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Friday, 30 November 2012
Sony Loaning Movie-Loaded Home Servers to 4K-TV Buyers
Precisely engineering 3-D brain tissues
ScienceDaily (Nov. 29, 2012) ? Borrowing from microfabrication techniques used in the semiconductor industry, MIT and Harvard Medical School (HMS) engineers have developed a simple and inexpensive way to create three-dimensional brain tissues in a lab dish.
The new technique yields tissue constructs that closely mimic the cellular composition of those in the living brain, allowing scientists to study how neurons form connections and to predict how cells from individual patients might respond to different drugs. The work also paves the way for developing bioengineered implants to replace damaged tissue for organ systems, according to the researchers.
"We think that by bringing this kind of control and manipulation into neurobiology, we can investigate many different directions," says Utkan Demirci, an assistant professor in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST).
Demirci and Ed Boyden, associate professor of biological engineering and brain and cognitive sciences at MIT's Media Lab and McGovern Institute, are senior authors of a paper describing the new technique, which appears in the Nov. 27 online edition of the journal Advanced Materials. The paper's lead author is Umut Gurkan, a postdoc at HST, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital.
'Unique challenges'
Although researchers have had some success growing artificial tissues such as liver or kidney, "the brain presents some unique challenges," Boyden says. "One of the challenges is the incredible spatial heterogeneity. There are so many kinds of cells, and they have such intricate wiring."
Brain tissue includes many types of neurons, including inhibitory and excitatory neurons, as well as supportive cells such as glial cells. All of these cells occur at specific ratios and in specific locations.
To mimic this architectural complexity in their engineered tissues, the researchers embedded a mixture of brain cells taken from the primary cortex of rats into sheets of hydrogel. They also included components of the extracellular matrix, which provides structural support and helps regulate cell behavior.
Those sheets were then stacked in layers, which can be sealed together using light to crosslink hydrogels. By covering layers of gels with plastic photomasks of varying shapes, the researchers could control how much of the gel was exposed to light, thus controlling the 3-D shape of the multilayer tissue construct.
This type of photolithography is also used to build integrated circuits onto semiconductors -- a process that requires a photomask aligner machine, which costs tens of thousands of dollars. However, the team developed a much less expensive way to assemble tissues using masks made from sheets of plastic, similar to overhead transparencies, held in place with alignment pins.
The tissue cubes can be made with a precision of 10 microns, comparable to the size of a single cell body. At the other end of the spectrum, the researchers are aiming to create a cubic millimeter of brain tissue with 100,000 cells and 900 million connections.
Answering fundamental questions
Because the tissues include a diverse repertoire of brain cells, occurring in the same ratios as they do in natural brain tissue, they could be used to study how neurons form the connections that allow them to communicate with each other.
"In the short term, there's a lot of fundamental questions you can answer about how cells interact with each other and respond to environmental cues," Boyden says.
As a first step, the researchers used these tissue constructs to study how a neuron's environment might constrain its growth. To do this, they placed single neurons in gel cubes of different sizes, then measured the cells' neurites, long extensions that neurons use to communicate with other cells. It turns out that under these conditions, neurons get "claustrophobic," Demirci says. "In small gels, they don't necessarily send out as long neurites as they would in a five-times-larger gel."
In the long term, the researchers hope to gain a better understanding of how to design tissue implants that could be used to replace damaged tissue in patients. Much research has been done in this area, but it has been difficult to figure out whether the new tissues are correctly wiring up with existing tissue and exchanging the right kinds of information.
Another long-term goal is using the tissues for personalized medicine. One day, doctors may be able to take cells from a patient with a neurological disorder and transform them into induced pluripotent stem cells, then induce these constructs to grow into neurons in a lab dish. By exposing these tissues to many possible drugs, "you might be able to figure out if a drug would benefit that person without having to spend years giving them lots of different drugs," Boyden says.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Massachusetts Institute of Technology, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS. The original article was written by Anne Trafton.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Umut Atakan Gurkan, Yantao Fan, Feng Xu, Burcu Erkmen, Emel Sokullu Urkac, Gunes Parlakgul, Jacob Bernstein, Wangli Xing, Edward S. Boyden, Utkan Demirci. Simple Precision Creation of Digitally Specified, Spatially Heterogeneous, Engineered Tissue Architectures. Advanced Materials, 2012; DOI: 10.1002/adma.201203261
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/fUfdj_J3bHc/121129143454.htm
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Mercury discovery boosts alien life search
The discovery of huge amounts of water ice and possible organic compounds on the heat-blasted planet Mercury suggests that the raw materials necessary for life as we know it may be common throughout the solar system, researchers say.
Mercury likely harbors between 100 billion and 1 trillion metric tons of water ice in permanently shadowed areas near its poles, scientists analyzing data from NASA's Messenger spacecraft announced Thursday.
Life on sun-scorched Mercury remains an extreme longshot, the researchers stressed, but the new results should still put a spring in the step of astrobiologists around the world.
"The more we examine the solar system, the more we realize it's a soggy place," Jim Green, the director of NASA's Planetary Science Division, said during a press conference Friday.
"And that's really quite exciting, because that means the amount of water that we have here on Earth ? that was not only inherent when it was originally formed but probably brought here ? that water and other volatiles were brought to many other places in the solar system," Green added. "So it really bodes well for us to continue on the exploration, following the water and its signs throughout the solar system." [Latest Mercury Photos from Messenger]
Organics, too?
The observations by Messenger, which has been orbiting Mercury since March 2011, provide compelling evidence that reflective patches first spotted near the planet's poles by the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico two decades ago are indeed water ice, researchers said.
In the coldest parts of Mercury ? permanently shadowed regions where temperatures drop to perhaps minus 370 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 223 degrees Celsius) ? this ice can lie bare and exposed. But Messenger's data also show that much more frozen water is found in slightly warmer areas, buried beneath a strange dark material that acts as an insulator.
This dark stuff is likely a mixture of complex organic compounds, the carbon-containing building blocks of life as we know it, researchers said during Thursday's news conference.
"This organic material may be the same type of organic material that ultimately gave rise to life on Earth," said Messenger participating scientist David Paige of UCLA.
Helping scientists read the book of life
Mercury probably acquired much of its water and organic material the same way Earth did, researchers said ? via comet impacts and asteroid strikes. Ice and organics are common on the frigid bodies in the solar system's outer reaches.
"There's a lot of water out there, as there is a lot of water around other stars, but at substantial distance," said Messenger principal investigator Sean Solomon of Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory.
With its ultra-thin atmosphere and proximity to the sun, Mercury is probably not a good bet to host life as we know it. But finding ice and organics there should still inform the hunt for organisms beyond Earth and aid scientists' quest to learn more about how life took root on our planet.
"The history of life begins with the delivery to some home object of water and of the building blocks, the organic building blocks, that must undergo some kind of chemistry, which we still don't understand on our own planet," Solomon said.
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Space news from NBCNews.com
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Chinese UFO sightings linked to rocket launch
Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: Analysts have concluded that mysterious rays of light observed this month in Chinese skies were sparked by a European rocket stage.
