Japan academics apologize for using maid to depict AI

Posted on by

By: Agence France-Presse January 10, 2014 1:15 PM

Detail of the controversial cover of the journal of the Japanese Society for Artificial Intelligence. 'The front-cover design is not intended to discriminate against women,' the group said in a statement on its website.

InterAksyon.com The online news portal of TV5

TOKYO - A Japanese academic society has apologized for the front cover of their journal, which used a drawing of a cleaning woman with a cable in her back to depict the idea of artificial intelligence.

The Japanese Society for Artificial Intelligence was hoping to make "Jinkou Chinou (Artificial Intelligence)" more appealing to potential readers with a cover illustration on the first edition of the new year.

Out went the dense tracts of text and complicated diagrams that have adorned the front for the last few decades, and in came an attractive, doe-eyed young woman holding a sweeping brush and with a thick cable plugged into her back.

A red-faced JSAI admitted Thursday that its attempt to popularize its small-circulation magazine may have misfired and apologized for any offense it had caused.

"The front-cover design is not intended to discriminate against women," the group said in a statement on its website.

The design "gave ... room for the interpretation that women should clean," it said.

"We deeply regret that, as a public academic group, this matter was not considered more carefully," said the statement issued under the names of the journal's chief editor and his deputy, both of whom are scientists.

Read the original here:

Japan academics apologize for using maid to depict AI

IBM funds group to build artificial intelligence apps for Watson supercomputer

Posted on by

What Will You Do With Watson?IBM

IBM has announced that it will invest $1 billion (600 million) in forming a new division that will fund outside developers and companies to create new artificial intelligence apps for the Watson supercomputer that famously beat humans on the US TV quiz show Jeopardy!

The 2,000-employee strong Watson Group will be based in New York City and will be headed up by Michael Rhodin, who was previously senior vice president of IBM's software solutions group.

It aims to support startups that are building cognitive apps through the Watson Developers Cloud. Since the Watson Ecosystem was announced in November last year, over 750 businesses and entrepreneurs applied in the hope of building the next generation of cognitive apps for Watson, IBM claims.

Watson won Jeopardy! in 2011, but since proving its intelligence to the US telly-watching public has developed both physically and in the range of services it provides. Originally the supercomputer was the size of a master bedroom (is that a scientific measurement, IBM?) to the size of three pizza boxes -- a reduction of 90 percent.

It is also being used in a variety of industries, including healthcare, retail and banking to deal with big data. Particularly interesting is its work in the medical field, where it has been devising personalised treatment plans for individual cancer patients. IBM has taught it to respond to queries in new formats, including by drawing pictures, and it's currently trying to train Watson to analyse the content of videos, rather than just using their metadata.

"IBM has transformed Watson from a quiz-show winner, into a commercial cognitive computing breakthrough that is helping businesses engage customers, healthcare organisations personalise patient care, and entrepreneurs build businesses," said Rhodin in a statement.

"Watson is one of the most significant innovations in IBM's 100 year history, and one that we want to share with the world. With these investments we strive to make new markets, reach new buyers and transform industries and professions."

Go here to read the rest:

IBM funds group to build artificial intelligence apps for Watson supercomputer

Aerospace Composite on a DMS 5 Axis Enclosed Moving Long Bridge CNC Router w. Fagor 8065 – Video

Posted on by


Aerospace Composite on a DMS 5 Axis Enclosed Moving Long Bridge CNC Router w. Fagor 8065
This is a demo of an aerospace composite interior cabin panel being machined for a large international aerospace company at the DMS World HQ in Colorado Spri...

By: dmscncrouters

Read more:

Aerospace Composite on a DMS 5 Axis Enclosed Moving Long Bridge CNC Router w. Fagor 8065 - Video

ST Aerospace Seal New Contracts Worth $780M in 4Q2013

Posted on by

Singapore, 9 January 2014 ST Aerospace today announced that it has been awarded new orders worth $780m in the fourth quarter (4Q) of 2013. These contracts span the aerospace sectors broad range of capabilities, from airframe, component and engine maintenance, to cabin reconfiguration and engine wash.

