Folate biomarkers determined

 

A University of Georgia researcher is lead author on an international paper on folate biomarkers as part of an initiative to provide evidence-based guidance for the global nutrition and public health community. Lynn Bailey, head of the foods and nutrition department within the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, led a comprehensive study on folate, an essential B vitamin required for DNA synthesis and normal growth and development. The paper, published in the Journal of Nutrition, includes 18 authors from around the world and represents a consensus of the top folate scientists globally. The study's primary focus is information relative to folate biomarkers, or biological indices that predict an individual or population group's folate status. Biomarkers in general can be measured to determine if an individual's or group's health is at risk due to nutrient inadequacy. Adequate folate intake is particularly critical during the early stages of human development to sustain the demand for rapid cell replication and growth of fetal tissues. A major birth defect affecting the spinal cord--spina bifida, for example--and brain can be prevented by maternal consumption of sufficient folate prior to and during the very early stages of fetal development. The paper conveys how a folate status biomarker can be used to assess risk for this type of birth defect and determine if intervention is needed on an individual or population basis. "This major birth defect is essentially preventable," Bailey said. "It's probably one of the most exciting public health discoveries other than the polio vaccine in the 20th century that a simple vitamin can prevent this devastating and potentially fatal birth defect. This research discovery is the basis of the folic acid fortification program  and the public health recommendation that all women capable of becoming pregnant take folic acid." The paper is the product of nearly five years of collaborative work of an expert panel, chaired by Bailey and organized by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in 2010 as part of the international program Biomarkers of Nutrition for Development. The initial six nutrients selected for the program--iodine, vitamin A, iron, zinc, folate and vitamin B-12--were chosen for their high public health importance. Dan Raiten, the NICHD Nutrition Program director, noted that this Biomarkers of Nutrition for Development, or BOND, report provides clinicians with folate assessment tools to diagnose and treat patients; informs public health program planners as to how best to predict folate status and design targeted inventions for population groups to promote health and prevent disease; and delineates priority research areas for scientists and funding agencies, including the National Institutes of Health. "Folate continues to be a nutrient of high importance in the World. both in terms of the national nutrition monitoring system and efforts to assess the impact and implications of current public health interventions, such as folate food fortification," Raiten said. "This report will be utilized by all the agencies in the U.S. and global agencies in their efforts to evaluate these issues." One of the unique aspects of the paper, Bailey said, is the multiple users it will reach. "To me, it is the most impactful paper of my professional career because of the universal need to assess folate status as a means to optimize health throughout the life cycle," Bailey said. The information has been incorporated into a recent World Health Organization publication to be used globally to assess risk for folate-related birth defects. It also will be used by country-specific agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to assess the need for or adequacy of folic acid fortification. In addition to the translational impact in developed countries such as the U.S., the paper provides guidelines to address the challenges of assessing folate status in low-resource countries.

The Ultimate Cool-Tool

 

Every once in a while you come face to face with a product that redefines its standards in a way so simple, you wonder, “Why didn’t anyone every think of this before?” The Aperture Wrench is an aptly named wrench that takes inspiration from a camera’s aperture and the way it transforms. The wrench is designed around this awe-inspiring kaleidoscopic motion, allowing it to transform in size and fit around nuts and bolts of varying dimensions. It also includes a light ring around the aperture of the spanner, enabling you to work even in low light conditions.

The Aperture Wrench sure makes your everyday monkey-wrench look like it’s fit for primates!

