Discovery paves way for new superconducting electronics

 

Mon, 06/22/2015 - 12:15pm Kim McDonald, University of California, San Diego   The physicists used a helium ion beam to create an atomic scale Josephson junction (shown in the inset) in a crystal of Yttrium Barium Copper Oxide.  San Diego (UC San Diego) have developed a new way to control the transport of electrical currents through high-temperature superconductors—materials discovered nearly 30 years ago that lose all resistance to electricity at commercially attainable low temperatures. Their achievement, detailed in two separate scientific publications, paves the way for the development of sophisticated electronic devices capable of allowing scientists or clinicians to non-invasively measure the tiny magnetic fields in the heart or brain, and improve satellite communications. “We believe this new approach will have a significant and far-reaching impact in medicine, physics, materials science and satellite communications,” said Robert Dynes, a professor of physics and former Chancellor of UC San Diego. “It will enable the development of a new generation of superconducting electronics covering a wide spectrum, ranging from highly sensitive magnetometers for biomagnetic measurements of the human body to large-scale arrays for wideband satellite communications. In basic science, it is hoped it will contribute to the unravelling of the mysteries of unconventional superconductors and could play a major role in new technologies, such as quantum information science.” The research team headed by Dynes and Cybart, summarized its achievements in Applied Physics Letters. Another paper outlining the initial discovery was published online in Nature Nanotechnology. The developments breathe new life into the promise of electronics constructed from ceramic materials that become superconducting—that is, lose all resistance to electricity—at temperatures that can be easily achieved in the laboratory with liquid nitrogen, which boils at 77 K or 77 degrees above absolute zero. Physicists first discovered high-temperature superconductivity in a copper-oxide materials in 1986, setting off an intense effort to develop new kinds of electronics and other devices with this new material. “Scientists and engineers worked with fervor to develop these new exciting materials, but soon discovered that they were much more complicated and difficult to work with than imagined,” said Dynes. “These new materials demanded novel device architectures that proved very difficult to realize.” The UC San Diego physicists found a way to control electrical transport through these materials by building a device within the superconducting material called a “Josephson junction,” analogous in function to the transistor in semiconductor electronics. It’s composed of two superconducting electrodes separated by about one nanometer or a billionth of a meter. “Circuits built from Josephson junctions called Superconducting QUantum Interference Devices (SQUIDS), are used for detectors of extremely small magnetic fields, more than 10 billion times smaller than that of Earth,” said Dynes. “One major drawback to these earlier devices is the low temperatures required for their operation, typically just 4 degrees above absolute zero. This requires intricate and costly cooling systems.” “Nearly three decades have passed since the discovery of the first high-temperature superconductor and progress in constructing electronic devices using these materials has been very slow because process control at the sub-10-nm scale is required to make high quality Josephson junctions out of these materials,” he explained. The UC San Diego physicists teamed up with Carl Zeiss Microscopy in Peabody, Massachusetts, which has a facility capable of generating highly focused beams of helium ions, to experiment with an approach they believed might avoid previous problems. “Using the Zeiss Orion’s finely focused helium beam, we irradiated and hence disordered a nanoscale region of the superconductor to create what is called a ‘quantum mechanical tunnel barrier’ and were able to write Josephson circuits directly into a thin film of the oxide superconductor,” said Shane Cybart, a physicist in Dynes’ laboratory who played a key role in the discoveries.. “Using this direct-write method we eliminated the lithographic processing and offered the promise of a straightforward pathway to quantum mechanical circuits operating at more practical temperatures.” “The key to this method is that these oxide superconductors are very sensitive to the point defects in the crystal lattice caused by the ion beam. Increasing irradiation levels has the effect of increasing resistivity and reducing the superconducting transition temperature,” said Cybart. “At very high irradiation levels the superconductor becomes insulating and no longer conducts or superconducts. This allows us to use the small helium beam to write these tunnel junctions directly into the material.” The Nature Nanotechnology paper describes the development of the basic Josephson junction, while the Applied Physics Letters paper describes the development of the magnetic field sensor built from two junctions. The UC San Diego physicists, who filed a patent application to license their discovery, are now collaborating with medical researchers to apply their work to the development of devices that can non-invasively measure the tiny magnetic fields generated within the brain, in order to study brain disorders such as autism and epilepsy in children. “In the communications field, we are developing wide bandwidth high data throughput satellite communications,” said Cybart. “In basic science, we are using this technology to study ceramic superconducting materials to help determine the physics governing their operation which could lead to improved materials working at even higher temperatures.” Source: Univ. of California, San Diego

