Grant to help commercialize silicon surgical blades

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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

15-Sep-2014

Contact: Andy Fell ahfell@ucdavis.edu 530-752-4533 University of California - Davis @ucdavis

A UC Davis engineering professor has received a grant of $200,000 from the National Science Foundation "Partnerships for Innovation: Accelerating Innovation Research- Technology Translation" program to move his silicon-based blades towards commercial development as surgical and shaving tools.

Silicon or ceramic blades are extremely sharp and hard, keeping an edge longer than metal blades, but they are expensive to manufacture. The technique recently invented by Saif Islam, professor of electrical and computer engineering at UC Davis, allows thin silicon blades to be mass-produced at much lower cost.

Islam and his team stumbled on the technique while making silicon wafers for research on solar panels. They produced some very thin vertical walls of silicon, which turned out to be extremely sharp.

Islam has formed a company, Atocera (formerly Nano-Sharp) to license the patented technology from UC Davis and take it into commercial development. The grant will support development of a plan for scaling up the process for making silicon surgical blades.

Using silicon opens possibilities for "smart" blades, Islam said.

"Potentially, we could incorporate electrical and optical technologies, taking advantage of the semiconductor platform, to facilitate an enhanced hair removal process," he said.

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Grant to help commercialize silicon surgical blades

Cancer and the immune system: A double-edged sword

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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

15-Sep-2014

Contact: Scott LaFee slafee@ucsd.edu 619-543-6163 University of California - San Diego @UCSanDiego

During cancer development, tumor cells decorate their surfaces with sugar compounds called glycans that are different from those found on normal, healthy cells. In the Sept. 15 online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report that sialic acids at the tips of these cancer cell glycans are capable of engaging with immune system cells and changing the latter's response to the tumor for good and bad.

"These cell surface glycans can promote or inhibit cancer progression, depending upon the stage of the disease," said principal investigator Ajit Varki, MD, Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Cellular and Molecular Medicine. "Our findings underscore the complexity of cancer and the consequent challenges in conquering it. The immune system may be a double-edged sword in cancer, tumor-promoting or tumor-inhibiting, depending upon circumstances."

Specifically, the researchers found that receptors called siglecs on subsets of neutrophils and macrophages (two types of immune cell) can bind to sialic acids on the surface of tumor cells. Depending upon the stage of cancer and the tumor model used, the scientists reported that interaction between immune cell siglecs and tumor cell sialic acids produced opposite outcomes.

"During initial stages of growth, cancer cells appear to protect themselves from extermination by neutrophils by engaging siglecs via sialic acid-capped glycans," said Varki, who is also a faculty member of the UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center. "But once the tumor was established, further growth was inhibited by engagement of siglecs on macrophages."

The findings follow upon research by Varki and colleagues published earlier this year in PNAS that showed anti-tumor antibodies also behave contrarily. Low concentrations of antibodies can support cancer growth, but higher concentrations may inhibit it.

"The fact that the immune system can exert a promoting or inhibiting effect on cancer progression, depending on the situation and stage of disease, has importance for designing clinical trials with drugs that target the immune system," said first author Heinz Lubli, MD, PhD.

For example, siglecs might prove viable drug targets for preventing early cancer progression. Study co-author Ann Schwartz, PhD, MPH, of the Karmanos Cancer Institute at Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit investigated 332 patients with lung cancer to assess whether they had a natural siglec variant that reduced binding to tumor cell surface sialic acids. Such patients have a greater chance for survival after two years, but the effect diminishes and disappears later.

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Tiiny app lets you share short videos that self-destruct after 24 hours

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Tiiny was created by Digg co-founder Kevin Roses North Technologies It lets users upload tiny photos and short video clips These files appear as small thumbnails in a stream of images Each thumbnail is only 212 pixels tall x 212 pixels wide and cant be opened After 24 hours, every post is automatically deleted from the app

By Victoria Woollaston for MailOnline

Published: 06:31 EST, 15 September 2014 | Updated: 08:03 EST, 15 September 2014

In a world of countless Snapchat rivals and photo sharing services, new apps are having to come up with original ways to stand out.

