Thursday, November 24, 2011
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Language localized in the brain
MIT researchers have found that there are parts of our brain dedicated only to language, a finding that marks a major advance in the search for brain regions specialized for sophisticated mental functions.
Functional specificity refers to the idea that discrete parts of the brain handle distinct tasks. Scientists have long known that functional specificity exists in certain domains: in the motor system, for example, there is one patch of neurons that controls the fingers of your left hand, and another that controls your tongue.
But what about more complex functions such as recognizing faces, using language or doing math? Are there special brain regions for those activities, or do they use general-purpose areas that serve whatever task is at hand?
To determine this, the researchers analyzed each subject individually using fMRI, making sure that patterns of activity in one brain would only ever be compared to patterns of activity from that same brain. The researchers spent the first 10 to 15 minutes of each fMRI scan having their subject do a fairly sophisticated language task while tracking brain activity. This way, they established where the language areas lie in that individual subject, so that later, when the subject performed other cognitive tasks, they could compare those activation patterns to the ones elicited by language.
After having their subjects perform the initial language task (a “functional localizer”), the researchers had each one do a subset of seven other experiments: one on exact arithmetic, two on working memory, three on cognitive control and one on music, since these are the functions most commonly argued “to share neural machinery with language.”
Out of the nine regions they analyzed — four in the left frontal lobe, including the region known as Broca’s area, and five further back in the left hemisphere — eight uniquely supported language, showing no significant activation for any of the seven other tasks. These findings indicate a “striking degree of functional specificity for language,” the researchers said.
The researchers said the results don’t imply that every cognitive function has its own dedicated piece of cortex. However, they said the results give hope to researchers looking to draw some distinctions within the human cortex.
Functional specificity refers to the idea that discrete parts of the brain handle distinct tasks. Scientists have long known that functional specificity exists in certain domains: in the motor system, for example, there is one patch of neurons that controls the fingers of your left hand, and another that controls your tongue.
But what about more complex functions such as recognizing faces, using language or doing math? Are there special brain regions for those activities, or do they use general-purpose areas that serve whatever task is at hand?
To determine this, the researchers analyzed each subject individually using fMRI, making sure that patterns of activity in one brain would only ever be compared to patterns of activity from that same brain. The researchers spent the first 10 to 15 minutes of each fMRI scan having their subject do a fairly sophisticated language task while tracking brain activity. This way, they established where the language areas lie in that individual subject, so that later, when the subject performed other cognitive tasks, they could compare those activation patterns to the ones elicited by language.
After having their subjects perform the initial language task (a “functional localizer”), the researchers had each one do a subset of seven other experiments: one on exact arithmetic, two on working memory, three on cognitive control and one on music, since these are the functions most commonly argued “to share neural machinery with language.”
Out of the nine regions they analyzed — four in the left frontal lobe, including the region known as Broca’s area, and five further back in the left hemisphere — eight uniquely supported language, showing no significant activation for any of the seven other tasks. These findings indicate a “striking degree of functional specificity for language,” the researchers said.
The researchers said the results don’t imply that every cognitive function has its own dedicated piece of cortex. However, they said the results give hope to researchers looking to draw some distinctions within the human cortex.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
'Anonymous’ plans to ‘destroy’ Facebook on Nov. 5
A user named “Anonymous” has issued a YouTube press release announcing a plan dubbed “Operation Facebook” to “destroy” Facebook on Nov. 5.
“Facebook is the opposite of the Antisec cause,” the press release reads. Facebook “knows more about you than your family, has been selling information to government agencies and giving clandestine access to information security firms so that they can spy on people from all around the world,” the announcement says.
Nov. 5 is the date commemorating Guy Fawkes (of V for Vendetta fame) and his co-conspirators’ failed plot to blow up England’s House of Lords in 1605.
“Facebook is the opposite of the Antisec cause,” the press release reads. Facebook “knows more about you than your family, has been selling information to government agencies and giving clandestine access to information security firms so that they can spy on people from all around the world,” the announcement says.
Nov. 5 is the date commemorating Guy Fawkes (of V for Vendetta fame) and his co-conspirators’ failed plot to blow up England’s House of Lords in 1605.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
One-way sound transmission system allows for sound control, energy-harvesting
Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have created the first tunable acoustic diode — a device that allows acoustic information to travel only in one direction, at controllable frequencies.
The researchers used experiments, simulations, and analytical predictions to demonstrate one-way transmission of sound in an audible frequency range for the first time.
This new mechanism brings the idea of true soundproofing closer to reality, the researchers said. This enables someone in room A to hear sound coming from room B; however, it would block the same sound in room A from being heard in room B.
To obtain a sharp transition between transmitting and non-transmitting states, the team created a periodic system with a small defect that supports this kind of quick change from an “on” to an “off” transmission state. The system is very sensitive to small variations of operational conditions, like pressure and movement, making it useful in the development of ultrasensitive acoustic sensors to detect sound waves. The system can also operate at different frequencies of sound and is capable of downshifting, or reducing the frequency of the traveling signals, as needed.
The system is based on a simple assembly of elastic spheres — granular crystals that transmit the sound vibrations — that could be easily used in multiple settings, can be tuned easily, and can potentially be scaled to operate within a wide range of frequencies. Its application could reach far beyond soundproofing, the researchers said.
Potential uses include architectural acoustics for sound control within buildings, biomedical ultrasound devices, advanced noise control, and thermal materials aimed at temperature control.
“We propose to use these effects to improve energy-harvesting technologies,” she says. “For example, we may be able to scavenge sound energy from undesired structural vibrations in machinery by controlling the flow of sound waves away from the machinery and into a transducer. The transducer would then convert the sound waves into electricity.” Daraio says the technology can also shift the undesired frequencies to a range that enables a more efficient conversion to electricity.
The researchers used experiments, simulations, and analytical predictions to demonstrate one-way transmission of sound in an audible frequency range for the first time.
This new mechanism brings the idea of true soundproofing closer to reality, the researchers said. This enables someone in room A to hear sound coming from room B; however, it would block the same sound in room A from being heard in room B.
To obtain a sharp transition between transmitting and non-transmitting states, the team created a periodic system with a small defect that supports this kind of quick change from an “on” to an “off” transmission state. The system is very sensitive to small variations of operational conditions, like pressure and movement, making it useful in the development of ultrasensitive acoustic sensors to detect sound waves. The system can also operate at different frequencies of sound and is capable of downshifting, or reducing the frequency of the traveling signals, as needed.
The system is based on a simple assembly of elastic spheres — granular crystals that transmit the sound vibrations — that could be easily used in multiple settings, can be tuned easily, and can potentially be scaled to operate within a wide range of frequencies. Its application could reach far beyond soundproofing, the researchers said.
Potential uses include architectural acoustics for sound control within buildings, biomedical ultrasound devices, advanced noise control, and thermal materials aimed at temperature control.
“We propose to use these effects to improve energy-harvesting technologies,” she says. “For example, we may be able to scavenge sound energy from undesired structural vibrations in machinery by controlling the flow of sound waves away from the machinery and into a transducer. The transducer would then convert the sound waves into electricity.” Daraio says the technology can also shift the undesired frequencies to a range that enables a more efficient conversion to electricity.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Researchers identify seventh and eighth bases of DNA
Researchers from the University of North Carolina (UNC) School of Medicine have identified the seventh and eighth bases of DNA.