Following the launch of the 15-pallet cargo configuration development effort for its 757-200SF freighter conversion program in June 2013, ST Aerospace received its first contract for five 757-200SF converted freighters with the new variant. A six-year contract was also secured with an existing Asian customer for the depot maintenance of its fleet of aircraft, covering airframes, components and engines.

ST Aerospace continued to gain momentum as a complete turnkey cabin reconfiguration provider, with the award of a cabin interior modification contract for 20 Boeing 767-300 aircraft. The first aircraft was inducted in early January 2014, targeted for redelivery by end of first quarter 2014. For VIP cabin reconfiguration, its US affiliate secured its first green aircraft completion contract from an undisclosed European-based VIP Boeing Business Jet customer.

In 4Q2013, ST Aerospace redelivered a total of 198 aircraft for airframe maintenance and modification work. A total of 10,985 components, 67 landing gears and 60 engines were processed, while 2,484 engine washes were conducted for both commercial and military customers.

On airframe capability development, a new narrow-body hangar was added at its Changi facility, capable of accommodating two single-aisle aircraft simultaneously.

In the US, ST Aerospaces affiliate STA Mobile signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Pensacola to jointly explore the development of a satellite airframe facility at the Pensacola International Airport. For engine wash, ST Aerospaces US affiliate EcoServices signed a teaming agreement with Vector-Hawk Aerospace for the launch of a new version of the EcoPower engine cleansing system, specially developed for all international and domestic customers of commercial and military PT6 turboprop engine-powered aircraft.

On pilot training capability development, additional six Cessna 172 single-engine training aircraft with matching flight training device were acquired for its flying operations in Australia.

Other initiatives implemented in 4Q2013 include the setting up of an aircraft leasing business to focus on mid-life to end-of-life aircraft for leasing, conversion and part out; and the establishment of Hondo Aerospace at the South Texas Regional Airport in Hondo, Texas to venture into green harvesting of aircraft parts, components and engines.

The above developments are not expected to have any material impact on the consolidated net tangible assets per share and earnings per share of ST Engineering for the current financial year.

ST Aerospace (Singapore Technologies Aerospace Ltd) is the aerospace arm of ST Engineering with a turnover of $2b in FY2012. Operating a global MRO network with facilities and affiliates in the Americas, Asia Pacific and Europe, it is the worlds largest commercial airframe MRO provider with a global customer base that includes leading airlines, airfreight and military operators. ST Aerospace is an integrated service provider that offers a spectrum of maintenance and engineering services that include airframe, engine and component maintenance, repair and overhaul; engineering design and technical services; and aviation materials and asset management services, including Total Aviation Support. ST Aerospace has a global staff strength of around 9,000 employees worldwide. Please visit http://www.staero.aero.

Read the original here:

ST Aerospace Seal New Contracts Worth $780M in 4Q2013

Audio-Digest Foundation Announces the Release of Oncology Volume 04, Issue 15: Current and Future Treatment of …

Posted on by

Glendale, CA (PRWEB) January 09, 2014

Audio-Digest Foundation Announces the Release of Oncology Volume 04, Issue 15: Current and Future Treatment of Advanced Prostate Cancer.

The goal of this program is to improve the management of advanced prostate cancer. After hearing and assimilating this program, the clinician will be better able to:

1. Choose effective therapy for castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). 2. Recognize the role of androgen suppression in the treatment of CRPC. 3. Compare the benefits and risks of - and -emitting radiopharmaceuticals. 4. Describe the mechanism of action and advantages of fluorodeoxyuridine monophosphate (FdUMP) polymer in cancer treatment. 5. Consider the potential role of agents that target prostate-specific membrane antigen in the treatment of PC.

