Skeletal remains found January in Ascension Parish identified – The Advocate

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PRAIRIEVILLE The skeletal remains found in a wooded area of Prairieville in January have been identified as those of William Winters, 55, Ascension Sheriff's Chief Deputy Bobby Webre said.

Foul play is not suspected in his death, Webre said.

On Jan. 30, deputies responded to a call to a wooded area off Germany Road after a family's dog found a human skull in a wooded area.

The LSU FACES lab assisted in the identification of the remains.

Webre said that investigators had suspected that Winters might be the person whose remains were found, but that two sets of indentification were found at the site, one belonging to Winters and one to a relative of Winters.

A DNA match was made with Winters' son, who is currently an inmate at the Ascension Parish jail, Webre said.

William Winters had been living with others in a trailer park in an area behind where the remains were found.

"The people he was staying with were evicted. I think he was staying in the woods there. He had no place to go," Webre said.

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Skeletal remains found January in Ascension Parish identified - The Advocate

Ascension to begin using GPS devices on parish equipment – WBRZ

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ASCENSION Ascension Parish officials will begin using tracking devices on all parish-owned vehicles to track their resources, however some are confused about its true intentions.

Some council members say the GPS policy is not fully ironed out. The vehicles were installed with the GPS's, but some have not been used.

"I think some of them were turned off or not installed at all, under the previous administration," Martin McConnell, of the Ascension Parish government, said.

However the rules are now changing. Ascension Parish officials say that whether it's a tractor or vehicle, they want to keep tract of their equipment.

"You know GPS tells us things like number of hours that equipment has been in operation," McConnell said.

For example, if a tractor or vehicle is not being used enough at one site, it can be transferred to another.

"Because if it's sitting parked we don't need it right?" McConnell said.

Parish officials say the GPS's are about staying organized and ensuring that parish equipment is being used efficiently. However, some council members say there is more to the issue.

"Every single person that works in the parish that has a vehicle has to be subject to the same rules," Aaron Lawler, Ascension Parish council member, said.

Lawler said that he supports the use of GPS devices, but says the policy is missing key information.

"Right now there's no policy whatsoever, so if somebody is caught speeding they can fire that person," Lawler said.

Others argue that the devices are not in place to get workers in trouble.

"The primary reason is to know that parish-owned vehicles are being used in an efficient manner to their best and highest use," McConnell said.

A total of 180 GPS systems are installed in parish vehicles and equipment.

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Congress Passes Space Exploration Act, Targets Mars – America Now

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Both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives have officially passed the NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2017, a piece of legislation that grants $19.5 billion to the agency to get humans to Mars.

Members of Congress have stated that NASA is tasked with getting human beings "near or on the surface of Mars in the 2030s," according to the language of the bill itself.

"It is the sense of Congress that (1) expanding human presence beyond low-Earth orbit and advancing toward human missions to Mars in the 2030s requires early strategic planning and timely decisions to be made in the near-term on the necessary courses of action for commitments to achieve short-term and long-term goals and objective."

NASA was the benefactor of $19.3 billion in federal money during 2016.

The document details not only Mars and Mars orbit as possible destinations for targeted space exploration, but interim destinations as well, such as cis-lunar space and the moons of Mars.

To accomplish this, the newly recognized bill orders the design and construction of a Space Launch System, or a rocket of massive scale that will be able to propel a space capsule across the chasm of space between Earth and Mars.

The Act calls for "a specific process for the evolution of the capabilities of the fully integrated Orion with the Space Launch System," as well as an explanation of how these specifications will help further the cause of getting a human safely to Mars.

The lengthy bill does not limit itself to the subject of traveling to Mars, either, but continues with a list of auxiliary projects that could further humanity's reach into space.

The bill approved a long-standing plan NASA has had to send a probe to Europa, a moon of Jupiter that may host a subsurface ocean.

The Act details numerous other explorations of "near-Earth objects," exoplanets, as well as design and build probes and instruments to gather critically important data.

President Donald Trump has shared brief words about Congress' move to further space exploration, saying he is "ready to unlock the mysteries of space."

Though reportedly supportive of continued exploration of the moon, President Trump has expressed intent to end NASA's long-established studies of Earth and its climate.

At this point, the Act is at the discretion of the President, though the passage of the bill is a likely prospect, according to Business Insider.

The current President has not yet made public any plans he may have for the bill or its passage.

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A Trinity professor will play a big role in space exploration – thejournal.ie

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Professor in Astrophysics at Trinity College Dublin, Peter Gallagher.

Image: Paul Sharp/SHARPPIX

Professor in Astrophysics at Trinity College Dublin, Peter Gallagher.

Image: Paul Sharp/SHARPPIX

A PROFESSOR IN Trinity College Dublin has been tapped to play a key role in space exploration over the next 10 years.

Professor Peter Gallagher has been appointed as an adviser to the Director of Science at the European Space Agency (ESA). In his role with the Space Science Advisory Committee (SSAC), Professor Gallagher will be charged with interpreting the views and needs of the European science communitys access to space experimentation and data exploitation in the mandatory science programmes.

The ESA is set to invest over 5 billion in space exploration in the coming decade.

Among ESAs flagship missions is Solar Orbiter, which Professor Gallagher is directly involved in. This spacecraft will be launched in 2019 and then take around three years to make its way inside the orbit of Mercury to study the sun and the inner solar system.

He said:

Solar Orbiter will enable us to study the sun in greater detail than ever before and to better understand solar activity and its effects on Earth. Due to the huge temperatures close to the sun, the spacecraft is protected by a heat shield, which has been coated by an innovative Irish company called EnBio.

Im delighted to now play a role in shaping the future of ESAs space exploration programme.

