Failure to legislate ‘will hurt research’

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Failure to legislate will hurt research

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Even though stem cell manufacture has just been licensed in this country, the Governments ongoing failure to legislate in this area means pharmaceutical giants will still be wary of investing here, according to an expert in stem cell therapy.

CCMI General Manager Andrew Finnerty, CCMI Director Tim O'Brien, Minister Sean Sherlock and President of NUI Galway Dr. James Browne. Photograph by Aengus McMahon

Once the stem cells are harvested from the bone marrow of adult donors, they are grown in the Galway laboratory to generate sufficient quantities.

The first clinical trial using these stem cells is being funded by the Health Research Board and Science Foundation Ireland and will investigate the safety of using mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) isolated from bone marrow for the treatment of critical limb ischemia, a complication associated with diabetes which can lead to limb amputation.

John ODea of the Irish Medical Devices Association (IMDA) said the centre was a key step.

I look forward to seeing its continued growth to assist in developing the skill sets and techniques that will be needed to embrace the new manufacturing opportunities that this exciting area will bring, he said.

The centre, one of a handful in Europe authorised for stem cell manufacture, has been developed by researchers at NUIGs regenerative medicine institute.

However, Dr Stephen Sullivan, chief scientific officer with the Irish Stem Cell Foundation warned all stem cell research operates at a pan-global level driven by big pharma and international equity firms and these players will only engage with researchers in countries where there is solid stem cell legislation in place. He welcomed the centre as a first step but said if Ireland is to compete at a top international standard, legislation remains necessary.

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Failure to legislate ‘will hurt research’

Q&A – Stem cells could offer treatment for a myriad of diseases

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Q&A - Stem cells could offer treatment for a myriad of diseases

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Q.What are stem cells?

Stem cells are different however as they are at an earlier stage in cell development and this means they can make more cells and transform into different cell types such as a skin stem cell can make all the different types of skin cells.

Q. And there are two types? A.Yes. There are two types of stem cells: embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells. Embryonic stem cells can generate all cells of the human body. Adult stem calls generate a more limited number of human cell types.

Q.Why are stem cells so important? A.For many years, adult stem cells have been used to treat rare blood and certain cancers.

However, adult stem cells cant generate all cell types. For example, scientists say there doesnt appear to be an adult stem cell that can make insulin- secreting cells of the pancreas. Embryonic stem cells can, however, as they can generate all cell types and the aim of scientists is to use these embryonic cells to generate healthy tissue to replace cells compromised by disease. This means that embryonic cells are more scientifically useful.

Q. And its also embryonic cells that are the more controversial, right? A.The use of embryonic stem cells is controversial here and in other countries as certain groups believe it is morally wrong to experiment on an embryo that could become a human. Embryonic stem cells are taken from embryos left over after assisted fertility treatments. According to the Irish Stem Cell Foundation, if they werent used for research into human disease, they would be discarded as medical waste. Embryos are not created purely for research purposes they say.

Q. Why are they so useful? A. Among the conditions which scientists believe may eventually be treated by stem cell therapy are Parkinsons disease, Alzheimers disease, heart disease, stroke, arthritis, diabetes, burns and spinal cord damage. Early trials are under way for treating forms of blindness. It is also hoped we can learn from embryonic stem cells how early body tissues develops and more about the pathway of diseases. This will enable us to make better and more effective drugs.

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Q&A - Stem cells could offer treatment for a myriad of diseases

Making Music Videos Helps Young Cancer Patients Cope With Treatment

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January 28, 2014

Ranjini Raghunath for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

Cancer treatment through chemotherapy, radiation or stem cell therapies can be physically and mentally exhausting for patients, especially younger ones. Many factors can help them feel positive about themselves and their treatment, including spiritual practices, supportive home environments and strong social connections with friends, family and physicians.

Now, a new study shows that making music videos and writing song lyrics may also help young cancer patients better cope with their treatment.

Researchers at the Indiana University School of Nursing, Indianapolis, carried out the music therapy intervention study, which was published online in the journal Cancer.

113 young patients aged 11-24 undergoing stem cell transplants for cancer were selected randomly for the study. Half of them were given audiobooks (the control group) and the other half were given three weeks to write down song lyrics, collect images and record music videos.

Patients in the second (test) group went through six training sessions each with a music therapist, who helped them identify and write about what was important to them, and guided them in creating the videos.

It really targeted them writing, having an opportunity to write about whats important to them, co-author of the study and music therapist, Sheri Robb, told Reuters. A lot of these kids as theyre going through treatment, they tend to not talk about these things.