The original programs were presented by Daniel P. Petrylak, MD, Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, Co-Director, Signal Transduction Research, and Program Head, Prostate and Urologic Cancers Program, Yale Cancer Center, New Haven, CT, and William H. Gmeiner, PhD, Professor, Cancer Biology, Wake Forest University Graduate School, Department of Integrative Physiology and Pharmacology PhD Program, Winston-Salem, NC.

Audio-Digest Foundation, the largest independent publisher of Continuing Medical Education in the world, records over 10,000 hours of lectures every year in anesthesiology, emergency medicine, family practice, gastroenterology, general surgery, internal medicine, neurology, obstetrics/gynecology, oncology, ophthalmology, orthopaedics, otolaryngology, pediatrics, psychology, and urology, by the leading medical researchers at the top laboratories, universities, and institutions.

Recent researchers have hailed from Harvard, Cedars-Sinai, Mayo Clinic, UCSF, The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, The University of Kansas Medical Center, The University of California, San Diego, The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine, The University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and many others.

Out of these cutting-edge programs, Audio-Digest then chooses the most clinically relevant, edits them for clarity, and publishes them either every week or every two weeks.

In addition, Audio-Digest publishes subscription series in conjunction with leading medical societies: DiabetesInsight with The American Diabetes Association, ACCEL with The American College of Cardiology, Continuum Audio with The American Academy of Neurology, and Journal Watch Audio General Medicine with Massachusetts Medical Society.

For 60 years, the global medical community of doctors, nurses, physician assistants, and other medical professionals around the world has subscribed to Audio-Digest specialty series in order to remain current in their specialties as well as to maintain their Continuing Education requirements with the most cutting-edge, independent, and unbiased continuing medical education (CME).

Read more from the original source:
Audio-Digest Foundation Announces the Release of Oncology Volume 04, Issue 15: Current and Future Treatment of ...

Smokers with HIV/AIDS find quitting easier with cell phone counseling – Video

Posted on by


Smokers with HIV/AIDS find quitting easier with cell phone counseling
Download from iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/itunes-u/smokers-hiv-aids-find-quitting/id431848216?i=226272730 A smoking-cessation intervention delivered ...

By: MD Anderson Cancer Center

See the rest here:
Smokers with HIV/AIDS find quitting easier with cell phone counseling - Video

Improved regulations to protect human research subjects would better protecting study participants

Posted on by

Jan. 9, 2014 Proposed updates to federal regulations that protect human research subjects need additional clarification when applied to the social and behavioral sciences, says a new report from the National Research Council. The report reviews an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), issued in July 2011 to strengthen protection for human subjects, and recommends how best to ensure those protections while promoting effective social and behavioral science research and also respecting the different contexts and processes of biomedical research.

Last updated in 1991, the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects, popularly known as the Common Rule, outlines basic regulations for participation of human subjects in biomedical and behavioral research. Since that update, however, rapid advances in technology and the increasing volume of data available on individuals have changed the landscape for investigators and Institutional Review Boards (IRBs). The ANPRM addresses how the Common Rule may need to be revised to more effectively protect research subjects and promote important research.

To first determine if research activities fall within the scope of the Common Rule, the report recommends that HHS define "human subjects research" as a systematic investigation designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge that involves direct interaction or intervention with a living individual or that involves obtaining identifiable private information about an individual. Only research that fits this definition should be subject to IRB procedures and the Common Rule.

Building on this definition, HHS should also clarify that research which relies on publicly available information, information in the public domain, or information that can be observed in public contexts does not meet the definition of human subjects research -- regardless of whether the information is personally identifiable -- as long as individuals whose information is used have no reasonable expectation of privacy. This includes digital data, some types of administrative records, and public-use data files that have been certified as protected against disclosure.

Once defined as "human subjects research," studies should be put in one of three review categories -- excused research, expedited review, or full review -- already outlined in the ANPRM.

Excused research.