The secrets of secretion

 

Mon, 06/22/2015 - 11:45am Harvard University. This image shows the self-assembly of the system through phase separation. The liquid droplets appear as bright fluorescent spots. Image: Harvard Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Anything you can do, nature can do better. Chemical delivery systems, self-healing cells, non-stick surfaces—nature perfected those long ago. Now, researchers at Harvard Univ. have hacked nature's blueprints to create a new technology that could have broad-reaching impact on drug delivery systems and self-healing and anti-fouling materials. The secret is secretion. Living tissues rely on their ability to package, transport and secrete liquid, where and when it's needed. Nature's secretion system is responsive, self-regulatory, and intrinsically linked with its surroundings but synthetic systems haven't been able to replicate that complexity until now. The new system, described in Nature Materials, was developed in the lab of Joanna Aizenberg, the Amy Smith Berylson Professor of Materials Science at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS). Aizenberg is also professor in the Dept. of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, co-director of the Kavli Institute for Bionano Science and Technology, and a core faculty member at Harvard's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, leading the Adaptive Materials Technologies platform there. The new system, self-assembled through phase separation, consists of liquid droplets inside a supramolecular polymer gel with a thin layer of liquid on its surface. When the surface liquid is removed or depleted, the droplets spontaneously release only enough fluid to replace what is lost on the surface. "Current fluid secretion technologies are generally designed with one-time only release mechanisms. Once the fluid is released, it continues flowing, at a consistent pace, until the supply is exhausted, regardless of the needs of its surroundings," said Aizenberg. "These kinds of triggered releases aren't responsive to the consumption of fluid. Our system ties fluid secretion to fluid consumption and controls for when and how much liquid is secreted at a time." The feature is an advance for material application, especially the non-stick, slippery material known as SLIPS (Slippery Liquid-Infused Porous Surfaces) developed in the Aizenberg lab. "This system opens the way to create dynamic designer polymers that are capable of self-relubrication and highly regulated and long-lasting anti-fouling behavior," said Jiaxi Cui, a postdoctoral fellow in Aizenberg's lab and a lead author of the paper. Instability is the key to this system's success. Just as in nature, the secretion system developed by Aizenberg and her team is out of equilibrium, unstable enough to adapt and respond to its surroundings. The supramolecular polymers are reversibly bonded to each other, meaning they can come apart to allow the liquid to filter through the matrix, then stitch themselves back together and adjust to the shrinking liquid reserves. This is a major step forward in the design of self-healing materials. "There is a whole class of self-healing polymers out there, but most can't stitch themselves together if there is a big gash down the middle," said Daniel Daniel, a graduate student in Aizenberg's lab and coauthor on the paper. "Polymers can't fly through the air but they can swim through liquid." When this system is cut down the middle, the newly exposed polymer surface signals droplets to secrete liquid, quickly filling in the crack and bridging the ends of the broken polymers. Over time, the polymer strands will swim through the liquid and stitch themselves back together. Like the gauge on a gas tank, the system can self-report its liquid levels. As the fluid is secreted, the gel becomes more transparent. The system could also be used to improve drug delivery systems. Certain drugs, such as those used to treat cancer, are harmful if released all at one. A system that could not only tell a chemical where and when to release, but how quickly to release, could have a major impact on certain treatments. The Aizenberg lab is at the forefront of this kind of adaptable and responsive material science. "For years, material scientists created static materials and then tried to figure out how to get them to change as an afterthought," Aizenberg said. "Now, the direction of material science is to look at nature and recognize that nature has already invented sophisticated responsive, dynamical material systems, and we can take inspiration from that." Source: Harvard University

Dancers Wearing Issey Miyake Garments

 

 

Posted: 21 Jun 2015 02:30 PM PDT

Dans le cadre de l’exposition « Prism » au Daikanyama T-Site, le célèbre photographe français Francis Giacobetti nous révèle une série de clichés inattendus où la danse contemporaine se mêle aux créations sculpturales d’Issey Miyake. Les mouvements extremes des danseurs dévoilent le mécanisme envoutant et la légèreté de ces costumes hyper-créatifs.

