The most exciting future – if we aren’t killed on the way | Gabrielle Grobler | TEDxYouth@HITECCity – Video


The most exciting future - if we aren #39;t killed on the way | Gabrielle Grobler | TEDxYouth@HITECCity
We #39;ve all heard of Artificial Intelligence, but how many of us really know what it is? Have any of us stopped to consider the consequences of what may be the most influential invention of the...

By: TEDx Talks

Go here to see the original:

The most exciting future - if we aren't killed on the way | Gabrielle Grobler | TEDxYouth@HITECCity - Video

How CEOs can outwit artificial intelligence

So what's a CEO to do?

1. Expect that Software as a Service (SaaS) will become more and more like "Everything as a Service."

That goes for everything from sourcing talent to getting probabilistic predictions of the sales of your products. Your company needs to keep up with the times, embrace new services and A.I.-based technologies or fall behind. Similarly to what happened a decade ago, when enterprise mobility entered the strategic road map of major corporations, A.I.-enabled technologies will become an integral part of the strategy planning process in the near future.

2. If you think A.I. is not hereat least not in a conspicuous way when it comes to your businessthink twice.

Do your marketing people hire research or customer insights reports? Most likely your contractors are using big data analytics to deliver their conclusions to you. Is your competitor doing so in-house? That may indicate they can react and move faster in decision-making and eventually interact rapidly and more decisively with (your) customers.

3. Conduct an A.I. inventory.

Map out existing internal and external resources of your company and match them to available big data, analytics and A.I.-related technologies and tools.

4. Delegate it.

To make it simple and to monitor A.I. readiness of your company, you should earmark a tech champion in your management team (if there isn't one already). The chief information officer promoted to chief digital officer or chief marketing officer will do for the time being. Task the tech champion to screen for any of these referred tools or technologies currently in use either internally or externally. If the answer is a hard no internally, run a supplier and partner appraisal to understand how far A.I. is from the core of your business. Give yourself a score on a scale of 1 to 10 and start pushing the company to embark on the A.I. journey. You probably already did this when you told your management team to start using mobiles, tablets or smartphones.

5. Think ahead and don't wait; there's no reason you can't, or shouldn't, be the one to A.I.-innovate.

Visit link:

How CEOs can outwit artificial intelligence

Artificial Intelligence Could Have Prevented The Germanwings Crash

No level of security screening short of mind-reading could have prevented the crash of Germanwings flight 9525. But what can be done? The New York Times editorial todaycalls for the American standard that requires two crew members be in the cockpit at all times to be adopted by all airlines. Thissuggestion isreasonable,but would not prevent a team of two pilotsfrom accomplishing a similarly evil deed.

The Times correctly assertsAir travel over all remains incredibly safe. The plane in question, the Airbus A320, has among the worlds best safety records and was the first commercial airliner to have an all-digital fly-by-wire control system. Much of the criticism over the years of these fly-by-wire systems has focused on the problem of pilots becoming too dependent on technology, but these systems could also be a means of preventing future tragedies. In fly-by-wire planes, a story on a previous Airbus crash in Popular Mechanicsreports, The vast majority of the time, the computer operates within whats known as normal law, which means that the computer will not enact any control movements that would cause the plane to leave its flight envelope. The flight control computer under normal law will not allow an aircraft to stall, aviation experts say. If autopilot is disconnected or reset, as the New York Times reports it was on the Germanwings plane, it can be switched to alternate law, a regime with far fewer restrictions on what a pilot can do.

Germanwings Airbus A320

I just happened tohave scheduled an interview with AI pioneer Jeff Hawkins today to talk about the recent upswell of fears about AI and superintelligence that he addressed in a post on Re/code. The Terminator Is Not Coming, his title announces. The Future Will Thank Us. I thought of this story as the news unfolded from the Alps. We are so concerned, it seems, about giving machines too much power that we appear to miss the fact that the largest existential threat to humans isother humans. Such seems to be the case with Germanwings 9525.