The SSACs tasks include advising and making recommendations on the needs of the scientific community for access to space for their research; formulating and updating medium and long-term space science policy in Europe; prioritising the needs of the scientific community in selecting future space science missions, and laying the foundations for future missions based on recommendations and new discoveries.

Along with the 11 other members of the SSAC, Professor Gallagher will also implement a number of space missions under the ESA Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 strategy.

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Huge Step Toward Nanotech-Based Drugs – Controlled Environments Magazine

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Nanotechnology has become a growing part of medical research in recent years, with scientists feverishly working to see if tiny particles could revolutionize the world of drug delivery.

But many questions remain about how to effectively transport those particles and associated drugs to cells.

In an article published in Scientific Reports, FSU Associate Professor of Biological Science Steven Lenhert takes a step forward in the understanding of nanoparticles and how they can best be used to deliver drugs.

After conducting a series of experiments, Lenhert and his colleagues found that it may be possible to boost the efficacy of medicine entering target cells via a nanoparticle.

We can enhance how cells take them up and make more drugs more potent, Lenhert says.

Initially, Lenhert and his colleagues from the University of Toronto and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology wanted to see what happened when they encapsulated silicon nanoparticles in liposomes or small spherical sacs of molecules and delivered them to HeLa cells, a standard cancer cell model.

The initial goal was to test the toxicity of silicon-based nanoparticles and get a better understanding of its biological activity.

Silicon is a non-toxic substance and has well-known optical properties that allow their nanostructures to appear fluorescent under an infrared camera, where tissue would be nearly transparent. Scientists believe it has enormous potential as a delivery agent for drugs as well as in medical imaging.

But there are still questions about how silicon behaves at such a small size.

Nanoparticles change properties as they get smaller, so scientists want to understand the biological activity, Lenhert says. For example, how does shape and size affect toxicity?

Scientists found that 10 out of 18 types of the particles, ranging from 1.5 nanometers to 6 nanometers, were significantly more toxic than crude mixtures of the material.

At first, scientists believed this could be a setback, but they then discovered the reason for the toxicity levels. The more toxic fragments also had enhanced cellular uptake.

That information is more valuable long term, Lenhert says, because it means they could potentially alter nanoparticles to enhance the potency of a given therapeutic.

The work also paves the way for researchers to screen libraries of nanoparticles to see how cells react.

This is an essential step toward the discovery of novel nanotechnology based therapeutics, Lenhert says. Theres big potential here for new therapeutics, but we need to be able to test everything first.

Other researchers contributing to the work are Aubrey Kusi-Appiah, Lida Ghazanfari, and Plengchart Prommapan from Florida State University; Melanie Mastronardi, Chenxi Qian, Ken Chen, and Geoffrey Ozin from the University of Toronto; and Christian Kubel from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany.

This work was funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Source: Florida State University

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The week’s best mixes: Lorenzo Senni’s trance classics and jackin’ moves from Clone boss Serge – FACT

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Each week, FACT trawls through the untamed world of free mixes, radio specials and live blends so you dont have to.

This week, Lorenzo Senni inspires euphoria with a selection of trance build-ups that inspired his recentPersona EP, Sega Bodega makes the Bomfunk MCs cool again and Beat Librae showcases her heady, dub-tinged techno.

Theres also a mix from the UK-based gal-dem zine, jackin house from Clone boss Serge and two hours of neo-classical from Sicario composer Jhann Jhannsson. Dive in.

Lorenzo Senni The Making of Persona

Nobody knows trance like Lorenzo Senni, and here the Warp artist shows us the inner workings of his musical mind with this mix of music that inspired last years Persona EP. Mixing the best bits of everything from commercial EDM and the sounds of Darudes Sandstorm, this mix proves that you can get high without drugs. Just dont expect any drops.

gal-dem Outlook 2017 Mix Series #2

Gal-Dems trilpill reps the UK underground with a mix that packs in everything from garage and grime to dancehall and bassline. Kicking off with Dawn Penns You Dont Love Me (No No No) and folding in tracks by Giggs, General Levy and more, its a party-starting blend that doesnt let up.

Sega Bodega i-DJ Mix

Hot on the heels of his Ess B EP for Crazylegs, rising club artist Sega Bodega lands on the i-D mix series for 40 minutes of edits and originals. As well as tracks from Staycores Dinamarca, Kid Kishore and lo-fi Lisbonite DJ Fatigado, expect VIPs of Halcyon Veil artist Celyn June, Arca and Bomfunk MCs 1999 classic Freestyler. Bonkers, but brilliant.

Beta Librae Truancy Volume 170

Keep this one stored up for when you next require a moment of peaceful immersion, as Kansas-born, New York-based Beta Librae has the perfect recipe. She draws for sparse, fluid house from the deepest depths on a two-part mix that combines her own productions (in the first half) with some of her recent influences, and its heady, soothing stuff perfect for a dazed walk through the city or an late night/early morning session.

Jhann Jhannsson Electronic Explorations 461

Theres still seven months to go until we can hear Jhann Jhannssons Blade Runner 2049 score, but we can at least tide ourselves over with this mix for the Electronic Explorations series. Theres music from fellow soundtrack composers Michael Nyman and Ennio Morricone, but also avant-garde sounds from Morton Feldman, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Greek chamber music trio Mohammad. Perfect for a quiet Sunday morning.

Serge Clone Jack For Daze @ Snar 2015

Clone is 25! The bossman Serge celebrates one of the greatest dance labels in history by sharing his Snar mix from 2015, and its a jackin, smackin spectacular of broken booty shakers and four-to-the-floor filth from DJ Deeon and the like. Wallflowers stay home.