Designer: Jordan Steranka

 

 

Yanko design

New electron microscopes will capture images at subnanometer resolution

 

Tue, 06/30/2015 - 10:15am Rice University The Titan Themis microscope at Rice University incorporates a variety of detectors, including X-ray, optical and multiple electron detectors and a 4K-resolution camera. The microscope gives researchers the ability to create three-dimensional structural reconstructions and carry out electric field mapping of subnanoscale materials. Courtesy of Jeff Fitlow/Rice UniversityHOUSTON — Rice University has installed microscopes that will allow researchers to peer deeper than ever into the fabric of the universe. The Titan Themis scanning/transmission electron microscope, one of the most powerful in the United States, will enable scientists from Rice as well as academic and industrial partners to view and analyze materials smaller than a nanometer — a billionth of a meter — with startling clarity. The microscope has the ability to take images of materials at angstrom-scale (one-tenth of a nanometer) resolution, about the size of a single hydrogen atom. Images will be captured with a variety of detectors, including X-ray, optical and multiple electron detectors and a 4K-resolution camera, equivalent to the number of pixels in the most modern high-resolution televisions. The microscope gives researchers the ability to create three-dimensional structural reconstructions and carry out electric field mapping of subnanoscale materials. “Seeing single atoms is exciting, of course, and it’s beautiful,” said Emilie Ringe, a Rice assistant professor of materials science and nanoengineering and of chemistry. “But scientists saw single atoms in the ’90s, and even before. Now, the real breakthrough is that we can identify the composition of those atoms, and do it easily and reliably.” Ringe’s research group will operate the Titan Themis and a companion microscope that will image larger samples. Electron microscopes use beams of electrons rather than rays of light to illuminate objects of interest. Because the wavelength of electrons is so much smaller than that of photons, the microscopes are able to capture images of much smaller things with greater detail than even the highest-resolution optical microscope. “The beauty of these newer instruments is their analytical capabilities,” Ringe said. “Before, in order to see single atoms, we had to work a machine for an entire day and get it just right and then take a picture and hold our breath. These days, seeing atoms is routine. “And now we can probe a particular atom’s chemical composition. Through various techniques, either via scattering intensity, X-rays emission or electron-beam absorption, we can figure out, say, that we’re looking at a palladium atom or a carbon atom. We couldn’t do that before.” Ringe said when an electron beam ejects a bound electron from a target atom, it creates an empty site. “That can be filled by another electron within the atom, and the energy difference between this electron and the missing electron is emitted as an X-ray,” she said. “That X-ray is like a fingerprint, which we can read. Different types of atoms have different energies.” She said the incident electron beam loses a bit of energy when it knocks an atom’s electron loose, and that energy loss can also be measured with a spectroscope to identify the atom. The X-ray and electron techniques are independent but complementary. “Typically, you use either/or, and it depends on what element you’re looking at,” Ringe said. The second instrument, a Helios NanoLab 600 DualBeam microscope, will be used for three-dimensional imaging, analysis of larger samples and preparation of thin slices of samples for the more powerful Titan next door. Both tools reside in the university’s Brockman Hall for Physics, which opened in 2011 and features sophisticated vibration-dampening capabilities. The microscopes require the best possible isolation from vibration, electric fields and acoustic noise to produce the best images, Ringe said. “We have wanted a high-end microscopy facility at Rice because so many of us are working on nanomaterials,” said Pulickel Ajayan, a professor and founding chair of Rice’s Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering. “This has been an issue because in order to be competitive you have to have the best atomic-scale characterization techniques. This will put us in business in terms of imaging and understanding new materials.” He said the facility will position Rice as one of the most competitive institutions to recruit students and faculty, attract grants and publish groundbreaking results. “A visual image of something on an atomic level can give you so much more information than a few numbers can,” said Peter Rossky, a theoretical chemist and dean of Rice’s Wiess School of Natural Sciences. Comparing images of the same material taken by an older electron microscope and the Titan Themis was like “the difference between a black-and-white TV and high-definition color,” he said. Ringe said Rice’s Titan is a fourth-generation model manufactured in the Netherlands. It’s the latest and most powerful model and the first to be installed in the United States. “Taking a complex image — not just a picture but a spectrum image that has lots of energy information — in the older model would take about 35 minutes,” she said. “By that time, the electron beam has destroyed whatever you were trying to look at. “With this generation, you have the data you need in about two minutes. You can generate a lot more data more quickly. It’s not just better; it’s enabling.” Edwin Thomas, the William and Stephanie Sick Dean of Rice’s George R. Brown School of Engineering, expects the new instruments to ignite the already strong research culture at the university. “This is going to influence the kind of people who will be attracted to apply to and then come to Rice,” said Thomas, a materials scientist. “I’m sure there will be people on campus who, once they find out the capabilities, are going to shift their compasses and take advantage of these machines. The whole point is to have an impact on science and society.” Rice plans to host a two-day workshop in September to introduce the microscopes and their capabilities to the research community at the university and beyond. Beginning this summer, Ringe said, the electron microscopy center will be open to Rice students and faculty as well as researchers from other universities and industry. Ringe looks forward to bringing researchers into the new microscopy lab — and to the research that will emerge. “I hope everyone’s going to come out with a blockbuster paper with images from these instruments,” she said. “I would like every paper from Rice to have fantastic, crystal-clear, atomic-resolution images and the best possible characterization.”   SOURCE: Rice University