Hawkinsis the inventor of the Palm Pilot (the first personal digital assistant or PDA) and the Palm Treo (one of the first smartphones). Heis also the co-founder, with Donna Dubinsky, of the machine intelligence company Numenta. Grok, the companys first commercial product, sifts through massive amounts of server activity data on Amazon Web Services (AWS) to identify anomalouspatterns of events. This same approach could easily be used to monitor flight data from airplanes and alert ground control in real time of the precise nature of unexpected activity. Numenta open sources its software (see Numenta.org) and is known to DARPA and other government research agencies, so multiple parties could already be at work on such a system.

Hawkins approach to machine intelligence, Hierarchical Temporal Memory (HTM), has some distinct advantages overthe highly-publicized technique of deep learning(DL). Both use hierarchies of matrices to learn patterns from large data sets. HTMtakes its inspiration from biology and uses the layering of neurons in the brain as a model for its architecture. DL is primarily mathematical and projects the abstraction of the brains hierarchy to deeper and deeper levels. HTM uses larger matrices and flatter hierarchies to store patterns than DL and the data in these matrices is characterized by sparse distributions. Most important, HTM processestime-based data whereas DL trains mostly on static data sets.

For the emerging Internet of Things (IoT), time-based and real-time data is incredibly important. Systems that can learn continuously from these data streams, like Numentas, will be particularly valuable for keeping track of all of those thingsincluding errant airplanes. Could machine intelligence have prevented this tragedy? Hawkins thinks sobut notes, All the intelligence in the world in the cockpit wont solve any problem if the pilot decides to turn it off. There will need to be aviation systems designed for potential override from ground. What are we the most scared of, individual agency or systematic control? Based on the Germanwings evidence so far, lack of override control from the ground is the greater threat.

I contacted my colleague Dan Reed, who covers aviation and logistics for Forbes.com. He wrote recently on how inexpensive it would be for the airlines to increase their tracking of flights using existing signals. He raised the additional issue of the bandwidth that would be required to control a plane reliably from the ground without significant time delay. Thishardware, he says, would require a substantial investment. Securing those transmissions is also important to make sure that the failsafe does not become a backdoor for bad actors. The most important impediment to controlling planes remotely (even temporarily), is philosophical, he says. Even if machines become statistically safer than humans, as Google contends with cars, how do you prove it would be safer, Reed asks?

Visit link:

Artificial Intelligence Could Have Prevented The Germanwings Crash

Laser Additive Manufacturing of an Aerospace Demonstration Component – Video


Laser Additive Manufacturing of an Aerospace Demonstration Component
Fraunhofer is one of the pioneers in the growing field of additive manufacturing. Our process expertise includes the development of a range of state of the art powder delivery nozzles which...

By: Nancy Mehner

Visit link:

Laser Additive Manufacturing of an Aerospace Demonstration Component - Video

Frost & Sullivan sees opportunity for aerospace centre in Thailand

This has a potential of bringing in US$650 million (Bt21 billion) per year by 2023 when the first phase of the park will be operational. The park is planned to be developed in three phases, and when all of them are fully operational, it is forecast to generate $1.485 billion every year for Thailand.

Amartya De, senior consultant for public sector and government practice at Frost & Sullivan, said that acting as the project leader for this assignment, he was extremely satisfied with the response from the global aerospace community on being part of the Thailand aerospace hub.

"We are witnessing interest from major aerospace MRO and manufacturing companies from overseas. The foundation blocks of the Aerospace Industrial Estate master plan are being put under the supervision of Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning under the [Transport Ministry]. The ministry is all geared up to repeat the same success in aerospace manufacturing and repair industry that Thailand has already achieved in the automotive sector."

The direct revenue impact from the Thailand Aerospace Industrial Estate could be close to $86.6 billion in a 25-year time frame between 2019-2045. Of that figure, $32.5 billion is targeted from pre-built infrastructure such as MRO hangars and component factories. The remaining land is planned to be leased out to aerospace companies depending upon their requirements.

