M&S unveils frisbee made from beach litter

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First product made from litter collected at the M&S Big Beach Clean Up

The supermarket said that the toy is made from regenerated litter such as plastic cups, fishing tackle and bottle tops.

The frisbee includes plastic collected by M&S' customers and employees at last year's 'Big Beach Clean-up' volunteer event. This is an annual event where volunteers help to clear litter from beaches and canals across the UK.

The product is on sale now at M&S.com and in six costal M&S stores - Belfast (Abbey Centre), Bexhill, Lytham St Annes, Silverlink Retail Park, Weston Super Mare and Edinburgh Kinnaird.

It costs 2.50, with 50p from each sale going directly to the Marine Conservation Society (MCS).

M&S director of Plan A Mike Barry said: "We've managed to transform waste, taking it off beaches where it threatens marine life, into a brand new product that is fun for our customers and raises money for MCS' on-going work to protect our seas.

"That's Plan A in action, a volunteer event that engages customers, saves precious raw materials and gives back to charity - all with a business case behind it."

Last April thousands of M&S customers and employees helped clean over 300km of coastline. To trial whether or not M&S could collect and make a product from the beach litter, the plastic from six (Shoeburyness, Aberdeen, Coleraine, Scarborough, Swansea Bay and Southsea) of the beaches was segregated, cleaned and reprocessed into production ready recycled plastic.

Two UK firms supported the project. Axion Polymers, a recycling specialist based in Salford, transformed the litter into product grade recycled plastic and Make a Material Difference, based in Leicester, created and manufactured the product.

This year's M&S Big Beach Clean-up will clean 140 UK beaches and canals from 24 April to 30 April. The target is to clear more than last year's collection of 30 tonnes of litter.

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M&S unveils frisbee made from beach litter

Earth – Video

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Earth
We at Deep Astronomy decided to celebrate Earth Day the way we really know how to: bringing perspective. In this special type of "GlobalSelfie", we look at amazing time-lapse footage taken...

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Earth - Video

Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse – STABILIZED! – April 14-15, 2014 – StarDude Astronomy – Video

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Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse - STABILIZED! - April 14-15, 2014 - StarDude Astronomy
OK everyone, are you ready, AGAIN!! This version has be updated and stabilized for an even better experience!! You are in for a real treat! I #39;ve spent the better part of a day today putting...

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Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse - STABILIZED! - April 14-15, 2014 - StarDude Astronomy - Video

60 Seconds at the Presidents Desk | Physics & Astronomy Reading Room – Video

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60 Seconds at the Presidents Desk | Physics Astronomy Reading Room
ASUW President Michael Kutz discusses the addition of a data science studio on campus, and how this decision impacts students. Get engaged with us on Twitter using #ASUW60. facebook.com/asuwseatt...

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60 Seconds at the Presidents Desk | Physics & Astronomy Reading Room - Video

Programming Artificial Intelligence For Games – A Student’s Perspective – Video

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Programming Artificial Intelligence For Games - A Student #39;s Perspective
My talk about Artificial Intelligence at SGA Conference 2014 in Stockholm, Sweden. Visit my website! http://www.adabelletc.com For more info about Troglobyte Studios: https://www.facebook.com/Tro...

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The Machine Movie CLIP – We Found A Picture (2014) – Sci-Fi Thriller HD – Video

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The Machine Movie CLIP - We Found A Picture (2014) - Sci-Fi Thriller HD
Subscribe to TRAILERS: http://bit.ly/sxaw6h Subscribe to COMING SOON: http://bit.ly/H2vZUn Subscribe to INDIE TRAILERS: http://goo.gl/iPUuo Like us on FACEBOOK: http://goo.gl/dHs73 The Machine...

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Google, Facebook and other tech companies race to develop artificial intelligence

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The latest Silicon Valley arms race is a contest to build the best artificial brains. Facebook, Google and other leading tech companies are jockeying to hire top scientists in the field of artificial intelligence, while spending heavily on a quest to make computers think more like people.

They're not building humanoid robots -- not yet, anyway. But a number of tech giants and startups are trying to build computer systems that understand what you want, perhaps before you knew you wanted it.