For decades, scientists have known that DNA consists of four basic units — adenine, guanine, thymine, and cytosine. In recent history, scientists have expanded that list from four to six.
Much is known about the “fifth base,” 5-methylcytosine, which arises when a chemical tag or methyl group is tacked onto a cytosine. This methylation is associated with gene silencing, since it causes the DNA’s double helix to fold even tighter upon itself. Last year, the researchers found that Tet proteins can convert 5 methylC (the fifth base) to 5 hydroxymethylC (the sixth base) in the first of a four-step reaction leading back to cytosine.
However, the researchers could not continue the reaction on to the seventh and eighth bases, called 5 formylC and 5 carboxyC. The problem was that their experimental assay wasn’t sensitive enough. They redesigned it and were able to detect the seventh and eighth bases — called 5-formylcytosine (5fC) and 5 carboxylcytosine (5caC) — which are actually versions of cytosine that have been modified by Tet proteins, molecular entities thought to play a role in DNA demethylation and stem cell reprogramming.
The researchers then examined embryonic stem cells as well as mouse organs and found that both bases can be detected in genomic DNA.
Their findings could have important implications for stem cell research, since it could provide researchers with new tools to erase previous methylation patterns to reprogram adult cells. It could also inform cancer research by giving scientists the opportunity to reactivate tumor suppressor genes that had been silenced by DNA methylation.
For decades, scientists have known that DNA consists of four basic units — adenine, guanine, thymine, and cytosine. In recent history, scientists have expanded that list from four to six.
Much is known about the “fifth base,” 5-methylcytosine, which arises when a chemical tag or methyl group is tacked onto a cytosine. This methylation is associated with gene silencing, since it causes the DNA’s double helix to fold even tighter upon itself. Last year, the researchers found that Tet proteins can convert 5 methylC (the fifth base) to 5 hydroxymethylC (the sixth base) in the first of a four-step reaction leading back to cytosine.
However, the researchers could not continue the reaction on to the seventh and eighth bases, called 5 formylC and 5 carboxyC. The problem was that their experimental assay wasn’t sensitive enough. They redesigned it and were able to detect the seventh and eighth bases — called 5-formylcytosine (5fC) and 5 carboxylcytosine (5caC) — which are actually versions of cytosine that have been modified by Tet proteins, molecular entities thought to play a role in DNA demethylation and stem cell reprogramming.
The researchers then examined embryonic stem cells as well as mouse organs and found that both bases can be detected in genomic DNA.
Their findings could have important implications for stem cell research, since it could provide researchers with new tools to erase previous methylation patterns to reprogram adult cells. It could also inform cancer research by giving scientists the opportunity to reactivate tumor suppressor genes that had been silenced by DNA methylation.
Touchscreen keyboard morphs to fit your typing style
Typing on a touchscreen is not one of life's pleasures: the one-size-fits-all nature of most virtual keyboards is a hassle that puts many of us off using them. I've lost count of the number of times I've seen journalists put down an iPad, for instance, and pick up a laptop or netbook to do some serious notetaking or writing.
IBM, however, says it doesn't have to be that way. In a recently filed US patent application, three IBM engineers posit the notion of a virtual keyboard in which the position of the keys and the overall layout is entirely set by the user's finger anatomy. That way, they argue, people will be better able to type at speed, with all keys within comfortable range and so end up, with fewer errors.
After an initial calibration stage, in which the keyboard asks users to undertake a series of exercises to set response time, anatomical algorithms get to work, sensing through the touchscreen the finger skin touch area, finger size and finger position for the logged in user.
As this information is gathered - IBM does not say over what period this learning takes place - the virtual key buttons are automatically resized, reshaped and repositioned in response.
The patent shows a keyboard with some keys subtly higher than others, and with some fatter than others. This "adapts the keyboard to the user's unique typing motion paths" governed by their different physical finger anatomies, says IBM, which suggests the idea being used in both touchscreen and projected "surface computing" displays.
There does seem scope for such ideas. In a review of the Apple iPad, review website MacInTouch said: "A touch typist found it frustratingly glitchy versus a real keyboard, producing all sorts of ghost characters when the screen repeatedly misinterpreted his fingers' intentions."
Perhaps anatomical profiling is just what's needed.
IBM, however, says it doesn't have to be that way. In a recently filed US patent application, three IBM engineers posit the notion of a virtual keyboard in which the position of the keys and the overall layout is entirely set by the user's finger anatomy. That way, they argue, people will be better able to type at speed, with all keys within comfortable range and so end up, with fewer errors.
After an initial calibration stage, in which the keyboard asks users to undertake a series of exercises to set response time, anatomical algorithms get to work, sensing through the touchscreen the finger skin touch area, finger size and finger position for the logged in user.
As this information is gathered - IBM does not say over what period this learning takes place - the virtual key buttons are automatically resized, reshaped and repositioned in response.
The patent shows a keyboard with some keys subtly higher than others, and with some fatter than others. This "adapts the keyboard to the user's unique typing motion paths" governed by their different physical finger anatomies, says IBM, which suggests the idea being used in both touchscreen and projected "surface computing" displays.
There does seem scope for such ideas. In a review of the Apple iPad, review website MacInTouch said: "A touch typist found it frustratingly glitchy versus a real keyboard, producing all sorts of ghost characters when the screen repeatedly misinterpreted his fingers' intentions."
Perhaps anatomical profiling is just what's needed.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Brain scans reveal why some people feel your pain
Researchers at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, have observed atypical neurophysiological activity in amputees who experience synesthetic pain (pain synesthetes) when observing pain in another.
The researchers found that reduced alpha and theta brainwaves in pain synesthetes may reflect inhibition of normal inhibitory mechanisms (neurotransmitters involved in the processing of observed pain) as well as increased synesthetic pain.
The researchers used EEG to record brain activity in eight amputees who experienced both phantom and synesthetic pain, 10 amputees who experienced just phantom pain, and 10 healthy people with no amputations while they looked at images of hands or feet in potentially painful and non-painful situations.
When viewing the images, the researchers found that the pain synesthetes exhibited decreased theta and alpha brainwaves compared with the other volunteers. The researchers said that such a decrease reflects an increase in neural activity, suggesting that their mirror systems (neurons that fire when an animal observes the same action performed by another) are activated more strongly.
They said the traumatic experience associated with losing a limb may heighten the sensitivity of pain synesthetes to others’ pain. When threatened, our body naturally becomes hypervigilant to pain: our pain threshold lowers, which can make even small triggers painful. Pain synesthesia may be a symptom of an abnormal, ongoing hypervigilance, the researchers said.
The researchers found that reduced alpha and theta brainwaves in pain synesthetes may reflect inhibition of normal inhibitory mechanisms (neurotransmitters involved in the processing of observed pain) as well as increased synesthetic pain.
The researchers used EEG to record brain activity in eight amputees who experienced both phantom and synesthetic pain, 10 amputees who experienced just phantom pain, and 10 healthy people with no amputations while they looked at images of hands or feet in potentially painful and non-painful situations.
When viewing the images, the researchers found that the pain synesthetes exhibited decreased theta and alpha brainwaves compared with the other volunteers. The researchers said that such a decrease reflects an increase in neural activity, suggesting that their mirror systems (neurons that fire when an animal observes the same action performed by another) are activated more strongly.