- Smithsonian gives space spider a new home
- Water ice discovered on Mercury
- No organic material found on Mars yet
- NASA blasts away at doomsday bunk
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Chinese UFO sightings linked to rocket launch
"And so Mercury is becoming an object of astrobiological interest, where it wasn't much of one before," Solomon added. "That's not say to say that we expect to find any lifeforms ? I don't think anybody on this table does ? but in terms of the book of life, there are some early chapters, and Mercury may indeed inform us about what's in those chapters."
Follow Space.com senior writer Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwallor Space.com @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebookand Google+.
? 2012 Space.com. All rights reserved. More from Space.com.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/50029213/ns/technology_and_science-space/
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Video: After officer?s gift, homeless man ?lit up like it was Christmas?
>>> finally tonight's it was a photo taken by a tourist who saw something on a cold night in times square . and the photo has warmed a lot of hearts as it has gone around the world on the web. and in the process, it has made a new york city police officer something of a hero. the story behind the picture from nbc's stephanie gosk.
>> reporter: in times square , visitors tend to look up, struck by the bright lights and billboards. but officer larry diprimo had his eyes on the streets, and on a homeless man in the street.
>> it was freezing, first thing i thought, this was absolutely unacceptable. i went up to him.
>> reporter: he was on the counter terrorism beat when he saw the homeless man sitting right here with no shoes on. in that moment, he thought it was not just his job to protect, but also his job to serve. the most immediate need was obvious, and the shoe store was right there.
>> the officer was inspiring, i worked in the city for about ten years, and nobody has really taken this sort of initiative.
>> reporter: conno cut him a deal on the water-proof winter boats, the officer paid with his own money.
>> i think this is an important reminder that some people have it worse.
>> reporter: jennifer foster, a tourist, saw as he gave the man a new pair of boots.
>> this man's face lit up like it was christmas, and like he had just been given literally a million dollars.
>> reporter: foster couldn't resist taking the now-famous photo, nearly half a million likes on facebook, and the number keeps rising.
>> the fact he took the time on his shift, his own money, to do this for that gentleman, with his own money, i can't say enough about it.
>> reporter: this this city, they're call new york city 's finest, officer diprimo is a good reason why. stephanie gosk, nbc news, new york.
>>> how about that, and while random acts of kindness take place every day, let's celebrate this one. the officer will be a guest live in the studio on "today." that
Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/50018787/
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Crowdsourcing Malaria Parasite Quantification: An Online Game for
Original Paper
Crowdsourcing Malaria Parasite Quantification: An Online Game for Analyzing Images of Infected Thick Blood Smears
Miguel Angel Luengo-Oroz1,2, PhD; Asier Arranz3, MEng; John Frean4,5, MBBCh, MMed
1Biomedical Image Technologies group, DIE, ETSI Telecomunicaci?n, Universidad Polit?cnica de Madrid, CEI Moncloa UPM-UCM, Madrid, Spain
2Biomedical Research Networking Center in Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine, CIBER-BBN, Madrid, Spain
3Nebutek Soluciones SL, Vizcaya, Spain
4National Institute for Communicable Diseases, National Health Laboratory Service, Johannesburg, South Africa
5School of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
Miguel Angel Luengo-Oroz, PhD
Biomedical Image Technologies group
DIE, ETSI Telecomunicaci?n
Universidad Polit?cnica de Madrid, CEI Moncloa UPM-UCM
ETSIT, Av. Complutense 30
Madrid, 28040
Spain
Phone: 34 913366827
Fax: 34 913367323
Email:
ABSTRACT
Background: There are 600,000 new malaria cases daily worldwide. The gold standard for estimating the parasite burden and the corresponding severity of the disease consists in manually counting the number of parasites in blood smears through a microscope, a process that can take more than 20 minutes of an expert microscopist?s time.Objective: This research tests the feasibility of a crowdsourced approach to malaria image analysis. In particular, we investigated whether anonymous volunteers with no prior experience would be able to count malaria parasites in digitized images of thick blood smears by playing a Web-based game.
Methods: The experimental system consisted of a Web-based game where online volunteers were tasked with detecting parasites in digitized blood sample images coupled with a decision algorithm that combined the analyses from several players to produce an improved collective detection outcome. Data were collected through the MalariaSpot website. Random images of thick blood films containing Plasmodium falciparum at medium to low parasitemias, acquired by conventional optical microscopy, were presented to players. In the game, players had to find and tag as many parasites as possible in 1 minute. In the event that players found all the parasites present in the image, they were presented with a new image. In order to combine the choices of different players into a single crowd decision, we implemented an image processing pipeline and a quorum algorithm that judged a parasite tagged when a group of players agreed on its position.
Results: Over 1 month, anonymous players from 95 countries played more than 12,000 games and generated a database of more than 270,000 clicks on the test images. Results revealed that combining 22 games from nonexpert players achieved a parasite counting accuracy higher than 99%. This performance could be obtained also by combining 13 games from players trained for 1 minute. Exhaustive computations measured the parasite counting accuracy for all players as a function of the number of games considered and the experience of the players. In addition, we propose a mathematical equation that accurately models the collective parasite counting performance.
Conclusions: This research validates the online gaming approach for crowdsourced counting of malaria parasites in images of thick blood films. The findings support the conclusion that nonexperts are able to rapidly learn how to identify the typical features of malaria parasites in digitized thick blood samples and that combining the analyses of several users provides similar parasite counting accuracy rates as those of expert microscopists. This experiment illustrates the potential of the crowdsourced gaming approach for performing routine malaria parasite quantification, and more generally for solving biomedical image analysis problems, with future potential for telediagnosis related to global health challenges.
(J Med Internet Res 2012;14(6):e167)
doi:10.2196/jmir.2338
KEYWORDS
Crowdsourcing; Malaria; Image Analysis; Games for Health; Telepathology
Crowdsourcing methodologies leveraging the contributions of citizen scientists connected via the Internet have recently proved to be of great value to solve certain scientific challenges involving ?big data? analysis that cannot be entirely automated [1]. In the GalaxyZoo project, citizen scientists classified imagery of hundreds of thousands of galaxies drawn from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and the Hubble Space Telescope archive [2]. Crowdsourced contributions can be achieved with different motivation strategies, such as micropayments or games. The ?serious games? concept refers to an intention not only to entertain users, but also to train or educate them [3]. The ?gamification? [4] of the crowdsourcing approach enables a higher motivation of the participants and, using the Internet as a vehicle, untaps an underexploited resource for scientific research [5,6]: it is estimated that 3 billion hours per week are spent playing computer and videogames worldwide [7]. For instance, Fold-It, an online game where players solve 3-dimensional puzzles by folding protein structures, has resulted in several breakthrough scientific discoveries [8-10]. Another recent growing trend is the use of crowdsourcing techniques for participatory health research studies in which individuals report in real time a variety of health conditions [11], providing a promising complement to traditional clinical trials. Considering crowdsourced image analysis, collective processing has been recently explored for earthquake damage assessment from remote sensing imagery [12]. However, this methodology has not yet been mainstreamed for biomedical image analysis.