"It's important to position yourself in this market for the next decade," said Yann LeCunn, a leading New York University researcher hired to run Facebook's new A.I. division in December. "A lot is riding on artificial intelligence and content analysis, and on being smarter about how people and computers interact."

Artificial intelligence programs can already recognize images and translate human speech. Tech researchers want to build systems that can match the human brain's ability to handle more complex challenges -- to intuitively predict traffic conditions while steering automated cars or drones, for example, or to grasp the intent of written texts and spoken messages, so they can better anticipate what kind of information, including ads, their users want to see.

Facebook has recruited several well-regarded A.I. scientists, including one from Google, in recent months. Google has been working on artificial intelligence for several years, enlisting prominent researchers such as Stanford's Andrew Ng and the University of Toronto's Geoffrey Hinton to help build computer systems known as "neural networks," which are capable of teaching themselves.

But in a sign it wants to do more, Google paid a reported $400 million in January to buy DeepMind, a British startup said to be working on artificial intelligence for image recognition, e-commerce recommendations and video games. DeepMind had also drawn interest from Facebook. Last month, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg invested personally in Vicarious, a Silicon Valley startup working on software that can recognize -- and draw -- images of animals or other things.

"In the last 18 months, every venture capital firm I know has made at least one investment" in artificial intelligence, robotics or related sectors, said Raj Singh, CEO of Tempo AI, which makes a "smart calendar" mobile app that acts like a personal assistant. Tempo uses technology from SRI, the Menlo Park think tank that developed key elements of Apple's Siri and has spun off several artificial intelligence startups.

Competition among digital personal assistants is especially heated: While each works differently, Tempo is vying with Siri, Google Now and Microsoft's new Cortana. Through a series of upgrades, each has tried to outdo the others in providing reminders and anticipating questions by analyzing relevant data from users' calendars, contact lists and email.

The ultimate goal is something closer to "Samantha," the personable operating system voiced by actress Scarlett Johansson in the film "Her," though it undoubtedly will be more businesslike.

Right now, even Siri fans have voiced frustration with its limitations, including balky silences and nonresponsive answers. But there are signs Apple is working feverishly to improve it.

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Google, Facebook and other tech companies race to develop artificial intelligence

More Media Coverage for MediVet Stem Cell Therapy at Newman Veterinary Centers – Central Florida – Video

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More Media Coverage for MediVet Stem Cell Therapy at Newman Veterinary Centers - Central Florida
We are proud to offer this amazing procedure at Newman Veterinary Centers. Stem cell therapy can help pets with arthritis, hip dysplasia and many other degen...

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Autologous stem cell therapy improves motor function in chronic stroke victims

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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

23-Apr-2014

Contact: Robert Miranda cogcomm@aol.com Cell Transplantation Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair

Putnam Valley, NY. (Apr. 23, 2014) People who have had a stroke, often suffer motor deficits with little potential to restore neurological function. However, a study conducted in Taiwan, that will be published in a future issue of Cell Transplantation, but is currently freely available on-line as an unedited early e-pub at: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/ct/pre-prints/content-ct1168Chen, has found that when one group of stroke victims had their own peripheral blood stem cells (PBSCs) injected directly into the brain and a similar group did not, those who received the PBSCs experienced some "improvement in stroke scales and functional outcome." Those in the PBSC-injected group also received injections of the growth factor granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), known to be potentially neuroprotective.

"In this phase 2 study, we provide the first evidence that intracerebral injection of autologous (self-donated) PBSCs can improve motor function in those who have suffered a stroke and have motor deficits as a result," said study corresponding Dr. Woei-Cheng Shyu of the Center for Neuropsychiatry, Graduate Institute of Immunology and Translational Medicine Research Center, China Medical University in Taiwan. "Our study demonstrated that this therapeutic strategy was feasible and safe in stroke patients who suffered a prior stroke, but within five years from the onset of symptoms."

According to the authors, there has been little advance made in restoring neurological function following ischemic stroke. However, since neuronal death is the primary mechanism that limits functional recovery, stem cell therapy is emerging as a potentially effective regenerative approach. Once more PBSCs are being increasingly used as a self-donated source for cell therapies for regenerating skeletal muscle, heart and neurons. The PBSCs may need to be "amplified" with G-CSF, speculated the researchers.