 

10 ways to control high blood pressure without medication

 

By making these 10 lifestyle changes, you can lower your blood pressure and reduce your risk of heart disease. By Mayo Clinic Staff Heart-Healthy Living If you've been diagnosed with high blood pressure, you might be worried about taking medication to bring your numbers down. Lifestyle plays an important role in treating your high blood pressure. If you successfully control your blood pressure with a healthy lifestyle, you might avoid, delay or reduce the need for medication. Here are 10 lifestyle changes you can make to lower your blood pressure and keep it down. 1. Lose extra pounds and watch your waistline Blood pressure often increases as weight increases. Being overweight also can cause disrupted breathing while you sleep (sleep apnea), which further raises your blood pressure. Weight loss is one of the most effective lifestyle changes for controlling blood pressure. Losing just 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms) can help reduce your blood pressure. Besides shedding pounds, you generally should also keep an eye on your waistline. Carrying too much weight around your waist can put you at greater risk of high blood pressure. In general:     Men are at risk if their waist measurement is greater than 40 inches (102 centimeters).     Women are at risk if their waist measurement is greater than 35 inches (89 centimeters). These numbers vary among ethnic groups. Ask your doctor about a healthy waist measurement for you. 2. Exercise regularly Regular physical activity — at least 30 minutes most days of the week — can lower your blood pressure by 4 to 9 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg). It's important to be consistent because if you stop exercising, your blood pressure can rise again. If you have slightly high blood pressure (prehypertension), exercise can help you avoid developing full-blown hypertension. If you already have hypertension, regular physical activity can bring your blood pressure down to safer levels. The best types of exercise for lowering blood pressure include walking, jogging, cycling, swimming or dancing. Strength training also can help reduce blood pressure. Talk to your doctor about developing an exercise program. 3. Eat a healthy diet Eating a diet that is rich in whole grains, fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products and skimps on saturated fat and cholesterol can lower your blood pressure by up to 14 mm Hg. This eating plan is known as the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet. It isn't easy to change your eating habits, but with these tips, you can adopt a healthy diet:     Keep a food diary. Writing down what you eat, even for just a week, can shed surprising light on your true eating habits. Monitor what you eat, how much, when and why.     Consider boosting potassium. Potassium can lessen the effects of sodium on blood pressure. The best source of potassium is food, such as fruits and vegetables, rather than supplements. Talk to your doctor about the potassium level that's best for you.     Be a smart shopper. Read food labels when you shop and stick to your healthy-eating plan when you're dining out, too. 4. Reduce sodium in your diet Even a small reduction in the sodium in your diet can reduce blood pressure by 2 to 8 mm Hg. The effect of sodium intake on blood pressure varies among groups of people. In general, limit sodium to less than 2,300 milligrams (mg) a day or less. However, a lower sodium intake — 1,500 mg a day or less — is appropriate for people with greater salt sensitivity, including:     African-Americans     Anyone age 51 or older     Anyone diagnosed with high blood pressure, diabetes or chronic kidney disease To decrease sodium in your diet, consider these tips:     Read food labels. If possible, choose low-sodium alternatives of the foods and beverages you normally buy.     Eat fewer processed foods. Only a small amount of sodium occurs naturally in foods. Most sodium is added during processing.     Don't add salt. Just 1 level teaspoon of salt has 2,300 mg of sodium. Use herbs or spices to add flavor to your food.     