In this context, analysis of microscopic images of malaria-infected blood samples is an appealing goal. Worldwide, there are more than 200 million malaria cases and approximately 800,000 deaths annually, mainly in children [13,14]. Careful optical microscopic examination of a well-stained blood film remains the gold standard for malaria diagnosis [15]. Confirmation of a negative diagnosis is ultimately dependent on the technician?s expertise and can take up to 20 minutes. In addition, as malaria prevalence decreases in one specific place over time, microscopy technician skills may now be needed in other regions. Fast, cheap, ubiquitous, and accurate diagnosis is a priority in the Agenda for Malaria Eradication [16]. Although automated processing methodologies have been used extensively for the analysis of digitized blood smears [17,18], currently there are no completely automated image processing systems that can achieve perfect parasite recognition [19-24]. The main problem in computer-aided malaria diagnosis is that algorithms are usually not very robust with respect to the variable appearance of the parasites and changing image acquisition conditions.
The goal of this research was to test the feasibility of a crowdcomputing approach for malaria parasite quantification in which nonexperts count parasites in digitized thick blood smears through an online game (crowdsourcing) and a decision algorithm combines the data generated by several players in order to achieve a collective detection with a higher accuracy rate than an individual analysis. This idea?gaming for distributed malaria image analysis?has been also explored in a recent study by Mavandadi et al [25], in parallel to and independently of this study. These researchers designed a video game and a processing pipeline to investigate whether nonexperts can assess if a single-cell image extracted from a digitized thin blood sample is infected with malaria or not. Although this study and the present research share a similar vision and goal, the research questions posed and solutions adopted differ substantially in terms of the data analyzed, the nature of the participants, the main task required of them, and the processing methodologies.
The proposed system in this study provides a new tool for parasite counting, but not malaria diagnosis, which is a more complex problem [26]. For this purpose, the microscopist protocol will need to be translated completely into a gaming protocol, including assessing the presence or absence of parasites, the parasite species, and growth stages and prognostic markers, such as schizonts or gametocytes, or pigment load. In the long run, crowdsourced remote telediagnosis from images acquired with optical microscopy and distributed worldwide through the Internet and possibly with systems that integrate the microscope into mobile phones [27,28], might have a potential impact for malaria-endemic countries because diagnosis availability and its cost could be optimized. However, in addition to the need for conventional laboratory processing and imaging equipment to prepare the material to a sufficiently high standard, this kind of analysis will require a communications infrastructure with enough bandwidth to distribute the images over the Internet and a critical number of online participants in order to ensure timely analysis of the images.
This work presents a proof-of-concept system that explores the feasibility of an online game-based, crowdsourced solution for malaria parasite quantitation in digitized images of thick blood smears.
We selected an image database of malaria-positive blood films that had been previously analyzed by experts to generate gold standards. These images were then incorporated into an online game. The player?s task was to click on the parasites. When a player found all the parasites present in 1 image (constituting a level) within a limited amount of time, the game continued by presenting a new image. Otherwise, the game was over. All the players? clicks were registered in a database. After 1 month, all the collected data was preprocessed in order to group all the clicks that players placed around the different objects in the image: parasites, white blood cells (leukocytes), and background noise. Finally, an algorithm that combined the different games to increase accuracy was developed and evaluated.
Ethics Statement
The malaria images used in this research were previously used to evaluate automated image analysis methods [20]. Original blood samples and resultant test images were collected and used with ethical approval from the Human Research Ethics Committee (Medical), University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa (protocol number M051126). No new ethical review board approval was required since the digital images used in our work were not linked to any patient data or diagnosis and were digitally shared for microscopic training evaluation purposes. The data analyzed in this research were anonymously produced by online volunteers who agreed to play an Internet game. The participants were informed of the research purposes of the game on the game webpage.
Image Database
The image database was compiled from 28 Giemsa-stained thick films made from blood infected with malaria (Plasmodium falciparum) parasites, acquired using a 50? objective in a conventional laboratory optical microscope. Medium to low parasitemia images were selected for the game because of its design (1-minute games) and the fact that discrepancies between automatic counting methodologies and manual expert counting tend to be greater in low parasitemia cases. A gold standard mask image was generated for each of the 28 images to evaluate player performance.
Game Architecture
The objective of the MalariaSpot game was to tag as many parasites as possible in an image in 1 minute. The instructions?what is a parasite and what it is not?were briefly explained in the splash screen of the game website (Figure 1a). During the game, if the player found all the parasites in 1 image in the allowed time, a new image was presented (Figure 1b). Therefore, a player could analyze several images (levels) in a single game. In order to reinforce the game?s addictive nature, the players were given continuous feedback: each click was compared with the gold standard and an icon was placed immediately at the tag position to indicate a correct or incorrect selection. In addition, if the player misidentified an object and clicked in a wrong location (eg, on a leukocyte), the player was penalized by reducing the remaining time available to solve the level. Players were confronted with different, randomly selected test images. The difficulty of the levels increased as the time penalty for wrong tags grew with each level. As a motivation strategy, at the end of the game players were invited to register and provide their name, email address, and country in order to be included in the table of high scorers depicting the top daily, weekly, and monthly players.
Source: http://www.jmir.org/2012/6/e167/
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Changing Landscapes: A Story about Living with HIV 30 Years On ...
On December the 1st 2012 it is International AIDS Day; it is thirty years since the beginnings of the HIV pandemic. ?Guest writer Danny West (left), trainer, coach, mentor and leadership consultant, reflects on thirty years that changed the world.
In October 1985 at the age of 24 whilst at the beginnings of my career path I was one of the first people in the UK to be diagnosed as being infected with HIV, the virus now known to cause the medical condition AIDS. My doctors gave me a life expectancy of 18 months.
In 1985 whilst at the beginning of what appeared to be a bright social work career I attended a routine appointment at a leading London hospital sexual health clinic. During my consultation the doctor suggested to my horror that along with the usual blood tests for syphilis and gonorrhoea I should also have as he termed it ?the AIDS test?. He subsequently explained that as I was gay I was likely to have the disease. This was to be the extent of my pre test counselling where upon I was advised to return in two weeks for the test result.
At this point in my life I had only just begun to hear about this new disease and had never considered that I may be at risk or that I myself could possibly have the virus. I spent the following two weeks in a state of high anxiety; I shared my news with a few close friends and gathered together as much information as possible. The two weeks passed and I returned to the hospital with a friend to receive my results, my doctor sympathetically informed me that my results were positive and that in the absence of a cure I had 18 months to live. I left the hospital in a state of shock and returned home to an awaiting group of friends who shared my state of anxiety. I was initially unable come to terms with this information and was unable to work; I remember feeling completely immobilised, helpless and terrified by new circumstances. Eventually a close friend came to me and informed me that she had heard of an organisation called ?Body Positive? and that it was to hold a social evening at a gay venue called ?The Market Tavern? in London. I was extremely anxious on the evening of the social event and along with my supportive friend found myself in a room filled with other gay men who were also HIV positive, this event was to be a turning point in my life and it was on that evening that I met my first partner who was also living with HIV and was to die of AIDS two years later.During my journey I have experienced many losses and many inspirational acts of strength and courage. My career and life paths have taken many unexpected turns and I have lived an unimaginable life. From the moment of my diagnosis I refused to accept an impending death sentence. I rejected the possibility that I would die at an early age as a result of HIV and strategically set about creating a vision for my life; a life that would have purpose, meaning and impact.