They said the traumatic experience associated with losing a limb may heighten the sensitivity of pain synesthetes to others’ pain. When threatened, our body naturally becomes hypervigilant to pain: our pain threshold lowers, which can make even small triggers painful. Pain synesthesia may be a symptom of an abnormal, ongoing hypervigilance, the researchers said.
Mining patterns in search data with Google Correlate
Google Correlate has been launched on Google Labs. Users can now upload their own data series and retrieve a list of search terms based on popularity to see what best corresponds with a real world trend.
In the example below, official flu activity data were uploaded from the U.S. CDC over the last several years. The data reveal that people search for terms like [cold or flu] in a pattern similar to actual flu rates. Finding these correlated terms, a Google Flu Trends graph was built.
Users can also enter search terms such as [ribosome] and find other terms with activity that correspond well over time.
A white paper describes the methodology behind Google Correlate. How can Google help with the flu? Find out here.
In the example below, official flu activity data were uploaded from the U.S. CDC over the last several years. The data reveal that people search for terms like [cold or flu] in a pattern similar to actual flu rates. Finding these correlated terms, a Google Flu Trends graph was built.
Users can also enter search terms such as [ribosome] and find other terms with activity that correspond well over time.
A white paper describes the methodology behind Google Correlate. How can Google help with the flu? Find out here.
Gestural interfaces: a step backwards in usability?
Usability researchers from the Nielsen Norman group have pointed out that well-tested and understood standards of interaction design are being “overthrown, ignored, and violated” in the rush to develop natural gestural interfaces that can lead to “usability disaster.”
“The first crop of iPad apps revived memories of Web designs from 1993, when Mosaic first introduced the image map that made it possible for any part of any picture to become a UI element,” said Norman Nielsen. “As a result, graphic designers went wild: anything they could draw could be a UI, whether it made sense or not. It’s the same with iPad apps: anything you can show and touch can be a UI on this device. There are no standards and no expectations.”
“One of the worst designs last year was USA Today‘s section navigation, which required users to touch the newspaper logo despite the complete lack of any perceived affordance that the logo would have this effect….
“I thought I’d driven a stake through splash screens many years ago and eradicated them from the Web, but apparently splash screens are super-vampires that can haunt users from beyond the grave.”
“The first crop of iPad apps revived memories of Web designs from 1993, when Mosaic first introduced the image map that made it possible for any part of any picture to become a UI element,” said Norman Nielsen. “As a result, graphic designers went wild: anything they could draw could be a UI, whether it made sense or not. It’s the same with iPad apps: anything you can show and touch can be a UI on this device. There are no standards and no expectations.”
“One of the worst designs last year was USA Today‘s section navigation, which required users to touch the newspaper logo despite the complete lack of any perceived affordance that the logo would have this effect….
“I thought I’d driven a stake through splash screens many years ago and eradicated them from the Web, but apparently splash screens are super-vampires that can haunt users from beyond the grave.”
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Transformer robot turns into a helicopter
A transformer robot that turns into a helicopter has been developed by researchers at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Distributed Robotics.
The robot uses separate motors to run the wheels and the rotors rather than a complex system. Although the first prototype is fragile, future designs will have simpler and more robust folding mechanisms, according to the researchers, including an extendable boom with a tail rotor, similar to those used by helicopters, to provide more stability in flight.
The robot uses separate motors to run the wheels and the rotors rather than a complex system. Although the first prototype is fragile, future designs will have simpler and more robust folding mechanisms, according to the researchers, including an extendable boom with a tail rotor, similar to those used by helicopters, to provide more stability in flight.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
‘Survival protein’ protects the brain against effects of stroke
A “survival protein” that protects the brain against the effects of stroke in rodent brain tissue has been discovered by scientists at Johns Hopkins University. The finding has implications for treating stroke as well as Parkinson’s Disease, diabetes, and heart attack.
When brain tissue is subjected to a stressful but not lethal insult, a defense response occurs that protects cells from subsequent insult. The scientists dissected this preconditioning pathway to identify the most critical molecular players, including the Iduna protein. This protein increased three- to four-fold in preconditioned mouse brain tissue following an insult to the tissue, the scientists said.
The team exposed mouse brain cells to short bursts of a toxic chemical, and then screened these “preconditioned” cells for genes that turned on as a result of the insult. Focusing on Iduna, the researchers turned up the gene’s activity in the cells during exposure to the toxic chemical, which induced preconditioning. Cells deficient in Iduna did not survive, but those with more Iduna did.
The scientists found that the Iduna protein interferes with a particular kind of cell death that’s implicated in complications from diabetes and heart attack as well as stroke. By binding with a molecule known as PAR polymer, Iduna prevents the movement of cell-death-inducing factor (AIF) into a cell’s nucleus.
“Apparently, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” says Valina Dawson, Ph.D. “This protective response was broad in its defense of neurons and glia and blood vessels — the entire brain. It’s not just a delay of death, but real protection that lasts for about 72 hours.”
When brain tissue is subjected to a stressful but not lethal insult, a defense response occurs that protects cells from subsequent insult. The scientists dissected this preconditioning pathway to identify the most critical molecular players, including the Iduna protein. This protein increased three- to four-fold in preconditioned mouse brain tissue following an insult to the tissue, the scientists said.
The team exposed mouse brain cells to short bursts of a toxic chemical, and then screened these “preconditioned” cells for genes that turned on as a result of the insult. Focusing on Iduna, the researchers turned up the gene’s activity in the cells during exposure to the toxic chemical, which induced preconditioning. Cells deficient in Iduna did not survive, but those with more Iduna did.
The scientists found that the Iduna protein interferes with a particular kind of cell death that’s implicated in complications from diabetes and heart attack as well as stroke. By binding with a molecule known as PAR polymer, Iduna prevents the movement of cell-death-inducing factor (AIF) into a cell’s nucleus.
“Apparently, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” says Valina Dawson, Ph.D. “This protective response was broad in its defense of neurons and glia and blood vessels — the entire brain. It’s not just a delay of death, but real protection that lasts for about 72 hours.”
Monday, May 16, 2011
Tiny variation in one gene may have led to crucial changes in human brain
A tiny variation within a single gene may determine the formation of brain convolutions, the deep fissures and convolutions that increase its surface area and allow for rational and abstract thoughts, researchers at Yale University have discovered.
A genetic analysis of a Turkish patient whose brain lacks the characteristic convolutions in part of his cerebral cortex revealed that the deformity was caused by the deletion of two genetic letters from 3 billion in the human genetic alphabet. Similar variations of the same gene, called laminin gamma3 (LAMC3), were discovered in two other patients with similar abnormalities.
An analysis of the gene shows that it is expressed during the embryonic period. This period is vital to the formation of dendrites, which form synapses or connections between brain cells, the researchers said.
They said that although the same gene is present in lower organisms with smooth brains, such as mice, somehow over time it has evolved to gain novel functions that are fundamental for human occipital cortex formation. Its mutation leads to the loss of surface convolutions, a hallmark of the human brain, the researchers said.
A genetic analysis of a Turkish patient whose brain lacks the characteristic convolutions in part of his cerebral cortex revealed that the deformity was caused by the deletion of two genetic letters from 3 billion in the human genetic alphabet. Similar variations of the same gene, called laminin gamma3 (LAMC3), were discovered in two other patients with similar abnormalities.