Ease into it. If you don't feel you can drastically reduce the sodium in your diet suddenly, cut back gradually. Your palate will adjust over time. 5. Limit the amount of alcohol you drink Alcohol can be both good and bad for your health. In small amounts, it can potentially lower your blood pressure by 2 to 4 mm Hg. But that protective effect is lost if you drink too much alcohol — generally more than one drink a day for women and for men older than age 65, or more than two a day for men age 65 and younger. One drink equals 12 ounces of beer, five ounces of wine or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof liquor. Drinking more than moderate amounts of alcohol can actually raise blood pressure by several points. It can also reduce the effectiveness of blood pressure medications. 6. Quit smoking Each cigarette you smoke increases your blood pressure for many minutes after you finish. Quitting smoking helps your blood pressure return to normal. People who quit smoking, regardless of age, have substantial increases in life expectancy. 7. Cut back on caffeine The role caffeine plays in blood pressure is still debated. Caffeine can raise blood pressure by as much as 10 mm Hg in people who rarely consume it, but there is little to no strong effect on blood pressure in habitual coffee drinkers. Although the effects of chronic caffeine ingestion on blood pressure aren't clear, the possibility of a slight increase in blood pressure exists. To see if caffeine raises your blood pressure, check your pressure within 30 minutes of drinking a caffeinated beverage. If your blood pressure increases by 5 to 10 mm Hg, you may be sensitive to the blood pressure raising effects of caffeine. Talk to your doctor about the effects of caffeine on your blood pressure. 8. Reduce your stress Chronic stress is an important contributor to high blood pressure. Occasional stress also can contribute to high blood pressure if you react to stress by eating unhealthy food, drinking alcohol or smoking. Take some time to think about what causes you to feel stressed, such as work, family, finances or illness. Once you know what's causing your stress, consider how you can eliminate or reduce stress. If you can't eliminate all of your stressors, you can at least cope with them in a healthier way. Try to:     Change your expectations. Give yourself time to get things done. Learn to say no and to live within manageable limits. Try to learn to accept things you can't change.     Think about problems under your control and make a plan to solve them. You could talk to your boss about difficulties at work or to family members about problems at home.     Know your stress triggers. Avoid whatever triggers you can. For example, spend less time with people who bother you or avoid driving in rush-hour traffic.     Make time to relax and to do activities you enjoy. Take 15 to 20 minutes a day to sit quietly and breathe deeply. Try to intentionally enjoy what you do rather than hurrying through your "relaxing activities" at a stressful pace.     Practice gratitude. Expressing gratitude to others can help reduce stressful thoughts. 9. Monitor your blood pressure at home and see your doctor regularly Home monitoring can help you keep tabs on your blood pressure, make certain your lifestyle changes are working, and alert you and your doctor to potential health complications. Blood pressure monitors are available widely and without a prescription. Talk to your doctor about home monitoring before you get started. Regular visits with your doctor are also key to controlling your blood pressure. If your blood pressure is under control, you might need to visit your doctor only every six to 12 months, depending on other conditions you might have. If your blood pressure isn't well-controlled, your doctor will likely want to see you more frequently. 10. Get support Supportive family and friends can help improve your health. They may encourage you to take care of yourself, drive you to the doctor's office or embark on an exercise program with you to keep your blood pressure low. If you find you need support beyond your family and friends, consider joining a support group. This may put you in touch with people who can give you an emotional or morale boost and who can offer practical tips to cope with your condition. source :  http://www.mayoclinic.org