The committee that wrote the report supported the ANPRM's proposal for a new "excused" category, where studies do not require IRB review if they involve only informational risk that is no more than minimal. Examples of excused research could include use of pre-existing data with private information, or benign interventions or interactions that involve activities familiar to people in everyday life, such as educational tests, surveys, and focus groups. The report notes that because the primary risk in most social and behavioral research is informational, much of this research would qualify as excused under the new regulations. In line with an ANPRM suggestion, the committee recommended that excused research remain subject to some oversight; investigators should register their study with an IRB, describe consent procedures, and provide a data protection plan. A very small sample of excused studies could be audited, to provide accountability. After it is registered, an excused study could begin within a week.

Expedited review.

As outlined in the ANPRM, research that might otherwise qualify as excused may be subject to expedited review if the study requires more consideration of human subjects protections because of the nature of the research procedures combined with the characteristics of the subject population. HHS should specify that studies with the potential for causing psychological or physical harm to participants but whose risk can be minimized by additional procedures can be subject to expedited review, the report says. The committee recommended that HHS define minimal risk as the probability and magnitude of physical or psychological harm that does not exceed that which is ordinarily encountered in daily life or in the routine medical, psychological, or educational examinations or tests of the general population. Expedited review would be recommended to take no more than two weeks.

Full review.

Read more from the original source:
Improved regulations to protect human research subjects would better protecting study participants

Rome Academy of Sciences seeks nominations for 'Rome Science Hall of Fame'

Posted on by

ROME -- The Rome Academy of Sciences is seeking nominations for the Class of 2014 into the Rome Science Hall of Fame.

The Academy has been given a wall in the City Hall to display the inductees.

The Academys goal is to recognize and honor those persons, past and present, who have contributed substantial achievements in the areas of science and to honor their achievements by entering their names into the Rome Science Hall of Fame.

The science areas under consideration are: behavioral and social sciences, biochemistry, botany, chemistry, computer science, Earth science, engineering, environmental sciences, mathematics, medicine and health, microbiology, physics, space sciences and zoology.

This recognition will be in two parts.

- Upcoming Science Achievement: Given to graduating high school seniors from both RFA and RCS who have shown exceptional attributes towards the sciences.

- Lifetime Achievement: Given to individuals who have demonstrated exceptional contributions to the fields of science over a distinguished career.

In order for an individual to be nominated to the City of Rome Science Hall of Fame, that individual must either have been from the City of Rome or have lived in this area long enough to be considered their hometown and commonly associated with Rome by the general public.

The Upcoming Science Achievement category is bestowed upon graduating seniors from RFA and RCS who have achieved at least a 95 GPA in the sciences and at least a 90 overall GPA. Students must have attended at least two years in a local high school.

The Lifetime Achievement category is bestowed upon individuals who have demonstrated exceptional contributions to the fields of science over a distinguished career. Anyone from the City of Rome can nominate an individual, providing they meet any of the following criteria: Continued...

Go here to read the rest:
Rome Academy of Sciences seeks nominations for 'Rome Science Hall of Fame'

Improved regulations to protect human research subjects would reduce burden on IRBs while better protecting study …

Posted on by

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

9-Jan-2014

Contact: Rachel Brody news@nas.edu 202-334-2138 National Academy of Sciences

WASHINGTON Proposed updates to federal regulations that protect human research subjects need additional clarification when applied to the social and behavioral sciences, says a new report from the National Research Council. The report reviews an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), issued in July 2011 to strengthen protection for human subjects, and recommends how best to ensure those protections while promoting effective social and behavioral science research and also respecting the different contexts and processes of biomedical research.

Last updated in 1991, the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects, popularly known as the Common Rule, outlines basic regulations for participation of human subjects in biomedical and behavioral research. Since that update, however, rapid advances in technology and the increasing volume of data available on individuals have changed the landscape for investigators and Institutional Review Boards (IRBs). The ANPRM addresses how the Common Rule may need to be revised to more effectively protect research subjects and promote important research.