Read next: Blade Runner 2049s Jhann Jhannsson on Orphe and his biggest challenge yet

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The week's best mixes: Lorenzo Senni's trance classics and jackin' moves from Clone boss Serge - FACT

UNEARTHLY TRANCE Premieres New Music Video For Into The Spiral – The Gauntlet

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New York City sludge/doom/drone trio Unearthly Trance today premieres their official new video for Into The Spiral. Directed by Jimmy Hubbard, the track comes by way of the bands recently issued Stalking The Ghost full-length.

An esoteric ritual of seismic doom, Stalking The Ghost taps into the darkest realms of the occult over the course of seven tracks that reek of utter despair. Forming a balance between slow-churning maelstrom and spine-chilling harmony, wrapped beneath a blackened cloud of rumbling feedback, Unearthly Trance sounds more powerful and exploratory than ever before. Recorded at Menegroth/The Thousand Caves Studios by Colin Marston (Krallice, Gorguts, Panopticon) and featuring cover art by Orion Landau (Yob, Red Fang, Graves At Sea), Stalking The Ghost restores misery to a gentrifying city.

Unearthly Trance will embark on a short European tour surrounding their appearance at this years prestigious Roadburn Festival with additional dates to be announced in the coming weeks.

UNEARTHLY TRANCE w/ Suma: 4/17/2017 KB18 Copenhagen, DK 4/18/2017 Hafenklang Hamburg, DE 4/19/2017 Magasin4 Brussels, BE 4/20/2017 Roadburn Tilburg, NL 4/21/2017 Doom Over Leipzig Leipzig, DE 4/23/2017 JAZ Rostock, DE

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Date: Mar 10, 2017 As Reported by: Lindsay OConnor

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Tattooed devotees transform in Thai temple trance – Channel NewsAsia

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WAT BANG PHRA, Thailand: Deep in trances, devotees of a Thai temple charged through gathered crowds on Saturday mimicking the beasts on their tattoos.

Some had their hands curled into tiger claws, some became crocodiles, some were transformed into Hanuman, the monkey god.

The annual tattoo festival at Wat Bang Phra, about 80 km (50 miles) from Bangkok, draws thousands of devotees every year who come to recharge the power of sacred Sak Yant tattoos.

The tattoos are inked by Buddhist monks using sharpened bamboo sticks or long metal needles. Originally etched for warriors needing protection in battle, they are also believed to bring luck and give strength.

But every year, their magic power needs to be restored at the festival, where thousands of devotees pay their respects to the temples master tattooist.

Not everyone goes into a trance. Those who do take on the characteristics of their tattoos. They try to charge towards the temple, but are held back by a wall of temple guards and soldiers.

(Writing by Matthew Tostevin; Editing by Sam Holmes)

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Aurora Oil & Gas’ Successor Australis Quadruples TMS Acreage – Oil and Gas Investor (registration)

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Oil and Gas Investor (registration)
Aurora Oil & Gas' Successor Australis Quadruples TMS Acreage
Oil and Gas Investor (registration)
The Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS) has been in the industry's no man's land the past couple of years, but an Australian company led by the founder of Aurora Oil & Gas aims to change that. Australis Oil & Gas Ltd. agreed to buy 62,000 operated net acres ...

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Aurora Oil & Gas' Successor Australis Quadruples TMS Acreage - Oil and Gas Investor (registration)

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TMS Installs 2017 Board Members – Newswise (press release)

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Newswise March 10, 2017 Pittsburgh, PA (USA) The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS) installed six new officers during the TMS 2017 Annual Meeting & Exhibition, held February 26March 2, 2017 in San Diego, California. The following individuals have joined the TMS Board of Directors:

Kevin J. Hemker, 2017 Vice President

Kevin J. Hemker is Alonzo G. Decker Chair and Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. A professional member since 1991, Hemker has served two terms on the TMS Board of Directors as Public & Governmental Affairs (P&GA) Director from 2008 to 2013. He has also contributed as a member of the Titanium, Strategic Planning, and P&GA committees. Currently the Alonzo G. Decker Chair and Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, Hemker also holds joint appointments in the Departments of Materials Science and Engineering and Earth & Planetary Sciences. In 2014, he was elected as a TMS Fellow. Hemker earned his B.S. in metallurgy from the University of Cincinnati, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from Stanford University.

Hemker will serve a three-year term with TMSas vice president in 2017, president in 2018, and past president in 2019.

Michele V. Manuel, Content Development & Dissemination Director/Chair

Michele V. Manuel is a professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Florida. Manuel received her Ph.D. in materials science and engineering at Northwestern University and her B.S. in materials science and engineering at the University of Florida. A TMS member since 2001, she has served on a number of technical and administrative committees for the society, most notably as the vice chair of the Content Development & Dissemination Committee, as editor of Magnesium Technology 2015, and as a JOM advisor. Manuel is the recipient of a 2009 TMS Light Metals Division (LMD) Young Leaders Professional Development Award, a 2014 Early Career Faculty Fellow Award, and the 2014 Young Leaders TMS/Japan Institute of Metals (JIM) International Scholar Awardall supported by the TMS Foundation.

Chester J. Van Tyne, Professional Development Director/Chair

Chester J. Van Tyne is the Forging Industry Education and Research Foundation (FIERF) Professor in the George S. Ansell Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines. He has served as Associate Department Head since 2011 and teaches courses in statistical process control and design experiments, as well as forging and forming. A member of TMS since 1980, Van Tyne has been an active member of the Education and Professional Registration committees, and has served as chair of the Accreditation Committee. He has also been involved with the ABET accreditation process since 1991 as a program evaluator, team chair, and member of the Engineering Accreditation Commission. Van Tyne earned both his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Lehigh University. In 1984, he earned his professional engineer (PE) license in Pennsylvania.

