, mind uploading is also advocated by a number of secular researchers in neuroscience and artificial intelligence, such as Marvin Minsky. In 1993, Joe Strout created a small web site called the Mind Uploading Home Page, and began advocating the idea in Cryonics circles and elsewhere on the net. That site has not been actively updated in recent years, but it has spawned other sites including MindUploading.org, run by Randal A. Koene, Ph.D., who also moderates a mailing list on the topic. These advocates see mind uploading as a medical procedure which could eventually save countless lives.

Many Transhumanists look forward to the development and deployment of mind uploading technology, with many predicting that it will become possible within the 21st century due to technological trends such as Moore's Law. Many view it as the end phase of the Transhumanist project, which might be said to begin with the genetic engineering of biological humans, continue with the cybernetic enhancement of genetically engineered humans, and finally obtain with the replacement of all remaining biological aspects.

The book Beyond Humanity: CyberEvolution and Future Minds by Gregory S. Paul & Earl D. Cox, is about the eventual (and, to the authors, almost inevitable) evolution of computers into sentient beings, but also deals with human mind transfer.

Raymond Kurzweil, a prominent advocate of transhumanism and the likelihood of a technological singularity, has suggested that the easiest path to human-level artificial intelligence may lie in "reverse-engineering the human brain", which he usually uses to refer to the creation of a new intelligence based on the general "principles of operation" of the brain, but he also sometimes uses the term to refer to the notion of uploading individual human minds based on highly detailed scans and simulations. This idea is discussed on pp. 198-203 of his book The Singularity is Near, for example.

Hans Moravec describes and advocates mind uploading in both his 1988 book Mind Children: The Future of Robot and Human Intelligence and also his 2000 book Robot: Mere Machine to Transcendent Mind. Moravec is referred to by Marvin Minsky in Minsky's essay Will Robots Inherit the Earth?.[14]

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Gray Fox | Metal Gear Wiki | FANDOM powered by Wikia

Gray FoxAlso known as

Blond-white, later gray

Special forces soldier, mercenary

Gray Fox, real name Frank Jaeger, was a mercenary and former agent of U.S. Special Forces Unit FOXHOUND. Originally a child soldier, Jaeger was the only operative in FOXHOUND to achieve the codename "Fox," the unit's highest commendation, and was decorated five times.[5]

Fox was Solid Snake's comrade-in-arms and friend during the Outer Heaven Uprising, but his loyalty to renegade commander Big Boss forced him into combat with Snake during the Zanzibar Land Disturbance. He survived his injuries following an intense battle, after which he was forcibly outfitted with a powered exoskeleton and subjected to intensive gene therapy. Fox later confronted Snake as a neutral force during the Shadow Moses Incident, in the guise of the Cyborg Ninja, before dying at the hands of Liquid Snake and Metal Gear REX.

Frank Jaeger spent his early years fighting as a child soldier.[6]

Frank Jaeger as a child soldier.

As a child soldier, Jaeger fought with FRELIMO guerrillas in the Mozambican War of Independence. Known for his cruel war tactics, he would trick enemies into letting their guard down by acting with "the frankness of a young boy," before killing them with "the ruthlessness of a hunter."[7] This earned him the title "Frank Hunter" from his enemies, which evolved into "Frank Jaeger," as a nod to thelittle German that he spoke.[7] Throughout the war, Jaeger killed dozens of government soldiers from the Portuguese regime.[7] In 1966, renowned mercenary Big Boss became acquainted with Jaeger in Mozambique after stopping him in battle, and placed the young boy into a rehabilitation facility, believing that he would be safe.

While at the rehab center, Jaeger was taken by the CIA and used as a test subject in the "Perfect Soldier Project." The project turned the boy into a more efficient soldier, capable of killing his targets without remorse, however, it was at a cost. When he was not fighting, he was kept in a fluid-filled sensory deprivation tank which would reset his memories, and suppress his emotions. This intense treatment also enhanced his senses and reflexes allowing him to deflect bullets and become incredibly agile. Because Jaeger was the only surviving test subject of the project, he was deemed a lost number and was given the codename of "Null."[8]

Frank Jaeger as Null, circa 1970.

As a teenager, Null, a.k.a. the Perfect Soldier, operated as a member of the FOX unit during the San Hieronymo Incident, under the leadership of Gene. His unique Sneaking Suit color during this time was red. He helped the unit to capture Big Boss, and confronted him in battle during the operation, but was unable to defeat him, their fight ending in a stalemate. However, his fight with Big Boss nonetheless lasted long enough for Cunningham and a squad of FOX agents to arrive and capture Big Boss. Null was forced to let Big Boss live due to Cunningham's insistence that he stand down, though he did so with extreme reluctance.

Despite being laid back into his culture tank, Null's memories of the battle with Big Boss couldn't be erased. He first escaped from the tank shortly after Gene's telephone conversation with Ocelot, killing several FOX agents before finally being subdued by Gene, via throwing knives to the hands and knees, and telekinesis. Driven by a need to kill Big Boss, Null broke free of his chamber a second time and after slaughtering many Soviet soldiers, he confronted Big Boss again at the subpower station. Revealing that his mind was "littered with corpses," and having an almost fatalistic and nihilistic view on life, he asked Big Boss, "Why won't you die? What do you hope to accomplish by living?," before attacking. It was only after this second battle that Big Boss realized who Null really was. Big Boss defeated Null again and convinced him to seek help somewhere outside of the FOX unit.

Afterwards, Jaeger was sent to a hospital, and while he did ultimately survive the events of the San Hieronymo Incident, he was severely wounded both physically and mentally. The doctors and Roy Campbell were also unsure if, after his eventual release from the hospital, he would ever live a normal life after that. Jaeger's battle data as Null was later recovered by Zero, who then revealed this to Ocelot and requested his assistance in a project.

Frank Jaeger

In 1979, during the Rhodesian Civil War,[9] Jaeger was responsible for killing the parents of a young girl, who would later take the name Naomi Hunter.[10] Feeling immense guilt upon discovering the near-starved child by the Zambezi River, he gave Naomi his rations and chose to adopt her, caring for her as a younger sister.[11] Military analyst Nastasha Romanenko would later speculate that these actions were the result of post-traumatic stress resulting from Fox's childhood experiences in war.[6] His killing of her parents, and his guilt for the action, would continue to haunt Jaeger for the rest of his life, although he kept the true reason for the loss of her parents a secret from Naomi.[10]

At some point, Jaeger participated in the Mozambican Civil War as a soldier for the RENAMO, but would later endure severe torture in which his nose and ears were cut off. He was ultimately rescued by Big Boss.[12]

It was while in Mozambique during the 1980s that Jaeger's sister Naomi met Big Boss, who would later take them both to the United States. Jaeger and Big Boss eventually returned to Africa to continue the war, leaving Naomi behind in America.[13]

While living under the alias of "Frank Hunter," during the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary, Jaeger became romantically involved with Czech figure skating champion Gustava Heffner. The two tried to elope together, but Western authorities rejected her bid for asylum and she was sent back to her country, where she was stripped of her competition rights. Following this incident, Jaeger developed a great deal of resentment for Cold War politics.[5]

Circa the early 1990s, Jaeger served in the U.S. Special Forces Unit FOXHOUND, with Big Boss himself being reinstated as its commander. Jaeger was the only member to receive the unit's highest commendation, being awarded with the codename "Fox."[14] Having been decorated five times, Fox was considered an unofficial leader in FOXHOUND due to his extraordinary soldiering skills and his keen intellect,[15] and was held in high regard among the members of FOXHOUND.[5] During this time, Fox's real name was classified under National Security.[3]

Gray Fox in 1995.

In 1995, Gray Fox was the FOXHOUND agent assigned to Operation Intrude N312. Fox's objective was to gather data on a top-secret nuclear weapon that the fortified state of Outer Heaven was secretly developing. After successfully infiltrating Outer Heaven, Gray Fox scouted the first building of the fortress, noting the locations of the inner courtyard, cameras and elevators, along with various weapons and equipment, such as card keys and Beretta handguns. Sometime afterwards, he stumbled upon information relating to the new weapon being developed.[15] However, the mission ended in failure when Fox was captured, though not before relaying the details of his reconnaissance back to FOXHOUND. His final words before his transmission was cut were simply: "Metal Gear..."[15]

In the follow-up mission, known as Operation Intrude N313,[16] Fox was rescued by rookie FOXHOUND member Solid Snake. Fox provided Snake with all the known facts about Metal Gear; a nuclear-equipped walking battle tank.[17] With Fox's information, Snake located and rescued Metal Gear's creator, and ultimately destroyed the TX-55 prototype that was under development in Outer Heaven. Following Outer Heaven's fall, and the revelation of its leader's identity as Big Boss, all trace of Fox was lost, and it appeared he followed after his commander.[3]

After deserting FOXHOUND, Fox accompanied Big Boss to ZanzibarLand in Central Asia. He assisted in the formation of Zanzibar Land through his participation in the Mercenary War and became Big Boss' most trusted lieutenant. After their success in the war, Fox was given his own command among Zanzibar Land's military.[3]

In 1999,the newly-developed Metal Gear Dwas usedto cross Zanzibar Land's borders and conduct raids against several nuclear disposal sites. This act, along with Zanzibar Land's kidnapping of Czech biologist Dr. Kio Marv, led to retaliation from FOXHOUND, then under the command of Colonel Roy Campbell. Solid Snake was pulled from retirement and sent to rescue Dr. Marv, with assistance from the CIA. Fox, conflicted over Big Boss's plans to bring about a new age of global conflict, became a secret informant to his old comrade Snake, justifying it as payback for his selfish desire for battle.[18] During the course of Snake's mission, Fox began transmitting anonymous messages to him, claiming to be his "number one fan," in order to help him overcome certain obstacles and traps.