An analysis of the gene shows that it is expressed during the embryonic period. This period is vital to the formation of dendrites, which form synapses or connections between brain cells, the researchers said.
They said that although the same gene is present in lower organisms with smooth brains, such as mice, somehow over time it has evolved to gain novel functions that are fundamental for human occipital cortex formation. Its mutation leads to the loss of surface convolutions, a hallmark of the human brain, the researchers said.
Tiny variation in one gene may have led to crucial changes in human brain
A tiny variation within a single gene may determine the formation of brain convolutions, the deep fissures and convolutions that increase its surface area and allow for rational and abstract thoughts, researchers at Yale University have discovered.
A genetic analysis of a Turkish patient whose brain lacks the characteristic convolutions in part of his cerebral cortex revealed that the deformity was caused by the deletion of two genetic letters from 3 billion in the human genetic alphabet. Similar variations of the same gene, called laminin gamma3 (LAMC3), were discovered in two other patients with similar abnormalities.
An analysis of the gene shows that it is expressed during the embryonic period. This period is vital to the formation of dendrites, which form synapses or connections between brain cells, the researchers said.
They said that although the same gene is present in lower organisms with smooth brains, such as mice, somehow over time it has evolved to gain novel functions that are fundamental for human occipital cortex formation. Its mutation leads to the loss of surface convolutions, a hallmark of the human brain, the researchers said.
A genetic analysis of a Turkish patient whose brain lacks the characteristic convolutions in part of his cerebral cortex revealed that the deformity was caused by the deletion of two genetic letters from 3 billion in the human genetic alphabet. Similar variations of the same gene, called laminin gamma3 (LAMC3), were discovered in two other patients with similar abnormalities.
An analysis of the gene shows that it is expressed during the embryonic period. This period is vital to the formation of dendrites, which form synapses or connections between brain cells, the researchers said.
They said that although the same gene is present in lower organisms with smooth brains, such as mice, somehow over time it has evolved to gain novel functions that are fundamental for human occipital cortex formation. Its mutation leads to the loss of surface convolutions, a hallmark of the human brain, the researchers said.
‘Master switch’ gene for obesity and diabetes discovered
A gene linked to type 2 diabetes and cholesterol levels is in fact a “master regulator” gene that controls the behavior of other genes found within fat in the body, researchers at King’s College London and the University of Oxford have found.
The researchers examined over 20,000 genes in subcutaneous fat biopsies from 800 UK female twin volunteers.
They found an association between the KLF14 gene (inherited from the mother) and the expression levels of multiple distant genes found in fat tissue. This means that it acts as a master switch to control these genes, the researchers said. This was then confirmed in a further independent sample of 600 subcutaneous fat biopsies from Icelandic subjects.
Other genes controlled by KLF14 are in fact linked to a range of metabolic traits, including body-mass index (obesity), cholesterol, insulin and glucose levels, highlighting the interconnectedness of metabolic traits, the researchers said.
The researchers examined over 20,000 genes in subcutaneous fat biopsies from 800 UK female twin volunteers.
They found an association between the KLF14 gene (inherited from the mother) and the expression levels of multiple distant genes found in fat tissue. This means that it acts as a master switch to control these genes, the researchers said. This was then confirmed in a further independent sample of 600 subcutaneous fat biopsies from Icelandic subjects.
Other genes controlled by KLF14 are in fact linked to a range of metabolic traits, including body-mass index (obesity), cholesterol, insulin and glucose levels, highlighting the interconnectedness of metabolic traits, the researchers said.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Removable ‘cloak’ for nanoparticles helps them target tumors
A new type of drug-delivery nanoparticle that could target nearly any type of tumor and carry virtually any type of drug has been developed by chemists at MIT.
The new nanoparticles are cloaked in a polymer layer that protects them from being degraded by the bloodstream and can survive in the bloodstream for up to 24 hours.
This outer layer falls off after entering the slightly more acidic environment near a tumor, revealing another layer that is able to penetrate individual tumor cells.
The tumor acidity is a byproduct of the tumor’s intensified metabolism. Tumor cells grow and divide much more rapidly than normal cells, and that metabolic activity uses up a lot of oxygen, which increases acidity. As the tumor grows, the tissue becomes more and more acidic.
To build their targeted particles, the researchers used a technique called “layer-by-layer assembly.” This means each layer can be tailored to perform a specific function.
When the outer layer (made of polyethylene glycol, or PEG) breaks down in the tumor’s acidic environment, a positively charged middle layer is revealed, allowing the nanoparticle to penetrate the negatively charged cell membrane.
The nanoparticles’ innermost layer can be a polymer that carries a cancer drug, or a quantum dot that could be used for imaging, or virtually anything else that the designer might want to deliver.
These particles are the first that have been successfully tested in living animals by targeting acidity, the researchers said.
The new nanoparticles are cloaked in a polymer layer that protects them from being degraded by the bloodstream and can survive in the bloodstream for up to 24 hours.
This outer layer falls off after entering the slightly more acidic environment near a tumor, revealing another layer that is able to penetrate individual tumor cells.
The tumor acidity is a byproduct of the tumor’s intensified metabolism. Tumor cells grow and divide much more rapidly than normal cells, and that metabolic activity uses up a lot of oxygen, which increases acidity. As the tumor grows, the tissue becomes more and more acidic.
To build their targeted particles, the researchers used a technique called “layer-by-layer assembly.” This means each layer can be tailored to perform a specific function.
When the outer layer (made of polyethylene glycol, or PEG) breaks down in the tumor’s acidic environment, a positively charged middle layer is revealed, allowing the nanoparticle to penetrate the negatively charged cell membrane.
The nanoparticles’ innermost layer can be a polymer that carries a cancer drug, or a quantum dot that could be used for imaging, or virtually anything else that the designer might want to deliver.
These particles are the first that have been successfully tested in living animals by targeting acidity, the researchers said.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Wearable scanner opens new frontier in neuroscience
A tiny wearable positron emission tomography (PET) scanner has been used to track chemical activity in the brains of unrestrained animals while an animal behaves naturally; it could be modified for people.
By revealing neurological circuitry as the subjects perform normal tasks, researchers say, the technology could greatly broaden the understanding of learning, addiction, depression, and other conditions.
A conventional PET scanner is so large that these studies have to be performed with the subject lying inside a large tube.
By revealing neurological circuitry as the subjects perform normal tasks, researchers say, the technology could greatly broaden the understanding of learning, addiction, depression, and other conditions.
A conventional PET scanner is so large that these studies have to be performed with the subject lying inside a large tube.
New app displays the latest earthquakes worldwide
Earthquake Lite, a free iPhone/Android app, displays global seismic activity and lists of events that you can filter by location, magnitude, and time, writes blogger Bob Tedeschi.
For example, the app listed nine significant tremors near Japan’s east coast, and one in western China for the week of March 14. You can sort the list according to magnitude, date, and location of the earthquake using free USGS data, and drill down to see the epicenter and more details.
iPhone users of the paid version can receive notifications of any tremor registering 6.0 or more on the Richter scale.
For example, the app listed nine significant tremors near Japan’s east coast, and one in western China for the week of March 14. You can sort the list according to magnitude, date, and location of the earthquake using free USGS data, and drill down to see the epicenter and more details.
iPhone users of the paid version can receive notifications of any tremor registering 6.0 or more on the Richter scale.