Dutch Scientists Are Harnessing Electricity From Living Plants To Power Cell Phones And WiFi

 

June 22, 2015 It seems like there are near endless ways to produce power these days, even simply pulling it from the air around you. Now, Plant-e, a Dutch company, has found a way to harness the power of plants. They believe that plants can power cell phones, street lights, and can even act as Wi-Fi hotspots. Their flagship project called Starry Sky was launched last November near Amsterdam. The project powered more than 300 LED streetlights. How does it work? Plant-e explains on their website: “Via photosynthesis a plant produces organic matter. Part of this organic matter is used for plant-growth, but a large part can’t be used by the plant and is excreted into the soil via the roots. Around the roots naturally occurring micro-organisms break down the organic compounds to gain energy from. In this process, electrons are released as a waste product. By providing an electrode for the micro-organisms to donate their electrons to, the electrons can be harvested as electricity. Research has shown that plant-growth isn’t compromised by harvesting electricity, so plants keep on growing while electricity is concurrently produced.” Imagine for a moment that you have a house with a tree growing right through the center of it. Pretty neat, right? Now imagine that same house also being powered by that tree. Could you imagine? No more nasty coal plants, no more environment-destroying hydroelectric dams, just plant power. This technology has a long way to go. LED lights are easy to power because they’re so energy efficient, often using 90% less electricity than their incandescent counterparts. But Plant-e hopes to scale up its technology. Want to learn more? Check out www.plantpower.eu.

Seeing more deeply with laser light

 

Mon, 06/22/2015 - 8:47am Susan Reiss, National Science Foundation   This mouse brain was imaged in vivo without imaging agents using fast functional photoacoustic microsopy. The researchers used the hemoglobin in the red blood cells to provide contrast in the left image. Oxygen saturation levels in the hemoglobin in the same mouse brain define the cortical arteries and veins in the right image. Images: Junjie Yao and Lihong Wang, WUSTLA human skull, on average, is about 0.3 in thick, or roughly the depth of the latest smartphone. Human skin, on the other hand, is about 0.1 in, or about three grains of salt, deep. While these dimensions are extremely thin, they still present major hurdles for any kind of imaging with laser light. Why? Laser light contains photons, or miniscule particles of light. When photons encounter biological tissue, they scatter. Corralling the tiny beacons to obtain meaningful details about the tissue has proven one of the most challenging problems laser researchers have faced. However, one research group at Washington Univ. in St. Louis (WUSTL) decided to eliminate the photon roundup completely and use scattering to their advantage. The result: An imaging technique that penetrates tissue up to about 2.8 in. This approach, which combines laser light and ultrasound, is based on the photoacoustic effect, a concept first discovered by Alexander Graham Bell in the 1880s. In his work, Bell found that a focused light beam produces sound when trained on an object and rapidly interrupted--he used a rotating, slotted wheel to create a flashing effect with sunlight. Bell's concept is the foundation for photoacoustics, an area of a growing field known as biophotonics, which joins biology and light-based science known as phototonics. Biophotonics bridges photonics principles, engineering and technology that are relevant for critical problems in medicine, biology and biotechnology. "We combine some very old physics with a modern imaging concept," says WUSTL researcher Lihong Wang, who pioneered the approach. Wang and his WUSTL colleagues were the first to describe functional photoacoustic tomography (PAT) and 3-D photoacoustic microscopy (PAM). Both techniques follow the same basic principle: When the researchers shine a pulsed laser beam into biological tissue, it spreads out and generates a small, but rapid rise in temperature. This increase produces sound waves that are detected by conventional ultrasound transducers. Image reconstruction software converts the sound waves into high-resolution images. Following a tortuous path Wang first began exploring the combination of sound and light as a post-doctoral researcher. At the time, he modeled photons as they traveled through biological material. This work led to an NSF CAREER grant to study ultrasound encoding of laser light to "trick" information out of the beam. "The CAREER grant boosted my confidence and allowed me to study the fundamentals of light and sound in biological tissue, which benefited my ensuing career immensely," he says. Unlike other optical imaging techniques, photoacoustic imaging detects ultrasonic waves induced by absorbed photons no matter how many times the photons have scattered. Multiple external detectors capture the sound waves regardless of their original locations. "While the light travels on a highly tortuous path, the ultrasonic wave propagates in a clean and well-defined fashion," Wang says. "We see optical absorption contrast by listening to the object." The approach does not require injecting imaging agents, so researchers can study biological material in its natural environment. Using photoacoustic imaging, researchers can visualize a range of biological material from cells and their component parts to tissue and organs. It detects single red blood cells in blood, as well as fat and protein deposits. While PAT and PAM are primarily used by researchers, Wang and others are working on multiple clinical applications. In one case, researchers use PAM to study the trajectory of blood cells as they flow through vessels in the brain. "By seeing individual blood cells, researchers can start to identify what's happening to the cells as they move through the vessels. Watching how these cells move could act as an early warning system to allow detection of potential blockage sites," says Richard Conroy, director of the Div. of Applied Science and Technology at the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering. Minding the gap Because PAT and PAM images can be correlated with those generated using other methods such as magnetic resonance imaging or positron emission tomography, these techniques can complement existing ones. "One imaging modality can't do everything," says Conroy. "Comparing results from different modalities provides a more detailed understanding of what is happening from the cell level to the whole animal." The approach could help bridge the gap between animal and human research, especially in neuroscience. "Photoacoustic imaging is helping us understand how the mouse brain works. We can then apply this information to better understand how the human brain works," says Wang, who along with his team is applying both PAT and PAM to study mouse brain function. Wang notes that one of the challenges currently facing neuroscientists is the lack of available tools to study brain activity such as action potentials, which occur when electrical signals travel along axons, the long fibers that carry signals away from the nerve cell body. "The holy grail of brain research is to image action potentials," he says. With funding from The BRAIN Initiative, Wang and his group are now developing a PAT system to capture images every one-thousandth of a second, fast enough to image action potentials in the brain. "Photoacoustic imaging fills a gap between light microscopy and ultrasound," says Conroy. "The game-changing aspect of this [Wang's] approach is that it has redefined our understanding of how deep we can see with light-based imaging." Source: National Science Foundation