Fox finally met Snake in person at the Bridge of Sorrow, which he destroyed with Metal Gear, before warning Snake to turn back and leave Zanzibar Land.[19][20] This action caused the death of his former lover, Gustava, who had been serving the STB and assisting Snake in the search for Dr. Marv.[21] Fox later contacted Snake when the latter's elevator in the Tower Building was immobilized. Because Snake ignored his earlier threat, Fox informed him that the two's friendship was now over. Fox taunted Snake about an impending assault by an assassination squad, the Four Horsemen, but remarking that he would "put up a good fight."[22] Fox's words proved true when the squad failed to eliminate Snake, and though his progress was delayed, Snake reached the detention facility where Dr. Marv was held. Assuming his "fan" alias again, Fox then alerted Snake to Night Fright's presence on the 3rd floor basement, later contacting him again to provide the location of a card key, which Snake required to progress further.[23][24]

Gray Fox shortly after his battle with Solid Snake.

After Snake obtained critical data left behind by a deceased Dr. Marv, Fox activated a pit trap beneath him before he could escape the detention facility. Forcing Snake into an underground facility, Fox, again piloting Metal Gear D, challenged him to a fight, dismissing Dr. Madnar's claims as to its weaknesses.[25][26] Following Madnar's advice, Snake attacked the bipedal tank's feet with frag grenades where its armor was thinnest, and successfully crippled the machine. Fox survived the resulting explosion and was able to steal the cartridge containing Dr. Marv's OILIX data from Snake.[27] With his opponent having discarded his equipment after having caught on fire,[28] Fox beckoned Snake to fight him unarmed in a room laid with land mines.[29] A fist-to-fist duel then ensued, involving no hatred or murderous intent between the two professionals, with Fox ultimately falling to Snake's repeated blows.[14] Exhausted, and bleeding from wounds to his head,[30] he told Snake that he had supported Big Boss, not because he felt indebted to the man for saving his life in the past, but because he could only find his purpose in battle, despite professing a hatred for war itself. Fox admitted to providing anonymous tips by radio, with Snake assuring the fallen soldier that Gustava would be waiting for him, for which Fox expressed thanks. Snake then left to confront Big Boss, leaving a presumed dead Fox behind.[18]

Gray Fox as the Cyborg Ninja.

After the defeat of Big Boss and the downfall of Zanzibar Land, Gray Fox's body, blown apart by a land mine,[31] was secretly recovered by the Patriots.[32][33] Restored through cybernetic surgery, Fox became a guinea pig for FOXHOUND's chief medic Dr. Clark and her gene therapy experiments.[32] A powered exoskeleton was grafted directly onto his body by inserting a cybernetic module at the skeletal level, granting Fox enhanced strength and agility.[34] Gene therapy was used to help overcome stress concentration and rejection responses.[34]

Subjected to drugs for four years as Dr. Clark and her team continued their research, Fox's responses to gene therapy would ultimately provide research data for the creation of the Genome Soldiers,[32] while nanomachine technology used to suppress his emotions would later be incorporated into the Sons of the Patriots system.[35]Although the experiments Fox was subjected to were classified, rumors nonetheless circulated about cyborg development occurring.[36]

In 2000,[9] Fox's adopted sister Naomi Hunter joined FOXHOUND as Dr. Clark's assistant. She helped Fox to escape his containment in 2003,[9] and summarily covered up his actions when he later killed Dr. Clark, reporting it as a laboratory accident.[37] Fox had actually been used to kill Clark by Big Mama, who had previously recruited Naomi into her organization, as part of a power struggle between opposing factions of the Patriots.[33] Naomi then falsely reported Fox's death during the supposed accident, and helped him hide out. However, the entire ordeal had left Fox's mind unstable, causing a rapid deterioration of identity.

With the desire to face Solid Snake once more in combat persisting within his tattered consciousness, Fox set out to confront him during the Shadow Moses Incident in 2005. Equipped with full-body optic camouflage, the Ninja infiltrated Shadow Moses Island in search of Snake, who was on a mission to neutralize a then-renegade FOXHOUND Unit, led by Liquid Snake. The self-titled Sons of Big Boss became aware of the Ninja's presence on the island after he killed three of their number, resulting in heightened security on the occupied base.[38]

The Ninja first encountered Snake in the base's armory, after releasing ArmsTech President Kenneth Baker from captivity and attacking FOXHOUND member Revolver Ocelot, severing the latter's right hand with his high frequency blade. However, he was forced to retreat after the onset of extremely painful spasms, accompanied by electrical discharges from his body.

This was a side effect of imperfect nerve connections resulting from Dr. Clark's experiments.[39]

The Ninja would later help Snake in his mission by transmitting anonymous messages regarding dangers to Snake, much like he did during Operation Intrude F014, under the alias Deepthroat. This included warning him of hidden Claymore mines north of the tank hangar, and electrified flooring in the nuclear warhead storage building. After taking out a squad of NBC warfare troops ahead of Snake, one of who believed Fox to be a ghost,[40] the Ninja accessed the laboratory of Dr. Hal Emmerich and proceeded to menace the terrified engineer, demanding to know where Snake was. He was confronted by his target shortly thereafter, and told Snake that he was "neither enemy nor friend." The Ninja's bizarre appearance and conduct caused Emmerich to comment that the entire scene was akin to an anime, before hiding in a locker. The Ninja challenged Snake to a battle, feeling that his soul could only find respite in a fight to the death, indifferent as to the outcome. His superhuman reflexes and swordsmanship rendered Snake's gunfire ineffective, only sheathing his sword after Snake engaged him in hand-to-hand combat. At first, Snake did not recognize his opponent, but as the duel progressed Snake began to realize that the Ninja was Gray Fox, and was shocked that he could still be alive. After a time, Snake began to prevail in the battle but before its ultimate conclusion was reached, Fox suffered another painful outburst, and fled the lab. Fox's overall presence, as well as his killing twelve soldiers by the time Snake was captured, caused Liquid and Ocelot to speculate that Fox's presence was due to a spy in their midst.[41]

Gray Fox shows his face.

Gray Fox later joined forces with Snake against Metal Gear REX, and managed to damage the mech by attacking it's radome with his laser gun arm,[42][43] interfering with the sealed cockpit's sensory input. He also let slip that he was Deepthroat to Snake, and also noted the latter hadn't aged well.[44] While its pilot, Liquid Snake, attempted to locate the two, Fox took the momentary break in fighting to reveal to Snake his role in the deaths of Naomi Hunter's parents, and begged him to tell her the truth. Following this exchange, Fox leapt from their hiding spot and again attacked REX. During this second assault, Fox was injured when his left arm was sliced off by the tank's own laser cannon. He was then pinned against a wall by REX's cockpit beak, but was able to destroy the radome while immobilized, declaring that "a cornered fox is more dangerous than a jackal!" in response to Liquid's taunts. Fox was released as REX moved back a short distance, the now-blinded Liquid being forced to open the cockpit, exposing its interior to Snake's Stinger missiles. Fox ordered Snake to fire on the cockpit, but its close proximity to him made Snake reluctant to do so, unwilling to kill his friend in the process. As Snake hesitated, Fox told him that after being taken from Zanzibar Land, he had neither been truly alive nor truly dead, and that he could finally meet his end with Snake to witness it. As Fox fell to the floor, Liquid tried to kill the Ninja once and for all by crushing him under one of Metal Gear's massive feet, but Fox's exoskeleton meant that this first attempt failed. With REX's second stomp, however, the only man considered worthy of the codename "Fox" was no more. His last words were directed towards Snake:

After escaping the Shadow Moses facility, Snake contacted Naomi, informing her that Fox's last message was to forget about him and move on with her own life, and that he would always love her. Snake decided not to tell her that Fox had killed her parents because he was the only family Naomi had ever known.

A photo of Frank Jaeger in Naomi's locket.

During the Big Shell Incident in 2009, Solid Snake referenced Gray Fox's last words to Raiden when explaining why he was motivated to carry out anti-Metal Gear activities. In addition, the Patriots' recreation of Shadow Moses for the S3 Plan had Olga Gurlukovich assume the role of the Cyborg Ninja, causing Raiden to think that Fox may have survived, although Snake and several others knew otherwise.

By 2014, the gene therapy and nanomachine research conducted on Frank Jaeger was utilized in the creation of the SOP system.[45] During this time, Naomi carried a picture of her brother within her locket.

During his time as the Perfect Soldier Null, his frequent readjustments following each mission deprived him of both his memories and emotions, his only dreams being of waking up to the corpses of his victims lying in front of him, and waiting in vain for his comrades to rescue him. He harbored fatalistic, borderline nihilistic views on life, feeling that it wouldn't truly matter if he spared someone or not as they would die eventually anyway. This belief, as well as his conditioning as the Perfect Soldier, resulted in him developing an intense animosity towards Big Boss after being unable to kill him in battle, and questioning his reasons for living.[46] This aspect eventually resulted in Jaeger renouncing his Null identity altogether when he was defeated by Big Boss.

Gray Fox as the Cyborg Ninja.

Gustava Heffner described Jaeger as handsome, well-mannered and intelligent, but always possessed by a level of fear.[47] His cold-blooded nature and extreme tenacity earned him the respect of Solid Snake and others in FOXHOUND, with Snake once considering him better than any other soldier he'd fought with.[5]

Jaeger was fearful around his adopted sister, Naomi, due to the immense guilt that he felt after killing her birth parents. He was reminded of their deaths every time he looked into Naomi eyes.[10]

Fox would become devoted to Big Boss's cause, serving him at the expense of becoming militarily opposed to his friends such as Solid Snake.

Because of his past as a child soldier, Fox's need for the battlefield resonated with Big Boss's vision, despite his own hatred for war itself.[18] Unable to live a peaceful life, it was this helplessness that ultimately led him to side with Big Boss, both feeling that soldiers such as themselves could only find purpose outside of normal society, due to their innate fighting instincts.