The free Tiiny app attempts to do this by letting users share photos and short video clips with friends, but with a difference - each post is just 212 pixels tall x 212 pixels wide.

These files appear as small thumbnails in a stream of images from friends, and after 24 hours, every post is automatically deleted.

Tiiny (left) was created by Digg co-founder Kevin Roses California-based North Technologies. It lets users upload tiny photos and short video clips that appear as 212 pixels squared thumbnails in a stream of images (pictured right). After 24 hours, every post is automatically deleted from the app

Tiiny was created by Digg co-founder Kevin Roses North Technologies.

The app uses the front-facing camera by default and users can only take new photos or videos existing images cant be upload them from the phones gallery, and the videos aren't uploaded with sound.

Tiiny was created by Digg co-founder Kevin Roses North Technologies.

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Tiiny app lets you share short videos that self-destruct after 24 hours

Automatically back up photos and videos from any mobile device to the cloud

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A lot of us have mobile devices on multiple platforms. Maybe an iPod, an Android tablet, and/or a Windows Phone. Or perhaps you have a BlackBerry or Kindle Fire to throw into the mix. Whatever your combination of devices, it can be cumbersome accessing each platform's respective storage service to manage photos and videos you take. An easier solution is to use one service to consolidate all of your photos and videos in one spot. Both OneDrive and Dropbox have apps for each of the major mobile platforms and will back up photos and videos automatically no matter which device you're using.

With each new generation of smartphones, the cameras continue to improve, offering higher-resolution photos and videos. But with higher resolution comes larger files and the need for more storage space. The good news is cloud services like Dropbox and OneDrive are continually increasing the amount of storage space to keep apace with this ever-increasing demand. They also allow automatic backup from virtually any type of mobile device. Let's start by looking at OneDrive.

Earlier this year, Microsoft announced that it was doubling storage capacity for users of a free account to 15 GB. It's also worth noting that the company increased OneDrive storage for subscribers of Office 365 to 1 TB per user. Of course, if you need additional space, Microsoft offers different tiers of storage and pricing.

OneDrive is available on iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Amazon Fire Phone and tablets, and Windows Phone. As an extra bonus, when you set your non-Microsoft phone or tablet to auto backup to OneDrive, you will get an extra 3 GB of free storage space for a total of 18 GB. And that's not too shabby If you're just getting started.

As you might expect, it's easier to set OneDrive up on Windows Phone as it is built into the phone's OS and there's no need to download anything. Just go to Settings > Backup > photos + videos. There you have a few options on the quality you want the photos and videos to be uploaded at. If you pick Best quality, you will need to be connected to a Wi-Fi network, which is also a good idea even on lower quality settings if you're on a limited mobile data plan.

When first setting up your shiny new Android device, you may have selected to auto backup photos to Google+ but it's easy to change it to OneDrive. Download the OneDrive Android app and launch it. Then sign in with your Microsoft Account and one of the first setup screens will ask if you want to turn on Camera Backup and get 3 GB of extra storage. If you don't want your photos backing up to two locations, launch Google+ and go to Settings > Auto Backup and switch it off.

Typically your photos on an iOS device are stored to iCloud. But OneDrive is also available for iOS and it works similar to the way it does on Android. Just download the app, start it up and log in with your Microsoft Account. That will allow you to select OneDrive as your automatic storage service. It also will give you an extra 3 GB of storage, but you'll only be able to upload pictures and video over Wi-Fi.

Since you're saving your stuff to OneDrive, you might want to disable iCloud backup, otherwise photos will be backed up to both services. Go to Settings > iCloud and disable My Photo Stream.