The patients also had a chance to share the videos they created with family and friends. After about 100 days of treatment, patients in the test group reported that making those videos helped them better connect with their loved ones.

The intervention therapy helped the young patients feel stronger, more positive and helped improve their relationships with family and physicians, based on their responses to follow-up questionnaires, the researchers reported.

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Making Music Videos Helps Young Cancer Patients Cope With Treatment

Island Living Shapes Physiology and Lifestyle of Eastern Bluebirds

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Island plants and animals often differ from their mainland relatives. Why? In general, isolated islands lack top predators and large herbivores, which can influence food chains and traits of island organisms. In addition, differences in human interactions and threats posed by pathogens and parasites can also contribute to variances in traits.

In a case study involving eastern bluebirds, (Sialia sialis) researchers show just how island life shapes the physiology and life history of a species.

Eastern bluebirds are familiar to many people living in the eastern United States, and also to residents and tourists in Bermuda, an archipelago that lies in the North Atlantic Ocean about 1,100 km off the East Coast of the United States. Although the current outlook for the bluebirds in the U.S. is good, their Bermuda relatives have been designated as threatened and vulnerable.

In an effort to determine the differences of this species, researchers compared island (Bermuda) and continental (Ohio, U.S.) populations of the Eastern bluebird.

First, researchers investigated how nestlings and adults differed in growth, size and shape, immune function, numbers of eggs and nestlings that pairs produce, and how frequently parents deliver food to their young.

Researchers also attempted to identify differences between continental and island birds that might intensify the risks of decline typically associated with small and geographically isolated populations, such as the Bermuda bluebirds.

The study showed that bluebirds in Bermuda were lighter weight and had longer wings than the Ohio birds.

Also, while parents fed their nestlings at equal rates throughout the season in both locations, island nestlings grew slower and, as the breeding season progressed, more chicks died in their nests in Bermuda, though no similar seasonal pattern was observed in Ohio.

Overall, the results suggest that the Bermuda bluebirds may be adjusted to certain aspects of the island environment but not to others.

As a result, the study provides insight on how conservationists in Bermuda can manage declining bluebird populations. For example, by removing any mammalian or avian predators and competitors, or by managing human-driven changes in populations of insects (which the bluebirds feed on), both changes in survival and mortality rates and changes regarding physiology and reproduction of the species may occur.

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Applied Research Associates, Inc. Wins Contract to Develop BioGears™, Army’s Human Physiology Engine

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San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) January 28, 2014

Applied Research Associates, Inc. (ARA) has been awarded a multiyear, $7 million contract by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC) in Fort Detrick, MD under Contract Number: W81XWH-13-2-0068.

A biomedical research team from ARA will develop BioGears, an open-source physiology engine to allow for distributed collaboration and consistent simulation across the medical training community. The BioGears physiology engine will model human response to trauma and treatment and will include physiologically accurate models for multiple systems, including cardiovascular, respiratory, renal and endocrine.

BioGears is based on a common data model that will create standard inputs and outputs, making it easy to extend existing and add new physiology models. BioGears will provide a set of application programming interfaces (APIs) for real-time retrieval of accurate physiology state. This allows for easy integration with immersive medical education software built on popular game engines such as the award-winning Unreal Engine technology and Unity game engine. BioGears will be a GCC compliant, C++ library.

Joint Program Committee 1 - Medical Training and Health Information Sciences Research Program (JPC1) and the U.S. Armys Telemedicine & Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC) will administer the program.

The main goals for BioGears are:

Our team is thrilled to have been selected by TATRC. This project is one of great importance to the medical simulation community and the advancement of immersive medical training technologies. We look forward to creating the most comprehensive, open source mathematical model of human physiology available, said Jerry Heneghan, BioGears principal investigator at ARA.

ARAs biomedical modeling and simulation research group has a proven track record of creating innovative, physiologically accurate mathematical models that drive immersive, game-based medical training technologies. Jerry Heneghan will present on BioGears at the International Meeting on Simulation in Healthcare (IMSH) conference on Tuesday, Jan. 28, from 2 to 2:45 p.m. at the Moscone Center West in Interactive Learning Center Room #7.

About Applied Research Associates, Inc.:

Applied Research Associates, Inc. is an international research and engineering company recognized for providing technically excellent solutions to complex and challenging problems in the physical sciences. Our mission is to provide in-depth and diversified research, engineering, and technical support services. We have a broad range of technical expertise in biomedical engineering, defense technologies, civil engineering, computer software and simulation, systems analysis and environmental technologies. For additional information, please visit http://www.ara.com.