After his defeat in Zanzibar Land, Fox developed a yearning for death following his transformation into the Cyborg Ninja, wanting to have one last fight with Solid Snake so he die by the latter's hand. He believed he had been fated to die in Zanzibar Land and so his spirit was broken after his resuscitation by Dr. Clark. After re-encountering Fox the second time, Snake also speculated that the former couldn't remember anything about his past besides their fight in Zanzibar Land.[48] Ultimately, he died aiding Snake in his mission to stop Liquid, achieving the peace he had long sought.

Fox is the most recurring boss character in the series, being fought in a total of five boss fights throughout the games (Vamp, Liquid Snake, and Revolver Ocelot are each fought four times, respectively, throughout the series).

Gray Fox (, Gurei Fokkusu?) first appears in the original Metal Gear (spelled "Grey Fox" in the MSX2 version). The player's initial objective is to rescue him and obtain intel on Metal Gear from him. Fox's sprite in the MSX2 version was a recolor of the regular prisoner of war sprite (wearing a blue jumpsuit instead of a brown one), or in the case of the NES version, the same as the prisoner of war sprite (as the game's characters were monochrome). In addition, Fox's role is very minor, as he only gives Snake the details of the TX-55 Metal Gear and suggests that he find Dr. Madnar before disappearing altogether. Future installments added some more detail to the meeting, revealing that Fox also showed a green Snake "the ropes."

Fox returns in Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, where he confronts Snake as an enemy on several occasions, while secretly assisting him as an anonymous informant. Fox's past is fleshed out in this game and his civilian identity is revealed to be Frank Jaeger (, Furanku Ig?) ("Frank Yeager" in the MSX2 version).

Fox's portrait was modeled after actor Tom Berenger. In the re-released versions, he was redesigned to resemble his later depiction in Metal Gear Solid. Portions of Fox's character, namely his first name of Frank, as well as his attempting to elope with a Czech figure skater, were influenced by the novel Crossfire.

It is stated in Metal Gear 2, and again in Metal Gear Solid, that the hand-to-hand battle between Snake and Fox takes place on a minefield. However, while mines are present during the battle, Fox is able to move around freely and can only be defeated by the player. Also, while Fox does "explode" after his defeatand "final conversation" with Snake, this is the case for nearly all the bosses in the game, except Dr. Madnar.

In Metal Gear 2, Fox claims that he was a half-white living in Vietnam, sent to a forced labor camp after the war (19551975), where he was rescued by Big Boss.[49] In addition, the Metal Gear Solid: Official Mission Handbook states that he was born in the 1970s to unknown parents, and was of Vietnamese and German-American descent.[50] However, Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops later contradicts the Handbook's account with his appearance in 1970, though he retains a German-speaking background. The issue is further confused by Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, which reveals that Big Boss was in a coma before the Vietnam War ended, and did not recover until 1984.

Fox's activities in Mozambique, as stated in Metal Gear 2 and referenced in Metal Gear Solid,[51] share many similarities to those later mentioned in Portable Ops, but are actually two different conflicts, namely the Civil War (19641974) and the War of Independence (19771992), respectively. While only the Portable Ops account is mentioned in the Metal Gear Solid 4 Database,[31] Fox's participation in both wars is entirely plausible.

With these various additions and subtractions to the character's backstory across various games, Fox's recollections in Metal Gear 2, regarding the exact number of prior interactions with Big Boss, is somewhat unreliable.[49] Nevertheless, the narrative themes concerned with his victimization as a child soldier and his relationship with Big Boss remains intact.

In the English versions, Gray Fox was voiced by Greg Eagles (credited as George Byrd) in Metal Gear Solid, Rob Paulsen in The Twin Snakes, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Metal Gear Solid 4 and Larc Spies in Portable Ops. In Japanese versions, he was voiced by Kaneto Shiozawa in Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 4, Takumi Yamazaki (the same man who voiced Ocelot in Metal Gear Solid 3) in Metal Gear Solid: Bande Dessine and Jun Fukuyama in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops. In the Japanese versions of Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Metal Gear Solid 4, Fox utilized the vocal archives of Shiozawa due to his death in 2000.

Gray Fox, in the E3 1997 trailer for Metal Gear Solid.

Fox's Cyborg Ninja design was created by series artist Yoji Shinkawa. The design did not exist in the original concept for Metal Gear Solid, but director Hideo Kojima liked it so much, he decided to incorporate it into the storyline,[52] based on a sketch by "Shin-chan" that he found.[53] When Fox's face is unmasked in the latter stages of the game, the pupil of one of his eyes is shown to be white.

The codename "Deepthroat," which Fox used when contacting Snake by Codec to offer him advice, was also the name of the FBI agent who exposed U.S. President Richard Nixon's involvement in the Watergate scandal. FBI agent William Mark Felt was the real Deepthroat, and he revealed himself to the public in May 2005.

In IDW's Metal Gear Solid: Official Comic Book, it is hinted that Fox was sent by the Patriots to find and kill Solid Snake, in order to facilitate the job of assassinating him themselves.

Shortly after being defeated by Snake, Fox, while screaming in agony, yells "The...the mediciiiiiine!" Although in-universe, this refers to how he was kept drugged for several months while Dr. Clark experimented on him, the dialogue itself is a reference to a scene to the anime movie Akira, where Tetsuo demands for a stabilizer due to his unstable psychokinetic abilities beginning to mutate his arm.[54]

The Ninja's role in The Twin Snakes remake was similar to the original game, but was slightly extended due to directorial decisions. Specifically, a new action-packed cutscene shows his slaughter of the Genome Soldiers guarding Dr. Emmerich's lab, with Snake briefly witnessing this (in the original game, the attack is heard off-screen, with Snake deducing the Ninja's involvement upon discovering the body-strewn hallway).

Portable Ops, a prequel set two decades before the events of the first Metal Gear, features a teenage Fox as a masked machete-wielding soldier named Null (, Nuru?). The revelation of his identity in Portable Ops is similar to that in Metal Gear Solid; in both cases, his identity is unknown until he is engaged in battle and defeated by the player.

In the novelization of Metal Gear Solid, Fox's death was portrayed in a slightly different manner than in both the original game and the remake. Namely, Fox managed to destroy Metal Gear REX's radome at exactly the same time that the mech stepped on him, thus failing to crush him to death in that instant. However, he was still gravely wounded from the attack, and as a result, he died shortly afterwards. The remake, The Twin Snakes, was also slightly different in doing Fox's death, as it only utilized one stomp attack to kill him, with it gradually delivering an increasing amount of pressure on Fox until his exoskeleton caved. REX then wiped its foot on the floor.

In the novelization, the gun that Fox used against REX was specified to be a portable Vulcan cannon,[55] while in Shinkawa's character design sheets and product details for the Cyborg Ninja Play Arts Kai action figure, it is simply referred to as a "Laser Gun Arm."[42][43]

Although Gray Fox himself does not appear in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, due to it taking place after his death, he is mentioned a few times in the game. Likewise, in Substance, Raiden can wear a Cyborg Ninja outfit bearing multiple similarities to Gray Fox's exoskeleton in the VR missions.

Gray Fox is referenced several times in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. In addition, during the battle with the Suicide Gekkos in Metal Gear REX's hangar, if the player aims the rail gun at Raiden and Vamp, Snake will verbally say "I can't do it!", referencing a similar situation in Metal Gear Solid where the player could aim the Stinger at REX, but Snake is unable to fire due to it carrying the risk of killing Gray Fox (who by that point was pinned to the wall by REX) from the resulting blast.

Fox, as an Assist Trophy in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Gray Fox appears as an Assist Trophy who leaps around the arena and attacks opponents with rapid sword-slashes. He also deflects any projectiles fired at him. He also has the ability to reappear from the top of the screen if he falls off the stage. If one of the players is in control of Solid Snake and the Gray Fox assist trophy is activated, the two characters will exchange in dialogue from Metal Gear Solid. An unlockable trophy of Gray Fox exists within the game, with the following text:

Besides his appearance as both a regular and an assist trophy, Gray Fox also appeared as a sticker in the same game. Characters who wore the sticker will increase flinch resistance by 98.

He was also indirectly mentioned twice, both by Solid Snake during Codec calls: When calling Roy Campbell about Fox McCloud, Snake will comment that he's "getting sick of Foxes", alluding to both FOXHOUND's going renegade as well as Gray Fox becoming his enemy in Metal Gear 2. Snake also mentions he empathizes with Marth about getting betrayed by close ones in a Codec conversation with Mei Ling on Marth, alluding to Gray Fox betraying Snake in the same game alongside other characters in other games and betrayal being a repeated theme of the franchise.

ScrewAttack ranked Gray Fox #2 in their Top Ten Ninjas list.

A character in the game Vanquish was named Gray Fox. Coincidentally, the game's developer, Platinum Games, would later create Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.

Play Arts Kai has released action figures of Gray Fox in his Cyborg Ninja form, which had three models: One was the regular variant used in the game, one was based on the bonus-colored variant, and the last one was primarily gray. The bonus-colored variant was recently released at the San Diego Comic Con as an exclusive item, alongside four Metal Gear Solid-themed iPhone cases and a 25th Anniversary T-shirt.[56]

He also appeared in Vs. Battle, where he challenged Raiden. Earlier, his skin from Metal Gear Rising had challenged Solidus Snake. In addition, his "Fight to the Death" dialogue with Snake also competed with Sniper Wolf's Love Letter dialogue in the same contest.

The Gray Fox DLC skin featured in Metal Gear Rising.