New Laser Engraved Wooden Rolling Pins

 

Posted: 21 Jun 2015 10:09 PM PDT Zuzia Kozerska de Valek Rolling Pins revient avec de nouveaux rouleaux à pâtisserie. En bois et gravés au laser, de nouveaux motifs ont été imaginés par Zuzia, tels qu’un labyrinthe, des cerfs, des dinosaures et hiboux, ainsi qu’une gamme de motifs floraux et d’arabesques. Pour le grand plaisir de vos cookies, à découvrir en images.

14 Things Phenomenally Successful People Do Differently

 

“In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure”-Bill Cosby What quality do you think differentiates the winners from the losers? Why are some people so successful in reaching their goals while others can’t achieve them? Because of their mindset, beliefs, and habits. Your brain is the first keystone to success. The second is your everyday actions, your daily habits. This list consists of 14 habits and beliefs that characterize phenomenally successful people—14 things that can transform your life as soon as you put them in your arsenal. If you want to become successful, you should get some paper and start taking notes.   1. They Know That Time Is Their Most Valuable Asset They don’t let others make them invest time in activities they consider boring and counter-productive to their self-development. You shouldn’t do that either. When you think that something is a waste of your time, don’t do it. Your time is an asset that IS NOT INFINITE. Nobody on this planet has unlimited time, yet people tend to spend their time like garbage. The first thing you MUST DO if you want to change your life, become more successful, and achieve your goals is to change your perception of time. Realize that your time is not infinite and that you should spend it wisely, because it doesn’t come back.   2. They Step Out Of Their Comfort Zone The only path to personal growth is doing things that make you feel awkward. When all you do is walk inside your comfort zone, you can’t grow as a person. You stay static because your activities can’t change you. If what you do doesn’t challenge you, if it’s not uncomfortable and difficult, then you should raise your standards and increase the game difficulty. You can’t build muscle if all you do is lift feathers. You have to lift heavy rocks.   3. They Create & Pursue Specific Goals Most people don’t have goals at all. They don’t know what they want to do in their lives. They are just walking around like zombies. Would you ever take your car and start driving endlessly without knowing where you are going? Well, of course not. So why are you doing the same with your life? This is not a game, you don’t have 8 lives, only one. Setting up goals and having a destination is essential if you crave success. But that’s only the first step. The second step is to take these goals and make them specific. A goal like “I want to lose weight” isn’t specific. A goal like “I want to lose 15 pounds in the next 3 months” is what you should have in your mind.   4. They Focus on Small Continuous Improvements Most people try to achieve overnight success. They want results instantly! Those who succeed in life know that things take time. How much time will it need? It takes as long as it takes. There is no certain period of work that guarantees success. Instead of trying to get rich in one month, you should focus on making little daily improvements. These improvements add up as the time passes, and after months or years of daily commitment, the progress is HUGE. That’s what every successful person does. Unfortunately, people can’t see the daily effort, as they only see the final outcome. Don’t ignore the progress. It might take some time, but it will be worth it. Focus on getting better every single day instead of trying to achieve a huge leap forward in just a week or so.   5. They Dress to Impress When you dress like a winner, people tend to respect you more. In psychology, this is known as The Halo Effect. In particular, people tend to make a perception of your whole character based on a single quality that you have shown them. If you look great and you take care of your appearance, then people assume that you are someone who deserves their respect—someone who is also successful, reliable, and kind. When Aristotle Onassis went to America, before becoming a millionaire, he spent all his money to buy clothes that would highlight his style and class. If Onassis gave such importance to his physical appearance, I don’t see any reason that you shouldn’t do the same.   6. They Maintain a Positive Mindset Your thoughts are the brush that paints your destiny. Successful people think positive