All of the patients in the trial had suffered a stroke in the past, as long as five years prior to this study. At the end of a 12 month follow-up, the group of 15 patients with neurological deficits who received injections of PBSCs experienced neurological and functional improvement based on a number of clinical outcomes measures. The control group of 15 patients with neurological deficits that did not receive the PBSC injections did not experience the same beneficial outcomes.

The researchers reported that nine of the 15 patients undergoing PBSC transplantation experienced "positive motor evoked potentials" (MEPs) after transcranial magnetic stimulation, but why MEPs appeared in some of the transplanted group, but not all, was unclear.

"Despite this success, it should be noted that this was a preliminary study and, due to the small number of patients, are tentative," concluded the researchers. "In the future we plan to conduct a multi-center, large-scale, double blind, placebo-controlled randomized studies to better evaluate the effect of PBSC implantation in patients suffering from the effects of past stroke."

"This phase II study offers pilot clinical evidence supporting the use of autologous stem cell-based treatment for stroke" said Dr. Cesar V. Borlongan, Prof. of Neurosurgery and Director of the Center of Excellence for Aging & Brain Repair at the University of South Florida. "Clarification of the impact of G-CSF on the cells and whether other factors are necessary to maximize the benefit of cell transplantation, as well as further studies with a larger number of patients are necessary to determine equivocal safety and efficacy of this treatment".

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Autologous stem cell therapy improves motor function in chronic stroke victims

Study finds long-term survival of human neural stem cells transplanted into primate brain

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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

23-Apr-2014

Contact: Robert Miranda cogcomm@aol.com Cell Transplantation Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair

Putnam Valley, NY. (Apr. 23 2014) A team of researchers in Korea who transplanted human neural stem cells (hNSCs) into the brains of nonhuman primates and assessed cell survival and differentiation after 22 and 24 months found that the hNSCs had differentiated into neurons at 24 months and did not cause tumors.

The study will be published in a future issue of Cell Transplantation but is currently freely available on-line as an unedited early e-pub at: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/ct/pre-prints/content-ct1117Antonucci2.

The hNSCs were labeled with magnetic nanoparticles to enable them to be followed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). They did not use immunosuppressants. According to the researchers, their study is the first to evaluate and show the long-term survival and differentiation of hNSCs without the need for immunosuppression.

The researchers concluded that hNSCs could be of "great value" as a source for cell replacement and gene transfer for the treatment of Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, Alzheimer's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), spinal cord injury and stroke.

"Stroke is the fourth major cause of death in the US behind heart failure, cancer, and lower respiratory disease," said study co-author Dr. Seung U. Kim of University of British Columbia Hospital's department of neurology in Canada. "While tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) treatment within three hours after a stroke has shown good outcomes, stem cell therapy has the potential to address the treatment needs of those stroke patients for whom tPA treatment was unavailable or did not help."

Dr. Kim and colleagues in Korea grafted magnetic particle-labeled hNSCs into the brains of laboratory primates and evaluated their performance to assess their survival and differentiation over 24 months. Of particular interest was determining their ability to differentiate into neurons and to determine whether the cells caused tumorogenesis.

"We injected hNSCs into the frontal lobe and the putamen of the monkey brain because they are included in the middle cerebral artery (MCA) territory, which is the main target in the development of the ischemic lesion in animal stroke models," commented Dr. Kim. "Thus, research on survival and differentiation of hNSCs in the MCA territory should provide more meaningful information to cell transplantation in the MCA occlusion stroke model."

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Study finds long-term survival of human neural stem cells transplanted into primate brain

Scientists identify cancer specific cell for potential treatment of gastric cancer

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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

23-Apr-2014

Contact: Kimberley Wang kimberley.wang@nus.edu.sg National University of Singapore

A team of scientists led by a researcher from the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore (CSI Singapore) at the National University of Singapore has identified the cancer specific stem cell which causes gastric cancer. This discovery opens up the possibility of developing new drugs for the treatment of this disease and other types of cancers.

The research group, led by Dr Chan Shing Leng, Research Assistant Professor at CSI Singapore, demonstrated for the first time that a cancer-specific variant of a cell surface protein, CD44v8-10, marks gastric cancer stem cells but not normal cells. Conceptualised by Dr Chan and Associate Professor Jimmy So, a Senior Consultant from the Department of Surgery at the National University Hospital Singapore, the study is also the first to be conducted with human gastric tissue specimens and took five years to complete. This novel study will be published in the research journal Cancer Research, the official journal of American Association of Cancer Research, in May 2014.