Gray Fox is a downloadable costume for Raiden in Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. The first HD screenshot of the costume was published on January 10, 2013 at 2:50 pm by the Metal Gear Rising Facebook page as a reward for getting 200,000 likes to Metal Gear Rising.[57] The overall design for the Gray Fox skin is based on the Play Arts Kai figure for Gray Fox's normal appearance. A pre-order also came with the Gray Fox skin, as well as a special weapon called the Fox Blade, based on the weapon Gray Fox used in Shadow Moses. The English Gray Fox trailer also revealed that the Fox Blade was upgradable, and that its limits were "epic." With it, the player is only required to cut once while in blade mode to get cyborg organs to recharge. In the Japanese DLC skin trailer, when showcasing the Gray Fox skin trailer, it showed Raiden's Gray Fox skin slaughtering several cyborg ninja soldiers, a reference to a scene in Metal Gear Solid where he first appeared as a Cyborg Ninja. The descriptions for both equipment indicate that the Gray Fox skin was actually a copy of the exoskeleton Gray Fox wore in Shadow Moses, and that the FOX Blade was not only the same weapon, it was also infused with Gray Fox's soul. Despite the latter description, it does not share any of Gray Fox's voice actors, unlike the Snake's Soul Wooden Blade.

Besides the DLC, Gray Fox was indirectly alluded to in an optional Codec conversation with Maverick member Courtney Collins, regarding the advancements in cyborg technology, establishing the cause of his painful spasms in Metal Gear Solid as being from faulty nerve connections to his exoskeleton.[39]

On January 17, 2013, Kojima told IGN that it was the development staff's decision to use Raiden as the main character of Metal Gear Rising. He admitted that if it were up to him, he would have used Gray Fox instead. He also admitted that had Fox been used, he would have ended up writing and directing the game.[58] Kojima later made a proposal to PlatinumGames about making a sequel where Fox starred as the main character and fought nanomachine-powered zombies. They politely declined.[59]

A Gray Fox skin is unlockable in Ground Zeroes, using graphics from the PlayStation version of Metal Gear Solid, although it is noticeable that he has Solid Snake's polygonal face and bandana. The specific methods of unlocking the skin involves not only beating the Dj Vu mission on Hard, but also answering the questionaire with 100% accuracy on the same difficulty.[60] Miller when conducting the quiz during either first time playthroughs of the hard difficulty or otherwise redoing the quiz due to failing earlier will also allude to this skin by stating that he has a special bonus thrown in if the player answers all questions correctly,[61] as well as stating upon doing so that he'll give the bonus later.[62] If the player does a dash, he will move at a superhuman speed and have lightning emit from his legs, similar to Raiden in Jamais Vu, and was also potent enough to kill Ravens and mice via contact.

Aside from the game itself, Gray Fox (identified as Cyborg Ninja) is also an unlockable officer character in the Mother Base Developer on the Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes Companion App. He is unlockable by achieving 85k points in Deja Vu's hard mode.

Gray Fox acts as a skin for Venom Snake, alongside Raiden. Running into enemies will knock them down, stunning them long enough for the player to CQC them by the time they get up. The skin can be unlocked for development by getting the Master Certificate (Standard), which is accomplished by completing all regular missions.

Gray Fox helmet.

Pre-ordering the Digital Deluxe Pack in the Japanese version of Metal Gear Survive will have the player acquire a helmet modeled after Gray Fox's helmet, and will itself feature retractability. In addition, Gray Fox, or rather, his real name of Frank Jaegar, was given an indirect allusion with the Jaegar subclass during the post-game.

In Metal Gear Solid and The Twin Snakes, if the player neither manages, nor attempts, to escape the torture room's holding cell after Ocelot'sfive torture sessions, Gray Fox will appear and open the door for Snake before disappearing. If player doesn't get rid of the timer bomb, he calls Snake when timer has 60 seconds left. Also, upon completing the game twice, Gray Fox's Cyborg Ninja outfit will be changed from blue and brown to red and blue, resembling Spider-Man and Deadpool from Marvel Comics.

If the player uses chaff grenades to attack Gray Fox during the fist fight, he will be stunned, but then tells off Solid Snake for his cheap method of attacking, citing that this was not how Snake usually fights, and resorts to attacking Snake with his sword as a result.

When fighting Null at the power substation, several of his quotes sound a lot more agitated compared to when he said them during the fight at the silo entrance. To unlock Null, simply defeat him both times and begin a second playthrough after beating the game.

In battle, Null uses a Machete for fighting at close quarters and deflecting bullets and uses M10 otherwise. Upon recruitment Null comes with a Machete as a unique weapon with an attack pattern similar to that of the unequipped punch punch kick attack pattern, and the third swipe is always lethal towards non-boss or regular opponents.

Null uses his machete in the left hand while battling him or while playing as him, but in cutscences Null use his machete in the right hand.

During both his boss fights, he says his taunts in a slightly differing tone for each battle. In the Silo Entrance, he says them in a robotic monotone. In the Power Substation, however, he has a noticeable increase of agitation in his tone.

During Act 4, when the player arrives at the Supply Port where REX's remains are, taking a picture of REX's left leg will unveil a ghost of Gray Fox while he was a Cyborg Ninja. His calling Snake to warn him about the claymore mines and tank in the canyon area was also an unlockable audio flashback.

In addition, one of his lines during the fight in Metal Gear Solid, "Hurt me more!", was also the name of a trophy in the game's trophy patch, unlocked when the player uses the Metal Gear Mk. II/Mk. III to electrocute an enemy soldier.

An imprisoned Gray Fox being rescued by Snake in Metal Gear.

Gray Fox vs. Solid Snake in Metal Gear 2.

Concept art for Gray Fox, including his arm cannon.

Yoji Shinkawa's sketches of Gray Fox

Gray Fox's artwork in The Art of Metal Gear Solid.

Concept artwork for Metal Gear Solid.

Alternate red Ninja costume featured in a third playthrough of Metal Gear Solid.

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World travel guide

Let's start with our credo: We believe that travelers are the best source of travel information.

That is why we have setup World66, an open content travel guide, where people from all over the planet can write about the places they love, the hotels they stayed in, the restaurants that have eaten.

Every part of the travel guide can be edited directly, just click the [edit] button and go ahead. You can change the info you find, do a write up, add a complete city or just a bar or a restaurant.

Does this work? We think it does. Thanks to this approach World66.com has become one of the most complete travel resources on the internet, with 149,869 articles on 79,285 destinations all over the world. Good info, more up to date than you find in travel books. Check for yourself. And should you find some wrong info, a hotel that has closed down, whatever, don't complain, but act. You can change it. It's up to you.

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World travel guide

Transhumanism Is Despair Its an Ersatz Version of …

(Pixabay)Its promise of a kind of immortality is an ersatz version of Christian hope for a resurrection in a glorified body.

Transhumanisms time seems to have come. The movements goals and most prominent personalities are ubiquitously boosted with laudatory stories in the media, its scientific-research projects bounteously funded by the hyper-rich of Silicon Valley, and its potentiality (and consequences) increasingly prominent as Hollywood plotlines. Indeed, the movement is receiving so much positive attention these days that one would think its utopian goals are really achievable.

For those few readers who may still be unaware of this futuristic social movement, transhumanists seek to seize control of human evolution by harnessing the naked power of biotech, cyber tech, and computer tech, to engineer into themselves the powers of movie super-heroes and, eventually, achieve life without end. When transhumanism first emerged from the high academy such as Oxford and Yale, the focus was on radical individual redesign. Transhumanists believed that they could genetically alter themselves to increase their intelligence exponentially or, say, harness hawk genes to radically improve their eyesight. Society would, they believed, soon be divided between what Princeton biologist Lee Silver called naturals e.g., the unenhanced and the superior gen-rich post-humans.

Over time, transhumanisms goals grew even more ambitious and grandiose. No longer satisfied with merely attaining extraordinary capabilities, the movement shifted its primary focus to fulfilling the age-old dream of immortality in the material world, giving a new meaning to Saint Pauls triumphant declaration, O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

Transhumanists believe that as technology grows increasingly sophisticated, particularly research into artificial intelligence (AI), a moment the Singularity will come in which the cascade of technological advances will become self-generating, unstoppable, and uncontrollable. This crescendo of scientific leaps forward will culminate in everlasting life via the ability to upload our minds into computers. Once safely in cyberspace, transhumans can live indefinitely, perhaps melding their cyber-minds with others, being downloaded into a cyborg, their own cryogenically frozen heads attached to new bodies, or perhaps into their own clones. The details can become a bit murky, but Googles Ray Kurzweil believes that software heaven will be with us by the 2040s.

And this is where transhumanists desperation becomes most clearly visible. You see, transhumanism is overwhelmingly a materialists obsession. Polls show that most of the movements adherents are atheists, with a scattering of agnostics and apostate religionists thrown in. In any event, the focus of their movement is materialistic. Most of them believe or fear that nothing of them will survive their own dying.

That kind of thinking leads to nihilism or, at the very least, a temptation to despair. Something must be done! Enter transhumanism. As movement proselytizer Zoltan Istvan, who ran for president in 2016 on the Transhumanist Party ticket and is now a Libertarian candidate for California governor, wrote in Im an Atheist, Therefore Im a Transhumanist:

The challenging idea that everyone in the 21st Century must decide how far they are willing to go to use technology and science to improve their lives is loudly calling. And the faithless will answer it. Its inevitable that hundreds of millions will soon come to call themselves transhumanists, if not in name, then in spirit. Many will end up supporting indefinite life extension and technologies that strip away our humanness and promote our transhumanness. Further into the future, many more will begin to discard the human body in favor of embracing synthetic forms of being.

So there you have it. Transhumanism offers adherents the comforts and promises of traditional faith without the humility that comes from being a created creature, and with the further benefit of eschewing all worry about the eternal consequences of sin, the laws of karma, or a future reincarnation in which our condition is based directly on how we live our present life. In short, transhumanisms primary purpose is to substitute religious belief with a nonjudgmental and ironic technological echo of Christian eschatology. Consider:

Christs second coming and the Singularity are both expected to occur at a specific moment in time.