and don’t look at their disadvantages. They fight with what they have and always seek improvement. But this improvement can’t come if your mind is continuously occupied by negative thoughts and stress. Positive thinking has been found to reduce stress and, according to Mayo Clinic, it also offers benefits like: Increased life span Lower rates of depression Better psychological and physical well-being Reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease Better coping skills during hardships and times of stress   7. They Embrace Failures Phenomenally successful people carry the belief that failures are the stepping stones to success. Each failure yields rewards bigger than a win because it can offer you an invaluable life lesson. Start seeing your failures as an opportunity to become better instead of letting them bring you down and disappoint you.   8. They Surround Themselves With Winners Jim Rohn has said that “you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with.” People with who you associate play a significant role in your life because they form your lifestyle and beliefs. If you are around people who are full of negativity, you won’t be able to maintain positive thoughts. On the other hand, if you are around people who write down their goals, focus on daily improvement, and dress to impress, you will be pushed to become the best version of yourself. Surround yourself only with like-minded people who have big dreams and are eager to take the necessary steps to achieve them. They will take you to the top with them.   9. They Don’t Seek The Perfect Moment, They Make a Random Moment Perfect What are you waiting for? The right moment will never come. The circumstances will never be ideal, and if you wait for tomorrow to get started, it will never come. Tomorrow is just an excuse for inertia. There is no perfect moment. What matters is to get started as soon as possible and make the best out of what you have.   10. They Don’t Brag, They Listen Successful people are ALWAYS eager to learn new things. They ask questions and they listen carefully to other people’s advice. They usually don’t talk too much because they are focused on listening and processing information. On the other hand, losers always speak about how much they know and how amazing their accomplishments are. They are so blinded by their need for acceptance that the only thing they care about is to brag about what they know. And in most cases, they just talk the talk. They don’t walk the walk.   11. They Know That Education is a Constant Process. Do you believe that you should stop learning when you finish school or college? If the answer is yes, then it’s crucial to change that belief before it’s too late. Education shouldn’t stop at school or college; you should learn new things every single day. It isn’t a coincidence that the most successful people are those who have read countless books and have spent a lifetime acquiring new skills.   12. They Help Other People Success isn’t about caring for your selfish needs. It’s about caring for the needs of others. EVERY successful person accomplished his goals because what he did really helped others in some way. Mark Zuckerberg gave the world a tool that made it easy to connect with their friends. Larry Page and Sergey Brin gave world a system (Google) that made it easy to find unlimited information in milliseconds. Famous singers and actors help people by fulfilling their emotional needs. If you want to succeed in life, you shouldn’t focus on yourself, you should focus on how you can improve other people’s lives!   13. They Have The Courage to Say NO This is actually a quality that really separates the winners from the losers.When you are not afraid to say no, you have already avoided the need to please everyone. Trying to please everybody is impossible and can only lead to disappointment. When you don’t want to do something, just say no without apologizing for your decision.   14. Successful People Take Ownership Of Their Actions Most people make the mistake of pointing fingers to others for their faults. They never accept responsibility for their actions and always believe that someone else is responsible for their misery. Targeting others for your frustrations won’t help you achieve your goals, it can only hurt other people’s feelings or even create enemies. In fact, your actions or your inertia is what actually determines the quality of your life. Blaming others is just an excuse to avoid the hard work needed to change your life. Stop blaming others and take care of your future, because it depends only upon YOUR ACTIONS.

