A hand-held biomedical device by SPOC (“Stevens Proof of Concept”), developed jointly by students at Stevens Institute of Technology and pain-management expert Dr. Norman Marcus, has just received FDA 510K clearance for manufacture and marketing as a clinical device.

The SPOC device itself, which began life as a Stevens undergraduate Senior Design Team project in 2004, has also spawned a start-up company, SPOC, Inc., which is headquartered in Stamford, Conn. Several young alumni from Stevens are employed by the company, whose tagline reads, “A Revolution in Pain Management.”

“This is a huge step forward for SPOC’s device, SPOC the Technogenesis® Company and Stevens Institute of Technology as a wellspring of great ideas, especially in the area of products that emerge from our Biomedical Engineering program,” said Dr. Helena S. Wisniewski, Stevens’ VP for University Research & Enterprise Development, who is the presiding chair of the SPOC board. “This is a testament to the entrepreneurial education environment at Stevens that we call Technogenesis, where ideas are taken the full cycle, from laboratory innovation to marketplace realization, all the while promoting undergraduate student collaboration in research and development.”

SPOC, Inc. was formed in July 2005 at Stevens by its University Research & Enterprise Development office along with Dr. Marcus, and three Stevens undergraduate students in the Biomedical Engineering program. SPOC’s mission is to develop a proprietary point-of-care medical diagnostic system, consisting of a medical device and methodology that pinpoint the specific myofascial (muscle) trigger points causing pain. SPOC’s diagnostic system will benefit patients by helping to eliminate treatments that prove to be ineffective, such as surgical procedures, and by allowing physicians to locate more effectively and to treat muscles that generate pain.

Since approximately 100 million people in the United States suffer from chronic pain and approximately 80 percent of Americans suffer from some form of pain in their lifetime, the potential market for such a system is enormous.

“Connecticut Innovations is proud to be the lead investor in SPOC. This important technology was spun out of the Stevens Institute of Technology by a team of young undergraduate students. Connecticut Innovations took a risk when it provided start-up financing to the team,” said Peter Longo, president and executive director of Connecticut Innovations, Incorporated. “This technological milestone is significant in that it contributes greatly to the company’s ability to raise additional capital and ensure continued growth.”

“This is an important milestone,” Dr. Vikki Hazelwood, chief executive officer of SPOC, commented. “We are pleased that SPOC has been given a 501(k) clearance by the FDA, and we look forward to the next goals in our plan. Dr. Marcus, Dr. Wisniewski, Stevens, and the alum team of Jeckin Shah, founding student, and Rebecca Apruzzese – a recent Stevens graduate in Biomedical Engineering who joined the SPOC team in 2007 – all deserve the highest praise for their continuing efforts to bring such a needed disruptive-technology product to the American market.”

Dr. Hazelwood also served as faculty advisor to the original undergraduate design team of Jeckin Shah, Ryan Stellar and Daniel Silva.

SPOC has received consistent national media attention during its development and testing phases, most recently on the March 20, 2008, edition of NBC’s “Today,” where Dr. Marcus displayed and discussed the potential of the device.

“What we have today is further confirmation of the success of Stevens’ educational environment of Technogenesis, where creativity and inventiveness are emphasized in finding solutions to critical problems of industrial and national significance,” said Stevens’ Provost & University VP George P. Korfiatis. “We are especially proud today of our young Biomedical Engineering program, whose students have given the world this powerful biomedical tool that will ultimately make its mark in the clinical marketplace.”

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About Connecticut Innovations, Inc.

Connecticut Innovations (CI) is a quasi-public organization dedicated to driving a vibrant, entrepreneurial, technology-based economy in Connecticut. CI stimulates high-tech growth by investing in: early-stage Connecticut technology companies; university/industry research collaborations; technology transfer; and, clean energy initiatives through the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund. CI also fosters collaboration among government, business, nonprofit and academic organizations to advance technology growth and promotes public policies consistent with CI’s mission. For more information on CI, please visit ctinnovations/

About Stevens Institute of Technology

Founded in 1870, Stevens Institute of Technology is one of the leading technological universities in the world dedicated to learning and research. Through its broad-based curricula, nurturing of creative inventiveness, and cross disciplinary research, the Institute is at the forefront of global challenges in engineering, science, and technology management. Partnerships and collaboration between, and among, business, industry, government and other universities contribute to the enriched environment of the Institute. A new model for technology commercialization in academe, known as Technogenesis®, involves external partners in launching business enterprises to create broad opportunities and shared value. Stevens offers baccalaureates, master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering, science, computer science and management, in addition to a baccalaureate degree in the humanities and liberal arts, and in business and technology. The university has a total enrollment of 2,040 undergraduate and 3,085 graduate students, and a worldwide online enrollment of 2,250, with about 400 full-time faculty. Stevens’ graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America. Additional information may be obtained from its web page at stevens.edu/.

Source: Patrick A. Berzinski

Stevens Institute of Technology Continue reading →

UC Irvine scientists have shown for the first time that neural stem cells can rescue memory in mice with advanced Alzheimer’s disease, raising hopes of a potential treatment for the leading cause of elderly dementia that afflicts 5.3 million people in the U.S.