Gastric cancer is a major cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, with low survival and high recurrence rates for patients with advanced disease. New therapies for the treatment of gastric cancer are urgently needed.

How CD44v8-10 serves as a biomarker

Many cancer cell types express high levels of a cell surface protein known as CD44. This protein marks cancer stem cells that are thought to be responsible for resistance to current cancer therapy and tumour relapse. There are many forms of CD44 and the standard form of CD44, CD44s, is found in high abundance on normal blood cells. It was previously not known which form of CD44 is found on cancer stem cells. This is critical as an ideal cancer target should mark only cancer cells but not normal cells.

Research by the team and other scientists in the field has led to the hypothesis that the growth of gastric cancer may be driven by cancer stem cells. In this study, the researchers analysed 53 patient tissue samples in conjunction with patient-derived xenograft models which are derived from intestinal type gastric cancer. The team is one of the few groups in the world to have a relatively large collection of patient-derived xenograft models for gastric cancer and the first to use these models for identification of gastric cancer stem cells. A total of eight cancer cell lines were used in this study, including six new cell lines which were established by the researchers.

The scientists discovered a cancer-specific CD44 variant, CD44v8-10 marks gastric cancer stem cells but not normal cells. CD44v8-10 promotes cancer cell growth and it is significantly more abundant in gastric tumour sites compared to normal gastric tissue, which makes it easily detectable. The findings results suggest that CD44v8-10 is an ideal target for developing clinical therapeutics against gastric cancer stem cells. As CD44v8-10 is cancer specific, it may also be used as a biomarker for screening and diagnosis of gastric cancer. This is significant as biomarkers for early detection of gastric cancer are currently not available and doctors rely on endoscopy for the screening and diagnosis of this disease.

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Scientists identify cancer specific cell for potential treatment of gastric cancer

Screening instrument to identify testosterone deficiency

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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

23-Apr-2014

Contact: Vicki Cohn vcohn@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News

New Rochelle, NY, April 23, 2014Men whose testosterone falls below normal levels are more likely to have erectile dysfunction and to be overweight and have heart disease and type 2 diabetes. A new simple screening questionnaire designed to identify testosterone-deficient men for further testing and possible treatment is described in an article in Journal of Men's Health, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Journal of Men's Health website at http://www.liebertpub.com/jmh.

The article "Male Androgen Deficiency Syndrome (MADS) Screening Questionnaire: A Simplified Instrument to Identify Testosterone-Deficient Men" presents a variety of patient factors that are predictive of risk for testosterone deficiency and MADS. These include overweight status, race, exercise frequency, erectile dysfunction, and type 2 diabetes, according to study authors Nelson Stone, MD, The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (New York), Martin Miner, MD, Warren Alpert School of Medicine at Brown University (Providence, RI), Wendy Poage, MHA, Prostate Conditions Education Council (Centennial, CO), and Aditi Patel and E. David Crawford, MD, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (Aurora, CO).

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About the Journal

Journal of Men's Health is the premier peer-reviewed journal published quarterly in print and online that covers all aspects of men's health across the lifespan. The Journal publishes cutting-edge advances in a wide range of diseases and conditions, including diagnostic procedures, therapeutic management strategies, and innovative clinical research in gender-based biology to ensure optimal patient care. The Journal addresses disparities in health and life expectancy between men and women; increased risk factors such as smoking, alcohol abuse, and obesity; higher prevalence of diseases such as heart disease and cancer; and health care in underserved and minority populations. Journal of Men's Health meets the critical imperative for improving the health of men around the globe and ensuring better patient outcomes. Tables of content and a sample issue can be viewed on the Journal of Men's Health website at http://www.liebertpub.com/jmh.

About the Societies

Journal of Men's Health is the official journal of the International Society of Men's Health (ISMH), American Society for Men's Health, Men's Health Society of India, and Foundation for Men's Health. The ISMH is an international, multidisciplinary, worldwide organization, dedicated to the rapidly growing field of gender-specific men's health.

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Screening instrument to identify testosterone deficiency