Medication may stop drug and alcohol addiction

 

Tue, 06/23/2015 - 8:47am Marc Airhart, University of Texas at Austin Researchers at The Univ. of Texas at Austin have successfully stopped cocaine and alcohol addiction in experiments using a drug already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat high blood pressure. If the treatment is proven effective in humans, it would be the first of its kind—one that could help prevent relapses by erasing the unconscious memories that underlie addiction. The research is published in Molecular Psychiatry. Scientists once believed that drug addiction was simply a physical craving: Drug addicts who became sober and then later relapsed merely lacked willpower. But that view has gradually shifted since the 1970s. Today, most experts acknowledge that environmental cues—the people, places, sights and sounds an addict experiences leading up to drug use—are among the primary triggers of relapses. It was an environmental cue (a ringing bell) that caused the dogs in Ivan Pavlov's famous experiments to salivate, even when they couldn't see or smell food. Led by Hitoshi Morikawa, associate professor of neuroscience at The Univ. of Texas at Austin, a team of researchers trained rats to associate either a black or white room with the use of a drug. Subsequently, when the addicted rats were offered the choice of going into either room, they nearly always chose the room they associated with their addiction. Then one day, the researchers gave the addicted rats a high dose of an antihypertensive drug called isradipine before the rats made their choices. Although rats still preferred the room they associated with their addiction on that day, they no longer showed a preference for it on subsequent days. In fact, the lack of preference persisted in the isradipine-treated group in ways that couldn't be found in a control group—suggesting the addiction memories were not just suppressed but had gone away entirely. "The isradipine erased memories that led them to associate a certain room with cocaine or alcohol," said Morikawa. Addictive drugs are thought to rewire brain circuits involved in reward learning, forming powerful memories of drug-related cues. Antihypertensive drugs all block a particular type of ion channel, which is expressed not only in heart and blood vessels but also in certain brain cells. The researchers found that blocking these ion channels in brain cells, using isradipine, appears to reverse the rewiring that underlies memories of addiction-associated places. There are already medications that have been shown to prevent people from feeling euphoria when they take an addictive drug and that might prevent them from developing an addiction. A treatment based on this latest research, however, would be much more effective, said Morikawa, targeting the associations an addict has with the experience leading up to taking a drug. "Addicts show up to the rehab center already addicted," he said. "Many addicts want to quit, but their brains are already conditioned. This drug might help the addicted brain become de-addicted." Morikawa noted that because isradipine is already labeled as safe for human use by the FDA, clinical trials could potentially be carried out much more quickly than with nonapproved drugs. One challenge with using isradipine in high doses to treat addiction is that it lowers blood pressure. So it might be necessary to pair it with other treatments that prevent blood pressure from falling too low. Source: University of Texas at Austin

First 3-D heart printed using multiple imaging techniques

 