Surveillance robot knows when to hide
A surveillance robot that knows when to hide has been developed by Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Technology Laboratories.
The robot avoids visible detection by sentries of known locations, potential detection by sentries whose positions are unknown, areas in which the robot has no means of escape, and areas that are well lit.
It builds a computer model of its surroundings and incorporates information on lines of sight. A laser scanner covertly maps its environment in 3D, and acoustic sensors distinguish nearby footsteps and their direction.
"Lockheed Martin's approach does include a sort of basic theory of mind, in the sense that the robot makes assumptions about how to act covertly in the presence of humans," says Alan Wagner of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, who works on artificial intelligence and robot deception.
But the level at which the robot's software operates is probably limited to task-specific instructions such as, "if you hear a noise, scurry to the nearest dark corner", he says. That's not sophisticated enough to hide from humans in varied environments.
"Significant AI will be needed to develop a robot which can act covertly in a general setting," Wagner says. "The robot will need to consider its own shape and size, to have the ability to navigate potential paths, [to be aware of] each person's individual line of view, the impact that its movement will have on the environment, and so on."
The robot avoids visible detection by sentries of known locations, potential detection by sentries whose positions are unknown, areas in which the robot has no means of escape, and areas that are well lit.
It builds a computer model of its surroundings and incorporates information on lines of sight. A laser scanner covertly maps its environment in 3D, and acoustic sensors distinguish nearby footsteps and their direction.
"Lockheed Martin's approach does include a sort of basic theory of mind, in the sense that the robot makes assumptions about how to act covertly in the presence of humans," says Alan Wagner of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, who works on artificial intelligence and robot deception.
But the level at which the robot's software operates is probably limited to task-specific instructions such as, "if you hear a noise, scurry to the nearest dark corner", he says. That's not sophisticated enough to hide from humans in varied environments.
"Significant AI will be needed to develop a robot which can act covertly in a general setting," Wagner says. "The robot will need to consider its own shape and size, to have the ability to navigate potential paths, [to be aware of] each person's individual line of view, the impact that its movement will have on the environment, and so on."
Monday, March 21, 2011
FDA approves eyesight-enhancing technology
The FDA has approved the use of a refractive surgery technology called the Rochester Nomogram, says Scott MacRae, M.D., who helped develop the formula at the University of Rochester Medical Center.
With the aid of the Nomogram, 99.3 percent of the eyes that MacRae operates on using LASIK surgery have vision of 20/20 or better. The Nomogram was first created and tested about five years ago by MacRae working together with Manoj Venkiteshwar, Ph.D.
Venkiteshwar and MacRae helped to create a field known as customized ablation, a form of LASIK that corrects subtle imperfections, bringing about a super-crisp quality of eyesight. Beyond making vision on the order of 20/15 or 20/16 possible or even commonplace in some groups of patients, the technology also increases the eye’s ability to see in situations where there is low light or little contrast.
They calculated the subtle effects that customized ablation can have on the eye and how the eye shunts around light. Specifically, they found that fixing subtle imperfections that hadn’t even been recognized before offered new opportunities for enhancing a person’s vision. They developed the Rochester Nomogram to allow surgeons to take advantage of this information during refractive surgery.
The FDA approval is the latest development in a nearly 20-year-long project by University of Rochester scientists and physicians to study and improve human vision, explains MacRae. MacRae is the author of two best-selling books on customized ablation, including Customized Corneal Ablation: The Quest for Supervision.
With the aid of the Nomogram, 99.3 percent of the eyes that MacRae operates on using LASIK surgery have vision of 20/20 or better. The Nomogram was first created and tested about five years ago by MacRae working together with Manoj Venkiteshwar, Ph.D.
Venkiteshwar and MacRae helped to create a field known as customized ablation, a form of LASIK that corrects subtle imperfections, bringing about a super-crisp quality of eyesight. Beyond making vision on the order of 20/15 or 20/16 possible or even commonplace in some groups of patients, the technology also increases the eye’s ability to see in situations where there is low light or little contrast.
They calculated the subtle effects that customized ablation can have on the eye and how the eye shunts around light. Specifically, they found that fixing subtle imperfections that hadn’t even been recognized before offered new opportunities for enhancing a person’s vision. They developed the Rochester Nomogram to allow surgeons to take advantage of this information during refractive surgery.
The FDA approval is the latest development in a nearly 20-year-long project by University of Rochester scientists and physicians to study and improve human vision, explains MacRae. MacRae is the author of two best-selling books on customized ablation, including Customized Corneal Ablation: The Quest for Supervision.
Gene therapy for advanced Parkinson’s reduces symptoms
A multi-center gene therapy trial for patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease has demonstrated reduced symptoms of progressive movement disorder, reports Andrew Feigin, MD, associate professor of neurology and molecular medicine at The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in Manhasset, NY.
The study was designed to deliver the gene for glumatic acid decarboxylase (GAD), packaged in inert viral vectors, into an area of the brain called the subthalamic nucleus. GAD makes an important inhibitory chemical called GABA. The subthalamic nucleus is abnormally activated in Parkinson’s disease, leading to debilitating movement problems.
All participants in the study had a positron emission tomography (PET) brain scan before the surgery to confirm the diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease. Each patient in the active treatment received about a billion viral vectors.
The treated group showed a 23 percent improvement on the United Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (which assesses motor symptoms), compared to a 12 percent improvement in those who received sham surgery.
Their work appears in the journal The Lancet Neurology.
The study was designed to deliver the gene for glumatic acid decarboxylase (GAD), packaged in inert viral vectors, into an area of the brain called the subthalamic nucleus. GAD makes an important inhibitory chemical called GABA. The subthalamic nucleus is abnormally activated in Parkinson’s disease, leading to debilitating movement problems.
All participants in the study had a positron emission tomography (PET) brain scan before the surgery to confirm the diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease. Each patient in the active treatment received about a billion viral vectors.
The treated group showed a 23 percent improvement on the United Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (which assesses motor symptoms), compared to a 12 percent improvement in those who received sham surgery.
Their work appears in the journal The Lancet Neurology.
Army deploying ‘Individual Gunshot Detector’
U.S. Army forces in Afghanistan will begin receiving the first of more than 13,000 gunshot detection systems for the individual dismounted soldier later this month, according to the U.S. Army.
The Individual Gunshot Detector (IGD), made by QinetiQ North America, consists of four small acoustic sensors worn by the individual soldier and a small display screen attached to body armor that shows the distance and direction of incoming fire. The system weighs just under two pounds.
The small sensor, about the size of a deck of cards, detects the supersonic sound waves generated by enemy gunfire and instantaneously alerts soldiers to the location and distance toward the hostile fire.
In the future, the Army plans to integrate this technology with its Land Warrior and Nett Warrior systems. These are network-situational-awareness systems for dismounted units, complete with a helmet-mounted display screen that uses GPS digital-mapping-display technology.
The Individual Gunshot Detector (IGD), made by QinetiQ North America, consists of four small acoustic sensors worn by the individual soldier and a small display screen attached to body armor that shows the distance and direction of incoming fire. The system weighs just under two pounds.