To first determine if research activities fall within the scope of the Common Rule, the report recommends that HHS define "human subjects research" as a systematic investigation designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge that involves direct interaction or intervention with a living individual or that involves obtaining identifiable private information about an individual. Only research that fits this definition should be subject to IRB procedures and the Common Rule.

Building on this definition, HHS should also clarify that research which relies on publicly available information, information in the public domain, or information that can be observed in public contexts does not meet the definition of human subjects research -- regardless of whether the information is personally identifiable -- as long as individuals whose information is used have no reasonable expectation of privacy. This includes digital data, some types of administrative records, and public-use data files that have been certified as protected against disclosure.

Once defined as "human subjects research," studies should be put in one of three review categories excused research, expedited review, or full review already outlined in the ANPRM.

Excused research. The committee that wrote the report supported the ANPRM's proposal for a new "excused" category, where studies do not require IRB review if they involve only informational risk that is no more than minimal. Examples of excused research could include use of pre-existing data with private information, or benign interventions or interactions that involve activities familiar to people in everyday life, such as educational tests, surveys, and focus groups. The report notes that because the primary risk in most social and behavioral research is informational, much of this research would qualify as excused under the new regulations. In line with an ANPRM suggestion, the committee recommended that excused research remain subject to some oversight; investigators should register their study with an IRB, describe consent procedures, and provide a data protection plan. A very small sample of excused studies could be audited, to provide accountability. After it is registered, an excused study could begin within a week.

Expedited review. As outlined in the ANPRM, research that might otherwise qualify as excused may be subject to expedited review if the study requires more consideration of human subjects protections because of the nature of the research procedures combined with the characteristics of the subject population. HHS should specify that studies with the potential for causing psychological or physical harm to participants but whose risk can be minimized by additional procedures can be subject to expedited review, the report says. The committee recommended that HHS define minimal risk as the probability and magnitude of physical or psychological harm that does not exceed that which is ordinarily encountered in daily life or in the routine medical, psychological, or educational examinations or tests of the general population. Expedited review would be recommended to take no more than two weeks.

Read the original:
Improved regulations to protect human research subjects would reduce burden on IRBs while better protecting study ...

The Doctor Is in the House; Dr. Dr. Teresa Sievers Announced as New Spokesperson for Flexcin International, Inc.

Posted on by

Ft. Myers, Florida (PRWEB) January 10, 2014

Flexcin International, Inc., announces that Teresa Sievers M. D., Board Certified Internal Medicine, and Board Certified and Fellowship trained in Anti-aging Medicine, has become a spokesperson for all- natural, USA made, Flexcin. Flexcin with CM8 is a joint nutritional product that helps to alleviate pain and stiffness associated with diseases; including Arthritis, Lupus, Bursitis and Fibromyalgia. Dr. Sievers practice, Restorative Health and Healing Center (http://www.drteresasievers.com), located in Southwest Florida, is an integrative medical practice that bridges the gap between conventional and complementary medicine with a foundation of healthy diets and fitness plans for individuals. Dr. Sievers will be introduced through a series of Flexcin informational videos on the internet and YouTube which will describe different types of arthritis, including Lupus Arthritis, Palindromic Arthritis, and Septic Arthritis with other videos planned. National TV, Convention and Radio talk show appearances are in the planning stages as well as an on-going question and answer option on the Flexcin website, http://www.flexcin.com

See the original post here:
The Doctor Is in the House; Dr. Dr. Teresa Sievers Announced as New Spokesperson for Flexcin International, Inc.

After Arriving On Android, Glooko Lands $7M From Samsung & More To Bring Predictive Diabetes Care Global

Posted on by

The proliferation of connected devices, coupled with rapid advances in data analytics and sensor technology, has fundamentally changed the way people interact with and manage their health. Thanks to smartphones and a new generation of smart, wearable gadgets, its now easier than ever before to monitor and and analyze a dizzying array of inputs and physiological signals and inputs from your heart rate and calorie intake to your biorhythms and stress levels.