The first phase of the Aerospace Industrial Estate is expected to be operational by 2019. Construction is expected to start as early as next year.

"Global Tier 2 aerospace manufacturers are constantly facing downward pressure from aerospace primes such as Boeing and Airbus to cut costs in their value chain, which is leading Tier 2 aerospace companies to make fresh investments in low-cost countries that have an excellent industrial base, and Thailand precisely fits the bill. Thailand's strong base and efficient labour force in automotive component manufacturing can be effectively leveraged for aerospace manufacturing," De said. However, he said aerospace companies were looking for specific business enablers related to ownership, land leasing and other issues that need to be quickly worked out, or else investors may find alternative destinations in Asean.

He added that Thailand's commercial-airline MRO spending this year is forecast to be close to $771 million, which is expected to grow to $1.35 billion by 2024.

By 2020, a large chunk of MRO spending is forecast to be spent on nearly 100 Airbus A320 and 50 Boeing B737 aircraft operating out of Thailand. Part of Thailand's endeavour is going to bringing that MRO spending back to this country, with support from overseas MRO operators setting up their bases here.

"We are also looking at the large fleet base of A320neo and B737 MAX, as regional order books are overwhelming," De said.

Originally posted here:

Frost & Sullivan sees opportunity for aerospace centre in Thailand

Behavioral Science Degree – Bachelor of Science | Bellevue …

Accreditation

Bellevue University is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission through the U.S. Department of Education.

If you have a passion to help people, working in the human services field is a rewarding career. Exploring and understanding the effects of human actions and relationships between individuals in the family, in business, and society is the focus of Bellevue University's Bachelor of Science in Behavioral Science.

The foundational knowledge of the degree includes major concepts and theories from psychology, sociology, and counseling, with an emphasis on applications to human services and personal improvement. Applied experience will help you deepen a reflective understanding of self, of the needs of diverse populations of people, and agencies that provide services.

All Bellevue University degrees are designed to deliver a transformative student learning experience that is flexible enough to accommodate your personal and work schedules.

At successful completion of the Bellevue University Bachelor of Science in Behavioral Science degree you will be qualified to enter the human service field or for advancement in a current human services setting.

If you desire to pursue graduate study in clinical counseling or human services administration, the curriculum fully prepares you to pursue the Master of Arts in Human Services (a degree designed for human service agency administration leadership) or a Master of Science in Clinical Counseling (a degree designed for licensure preparation in mental health fields).

This degree equips you with the following learning skills (defined as critical thinking, creative thinking, communicating, and collaborating) needed for professionals in the field:

14/15 Academic Year

In Class

See the rest here:
Behavioral Science Degree - Bachelor of Science | Bellevue ...

Report: Undocumented getting more white-collar jobs

Undocumented immigrants are increasingly getting white-collar jobs as lower-skilled industries let more workers go, according to a report released Thursday.

In the years since the global recession slammed the U.S. economy - from 2007 to 2012 - construction and production jobs for undocumented immigrants fell by 475,000, according to the report from the Pew Research Center. At the same time, undocumented immigrants gained 180,000 management and professional jobs, the study showed.

"Despite these shifts, unauthorized immigrant workers remain concentrated in lower-skill jobs, much more so than U.S.-born workers," Pew concluded.

The report, which was based on government employment data from 2012, found that undocumented immigrants continue to be concentrated in the low-skilled workforce in the USA.

While undocumented immigrants account for 5% of the overall workforce, they represent 26% of employees in the farming, fishing and forestry industries; 17% of the cleaning and maintenance industries; 14% of the construction and extraction industries; and 11% of the food preparation and serving industries.

While undocumented immigrants saw net job gains in white-collar jobs, such as management, professional and office support occupations, they remained only 2% of the workers in those industries.

That profile means undocumented immigrants were also the hardest hit when the American recession struck, with undocumented immigrants more likely to be let go than U.S.-born workers. Overall, their share of the U.S. workforce fell from 5.4% in 2007 to 5.1% in 2012.