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Applied Research Associates, Inc. Wins Contract to Develop BioGears™, Army's Human Physiology Engine

Right on target: New era of fast genetic engineering

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(Image: Kotryna Zukauskaite)

A simple, very powerful method is making genome editing much easier and faster prepare for a revolution in biology and medicine

SEQUENCING genomes has become easy. Understanding them remains incredibly hard. While the trickle of sequence information has turned into a raging torrent, our knowledge isn't keeping up. We still have very little understanding of what, if anything, all our DNA does.

This is not a problem that can be solved by computers. Ultimately, there is only one way to be sure what a particular bit of DNA does you have to alter it in real, living cells to see what happens. But genetic engineering is very difficult and expensive.

At least, it used to be. Last month, two groups announced that they had performed a mind-boggling feat. They targeted and disabled nearly every one of our genes in cells growing in a dish. They didn't knock out all the genes in each cell at once, of course, but one gene at a time. That is, they individually modified a staggering 20,000 genes. "It's truly remarkable," says Eric Lander, director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, who led one of the studies. "This is transformative."

To put it into perspective, in 2007 an international project was launched to target and "knock out" each of the 20,000 genes a mouse possesses. It took the collective effort of numerous labs around the world more than five years to complete, and it cost $100 million. Now two small teams have each done something similar in a fraction of the time and cost. The secret: a simple and powerful new way of editing genomes. The term breakthrough is overused, but this undoubtedly is one. "It's a game-changer," says Feng Zhang, also at the Broad Institute, who led the other study.

The technique, unveiled just a year ago, is generating tremendous excitement as its potential becomes clear. It is already starting to accelerate the pace of research Lander and Zhang used it to find out which genes help cancer cells resist a drug, for instance. In years to come, it is likely to be used in gene therapy, and to create a new generation of genetically engineered organisms with extensive but precise changes to their genomes. And if we ever do decide to genetically modify people, this is the tool to do it with.

While genetic engineers have done some amazing things, their first tools were very crude. They bombarded cells with extra DNA sometimes literally in the hope that it might occasionally get added to a cell's genome. But there was no way to control where in the genome it went, and if added DNA ends up in the wrong place it can cause havoc. Also, this approach does not allow for any tinkering with existing genes, which is the key to finding out what they and their variants do.

So in the past couple of decades the focus has switched to genome editing. To visualise how it works, imagine the genome as a collection of cookbooks written on long scrolls of paper and cared for by blind librarians. The librarians try to repair any damage but because they can't read they are easily tricked.

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Right on target: New era of fast genetic engineering

Talent Development Improves with Data Science

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With employee engagement continuing to trend towards all time lows, regardless of the economy per Gallups measure, talent management is increasingly important to organizations. In another vein, the upcoming IBM Chief HR Officer study found than only 50 percent of organizations, across 342 CHROs representing 18 industries, are using workforce analytics in this manner. The significance of talent has been increasing over the past decade, while it seems, most organizations are still not investing enough in its development.

Talent acquisition and recruiting of new employees is certainly improving with the rise of new approaches to candidate engagement and public social media listening to get a better understanding of candidates all around. Yet, talent management, motivation, and employee retention continues to be the real challenge. After all, every employee is an investment over time from the organizations point of view to develop their understanding of the company culture, operations, methodologies and network. A sense of meaning and purpose regardless of where they lie in the organization, pay grade or job role is what drives engagement.

At the IBM Connect 2014 conference, I came seeking to understand how IBM is applying their knowledge of social networks and behavioral science to this challenge. Their basis in both social network and human resources software research and development puts them at a logical advantage.

On the first day, they unveiled the new IBM Kenexa Talent Suite that combines these two key areas into to provide support for Talent acquisition with recruitment software, social sourcing of talent, and on-boarding development of the hire; Talent optimization of performance appraisals, succession planning, and compensation; Analytics that support both areas; Social networks to increase productivity through peer learning and knowledge discovery; and integration into other HR systems.

It comes at a crucial time harnessing some of the possibilities of both analytics and social graphs. At a mere announcement it is difficult to assess what these data capabilities will look like, or how easy they will be to use for HR staff today. What it suggests is a new role in HR with a basis in data science to be able to work with the substantial data volumes that rise from social interaction. As Alistair Rennie of IBM indicated, Data is the new natural resource but just like oil it has to be refined to be put to real use We need to make those analytics much more accessible to business people.

In my most recent prior article, I suggested some new approaches to applying data science in leadership development. I had written about ways to detect informal leaders in the organization that influence the employee base independent of their position in the hierarchy. Some have said to me directly that there are organizational leaders who prefer not to know or ignore such informal leaders because it challenges the structure of hierarchical leadership. Yet, I think we all have a sense that there are such leaders out there. What we need are better means to detect them. In that article, I described a very basic approach of understanding centrality in the organizational network through Social Network Analysis (SNA), also called Organizational Network Analysis (ONA).