John A. Howarter, Public & Governmental Affairs Director/Chair

John A. Howarter is an assistant professor in materials engineering at Purdue University, with a joint appointment in environmental and ecological engineering. A TMS member since 2002, Howarter has served as vice chair of the Public & Governmental Affairs (P&GA) Committee and is a regular contributor to the technical programming for both the TMS annual meeting and Materials Science & Technology (MS&T) conference. He was also a member of the organizing committee for the REWAS 2016 symposium held in conjunction with the TMS 2016 Annual Meeting & Exhibition. In 2015, Howarter received a TMS Extraction & Processing Division (EPD) Young Leaders Professional Development Award. Since 2014, Howarter has served as the chapter advisor for the Purdue University Material Advantage student organization. He earned his B.S. from The Ohio State University and his Ph.D. from Purdue, both in materials engineering.

Cynthia K. Belt, Extraction & Processing Division Chair

Cynthia K. Belt is an Energy Management Consultant at Metals Energy Management LLC. Prior to working as a consultant, she developed and managed energy programs at Kaiser Aluminum, Superior Industries, and Aleris International. Belt is the former chair of the TMS Energy Committee, has been an active member of the Recycling & Environmental Technologies and Materials & Society committees, and served as a TMS representative to the Carbon Management Technology Conference Committee. She has served as vice chair of the Extraction & Processing Division (EPD) Council and has also served on both the EPD and LMD Councils in her more than ten years as a TMS member. In 2012, she received the LMD Distinguished Service Award, and then earned the 2013 Energy Best Paper Award, along with her co-authors, for "Energy Opportunities in the Aluminum Processing Industry," published in Energy Technology 2012. Belt earned her B.S. in mechanical engineering from Ohio Northern University and is a trained Six Sigma Black Belt.

Raymundo Arryave, Functional Materials Division Chair

Raymundo Arryave is an associate professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Texas A&M University. A TMS member for more than ten years, Arryave has served as chair of the TMS Alloy Phases Committee, vice chair of the Functional Materials Division (FMD) Council, and as a member of many other technical and administrative committees, including the Integrated Computational Materials Engineering and Professional Development committees. In addition to chairing symposia at TMS annual meetings and MS&T conferences, he co-organized the 2015 TMS Middle EastMediterranean Materials Congress on Energy and Infrastructure Systems. He received the Electronic, Magnetic & Photonic Materials Division (EMPMD; now Functional Materials Division) Distinguished Service Award in 2014 and the EMPMD Young Leaders Professional Development Award in 2006. Arryave received his B.S. in mechanical and electrical engineering from the Instituto Tecnolgico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey in Mexico and both his M.S. in materials science and engineering and his Ph.D. in materials science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

ABOUT TMS

The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS) is a member-driven international professional society dedicated to fostering the exchange of learning and ideas across the entire range of minerals, metals, and materials science and engineering, from minerals processing and primary metals production, to basic research and the advanced applications of materials. For more information on TMS, visit http://www.tms.org.

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Stryker’s Spine division to exhibit key technologies at AAOS 2017 – OrthoSpineNews

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ALLENDALE, N.J.(BUSINESS WIRE)Strykers Spine division today announced that it will demonstrate its Aero-C Cervical Stability System (Aero-C) and Xia 4.5 Cortical Trajectory implants and instruments (Xia CT) at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) Annual Meeting, March 1518, 2017, in San Diego (booth No. 3133).

Aero-C, the only straight forward anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) device that offers uniform compression across the interbody space, will be displayed at AAOS 2017, highlighting its full commercial launch. Using Aerofoil Compression Technology, Aero-C is designed to pull the vertebral bodies toward the implant as it is inserted, creating compressive forces at the implant-to-endplate interface.1 Aerofoil Compression Technology is also available for lateral and anterior lumbar interbody fusion procedures (LLIF and ALIF). Since the initial introduction to the market, over 600 cases have been completed.

Also to be demonstrated at AAOS is Xia CT, which includes implants and instruments used in less invasive LITe LIF posterior lumbar interbody fusion procedures for patients with degenerative disc disease, spondylolisthesis, and trauma. The cortical trajectory procedure facilitates a smaller midline incision to help achieve decompression, fixation, and fusion.2 It also is intended to be more muscle sparing than standard open procedures that require lateral dissection, and its reduced incision may allow for more efficient exposure and closure time.2 The launch of the Xia CT system occurred in 2016, with 575 cases completed to date.

Since their introduction last year, Aero-C and Xia CT have been well received by our surgeon customers and have achieved rapid adoption in the marketplace, said Bradley Paddock, President of Strykers Spine division. These unique products reflect our strong commitment to advancing spine health and helping to enhance outcomes for patients by providing physicians with innovative and differentiated technology.

Aero-C and Xia CT offer advancements that highlight the Spine divisions leadership in pioneering innovative technologies for traditional and minimally invasive surgical techniques. The company offers one of the most comprehensive and diverse product portfolios for the treatment of degenerative and complex spinal disorders. Its suite of leading-edge products includes implants, instruments, and biologics for the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine.

About Stryker

Stryker is one of the worlds leading medical technology companies and, together with our customers, we are driven to make healthcare better. The Company offers a diverse array of innovative products and services in Orthopaedics, Medical and Surgical, and Neurotechnology and Spine that help improve patient and hospital outcomes. Stryker is active in over 100 countries around the world. Please contact us for more information atwww.stryker.com.

References

Indications for Use

The AERO-C Cervical Cage is indicated for use in cervical interbody fusion procedures in skeletally mature patients with degenerative disc disease (DDD) at one level from the C2-C3 disc to the C7-T1 disc. The AERO-C Cervical Cage System is to be used with autogenous bone graft and/or allogenic bone graft comprised of cancellous and/or corticocancellous bone graft, and is to be implanted via an open, anterior approach.