Tue, 06/30/2015 - 11:18am Spectrum Health 3-D image of heart model. Courtesy of MaterialiseGRAND RAPIDS, MI — Congenital heart experts from Spectrum Health Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital have successfully integrated two common imaging techniques to produce a three-dimensional anatomic model of a patient’s heart. The 3-D model printing of patients’ hearts has become more common in recent years as part of an emerging, experimental field devoted to enhanced visualization of individual cardiac structures and characteristics. But this is the first time the integration of computed tomography (CT) and three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography (3DTEE) has successfully been used for printing a hybrid 3-D model of a patient’s heart. A proof-of-concept study authored by the Spectrum Health experts also opens the way for these techniques to be used in combination with a third tool — magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). “Hybrid 3D printing integrates the best aspects of two or more imaging modalities, which can potentially enhance diagnosis, as well as interventional and surgical planning," said Jordan Gosnell, Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital cardiac sonographer, and lead author of the study. “Previous methods of 3D printing utilize only one imaging modality, which may not be as accurate as merging two or more datasets.” The team used specialized software to register images from the two imaging modalities to selectively integrate datasets to produce an accurate anatomic model of the heart. The result creates more detailed and anatomically accurate 3-D renderings and printed models, which may enable physicians to better diagnose and treat heart disease. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are established imaging tools for producing 3D printable models. Three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography (3DTEE) recently was reported by Joseph Vettukattil, MD, and his Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital colleagues to be a feasible imaging technique to generate 3D printing in congenital heart disease. Vettukattil is co-director of the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital Congenital Heart Center, division chief, pediatric cardiology, and senior author of the study.   According to Vettukattil and his colleagues, each imaging tool has different strengths, which can improve and enhance 3D printing: CT enhances visualization of the outside anatomy of the heart; MRI is superior to other imaging techniques for measuring the interior of the heart, including the right and left ventricles or main chambers of the heart, as well as the heart’s muscular tissue. 3DTEE provides the best visualization of valve anatomy. “This is a huge leap for individualized medicine in cardiology and congenital heart disease,” said Vettukattil. “The technology could be beneficial to cardiologists and surgeons. The model will promote better diagnostic capability and improved interventional and surgical planning, which will help determine whether a condition can be treated via transcatheter route or if it requires surgery.” Vettukattil is known internationally for his work and research with three- and four-dimensional echocardiography. Most notably, Vettukattil developed the advanced technique of multiplanar reformatting in echocardiography, a method used to slice heart structures in infinite planes through the three dimensions in a virtual environment similar to a cardiac pathologist dissecting the heart to reveal underlying pathology. Commonly used with other diagnostic technologies, such as CTs, Vettukattil pioneered its use in echocardiography to evaluate complex heart defects. Vettukattil is presenting the findings of the proof-of-concept study at CSI 2015 - Catheter Interventions in Congenital, Structural and Valvular Heart Diseases Congress in Frankfurt, Germany, to demonstrate the feasibility of printing 3-D cardiovascular models derived from multiple imaging modalities. The Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital team worked with the Mimics Innovation Suite software from Materialise, a leading provider of 3D printing software and services based in Belgium, which printed the model using its HeartPrint Flex technology. Gosnell worked on integration of the imaging modalities, collaborating with Materialise’s US Headquarters in Plymouth, Michigan to produce the final 3-D rendering. Vettukattil devised the concept of integrating two or more imaging modalities for 3D printing. Further research is required to evaluate the efficacy of hybrid 3D models in decision-making for transcatheter or surgical interventions. About Spectrum Health Spectrum Health is a not-for-profit health system, based in West Michigan, offering a full continuum of care through the Spectrum Health Hospital Group, which is comprised of 12 hospitals, including Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital; 180 ambulatory and service sites; 1,300 physicians and advanced practice providers, which include 1,100 members of the Spectrum Health Medical Group; and Priority Health, a health plan with more than 648,000 members. Spectrum Health is West Michigan’s largest employer, with 22,600 employees. The organization provided $294.6 million in community benefit during its 2014 fiscal year. Spectrum Health is the only health system in Michigan to be named one of the nation’s 15 Top Health Systems by Truven Health Analytics for 2015. This is the fourth time the organization has received this recognition. SOURCE: Spectrum Health