In 2007, undocumented immigrants made up 16% of construction workers. By 2012, that fell to 14%. Their share of the production workforce, including assemblers, food processors and machinists, fell from 10% in 2007 to 9% in 2012. Their share of service-industry jobs also fell from 10% in 2007 to 9% in 2012.

Other findings in the report:

? While the overall size of the undocumented immigrant population fell from 12.2 million in 2007 to 11.2 million in 2012, the number of undocumented immigrants in the labor force rose from 8.1 million to 8.3 million.

Continue reading here:
Report: Undocumented getting more white-collar jobs

Meet Cynthia Cariseo

Cynthia Cariseo has been doing Special Events for over 30 years. While continuing to cater to Major Corporations and the Rich and Famous, her studies and certifications in the field of Chinese Medicine and Anti-aging has become a very big part of Cynthias life.

Among many significant achievements, Cynthia produced a line of anti-aging products. In addition, worked with RX Formula Skin Care Products, training Doctors in the United States and South America on Glycolic Acid Peels. She also boasts over 30 years of experience in Aromatherapy, Rolfing, Reflexology, Chinese Medicine and their Techniques, Gourmet Healthy Cooking and all the wonderful T.I.P.S. in her book.

This is a powerful book that collects a wide range of information on how to live your life Healthy and Balanced. Certified in Gua Sha, Cynthia and Dr. Shlomi Gavish, DOM, AD have joined forces for one of the powerful TIPS in her book.

This traditional East Asian Technique, originating in China has come a long distance. Gua Sha is a part of acupuncture therapy which is proven to balance the meridians of the body, promoting a more balanced flow of circulation throughout the body.

Gua Sha has been indicated for any issues in the entire body. Its Natural, Effective, Convenient and has no side effects. Gua Sha is now being introduced to the USA. Licensed Massage Therapist, Acupuncturist, Spas and Health Professionals are now incorporating Gua Sha into their programs. Individuals are now practicing

Gua Sha in the comfort of their own home like the Chinese have practiced for generations. Gua Sha Trainings for Licensed Professionals Gua Sha Trainings for Individuals

Cynthia and Dr. Gavish are now scheduling Complimentary Presentations and Trainings

Join Cynthia and Dr. Gavish and special Guest Beniley from Beniley Wellness & Spa for a Complimentary Breakfast and A TASTE OF THE GUA SHA FACE LIFT AND BODY DE-STRESS

Friday, April 24, 2015, 7 AM to 9 AM, The Tower Club, 100 S. E. 3rd Street, 28th Floor, Ft. Lauderdale.

SPECIAL Training Pricing Available for Miami Beach Chamber Members and their guests

Original post:
Meet Cynthia Cariseo

New autism-causing genetic variant identified

Using a novel approach that homes in on rare families severely affected by autism, a Johns Hopkins-led team of researchers has identified a new genetic cause of the disease. The rare genetic variant offers important insights into the root causes of autism, the researchers say. And, they suggest, their unconventional method can be used to identify other genetic causes of autism and other complex genetic conditions.

A report on the study appears in the April 2 issue of the journal Nature.

In recent years, falling costs for genetic testing, together with powerful new means of storing and analyzing massive amounts of data, have ushered in the era of the genomewide association and sequencing studies. These studies typically compare genetic sequencing data from thousands of people with and without a given disease to map the locations of genetic variants that contribute to the disease. While genomewide association studies have linked many genes to particular diseases, their results have so far failed to lead to predictive genetic tests for common conditions, such as Alzheimer's, autism or schizophrenia.

"In genetics, we all believe that you have to sequence endlessly before you can find anything," says Aravinda Chakravarti, Ph.D. , a professor in the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine's McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine. "I think whom you sequence is as important -- if not more so -- than how many people are sequenced."