The Xia CT implants and instruments are intended for anterior/anterolateral and posterior, non-cervical pedicle and non-pedicle fixation for the following indications: Degenerative Disc Disease (as defined by back pain of discogenic origin with degeneration of the disc confirmed by patient history and radiographic studies); spondylolisthesis; trauma (i.e. fracture or dislocation); spinal stenosis; curvatures (i.e., scoliosis, kyphosis, and/or lordosis); tumor; pseudarthrosis; failed previous fusion.

Content ID: CVAER-PR-2_13458

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Preview: MedX Future of Healthcare conference – The Mancunion

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Photo: ReThinkX

The MedX Future of Healthcare conference will be held on 25th March at Citylabs 1.0, ran by ReThinkX, which aims to bridge the gap between the next generation and leaders of the field and to create an accessible medium to showcase the technology at the forefront of healthcare.

Tariq Ramtoola, Director of ReThinkX, says: We will have speaker panels running in the same time as workshops in order for people to feel more free to choose what mood they are in: listening to innovative speakers, be more hands on, be enthusiastic and debate, or even just relax in the chill-out area. There will be something for everybody!

We think traditional conferences are too rigid and set the agenda for attendees, says Ramtoola on the format of the conference.

Keynotes on the day include Hugo Mercier, CEO & co-founder of Rythm, a neurotechnology company that has made the first active wearable headband to help improve sleep. The Dreem headband is due to be available to consumers soon.

Also speaking is Dr Pablo Rojo, a Paediatric Infectious Diseases Specialist from Madrid. Previously Dr Rojo is part of the EPIICAL project, which aims to provide new therapeutics to early treated HIV-infected children, and has published over 80 peer-reviewed articles in his career.

Unlike other events of its kind, the MedX conference is free for students, but limited priced tickets are available for academics and professionals in the healthcare field. Explaining this decision, Ramtoola says that ReThinkX wanted to put great emphasis on accessibility.

Workshops will also be held throughout the day, including one by GMC which will challenge the ethical implications of social media and a digital world, led by Tista Chakravarty-Gannon, GMCs Principal Regional Liaison Advisor.

Bella Eacott, Research and Curriculum Manager at Clod Ensemble, and Suzy Wilson, Director of Performing Medicine, an education programme led by a theatre company will be holding a Circle of Care workshop, looking at art based methods in healthcare education.

In the future, ReThinkX hope to grow the conference so that it spans two days with 500 to 1000 delegates.

We are working with Manchester entrepreneurs, Manchester Science Partnerships and the North-West Biotech Initiative to create an entrepreneurship academy focused on small scale innovation, Ramtoola says.

Tickets are available here.

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Hard drive imaging vs. cloning: What’s the difference? – Windows Central

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Windows Central
Hard drive imaging vs. cloning: What's the difference?
Windows Central
Before you perform either process on your PC, it's good to know exactly what imaging and cloning are. They both involve creating a backup of your hard drive, but there are significant differences that make them suitable for different situations ...

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Hard drive imaging vs. cloning: What's the difference? - Windows Central

Police warn of criminals cloning credit cards using stolen information – ABC Action News

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We all know our credit card information is under constant attack, but according to law enforcement, more criminals are using that information to make physical, fraudulent credit cards.

"The criminals who have bee doing this for a while, it's actually really easy," Detective Tim White, with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office Economic Crime Division, said. They're able to buy the different mechanisms to make the cards and to re-code the mag-strip that's on the back of the card."

Law enforcement just arrested 34-year-old Joandy Jimenez of Miami with 20 counterfeit cards at a gas station on Gunn Highway. He was using the cards to fill an illegal bladder with as much gasoline as he could.

According to White, the criminals can re-code old credit cards or prepaid debit cards. Some criminals have the ability to print brand new cards.

"They may even print a fake number on the front of it," he said.

White says some clerks are checking to see if numbers match after the card is swiped and new chip technology is making counterfeiting more difficult.

He says the most popular ways for criminals to get your information is through unsecured wifi connections, unprotected websites and skimmers at gas stations and ATMs.

He said the best way to keep from becoming a victim is to check your credit card and bank activity daily.

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Synthetic Yeast Chromosomes Help Probe Mysteries of Evolution – Scientific American

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Evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould once pondered what would happen if the cassette tape of life were rewound and played again. Synthetic biologists have tested one aspect of this notion by engineering chromosomes from scratch, sticking them into yeast and seeing whether the modified organisms can still function normally.

They do, according to seven papers published today inSciencethat describe the creation, testing and refining of five redesigned yeast chromosomes. Together witha sixth previously synthesized chromosome, they represent more than one-third of the genome of the bakers yeastSaccharomycescerevisiae.An international consortium of more than 200 researchers that created the chromosomes expects to complete a fully synthetic yeast genome by the end of the year.

The work the team has already done could help to optimizethe creation of microbes to pump out alcohol, drugs, fragrances and fuel. And it serves as a guide for future research on how genomes evolve and function.

The amazing thing here is that they are figuring out how to tweak the genomenot just synthesize itthrough a design-build-test-learn cycle, says Jack Newman, co-founder of Amyris Biotechnologies in Emeryville, California. The approach is similar to one that computer scientists might take when trying to understand a computer code written a decade ago, he adds, although the task is much harder with genomes that have undergone millions of years of evolution. Yeast originated more than 50 million years ago, when theSaccharomyceslineage branched off from other fungi.

In 2010, geneticist Craig Venter and his team revealedthe first synthetic genome, a stripped-down version of the genetic code from a bacterial parasite,Mycoplasma mycoides. Four years later, a team led by Jef Boeke, a yeast geneticist at New York University Langone Medical Center in New York City, synthesizeda chromosome from yeast, a more complex organism that is classified as a eukaryotea group that also includes plants, worms and people.