Como aprender inglês de graça Online

 

by Francisco • outubro 29, 2014 Olá, neste artigo vou mostrar,para quem pretende aprender inglês de Graça, um ótimo site gratuito. Nele o usuário terá acesso à narrativas, questões e ainda poderá interagir com outros usuários.   Aprender Inglês de Graça! Acertei no Alvo: Depois de muita pesquisa na internet por um site gratuito, mas que realmente oferecesse um espaço de ótimo ensino, descobri um com o qual me identifiquei bastante. Para quem realmente quer aprender inglês de forma didática e simples, o Duolingo é uma das melhores opções, principalmente por ser gratuito e disponibilizar uma metodologia fantástica de ensino. O ensino é conduzido através de níveis, onde o usuário terá que resolver todas as questões propostas de forma satisfatória, para que possa ir para o próximo nível. Será testado até mesmo a sua pronuncia! É possível trocar dúvidas e resoluções entre os usuários por meio de comentários. A cada nível avançado o usuário ganhará prêmios como “Lingots” (), uma forma de moeda do site que pode ser utilizada para comprar itens que ajudarão em seu aperfeiçoamento. E, poderá também compartilhar o seu desempenho nas redes sociais.   Como utilizar o Duolingo Aprender inglês de graça no Duolingo é muito simples, para isso basta que o usuário faça um rápido cadastro no site, que pode ser feito utilizando sua conta do FaceBook, G+ ou através do seu e-mail. Depois de cadastrar e efetuar o Login no Duolingo, você já estará pronto para começar o seu aprendizado. O menu principal no topo da pagina, é onde você irá navegar no site para ter acesso ao conteúdo do treinamento, as conversas entre os usuários, suas atividades, etc… Para ter um melhor aproveitamento em sua pronuncia é muito importante ter um microfone instalado em seu pc. Assim você terá acesso às questões para testar a sua pronuncia, sendo avaliada pelo mecanismo do site. Bem, entre no site do Duolingo faça um cadastro e aproveite, pois aprender inglês de Graça nunca foi tão fácil! fonte : www.tutoriaispc.com.br

New conductive ink makes your clothing smarter

 

A new conductive ink can be applied to clothing and other textiles in a single-step printing process, thereby turning fabrics into sensors and wearable electronics (Credit: Someya Laboratory) A new single-step printing process uses an elastic conducting ink to turn clothing and other textiles into flexible, wearable electronic devices or sensors. Researchers at the University of Tokyo developed the ink, which remains highly conductive even when stretched to more than three times its original length. They believe it has applications in sensors built into sportswear and underwear and that it could be part of a shift toward more comfortable wearable electronics. The ink contains a mix of silver flakes, organic solvent, fluorine rubber, and fluorine surfactant. It can be applied with the same convenience of a Voltera V-One and other desktop printed ink-based paper and plastic circuits. And unlike another recent research project that produced flexible circuits using nanoparticle liquid-metal ink, the Japanese researchers' solution requires just a single step – print the ink onto the surface and you're done. It works in one step because the silver flakes self-assemble at the surface of the printed pattern, which gives the material high conductivity. As a proof of concept, the researchers used their ink to print a muscle activity sensor onto a stretchable cloth, with the electrodes printed on both sides and the wiring printed only on the external side of the material. This wristband muscle activity sensor could measure the electrical potential of the muscle(s) beneath it over an area of 16 sq cm (2.5 sq in) thanks to its nine electrodes placed 2 cm (0.8 in) on a 3 by 3 cm grid. The researchers hope that their technique helps make wearable devices more comfortable and widespread. The future of technology, as we've reported before, may be all about molding electronics to your body and integrating sensors in everything you wear. A paper describing the research was published in the journal Nature Communications Source: University of Tokyo

Communicating science for a more informed electorate

 

Laurie Howell of the National Science Foundation sits down with Dr. Moira Gunn in this Scientists & Engineers on Sofas (and other furnishings). Dr. Gunn is an engineer and science communicator, hosting the popular TechNation radio show. Credit: National Science Foundation