Both lead to deaths final defeat: For Christians, in the New Jerusalem, and for transhumanists, in their embracr of a corporeal post-humanity.

For Christian believers, life in the hereafter will mean an end to all suffering. Likewise the Singularity, for transhumanists. Indeed, eliminating suffering in fleshly living is one of transhumanisms major aims.

Christians expect to live in glorified bodies that are both real and immortal. Kurzweils promise of what he calls non-biological bodies appears to be a similar concept.

Transhumanism even predicts that the already dead will be raised, an offshoot of a core principle of Christian faith. For example, Kurzweil is planning to construct a technological version of his long-dead father. He told ABC News, You can certainly argue that, philosophically, that [replica of your father] is not your father, ... but I can actually make a strong case that it would be more like my father than my father would be, were he to live.

But heres an intractable problem for transhumanists. Whatever would be created by the supposed transhumanist-mind upload, it wouldnt be the same thing as being truly alive. Real life requires a living body. We dont just think in the way a computer calls up programs. We alsofeel. Our emotions change our bodies. Our bodies affect our emotions. Both impact our thinking, and the whole fleshly mix affects our lifes course. Then theres that pesky subconscious. So, at best, your mind uploaded into a computer would be a pale substitute for the real McCoy, perhaps mimicking your attitudes, but not being really you. As Duke University neurologist Miguel Nicolelis told the BBC when discussing this subject:

You cannot code intuition; you cannot code aesthetic beauty; you cannot code love or hate. There is no way you will ever see a human brain reduced to a digital medium. Its simply impossible to reduce that complexity to the kind of algorithmic process that you will have to have to do that.

So why go through the pretense that you in a computer would be real? The answer is as human as life gets: We all need hope and that includes atheists, agnostics, and other assorted materialists. Or, as Bob Dylan sang, you gotta serve somebody and for transhumanists lacking a belief in the transcendent, that means they have to serve themselves.

But lets see the transhumanism philosophy for what it really is, a wail of despair in the night, a desperate yearning to escape what most true transhumanists bemoan as an all too brief and maddeningly restricted existence, that will be utterly obliterated once their heart stops beating. Thats depressing! As Istvan writes, embracing transhumanism offers the prospect that he and other atheists will become godlike transhumans. No wonder transhumanists are such true believers. Transhumanism offers them purpose and the comfort that their salvation is simply a technological detail away.

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Transhumanism Is Despair Its an Ersatz Version of ...

Salman Spiritual :: Diamond Jubilee Sparks :: 2017-2018 …

Bismillahir Rahmanir RahimIn the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.

SalmanSpiritual.Com :: Towards the Inner Vision of the Truth

Welcome to SalmanSpiritual.com. We are please to announce the launch of the Holy Ramadan Higher Spiritual Enlightenment Posts project in the Diamond Jubliee Year of Noor Mowlana Hazar Imam. This project has daily posts because we have to keep our souls charged after the mulaqats with Noor Mowlana Hazar Imam. The states of our spiritual hearts have changed so Holy Ramadan is the right time to assimilate deep spiritual knowledge and accelerate our upward journey. We all look forward to Imamat Day 2018 while members of our global jamat are also preparing for the upcoming Darbars in Paris, London and Lisbon.

Here are the details of recent posts for this project:

The second project which is in progress is the Diamond Jubilee Higher Spiritual Enlightenment. This project was started on January 9, 2017 to increase our knowledge and enhance our yearning through Dhikr and Angelic Salwat. The web page and PDF links to the 7 latest posts for this project are shown below. All posts can be accessed through the Table of Contents section on the index page of Higher Spiritual Enlightenment Posts project.

Please share information about the Higher Spiritual Enlightenment project with family and friends! May Noor Mowlana Hazar Imam bless you for this seva and may he fill your spiritual heart with his NOOR and nothing else! Ameen.

SalmanSpiritual.Com :: Focus & Contents

New Dhikrs/Tasbis

Download mp3 audio track titled 'Noore Karim, Ya Majma al-Nurayn' from audio.salmanspiritual.com. In this mp3 track, Noore Karim, Ya Majma al-Nurayn is recited 40 times. Click here to see the explanation of this dhikr.

Download mp3 audio track titled 'Noore Karim Plus 21 Tasbis' from audio.salmanspiritual.com. Download PDF or click here to see the lyrics and explanation of the dhikr, and how to spread the benefit of this dhikr.

The Candle PostsA Vital ResourceIn his Irshad on July 11, 2007 and his firman of December 13, 2008, Noor Mowlana Hazar Imam has put the onus on us to search for higher spiritual enlightenment under his supervision and then use this spiritual enlightenment as a continuous internal guide in our daily lives. This calling from our beloved Holy Imam needs tremendous effort. Therefore, I have made a very humble niyat to send motivational gems for higher spiritual enlightenment in the form of candle posts. Click here to see the candle postings index page for Volumes 1-4.

New Candle Posts

Candle Post #138 :: 2017 The Year for Higher Spiritual EnlightenmentThe Diamond Jubilee of Noor Mowlana Hazar Imam has inspired me to make 2017 the Year of Higher Spiritual Enlightenment. Let us pray to Noor Mowlana Hazar Imam to bless all of us with drops of Light into our spiritual hearts. The spiritual heart in each person is the representative of the soul, thus these luminous drops will start to illuminate and purify the ego, the vital, the mind and the body. Read more...

Candle Post #137 :: Hazrat Bibi Fatimat-az-Zahra (a.s.), Majma al-NuraynThis candle post is about a new title, majma al-nurayn (The confluence of two lights), of Hazrat Bibi Fatimat-az-Zahra, Khatun-i-Jannat ('Alayhi-s-salam). She is also the 'mother of Imamate'. Read more...

Candle Posts PDF ArchiveThe PDF versions of Candle Posts 115 to 138 are now available on a separate page. Read more...

Holy Quran ResourcesSalmanSpiritual.com is pleased to bring to you searchable versions of Yusufali's and Pickthall's translations of the Holy Quran. In addition to this, hyperlinks are provided to Quran Explorer, which is like an electronic Quran complete with meanings & with sound. Arabic text and English transliteration & translation of the Holy Qur'an are also available on SalmanSpiritual.com. The original source of these materials is at http://www.sacred-texts.com. Click here to explore these resources.

Resources for Holy Ramadan & Idd-ul FitrIn order to be spiritually and esoterically engaged in the month of Holy Ramadan, a number of resources have been created over the past four years. Click here to see and download these resources.

Foundation of Faith :: Curriculum for Spiritual EnlightenmentThese resources provide foundational knowledge on key aspects of our faith and are arranged in a sequential manner. The knowlege base addresses the requirements of being an active Ismaili who is searching for higher spiritual enlightenment under the supervision and guidance of NOOR Mowlana Shah Karim Al-Hussaini (a.s.). Precious gems have been compilied from our literature which spans over a period of 1400 years. Click here to see and download these resources.

Higher Spiritual Enlightenment :: Educational ResourcesOver the past 10 years, especially over the extended Golden Jubilee year, a massive effort was expended to develop the concept of a Golden Noorani Didar in the forehead of a seeker of higher spiritual enlightenment. In addition to this, the concept of a spiritual and a luminous nazrana was also articulated to augment the concepts of material, and time and knowledge nazranas. Click here to see and download these resources.

Audio.SalmanSpiritual.ComThe audio subdomain of SalmanSpiritual.Com has mp3 tracks of Ayatul Kursi, Anant Akhado (500 verses), Anant Naa Nav Chhuga (90 verses) and Moti venti (50 verses), Durood O Salaam Qasida and Dhikr tasbis. Click here to explore these resources.

Our ardent prayer is:May our beloved NOOR Mowlana Shah Karim Al-Hussaini (a.s.) Hazar Imam bless us all with Noorani Didars during Bandagi and in Zaheri Noorani Didars with the different Jamats across the world during the Diamond Jubilee!Ameen

Rakh Mowla je Noor te Yaqeen (Certainly, we trust in Mowla's Light only)

Haizinda Qayampaya (Our Present Imam is Living and His NOOR is Eternal)

Your spiritual brother in religion,Noorallah Juma (noor-allah@salmanspiritual.com)SalmanSpiritual.comSunday, April 29, 2018

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Salman Spiritual :: Diamond Jubilee Sparks :: 2017-2018 ...

Spirituality – aish.com

Sivan 6

God spoke all these words saying, "I am the Lord, your God" (Exodus 20:1-2).

The word leimor, usually translated as quoted above, saying, can also mean, "to say." The phrase all these words may refer to the entire text of the Torah that precedes the Ten Commandments, from the moment of Creation in Genesis, through the accounts of the lives of the Patriarchs and the bondage in Egypt. Everything that the Torah relates prior to the Ten Commandments may thus be understood as preparatory to them.

The lives of the Patriarchs; the absolute devotion of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the episode of Joseph and his brothers; the enslavement in Egypt; and the miracles of the Exodus - all are a necessary prelude to the acceptance of trust and faith in God, which constitutes the foundation and the first of the Ten Commandments.

The Talmud and Midrash provide many additional details about the history of our people prior to Sinai, and the wealth of writings in the commentaries and in homiletics by Torah scholars through the ages clarify and elaborate on the Talmud and Midrashic statements, thereby enabling us to draw from them the principles that are to guide us in living ethical and moral lives.

The Torah is not a history text. Nothing appears in the Torah that does not provide a teaching that we can apply to our lives. It is our responsibility to study and utilize these valuable teachings.

Every word in the Torah was Divinely dictated, and it was all leimor, to make possible the statement, "I am the Lord, your God."

dedicate myself to the comprehensive study of Torah in order to gain the knowledge necessary for living Jewishly.

With stories and insights,Rabbi Twerski's new book Twerski on Machzor makes Rosh Hashanah prayers more meaningful. Click here to order...