The promise of todays health apps is that, by leveraging mobility and realtime analytics, they can help Average Joes like you and me transform biometric data into something more substantial Information, knowledge and changes in behavior. While the market continues to brim with all manners of behavioral change and health management apps, only a tiny fraction of startups are addressing an area in which health management and tracking technology could (arguably) have the greatest impact: Chronic diseases and conditions.

Glooko launched in late 2011 to bring mobility and data tracking to people living with Diabetes, a population underserved by advances in mobile technology. After all, Diabetes, like any chronic condition, by nature requires constant monitoring from patients across a number of devices. So, the company set out on a mission to address the lack of interoperability and standardized methods for data transfer among devices (and glucose meters) to finally create a unified diabetes management solution.

The effort has begun to pay off, as Glooko now supports data transfer between 26 glucose meters and 28 different mobile devices. For some perspective, compatibility with 26 meters means that it covers roughly 85 percent of existing meters in the U.S., says Glookos Vikram Singh. In November, on the heels of approval from the FDA, Glooko took another big step toward device agnosticism, expanding its support from iOS to Android devices a move which the company says makes it the the only FDA-cleared mobile diabetes management system to support the transfer of glucose data from dozens of meters to Android devices.

With its coverage increasing, the company is ready to take the next big step, says CEO Rick Altinger, thanks to the help of a few familiar names in the world of mobile technology. Today, the company announcement that it has raised $7 million in a Series A-1 financing round from investors that include Samsung Venture Investment Company and Lifeforce Ventures, with participation from existing investors, The Social + Capital Partnership, Sundeep Madra and Yogen Dalal, among others.

With its new capital in tow, which brings its total to around $11.5 million, Glooko will focus on the next phase of data tracking technology applied to health: Predictive care. In order to have the biggest possible impact, Glooko will look to leverage its patient datasets to enable predictive diabetes care by delivering both patient data and decision-making algorithms to health providers and payer groups, Altinger says.

With the help of a huge mobile player like Samsung, Glooko believes that it can begin to liberate blood glucose data from meters and make it more accessible to both patients and health providers. Going forward, the company will look to scale its diabetes management system across the globe, while adding a predictive layer of analytics and messaging that it hopes will allow healthcare providers to make therapeutic recommendations to its patients in realtime.

As it stands today, Glookos system now includes its MeterSync Cable and applications for both iOS and Android, which combined, allow data to be transferred from meters directly to a users mobile device. The apps then integrated directly into the existing Glooko management web dashboards, enabling healthcare providers and care management teams to remotely monitor at-risk patients.

By doing so, Glooko is hoping to provide health systems and disease management organizations with access to better population management and analytics tools that can allow them to both increase focus on at-risk patients and, over the long-run, achieve higher levels of adherence to treatment plans. By focusing on increasing involvement of healthcare providers, Glooko also sees a path towards monetization, as it could begin charging health insurance companies a subscription fee for access to tools that allow them to better execute managed care (and higher savings).

For more, find Glooko at home here.

Original post:
After Arriving On Android, Glooko Lands $7M From Samsung & More To Bring Predictive Diabetes Care Global

So 2014 Is International Crystallography Year

Posted on by

Jonathan Nackstrand / AFP / Getty Images

Laureates arrive for the traditional Nobel Prize banquet at the Stockholm City Hall on December 10, 2013. In total, 28 Nobel prized discoveries have been associated with crystallography, among them this year's awards for Chemistry and Physics.

There once was a dark and distant time when we only understood molecules as equations of letters and numbers. With the advent of crystallography the science of how matter is arranged we learned how to visualize molecules in 3D, helping us make everything from better medicines to stronger materials. Despite that huge advance, if you stopped someone in the street and asked them what crystallography was, chances are you would get a blank stare. To help raise awareness, and to celebrate a century of amazing discoveries, UNESCO has declared 2014 to be the International Year of Crystallography. Heres a bluffers guide to the topic. 1. It starts with X-rays

Normally when you want to magnify things, you use a microscope. There is, however, a limit to the smallness of things you can see, namely the wavelength of the light youre using. Since visible light has a frequency of between roughly 400 and 700 nanometers, it is unable to detect atoms, which are separated by merely 0.1 nanometers. X-rays, on the other hand, have just the right frequency.