Researchers discover mechanism leading to BRAF inhibitor resistance in melanoma patients

 

The development of targeted therapies has significantly improved the survival of melanoma patients over the last decade; however, patients often relapse because many therapies do not kill all of the tumor cells, and the remaining cells adapt to treatment and become resistant. Moffitt Cancer Center researchers have discovered a novel mechanism that can lead melanoma cells to develop resistance to drugs that target the protein BRAF. Mutations in the gene BRAF are the most common mutation found in melanoma, with up to 50 percent of tumors testing positive for the mutations. Several agents that directly target BRAF have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of melanoma patients who have the mutation, including dabrafenib and vemurafenib. However, many patients become resistant to BRAF inhibitors and relapse. This resistance is associated with reactivation of the BRAF protein communication pathway in tumor cells. Another gene that is frequently mutated in melanoma is PTEN. Studies have shown that melanoma patients who have both BRAF and PTEN mutations may have a poorer response to dabrafenib and vemurafenib therapy. Moffitt researchers wanted to determine the mechanism responsible for resistance to BRAF inhibitors. They discovered that BRAF inhibitors cause BRAF and PTEN mutant melanoma cells to increase levels of fibronectin. Fibronectin is a protein that is expressed in the space surrounding cells. The researchers found that higher levels of fibronectin allow melanoma cells to form their own protective environment that reduces the ability of BRAF inhibitors to kill tumor cells. Importantly, the researchers discovered that melanoma patients who have PTEN mutations and higher levels of fibronectin in their tumors tend to have a lower overall survival. They also showed that targeting the tumor with BRAF inhibitors combined with a drug that targets the protective environment significantly enhances the killing effect of the BRAF inhibitor. "This study gives important new insights into why nearly all melanoma patients fail targeted therapy," explained Keiran S. Smalley, Ph.D., associate member of the Tumor Biology Program at Moffitt. The researchers believe that effective cancer therapy in the future will require the combined action of drugs that target both the tumor and its adaptive responses to initial therapies. This is particularly important for melanoma patients because the survival of only a single cell after initial cancer therapy is enough to allow a melanoma tumor to regrow. According to Inna Fedorenko, Ph.D., post-doctoral fellow at Moffitt, "targeting the protective environment is one way of delivering more durable therapeutic responses to our patients." The study was published June 15 online ahead of print in the journal Oncogene. Story Source: The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Moffitt Cancer Center. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. Journal Reference: I V Fedorenko, E V Abel, J M Koomen, B Fang, E R Wood, Y A Chen, K J Fisher, S Iyengar, K B Dahlman, J A Wargo, K T Flaherty, J A Sosman, V K Sondak, J L Messina, G T Gibney, K S M Smalley. Fibronectin induction abrogates the BRAF inhibitor response of BRAF V600E/PTEN-null melanoma cells. Oncogene, 2015; DOI: 10.1038/onc.2015.188 :

Realistic Sculptures of Famous People

 

Realistic Sculptures of Famous People

Posted: 21 Jun 2015 11:15 PM PDT

Kazuhiro Tsuji est un artiste contemporain, vivant à Los Angeles, et qui est spécialiste de l’hyperréalisme. Après 25 ans de carrière en tant que maquilleur sur les plateaux d’Hollywood, Kazu a décidé de se concentrer sur ses sculptures. Avec de la résine, du silicone et d’autres matériaux, il crée des portraits de personnages célèbres tels que Dali, Warhol et Lincoln.