The small sensor, about the size of a deck of cards, detects the supersonic sound waves generated by enemy gunfire and instantaneously alerts soldiers to the location and distance toward the hostile fire.
In the future, the Army plans to integrate this technology with its Land Warrior and Nett Warrior systems. These are network-situational-awareness systems for dismounted units, complete with a helmet-mounted display screen that uses GPS digital-mapping-display technology.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
As we sleep, speedy brain waves boost our ability to learn
UC Berkeley researchers have found compelling evidence that bursts of brain waves known as “sleep spindles” may be networking between key regions of the brain to clear a path to learning.
These electrical impulses help to shift fact-based memories from the brain’s hippocampus — which has limited storage space — to the prefrontal cortex’s “hard drive,” thus freeing up the hippocampus to take in fresh data. Spindles are fast pulses of electricity generated during non-REM sleep, and they can occur up to 1,000 times a night.
“Sleep spindles predict learning refreshment,” said Matthew Walker, associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at UC Berkeley. “A lot of that spindle-rich sleep is occurring the second half of the night, so if you sleep six hours or less, you are shortchanging yourself. You will have fewer spindles, and you might not be able to learn as much,” said Bryce Mander, a post-doctoral fellow in psychology at UC Berkeley and lead author of the study.
The study found that spindle-driven networking was most likely to happen during Stage 2 of non-Rapid Eye Movement (NREM) sleep, which occurs before we reach the deepest NREM sleep and the dream state known as Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep. This shallow stage of dreamless slumber can account for half our sleeping hours, and happens most frequently during the second half of the night, or in the latter part of a period in which we sleep.
Electroencephalogram tests measured electrical activity in the brains of the nappers and showed that the more sleep spindles the nappers produced, the more refreshed they were for learning. Researchers were able to link sleep spindles to brain activity looping between the lobes of the brain that house the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex — two critical areas for memory.
As for broader societal ramifications, researchers said evidence that brain waves during the latter part of the sleep period promote our capacity to store fact-based memories raises the question of whether the early school day is optimal for learning.
These electrical impulses help to shift fact-based memories from the brain’s hippocampus — which has limited storage space — to the prefrontal cortex’s “hard drive,” thus freeing up the hippocampus to take in fresh data. Spindles are fast pulses of electricity generated during non-REM sleep, and they can occur up to 1,000 times a night.
“Sleep spindles predict learning refreshment,” said Matthew Walker, associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at UC Berkeley. “A lot of that spindle-rich sleep is occurring the second half of the night, so if you sleep six hours or less, you are shortchanging yourself. You will have fewer spindles, and you might not be able to learn as much,” said Bryce Mander, a post-doctoral fellow in psychology at UC Berkeley and lead author of the study.
The study found that spindle-driven networking was most likely to happen during Stage 2 of non-Rapid Eye Movement (NREM) sleep, which occurs before we reach the deepest NREM sleep and the dream state known as Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep. This shallow stage of dreamless slumber can account for half our sleeping hours, and happens most frequently during the second half of the night, or in the latter part of a period in which we sleep.
Electroencephalogram tests measured electrical activity in the brains of the nappers and showed that the more sleep spindles the nappers produced, the more refreshed they were for learning. Researchers were able to link sleep spindles to brain activity looping between the lobes of the brain that house the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex — two critical areas for memory.
As for broader societal ramifications, researchers said evidence that brain waves during the latter part of the sleep period promote our capacity to store fact-based memories raises the question of whether the early school day is optimal for learning.
How to ‘print’ a nylon bike
EADS, the European aerospace and defense group, has unveiled the world’s first bike “grown” from powder, allowing complete sections to be built as one piece.
Known as the “Airbike,” it is made of nylon but strong enough to replace steel and requires no conventional maintenance or assembly. It can be built to rider specification and requires no adjustment.
The “revolutionary” manufacturing process is known as Additive Layer Manufacturing (ALM). It allows single products to be grown from a fine powder of metal (such as titanium, stainless steel or aluminum), nylon or carbon-reinforced plastics. Similar in concept to 3D printing, the bike design is perfected using computer-aided design and then constructed by using a powerful laser-sintering process that adds successive, thin layers of the chosen structural material until a solid, fully-formed bike emerges.
The technology is likely to be employed in industrial applications such as aerospace, the motor industry and engineering. Studies show that for every 1kg reduction in weight, airlines can save around $3500 worth of fuel over the lifespan of the aircraft, with corresponding reductions in carbon-dioxide emissions.
The company claims the process itself uses about one-tenth of the material required in traditional manufacturing and reduces waste, and allows products to be produced quickly and cheaply on “printers” located in offices, shops and houses. It would allow replacement components to be produced in remote regions, improving logistics on humanitarian relief and military operations.
Known as the “Airbike,” it is made of nylon but strong enough to replace steel and requires no conventional maintenance or assembly. It can be built to rider specification and requires no adjustment.
The “revolutionary” manufacturing process is known as Additive Layer Manufacturing (ALM). It allows single products to be grown from a fine powder of metal (such as titanium, stainless steel or aluminum), nylon or carbon-reinforced plastics. Similar in concept to 3D printing, the bike design is perfected using computer-aided design and then constructed by using a powerful laser-sintering process that adds successive, thin layers of the chosen structural material until a solid, fully-formed bike emerges.
The technology is likely to be employed in industrial applications such as aerospace, the motor industry and engineering. Studies show that for every 1kg reduction in weight, airlines can save around $3500 worth of fuel over the lifespan of the aircraft, with corresponding reductions in carbon-dioxide emissions.
The company claims the process itself uses about one-tenth of the material required in traditional manufacturing and reduces waste, and allows products to be produced quickly and cheaply on “printers” located in offices, shops and houses. It would allow replacement components to be produced in remote regions, improving logistics on humanitarian relief and military operations.
Monday, March 7, 2011
World's First Eye-controlled Laptop Presented At CeBIT 2011
Computer manufacturer Lenovo has partnered with Swedish startup Tobii Technology to launch the world's first eye controlled laptop which will be on display as from today at CeBIT in Hannover.
The prototype is a fully functional model and according to the manufacturer provides with a more intuitive interface as it relies on the human eyes to point, select and scroll and complements, rather than replace, existing control interfaces.
Henrik Eskilsson, CEO of Tobii Technology, says that it is only a matter of years before the technology becomes an integral part of the average computer as the tracking technology is mature enough and only needs to be miniaturised and mass produced to cut down on price.
Only 20 eye controlled laptops have been produced for demonstration and development purposes; one of the more obvious applications of the laptop would be help people with special needs.
Others include the capability to zoom pictures or maps and automatically centre on the area you wish to look at; glance at an icon or widget to bring up more information.
In addition, the screen's brightness can be auto dimmed and brightened as it recognised the user's eyes, in order to save power.
Tobii's technology relies on 13 patent families that cover aspects such as sensor technology, illumination methods, data transfer mechanisms and eye control interaction techniques.
Amongst them is what it calls a physiological 3D model of each individual's eyes which it calls TrueEye, something that could be used for biometric applications.
Barbara Barclay, general manager of Tobii North America, hinted at future collaborations saying that "what we find most exciting are the opportunities that eye control as part of multi-modal interfaces offer consumer electronics manufacturers in a range of product categories".
These could include more intuitive user interfaces for smartphones and mobile devices as well as gaming applications (integration with accessories like the Kinect for example).