With that idea, Chakravarti and his collaborators identified families in which more than one female has autism spectrum disorder, a condition first described at Johns Hopkins in 1943. For reasons that are not understood, girls are far less likely than boys to have autism, but when girls do have the condition, their symptoms tend to be severe. Chakravarti reasoned that females with autism, particularly those with a close female relative who is also affected, must carry very potent genetic variants for the disease, and he wanted to find out what those were.

The research team compared the gene sequences of autistic members of 13 such families to the gene sequences of people from a public database. They found four potential culprit genes and focused on one, CTNND2, because it fell in a region of the genome known to be associated with another intellectual disability. When they studied the gene's effects in zebrafish, mice and cadaveric human brains, the research group found that the protein it makes affects how many other genes are regulated. The CTNND2 protein was found at far higher levels in fetal brains than in adult brains or other tissues, Chakravarti says, so it likely plays a key role in brain development.

Specifically, mutations in CNNTD2 disrupted the connections called synapses that form among brain cells. "This is consistent with recent findings that many gene mutations associated with autism are involved in synapse development," says Richard Huganir, Ph.D. , director of the Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, who participated in the research. "The results of this study add to the evidence that abnormal synaptic function may underlie the cognitive defects in autism."

While autism-causing variants in CTNND2 are very rare, Chakravarti says, the finding provides a window into the general biology of autism. "To devise new therapies, we need to have a good understanding of how the disease comes about in the first place," he says. "Genetics is a crucial way of doing that."

Chakravarti's research group is now working to find the functions of the other three genes identified as possibly associated with autism. They plan to use the same principle to look for disease genes in future studies of 100 similar autism-affected families, as well as other illnesses. "We've shown that even for genetically complicated diseases, families that have an extreme presentation are very informative in identifying culprit genes and their functions -- or, as geneticists are taught, 'treasure your exceptions.'" Chakravarti says.

###

Here is the original post:
New autism-causing genetic variant identified

Researchers Use Nanoparticles to Selectively Target Tumor Cells in Two Cancer Models

Contact Information

Available for logged-in reporters only

Newswise Nanoparticles hold great promise for cancer diagnostics and therapies, but only to the extent that they can be selectively guided to tumors and cancer cells. Leading a multidisciplinary group from Dartmouth College, Karl E. Griswold, PhD published, "Antibody-mediated targeting of iron oxide nanoparticles to the Folate receptor alpha increases tumor cell association in vitro and in vivo," in the International Journal of Nanomedicine, which follows closely the publication of "Tumor Cell Targeting by Iron Oxide Nanoparticles is Dominated by Different Factors in Vitro versus in Vivo," published in PLOS ONE.

"The ultimate utility of anti-cancer nanoparticle technologies will depend in large part on their capacity to selectively home to cancer cells," explained Griswold. "Achieving optimal targeting of nanoparticles in clinically relevant scenarios remains a key challenge for researchers in this space."

The in vivo environment is enormously complex, and there exists an extensive array of variables that determine distribution and cellular targeting of nanoparticles in the body. Homing of nanoparticles to tumors is dependent upon parameters such as nanoparticle size and composition, molecular targeting, surface chemistry, route of administration, cancer cell type, and tumor location.

Using carefully designed and rigorously validated functional nanomaterials, the Dartmouth team pursued a systematic study of those variables in xenograft models of both breast and ovarian human cancers. The in vivo studies showed that antibody targeted iron oxide nanoparticles accumulated in tumor tissues following systemic administration, whereas non-targeted nanoparticles failed to show any detectable tumor association. Importantly, molecular targeting not only localized nanoparticles to tumor masses, but it also resulted in nanoparticle internalization by the cancer cells at a microscopic level.

"This ability to accumulate iron oxide nanoparticles within cancerous cells following systemic administration has important implications for diagnostic and therapeutic applications of this particular type of magnetic nanomaterial," said Griswold.