Mice genetically engineered to have Alzheimer’s performed markedly better on memory tests a month after mouse neural stem cells were injected into their brains. The stem cells secreted a protein that created more neural connections, improving cognitive function.

“Essentially, the cells were producing fertilizer for the brain,” said Frank LaFerla, director of UCI’s Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders, or UCI MIND, and co-author of the study, which appears online the week of July 20 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Lead author Mathew Blurton-Jones, LaFerla and colleagues worked with older mice predisposed to develop brains lesions called plaques and tangles that are the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s.

To learn how the stem cells worked, the scientists examined the mouse brains. To their surprise, they discovered that just 6 percent of the stem cells had turned into neurons. (The majority became the other two main types of brain cells, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes.) The stem cells didn’t improve cognition by becoming new neurons, nor did they act by reducing the number of plaques and tangles.

Rather, the stem cells were found to have secreted a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF. This caused existing tissue to sprout new neurites, strengthening and increasing the number of connections between neurons. When the team selectively reduced BDNF from the stem cells, the benefit was lost, providing strong evidence that BDNF is critical to the effect of stem cells on memory and neuronal function.

“If you look at Alzheimer’s, it’s not the plaques and tangles that correlate best with dementia; it’s the loss of synapses – connections between neurons,” Blurton-Jones said. “The neural stem cells were helping the brain form new synapses and nursing the injured neurons back to health.”

Diseased mice injected directly with BDNF also improved cognitively but not as much as with the neural stem cells, which provided a more long-term and consistent supply of the protein.

“This gives us a lot of hope that stem cells or a product from them, such as BDNF, will be a useful treatment for Alzheimer’s,” LaFerla said.

In April, LaFerla, Blurton-Jones and colleagues were awarded $3.6 million by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine toward the development of an Alzheimer’s therapy involving human neural stem cells.

In addition to LaFerla and Blurton-Jones, Masashi Kitazawa, Hilda Martinez-Coria, Nicholas Castello, Tritia Yamasaki, Wayne Poon and Kim Green of UCI worked on the study, along with Franz-Josef Muller and Jeanne Loring of the Scripps Research Institute. Funding for the study was provided by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine and the National Institutes of Health.

Source:
Jennifer Fitzenberger

University of California – Irvine Continue reading →

iCAD, Inc. (Nasdaq:
ICAD), an industry-leading provider of Computer Aided Detection (CAD)
solutions and Premier Purchasing Partners, today announced an agreement
that gives Premier members access to an exclusive 90-day “group buy”
program with preferred pricing for iCAD’s SecondLook(R) Computer Aided
Detection systems for use with mammography.

This three-month program includes all of iCAD’s SecondLook(R)
film-based mammographic CAD solutions and the TotalLook(TM) system, which
converts prior film mammograms at full image fidelity for use in
comparative reading with digital mammography. Preferred pricing will be
available to all Premier member hospitals and alternate care sites
nationwide.

An increasing number of radiologists use computer-aided detection as a
“second pair of eyes” when reading a mammogram. iCAD has the potential to
detect findings that might otherwise be overlooked during the review
process, thus increasing cancer detection. iCAD technology is especially
effective in identifying difficult to see calcifications. Clinical trials
demonstrated that use of SecondLook(R) CAD systems could detect up to 68%
of actionable missed breast cancer an average of 15 months earlier than
screening mammography alone.

About Premier, Inc.

Premier, Inc., the leader in helping hospitals accelerate performance
on both clinical outcomes and supply chain costs, is a healthcare alliance
entirely owned by more than 200 of the nation’s leading not-for-profit
hospitals and healthcare systems. These organizations operate or are
affiliated with nearly 1,500 hospitals and more than 38,500 other
healthcare sites. Premier Purchasing Partners provides an array of services
supporting health services delivery including group purchasing totaling
more than $25 billion annually in supplies and equipment purchasing, as
well as supply chain and clinical performance improvement services. Premier
Healthcare Informatics offers performance measurement, benchmarking, and
reporting products and advisory services supporting quality improvement.
Premier Insurance Management Services helps hospitals manage insurance
costs and improve risk management and claims capabilities. Headquartered in
San Diego, Premier has offices in Charlotte, NC, and Washington, DC. For
more information, visit premierinc.

About iCAD, Inc.

iCAD, Inc. is an industry-leading provider of Computer-Aided Detection
(CAD) solutions that enable healthcare professionals to identify cancer and
other life-threatening conditions earlier by making medical services more
effective, more accessible and more affordable for patients worldwide.
Recipient of Frost & Sullivan’s Growth Strategy Leadership award, iCAD
offers a comprehensive range of high-performance, upgradeable CAD systems
for the high, mid and low volume mammography markets. As the most
frequently selected CAD solution for film-based and digital breast
screening, iCAD is entrusted with the task of early cancer detection by
over eleven hundred women’s healthcare centers worldwide. For more
information, call +1 877 iCADnow or visit icadmed.