The backdrop of this article is set against the medical and social responses and models to HIV/AIDS and a landscape of death, suffering and dying.
At the beginning of the 1980s when the first cases of AIDS were reported in the United Kingdom, AIDS was considered to be a gay men?s disease. This assumption within the developed world and the medical profession led to both hysteria and an overt rise in homophobia. The cause and origins of AIDS were as yet unknown, the ?Human Immunodeficiency Virus? had yet to be isolated and the medical world had only just begun to grasp the concept that AIDS was linked to a breakdown of the immune system. Large numbers of gay men began to get sick and die on both sides of the Atlantic and the medical world was impotent in its attempts to explain or cure for this new and frightening disease.
The general population?s response to AIDS was one of blame, fear and ignorance this was reflected in the apocalyptic government health campaign in the UK, we were bombarded with dark images of tombstones, graveyards and the Grim Reaper. Society was frantic in its search to find the origins of this new disease and blame the assumed perpetrators. These assumptions lead to a rise in prejudice and the mistreatment and isolation of the gay community. This was also demonstrated by the medical profession?s response to AIDS by isolating gay men in side wards and the gowning up in space suits by medical and domiciliary staff. Within local communities there was an increase of violence against gay men on the streets and within their homes. Social services departments were refusing to provide services to gay men or anyone suspected as having AIDS.As the AIDS epidemic grew other people began to present with symptoms of AIDS, some of whom were also from marginalized groups such as IV drug users and people from the BME communities. In the early 80?s the ?Human Immunodeficiency Virus? was isolated and was recognised to be blood born virus and to be the cause of a medical condition called AIDS. Transmission of the virus was identified as being through blood and blood products, vaginal and seminal fluids and from mother to child during pregnancy or child birth.
AIDS confronted society with all of its taboos and opened a very large can of worms which required the caring professions, local and central governments, the third and public sectors to review their equality policies, staff training, employment practice and client service provision.
Issues of equality had to be addressed for the groups who were becoming affected by HIV ensuring that people living with HIV received services, which specifically met their needs and enabled and supported their well-being, human dignity and upheld their human rights.
Society was being confronted with many issues which ordinarily it chose to ignore such as Death, Dying and Bereavement, Confidentiality, Addiction, Sexuality, Racism, Disability and Illness (my caps). For those of us affected or infected by HIV these issues were high on our agenda. We were gaining confidence and becoming proactively involved in developing health and social care programmes and the new HIV third sector which were to empower and meet the needs of people living with the HIV.Within weeks of the gay and lesbian community becoming aware of the first cases of AIDS in the UK amongst gay men ?Body Positive? and the ?Terrance Higgins Trust? were formed. Soon social groups, counselling and education services began to develop. These groups were being formed and developed by predominantly well educated, relatively affluent, politically aware gay men and lesbians from a broad spectrum of professions who were increasingly confident and effective in getting their voices heard both locally and nationally and were to become the leading force in the development of services for people infected and affected by HIV.
The gay community responded with courage and intelligence in the face of this frightening new disease and was able to join forces as a response to stigma and societies prejudiced reaction.In the hospitals and clinics around the country large numbers of gay men were presenting with symptoms and opportunistic infections associated now with the virus and the medical condition AIDS. In hospital wards gay men were dying and in the absence of a cure symptoms could only be treated as and when they appeared.
Death was now on the agenda for a group who had spent their lives believing they were immortal, in a society where death and dying is a taboo subject, rarely discussed and explored. Friends, lovers and on occasion families became the primary careers of the sick and dying men both at home and in hospital settings and in the absence of a cure, death was seen as inevitable. Gay men began to make decisions about their health care and treatment and supported by their loved ones began to challenge both doctor patient relationships and the manner in which they utilised health care and social care support services.
I remained in social work until May 1986 whereupon I retired on medical grounds as I felt unable to cope with the associated high stress levels and because I wanted to commit my time to supporting and working alongside people living with HIV. In October of 1987 I moved to Brighton (TAY, the AIDS memorial there is pictured above) to work closely with a friend and founder of ?The Sussex AIDS Help line? and for the following 18 months helped operate the telephone support service, raise funds and provide one to one mentoring/counselling in this pioneering support service.In 1986 Graham Wilkinson, founder of the Sussex AIDS Helpline and I were amongst a small group of gay men convened by Christopher Spence OBE to explore a vision of a innovative new centre for people living with HIV. The centre was to become the London Lighthouse and Christopher Spence its director.
Our vision for this innovative project was to establish a unique holistic centre and residential unit offering respite and hospice type terminal care, a place where people living with HIV and AIDS could receive care, support and treatment in an environment where people living with the virus could embark upon a self empowered and dignified journey of recovery or death and dying. When London Lighthouse opened it become the first centre of its kind and though it received initial opposition went onto become a leading campaigning and educational centre, which provided extensive training and awareness to local government, third and medical sectors throughout the UK and Europe.Within local authorities, especially the inner cities, large numbers of gay men were for the first time requesting services such as domiciliary care, social work input and housing support, yet local authorities had no experience of this new client group and had no policies, guidelines or trained staff to provide services. Staff within local authorities reacted to this new client group and new medical condition with fear and apprehension and many refused to carryout their duties.
The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham is historically home to a large gay community and is of geographical proximity to Earls Court a traditional gay ghetto in London and close to the Chelsea & Westminster hospital a leading medical centre in the research of and the treatment of people with HIV infection. Within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham one of the first local authorities to provide services to people with HIV and AIDS the first local government officer was appointed with responsibility to develop strategies and services that were responsive to this new challenge.
I was subsequently appointed as training officer for HIV and AIDS and set about establishing an extensive HIV/AIDS awareness and training programme for all the local authority staff. An HIV unit was established and further officers were appointed with specific responsibility to address issues for women, housing, drug use and the black minority ethnic (BME) communities. The development of the largest HIV training programmes within the UK was developed and established within the borough which addressed all the taboo subjects raised by AIDS such as Death and Dying and Sexuality. This training programme ensured that staff were trained and supported to provide high quality services to people living with HIV and AIDS.
Over the next few years I was to experience my own deteriorating health, the dying and the death of hundreds of gay men in the wider community, two partners, my two closest friends and a young child who I mentored for a number of years. In the gay and lesbian community everyone knew someone who had died and everyone knew someone who was dying. Expressions of grief within the pubs and clubs were commonplace and attending funerals became a frequent occurrence.At every turn someone was involved with the care of someone with HIV or AIDS and this consequently meant that many of us were involved on some level in the empowerment of someone who was dying of AIDS. The gay and lesbian community had confronted its denial of death and was actively involved in talking openly about death and dying. The community was challenging the professions ordinarily associated with dealing with death such as doctors; community based nursing services, the church and undertakers. We were now taking a proactive role in the care of the dying and the dead.