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Spirituality - aish.com

Genetic Counseling Program Overview – School of Medicine

IMPORTANT: APPLICATION DEADLINE IS NOWDECEMBER 15THGENETIC COUNSELING TRAINING PROGRAMIntroduction and Program Goals

The Genetic Counseling Training Program, leading to a Master of Science degree in Genetic Counseling, is a two-year academic program comprised of didactic course work, laboratory exposure, research experience and extensive clinical training. The program, directed by Anne L. Matthews, R.N, Ph.D., is an integral component of the teaching and research programs in the Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences (G&GS) at CWRU under the leadership of Dr. Anthony Wynshaw-Boris, MD. Ph.D., chairman of G&GS. Program leadership also includes Rebecca Darrah, MA, MS, PhD, Associate Director and the program's medical director, Shawn McCandless M.D., Associate Professor of G&GS and Pediatrics and Director of the Center for Human Genetics, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center. The Program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Genetic Counseling (ACGC) and graduates of the program are eligible to apply for Active Candidate Status and sit for the American Board of Genetic Counseling certification examination.

The overall objective of the Genetic Counseling Program is to prepare students with the appropriate knowledge and experiences to function as genetic counselors in a wide range of settings and roles. With unprecedented advances in our understanding of the genetic and molecular control of gene expression and development, and in our ability to apply this knowledge clinically, the Program strives to train students who can interface between patients, clinicians and molecular and human geneticists. Students gain insightful and multifaceted skills that will enable them to be effective genetic counselors, aware of the many new technical advances and often-difficult ethical, legal and social issues that have surfaced in the light of the Human Genome Project. Graduates of the Program will be prepared to work in a variety of settings including both adult and pediatric genetics clinics, specialty clinics such as cancer genetics, cardiovascular genetics and metabolic clinics, and prenatal diagnosis clinics, as well as in areas of research or commercial genetics laboratories relevant to genetic counseling and human genetics.

A unique aspect of the Genetic Counseling Training Program that it is housed within Case Western Reserve's Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences that is internationally known for both its clinical expertise and cutting edge research in molecular genetics, model organisms and human genetics. Thus, the Department of G&GS at CWRU provides an interface between human and medical genetics with basic genetics and provides an exciting atmosphere in which to learn and develop professionally. The direct access to both clinical resources and advanced technologies in human and model organisms affords students with an unparalleled environment for achievement. The Graduate Program in Genetics in the Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences provides an interactive and collaborative environment for both pre (genetic counseling and PhD students) - and post-doctoral trainees to come together in a collegial atmosphere. By fostering interactions between pre- and post-doctoral trainees in genetic counseling, medical genetics, and basic research at an early stage of their careers, it is anticipated that graduates will be well-rounded professionals with an understanding of the importance of both clinical and basic research endeavors. Moreover, such resources as the Department of Biomedical Ethics, the Center for Genetic Research, Ethics and Law, the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, and the Law-Medicine Center provide for an enriched learning experience for students.

The curriculum consists of 40 semester hours: 22 semester hours of didactic course work and 7 semester hours of research. Additionally, there are four 8-week clinical rotations, one 3-week laboratory rotation and one 6-week summer clinical rotation required of all students, which provide an additional 11 credit hours. Courses include material covering basic genetics concepts, embryology, medical genetics, biochemical genetics, molecular genetics, cytogenetics, genomics, cancer genetics, population genetics, genetic counseling principles, human development, psychosocial issues, interviewing techniques, and ethical and professional issues in genetic counseling.

Clinical rotations include one intensive three-week laboratory rotation in diagnostic cytogenetics and clinical molecular genetics as well as the Maternal Serum Screening program. There are four 8-week clinical rotations during year 2 during which students obtain clinical experience in General Genetics (children and adults) including Specialty Clinics such as Marfan Clinic, Prader-Willi Clinic and Craniofacial Clinic; Prenatal Diagnosis Clinic, and Cancer Genetics Clinic. These rotations take place at The Center for Human Genetics at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, the Genomic Medicine Institute at the Cleveland Clinic and MetroHealth Medical Center. Students also will have the opportunity to pursue an elective rotation with specialty clinics or intern with genetic counselors in such areas as commercial testing companies. Additionally, there is one off-site rotation - a 6-week clinical rotation which is held at Akron Children's Hospital in Akron Ohio during the summer. Moreover, students rotate through the Cleveland-based institutions for weekly observational experiences starting early in year 1 of the program.

Students are also required to attend and participate in a number of other activities such as weekly Clinical Patient Conferences, Genetics Grand Rounds, Departmental Seminars and Journal Club. Students also participate with the doctoral graduate students in the Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences' annual retreat and present their research projects during the poster sessions. In addition, counseling students present their research during the program's Research Showcase. Students also have an opportunity to give educational talks to local schools, participate in DNA Day at local high schools and other groups when available.

Tuition for the 2017-2018 academic year is $1,827.00 per semester hour. Currently, other fees include student health insurance ($986 per semester) and a student activity fee of $14.00 per semester.

The Department of Genetics is unable to provide financial aid or research/teaching assistantships to students; however, it does award some scholarship funding in the form of a monthly stipend to genetic counseling students. The amount of the stipend is determined yearly and will be shared with applicants at the time of their interviews. In addition, the costs of the on-line embryology course as well as the CWRU Technology fee of $852.00 per year are covered by the Department. Moreover, students receive funds to cover the costs associated with their research projects and second year students receive funds to travel to the National Society of Genetic Counselors' annual education conference held in the fall.

Financial aid is available to graduate students. The university has extensive information regarding financial aid and scholarship opportunities to assist students in funding their education. For additional information or assistance, please contact the Office of University Financial Aid at http://case.edu/stage/admissions/financialaid.html or (216) 368-4530.

Clarice Young at (216) 368-3431 or email: clarice.young@case.edu

OR

The Program Director:

Please Note: The Direct Application link will take you to the School for Graduate Studies webpage. Go to Prospective Students - Admissions Information - Graduate Program Applications. You will see a link on the right hand side of the page entitled Application Log In to begin your application.

The application includes:

Fulfillment of the requirements for admission to the School of Graduate Studies at Case Western Reserve University must be met as well as those required by the Genetic Counseling Training Program. An applicant having graduated with excellent academic credentials (minimum undergraduate grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale) from a fully accredited university or college. Complete credentials must be on file with the School of Graduate Studies.

The Genetic Counseling Training Program at Case Western Reserve University is participating in the Genetic Counseling Admissions Match through National Matching Services (NMS) beginning with admissions for Fall 2018. The GC Admissions Match has been established to enhance the process of placing applicants into positions in masters-level genetic counseling programs that are accredited by the Accreditation Council for Genetic Counseling (ACGC). The Match uses a process that takes into account both applicants' and programs' preferences. All applicants must first register for the Match with NMS before applying to participating genetic counseling graduate programs. At the conclusion of all program interviews, both applicants and programs will submit ranked lists of preferred placements to NMS according to deadlines posted on the NMS website. The binding results of the Match will be released to both applicants and programs simultaneously in late April.

Please visit the NMS website at (https://natmatch.com/gcadmissions) to register for the match, review detailed information about the matching process, and to view a demonstration of how the matching algorithm works.

Important: After you have registered with NMS, you will need to put your NMS ID number at the top of your CV/Resume and/or at the top of your personal statement.

The average GPA for matriculating students is 3.5 and GRE mean scores are approximately, 60-70th percentiles and above. However, we take a holistic view of the applicant's complete file in determining admission, which means we look at everything the applicant has submitted. A high GPA or GRE score will not automatically lead to admission; neither will low scores automatically lead to a denial.*While the CWRU application form asks for your GRE scores, please include the percentile score as well.

The Personal Statement is extremely important and applicants need to pay specific attention to how they present themselves in their Personal Statement. Aspects to remember include: Is the applicant's Personal Statement grammatically sound, and does it give us a clear picture as to who the applicant is? Applicants' should emphasize those experiences which have directly assisted them in becoming aware of and knowledgeable about the genetic counseling profession. Genetic counselors are highly motivated and hardworking individuals. Thus, the Admissions Committee looks for applicants who demonstrate initiative, self-direction, excellent communication skills and who have "gone the extra mile" to show their passion for becoming a genetic counselor.

Letters of recommendation should be written by individuals who can provide an accurate picture of your academic capabilities, your communication skills (both written and spoken) and your potential to successfully complete graduate education. At least two referees should be faculty from your past institutions. Other excellent referee sources include genetic counselors you have shadowed or supervisors of internships or advocacy experiences which you have had. Recommendation letters from friends or family members are discouraged. Please note, while CWRU provides an on-line recommendation form for referees to complete, your referee should also provide a personal letter to accompany the form.

While the number of applications received by the Program varies from year to year, in general we receive approximately 60 - 70+ applications each year. At this time, the Program is able to accept 8 students per year.

December 15th of each year is the application deadline. It is important that all required materials such as GRE scores (including their percentiles), transcripts from all institutions in which you have completed coursework and letters of reference be submitted by the application deadline if you wish to have your application reviewed by the Admissions Committee. If you will be taking a prerequisite course or courses in the upcoming semester that will not be reflected on your current transcripts, please let us know in your personal statement (or Resume) which course or courses you will be taking to meet the pre-requisites. Also, please submit a current CV or resume along with your personal statement. The Program only admits one class per year -- in fall semester. Because of the intensive nature of the Program, all students must be full time, we are unable to accommodate part-time students.

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Genetic Counseling Program Overview - School of Medicine

The Resource Based Economy

The supplement market has a slew of products that promise to accelerate muscle building to almost miraculous levels. When embarking on a body-building mission though, an individual should have some facts in hand. Regardless of how well manufacturers package products or guarantees fast results, supplement on their own cannot help build muscle.