The multidisciplinary Dartmouth studies utilized a broad variety of Dartmouth's Shared Resources for scientific investigation including the Dartmouth Transgenic and Genetic Construct Shared Resource; the Dartmouth Electron Microscope Facility; the Dartmouth Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence, Toxicology, Biodistribution, and Pathology Core; the Dartmouth Trace Element Core; and the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Norris Cotton Cancer Center Pathology Translational Research Core. All of the Dartmouth Cores and Shared Resources are open to outside investigators by arrangement.

"In studying cancer at Dartmouth, we are committed to team science," said Griswold. "Solutions to problems like these require transdisciplinary collaborations operating at the complex interfaces between molecular biotechnology, nanotechnology, biology, and medicine."

Looking forward, the researchers are in the final stages of follow-up work synthesizing and characterizing more sophisticated iron oxide nanoparticles that are more capable of targeting the inherent heterogeneity of cell surface markers in tumor microenvironments.

See more here:
Researchers Use Nanoparticles to Selectively Target Tumor Cells in Two Cancer Models

ACPS Students Earn 1st Place Awards in Piedmont Regional Science Fair

(ALBEMARLE COUNTY, Virginia) Students in Albemarle High School's Math, Engineering & Science Academy (MESA) earned both Best in Show Awards at the 34th annual Piedmont Regional Science Fair, held at the John Paul Jones Arena this month. Students from MESA also received the two runner-up Best in Show awards.

Overall, Albemarle County Public Schools students won first-place awards in 11 of the 15 science fair categories and received 30 of the 38 first, second or third place awards. The division's students also received 31 of the 45 Special Awards sponsored by local businesses and organizations in the senior or high school category.

The two Grand Award winners, Monika Grabowska and the team of Seth Liyanage and Ishpreet Singh, automatically qualified for the international science fair, sponsored by Intel and being held this year from May 10-15 in Pittsburgh.

Monica's research focused on the use of antioxidants as a molecular strategy to supplant the need for injections in the prevention and treatment of heart attacks. Seth and Ishpreet studied how to use electrolysis to develop the capability for swimmers and divers to stay underwater for prolonged period of time without the need for cumbersome breathing tanks.

Will Knopse and Selena Feng were the two runners-up. Will proposed using the game theory behavioral strategy commonly employed by businesses to track and respond to the incidence and spread of infectious diseases. Selena researched the use of a tiny camera as a non-contact method for monitoring heart rhythms. Her device would serve as an alternative to the often-used electrocardiogram.

These projects are classic examples of the value of the science fair, said Jeff Prillaman, MESA's director. We challenge our students to develop their own ideas as solutions or preferred alternatives to real-world needs, Prillaman said. You can easily see practical applications for these projects, uses that would improve upon current technologies or strategies, he added.

The research, planning, discipline, design, testing and collaboration that make a science fair project a winner, Prillaman said, are exactly the skills a student needs over a lifetime to ensure success in any career path. I really believe this is our purpose in educationit's not about choosing the right answer on a multiple choice test, but about student-driven discovery, the excitement and enthusiasm you see whenever students are creating knowledge, he said.

First-place winners in the high school category from Albemarle High School included Monica Graboswka in biochemistry; Doyeop Kim in chemistry; Tyler Cosgrove in computer science; Selena Feng in materials and bioengineering; Seth Liyanage and Ishpreet Singh in electrical and mechanical engineering; David Calhoun and Danny Smyth in Energy & Transportation; Will Knospe in mathematical sciences; Rahim Zaman in medicine & health sciences; David Hatter and Brendan Ventura in physics & astronomy; and Graham Haynie in plant sciences.

Lillian Xu from Western Albemarle High School won first place in cellular & molecular biology.

To appreciate the impact of the science fair, said Western Albemarle's Carol Stutzman, two of our 2014 winners independently told me that in their college admission interviews, the majority of their discussion was about their science project. It's understandable that some of the best universities in the nation would place a high premium on a student's ability to complete and utilize independent research in a compelling way, she added.

Read more here:
ACPS Students Earn 1st Place Awards in Piedmont Regional Science Fair