HIV charities were increasingly offering or supporting education and training on Dying, Death and Bereavement, extensive support group and counselling services were being developed for those living with or affected by AIDS and HIV. Counselling services were specifically developed to assist those who were dying or who were in grief or bereavement.
The development of similar counselling and support services was to be reflected across social services departments and within medical services throughout the UK in addition to the development of numerous independent locally based HIV charities and treatment centres across the UK.
In modern day Britain the extended family was in decline; replaced by the nuclear family it was unable to maintain responsibility for extended family members especially the elderly, sick or dying. People with long term or terminal health conditions were now placed in hospitals and the elderly in residential homes where they were cared for by strangers with whom they often died. Within the UK 58% of us die in hospitals and yet the hospital was intended to be a place of treatment and recovery from illness.
The hospice movement in the UK, which is primarily charity funded and organised is only able to provide a small number bed spaces for the terminally ill and dying throughout the UK. The gay hospice movement began to demonstrate a mutual sharing of values and principles for the care of the terminally ill and dying and included the rights of the dying to be supported by close friends and family, to be pain free, to die with dignity, to have peace and privacy and to have options and choices of treatment and care. The gay community set about establishing its own resources for the sick and dying, these places include ?London Lighthouse?, The Mildmay Mission? and ?The Sussex Beacon?. In hospital settings the introduction of ?Palliative Care Consultants and Teams? began which provided holistic care packages for people dying as a result of HIV.Medical and Scientific advancement throughout 1990?s resulted in the early introduction of antiviral treatments which are able to interrupt virus activity and slow down the progression of HIV, these drugs could not be tolerated by everyone but they did began to change and extend the lives of people living with HIV and AIDS.
New drugs such as AZT and DDI were both toxic and had a number of unpleasant side effects; I personally had an extremely violent reaction to AZT and so it was at this point in my treatment history that I decided to take a treatment vacation and only consider treatment that would provide me with quality of life as opposed to quantity of life. I have now been on ?Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy? or highly active antiviral therapy (HAART) for eight years and have found a combination of medication which has few side effects and has boosted my immune system and given me a blood count or (CD4) count of 750, an undetectable viral load and a new lease of life.
Government health and safer sex campaigns declined in the mid 1990s, along with funding to local government and smaller, local HIV charities. Within society a misconception that HIV and AIDS treatments were a cure and that HIV remained the problem of the traditionally affected groups led to a perception that HIV and AIDS had ?gone away?.In 1997 the respite and residential unit of the London Lighthouse closed and gradually training and education around issues relating to Dying, Death and Bereavement began to fall from the agenda of the caring professions.
Combination therapy is a lifeline to people living with HIV; the numbers of people dying from HIV and AIDS in the UK has declined dramatically, many (though not all) people living with HIV are now expected to have an almost normal life expectancy. This raises new challenges; many people like me who are living long term with HIV are confronted with the impact of HIV and the ageing process, as well as the physical, emotional and psychological impact of living with and managing a highly stigmatised complex chronic health condition into the future. There is an increasing group of older people living with HIV who face more uncertainty in the future. Many of us have been in long term unemployment, have no financial security, live in isolation, have limited support networks and face a range of complex health issues as we age with HIV.
?Recent evidence suggests an increase of syphilis and other sexually transmitted diseases not only amongst gay men but also amongst the general population. World Health Organisation statistics report that HIV is now considered a predominantly heterosexual disease with world figures currently estimating that there are 33.3 million people living with HIV worldwide and a calamitous total of 114,766 people have been diagnosed with HIV in the UK. By the end of 2010 more than 30 million people in the world had died of AIDS. In 2006 I returned to work following a fourteen year period of living with my partner and relying on the benefits system, I enrolled onto a back to work programme with the UKC and was appointed my own life coach who enabled me to develop a business plan and eventually set up my own coaching and training consultancy. To my surprise I quickly realised that there had been a significant shift in focus in the HIV community; people infected with HIV were now living with HIV, there was a new sense of hope and people living with HIV now had a future.Based on my experience of being coached I decide to train and qualify as a coach myself with a view to developing coaching services and projects that would enable people living with HIV. I approached The Coaching Academy, Europe?s largest coaching school and was refused my initial request for a free training place on their diploma level coaching course. Not being discouraged I approached the CEO of the academy and explained my vision of utilising coaching to enable people living with HIV and people living with disabilities to achieve their goals. I was offered a scholarship and qualified at distinction level in 2008.
It was whilst working as a trainer at the United Kingdom Coalition of People Living with HIV (UKC) I picked up a leaflet in the lobby which advertised a leadership programme delivered by the then Disability Rights Commission. I was successful in my application and introduced myself to the then chief executive officer (CEO) Mike Adams who trusted in my vision and skills and was to later appoint me as a leadership coach on subsequent leadership programmes. I have continued to work in partnership with Mike Adams in his current position as CEO of the Essex Coalition of Disabled People (?ecdp?), and amongst other initiatives have been commissioned by Mike to co-design and deliver an innovative leadership programme called ?LeadingAbility ?for people living with long term health conditions, injuries and disabilities (IID) which has included working with veterans of the current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Parallel to my work with Mike Adams I have worked as a lead coach and advisor to the former Royal Association of Disability and Rights (RADAR) which was recently renamed ?Disability Rights UK? who now provide a range of highly successful leadership programmes for people living with disabilities and long term health conditions across the UK, these programmes have become increasingly inclusive of people living with HIV. Additionally I have continued to work with my former coach in developing coaching projects and successfully sourcing funding through the Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) which has enabled us to deliver a number of significant coaching projects in partnership with key HIV organisations in the UK.As we remember 30 years of the AIDS epidemic and the many people who have died we see a move towards marginalising HIV and people living with HIV even though the majority of those infected worldwide are heterosexual. We are also experiencing an increase in negative and damaging stories portraying disabled people as scroungers in the media.
Additionally I am concerned about recent reports and evidence which demonstrates that there has been a significant increase in sexually transmitted diseases and HIV in the general population and highlights the fact that there has been an absence of any significant government HIV or sexual health related campaign over the past 20 years.
The introduction of the 2010 Equality Act has finally addressed our employment and equality rights yet there is a real danger that the values and principles contained in this essential piece of legislation may fall from the agendas of our government in a current climate of recession and uncertainly . Many organisations are experiencing significant cuts in funding or the complete withdrawal of funding as we have witnessed with the disastrous loss of UKC and The Positive Place and other charities across the UK. With radical changes to the benefits system and changes in the way people living with HIV are supported by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) anxiety levels are high and the future uncertain; I am currently proactively supporting the ?Hardest Hit Campaign?
I believe that the time is right to readdress HIV and its associated issues and place HIV firmly at the forefront of our society?s awareness and our nation?s health and human rights agendas.
In August I celebrated my 51st birthday and in October another anniversary, 27 years of living with HIV. As I look to the future and semi-retirement I am sure that I will encounter many potential challenges associated with growing older with HIV.I am now live in a landscape of living with HIV and I am determined to continue to contribute to the HIV community to enable people living with HIV to achieve their potential and develop their leadership contributions.