Sharing your photos via OneDrive is simple, and it gives you a lot of options. You control the level of security of who's able to see and download the stored pictures or videos. After you select the image you want to share, you can create a short link to it, post it on Facebook or Twitter, or email it to someone. It also allows you to invite people from your contacts list to view or download the photos or videos. The person you're sharing the item with do not need to have, or create a OneDrive account if they don't have one.

It also includes a the ability to setup a PIN code to restrict access to the items you don't want to share or only want select people to see. You can set up the photos and videos you want to share directly from your device, the Windows 8.1 app, file explorer in Windows 7, or directly from the onedrive.com site from any browser.

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Gail Ravello – Quantum University Graduate – Doctorate and PhD in Integrative Medicine – Video

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Gail Ravello - Quantum University Graduate - Doctorate and PhD in Integrative Medicine
Learn more about Quantum University at http://www.iquim.org ""Good afternoon, everyone. When I first started this journey, my first thought was what am I going to do with my PhD? I #39;m currently a...

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Hortensia Nunez – Quantum University Graduate – Doctorate and PhD in Integrative Medicine – Video

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Hortensia Nunez - Quantum University Graduate - Doctorate and PhD in Integrative Medicine
Learn more about Quantum University at http://www.iquim.org ""I #39;m going to be brief, because I know everybody wants to leave. I just want to say I #39;m here because of him. It #39;s his fault. I take responsibi...

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Study Medicine at university of perpetual Help school and college, Philippines with way2philippines – Video

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Study Medicine at university of perpetual Help school and college, Philippines with way2philippines
Way2Philippine Medical Education suite 323, Regus Shyamala Gardens, 3rd floor, Shyamala Towers, 136, Arcot road, Saligramam, Chennai- 600093,India Ph:044-65330444 cell:9940273743.

By: way2 Philippines

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Acupuncture Bloomington, MN | (612) 567-2470 | Traditional Chinese Medicine Practioner – Video

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Acupuncture Bloomington, MN | (612) 567-2470 | Traditional Chinese Medicine Practioner
Call to schedule: (612) 567-2470 or visit: http://www.bluebranches.com Blue Branches Acupuncture 1120 E. 80th St Suite 114 Bloomington, MN 55420 amy@bluebranches.com At Blue Branches Acupunctur...

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Transcend Roadblocks To Successful Living by Brenna Iset – Mind Medicine 014 – Video

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Transcend Roadblocks To Successful Living by Brenna Iset - Mind Medicine 014
Blocks to success can keep generations from moving forward in their evolution. Many people strategically navigate around blocks, usually their next generation will rebel and create their own...

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Tucson festival to explore traditional Chinese medicine

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Health providers and members of the public interested in traditional Chinese medicine are encouraged to attend the third annual Chinese Culture Festival in Tucson this month.

Officials with the University of Arizonas Confucius Institute say this years festival, which will take place Saturday to Sept. 28 on the UA campus and other venues across Tucson, has a theme of health promotion and wellness.

Festival organizers are bringing two prominent professors from China to talk about both the theory and practice of traditional Chinese medicine, which has a focus on prevention. In China, many of the hospitals blend Western medicine and traditional medicine in one facility.

The festival is about helping people understand the Chinese language and culture and medicine is one aspect of Chinese culture, said Zhao Chen, co-director of the UAs Confucius Institute and a professor of public health at the UAs Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health.

Tucson has the tradition of alternative medicine, and it is of broad interest here. So the Confucius Institute is trying to meet the local communitys interest.

All events are open to the public and most are free. In addition to an annual language competition the first day of the festival will include booths and tables of information and resources about Chinese medicine. Three events focusing on Chinese health are also scheduled, including a workshop geared toward local health providers.

More than 3,000 Arizonans participated in last years festival.

Health components in the festival include:

Other activities will include musical performances, a talent show, displays of award-winning calligraphy and photography, cultural exhibitions and various hands-on games.

Professor Jiping Zhao from the Beijing Chinese Medicine University will discuss how acupuncture is used in Chinese hospitals to help patients achieve and maintain optimal health.

