Honey and Cinnamon Remedy

The combination of honey and cinnamon has been used for centuries in both traditional Chinese and Ayurveda, a system of healing founded 5000 years ago in India. The two ingredients with unique healing abilities have a long history as a home remedy. Cinnamon is one of the oldest spices known to mankind and honey's popularity has continued throughout history. Cinnamon's essential oils and honey's enzyme that produces hydrogen peroxide qualify the two "anti-microbial" foods with the ability to help stop the growth of bacteria as well as fungi. Both are used not just as a beverage flavoring and medicine, but also as an embalming agent and are used as alternatives to traditional food preservatives due to their effective antimicrobial properties. Also, it is worth mentioning that in Ayurvedic medicine, honey is known as 'Yogavahi', which means "the carrier of the healing values of the herbs to the cells and tissues". It is believed that when combined with another substance (eg a herb or spice) in a formulation, the special quality of honey enhances the medicinal qualities of that formulation and helps them reach the deeper tissues in the body more effectively. And honey and cinnamon, which is one of the best-known mixtures, has been reported to be a natural cure for many diseases and a formula for many health benefits: 1) Heart diseases: Apply honey and cinnamon powder on bread instead of using jam or butter and eat it regularly for breakfast. It is believed that in the long run, this can help prevent blockages in blood vessels, heart attacks and hypercholesterolemia. 2) Arthritis: Apply a paste made of the two ingredients on the affected part of the body and massage slowly. Drinking tea with honey and cinnamon daily can also help relieve pain and stiffness in the joints. 3) Hair Loss: Apply a paste of hot olive oil, a tablespoon of honey, a teaspoon of cinnamon powder before bath, leave it for 15 min and wash. 4) Bladder infecctions: Mix cinnamon powder and honey in a glass of lukewarm water and drink. This can help destroy the bacteria in the urinary system. 5)Toothache: Apply a paste of cinnamon powder and honey and on the aching tooth. 6) Cholesterol: Add honey to cinnamon powder mixed in boiled water or green tea and drink. 7) Colds: Make a glass of lukewarm honey water mixed with a pinch of cinnamon powder to help boost your immune system during the cold season. It is also helpful in clearing the sinuses. 8) Indigestion: Cinnamon powder sprinkled on a spoonful of honey taken before food relieves acidity and prevents indigestion. 9) Longevity: Regularly take tea made with honey and a little cinnamon powder to strengthen your immune system and protect your body from viral and bacterial attacks. 10) Pimples: Mix honey with cinnamon powder and apply paste on the pimples before sleeping and wash away the next morning. 11) Obesity: To reduce weight, daily drink a mixture of a teaspoon of honey with half a teaspoon of cinnamon powder boiled in water with an empty stomach in the morning about half an hour before breakfast. Step-by-step instructions in: Cinnamon and Honey Recipe. Cinnamon has an insulin boosting property (water soluble compounds called polyphenol type A polymers) which have the ability to boost insulin activity about 20 fold and can benefit people who have high sugar levels (obese people, pre-diabetics and diabetics). Also, read the honey hibernation diet theory to find out how honey contributes to the metabolizing of undesirable cholesterol and fatty acid, provides a fuelling mechanism for the body, keep blood sugar levels balanced, and let our recovery hormones get on with burning body fat stores. 12) Bad breathe: Gargle with honey and cinnamon powder mixed in warm water so that breath stays fresh throughout the day. Honey plus cinnamon together besides being a amazing potential cure for so many illnesses, their total fragrant, sweet and warm taste is also a perfect match for the palate. The combination adds a magic effect to the taste of cakes, breads, biscuits and rolls and is known to make many winning recipes in the world of delicious food, such as the famous, easy-to-make, kids' favourite classic - honey and cinnamon butter toast! Step-by-Step Honey and Cinnamon Weight Loss Recipe This recipe speeds up body metabolism. Best to take it first thing in the morning. (Avoid taking cinnamon before bedtime as some have complained about restless sleep.) More in: Cinnamon and Honey Recipe. Are You Eating the Real Cinnamon? If you don't know what real or fake cinnamon sticks are, read more in: Ceylon Cinnamon Versus Cassia Cinnamon.