David Millen of Research Scientist at IBM Center for Social Software noted that I should not only talk about centrality, but also valencedoes the person have a positive or negative impact on the network. He suggested looking at energy networks as investigated by Prof Rob Cross of the Univ. of Virginia, and a pioneer of ONA. The concept was simple, map the relationships, and then ask the people if they felt energized or de-energized working with particular other people in their networkthis is done by opinion polling, rather than sentiment analysis of each person. What you end up with is a more accurate view of employees by the energy they give out to others they collaborate with.

Mr. Rennies response focused on the simplification of these techniques into tools that HR business roles could use. The IBM Kenexa Talent Suite is very unique It will sit on top of Watson solutions Make it accessible through natural language query Provide visualization of that data in the right context. Beyond that, you need know what question to ask. IBM points to the study of behavioral science as the catalyst to get to those insights.

The tools may soon be available but first we still need that drive within organizations to transform their HR operations to provide the enterprise social networks that employees need. Such networks also become the source of the data that they can apply to talent management and workforce analytics. It enhances the role of HR with new capabilities that bring it to modern data-based decision-making. While I will stop short of calling it predictive analytics, it certainly goes further to identify the reality of the complex view of your talent growing, supporting, starving or stepping to leave your organization.

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Talent Development Improves with Data Science

Chinese Scientist wins Wiley-IPCAS Psychological Award for analysis of overconfidence

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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

28-Jan-2014

Contact: Ben Norman sciencenewsroom@wiley.com 44-012-437-70375 Wiley

Beijing, China, January 28, 2014 - John Wiley & Sons, Inc., is pleased to announce that Shu Li from the Chinese Academy of Sciences has won the annual Wiley-IPCAS prize for excellence in Chinese psychological science. The prize, awarded for Li's research into overconfidence, was presented at the opening ceremony of the annual academic conference of the Chinese Psychological Society in Nanjing.

The Wiley-IPCAS prize, valued at $5,000, is awarded by Wiley in partnership with the Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IPCAS), China's national psychology research institute.

The prize is awarded to the best article written by Chinese or China-based researchers publishing in PsyCh Journal or Acta Psychologica Sinica each year.

Shu Li, from the Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science at the Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, published his winning paper in PsyCh Journal, China's first international psychology journal.

Shu Li's research used peer-comparison studies to explore methods for evaluating and understanding overconfidence; defined as a positive difference between confidence and accuracy. The existence of overconfidence remains a controversial issue within psychological research, and a precise method of evaluating it is essential for researchers to validate their findings.

In one of three studies, Li's team analyzed the perceptions of 126 sophomore students from Jilin University. The students were asked to consider their likely exam results compared to their peers and to estimate the percentage of students who would be more successful than them.

These estimations were later compared to the students' actual exam results, to examine how accurate their self-perception had been. The male participants overestimated their ability level by an average of 11.8%.

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Chinese Scientist wins Wiley-IPCAS Psychological Award for analysis of overconfidence

Comets skate to second OT win in row over Abbotsford

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ABBOTSFORD, British Columbia The Utica Comets picked up their second straight overtime victory over the Abbotsford Heat on Saturday night as they recorded a 4-3 American Hockey League road triumph.

Following the win, Utica has now won four in a row overall and six consecutive against the Heat to move to 15-20-2-3 overall this season.

Benn Ferriero scored the overtime winner for the second night in a row, this time just 1 minute, 10 seconds into the extra session.

Forward Alexandre Grenier scored two goals for the Comets and Brandon DeFazio also added a goal of his own, and Pascal Pelletier collected two assists in the victory.

Comets netminder Joacim Eriksson made 23 saves on 26 shots, as he won for the eighth time in nine starts.

Ferriero finished off the Heat for the second night in a row with an overtime winner. The winger carried the puck down the right wing and put a twisted wrister past Joey MacDonald to end the game and give Utica the two points. Ferrieros goal tied him with Grenier for the team lead this season with 15. Yann Sauve picked up the lone assist on the play.

Max Reinhart, Brett Olsen, and Markus Granlund scored goals for the hosts, while netminder MacDonald finished with 25 saves in between the pipes.

The Comets return to the Mohawk Valley for a three-game homestand, beginning Tuesday at the Utica Memorial Auditorium against the Lake Erie Monsters.

Utica will also host the Syracuse Crunch on Friday night and the Rockford Ice Hogs on Saturday evening.

All three games are slated to begin at 7 p.m.

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Comets skate to second OT win in row over Abbotsford