Venters goal was to realizethe smallest genome needed to sustain life, but Boeke sought to explore fundamental questions about evolution, such as whether yeasts could have evolved through alternate routes. He turned the query into a hypothesis testable with synthetic biology: how much can you change a genome and still have a working organism?

To look for an answer, Boeke assigned each ofS. cerevisiaes 16 chromosomes to teams of collaborators, spread across the United States, United Kingdom, China, Singapore and Australia. Each was to create a chromosome that was stable yet evolvable, and would keep yeast functioning as usual.

The teams used computer programs to design the codes of their respective chromosomes. They omitted some sequences found in naturally occurring yeast chromosomes, such as repetitive parts of the genome, in hopes of increasing the stability of the synthetic versions. And they endowed their creations with a mechanism that mimics the random variation that drives evolution. When this scrambling system is triggered, it can shuffle, duplicate and delete genes at random.

A team led by researchers at the Pasteur Institute in Paris documented dramatic structural changes in the nucleus of the synthetic yeasteven as it continued to thrive, making proteins and reproducing. It seems like we can really kind of torture the genome in complicated ways and frequently the yeast shrugs its shoulders and grows like normal, Boeke says.

Some teams in the consortium invented techniques to rapidly identify errors in synthetic chromosomes. Another group, led researchers at Tianjin University in China, optimized techniques to remove bugs in the genetic sequences of the chromosomes, in one instance by using the gene-editing tool CRISPRCas9.

Considering that they synthesized 536,024 base pairs in that chromosome and only used CRISPR to mess around with 45 of them is kind of refreshing, says George Church, a geneticist at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It makes you feel like maybe this is the next big thing.

Genome synthesis is unlikely to displace tools such as CRISPR, which allow scientists to add or subtract a limited number of genes in an organism, he says. But it may become the favoured method for applications that require complicated genetic changes. This includes engineering yeast and other microbes to produce fragrances and other materials; manufacturers that rely on such microbes could use synthetic genomes to make those organisms more resilient to harmful viruses, for example.

If you took those [microbe] strains offline and reprogrammed their code, then put them back in, the viruses would be so far out of touch they couldnt come back, Church says. It would be like going back to the Middle Ages and giving one country hydrogen bombs.

Several groups have launched efforts to synthesize genomes from species such as the bacteriumEscherichia coliand from people. Boeke is confident that his consortium will create a fully synthetic yeast genome by the years end. The team has already created several additional chromosomes, and is debugging and testing them.

The groups latest results will encourage others to dream big, Church says: Theyve been able to induce radical changes in the code, so it emboldens you to be even more radical.

This article is reproduced with permission and wasfirst publishedon March 9, 2017.

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Synthetic Yeast Chromosomes Help Probe Mysteries of Evolution - Scientific American

Pokemon GO’s Eevee evolution update and future news – SlashGear

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Now that Gen 2 of Pokemon GO has been released, Eevee is no longer the star of the game. Or at least that would be true if Gen 2 didnt include two more Eevee evolutions in Espeon and Umbreon but there we have it. While more powerful Pokemon exist, and easier-to-catch Pokemon exist, theres no more pervasive Pokemon base and evolution combo thats better captured the imagination of the masses that play Pokemon GO. Part of the reason why is in the seemingly random (but not actually random) nature of Eevees evolutionary forms.

At the beginning, there was Vaporeon, and Vaporeon was good. Too good to stay the same as it was at the start. Vaporeon dominated Pokemon Gyms throughout the Pokemon GO universe to the point that its powers were slightly nerfed. Vaporeon will never be as singularly powerful as it once was but it remains one of the most powerful Pokemon in the game.

Vaporeon can be gotten with a trick ONCE per player in Pokemon GO. Users can choose to evolve a single Pokemon into Vaporeon by naming that Pokemon a certain name. If the name is spelled incorrectly or theres a space before or after the name, this trick will not work. This trick also works with Jolteon and Flareon, the electric and fire-type Pokemon that evolve from Eevee.

Sparky turns into Jolteon Rainer turns into Vaporeon Pyro turns into Flareon

Of note: a non-named Eevee evolved without ever having been used as a Buddy Pokemon will never turn into Espeon or Umbreon. Only Jolteon, Vaporeon, and Flareon can be evolved at random. Other than the first two names (shown in the next section), Espeon and Umbreon need Friendship (Buddy Friendship).

Additional names work to evolve Eevee into the other two evolutionary forms not included in Gen 1. These names work the same as the first three names, all of them coming from one Pokemon TV show or another anime for the lot. These names also require correct spelling and no spaces before or after the name before evolution.

Sakura turns into Espeon Tamao turns into Umbreon

While both Espeon and Umbreon are required to attain the entirety of the Pokedex, they do not (as yet) seem to trump the power of Vaporeon. Between the two of them, Espeon has the greatest potential. A perfect CP Umbreon can only reach 2052 while a perfect Espeon can reach a whopping 3000. Unfortunately that only counts for so much, as Espeons strengths lie in fighting bug, dark, and ghost types, which arent that common in Pokemon Gyms at the moment.

Vaporeon can reach a perfect CP of 3157, Jolteon can reach CP 2730, and Flareon believe it or not can reach 2904 CP. So while Flareon is often overlooked as a powerful Pokemon, it has large potential for placing high in a Pokemon Gym.

The original appearances of Espeon and Umbreon included a requirement of Friendship to evolve. In Pokemon GO, the equivalent of Friendship is carrying along (or walking along with) a Pokemon as a Pokemon Buddy. Through sheer force of will (and many trials and errors), the combination of Buddy Pokemon walking distance and evolution time has been uncovered.

Eevee Buddy Candy 5km per 1 Candy 5km = 3.1-miles 2x is 10km or 6.2-miles

Espeon requires that the user walk with Eevee as a Buddy Pokemon for two full cycles 6.2-miles to attain two Eevee Pokemon Candy. Once the second candy has been attained, that same Eevee should be evolved as a Buddy Pokemon. To attain Espeon, this Eevee should be evolved during the day.

The same distance and method is required to get Umbreon, save the tim of day. If this Pokemon is evolved as a buddy at night, itll instead turn into Umbreon. No naming is required to make these couple of evolutions happen. As far as weve been able to tell, this walking Buddy Pokemon trick works as many times as the user wishes to make it work, over and over again.

For more Pokemon action, have a peek at SlashGears @TeamPokemonGO Twitter portal. There lies an ever-growing trove of tips, code examinations, tips, and news of all sorts.

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Pokemon GO's Eevee evolution update and future news - SlashGear

Inertia Slows Evolution For Open Scientists – Intellectual Property Watch

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By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch

It is still a long way to a new generation of open scientists, German open data researcher Christian Heise found out in his just-published PhD thesis. Heise not only investigated drivers and barriers for what he expects to be an evolution from open access to open science by theory and a survey of over 1100 scientists. He tried the concept open science the hard way, opening up the writing of his thesis paper on the net.

About the first open PhD thesis, see here.

Interested fellow researchers, friends and family were able to see how the research developed and the text grew. To explore this, Heise had to get a special permission from the university, Leuphana University in Lueneburg, Germany, because a PhD thesis usually has to fulfil certain criteria with regard to recency and originality. It took close to a year to solve the legal issues alone.

Heise had made sure that the work would be his own. Direct comments on the PhD thesis blog were not possible which in some way made additional innovative steps like collaboration directly on the text impossible. Challenges he faced during the process, according to his resume, were also technical as there was a lack of tools for handling evolving versions of such a large text, plus additional material like survey data and literature research. In the end, Heise changed to GitHub, a tool well-known by open source developers.

Additional qualifications (programming) and a bigger work-load made two of the barriers on the way towards becoming an open scientist. But Heise also stated that while a majority of scientists favor open access and faster time to market/public for their research, the scientific communication system had remained highly stable.

It was not only the big publishing houses pushing to keep their business models, but also a certain level of inertia in the scientific community that is causing the persistence.

A process to negotiate next steps in the development of open science following earlier processes on open access (see here and here) is needed, he said.

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Inertia Slows Evolution For Open Scientists - Intellectual Property Watch

Why did humans evolve big brains? We don’t know, but math can help – PBS NewsHour

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Our brains have a finite capacity for processing information and for remembering, and the bigger the brain, the more oxygen and sugar it takes to maintain. Photo by psdesign1/via Adobe

Math may solve why people are such eggheads. A new model published Thursday in PLOS Computational Biology mathematically illustrates what led to the evolution of humans abnormally large brains.

Evolutionary biologists devised these equations to tease apart the relationship between human brain size and the cost of maintaining a large brain. Over the last few decades, the pace and stages of brain growth in humans have become clearer. From birth to preschool, our brains quadruple in size. Our brains reach 90 percent of their final size by six years old, and they continue to grow slowly through adolescence until stopping in our mid-20s.

The question is: Why?

Anthropologists have hypothesized made educated speculations about what factors in human evolution drive this pace. For example, newborns heavily rely on their families, so they can develop strong social bonds during their youth. As humans get older, we increasingly learn to be self-sufficient, use tools and learn of our environments. Scientists speculate both of these habits contribute to brain growth, but they dont know which of these factors or others have the greatest bearing. A standard mathematical model could provide clarity by quantitatively comparing hypotheses.

Anthropologists can plug in their hypotheses to the model, which then predicts brain size from birth to adulthood based on those numbers. If those numbers match what we know about the pace of human brain development, then the model supports the hypothesis.

With this model, you can obtain predictions for each of the hypotheses to see which hypothesis yields a better prediction, said evolutionary biologist Mauricio Gonzlez-Forero of Universit de Lausanne in France, who led the study.

The final model states that adult skill level equals adult brain mass times the cost of maintaining brain tissue divided by the cost of memory times a constant. Stated in laymens terms, this idea means as adult brain mass increases, so too does adult skill, assuming that the costs of maintaining the brain mass and memory stay constant.

These costs include eating a lot in order to maintain the brain. Brains make up 2 percent of our bodies, but consume 20 percent of our oxygen and sugars in our food to sustain the activity of billions of neurons. This mental gorging could have been a disadvantage for early humans thousands of years ago, because bigger diets, consisting of more calories, means having to spend more time hunting and foraging for food. If their evolving brains drained too much food and oxygen, then they might have been too tired to fend for themselves.

While there is debate among anthropologists, many believe that social interaction is a major factor in increasing brain size. Knowing people, communicating with them and maintaining relationships takes a lot of brainpower.

Gonzlez-Foreros model counters this narrative and asserts that humans gain more intelligence as they learn to use technology, which University of Wisconsin-Madison evolutionary anthropologist John Hawks describes as a controversial but revealing take on brain development.

Many anthropologists look at the pace of brain growth in terms of social interactions, he added, but this paper is saying maybe social relationships dont have anything to do with it. Its really neat to see such a cool, clear statement of that because it gives us a target.

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Why did humans evolve big brains? We don't know, but math can help - PBS NewsHour

Sky View robotics wins state championship – The Herald Journal

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Five robotics enthusiasts from Sky View High will be taking a trip to the VEX Robotics World Championship in Louisville, Kentucky, next month after winning the state championship in Farmington last weekend.

Two teams from Sky View, along with a team from Davis County, will compete against 1,400 robotics teams from around the world including Australia, China and Canada over April 19 to 25. Utah is able to send three teams to the world competition, while bigger states like California and Texas send more students.