The prototype is a fully functional model and according to the manufacturer provides with a more intuitive interface as it relies on the human eyes to point, select and scroll and complements, rather than replace, existing control interfaces.
Henrik Eskilsson, CEO of Tobii Technology, says that it is only a matter of years before the technology becomes an integral part of the average computer as the tracking technology is mature enough and only needs to be miniaturised and mass produced to cut down on price.
Only 20 eye controlled laptops have been produced for demonstration and development purposes; one of the more obvious applications of the laptop would be help people with special needs.
Others include the capability to zoom pictures or maps and automatically centre on the area you wish to look at; glance at an icon or widget to bring up more information.
In addition, the screen's brightness can be auto dimmed and brightened as it recognised the user's eyes, in order to save power.
Tobii's technology relies on 13 patent families that cover aspects such as sensor technology, illumination methods, data transfer mechanisms and eye control interaction techniques.
Amongst them is what it calls a physiological 3D model of each individual's eyes which it calls TrueEye, something that could be used for biometric applications.
Barbara Barclay, general manager of Tobii North America, hinted at future collaborations saying that "what we find most exciting are the opportunities that eye control as part of multi-modal interfaces offer consumer electronics manufacturers in a range of product categories".
These could include more intuitive user interfaces for smartphones and mobile devices as well as gaming applications (integration with accessories like the Kinect for example).
Scripps Research study points to liver, not brain, as origin of Alzheimer’s plaques
Unexpected results from a Scripps Research Institute and ModGene, LLC study could completely alter scientists’ ideas about Alzheimer’s disease—pointing to the liver instead of the brain as the source of the “amyloid” that deposits as brain plaques associated with this devastating condition. The findings could offer a relatively simple approach for Alzheimer’s prevention and treatment.
The study was published online today in The Journal of Neuroscience Research.
In the study, the scientists used a mouse model for Alzheimer’s disease to identify genes that influence the amount of amyloid that accumulates in the brain. They found three genes that protected mice from brain amyloid accumulation and deposition. For each gene, lower expression in the liver protected the mouse brain. One of the genes encodes presenilin—a cell membrane protein believed to contribute to the development of human Alzheimer’s.
“This unexpected finding holds promise for the development of new therapies to fight Alzheimer’s,” said Scripps Research Professor Greg Sutcliffe, who led the study. “This could greatly simplify the challenge of developing therapies and prevention.”
An estimated 5.1 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease, including nearly half of people age 85 and older. By 2050, the number of people age 65 and over with this disease will range from 11 million to 16 million unless science finds a way to prevent or effectively treat it. In addition to the human misery caused by the disease, there is the unfathomable cost. A new report from the Alzheimer’s Association shows that in the absence of disease-modifying treatments, the cumulative costs of care for people with Alzheimer’s from 2010 to 2050 will exceed $20 trillion.
The study was published online today in The Journal of Neuroscience Research.
In the study, the scientists used a mouse model for Alzheimer’s disease to identify genes that influence the amount of amyloid that accumulates in the brain. They found three genes that protected mice from brain amyloid accumulation and deposition. For each gene, lower expression in the liver protected the mouse brain. One of the genes encodes presenilin—a cell membrane protein believed to contribute to the development of human Alzheimer’s.
“This unexpected finding holds promise for the development of new therapies to fight Alzheimer’s,” said Scripps Research Professor Greg Sutcliffe, who led the study. “This could greatly simplify the challenge of developing therapies and prevention.”
An estimated 5.1 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease, including nearly half of people age 85 and older. By 2050, the number of people age 65 and over with this disease will range from 11 million to 16 million unless science finds a way to prevent or effectively treat it. In addition to the human misery caused by the disease, there is the unfathomable cost. A new report from the Alzheimer’s Association shows that in the absence of disease-modifying treatments, the cumulative costs of care for people with Alzheimer’s from 2010 to 2050 will exceed $20 trillion.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
A new high-resolution method for imaging below the skin using a liquid lens
University of Rochester optics professor Jannick Rolland has developed an optical technology that provides unprecedented images under the skin’s surface.
The aim of the technology is to detect and examine skin lesions to determine whether they are benign or cancerous without having to cut the suspected tumor out of the skin and analyze it in the lab. Instead, the tip of a roughly one-foot-long cylindrical probe is placed in contact with the tissue, and within seconds a clear, high-resolution, 3D image of what lies below the surface emerges.
Rolland presented her findings at the 2011 annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 19.
“My hope is that, in the future, this technology could remove significant inconvenience and expense from the process of skin lesion diagnosis,” Rolland says. “When a patient walks into a clinic with a suspicious mole, for instance, they wouldn’t have to have it necessarily surgically cut out of their skin or be forced to have a costly and time-consuming MRI done. Instead, a relatively small, portable device could take an image that will assist in the classification of the lesion right in the doctor’s office.”
The device accomplishes this using a unique liquid lens setup developed by Rolland and her team for a process known as Optical Coherence Microscopy. In a liquid lens, a droplet of water takes the place of the glass in a standard lens. As the electrical field around the water droplet changes, the droplet changes its shape and therefore changes the focus of the lens. This allows the device to take thousands of pictures focused at different depths below the skin’s surface. Combining these images creates a fully in-focus image of all of the tissue up to 1 millimeter deep in human skin, which includes important skin tissue structures. Because the device uses near infrared light instead of ultrasounds, the images have a precise, micron-scale resolution instead of a millimeter-scale resolution.
The process has been successfully tested in in-vivo human skin and several papers on it have been published in peer-reviewed journals. Rolland says that the next step is to start using it in a clinical research environment so its ability to discriminate between different types of lesions may be assessed.
The aim of the technology is to detect and examine skin lesions to determine whether they are benign or cancerous without having to cut the suspected tumor out of the skin and analyze it in the lab. Instead, the tip of a roughly one-foot-long cylindrical probe is placed in contact with the tissue, and within seconds a clear, high-resolution, 3D image of what lies below the surface emerges.
Rolland presented her findings at the 2011 annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 19.
“My hope is that, in the future, this technology could remove significant inconvenience and expense from the process of skin lesion diagnosis,” Rolland says. “When a patient walks into a clinic with a suspicious mole, for instance, they wouldn’t have to have it necessarily surgically cut out of their skin or be forced to have a costly and time-consuming MRI done. Instead, a relatively small, portable device could take an image that will assist in the classification of the lesion right in the doctor’s office.”
The device accomplishes this using a unique liquid lens setup developed by Rolland and her team for a process known as Optical Coherence Microscopy. In a liquid lens, a droplet of water takes the place of the glass in a standard lens. As the electrical field around the water droplet changes, the droplet changes its shape and therefore changes the focus of the lens. This allows the device to take thousands of pictures focused at different depths below the skin’s surface. Combining these images creates a fully in-focus image of all of the tissue up to 1 millimeter deep in human skin, which includes important skin tissue structures. Because the device uses near infrared light instead of ultrasounds, the images have a precise, micron-scale resolution instead of a millimeter-scale resolution.
The process has been successfully tested in in-vivo human skin and several papers on it have been published in peer-reviewed journals. Rolland says that the next step is to start using it in a clinical research environment so its ability to discriminate between different types of lesions may be assessed.