Exploring the teenage brain, and its drive for immediate reward

Teenage exploration and risk taking could be explained by dramatic changes in the brain that allow elaborate planning and are driven by the need for immediate reward, according to a University of Pittsburgh neuroscientist who will be talking about her research in a panel discussion and press briefing at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting, Feb. 13 to 16, in San Jose, Calif. Using an elegant model in which eye movements, or saccades, reveal insight into executive brain function, Beatriz Luna, Ph.D., Staunton Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, Pitt School of Medicine, has studied hundreds of young volunteers to examine brain development during the transition between childhood and adulthood. "Our studies are beginning to challenge the traditional concept that the teenage brain can't plan because of an immature prefrontal cortex," Dr. Luna said. "Our findings indicate that the teen prefrontal cortex is not much different than in the adult, but it can be easily overruled by heightened motivation centers in the brain. You have this mixture of newly gained executive control plus extra reward that is pulling the teenager toward immediate gratification." In the experiments, volunteers are instructed to immediately look away from a small light that randomly appears on a screen in front of them. This "anti-saccade" test shows if the brain is able to engage the planning centers of the prefrontal cortex to overcome the impulse to look toward the light rather than away from it. Dr. Luna's team has found in previous studies that children succeed in about half their tries, teens in about 70 percent of tries and adults in about 90 percent of tries. People with mental illnesses typically struggle with the task. The study team had volunteers do the same tasks while scanning their brains with functional MRI. They found that much of the architecture of mature brain is in place by adolescence, but the ability of the networks to talk to one another and integrate information is still a work in progress. "Further enhancement of this network integration is likely why adults can switch and very quickly adapt their behavior to changing circumstances, which is more difficult for adolescents," Dr. Luna explained. She added that while parents and teachers sometimes find bewildering the choices teens might make, their brains are perfectly adapted to explore and take some chances as they become independent adults. "Across societies and species, we know that adolescence is a period of increased sensation seeking that can lead to risk taking, which increases mortality rate," Dr. Luna said. "Also, we often see during this period the first signs of mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, depression and eating disorders. All of these have a neurobiological basis, so if we know how the brain is changing, we might be able to figure out a way to intervene earlier in life." Story Source: The above story is based on materials provided by University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Temperature-controlled e-cigs: The next giant leap in harm reduction of nicotine use?

The Vapor Shark DNA is one of the new breed of devices with temperature control functionality   There are a growing number of electronic cigarettes (e-cigs) with temperature control functionality, allowing a fool-proof way to avoid either the overheating of Propylene Glycol (PG) and Glycerine (VG), the common carrier liquids for nicotine and flavoring, or a "dry puff", where the wick becomes too dry to produce vapor, and simply burns instead. Opposing sides in the debate about the safety of e-cigs appear to have reached a consensus on one thing – the temperature of the coil of the atomizer (which is heated to create vapor) is the difference between an e-cig being vastly safer than a cigarette, and… somewhat less vastly safer. (Although recent studies suggest that they potentially offer their own risks). In a boon for both camps, increasing numbers of devices with temperature control functionality allow a fool-proof way to avoid either condition without guess work or wishful thinking. Evolv's DNA25 & DNA40 boards, and YiHi's SX350J board can be used with coils made from non-resistance wire, such as nickel, allowing it to read the temperature of the coil and cut off before reaching temperatures which are unsafe for the coil, wick or liquid. Spotless: a nickel coil and cotton wick after one week of use (via Reddit) Manufacturers including Hana Modz and Vapor Shark have devices on the market using Evolv's DNA40 board, and YiHi's SX Mini M class (based on its SX350J board) should be available worldwide soon after Chinese New Year. Temperature-sensing coils are currently available for a range of popular clearomizers including the Aspire Nautilus and Kangertech Subtank, and the slightly more adventurous can build their own nickel coils for the countless rebuildable atomizers on the market. These devices all sit at the high end of the market, coming in at or above US$189, though due to thriving competition (not to mention rampant cloning) Gizmag expects this technology to be widely available at much lower prices by the end of 2015.

Systems to identify treatment targets for cancer and rare diseases

February 13, 2015 Biomedical Sciences Institutes (BMSI) In recent months, several national initiatives for personalized medicine have been announced, including the recently launched precision medicine initiative in the US, driven by rapid advances in genomic technologies and with the promise of cheaper and better healthcare. Significant challenges remain, however, in the management and analysis of genetic information and their integration with patient data. The sheer scale and complexity of this data, generated using cutting-edge technologies such as next generation DNA sequencing, requires the development of new computer algorithms and systems that can mine this data to get actionable knowledge. Now, scientists at A*STAR's Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) have reported another breakthrough in the development of expert systems that can trawl large datasets, integrating complex disease information to guide doctors in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. The latest in this series is the development of a system called OncoIMPACT that combines cancer omics data and models learned from hundreds of patients to better sift through genetic mutations and pick potentially causal ones. The lead investigator in this study, Dr Niranjan Nagarajan, Associate Director of Computational and Systems Biology at the GIS, noted, "We are particularly excited about OncoIMPACT's ability to take into account the unique genetic makeup of each patient to predict treatment targets. It allows us to crunch massive cancer genome datasets in an integrative and model-driven fashion to distill them down to the few key driver mutations." Assistant Professor Johannes Schumacher from the Institute of Human Genetics at the University of Bonn, added: "The integration of different 'omics' datasets for the identification of cancer driver genes is a challenge. OncoIMPACT fills a gap in integrative analyses and provides the opportunity to revisit large complex datasets for the identification of disease driving genes." The team of researchers at A*STAR have applied OncoIMPACT to more than a thousand cancers such as melanomas, glioblastomas, prostate, bladder and ovarian cancers, and are in the process of building a complete map of driver mutations across cancers. They also demonstrated a proof-of-concept in this study for using driver mutation signatures to predict clinical outcomes for cancer patients. This is an exciting alternative to currently available tests based on RNA and protein levels as DNA can be more reliably assayed, and the team plans to develop this work further. Dr Nagarajan remarked, "Our hope is to create a resource for cancer researchers and clinicians in Singapore and around the world. We envisage a future where expert systems such as OncoIMPACT can leverage genomic data generated worldwide and contribute to personalised and targeted medicine in Singapore." Dr Gopal Iyer, Principal Investigator of the Cancer Therapeutics Research Laboratory at the National Cancer Centre of Singapore (NCCS) noted, "With the availability of large amounts of genetic data, it is difficult to focus our attention on the real cause and drivers in cancers. There are a number of algorithms that help narrow this search down in groups of cancers. OncoIMPACT, however, is different as it can focus these analyses on a single patient. This is the first step for true treatment individualisation: if we can uncover the drivers behind a tumour in a specific patient, we can ask if this can then be treated with specific drugs." OncoIMPACT is the latest in the series of expert systems from the GIS and follows the recent publication of Phen-Gen -- the first such system to cross-reference patient's symptoms with genome sequence to detect causal genes for rare diseases. Both methods fall in the emerging area of integrative omics, where complex, multi-dimensional datasets are jointly analysed with sophisticated algorithms to reveal novel biological and medical insights. Story Source: The above story is based on materials provided by Biomedical Sciences Institutes (BMSI). Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. Journal Reference: D. Bertrand, K. R. Chng, F. G. Sherbaf, A. Kiesel, B. K. H. Chia, Y. Y. Sia, S. K. Huang, D. S. B. Hoon, E. T. Liu, A. Hillmer, N. Nagarajan. Patient-specific driver gene prediction and risk assessment through integrated network analysis of cancer omics profiles. Nucleic Acids Research, 2015; DOI: 10.1093/nar/gku1393