2. Crystals are used to create diffractions

Unfortunately, we dont have good enough lenses to produce x-ray microscopes capable of studying molecules. So scientists have to beam X-rays onto molecules, which shatter the rays, just as light is reflected when it hits any object. The shattered rays called the diffraction are then reassembled into an image by a computer program. But since the diffraction of a single molecule would be weak to the point of unintelligibility, scientists get the molecules theyre studying to clump together into crystal form. This highly ordered structure, made up of vast amounts of molecules, makes x-ray diffractions the main tool of crystallography easier to study.

3. So why chose 2014 for the International Year of Crystallography?

The International Year of Crystallography celebrates the centennial of the Nobel Prize of Max Von Laue, the first scientist to diffract x-rays with a crystal. However, the first person to solve a molecular structure that of NaCl, or table salt was the Brit William Lawrence Bragg. His equation to translate the diffraction into a structure, Braggs Law, is still in use today. In 1915, at age 25, he became the youngest Nobel laureate, when he jointly received the prize with his father William Henry Bragg. The Braggs went on to create a dynasty of groundbreaking crystallographers at the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge.

This Royal Institute video describes the legacy of William Lawrence Bragg and his disciples:

4. Crystallography was crucial to one of the great discoveries of the 20th century

Originally posted here:
So 2014 Is International Crystallography Year

Genetic engineering – definition from Biology-Online.org

Posted on by

Dictionary G Genetic engineering

Definition

noun

The technology entailing all processes of altering the genetic material of a cell to make it capable of performing the desired functions, such as producing novel substances.

Supplement

Genetic engineering covers all various experimental techniques that manipulate the genes of the organism. It uses recombinant DNA, molecular cloning and transformation. At present, it is applied in improving crop technology, manufacturing synthetic human insulin (using modified bacteria), production of erythropoietin (using Chinese hamster ovary cells), and production of new types of experimental mice for research (such as cancer mouse). It also has the potential of being used in humans by changing their appearance, intelligence, character and adaptability; however, there are ethical concerns and controversies it has to resolve before it can be widely accepted.

Related forms: genetic engineer (noun). Synonym: recombinant DNA technology, genetic modification, genetic manipulation (GM), gene splicing. See also: bioethics, biotechnology, cloning, genetic pollution.

Please contribute to this project, if you have more information about this term feel free to edit this page

See entire post

This page was last modified 21:31, 19 June 2008.This page has been accessed 80,191 times. What links here | Related changes | Permanent link

Read the original here:
Genetic engineering - definition from Biology-Online.org

There is Only One Evolution

Posted on by

I have frequently pointed out that pharmaceutical companies acknowledge that animal models are not predictive for human response in terms of efficacy or toxicity. More evidence for this position comes from Robert G. Hunter in an article in Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News.[1] Hunter: Having developed over the past 20 years into a global market recently estimated at $5 billion, in vitro and in silico products and services are now about the same size as the in vivo services (contract research organization) industry. If animal models worked well, there would be no need for industry to look at other options. Pharma does not love bunnies. Pharma loves money.

Matthew Herper addressed the problems in drug development in an article in Forbes.[2] Herper:

Theres one factor that, as much as anything else, determines how many medicines are invented, what diseases they treat, and, to an extent, what price patients must pay for them: the cost of inventing and developing a new drug, a cost driven by the uncomfortable fact than 95% of the experimental medicines that are studied in humans fail to be both effective and safe.