Strict fitness programs and diets are the assured ways of gaining muscle mass and supplement only magnify the outcomes. What a good supplement does is to help achieve the desired muscle mass a bit faster, help with recovery and complement nutrition. For this reason, a buyer should be careful about the supplements he picks to add to his workouts, which given all the products out there, can be a tall order. However, knowing three best (& worst) vitamin supplements men must take will help with the purchasing decision.

Worst Muscle Building Supplement

Numerous products that are advertised as muscle builders only serve to waste money. Some people may take a while to realize that they are not getting any value from these supplements but by then, they have already spent money and time on the products.

Testosterone Boosters

In recent times, testosterone boosters have become popular products in the supplement industry because every man is innately wary of lower testosterone levels. Muscle gain is one of the properties used to sell testosterone boosters. A good number of these products do not do anything they are said to, and a few will raise testosterone levels in the smallest degrees. One reason for this is the combination of ingredients contained in these products. ZMA, Tribulus Terrestris, and D-aspartic are the main ingredients found in testosterone boosters, and there is no scientific proof to endorse the claim that they affect muscle mass. In instances where a supplement does increase the levels of testosterone, it is usually in degrees that do not have any bearing on body composition.

Growth Hormone Boosters

HGH boosters are other popular supplements that a lot of men will run to when they want to look fuller. Manufacturers make HGH boosters with various ingredients combined with amino acids that promise to increase body composition and facilitate muscle building. However, most of these compounds do not have any effect on the human growth hormone because they are not potent enough to register any real changes. Some studies indicate that HGH boosters have to be used with steroids to give the desired results.

HMB

Relatively new on the market, HMB is advertised as a muscle builder although no studies have proven that it does anything to increase muscle mass. There have been reports that HMB supplementation facilitates small increments in leg strength although these results were in untrained men. Trained lifters experienced minimal changes when they used the supplement during resistance training. HMB was created as an anti-catabolic agent, and it accomplishes that very well. It helps with faster recovery by preventing muscle breakdown after workouts.

The Best Supplements for Building Muscles

Creatine

The naturally occurring compound is responsible for producing cellular energy, which makes it possible to take any action from chewing to scratching. As a supplement, creatine is made with several amino acids that help replenish the bodys reserve energy. Creatine supplements are also known to improve the water content in the muscles, which contributes to mass gain. The compound also increases blood flow during strength training hence, enhancing performance.

Protein

Any fitness trainer will advise a person looking to gain muscle mass to ensure that he consumes enough protein. However, it is nearly impossible to get all the required protein for muscle building solely from food, and that is where protein supplements come in. Protein powder makes it less complicated to balance the intake of macronutrients. Protein powders are easy to make, which means that a person can mix as a snack in a minute before or after a workout as opposed to cooking a whole meal. Whey protein is preferable because it digests faster and leaves a person feeling full.

Beta-Alanine

It is another compound that occurs naturally and boosts the bodys performance by increasing the level of carnosine in the muscles. Carnosine is a compound molecule that reduces muscle acidity, meaning the muscles can contract more without getting fatigued, which improves performance. High-intensity exercises result in the buildup of hydrogen ions that drop the blood pH levels. Acidification of the muscle is one cause of muscle failure, and it decreases muscle performance. Taking beta-alanine will also enhance the endurance of an individual, allowing him to work out more.

A person searching for the best supplements to facilitate muscle gain should take the time to find quality products with proven results.

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The Resource Based Economy

Psoriasis – Causes, Symptoms and Treatment – Health.com

Jump to: Types | Causes | Symptoms | Diagnosis | Treatment | Living with Psoriasis | Celebrities with Psoriasis

Psoriasis is a disease in which red, scaly patches form on the skin, typically on the elbows, knees, or scalp. An estimated 7.5 million people in the United States will develop the disease, most of them between the ages of 15 and 30. Many people with psoriasis experience pain, discomfort, and self-esteem problems that can interfere with their work and social life.

Although the exact cause of psoriasis is unknown, researchers say the disease is largely geneticits caused by a combination of genes that send the immune system into overdrive, triggering the rapid growth of skin cells that form patches and lesions.

A dermatologist can likely tell the difference between psoriasis and eczema, but to the untrained eye, these skin conditions can appear similar. Generally speaking, psoriasis appears as thick, red patches that have a scaly buildup on top, according to the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD). These lesions are usually well defined, whereas eczema tends to cause a rash and be accompanied by an intense itch.

In addition, psoriasis tends to occur on the outside of the knees and elbows, and on the lower back and scalp; eczema usually covers the elbow and knee creases and the neck or face.

Research published in 2015 in the Journal of Clinical Medicine suggested that infants and children with psoriasis may be particularly likely to be misdiagnosed with eczema because they may have less scaling than adults.

RELATED: Whats That Rash?

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Psoriasis can range in severity, from mild patches to severe lesions that can affect more than 5% of the skin. There are five types of the disease: plaque psoriasis, pustular psoriasis, guttate psoriasis, inverse psoriasis, and erythrodermic psoriasis. Some people will have one form, whereas others will have two or more.

Plaque psoriasis appears as red patches with silvery white scales, or buildup of dead skin cells, called plaques. Its the most common type of psoriasis, affecting up to 90% of all people with the disease, according to the AAD. Most often found on the scalp, elbows, lower back, and knees, the plaques themselves will be raised and have clear edges; they may also itch, crack, or bleed.

Pustular psoriasis is a form of psoriasis in which white pustules (or bumps filled with white pus) appear on the skin. In a typical cycle, the skin will turn red, break out in pustules, and then develop scales. There are three types of pustular psoriasis: von Zumbusch pustular psoriasis (which appears abruptly and can be accompanied with fever, chills, and dehydration), palmoplantar pustulosis (which appears on the soles of the feet and the hands), and acropustulosis (a rare form of psoriasis that forms on the ends of the fingers or toes).

Guttate psoriasis is a type of psoriasis that appears as red, scaly teardrop-shaped spots. (The word guttate is Latin for drop.) During a flare-up, hundreds of lesions can form on the arms, legs, and torso, although they can also appear on the face, ears, and scalp. Guttate is the second most common type of psoriasis, occurring in about 10% of all people with the disease. Its most likely to appear in people who are younger than 30, oftentimes after they develop an infection like strep throat.

Inverse psoriasis is a type of psoriasis that appears as smooth, bright red lesions in the armpit, groin, and other areas with folds of skin. Because these regions of the body are prone to sweating and rubbing, inverse psoriasis can be particularly irritating and hard to treat.

Erythrodermic psoriasis is rare but can require immediate treatment or even hospitalization. The lesions look like large sheets rather than small spots, as if the area has been burned, and tend to be severely itchy and painful. A flare-up can trigger swelling, infection, and increased heart rate.

Psoriasis is not contagiousits a genetic, autoimmune disease. Psoriasis lesions cannot infect other people; likewise, people cant catch psoriasis from someone else, whether through touching, sexual contact, or swimming in the same pool. Its unclear, however, whether a majority of the general public is aware of this fact. In a small 2015 survey in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, about 60% of people said they thought that psoriasis was infectious, while 41% said they thought the lesions looked contagious.

RELATED: 14 Ways to Manage Your Psoriasis

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The simplest answer to the question of what causes psoriasis: your genetics. An estimated 10% of people inherit at least one of the genes that can cause psoriasis. (There are as many as 25 genetic mutations that make someone more likely to develop psoriasis.) But only 2% to 3% of people will develop the disease, according to the National Psoriasis Foundation (NSF). Therefore, researchers believe that psoriasis is caused by a certain combination of genes that spring into action after being exposed to a trigger. Common triggers include stress, an infection (like strep throat), and certain medications (like lithium). Cold, dry weather and sunburns may also trigger psoriasis flares.

When someone with psoriasis is exposed to a trigger, their immune system scrambles to defend itself by producing T cells, a type of white blood cell that helps ward off infections and other diseases. With psoriasis, however, T cell-production goes into overdrive, eventually causing inflammation and faster-than-usual growth of skin cells, leading to psoriasis symptoms.

The signs and symptoms of psoriasis vary depending on the type and severity of the skin disease. Some people may have one form of psoriasis, while others can have two or more.

Raised reddish patches. People with plaque psoriasis can experience a flare-up of red, raised patches. These patches can be itchy or painful or crack and bleed.

Scaly patches. Often seen in plaque psoriasis, scales are patches of built-up dead skin cells that have a silvery-white sheen. They often appear on top of raised, red patches that can be itchy or painful or crack and bleed. People with plaque psoriasis can experience a flare-up of symptoms on their scalp, knees, elbows, and lower back.

White pustules. A characteristic of pustular psoriasis, these white pus-filled blisters can cluster on the hands and feet or spread to most of the body. After the pustules appear, scaling usually follows. In people with von Zumbusch psoriasis, the pustules will dry after 24 to 48 hours, leaving the skin with a glazed appearance. In people with palmoplantar pustulosis, the pustules will turn brown, then peel, then start to crust.

Red, smooth lesions.Seen in inverse psoriasis, these very red lesions are smooth and shiny and are found in parts of the body with folds of skin, like the armpits, groin, and under the breasts. Because these lesions tend to be located in sensitive areas, they are prone to irritation from rubbing or sweating.

Red spots. A telltale sign of guttate psoriasis, these small, red spots are shaped like drops and usually appear on the torso, arms, and legs. In most cases, they arent as thick as plaque psoriasis lesions, but they can be widespread, numbering into the hundreds.

Nail changes.About 50% of people with psoriasis experience changes to their finger or toenails, including pitting (the appearance of holes in the nail), thickening, and discoloration, according to the NPF.