Detroit to get its RoboCop statue — no kidding
According to Reuters: ”From sci-fi cult film, to Twitter phenomenon to Detroit landmark-in-the-making. Plans for a statue honoring RoboCop, the half-man, half-machine crimefighter of the 1987 movie, are moving ahead after a group of artists and entrepreneurs in Detroit, Michigan raised more than $60,000 via Facebook and an online fund-raising site.”
And here’s a quote from a February 21, 2011 interview exclusive from io9 (the article is worth a read) — “With materials like this to work with, this statue is going to be as close to a perfect depiction of RoboCop as is possible by non-augmented arthropods.”
IMDB | In a dystopic and crime-ridden Detroit, a terminally wounded cop returns to the force as a powerful cyborg with submerged memories haunting him. Impervious to bullets and bombs, and equipped with high-tech weaponry, Robocop quickly makes a name for himself by cleaning up the streets of violence-ravaged Detroit. Tagline: “Part man. Part machine. All cop. The future of law enforcement. Justice gets an upgrade.”
It may have started as a joke, but now they’re completely serious about this: check out ”Detroit Needs RoboCop,” the website. Go RoboCop. Half Peter Weller, half cyborg bad-guy-killing-machine, all hero.
And here’s a quote from a February 21, 2011 interview exclusive from io9 (the article is worth a read) — “With materials like this to work with, this statue is going to be as close to a perfect depiction of RoboCop as is possible by non-augmented arthropods.”
IMDB | In a dystopic and crime-ridden Detroit, a terminally wounded cop returns to the force as a powerful cyborg with submerged memories haunting him. Impervious to bullets and bombs, and equipped with high-tech weaponry, Robocop quickly makes a name for himself by cleaning up the streets of violence-ravaged Detroit. Tagline: “Part man. Part machine. All cop. The future of law enforcement. Justice gets an upgrade.”
It may have started as a joke, but now they’re completely serious about this: check out ”Detroit Needs RoboCop,” the website. Go RoboCop. Half Peter Weller, half cyborg bad-guy-killing-machine, all hero.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Art hacktivists take on Facebook
An Italian artist duo responsible for "scraping" profiles from Facebook for a mock dating website have been asked by Facebook to cease their activities.
Digital artists Paolo Cirio and Alessandro Ludovico revealed to CNN that the billion-dollar corporation issued them with a "cease and desist" letter regarding the mock site, which is called Lovely-Faces.com.
At the time of writing, the website was temporarily unavailable, though Cirio and Ludovico are seeking legal advice on the status of their "conceptual art provocation," which they say uses publicly available information and is therefore legal.
Scraping is a way of grabbing the computer code that makes up the words and images you see on a web page, which can then, for example, be presented on other websites.
In a prepared statement to CNN, a spokesperson from Facebook said: "Scraping people's information violates our terms. We have taken, and will continue to take, aggressive legal action against organizations that violate these terms.
"We've already been in touch with Lovely-Faces to demand that they delete the data and we will take additional action as necessary."
Their work, they say, exposes the "vulnerability" both of people's online data and the internal mechanisms of major internet companies -- as well as questioning the ownership of the data they use.
What separates them from ordinary hackers, they say, is that the information they are using is publicly available and that they are not out to harm or benefit financially from the people whose information they filter.
Lovely-Faces.com, part of the artists' Face to Facebook project, was two years in the making and was unveiled as part of an installation at the digital art festival Transmediale in Berlin.
It involved using automatic browsing software to select one million Facebook profiles, and then cutting-edge face-recognition software to match profile pictures according to gender and a bizarre variety of social traits and types.
"I like to demonstrate how this information could be copied, could be manipulated, could be arranged, can be shaped, in a way," said Cirio.
Digital artists Paolo Cirio and Alessandro Ludovico revealed to CNN that the billion-dollar corporation issued them with a "cease and desist" letter regarding the mock site, which is called Lovely-Faces.com.
At the time of writing, the website was temporarily unavailable, though Cirio and Ludovico are seeking legal advice on the status of their "conceptual art provocation," which they say uses publicly available information and is therefore legal.
Scraping is a way of grabbing the computer code that makes up the words and images you see on a web page, which can then, for example, be presented on other websites.
In a prepared statement to CNN, a spokesperson from Facebook said: "Scraping people's information violates our terms. We have taken, and will continue to take, aggressive legal action against organizations that violate these terms.
"We've already been in touch with Lovely-Faces to demand that they delete the data and we will take additional action as necessary."
Their work, they say, exposes the "vulnerability" both of people's online data and the internal mechanisms of major internet companies -- as well as questioning the ownership of the data they use.
What separates them from ordinary hackers, they say, is that the information they are using is publicly available and that they are not out to harm or benefit financially from the people whose information they filter.
Lovely-Faces.com, part of the artists' Face to Facebook project, was two years in the making and was unveiled as part of an installation at the digital art festival Transmediale in Berlin.
It involved using automatic browsing software to select one million Facebook profiles, and then cutting-edge face-recognition software to match profile pictures according to gender and a bizarre variety of social traits and types.
"I like to demonstrate how this information could be copied, could be manipulated, could be arranged, can be shaped, in a way," said Cirio.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
A spot of video shooting on the Slopes
New video googles costing $400 which come fully equipped with a high definition camera and a wide-angle lens built into the frame above and between the eyes have been launched on the market by the company Liquid Image. Check out the quality with the video below.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Blood vessels for lab-grown tissues
Researchers from Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) have broken one of the major roadblocks on the path to growing transplantable tissue in the lab: They’ve found a way to grow the blood vessels and capillaries needed to keep tissues alive.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Scientists find evidence for ‘chronesthesia,’ or mental time travel
Researchers have found evidence for “chronesthesia,” which is the brain’s ability to be aware of the past and future, and to mentally travel in subjective time. They found that activity in different brain regions is related to chronesthetic states when a person thinks about the same content during the past, present, or future.
In their fMRI study, the researchers asked subjects to repeatedly think about taking a short walk in a familiar environment in either the imagined past, the real past, the present, or the imagined future. By keeping the content the same and changing only the mental time in which it occurs, the researchers could identify which areas of the brain are correlated with thinking about the same event at different times.
The results showed that certain regions in the left lateral parietal cortex, left frontal cortex, and cerebellum, as well as the thalamus, were activated differently when the subjects thought about the past and future compared with the present. Notably, brain activity was very similar for thinking about all of the non-present times.
Because mental time is a product of the human brain and differs from the external time that is measured by clocks and calendars, scientists also call this time “subjective time.” Chronesthesia, by definition, is a form of consciousness that allows people to think about this subjective time and to mentally travel in it.
In their fMRI study, the researchers asked subjects to repeatedly think about taking a short walk in a familiar environment in either the imagined past, the real past, the present, or the imagined future. By keeping the content the same and changing only the mental time in which it occurs, the researchers could identify which areas of the brain are correlated with thinking about the same event at different times.
The results showed that certain regions in the left lateral parietal cortex, left frontal cortex, and cerebellum, as well as the thalamus, were activated differently when the subjects thought about the past and future compared with the present. Notably, brain activity was very similar for thinking about all of the non-present times.
Because mental time is a product of the human brain and differs from the external time that is measured by clocks and calendars, scientists also call this time “subjective time.” Chronesthesia, by definition, is a form of consciousness that allows people to think about this subjective time and to mentally travel in it.
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