Animal models are relied on for the evaluation of both efficacy and safety.[3-9] Herper continues:

A new analysis conducted at Forbes puts grim numbers on these costs. A company hoping to get a single drug to market can expect to have spent $350 million before the medicine is available for sale. In part because so many drugs fail, large pharmaceutical companies that are working on dozens of drug projects at once spend $5 billion per new medicine. . . . This is crazy. For sure its not sustainable, says Susan Desmond-Hellmann, the chancellor at UCSF and former head of development at industry legend Genentech, where she led the testing of cancer drugs like Herceptin and Avastin. Increasingly, while no one knows quite what to do instead, any businessperson would look at this and say, You cant make a business off this. This is not a good investment. I say that knowing that this has been the engine of wonderful things.

This, in part, is why disease-specific drugs like Kalydeco, a drug for cystic fibrosis (CF) patients that have a specific genetic mutation, costs $294,000 per patient per year.

The reason animal models fail for drug development is that animals and humans are evolved systems that are differently complex. While morphological similarities exist, very small differences in the genetic make-up between species and between individuals of the same species means the predictive value for extrapolation is nil in the real world. (For more on this see Trans-Species Modeling Theory.) Moreover, if the concept of evolved, complex systems invalidates trans-species extrapolation in drug development, it is going to do the same when trans-species extrapolation involves any perturbation that affects higher levels of organization. So just based on the evidence from drug development we can safely say that disease research on mice, monkeys, or dogs is not going to result in knowledge that has predictive value for human patients. The literature confirms this.[10-21][[22]p19-33, 73-77] [23-25]

Compare the above to this recent statement from Michael E. Goldberg published in the Wisconsin State Journal: Nearly every medical advance from the last century is a product of responsible animal research, and animal models will continue to be important to medical progress. . . . Activists who claim animal research does not benefit humans are wrong. Animals are essential to medical progress in all fields of human disease. [26] This illustrates the dichotomy regarding animal models. Dr Goldberg is an animal modeler who does basic research, which he sells as applied research. Not surprisingly, Goldberg thinks animal modeling is great. He does not suffer loss of income or prestige when the knowledge from animal modeling fails to translate to human patients.

Pharma on the other hand, can actually measure the success or lack thereof of animal models in the form of drugs successfully brought to market and Pharma says it doesnt work. Remember, Pharma is a business and they do not care how they develop new drugs they just want to develop new drugs so they can make money. Also remember that there are not two different theories of evolution: one for drug development and another for basic science research or basic research masquerading as applied research. If animal modeling in drug development fails to be consistent with evolutionary biology, then it fails in general as well.

Image courtesy of Wkipedia Common http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chromosomes_mutations-en.svg

Continued here:
There is Only One Evolution

Behavior – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Posted on by

Behavior or behaviour is the range of actions and mannerisms made by organisms, systems, or artificial entities in conjunction with their environment, which includes the other systems or organisms around as well as the physical environment. It is the response of the system or organism to various stimuli or inputs, whether internal or external, conscious or subconscious, overt or covert, and voluntary or involuntary.

Although there is some disagreement as to how to precisely define behavior in a biological context, one common interpretation based on a meta-analysis of scientific literature states that "behavior is the internally coordinated responses (actions or inactions) of whole living organisms (individuals or groups) to internal and/or external stimuli"[1]

Behaviors can be either innate or learned.

Behavior can be regarded as any action of an organism that changes its relationship to its environment. Behavior provides outputs from the organism to the environment.[2]

Human behavior is believed to be controlled primarily by the endocrine system and the nervous system. It is most commonly believed that complexity in the behavior of an organism is correlated to the complexity of its nervous system. Generally, organisms with more complex nervous systems have a greater capacity to learn new responses and thus adjust their behavior.[citation needed]

Behavior outside of psychology includes physical property and chemical reactions.

In environmental modeling and especially in hydrology, a "behavioral model" means a model that is acceptably consistent with observed natural processes, i.e., that simulates well, for example, observed river discharge. It is a key concept of the so-called Generalized Likelihood Uncertainty Estimation (GLUE) methodology to quantify how uncertain environmental predictions are.

Visit link:
Behavior - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia