Takeda, TiGenix stem cell therapy shows sustained effect – FierceBiotech

Takeda and TiGenix have presented 52-week data on their allogeneic expanded adipose-derived stem cells in Crohns disease patients with treatment-refractory complex perianal fistulas. The data show the Cx601 stem cells continue to outperform placebo one year after administration.

TiGenix presented the 24-week data from the successful phase 3 trial back in 2015, sparking a surge in its stock price and setting it up to land a deal with Takeda. Last year it followed up with the release of a first look at 52-week results confirming the efficacy outcomes seen in the earlier data drop.

Takeda and TiGenix have now shared another overview of the 52-week data at the 12th Congress of the European Crohns and Colitis Organisation (ECCO). The abstract includes treatment-related adverse event data that were absent from TiGenixs original release, but included in subsequent presentations.

Those 52-week data confirm the positive safety profile seen in the 24-week results. The rate of treatment-emergent adverse events was lower in the Cx601 cohort than the placebo plus standard of care arm at both time points. The same is true when only serious adverse events are analyzed.

The safety results complement the previously-released efficacy data. Among the 62% of patients who completed the 52-week follow-up, the results were comparable to those generated after 24 weeks. In the Cx601 arm, 56.3% of the modified intention-to-treat (mITT) population achieved combined remission after 52 weeks, compared to 51.5% after 24 weeks. The respective figures for the placebo cohort are 38.6% and 35.6%. The mITT population included all patients to undergo at least one post-baseline efficacy evaluation.

These data highlight that the efficacy and safety of a single administration of Cx601 were maintained during one year of follow up, TiGenix CMO. Marie Paule Richard said in a statement. It is important to also note that the definition of combined remission used in the ADMIRE-CD study, which includes both clinical and radiological assessment by MRI, is more stringent than the criteria commonly used in previous large scale, randomized clinical trials evaluating perianal fistulas in Crohns disease, based only on clinical assessment.

Relapse rates in the Cx601 group were rarer, too. Three-quarters of participants who responded to Cx601 after 24 weeks made it to 52 weeks without relapsing. The number falls to 55.9% among the placebo cohort.

TiGenix is hoping the data will prove compelling enough to secure a regulatory approval in Europe later this year. In parallel, TiGenix is setting up another phase 3 trial designed to deliver data to support approval in the U.S.. TiGenix expects the trial to start later this year.

Shares in TiGenix traded up 4% shortly after the stock exchange in Brussels opened for the day.

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Takeda, TiGenix stem cell therapy shows sustained effect - FierceBiotech

Stem cell therapy treatment gives new lease of life to 5-year-old – Avenue Mail

Stem cell therapy treatment gives new lease of life to 5-year-old Jamshedpur February 17, 2017 , by Desk 71

Ranchi : Till very recently, it was believed that brain damage is irreversible. However, now with emerging research; we understand that it is possible to repair the damaged brain tissue using cell therapy.

Again, today there are still many people in India who have not preserved their stem cells through cord blood banks. For all those patients, who have lost their hopes in finding a new treatment for neurological related disorders, adult stem cell therapy offers a new hope for such kind of patients.

Dr Alok Sharma, Director, NeuroGen Brain and Spine Institute, Professor and Head of Neurosurgery, LTMG Hospital & LTM Medical College, Sion said Stem cell therapy is emerging as one of the newer treatment options for conditions like Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental retardation, Muscular Dytrophy, Spinal Cord Injury, Paralysis, Brain Stroke, Cerebellar Ataxia and Other Neurological Disorders. This treatment has the potential to repair the damaged neural tissue at molecular, structural and functional level.

Dr. NandiniGokulchandran, Deputy Director, Neurogen Brain and Spine Institute saidStem Cell Therapy (SCT) done at NeuroGen Brain and Spine Institute is a very simple and safe procedure. Stem Cells are taken from patients own bone marrow with the help of one needle and are injected back in their Spinal Fluid after processing.

Since they are taken from the patients own body there is no rejection, no side effects, hence making SCT a completely safe procedure.

Today, we are presenting a case study of Ranchi based 5 yrs old Master Dhairya Singh. He is a known case of brain damage due to lack of oxygen but not during birth. Dhairya was born in a normal manner, cried immediately after birth also his birth weight was appropriate.

There were no immediate post-natal complications reported. Dhariya was a normal child till the age of one and half years old. Then one day he suffered from an episode of pneumonia for which he was hospitalized for 6 days.

Last updated:Friday, February 17, 2017

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Stem cell therapy treatment gives new lease of life to 5-year-old - Avenue Mail

Spirituality What is spirituality?

Spirituality - Is it Religion? Spirituality extends beyond an expression of religion or practice of religion. There is a pursuit for a spiritual dimension that not only inspires, but creates harmony with the universe. That relationship between ourselves and something greater compels us to seek answers about the infinite. During times of intense emotional, mental, or physical stress, man searches for transcendent meaning, oftentimes through nature, music, the arts, or a set of philosophical beliefs. This often results in a broad set of principles that transcends all religions.

While spirituality and religion remain different, sometimes the terms are used interchangeably. This lack of clarity in their definitions frequently leads to debates. Suppose ones spirituality leads to the formation of a religion? Is it necessary for a spiritual person to be religious? Through certain actions, an individual may appear outwardly religious, and yet lack any underlying principles of spirituality. In its broadest sense, spirituality may include religion for some, but still stands alone without a connection to any specific faith.

Spirituality - What is it? The search for spirituality, mans connection to something beyond the temporal, sends him wandering down paths that offer unsatisfactory results. The Far East offers shrines that contain hundreds of statues. Worshippers choose a statue that most resembles an ancestor and pray to it. A piece of stone or rock represents ones personal and intimate relationship with the spiritual realm. During the 4th and 5th centuries B.C., Athens was a vital culture center with a world-famous university. The Athenians were firm and rigid in their spirituality as well as their reverencing of their deities (i.e. religion). Yet the meeting place of the Council of the Areopagus, the supreme body for judicial and legislative matters, contained an altar with the inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.

Whether spirituality is sought through pagan religious experiences, psychic experiments, or tapping the hidden capabilities of man the results are disastrous. In addition to the overtly religious cults, there is a pursuit into the cosmic spiritual realm where man attempts to establish contact with actual spiritual beings. Ironically, in an effort to acquire tranquility and inspiration, man surrenders his soul to astrology, mediators, meditation, mind control, and demonic spirits (Isaiah 47:1215).

Spirituality - What is True Spirituality True spirituality involves a daily trust in the One that created us. [Jesus Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or power or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together (Colossians 1:1517).

It is not a religion that holds us to a set of rules or traditions. It is not attained through any human worthiness. It is about a relationship that God offers us, an eternal life with Him.

What is your response?

Yes, today I am deciding to follow Jesus

Yes, I am already a follower of Jesus

I still have questions

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Spirituality What is spirituality?

From prophets to profit: The colonisation of African spirituality – The Daily Vox (blog)

In the beginning nothing existed but the Fertile Darkness, floating on the invisible River of Time. There was no sun, there were no stars, nor the light of the moon; no earth, no brooks or rivers, no animals, no people. Nothing existed but nothingness and a darkness that overspread all. But there was a trouble, a stirring in the darkness, a desire arose in the River of Time, a desire for something, for the Fertile Darkness to give birth to something out of nothing. It was a strange mating between Time and Nothing, but from it came one tiny spark of Living Fire. And the Living Fire was consciousness

This story from Zulu Shaman by Credo Mutwa describes how this single instance of consciousness felt a great loneliness in this vast empty darkness. This is the origin of that loneliness all creatures feel when confronting the vastness of everything. Existential angst, if you will.

This spark, fought back this loneliness by acknowledging itself: I am, the spark wailed, I AM! Nothingness felt this Something, and did not like it, for Something negates Nothing, and Nothing wished to destroy it.

It continues to observe that this eternal battle between Something and Nothing, between Light and Dark, Heat and Cold, is the nature of existence It is the Great Struggle on which all Life depends. Unkulunkulu (the Great Spirit) watches over this battle that must always be fought but can never be won.

The people of ancient Africa had cosmologies that were their very own. They told each other stories of where we came from. The ancient Zulus saw the Earth as a mother and cows were a gift from the gods. They sang to the crops while they were tending to them to encourage growth. They even had a contingency plan for when the fire visitors came by.

These may read like naive tales and superstitions but there are discoveries that tell us that these beliefs arent entirely unfounded: for example, researchers in Australia found that plants exhibit chemical changes when stimulated by touch and sound. This study confirms what Africa has known for centuries.

Physical and metaphysical

Spirituality for Africans was a holistic system that was used to explain and understand everything about the world. When a person became ill, it was as much the result of an infection as it was an imbalance in their life or a breakdown with one of their ancestors. African spirituality doesnt subscribe to a theocratic system. It is more about cosmologies; the origins of the universe and ways of living both the physical and metaphysical.

Family is an important institution. There was no distinction between extended family and the nuclear family. Everyone had a role to play when it came to raising children. In the Zulu family, uGogo (grandmother) was given the duty of entertaining children with ancient fairytales and myths. The malume(mothers brother) taught them about the history of their tribe and family. He also gave them the sex talk.

The arrival of the colonisers to the shores of Africa naturally meant that the immigrants brought along with them their own worldviews, religions, and cultures. Professor of indigenous African religions at Harvard Divinity School, Jacob Olupona, explains that African spirituality has always been adaptive. He sees the other faith as complementing and even adding spiritual potency to his own spiritual practice. Unlike the Judaic religions in their traditionalist attitude, wisdom for Africans was wisdom regardless of whence it came. Naturally, the immigrants ways became part of the African way.

This factor, coupled with the ideological hegemony that is colonialism, is what led to the almost successful colonisation of Africas spirituality.

Land and prayer

Throughout Africas ancient past, there were foreign groups that claimed territories, but no group was more pervasive and damaging than the Europeans. They lay unfounded claim to not only to the land, its people, and resources, but also to her peoples metaphysical and spiritual worldview.

Missionaries were tasked the foot soldiers of European ideology and culture. When a missionary arrived in an untouched area, they were welcomed by the people living there, bestowing the settler with land to build their church, school, and clinic.

The missionary clinics provided modern healthcare, improving infant mortality, and the schools were where most of Africas resistance activists were educated. But their motives were impure: in order for them to have access to these resources, Africans had to barter their faith and culture.

The Christian missionaries held mistaken beliefs that in order to become Christian, one had to denounce ones culture. They instilled in their lessons the notion that what was African was heathen and inferior. Some common adjectives used by missionaries to describe African spirituality include vile, abomination, and witchcraft.

The Bible was used to legitimise the oppression of Africans to Africans; missionaries preached that colonial rule was ordained by God. One missionary in Sudan, Jan H Boer, wrote: Colonialism is a form of imperialism based on a divine mandate and designed to bring liberation spiritual, cultural, economic and political by sharing the blessings of the Christ-inspired civilisation of the West.

The people they were liberating, he believed, were suffering under satanic oppression.

While some of the tribes of South Africa readily accepted the presence of the missionaries, others resisted. The Zulu, Pedi, and Pondo would move away from missionary settlements, and converts were either given medicine to purge their bodies, or were ostracised to living in those settlements.

Despite the continuing spread of missionary presence into southern Africa, by the time of the Anglo-Zulu conflict of 1879, very few converts had moved over to Christianity. What helped the missionaries cause was the leveraging of the colonised arable land.

Some African spiritual knowledge and practices in combination with Christianity were allowed by the missionaries. When they had trouble increasing the numbers, they would, for example, allow them to pray to the Christian God through their ancestors. Those that successfully resisted being proselytised were forced to to continue their practices in secret.

Dual identities

Christianity and Islam have grown exponentially across Africa. In sub-Saharan Africa 57% of the population are Christian, while 29% practice Islam. Only 13% follow African spirituality.

A common characteristic among Africans is that they observe a specific faith while, at the same time perform some or other indigenous practice. The ritual of paying lobola to the brides family is an integral part of the marriage process for modern black South Africans. It is also quite normal for weddings to have two ceremonies: the white wedding performed at a church, and a traditional wedding.

Going further in the investigation of ancient African spirituality and metaphysics, there are some similarities that can be found between it and other cultures around the world. Sangomas practice meditation to get in touch with their powers. There is an energetic force called umbilini, which is described as a coiled snake at ascends through the spine when awakened. This is the source of a sangomas powers. Hindu spirituality also observes this energetic force and its described in the very same way. It is called kundalini. The names even sound the same.

The ability of Africans to manoeuvre their spirituality around religions is testament to the strength and dynamic nature of African spirituality. How Africans easily modify their beliefs with the beliefs of others is mistakenly seen as a weakness. This nature and attitude should be celebrated. It considers all faiths and spiritual wisdom equal and adopting those beliefs bolsters existing beliefs. We, as Africans, need to focus on renewing our appreciation of African metaphysical knowledge and remove the perceptions we adopted from European ideology about them.

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From prophets to profit: The colonisation of African spirituality - The Daily Vox (blog)

Letters to the Editor, Feb. 17 – 20 – Sonoma Index-Tribune

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Letters to the Editor, Feb. 17 - 20

Jason Walsh: SMART shifts tracks on LPG tankers in Schellville

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Letters to the Editor, Feb. 14 - 16

Letters to the Editor, Feb. 10 - 13

| February 16, 2017, 5:56PM

| Updated 11 hours ago.

Cemetery theft a low blow

EDITOR: A week ago I was at Sonoma Mountain Cemetery for the blessing of a dear friends ashes. The family brought over a large shiny tin vase filled with lots of Protea flowers sent by the deceaseds close friend from Hawaii. The vase was placed by the wall where my friends ashes were stored. Five days later the vase and flowers were gone stolen. I know the cemetery isnt guarded so perhaps leaving something so beautiful was too much of a temptation, but isnt it a rather low blow to steal flowers from the cemetery? Its a big disappointment that such a theft occurred at this difficult time of mourning for a Sonoma family, almost in their own back yard.

Mirja Muncy

Sonoma

Unsane clown presidency

EDITOR: How do you fight a shape-shifter? This is a metaphorical question, meaning: How do you combat people who seem to have no ethics at all, at least in the political realm people who will say and do anything to further their toxic agenda? For example, if the Senates long-established procedural rules interfere with Republicans agenda, they change the rules; in other cases, they simply ignore them.

Obama and the other Democrats, who tried to maintain at least some ethical standards, were at a definite disadvantage while under near-constant attack by those who see ethics as a joke, a characteristic of weaklings.

Someone said recently that Trump knows little about ethics because he never sat on a board. Perhaps if he had sat on a board with nails in it, in partial imitation of yogis lying on a bed of nails, he might have gained some spiritual enlightenment and become kind, compassionate, generous and benevolent. But no, probably not; hes too far gone in narcissistic, antisocial and paranoid personality disorders. Or, in other words, a common, garden-variety, egocentric loony who has only a snarling acquaintance with the peaceful, loving part of the human race.

Some psychiatrists say Trump should not be called insane; so lets consider a slightly different word: unsane. I would call unsane, or unstable, anyone whose greed, lack of compassion and insecurity lead to harmful acts. A sane person is in harmony with the world.

James Pendergast

Sonoma

Remember Khojaly!

EDITOR: Feb. 26 of this year will mark a quarter century since the Khojaly Massacre, Europes first genocidal atrocity since World War II.

On the night of Feb. 26, 1992, the Armenian Armed Forces, supported by the 366th infantry regiment of the Russian army, attacked the town of Khojaly in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. Estimated 613 fleeing residents of the town, including 106 women and 63 children, were chased and brutally murdered by the Armenian fighters. Hundreds more went missing, over A thousand received permanent health damage, 1,275 were taken hostage, and over 150 children lost one or both parents.

Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the New York Times, numerous other media and rights watchdogs documented the atrocity. Armenian field commander, Monte Melkonian, provided a shocking witness account of the killing fields near Khojaly, reproving his fellow fighters of the war crime. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan admitted that it was an act of revenge against Azerbaijanis. Yet, the Armenian government and Armenian-American lobby continue denying the responsibility of the Armenian forces for the tragedy.

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As the United States mediates a peaceful settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, recognizing its largest atrocity is an important step toward reconciliation. In the recent years, 20 U.S. states and many countries recognized the Khojaly Massacre. Speaking to the United Nations General Assembly on the occasion of the International Holocaust Remembrance in January 2015, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin highlighted Khojaly among the genocidal acts that the international community failed to prevent.

On behalf of all Azerbaijani Americans and friends of the Azerbaijani Society of America (ASA), I call upon Sonomas elected officials to recognize the 25th anniversary of the Khojaly Massacre via public statements and legislative resolutions.

Pari Howard

ASA

SVH: The definition of community

EDITOR: Im finding it hard to believe that its been almost 11 years since I was successfully treated for cancer at Sonoma Valley Hospital. I was preliminarily diagnosed by my GP, who sent me over to the hospital for tests all of which were done the following day and analyzed the day after that. Almost unheard of. Surgery was subsequently scheduled for the following week and a second surgery the week after that. Expeditious personal attention and care that can be given by a local hospital cant be matched from a distance.

When I checked into the hospital, my intake was done by someone I knew from hiking excursions. As I was wheeled into the operating room, I discovered that my neighbor was the head nurse. Once I was back in my room recovering, other staff members, who I knew from the community, stopped by to check on me. While I was there friends were able to walk (or drive a short distance) over to wish me well. Since I have no family in the area this support and convenience were very important to me. I cant put into words how comforting it was to feel that they all had my back. For me this was the definition of community and underscored the importance of having a first-rate hospital in my back yard.

Its hard to exaggerate the significance of having a hospital right here. The emergency room is absolutely essential to the viability of our Valley. To maintain the level of health care available to us locally we need the parcel tax. I hope you will join with me in voting yes on Measure B on March 7.

Karen Collins

Sonoma

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Review: Three Unrelated Short Plays, Theatre N16 – A Younger Theatre

By Alice Devoy on February 17, 2017 in Theatre

If you are looking for spiritual enlightenment from your cultural excursions then please do look a little further; Three Unrelated Short Plays is light hearted and fun, but not a lot else not that there is necessarily anything wrong with that.

Written by James Messer, part of the Blank Tin Theatre Company, these three 20 minute sketches certainly keep you entertained. Advertised as absurd, the plays dont disappoint on this front, but expect more of a freak-show than Beckett. The opening piece, named The Stuggardt Syndrome, depicts the predicament of two kidnaped people and their amateur kidnappers coming to terms with the fact that none of them knows the first thing about kidnapping.

This moves into the second piece One Scotch in which three men try and have a spiritual experience, not through a pilgrimage or meditation, but through an extremely heavy drinking game. This is as farcical as it sounds. The jokes here are perhaps the most teeth-clenching, but the overall motions of the scene are developed well and the idea is amusing, with a beautiful rendition of some Joan Osborne. The audience is also forced to come to terms with a new existential question and a possible answer to the problem of theodicy What if God was a dick?

The last skit, entitled Dr Deathzo, is certainly the most random part of the trio. An average-Joe named Kevin comes is confronted with the fact he turns into a super-villain on Saturdays, but, to his chagrin, hes not a very good one. Meanwhile, Assorted Props Girl and her sidekick, Tape Boy, come to save the day. This play descends into a tongue-in-cheek elucidation on the importance of friendship and, it must be said, it is only a loosely funny one. Instead of ending on this slight droop, it might have been wiser to end on one of the slightly punchier first sketches as the ending doesnt do justice to the rest of the piece.

The self-conscious scene changes must also be mentioned. Obviously, the staging of three totally different plays poses issues, especially in the limited space. This is managed very well, however, through amusing signage and distracting spectacles. It could be argued these two moments were in fact the strongest part of the production.

All in all, Three Unrelated Short Plays is an amateur fringe production and it would be wise not to expect too much from it. Luckily, however, it is short enough to make it worth the time invested. It is genuinely funny in parts, but the humour can be broadly contained within the realms of self-mockery, caricatures, and physical comedy.

Three Unrelated Short Plays played at N16, Balham until February 16.

TagsBlank Tin ProductionsComedyJames MesserSketchesTheatre N16Three unrelated short plays

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Review: Three Unrelated Short Plays, Theatre N16 - A Younger Theatre

Earth science on the Space Station continues to grow – Phys.org – Phys.Org

February 16, 2017 by Samson Reiny NASA engineer Chip Holloway waits for the sun to align with the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) III instrument during a clean room "sun-look" test on March 4, 2013, at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. SAGE III will measure aerosols, ozone, water vapor and other gases to help scientists better understand levels of ozone in the Earth's atmosphere. Credit: NASA Langley/Sean Smith

The number of instruments on the International Space Station dedicated to observing Earth to increase our understanding of our home planet continues to grow.

Two new instruments are scheduled to make their way to the station Feb. 18 on the SpaceX Dragon capsule.

The Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) III instrument will monitor the condition of the ozone layer, which covers an area in the stratosphere 10 to 30 miles above Earth and protects the planet from the sun's harmful ultraviolet radiation. Its predecessors, SAGE I and SAGE II, which were mounted to satellites, helped scientists understand the causes and effects of the Antarctic ozone hole. The Montreal Protocol of 1987 led to an eventual ban on ozone-destroying gases and to the ozone layer's recovery; SAGE III, designed to operate for no less than three years, will allow scientists to continue monitoring its recovery.

The Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS), first launched as an instrument on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission in 1997, records the time, energy output and location of lightning events around the world, day and night. From its perch on the ISS, the new LIS will improve coverage of lightning events over the oceans and also in the northern hemisphere during its summer months. Because lightning is both a factor and a gauge for a number of atmospheric processes, NASA as well as other agencies will use the new LIS lightning data for many applications, from weather forecasting to climate modeling and air quality studies.

While SAGE III and LIS are the latest Earth science instruments slated for operation aboard the ISS, they or not the first or the last.

For two years, beginning in September 2014, the Rapid Scatterometer, or RapidScat, collected near-real-time data on ocean wind speed and direction. The instrument was designed as a low-cost replacement for the Quick Scatterometer, or QuikScat satellite, which experienced an age-related failure in 2009. In addition to addressing such questions as how changing winds affect sea surface temperatures during an El Nio season, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Navy relied on RapidScat data for improved tracking of marine weather, leading to more optimal ship routing and hazard avoidance.

The Cloud Aerosol Transport System (CATS) was mounted to the exterior of the space station in Jan. 2015 and is in the midst of a three-year mission to measure aerosols, such as dust plumes, wildfires and volcanic ash, around the world. Built to demonstrate a low-cost, streamlined approach to ISS science payloads, the laser instrument is providing data for air quality studies, climate models and hazard warning capabilities.

Over the next several years, NASA is planning to send to the space station several more instruments trained toward Earth.

Total and Spectral solar Irradiance Sensor (TSIS-1) will measure total solar irradiance and spectral solar irradiance, or the total solar radiation at the top of Earth's atmosphere and the spectral distribution of that solar radiation, respectively. The data are critical for climate modeling and atmospheric studies. TSIS-1 will continue the work of NASA's Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment satellite, which has been taking those measurements since 2003.

NASA's Earth System Science Pathfinder program is supporting the following instruments that are currently in development. The program is managed by NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.

The Orbiting Carbon Observatory-3 (OCO-3) instrument will monitor carbon dioxide distribution around the globe. Assembled with spare parts from the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 satellite, OCO-3 will provide insights into the greenhouse gas's role as it relates to growing urban areas and changes in fossil fuel combustion. The instrument will also measure the "glow" from growing plants (solar-induced fluorescence).

Homing in on tropical and temperate forests is the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI). The lidar instrument will provide the first high-resolution observations of forest vertical structure in an effort to answer how much carbon is stored in these ecosystems and also what impacts deforestation and reforestation have on habitat diversity, the global carbon cycle and climate change.

The ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment (ECOSTRESS) will also focus on vegetation by providing high-frequency, high-resolution measurements of plant temperature and plant water use. Among the data's numerous uses will be to indicate regions of plant heat and water stress and also improve drought forecasting for the benefit of farmers and water managers. Researchers will also use ECOSTRESS in concert with other data to calculate water use efficiency among plants and identify drought-resistant species and varieties.

Also on the horizon is the Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) Pathfinder comprising two instruments for measuring solar irradiance: a reflected solar spectrometer and an infrared spectrometer. CLARREO will collect highly accurate climate records to test climate projections in order to improve models.

Explore further: NASA's ISS-RapidScat Earth science mission ends

NASA's International Space Station Rapid Scatterometer (ISS-RapidScat) Earth science instrument has ended operations following a successful two-year mission aboard the space station. The mission launched Sept. 21, 2014, and ...

The International Space Station (ISS) will soon get an important tool capable of conducting highly accurate measurements of aerosols and gaseous constituents in the stratosphere and troposphere. The Stratospheric Aerosol ...

The International Space Station has been called a stepping stone to other worlds.

On Sept. 21, 2014, NASA scientists and engineers launched RapidScat toward the orbiting International Space Station, 250 miles above the Earth's surface, with a few objectives in mind: improve weather forecasting on Earth, ...

A $34 million solar instrument package to be built by the University of Colorado at Boulder, considered a crucial tool to help monitor global climate change, has been restored to a U.S. government satellite mission slated ...

Mission managers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, and NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama, are assessing two power system-related anomalies affecting the operation of NASA's ...

On Feb. 17, 2005, NASA's Cassini spacecraft was making the first-ever close pass over Saturn's moon Enceladus as it worked through its detailed survey of the planet's icy satellites. Exciting, to be sure, just for the thrill ...

NASA's Dawn mission has found evidence for organic material on Ceres, a dwarf planet and the largest body in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Scientists using the spacecraft's visible and infrared mapping ...

The distribution of normal matter precisely determines gravitational acceleration in all common types of galaxies, a team led by Case Western Reserve University researchers reports.

War correspondent, statesman, astronomer. Stargazing may not be what Winston Churchill is best remembered for, but a treatise he wrote on extraterrestrial life has revealed his scientific acumen six decades later.

(Phys.org)Astronomers have detected four faint, polarized flares at 154 MHz from the nearby variable star UV Ceti. The newly observed flares are much fainter than most flares found at these frequencies. The findings were ...

NASA is inviting the public to help search for possible undiscovered worlds in the outer reaches of our solar system and in neighboring interstellar space. A new website, called Backyard Worlds: Planet 9, lets everyone participate ...

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Earth science on the Space Station continues to grow - Phys.org - Phys.Org

Mayo researcher Abba Zubair is sending stem cells for study on the International Space Station – Florida Times-Union

As a boy growing up in Nigeria, Abba Zubair dreamed of becoming an astronaut.

But as he prepared to apply to college, an advisor told him to find a different path.

He said it may be a long time before Nigeria sends rockets and astronauts into space, so I should consider something more practical, Zubair saud.

He decided to become a physician, and is currently the medical and scientific director of the Cell Therapy Laboratory at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville. And while hell almost certainly never get to make a journey outside the Earths atmosphere himself, if the weather stays good Saturday hell be sending a payload into space.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to launch at 10:01 a.m. Saturday from the Kennedy Space Center on a cargo delivery mission to the International Space Station. Among the cargo it will be carrying are several samples of donated adult stem cells from Zubairs research lab.

Zubair believes adult stem cells, extracted from bone marrow, are the future of regenerative medicine. Currently at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville they are being used in clinical trials to treat knee injuries and transplanted lungs.

But a big problem with using stem cells to treat illnesses is that it may require up to 200 million cells to treat a human being and the cells take a long time to reproduce. Based on studies using simulators on Earth, Zubair believes that the stem cells will more quickly mass produce in microgravity.

Thats the hypothesis hell be testing as the stem cells from his lab spend a month aboard the space station. Astronauts will conduct experiments measuring changes in the cells. They will then be returned on an unmanned rocket and Zubair will continue to study them in his lab.

We want to undersrand the process by which stem cells divide so we can grow them at a faster rate and also so we can suppress them when treating cancer, he said.

Zubair became interested in the idea of sending stem cells into space four years ago, when he learned of a request for proposals that involved medicine and outer space. Hes been trying to arrange to send stem cells into space for three years.

In May 2015, he sent stem cells to the edge of space as a hot-air balloon carried a capsule filled with cells from his lab to about 100,000 feet then dropped the capsule. The idea was to test how the cells handled re-entry into the Earths atmosphere.

It turned out well, he said. The cells were alive and functioning.

Zubair was supported in that effort as he is being supported in sending cells to the space station by the Center for Applied Science Technology. Its chief executive is Lee Harvey, a retired Navy pilot and former astronaut candidate who lives in Orange Park.

While stem cells have myriad potential medical applications, one that particularly interests Zubair is the use of them in treating stroke patients. Its a personal cause to Zubair, whose mother died of a stroke in 1997.

Weve shown that an infusion of stem cells at the site of stroke improves the inflammation and also secretes factors for the regeneration of neurons and blood vessels, he said.

Zubair hasnt entirely given up on his old dream of being an astronaut. Hes applied for the civilian astronaut program. But he doesnt expect that to happen.

Im not sure I made a cut, he said. I just wanted to apply.

And he realizes what a long, strange trip hes made.

I have come so far from Africa to here, he said, and now Im sending stem cells into space.

Charlie Patton: (904) 359-4413

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Mayo researcher Abba Zubair is sending stem cells for study on the International Space Station - Florida Times-Union

SpaceX Dragon delivering the science on CRS-10 – SpaceFlight Insider

Bart Leahy

February 16th, 2017

SpaceX has been working to ready Kennedy Space Centers Launch Complex 39A for Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets since 2014. Photo Credit: Sean Costello / SpaceFlight Insider

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. For the first time since 2011, a rocket will be sending supplies and a collection of science experimentsfor the International Space Station (ISS) from Kennedy Space Centers Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A). However, the Commercial Resupply Service (CRS) 10 mission, scheduled for Feb. 18, 2017, is not being flown by a NASA launch vehicle, but SpaceXs Falcon 9 rocket.

SpaceXs launch from LC-39A also will be a major milestone for Elon Musks rocket company. In addition to being the first flight from the former Apollo and Space Shuttle site, it will mark the companys first flight from Florida since the Sept. 1, 2016, loss of a Falcon 9 during a static fire test. The accident resulted in the loss of both the rocket and Amos-6 satellite on top and severely damaged Space Launch Complex 40, SpaceXs other East Coast launch site, which is just south of LC-39A.

The last time SpaceX launched a Dragon cargo spacecraft to the ISS was on July 18, 2016.

On Feb. 10, 2017, the California-based companyrolledits Falcon 9 and into a vertical position at LC-39A on its new transporter-erector. Two days later, the rocket underwent a static engine test.

In addition to supplies for the station, CRS-10 will deliver severalscience experiments, including the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) III instrument, the Microgravity Growth of Crystalline Monoclonal Antibodies for Pharmaceutical Applications experiment, and the Raven spacecraft navigation system, among others.

The Raven technology module. Photo Credit: Chris Gunn / NASA Goddard

SAGE III is a NASA Langley Research Center instrument that will be mounted on the Earth-facing side of ISS to study ozone in the atmosphere. The experiment is a follow-on to several previous experiments.

The original SAGE was launched to follow the Stratospheric Aerosol Measurement, or SAM, flown on the Apollo-Soyuz mission in 1975. SAGE II was a part of the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite, or ERBS, which the crew of Space Shuttle Challenger deployed in 1984. SAGE III, designed for the ISS, is a near-duplicate of one launched aboard aRussian Meteor-3M satellite in 2001.

CRS-10 also will bring materials to continue supporting a CASIS experiment monitoring the growth of monoclonal antibodies in zero gravity. Monoclonal antibodies are molecules that attach to other specific molecules in the body to aid in fighting multiple human diseases, including cancer.

The CASIS experiment crystallizes a monoclonal antibody developed by Merck Research Labs. It will use microgravity to grow extremely high-quality crystals, which allow scientists to study the proteins structure, improve drug delivery and manufacturing, anddevelop better methods for storing these molecules.

The Raven investigation studies a real-time spacecraft navigation system that provides the sensors and guidance to see a target and steer toward it safely.

Raven also will enable future exploration missions near Earth and beyond, including satellite servicing and repair, asteroid exploration and redirect missions, and the Orion program.

A previous, single-sensor version of the Raven technology flew as the Relative Navigation Sensor (RNS) Payload on STS-125, the fifth Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission.

The Raven visible camera is a repurposed flight unit from the STS-125 demonstration. It also reuses the flash lidar flown as part of the Sensor Test for RelNav Risk Mitigation (STORRM) demonstration on STS-134.

Over its two-year mission on the ISS, Raven will estimate the relative navigation state of the vehicles visiting the station each year in real time. As vehicles approach and depart from ISS, the instrument will monitor them in action and send thedata to Earth.

NASA operators will then evaluate how Ravens technologies work as a system and make system adjustments to increase its tracking performance. The device is expected to monitor approximately 50 individual rendezvous or departure trajectories over the course of its mission.

An artists illustration of Raven monitoring an approaching spacecraft. Image Credit: NASA Goddard

Other science missions Dragon will carry include the following:

An archive photo of a previous Dragon being attached to a Falcon 9 inside a horizontal integration hangar. Photo Credit: NASA

The Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) will test a charge injection device (CID) in space, attached to the exterior of ISS.A CID-based sensor can be used in astronomy experiments to directly image exoplanets and the distant stars they orbit. If proven successful, this sensor will offer a novel approach to differentiating objects in high-and-low contrast image collection scalable to large aperture space telescopes, airborne and undersea search and rescue, and NASA exploration.

CRS-10is scheduled to lift off at 10:01 a.m. EST (15:01 GMT) Feb. 18. The weather outlook for the mission is iffy with a 40 percent chance of a violation of launch constraints. The primary concern a thick cloud layer.

Should a 24-hour delay occur, the weather improves slightly to a 30 percent chance of a weather violation. The primary concern for Feb. 19 is cumulus clouds and precipitation.

Video courtesy of NASA Goddard

Tagged: CRS-10 Dragon Falcon 9 International Space Station Launch Complex 39A Lead Stories NASA SpaceX

Bart Leahy is a freelance technical writer living in Orlando, Florida. Leahy's diverse career has included work for The Walt Disney Company, NASA, the Department of Defense, Nissan, a number of commercial space companies, small businesses, nonprofits, as well as the Science Cheerleaders.

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SpaceX Dragon delivering the science on CRS-10 - SpaceFlight Insider

Don’t miss this spectacular video of 104 satellites deployed in space – Spaceflight Now

Indias space agency has released stunning video captured by cameras mounted on-board a rocket that launched this week with 104 satellites.

The views begin with the blastoff of the 145-foot-tall (45-meter) Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle from Indias east coast, then the separation of the rockets six strap-on solid rocket boosters and main stages.

The video then jumps to the deployment of the Cartosat 2D environmental satellite, the missions primary passenger, to begin its tasks aiding Indian infrastructure planners and mapmakers. Two Indian-built nanosatellites carrying experimental Earth observation sensors are then seen flying away from the PSLVs fourth stage in orbit 300 miles (500 kilometers) above the planet.

Next comes the release of 101 CubeSats from 25 QuadPacks mounted on the rocket. The deployments from both sides of the rocket occurred at intervals of every few seconds, taking around 10 minutes for all of the tiny spacecraft to fly free of the rocket.

Most of the satellites seen in the video are CubeSats built and owned by Planet, a San Francisco-based company with a fleet of more than 140 mini-observatories looking down on Earth.

Tiny reaction wheels derived from the motors used in dental drills were to gain pointing control of each of Planets 88 CubeSats, and the satellites which are not equipped with rocket thrusters will be spread out along their orbital path by tilting into the rarefied air flow in the uppermost reaches of Earths atmosphere, generating minute drag forces, according to a representative of the company.

Other CubeSats on the mission included eight commercial weather satellites for Spire Global, another San Francisco company, and experimental and educational payloads for institutions in Switzerland, Israel, the Netherlands, Kazakhstan and the United Arab Emirates.

Read our full story for details on the mission.

Email the author.

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.

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Don't miss this spectacular video of 104 satellites deployed in space - Spaceflight Now

NASA completes its "space poop challenge" – CBS News

Expedition 46 Commander Scott Kelly during a three-hour and 16-minute spacewalk on Dec. 21, 2015.

NASA

Ground control to Major Tom: What happens when an astronaut needs to use the bathroom? Out of all the innovations developed in mankinds quest to go forth and explore the universe, NASA has still not moved beyond the adult diaper for astronauts who need to relieve themselves when they head out for a spacewalk or during a rocket launch.

Yes, its gross, but thanks to the 60-day Space Poop Challenge, spearheaded by crowdfunding platform HeroX with the support of NASA has come up with some inventive solutions for responding to natures call in zero gravity.

On Wednesday, HeroX revealed the three winners of the contest, which called for solutions to human waste management inside a spacesuit while still protecting the health and safety of its astronaut occupant for up to six days. The challenge specified just what quantity would need to be managed during that time. Current spacesuit-compatible adult diapers last for less than one day.

We are very excited to have had the opportunity to partner with NASAs Johnson Space Center on this challenge, HeroX CEO Christian Cotichini said in a press release The opportunity to contribute to future NASA missions by helping to protect astronaut health and safety, combined with the curiosity that surrounds performing the most basic of human bodily functionsin microgravity, seemed like a perfect HeroX crowdsourcing opportunity.

More than 5,000 solutions were proposed, according to HeroX, and teams from all over the world participated in the competition. Some people submitted as individuals while others contributed as a team. Eventually the judges narrowed the field down to 21 finalists before naming the winners.

HeroX

First prize went to Col. Thatcher R. Cardon, a U.S. Air Force officer and physician. His proposal centers on an access port that covers the perineum a more polite way of describing the crotch zone under the tailbone. It has two flaps that open out and a small valve through which waste can be expelled from the suit.

His idea came from invasive surgery where, as Cardon told the Washington Post, you have to do a lot of complex things in a very small opening.

Cardons design won him a $15,000 prize.

A team called the Space Poop Unification of Doctors (SPUDs) won second place worth $10,000 for an air-powered waste-disposal system.

The $5,000 third-place prize went to Hugo Shelley for the SWIMSuitZero Gravity Underwear, which features a catheter design that can be used in microgravity. The unique undergarment compresses, seals and sanitizes solid waste, according to Shelleys description.

These designs wont necessarily be put directly into use in space anytime soon, but the contest could lead the way for innovations down the line.

It was wonderful to see the global response from our crowdsourcing challenge, Kirstyn Johnson, Space Suit Technology Engineer at NASA, said in a statement. We enjoyed seeing the innovative approaches that were sent in given such a demanding scenario. Others at NASA are now thinking about ways we can leverage a crowdsourcing approach to solve some more of our spaceflight challenges.

2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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NASA completes its "space poop challenge" - CBS News

NASA’s Dawn mission finds life’s building blocks on dwarf planet Ceres – Los Angeles Times

It sure doesnt pay to underestimate Ceres: NASAs Dawn spacecraft has spotted signs of organic molecules on the frigid dwarf planet.

The findings, published this weekin the journal Science, may shed light on the prevalence of pre-life chemistry in the solar system while marking Ceres as one of the worlds that could potentially host microbial life.

Because Ceres is a dwarf planet that may still preserve internal heat from its formation period and may even contain a subsurface ocean, this opens the possibility that primitive life could have developed on Ceres itself, Michael Kppers of the European Space Agency, who was not involved in the study, wrote in a commentary. It joins Mars and several satellites of the giant planets in the list of locations in the solar system that may harbor life.

Ceres, one of five dwarf planets in the solar system, is also an asteroid the largest of them, in fact. Formed around 4.5 billion years ago, it sits in the belt of rocky debris that lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

Asteroids are the leftover building blocks of planetary formation, largely unchanged by thegeologic processes that occur onEarth and other planets. Bystudying these space fossils, scientists hope topiece together what the early solar system looked like.

Among the asteroids, Ceres is special. As a dwarf planet, it got stuck somewhere along the way to becoming a full-grown world. Frozen in this state, Ceres also offers a snapshot of planetary adolescence.

Scientists have long wondered whether asteroids had not just water but also organic matter that could have been brought to Earth, perhaps providingthe right chemical ingredients for lifeto emerge. Water and organic molecules have been discovered in meteorites that are thought to be chunks of asteroids that fell to Earth. But its also possible these meteorites werecontaminated or transformed by Earths environment.

Hints of organics have been found on two actual asteroids, 24 Themis and 65 Cybele, though in both casesthe signal was pretty weak. (ESAs Rosetta mission found clear signals on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko howeverthat, of course, is not an asteroid.)

Thanks to theDawn spacecraft, which reached the frigid little world in 2015, scientists have detected super-bright salt deposits in Cerescraters and identified Ahuna Monsas an ice volcano. But now, using its Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometerinstrument, the spacecraft has spottedorganics lying on the surface.

When light hits any material, that material will absorb certain wavelengths while reflecting the rest. Since the absorbed wavelengths are unique to the materials properties, those missing bands of light serve asa chemical fingerprint that a spectrometer can useto determinethe composition of the surface.

The organic matter detected on Cereslies in a roughly 1,000-square-kilometer area near an approximately 50-kilometer-wide crater named Ernutet. While the scientists arent sure exactly what the compounds are, the fingerprint is characteristic of material containing carbon-hydrogen bonds, and may include components like methyl and methylene.

We were not expecting to see something like this on the surface of Ceres, said study coauthor Christopher Russell, a UCLA planetary scientist and Dawns principal investigator. These simple molecules, he added, are really pre-biological, but theyre in the family of materials that we would expect if Ceres was working its way along the complexity path.

Together with some of the other stuff already known to be on Ceres, this makes for what could theoretically be a life-friendly environment, perhaps even an environment with the right chemical precursors for life.

The combined presence on Ceres of ammonia-bearing hydrated minerals, water ice, carbonates, salts, and organic material indicates a very complex chemical environment, suggesting favorable environments to prebiotic chemistry, the study authors wrote.

But how did the organics get there?

One possibility is that they were delivered by comets or other asteroids. But the distribution of theorganic material doesnt match the pattern that would have beenleft by an impact. Besides, the authors pointed out,any organic-rich body that slammed into Ceres would probably be superheated by the collision, causing much of that organic matter to break down.

If the organics really didoriginate on Ceres itself, as the authors suspect, then researchers willhave to figure out how this material made it from the interior of thedwarf planet to its surface. For now, thatprocess remains a mystery.

Whatever the explanation, the findings show that Ceres like Mars and other worlds such asSaturns moonEnceladus may also have the right chemical ingredients for life.

Scientists could learn more if they were able tolook at the isotopic composition of thewater ice, Russell added. This could reveal whether Ceres formed where it lies, or whether it formed farther out and eventually moved in.

But that would require a lander of some sort, he pointed out, not the type ofremote sensing instruments on Dawn. That job, he added,would have to wait for a future mission to the dwarf planet.

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NASA's Dawn mission finds life's building blocks on dwarf planet Ceres - Los Angeles Times

Nanotechnology in the Monitoring of Microbial Food Safety – AZoNano

By Benedette CuffariFeb 17 2017

Agencies such as the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Food Standards Agency of the United Kingdom are responsible for ensuring that food safety and quality assurance is monitored at every stage in the food production process.

As one of the most significant aspects present for food authorities and industries today, the need for providing safe food is facing unprecedented challenges around the world. It is estimated that the worldwide toll of foodborne diseases is estimated at a frightening 600 million cases and 420,000 deaths each year1. Some of the most frequent pathogens linked with these foodborne illnesses include diarrheal agents such as norovirus and Campylobactor spp, as well other bacterial pathogens such as Salmonella enterica and Typhi, Listeria and Brucella2.

While several different preventative methods exist in order to minimize the risks associated with foodborne illnesses, these approaches have significant drawbacks that are not in compliance with the current consumer trend for greener and chemical free approaches.

Of these methods include physical techniques, such as afreezing, heat and refrigeration storage, filtration, drying and chemical methods, as well as radiation and other thermal procedures. While effective, these techniques are often associated with high-energy costs, an increased possibility of degradation, as well as serious occupational and health implications.

In response to these problems, food industries are constantly looking towards developing more efficient, sustainable and low cost methods in order to ensure that food products remain microbial-free.

Nanotechnology, a rising field of interest in almost every industry, has found over 276 different applications in agricultural, food and feed markets1. Of the most common applications for nanotechnology in food safety and quality measures are nano-encapsulated agrochemicals, food additives and supplements, and antimicrobial active food packaging agents1.

One of the most common applications of nanomaterials in food industry is through the uses of nanoscale silver. Silver, a historically used antimicrobial agent, is used in a variety of applications such as dental implants, catheters, and wound healing dressings.

By reducing the particle size of silver to the nanolevel, this material exhibits an increased efficiency in its ability to control bacterial growth, while also improving its biocompatibility in mammalian systems3. Applications of silver nanoparticles in food packaging has involved its embedding into biodegradable coatings that have successfully inactivated bacteria.

Its addition as an anchor through the assistance of certain amino groups to common surfaces, such as glass, have found successful inhibition in the form of biofilms, and its combination with graphene oxide on these surfaces have even been found to inhibit almost 100% of bacterial attachment1.

Similar chemicals manipulated at the nanolevel such as titanium oxide (TiO2), zinc oxide (ZnO), cerium oxide (CeO), and others, have been used as photocatalytic agents in order to create surface reactive oxygen species (ROS) capable of damaging organic matter, such as bacteria, from developing.

Natural antimicrobial extracts, such as nano-encapsulated cinnamaldehyde, thyme oil emulsified with soluble soybean polysaccharide, and mandarin oil nano-emulsions, have all found to be successful additions and alternatives to harsh chemicals for these surfaces as well1. Food packaging products have also found the use of selenium and cellulose particles to successfully inhibit the production of ROS that can arise and degrade food quality.

One of the newest nano-enabled techniques that have risen in the fight against microbial agents in food is known as engineered water nanostructures (EWNS). These highly charged and mobile agents contain ROS, allowing for their successful interaction and inactivation of microorganisms on surfaces.

By being applied to water through either electrospraying and/or ionization processes, EWNS have a highly targeted capability to deliver their antimicrobial potential to food-related microorganisms, reaching what has been measured as up to a 99.99% reduction in organismal presence1.

While there are clearly advantageous aspects found in the application of nanotechnology into food and safety measurements, there is still a pressing need for further investigation into the potential toxicity that can occur following nanoparticle exposure.

Further regulation of nanomaterial applications in the food industry must also be thoroughly explored by governments across the world in order to develop standards to avoid possible health risks to humans and the environment.

References

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are those of the author expressed in their private capacity and do not necessarily represent the views of AZoM.com Limited T/A AZoNetwork the owner and operator of this website. This disclaimer forms part of the Terms and conditions of use of this website.

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Nanotechnology in the Monitoring of Microbial Food Safety - AZoNano

Nanotechnology based gene editing to eradicate HIV brain reservoir in drug abusers – Phys.Org

February 15, 2017 Dr. Madhavan Nair oversees work in his lab at Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine. Credit: Florida International University

Opiate abuse is a significant risk factor for HIV infection, and in combination they can have a devastating effect on the brain. Scientists at FIU Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine (HWCOM) are studying new therapies that can short-circuit HIV infection and mitigate the damaging effects that opiate addiction has on the central nervous system.

The ambitious $3.5 million five-year study, funded by the National Institutes for Health is now underway and will be completed b7 2021. Researchers hope the work will lead to lead to a multi-purpose platform for drugs targeting a variety of other difficult to treat diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases.

The Institute of Neuro-Immune Pharmacology at HWCOM, led by Chair and Associate Dean of the Department of Immunology Madhavan Nair, is teaming up with Kamel Khalili, chair of the Department of Neuroscience at Temple University, and the Comprehensive NeuroAIDS Center at Temple University's Lewis Katz School on a new study that will combine Khalil's gene editing strategy using nanotechnology with Nair's work to help opiate users with HIV.

Despite significant advances in anti-retroviral therapy (ART), which is used to treat HIV patients, ART is unable to penetrate the blood brain barrier (BBB) after systemic administration. In addition, the elimination of HIV from the central nervous system and peripheral reservoirs remains challenging due to the HIV genome's ability to integrate itself into the host genome.

But advances in nanotechnology have expanded the possibilities for novel drug delivery systems that can cross the BBB to recognize and eradicate HIV in the brain. Nair and other scientists from the Institute of Neuro-Immune Pharmacology at HWCOM have combined nanotechnology with magneto electro nanoparticles (MENPs) as externally field triggered/controlled drug carriers that offer the unique capability of low energy and dissipation free on-demand drug release across the BBB.

Nair's MENP drug-based delivery system is now the basis for the partnership with Khalili, who developed the Cas9/gRNA system; a genetic engineering tool that has shown great promise in finding and destroying copies of HIV that have burrowed into the host's genome.

The partnership will use Cas9/gRNA to eliminate entire integrated copies of the HIV genome from the host chromosome with the MENP drug-based delivery system.

"This is the first time that we are sending medicine to the brain that will eliminate latent HIV as well as deliver a morphine antagonist (methylnaltrexone) across the BBB in a non-invasive manner to protect neurons from morphine induced neurodegenerative effects," Nair says. MENP is non-invasive and fast-acting, and this newly created multi-disciplinary approach will also introduce unprecedented 3-D diagnostic views and allow clearance of the nanoparticles from the brain to the periphery by reverse external magnetic force once the cargo has been delivered.

Explore further: New nanotechnique to deliver life-saving drugs to the brain

(Phys.org) In a study published in today's issue of Nature Communications, researchers from FIU's Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine describe a revolutionary technique they have developed that can deliver and fully release ...

Using gene editing technology, researchers at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University have, for the first time, successfully excised a segment of HIV-1 DNA - the virus responsible for AIDS - from the genomes ...

The HIV-1 virus has proved to be tenacious, inserting its genome permanently into its victims' DNA, forcing patients to take a lifelong drug regimen to control the virus and prevent a fresh attack. Now, a team of Temple University ...

Stumped for years by a natural filter in the body that allows few substances, including life-saving drugs, to enter the brain through the bloodstream, physicians who treat neurological diseases may soon have a new pathway ...

More and more scientists are using the powerful new gene-editing tool known as CRISPR/Cas9, a technology isolated from bacteria, that holds promise for new treatment of such genetic diseases as cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy ...

A specialized gene editing system designed by scientists at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University is paving the way to an eventual cure for patients infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. In a study ...

The precise control of electron transport in microelectronics makes complex logic circuits possible that are in daily use in smartphones and laptops. Heat transport is of similar fundamental importance and its control is ...

A new technique using liquid metals to create integrated circuits that are just atoms thick could lead to the next big advance for electronics.

The ability of small intestine cells to absorb nutrients and act as a barrier to pathogens is "significantly decreased" after chronic exposure to nanoparticles of titanium dioxide, a common food additive found in everything ...

Gadgets are set to become flexible, highly efficient and much smaller, following a breakthrough in measuring two-dimensional 'wonder' materials by the University of Warwick.

Finding practical solutions to detect proteins, cancer biomarkers, viruses and other small objects has been a key challenge for researchers worldwide for decades. These solutions hold promise for saving lives through more ...

Lithium-ion batteries have become essential in everyday technology. But these power sources can explode under certain circumstances and are not ideal for grid-scale energy storage. Sodium-ion batteries are potentially a safer ...

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Nanotechnology based gene editing to eradicate HIV brain reservoir in drug abusers - Phys.Org

ECC officially opens nanotechnology building – Amherst Bee

Erie Community College officials, faculty and staff joined Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul and other officials on Friday for a celebration of the schools $5.75 million Center for Nanotechnology Studies on the North Campus.

ECC continues to be a leader in providing career-focused education for students pursuing professional opportunity, ECC President Jack Quinn said in a press release. In recent years, STEM-related job opportunities have multiplied not only across the country, but right here in our Buffalo backyard. Starting today, well be able to train students for these industries in this new facility.

STEM refers to science, technology, engineering and math.

The energy-efficient building

funded primarily by money secured in September 2015 through the State University of New Yorks 2020 Challenge Grant Program will house ECCs nanotechnology Associate in Applied Science degree program. According to the release, students have already begun training in the space.

The press release further said that with features informed by educational partners Genesee Community College and Penn State University, the space was designed to help prepare students for career opportunities in burgeoning Western New York fields such as semiconductor manufacturing, biotechnology and environmental science.

Within the next seven years, 3.5 million jobs in NYS will require at least an associate degree, like the new Associate

Degree of Applied Science in Nanotechnology here at Erie Community College, Hochul said. These students will graduate with a highly specialized skill, and they are going to walk out with their diplomas and walk right into new jobs.

According to the press release, the Center for Nanotechnology Studies provides approximately 6,100 square feet of new learning space; $1.5 million in fabrication and characterization equipment, and 36 solar roof panels to provide clean power; and a state-of-the-art energy recovery system to reduce heating and cooling costs and energy usage.

Additionally, the building also boasts network capabilities through the Remote Access Instruments for Nanotechnology network to collaborate on training with students across the country and the states only community college-hosted clean room for manipulating particles within an advanced manufacturing process.

ECC offers one of only three available semiconductor manufacturing associate degree programs in New York, and it is now the first and only community college to provide learning experiences to students in a clean room for manipulating particles as part of an advanced manufacturing process, said state Sen. Michael H. Ranzenhofer.

I am pleased that the states $5.75 million commitment has helped to make it happen, he said. The new nanotechnology annex is another educational tool for our students to get the skills they need to secure a STEM-related job.

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ECC officially opens nanotechnology building - Amherst Bee

Armenia, Iran to cooperate on nanotechnology – Panorama.am

Delegation headed by Armenian Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Investments Emil Tarasyan has been on a visited to the Islamic Republic of Iran from February 11-13 at the invitation of the Iran Nanotechnology Initiative Council (INIC).

As the release issued by the ministry reads, the visit aimed at getting familiarized with structures of Iranian nanotechnology sector, its research and production activity and assess the prospects of cooperation on the sector.

According to the source, the Armenian delegation has had meetings with INIC Secretary-General Saeed Sarkar, Director of the INIC Committee of the Iran Nanotechnology Initiative Council Ali Beitollahi, Director of Council Production and Market Development Reza Asadifardi. It has been stressed that nanotechnology sector is viewed as a priority branch of Iranian economy, while the country occupies leading position in the world market.

After the meetings a memorandum of understanding has been pre-signed on Armenian-Iranian bilateral cooperation in nanotechnology sector.

The ministry details that RA Minister of Economic Development and INIC Secretary-General plan to sign the memorandum in the coming future to facilitate the cooperation in the sector through the action plan to be drafted after the signing.

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Armenia, Iran to cooperate on nanotechnology - Panorama.am

Liquid metal nano printing set to revolutionize electronics – Phys.Org

February 17, 2017

A new technique using liquid metals to create integrated circuits that are just atoms thick could lead to the next big advance for electronics.

The process opens the way for the production of large wafers around 1.5 nanometres in depth (a sheet of paper, by comparison, is 100,000nm thick).

Other techniques have proven unreliable in terms of quality, difficult to scale up and function only at very high temperatures550 degrees or more.

Distinguished Professor Kourosh Kalantar-zadeh, from the School of Engineering at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, led the project, which also included colleagues from RMIT and researchers from CSIRO, Monash University, North Carolina State University and the University of California.

He said the electronics industry had hit a barrier.

"The fundamental technology of car engines has not progressed since 1920 and now the same is happening to electronics. Mobile phones and computers are no more powerful than five years ago.

"That is why this new 2D printing technique is so importantcreating many layers of incredibly thin electronic chips on the same surface dramatically increases processing power and reduces costs.

"It will allow for the next revolution in electronics."

Benjamin Carey, a researcher with RMIT and the CSIRO, said creating electronic wafers just atoms thick could overcome the limitations of current chip production.

It could also produce materials that were extremely bendable, paving the way for flexible electronics.

"However, none of the current technologies are able to create homogenous surfaces of atomically thin semiconductors on large surface areas that are useful for the industrial scale fabrication of chips.

"Our solution is to use the metals gallium and indium, which have a low melting point.

"These metals produce an atomically thin layer of oxide on their surface that naturally protects them. It is this thin oxide which we use in our fabrication method.

"By rolling the liquid metal, the oxide layer can be transferred on to an electronic wafer, which is then sulphurised. The surface of the wafer can be pre-treated to form individual transistors.

"We have used this novel method to create transistors and photo-detectors of very high gain and very high fabrication reliability in large scale."

Explore further: Towards the T-1000: Liquid metals propel future electronics

More information: "Wafer Scale Two Dimensional Semiconductors from Printed Oxide Skin of Liquid Metals", Nature Communications, DOI: 10.1038/NCOMMS14482

Science fiction is inching closer to reality with the development of revolutionary self-propelling liquid metalsa critical step towards future elastic electronics.

Researchers at RMIT and CSIRO plan to revolutionise the manufacture of smartphones, tablets, solar cells, and LED lights.

High-performance electronic circuits made entirely from transparent materials could have countless applications, from head-up displays on car windscreens to transparent TV sets and smart windows in homes and offices. Researchers ...

Electronic components that can be elongated or twisted known as "stretchable" electronics could soon be used to power electronic gadgets, the onboard systems of vehicles, medical devices and other products. And a ...

In an advance that helps pave the way for next-generation electronics and computing technologiesand possibly paper-thin gadgets scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley ...

Breakthrough research at RMIT University is advancing transparent bendable electronics, bringing science fiction gadgets such as unbreakable rubber-like phones, rollable tablets and even functional clothing closer ...

The precise control of electron transport in microelectronics makes complex logic circuits possible that are in daily use in smartphones and laptops. Heat transport is of similar fundamental importance and its control is ...

A new technique using liquid metals to create integrated circuits that are just atoms thick could lead to the next big advance for electronics.

The ability of small intestine cells to absorb nutrients and act as a barrier to pathogens is "significantly decreased" after chronic exposure to nanoparticles of titanium dioxide, a common food additive found in everything ...

Gadgets are set to become flexible, highly efficient and much smaller, following a breakthrough in measuring two-dimensional 'wonder' materials by the University of Warwick.

Finding practical solutions to detect proteins, cancer biomarkers, viruses and other small objects has been a key challenge for researchers worldwide for decades. These solutions hold promise for saving lives through more ...

Lithium-ion batteries have become essential in everyday technology. But these power sources can explode under certain circumstances and are not ideal for grid-scale energy storage. Sodium-ion batteries are potentially a safer ...

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Liquid metal nano printing set to revolutionize electronics - Phys.Org

Nano satellites open up new horizons – Times of India

AHMEDABAD: Of the 104 satellites launched, there were two indigenous nano satellites or CubeSAT by Isro, christened INS-1A and INS-1B. These weighed barely 8.4 kg and 9.7 kg respectively and were about 304x670x510mm in dimension, but are an important milestone in miniaturisation and use of high technology in India's space programme. Space Applications Centre director Tapan Misra says these nano satellites were especially given plasma microthrusters to help them to position themselves. "Nano satellites are part of a growing technology that is transforming space exploration. Today's nano satellites at built at very low costs and have the potential to conduct important space science investigations like testing a material or electronics in space or simply seeing how certain bacteria or soil sample transform when exposed to space environments. That's the potential of nano satellites," said Misra. He adds that the nano satellites also open doors for engineering colleges across the country to a new array of space science. "Aboard these two satellites were a camera on INS-1A which measures target illumination properties at different sun illumination angles. The other was the origami camera in INS-1B, which folds light beams multiple times between two surfaces, thereby achieving a large focal length in a smaller space," says Misra.

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Nano satellites open up new horizons - Times of India

Inspirata, a Premier Sponsor and Exhibitor at Molecular Medicine Tri-Conference, to Host Presentations on Unlocking … – PR Web (press release)

Inspirata to Present at Molecular Medicine Tri-Conference in San Francisco Feb 20-22

Tampa, FL (PRWEB) February 17, 2017

Cancer diagnostics workflow solution provider Inspirata, Inc., is a premier sponsor and exhibitor at Molecular Medicine Tri-Conference February 20 22 in San Francisco. As part of the Tri-Conference expo, which is open Monday through Wednesday, Inspirata will showcase its anatomic and molecular pathology workflow solution, as well as its new precision medicine platform, Crosswalk Insight: Oncology.

Inspirata also is headlining part of the Tri-Conference Diagnostics Channel agenda with presentations in the Digital Pathology and Precision Medicine tracks. Within the Precision Medicine track, Inspirata Senior Vice President of Precision Medicine, Mark Boguski, MD, PhD will present Unlocking Precision Medicine: Convergence is the Key. This luncheon session will be delivered on Monday, February 20 at 1:10 pm. Then on Tuesday February 21 at 11:45 am, Inspirata Executive Vice President and Co-founder Mark Lloyd, PhD, MBA will present a session within the Digital Pathology track titled Unlocking Digital Pathology: Actionable Medical Assays are the Key.

Pathology plays a pivotal role in precision medicine because without a precise diagnosis its impossible for the patient to receive targeted therapies and optimized care, says Inspirata CEO Satish Sanan. This is why Inspirata is so focused on developing and deploying transformative tools and technologies at cancer centers. Our comprehensive solution uses digital pathology to streamline the pathology workflow, bridging the gap between anatomic and molecular pathology. This confluence enables any pathologist to inform personalized treatment options that ultimately will improve patient outcomes.

Inspiratas solution automates anatomic and molecular pathology workflows, providing whole slide imaging, image viewing and management; computational image analysis; consultation and tumor board modules; and a cancer information data repository.

About Molecular Medicine Tri-Conference Attracting over 3,500 drug discovery and development professionals from over 40 countries in 2016, the Tri-Conference has grown into a diverse event, focusing on Molecular Medicine, specifically on Discovery, Genomics, Diagnostics and Information Technology. This year marks the 24th International Molecular Medicine Tri-Conference. The event is put on by Cambridge Healthtech Institute (CHI), a division of Cambridge Innovation Institute, which is the preeminent life science network for leading researchers and business experts from top pharmaceutical, biotech, CROs, academia, and niche service providers. CHI is renowned for its vast conference portfolio held worldwide.

About Inspirata, Inc. Inspirata, Inc. offers the most comprehensive cancer diagnostics workflow solution available for precision diagnosis today. The solution, which employs a unique solution-as-a-service business and delivery model, accelerates anatomic and molecular pathology workflows and facilitates whole slide imaging and image analytics, prognostic and predictive assays, remote consultations and tumor boards. This comprehensive solution includes an Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) to help to solve interoperability issues and a Natural Language Processing Engine (NLP) for structuring data. Inspirata amalgamates this structured data into a central multi-institutional and multi-modal big data cancer repository for clinical, research and educational purposes. Its use will extend to physicians, patients, researchers and pharma among others. This comprehensive solution facilitates a modern precision diagnosis to build a strong foundation for precision medicine. For more information, please visit http://www.inspirata.com or contact info(at)inspirata(dot)com.

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Inspirata, a Premier Sponsor and Exhibitor at Molecular Medicine Tri-Conference, to Host Presentations on Unlocking ... - PR Web (press release)

iSpecimen Founder & CEO to Present on Emerging Technology … – PR Newswire (press release)

As part of the keynote session, Dr. Ianelli will discuss an online marketplace model for human biospecimen procurement, which will be essential tor driving precision research, a necessary precursor to precision medicine. Due to the hot pursuit of precision medicine for all, scientists more than ever need a high-quality, diverse, and annotated supply of specimens that are selected just as precisely as the medicine we pursue. In his talk, Dr. Ianelli will describe how advances in technology and standardization of medical record data can now enable an online marketplace where researchers can easily search for precise specimens and patients they need for their studies, bringing efficiencies to biospecimen procurement.

Dr. Ianelli is one of eight speakers on the panel who will describe a clinical problem and a tech-driven innovation. The session moderator and other panelists include: Keith F. Batchelder, M.D., CEO and Founder, Genomic Healthcare Strategies; Christopher Mueller, Ph.D., President & CTO, Lab7 Systems; Dick Rubin, Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Accel Biotech LLC; Joe Ferrara, President, Boston Healthcare; Rudi Pauwels, Ph.D., Founder & CEO, Biocartis; Russell Garlick, Ph.D., CSO, SeraCare Life Sciences; Sean Ferree, Ph.D., Vice President, Diagnostic Development, NanoString Technologies; and Farideh Bischoff, Ph.D., Chief Clinical Development Officer, North America Menarini Silicon Biosystems.

In addition to iSpecimen's presence on the keynote panel, the company can also be found during the conference at booth number 217.

About iSpecimeniSpecimen is the marketplace for human biospecimen collections, providing researchers with the specimens they need from the patients they want. Headquartered in Lexington, Massachusetts, the privately held company uses proprietary cloud-based technology to match qualifying samples and associated data from its diverse network of hospitals, labs, biobanks, blood centers, and other clinical organizations to biomedical researchers' specimen requests. iSpecimen sources biofluids, solid tissue, and primary cells, offering clinical remnants, banked samples, and samples collected prospectively for research. Scientists gain easy access to the high-quality samples they need for their research. Partner sites gain an opportunity to further contribute to biomedical discovery as well as their bottom line. And ultimately, healthcare advances for all. For more information about iSpecimen, please visit http://www.ispecimen.com.

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ispecimen-founder--ceo-to-present-on-emerging-technology-keynote-panel-at-molecular-med-tri-con-300409268.html

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