It is the world stage of Vex Robotics, Sky Robotics and Engineering Teacher Jared Storrs said.

Story continues below video

The Vex Robotics challenge is different each year. This years gameinvolved two teams robots flinging, pushing and shoving foam jacks and bean bags over a fence. The robots first use an autonomous mode, where robots move based on code, followed by a longer period where students control their robots using a remote similar to a video game controller.

Of the the 24 teams at the state competition, two of the three winners came from Sky View. The competition started with qualifying matches before teams chose alliances.

Kaledon Grandy, a ninth-grade student from North Cache Middle School who joined the Sky View robotics club, said his team was ranked 20 out of 24 in the qualifiers, but a strong team from Davis County picked both of the Sky View teams for their alliance. The three teams ended up winning the state championship.

They just played the game right and did well enough throughout the year that everybody kind of knew who they wanted for that final, Storrs said.

Grandy said his classmates are excited for him.

They think about sport teams, and if you go to states thats a big thing, and nationals is amazing, but worlds is really awesome, Grandy said.

This is Grandys first year in robotics, but he took a basic robotics camp over the summer and enjoyed the engineering aspect. He said he likes figuring out how to make something work and finding ways to create different types of motion.

You have to be able to look at a pile of scraps and turn it into something, Grandy said.

He said he has no idea what to expect at worlds, but he remains excited about the competition next month.

Im looking forward to seeing all the diverse teams from different parts of the world and seeing how we can all fit together in this simple little competition, Grandy said.

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Sky View robotics wins state championship - The Herald Journal

First-year Wilson robotics team kicks it into gear, continues to succeed – The Daily Nonpareil

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First-year competitor Alysa Arthur is learning how to code with robots and she loves it.

Alysa is one of six students that make up the Junior Jackets Robotics Team at Wilson Middle School in Council Bluffs.

Coding is my favorite because when you code something you first see it on a computer and that makes the robot go somewhere else and you get to see what it does, Arthur said. I like that.

Her mom, Christy Arthur, spearheaded the first-year program, after she saw first-hand the opportunities her son, Seth, had on the robotics team at the high school level. (Alysa and Seths father is school board president Troy Arthur.)

It totally reshaped his world, she said. So I wanted to make sure these kids had it too.

When she first started working to bring the program to the middle school last year, Christy Arthur said there wasnt any funding available, so she and parent Matt Koletzke self-funded the program to get it off the ground.

Then additional support came their way after Thomas Jefferson High School robotics coach James Crum gave a spare robotics kit to the program. Christy Arthur and Koletzke then bought the additional tools needed to get started and asked T.J. computer science technology teacher Denise Hoag to sponsor the program.

Hoag agreed, joining the team last October.

Being its the first year, we are helping each other along the way, Hoag said. We learned how to pull out the rules and manual to learn specifically what we needed to accomplish for the judges. I keep telling them they paved the way, making it a little easier for those who want to join next year.

Today, six students comprise the program with students being split into two teams of three students each. Seventh-grader Alysa (seventh-grade) along with eighth-graders Chase Koletzke and Brandon Whitsel make up team 2501W. Sixth-graders Toby Mass, Blake Whitsel and Gracie Clark make up team 2501X.

The students meet twice a week after school learning science, technology, engineering and math concepts through hands-on robotic activities in their free time.

Theyre learning engineering skills with gears, motors and controllers and how they all go together to complete the task required for competition, Hoag said. They also have to program the robot to move autonomously, so they learn programming skills too.

While the students learn different STEM skills by interacting hands-on with robots, they also learn research and documentation skills through different projects provided by VEX, a company involved in middle and high schools across the country that helps students expand their understanding of STEM through robotics.

One program recently included completing a project related to robots in the community. Students visited Fox Run Assisted Living in Council Bluffs to demonstrate robotic pets, and the students received a huge response, Hoag said.

We held a spaghetti feed to fund raise and ended up purchasing four robotic companion pets to give them, Hoag added.

Having competed in three competitions so far this school year, the students continue to impress judges, earning top honors wherever they go. So far, the team has earned three top awards including an excellence, design and STEM award.

Most importantly, they learn how to work on a team, Hoag said. They learn how to collaborate and come up with ideas and try them out and see which one works the best,

On April 4, the team will head to the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs to compete at the U.S. Open Robotics Championship. Then team 2501W will head to Louisville, Kentucky, to compete against hundreds of other students in the VEX Worlds competition beginning April 24.

Its amazing how much theyve grown and learned in a small amount of time, Hoag said. To take the program from brand new and now going to the Worlds Championship demonstrates a great amount growth and learning.

While the program has since received funding from the AIM Institute to continue operating, the students dont have the funds needed to attend the Kentucky competition, which was described by one parent as the equivalent of making it to the Olympics.

So Christy Arthur is also spearheading a number of different fundraising efforts. On April 12, from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., Buffalo Wild Wings, located in the Metro Crossing Shopping Center, will host the team and donate 10 percent of sales when anyone that dines in mentions the fundraiser.

There will also be a bake sale today from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. at the Legislative Coffee held at Wilson Middle School. Those interested in donating, can also do so through the teams Go Fund Me account at gofundme.com/jrjackets2501.

Alysa Arthur said she will most likely continue to stay involved with robotics through college. Even though shell eventually leave Wilson, her mom plans on staying involved with the program.

Ill be working with the elementary schools to further this down, Christy Arthur said. For me, its not just robotics, it teaches STEM, teamwork, collaboration, research and documentation and a lot of honor through design. I think its a great program and it should be at every school, I started here and Im going to keep pushing until everyone sees the value I do.

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First-year Wilson robotics team kicks it into gear, continues to succeed - The Daily Nonpareil