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Measuring defensive medicine costs on 3 hospital services

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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

15-Sep-2014

Contact: Jenny Popis popisj@ccf.org 216-444-8853 The JAMA Network Journals @JAMA_current

Bottom Line: About 28 percent of the orders for three services at three hospitals were judged to be at least partially defensive by the physicians who ordered them.

Author: Michael B. Rothberg, M.D., M.P.H., of the Cleveland Clinic, and colleagues.

Background: The overuse of medical tests and procedures driven by a fear of malpractice lawsuits, commonly known as defensive medicine, has been estimated to cost $46 billion annually in the U.S., although those costs have been measured indirectly.

How the Study Was Conducted: The authors estimated the cost of defensive medicine on three services tests, procedures or hospitalizations by asking physicians to estimate the defensiveness of their own orders. The authors invited 42 hospitalist physicians to complete a survey, which 36 physicians did and rated 4,215 orders for 769 patients in the research letter.

Results: Of the orders, 28 percent were rated as defensive and the mean cost was $1,695 per patient, of which $226 (13 percent) was defensive. Completely defensive orders represented about 2.9 percent of costs, mostly because of additional hospital days.

Discussion: "In conclusion, although a large portion of hospital orders had some defensive component, our study found that few orders were completely defensive and that physicians' attitudes about defensive medicine did not correlate with cost. Our findings suggest that only a small portion of medical costs might be reduced by tort reform."

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This Is Your Brain on Snacks–Brain Stimulation Affects Craving and Consumption

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Newswise September 15, 2014 - Magnetic stimulation of a brain area involved in "executive function" affects cravings for and consumption of calorie-dense snack foods, reports a study in the September issue of Psychosomatic Medicine: Journal of Biobehavioral Medicine, the official journal of the American Psychosomatic Society. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

After stimulation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), young women experience increased cravings for high-calorie snacksand eat more of those foods when given the opportunity, according to the study by researchers at University of Waterloo, Ont., Canada. "These findings shed a light on the role of the DLPFC in food cravings (specifically reward anticipation), the consumption of appealing high caloric foods, and the relation between self-control and food consumption," the researchers write. The senior author was Peter Hall, PhD.

Brain Stimulation Affects Cravings and Consumption for 'Appetitive' Snacks The study included 21 healthy young women, selected because they reported strong and frequent cravings for chocolate and potato chips. Such "appetitive," calorie-dense snack foods are often implicated in the development of obesity.

The women were shown pictures of these foods to stimulate cravings. The researchers then applied a type of magnetic stimulation, called continuous theta-burst stimulation, to decrease activity in the DLPFC. Previous studies have suggested that DLPFC activity plays a role in regulating food cravings.

After theta-burst stimulation, the women reported stronger food cravingsspecifically for "appetitive" milk chocolate and potato chips. During a subsequent "taste test," they consumed more of these foods, rather than alternative, less-appetitive foods (dark chocolate and soda crackers).

Stimulation to weaken DLPFC activity was also associated with lower performance on a test of inhibitory control strength (the Stroop test). Decreased DLPFC activity appeared to be associated with increased "reward sensitivity"it made the participants "more sensitive to the rewarding properties of palatable high caloric foods," the researchers write.

Weak Executive Function May Contribute to Obesity Risk The results highlight the role of executive function in governing "dietary self-restraint," the researchers believe. Executive function, which involves the DLPFC, refers to a set of cognitive functions that enable "top-down" control of action, emotion, and thought.

At the "basic neurobiological level," the study provides direct evidence that the DLPFC is involved in one specific aspect of food cravings: reward anticipation. People with weak executive function may lack the dietary self-control necessary to regulate snack food consumption in "the modern obesogenic environment." Faced with constant cues and opportunities to consume energy-dense foods, such individuals may be more likely to become overweight or obese.

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This Is Your Brain on Snacks--Brain Stimulation Affects Craving and Consumption