RELATED: 10 Things Your Nails Can Tell You About Your Health

Areas of the body normally affected by psoriasis

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There are no special diagnostic tests for psoriasis. Instead, a psoriasis diagnosis is made by a dermatologist, who will examine the skin lesions visually. In some cases, psoriasis can resemble other types of skin conditions, like eczema, so doctors may want to confirm the results with a biopsy. That involves removing some of the skin and looking at the sample under a microscope, where psoriasis tends to appear thicker than eczema.

Doctors may also take a detailed record of your familys medical history: About one-third of people with psoriasis have a first-degree relative who also has the condition. Health care providers may also try to pinpoint psoriasis triggers by asking whether their patients have been under stress lately or are taking a new medication.

Theres no one-size-fits-all psoriasis treatment, and the medications that work for some people may not work for others. The goal, however, is the same for everyone: to find psoriasis medications that can reduce or eliminate psoriasis symptoms. Here are some of the most commonly prescribed therapies.

Topical medications. A first-line form of therapy for mild to moderate conditions, topicals (in psoriasis cream, gel, and ointment forms) are applied directly to the skin in the hopes of reducing inflammation and slowing down skin cell growth. Some are available over-the-counter, like products with salicylic acid and coal tar as active ingredients, while others, like calcipotriene (a form of vitamin D3) and tazarotene (a vitamin A derivative known as a retinoid) are available by prescription. There are also special psoriasis shampoos that can help clear up scalp psoriasis; many contain coal tar and salicylic acid.

Phototherapy. Also called light therapy, phototherapy exposes a persons skin to ultraviolet light, which is thought to kill the immune cells contributing to psoriasis. Phototherapy can be administered in the form of UVB rays, a combination of UVA and UVB, or UVA rays alongside an oral or topical medication called psoralen (a treatment called PUVA). The catch: These treatments have to be done in a doctors office, a psoriasis clinic, or with a specialized phototherapy unit and usually require several visits, which can become expensive. Because indoor tanning increases the risk of skin cancer (especially melanoma), its not considered a safe substitute for phototherapy under medical supervision.

Systemic medications. If topical medications and phototherapy dont work, doctors may recommend taking systemics, or prescription drugs that affect the entire body. These meds can be taken orally or via an injection, and include cyclosporine (which suppresses immune system activity and slows skin cell growth), acitretin (an oral retinoid, or form of vitamin A, that slows down the speed at which skin cells grow and shed), and methotrexate (a medication that was originally used as a cancer treatment, but can also slow down the growth of skin cells).

Biologic drugs. Biologics contain human or animal proteins and can block certain immune cells that are involved in psoriasis. Theyre usually recommended for people with moderate to severe psoriasis and are administered via an injection or IV infusion. There are currently three types of biologics that can help treat psoriasis, all of which block immune system chemical messengers that promote inflammation called cytokines. The three types of biologics block the cytokines tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin 12, interleukin 23, and interleukin 17-A (IL-12, IL-23, and IL-17A, respectively).

RELATED: 21 Tips and Tricks for Treating Psoriasis

Alternative and complementary therapies. Some alternative therapiesincluding acupuncture, massage, and Reikimight help relieve certain psoriasis symptoms, like pain. They may also help control stress, a common psoriasis trigger. Other stress-relievers include meditation, mindfulness, exercise, yoga, and Tai Chi. Always talk to your doctor before beginning any alternative psoriasis treatments.

There is currently no cure for psoriasis. As a chronic autoimmune disease, most people with psoriasis will always have it. But it is possible to treat the condition. In fact, the right medications and therapies can reduce symptoms and even clear up the skin entirely in some people.

More psoriasis treatments may be available in the future. Researchers are currently trying to uncover what causes the lesions on a cellular level and how to prevent flare-ups caused by the immune system.

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For the millions of Americans who have psoriasis, the skin condition can pose many challenges. Not only can the pain and itching interfere with their ability to sleep or work, but research shows that many people with psoriasis feel unattractive; worse, if they feel self-conscious, they may withdraw from their friends and family and become isolated.

People with psoriasis are also twice as likely to be depressed as those who dont have the skin condition, according to the NPF, and they can also be more likely to have suicidal thoughts. If youre feeling a loss of energy, lack of interest in once-enjoyable activities, or an inability to focus, talk to your doctor about whether you may have depression or should see a mental health specialist.

An estimated 30% of people with psoriasis will also develop psoriatic arthritis, a disease which causes joint pain, stiffness, and swelling. Having psoriasis may also make people more likely to develop cardiovascular disease, obesity, and diabetes, according to the NPF.

RELATED: 12 Best and Worst Foods for Psoriasis

There are many ways that people living with psoriasis can manage the condition. This includes avoiding tobacco, alcohol, and unhealthy foods. Although there is no psoriasis diet, per se, eating healthy meals may help you feel better. You should also keep tabs on whether your joints feel stiff or sore or whether your nails are pitting or turning yellowtwo possible signs of psoriatic arthritis. Recognizing these symptomsand getting treatmentcan help prevent further damage to the joints.

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Anyone can develop psoriasiseven the most beautiful people on the planet. And as people who are paid to look flawless, many celebrities with psoriasis say that the skin condition delivers a serious blow to their self-esteem and fear that it can interfere with their careers.

In 2011, Kim Kardashian revealed her psoriasis diagnosis on an episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians. Although her mother, Kris Jenner, was diagnosed with psoriasis at the age of 30, Kim was surprised to learn that she had the skin condition too. My career is doing ad campaigns and swimsuit photo shoots, she said in the episode. People dont understand the pressure on me to look perfect. Imagine what the tabloids would do to me if they saw all these spots.

Model and actress Cara Delevingne also has psoriasis, which she struggled to manage while runway modeling. She told Londons The Times in an interview that people would paint her body with foundation to cover up the patches. It was every single show, she said. People would put on gloves and not want to touch me.

Other models also struggle with psoriasis, like CariDee English, who won Americas Next Top Model in 2006. Partly in response to the hurtful tabloid headlines that called out the lesions on her legs, she posted before-and-after photos of one of her flare-ups, saying, I knew I didnt want anyone capturing my psoriasis in a way that wasnt empowering.

Other celebs who have psoriasis include golfer Phil Michelson, country singer LeAnn Rimes, and pop star Cyndi Lauper.

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Excerpt from:

Psoriasis - Causes, Symptoms and Treatment - Health.com

Nanomedicine – Overview

The program began in 2005 with a national network ofeight Nanomedicine Development Centers. Now, in the second half of this 10-year program, the four centers best positioned to effectively apply their findings to translational studies were selected to continue receiving support.

Nanomedicine, an offshoot of nanotechnology, refers to highly specific medical intervention at the molecular scale for curing disease or repairing damaged tissues, such as bone, muscle, or nerve. A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter, too small to be seen with a conventional lab microscope. It is at this size scale about 100 nanometers or less that biological molecules and structures operate in living cells.

The NIH vision for Nanomedicine is built upon the strengths of NIH funded researchers in probing and understanding the biological, biochemical and biophysical mechanisms of living tissues. Since the cellular machinery operates at the nanoscale, the primary goal of the program - characterizing the molecular components inside cells at a level of precision that leads to re-engineering intracellular complexes - is a monumental challenge.

The teams selected to carry out this initiative consist of researchers with deep knowledge of biology and physiology, physics, chemistry, math and computation, engineering, and clinical medicine. The choice and design of experimental approaches are directed by the need to solve clinical problems (e.g., treatment of sickle cell disease, blindness, cancer, and Huntingtons disease). These are very challenging problems, and great breakthroughs are needed to achieve the goals within the projected 10 year timeframe. The initiative was selected for the NIH Roadmap (now Common Fund) precisely because of the challenging, high risk goals, and the NIH team is working closely with the funded investigators to use the funds and the intellectual resources of the network of investigators to meet those challenges.

10 Year Program Design High Risk, High Reward

The Centers were funded with the expectation that the first half of the initiative would be more heavily focused on basic science with increased emphasis on application of this knowledge in the second five years. This was a novel, experimental approach to translational medicine that began by funding basic scientists interested in gaining a deep understanding of an intracellular nanoscale system and necessitated collaboration with clinicians from the outset in order to properly position work at the centers so that during the second half of the initiative, studies would be applied directly to medical applications. The program began witheight Nanomedicine Development Centers(NDCs), and four centers remain in the second half of the program.

Clinical Consulting Boards (CCBs)

The program has establishedClinical Consulting Boards (CCBs)for each of the continuing centers. These boards consist of at least three disease-specific clinician-scientists who are experts in the target disease(s). The intent is for CCBs to provide advice and insight into the needs and barriers regarding resource and personnel allocations as well as scientific advice as needed to help the centers reach their translational goals. Each CCB reports directly to the NIH project team.

Translational Path

In 2011, the PIs of the NDCs worked with their CCBs to precisely define their translational goals and the translational research path needed to reach those goals by the end of the initiative in 2015. To facilitate this, the NIH project team asked them to developcritical decision pointsalong their path. These critical decision points differ from distinct milestones because they may be adjusted based on successes, challenges, barriers, and progress. Similarly, the timing of these decision points may be revised as the centers progress. Research progress and critical decision points are revisited several times a year by the CCB and the NIH team, and when a decision point is reached, next steps are re-examined for relevance, feasibility and timing.

Transition plan

Throughout the program, various projects have been spun off of work at all the centers and most have received funding from other sources. This was by design as work at each center has been shifting from basic science to translational studies. Centers will not be supported by the common fund after 10 years. It is expected that work at the centers will be more appropriately funded by other sources. Pre-clinical targets will likely be developed, and the work at each center will be focused on a specific disease so the work will need to transition out of the experimental space of the common fund.

Support for the NIH Nanomedicine Initiative is provided by the NIH Common Fund, and a team of staff members from across the NIH oversees the program. You may direct questions or comments on the NIH Nanomedicine Initiative to Dr. Richard S. Fisher, Nanomedicine Project Team Leader (nano@nih.gov).

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Nanomedicine - Overview