World’s first compact rotary 3-D printer-cum-scanner

With production funded by crowdsourcing, the first unit will be delivered to the United States in March. Nanyang Technological University's (NTU Singapore) start-up Blacksmith Group today launched the world's first compact 3D printer that can also scan items into digitised models. Named the Blacksmith Genesis, this user-friendly device allows users without much knowledge of 3D software to scan any item, then edit the digitised model on the computer and print it out in 3D. The all-in-one 3D printer and scanner whose production was financed through a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo. com, was unveiled today at the American Association Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting in San Jose, California. The first batch is now ready to be shipped out in March to early adopters who supported Blacksmith Group's crowdfunding campaign. Innovative design with several firsts Housed in a black aluminium casing, the high-tech device weighing 6 kilograms features a 2-inch LCD display, Wi-Fi, an integrated SD-card reader and a USB connection for instant printing. Blacksmith Genesis uses an innovative rotary platform for its printing and scanning, unlike other commercial 3D printers. This patent-pending revolving platform allows for true 360-degrees scanning, and can print items up to 6,650 cm3 (about 6.5 litres), twice the size of those printed by other similar-sized 3D printers in the market. With a fine resolution of 50 micrometres, the reproductions will be twice as detailed compared to other compact 3D printers. Likewise, scanning of objects with its 5 megapixel camera takes only 6 minutes, twice as fast as other 3D scanners in the market. Blacksmith Genesis is also the first to feature remote live monitoring and automatic error detection thanks to its in-built camera. This allows users to monitor and control the printing process on their smartphone from anywhere in the world through the Internet. The device is the brainchild of Blacksmith Group's founders, NTU engineering graduate Dr Alex Pui Tze Sian and Mr Fang Kok Boon. Mr Fang, CEO of Blacksmith Group, said their aim is to make 3D printing easy and accessible to the average consumers. "We designed Blacksmith Genesis with the average hobbyist in mind. Most 3D printers sold on the market now are not really user-friendly as their 3D models and blueprints usually have to be designed from scratch on the computer. "However, with our device, 3D printing will be fuss-free as users won't need to design an original work from scratch as they can just use our Blacksmith Sorcerer 3D software. By scanning any physical item, they can immediately copy and print the item or use the digitised object as a base to form their own 3D object." Start-up mentored by top scientist in 3D printing  "3D printing is a disruptive innovation that has revolutionised the manufacturing and biomedical industries," Prof Chua said. "While low-cost 3D printers are available, they are still very hard to programme and assemble. Having an affordable, high-quality 3D printer that is easy to use is what the market is missing and this is where Blacksmith Group will bridge the gap," he added. "Blacksmith Genesis with its unique rotary platform design is a great example of how scientists can bring innovations from the lab to the industry and in this case, all the way into consumers' homes. It has always been my wish that 3D printers will be as common as the inkjet and laser printers now found in many homes and offices." The start-up had successfully completed their crowdsourcing campaign last August, raising over US$80,000. It is funded by the Interactive Digital Media (IDM) Jump-start and Mentor programme (i.JAM), and the National Research Foundation, Prime Minister's Office, Singapore. The Blacksmith Genesis is now available for pre-order online at the price of US $2,200, with a flat rate of US $150 for shipping to 70 countries worldwide.