As an advocate for ?NAT? I am committed to ensuring that I continue to address our rights until people living with HIV experience their human rights as an actualised reality in their everyday lives.
As for my future I intend to continue to work tirelessly to secure funds for coaching and leadership projects to this end and support organisations such as a National Long Term Survivors Group (NLTSG) for whom I have served as trustee and vice-chair. I have recently decided to join the new Opening Doors London support group for older gay men living with HIV and I hope to be able to offer them some of my skills and experience into the future.
Whilst I lack the ability to foresee the future I am determined to make some sort of difference otherwise my life would have been without meaning and I would have failed in my own endeavours to inspire at least some of the people that I have met on my journey. I have become the person that I am because of and in spite of my HIV status; I know that my life has been shaped by HIV and that though it has often been heartbreaking and challenging I also acknowledge that it has also been an amazing and now continuing journey.A lot has happened over this time; I have learnt to remember and value many significant dates and the faces of many loved ones who have gone on ahead of me. I dedicate this story to the many friends who have gone before me, they include Graham, Gary, Chris and Mansour and to the friends who have remained by my side and have supported me and encouraged me on my journey these include Carl, Sue, Yvonne, Trish, Mike, Isaac, Kiki, Sanna and Josef..............
By Danny West ? Coach, Trainer & Leadership Consultant
Email - danny.west944@btinternet.com
Website - http://www.dannywest.co.uk/
Additional Image Credits
First Image Credit Flickr User ttfnrob?
Girl with ribbon - Image Credit Flickr User Seemak
Red Ribbons - Flickr User Sibley Hunter
Ribbon mosaic Flickr User alephnaught
Red ribbon beige background, Flickr User Auntie P?
Christmas tree ribbob Flickr User ginnerobot?
Source: http://www.kuriositas.com/2012/11/changing-landscapes-story-about-living.html
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Thursday, 29 November 2012
Astronomy and Space Sticker Book | Education & Reference | paribsa
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Chinese Website Congratulates Kim Jong Un On Being Named Sexiest Man Alive By "The Onion"
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Source: http://www.buzzfeed.com/zekejmiller/chinese-website-congratulates-kim-jong-un-on-being
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Wednesday, 28 November 2012
Sony Xperia TL ? Style and Usefulness Come Together
Posted by Jawaid Hasan on Nov 27, 2012 in Featured 
New York, November 28 (FinanceEnquiry.com) ? Without mobile phones, it is hard to think about life as they have transformed people lives completely. Hadn?t they been so convenient to use, mob would have stopped searching for a good mobile phone. From this only, popularity of chatting gadgets can be understood clearly.
Sony is a reliable manufacturer that believes in designing mobile tools in astounding ways. In November only, Sony has launched Xperia TL that is glossy and stunning as similar to that of previous Xperia handsets.
Internal memory is beyond belief. The 16 GB memory is just perfect to store lot of data and that too, without any complexity. In fact, capacity of internal memory can be increased up to 32 GB using a card slot. Bluetooth, WLAN, GPRS and EDGE make this handset perfect for fast usage as one can transfer images, data, songs and other files and folders conveniently.
Best part is its 13 mega pixel camera, quality of which is parallel to that of digital camera devices. It captures images with 4128 x 3096 pixels, can autofocus and has LED flash. Features like Geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection and image stabilization are also served.
In addition, Xperia TL can record Video with 1080p@30fps. It has continuous autofocus, video light and video stabilizer. Its 1.3 mega pixel secondary camera also fetches attention of the consumers. The device is available in Black, White, Silver shades. As per personal likings, one can buy the appropriate one.
The only thing that is bothering customers is the similar pattern of Xperia Series that seems a bit boring to them. In fact, rumor has it, Sony just make a slight changes in specs lacking creativity. Although such kind of complains come sometime, however there are many fellows who love style and presentation of Sony phones. Get Sony Xperia TL and discover all its new features that are talk of these days. It is for sure, experience while operating Sony Xperia TL would undoubtedly be amazing.
Jawaid has a ?bachelors degree in economy? and ?masters in finance.? He has worked independently as a finance advisor and manages his own portfolios. He has worked for various investment firms as head portfolio manager and has managed portfolios with a remarkable degree of success. Email: Jawaid.Hasan@financeenquiry.com Tel: (732) 452 3610
Sony Xperia TL ? Style and Usefulness Come Together - November 27, 2012New York, November 28 (FinanceEnquiry.com) ? Without mobile phones, it is hard to think about life as they have transformed people lives completely. Hadn?t they been so convenient to use, mob would have...
Stock Index Futures Hint Elevated Start on Wall Street - November 27, 2012New York, November 27 (FinanceEnquiry.com) ? With futures for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones and the NASDAQ 100 increasing to some extent by 0.1 to 0.2 percent, stock index futures indicated to an...
Deutsche Bank Securities Reports on DB Shipping Weekly - November 27, 2012New York, November 27 (FinanceEnquiry.com) ? Analysts at Deutsche Bank Securities report on DB Shipping Weekly.
In a research note published on November 26, the analysts mention that in a shortened...
Deutsche Bank Securities Reiterates HOLD Rating on Marvell Technology Group Ltd (NASDAQ: MRVL) - November 26, 2012New York, November 26 (FinanceEnquiry.com) ? Analysts at Deutsche Bank Securities reiterate their HOLD rating on the shares of Marvell Technology Group Ltd (NASDAQ: MRVL). The 12-month target price is set to...
Deutsche Bank Securities Reports on US Equity Insights - November 20, 2012New York, November 20 (FinanceEnquiry.com) ? Analyst David Bianco at Deutsche Bank Securities reports on US Equity Insights.
In a research note published on November 19, the analyst mentions that even...
Deutsche Bank Securities Reiterates BUY Rating on F5 Networks (NASDAQ: FFIV) - November 19, 2012New York, November 19 (FinanceEnquiry.com) ? Analyst Brian Modoff at Deutsche Bank Securities reiterates BUY rating on the shares of F5 Networks, Inc (NASDAQ: FFIV). The 12-month target price is set to...
Deutsche Bank Securities Reiterates HOLD Rating on Texas Instruments (NASDAQ: TXN), Target Price Raised - November 15, 2012New York, November 16 (FinanceEnquiry.com) ? Analysts at Deutsche Bank Securities reiterate their HOLD rating on the shares of Texas Instruments Inc (NASDAQ: TXN). The 12-month target price has been...
Asian Equities Descend Outside Japan, Yen Plunges to Six-Month Low - November 15, 2012New York, November 15 (FinanceEnquiry.com) ? On anticipations that elections approaching month will give authority to the opposition which supports limitless easing, shares of Japan jumped and the yen...
Deutsche Bank Securities Reports on US Daily Economic Notes - November 14, 2012New York, November 15 (FinanceEnquiry.com) ? Analysts at Deutsche Bank Securities report on US Daily Economic Notes.
In a research note published on November 14, the analysts mention that retail sales...
Deutsche Bank Securities Reports on Bank Cheat Sheets - November 14, 2012New York, November 14 (FinanceEnquiry.com) ? Analyst Dave Rochester at Deutsche Bank Securities reports on Bank Cheat Sheets.
In a research note published on November 13, the analyst mentions that the...
Source: http://www.financeenquiry.com/sony-xperia-tl-style-and-usefulness-come-together_33133.html
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Basics About the Subscriber Identification Number
The SIM card, otherwise known as a the Subscriber Identification Module, is offered by different mobile networks. The subscriber identification module card is not permanently incorporated in a phone or computer. It can be removed and re inserted again. So if a customer changes mobile subscribers, the sim card can be removed and the new one put in. In cases that involve a phone that is stolen or the card is spoilt, a new sim card can be used. If the card was permanently fixed in the phone then it would be a loss because the whole phone would have to be replaced.
Initially, subscriber identity modules were bulky, imagine something the size of a credit card! With changing technology the size eventually became smaller and can now fit in a phone easily. But again, in the earlier days, the mobile phones used to be huge and thus the big sim cards could fit. And when the world phone and other normal phones started being made in smaller sizes, then the international sim cards reduced in size too. All the cards are not similar. Each has been created in such a way that none will have the same information or even hold the same number even if two sim cards are being offered by the same mobile subscriber.
An international sim card is distinctive from a local one in the sense that it can roam and still connect to other networks. Sequence of numbers on these cards represents the country and the person holding the sim card. Some of the numbers have to be longer for a simple identification to be made. For example, the initial three numerals on the international sim card identify the country that offered the sim card. Then the numbers following the first three numerals identify
the mobile subscriber in that country that offered the sim card. And then the rest of the numbers identify the number of the mobile subscriber otherwise known as the phone number.
It does not matter if the sim card is being used on a world phone; the cards have been made in such a way that they are compatible with all types of phones including smart phones or even normal regular phones. Though there are mobile subscribers who make sure that the sim cards they provide are only compatible with the phones they have to sell with their clients. And if at any one time a subscriber wants to use a phone that has been bought from Verizon with an AT&T phone, then the sim card will not recognize the phone. So in order for the Verizon phone to be compatible with an AT&T sim card it might have to be unlocked.
Something to remember when purchasing sim cards whether they are the international or local sim card, is that irrespective of its capacity (32KB and 64KB) the amount of phone numbers that can be held cannot be more than 250 contacts. So if you need more than that you will need more than one SIM card.
Try to deal with a reputable service provider so you will have many options both locally and internationally with no problems keeping in touch with other people.
Trying to find the best USA sim card or China sim card? Then check out the leading International roaming sim card at www.brightroam.com and find out how you can save on your international roaming charges with special travel sim cards.
Trying to find the best USA sim card or China sim card? Then check out the leading international sim cards at http://www.brightroam.com and find out how you can save on your international roaming charges with special global sim cards.
http://www.brightroam.com
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Officials probe how mentally ill man got gun used in Alabama shooting
BAY MINETTE, Alabama (Reuters) - Investigators in Alabama are trying to determine how a man with a history of mental illness obtained a gun he used to kill a sheriff's deputy and wound another when they responded to a 911 call at his trailer, a prosecutor said on Monday
The man, 53-year-old Michael Jansen, initially opened fire from inside the trailer on Friday after three officers went to his home following a call from his mother that he was behaving erratically, according to police.
Jansen was killed in the gunfight near the southern Alabama city of Fairhope. Police said the officers, standing outside, held a lengthy conversation with him before he came out and a close-range shootout ensued on the trailer's front porch.
Jansen had been committed to a local mental hospital at least twice in recent years, said Lt. Jud Beedy of the Baldwin County Major Crimes Task Force.
Federal law prohibits people who have been committed to a mental institution from buying guns through a licensed dealer, which are required to run a background check.
District Attorney Hallie Dixon said Jansen may have legally bought the gun from an individual owner, allowing him to avoid the check.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Fire and Explosives is working to trace previous owners of the gun to determine how Jansen may have acquired it, Dixon said.
(Reporting by Kaija Wilkinson; Editing by Kevin Gray, Bernard Orr)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/officials-probe-mentally-ill-man-got-gun-used-232802093.html
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Bjork undergoes vocal cord surgery
Malte Kristiansen / AFP - Getty Images
By Josh Grossberg, E! Online
Bjork is on the rebound. In a message posted on her website Wednesday, the Icelandic pop queen confirmed that she underwent successful surgery to remove a polyp from her vocal cords.
No word exactly when the procedure took place, but she appears to have opted for the surgery sometime this fall.
Bjork, 47, said she first discovered the polyp a few years ago and tried to rid herself of it by doing stretches and changing her diet, but after advances in technology to treat the condition, she finally decided to go under the knife.
Adele recovering from throat surgery
"Surgery rocks!" she told fans. "I stayed quiet for 3 weeks and then started singing and definitely feel like my cords are as good as pre-nodule. It's been very satisfying to sing all the clear notes again."
The singer apologized for having had to cancel various commitments earlier this year, but she didn't want to release information about the operation until she knew it would work.
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"So looking forward to singing for you in 2013," Bjork added.
Congrats on a successful recovery.
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Tuesday, 27 November 2012
How social media link building is beneficial? Several Reasons are ...
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Engineering plants for biofuels
ScienceDaily (Nov. 26, 2012) ? With increasing demands for sustainable energy, being able to cost-efficiently produce biofuels from plant biomass is more important than ever. However, lignin and hemicelluloses present in certain plants mean that they cannot be easily converted into biofuels. A study published in BioMed Central's open access journal Biotechnology for Biofuels appears to have solved this problem, using gene manipulation techniques to engineer plants that can be more easily broken down into biofuels.
Plants high in lignin and hemicelluloses -- lignocellulosic biomass -- have a high content of pentose sugars that are more difficult to ferment into fuels than plants with hexose sugars. In order to be useful for biofuel production, scientists need to be able to engineer plants with smaller amounts of xylan -- the major non-cellulosic polysaccharide -- present in secondary cell walls.
With this in mind, a research group from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA, used 3 mutant strains of Arabidopsis deficient in xylan -- irregular xylem (irx) mutants irx7, irx8 and irx9 -- in order to engineer plants with low xylan content and improved properties for easier breakdown of carbohydrate into simple sugars (saccharification). The irx mutants normally exhibit severe dwarf phenotypes that result from xylem vessel collapse and consequent impaired transport of water and nutrients. The team hypothesized that restoring xylan biosynthesis in the plants would complement the mutations.
To reintroduce xylan biosynthesis into the xylem of irx7, 8 and 9, Henrik Scheller and colleagues manipulated the promoter regions of vessel-specific VND6 and VND7 transcription factor genes. Significantly, they found that the ensuing phenotypes completely restored wild-type growth patterns in some cases, resulting in stronger plants with restored mechanical properties, whilst at the same time maintaining a low overall xylan content and improved saccharification properties that allowed for better breakdown into biofuels.
Plants with up to 23% reduction in xylose levels and 18% reduction in lignin content were obtained, whilst normal xylem function was restored. The plants also showed a 42% increase in saccharification yield after pretreatment.
Lead author Scheller said, "These results show that it is possible to obtain plants that have reduced amounts of xylan in their walls while still preserving the structural integrity of the xylem vessels. The xylan engineering system we present here is a great step towards tailored bioenergy crops that can be easily converted into biofuels. He continued, "This approach in Arabidopsis has the potential to be transferred to other biofuel crop species in the near future, in particular, the poplar species."
These results from this study provide hope that a viable alternative to fossil fuels may soon be available.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by BioMed Central Limited.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Pia D Petersen, Jane Lau, Berit Ebert, Fan Yang, Yves Verhertbruggen, Jin S Kim, Patanjali Varanasi, Anongpat Suttangkakul, Manfred Auer, Dominique Loque and Henrik V Scheller. Engineering of plants with improved properties as biofuels feedstocks by vessel-specific complementation of xylan biosynthesis mutants. Biotechnology for Biofuels, 2012 [link]
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/vip3jgu4vpE/121125192840.htm
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Monday, 26 November 2012
jaglers: Hand and Wrist Pain | - Health and Fitness Media - Typepad
I am often surprised that folks don?t contemplate chiropractic look after hand and wrist pain. We do extra than simply low again and neck pain. We are taught to deal with the spine and most different joints of the physique together with the hand and wrist.
Hand and wrist ache for the sake of this article isn?t about carpal tunnel syndrome. That?s one other topic for an additional day. In addition to which, most carpal tunnel syndromes contain the neck. Hand and wrist pain will be independent of the neck.
What are the a number of the extra common hand and wrist pain cases that a typical chiropractor would treatall For one, overuse or repetitive pressure syndromes that may manifest either as hand/wrist or elbow pain. The typical situations could be sports accidents, falling and catching oneself with the hand prolonged, weight lifting or lifting heavy items (resembling with a recent move to another home). Even repetitive actions such as knitting, crocheting, laptop usage can add to repetitive strain. Massage therapists also are in danger for repetitive strains with the heavy utilization of their arms, forearms and elbows.
Ache alongside the thumb (normally of the dominant hand) is another typical pain syndrome seen by chiropractors. This is often an inflammation of the extensor hallicus longus tendon ? translation: irritation of the tendon that goes to the thumb. This is normally of a power nature. Problem writing, choosing up objects, performing advantageous motor abilities with the thumb may be painful. The joint the place the thumb attaches to the hand is the most commonly degenerative joint within the hand. That tells us we use our thumbs a lot. Over time the damage and tear stress upon that joint makes is vulnerable to degenerative or arthritic changes.
Finger ache reveals up now and then. Usually, the finger does not bend all the way. The ache is normally not disabling however annoying. I had a affected person with such a case. He had low grade finger ache for over 20 years. He thought there was no cure. Simply on a whim he ventured to ask if anything could possibly be finished for it. One treatment and the ache was completely gone and hasn?t returned since.
A typical therapy protocol for hand and wrist ache is in fact chiropractic adjustments. I take advantage of the Activator (hand held gadget) which pinpoints the joint accurately. I also use the ?speeder board? which is like a mini-drop table. This helps to jog loose the joint that perhaps stuck. Mushy tissue work can also be helpful to scale back irritation, break up adhesions, reduce muscle spasm, enhance vascularity to the tissues and most significantly scale back pain. Checking other associated buildings can ferret out contributing causes to the pain. Sometimes, the elbow, shoulder and neck are the same old suspects.
In additional advanced circumstances, testing for lack of power and different orthopedic tests to rule out nerve entrapment syndromes, carpal tunnel syndrome, and thoracic outlet syndrome may be necessary.
The point of this text is to speak up to your chiropractor about any hand or wrist pain that you may be having. You may be surprised.
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Hello, my name Asep, I live in Jakarta with is the state capital of Indonesia. I am the fourth of seven children, I worked in a private company engaged in contracting and my job now is Project Manager, I also own pioneering efforts along with my wife, which I own is a civil engineering degree and my wife is a graduate of architecture, and we cooperation each other in the field of engineering. I love to write, I try to pour in an article in the hope of representing and sharing experiences of my hearts burst of expression, This here I liked the design of the house and the challenge will be to their owners. Satisfaction of an owner is a satisfaction, freshness and happiness of countless ...Source: http://www.friedenforbes.com/2012/11/23/hand-and-wrist-pain/
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Source: http://sammieguerra454.typepad.com/blog/2012/11/hand-and-wrist-pain-health-and-fitness-media.html
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Source: http://darrenjosh.blogspot.com/2012/11/hand-and-wrist-pain-health-and-fitness.html
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Sunday, 25 November 2012
A Dryer Vent Through The Roof Is A Very Dangerous Thing
A dryer vent through the roof is a very dangerous thing.
I have written about dryer vents before, in many contexts.? Including through a roof!
But this one is so dangerous I have to reiterate my points.
I always prefer to see a dryer vent on the side of a house.? Even if it's high.
Why?
How do you know a dryer vent needs cleaning?? YOU HAVE TO LOOK AT IT.
How do you clean a dryer vent?? MANUALLY.
This dryer vent is NOT visible from the ground.? How do you know it needs cleaning?
With great effort.
This house leaves four choices to clean the dryer vent -
1.? A climb up in front and traversing a metal roof.? They can be slippery.
2.? A 40' ladder from the rear of the house, with another trip over the ridge of the house, negotiating fairly steep aspects up, over and down.? THEN you have to go back up, over and down the roof to get onto the top of a 40' ladder to climb down!? Yikes!
3.? Slither out a bedroom window, walk along a ledge on top of a metal roof, and climb up a fairly steep shingled roof 12' to get to this vent.
4.? Hire somebody!? And that would necessitate two people with a long ladder.? Not cheap.
That is all ridiculous!?
Look at this vent.? It is 100% clogged!? Someone has been up here before because I see roof tar above and beside the vent.? Is this the builder's "installation" job?? Did it leak and is this the "fix?"? The house is seven years old.? Has this vent ever been cleaned?
This roof is the third floor of the house.? The laundry room is on the first floor.? Looking at the house geography from inside the exhaust tubing servicing this vent goes straight up!? It is not accessible from inside the house.? I could not see it from the attic, so it is difficult at best to get at from inside there.
It must pass through a portion of the attic.? Is it insulated?
What happens when it snows deeper than 3"?? This vent is clogged even more!
In my opinion a dryer vent through a roof is less than smart.? How much less depends on its placement.
My recommendation:? all in all this is a dangerous vent, not just now but in the years to come.? How often should a dryer vent be cleaned?? When it's clogging!? I always look for the dryer vent on home inspections.? It is important to see where it is and if it needs cleaning.? We fortunately found this one, and only because I took a risk and went out a window to see if it was where I suspected!?
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Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC?? 
Based in Bristow, serving all of Northern Virginia
www.jaymarinspect.com
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Source: http://activerain.com/blogsview/3529492/a-dryer-vent-through-the-roof-is-a-very-dangerous-thing
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