“Safe Harbor” Statement

Certain statements contained in this News Release constitute
“forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve a
number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which
may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to
be materially different from any future results, performance or
achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such
factors include, but are not limited to, the risks of uncertainty of patent
protection, the impact of supply and manufacturing constraints or
difficulties, product market acceptance, possible technological
obsolescence, increased competition, customer concentration and other risks
detailed in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. The words “believe,” “demonstrate,” “intend,” “expect,”
“estimate,” “anticipate,” “likely,” and similar expressions identify
forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue
reliance on those forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the
date the statement was made. The Company is under no obligation to provide
any updates to any information contained in this release.

iCAD, Inc.
icadmed Continue reading →

College students with food allergies aren’t avoiding the foods they know they shouldn’t eat. Students of all ages are not treated with potentially life-saving epinephrine as often as they should be. And instructors, roommates and friends often are not aware of what to do if a food-allergic student has a reaction.

These are some of the findings of recent studies at the University of Michigan Health System. The research suggests that many college students with food allergies aren’t taking the threat of a reaction seriously enough, or are regularly in environments where they could not be properly treated during an emergency. In addition, grade-school students are often in school environments where there is no food allergy policy, and where instructors are not trained how to treat an emergency food allergy reaction.

In four related studies about food allergies, the researchers found a common theme: “Food-allergic individuals need to increase the awareness of their food allergy among the people around them,” says lead researcher Matt Greenhawt, M.D., MBA, who conducted the research while he was a fellow in the Division of Allergy and Immunology at the U-M Health System and now is an associate at the Allergy & Asthma Center, LLC in the Atlanta metro area.

“This would include not only telling them that they are food allergic but also showing them how to treat them and how to recognize signs of an ongoing reaction,” Greenhawt notes.

The most common food allergens are peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, soy and wheat. Food allergies can lead to death; a life-threatening reaction caused by allergies is called anaphylaxis. Food allergy occurs in 6 to 8 percent of children 4 years old or under, and in 3.7 percent of adults, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Among college students, researchers found that only 50 percent of the students who identified themselves as having an allergy to a food said they always avoided the food.

About two-thirds could verify that somebody close to them on campus was aware that they were food-allergic. About 60 percent could verify that either a roommate, house mate or suite mate was aware of his or her food allergy.

The findings that cause the most concern, says Marc S. McMorris, M.D., is that only 43 percent who identified themselves as food-allergic could verify that they had in their possession an emergency medication to treat a reaction, and only about 20 percent had self-injectable epinephrine the recommended treatment available to treat a reaction.

“These students are taking unnecessary risks,” says McMorris, medical director of Food Allergy Service at the U-M Health System. “There are serious issues that need to be addressed in terms of educating these young adults that it is of utmost importance to not only maintain emergency medication but to have it with you at all times.”

At schools and child-care facilities, researchers found that 43 percent of food-allergic children have had at least one reaction at school, and nearly two-thirds of these occurred in children in kindergarten or younger. The finding suggests that that these individuals might be at more risk than older children, McMorris says.

Only one in five of the schools these children attended had a peanut or tree nut free policy. Less than half of these facilities had staff that were trained to recognize an ongoing allergic reaction or were trained to treat a reaction, though the rate was much higher among schools with full-time nurses on staff.

Like on college campuses, the use of self-injectable epinephrine to treat a reaction was irregular. While nearly three-quarters of the food-allergic children had epinephrine available, less than one-third received the treatment. Among the group that received it, one-third received it at a delay of 15 minutes or greater, which also poses a risk to the children because treatment should occur immediately.

“Until all students who display symptoms of a severe reaction are receiving epinephrine, I would say that there’s a significant gap that needs to be closed,” Greenhawt says.

For more information, visit these Web sites:

UMHS Food Allergy Service med.umich.edu/foodallergy

The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, food allergies and reactions

NIH Quick Facts www3.niaid.nih/topics/foodAllergy/understanding/quickFacts.htm

Tips to remember www3.niaid.nih/topics/foodAllergy/understanding/quickFacts.htm

Citations

Self-Reported Allergic Reactions to Peanuts and Tree Nuts Occurring in Schools and Child Care Facilities, Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Volume 121, Issue 2, Supplement 1, February 2008

Self-Reported Allergic Reactions to Peanuts and Tree Nuts Occurring on Commercial Aircraft, Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Volume 121, Issue 2, Supplement 1, February 2008

Self-Reported Allergic Reactions to Peanuts and Tree Nuts Occurring in Restaurants and Food Service Establishments, Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Volume 121, Issue 2, Supplement 1, February 2008

University of Michigan Health System
2901 Hubbard St., Ste. 2400
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2435
United States
med.umich.edu Continue reading →

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final National Coverage Determination (NCD) expanding Medicare coverage of artificial hearts when they are implanted as part of a study that is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and that meets CMS’ Coverage with Evidence Development (CED) clinical research criteria.

“Our decision revises a long-standing non-coverage policy and allows beneficiary access to this advanced technology,” said CMS Acting Administrator Kerry Weems. “Our decision also encourages the completion of FDA post-approval studies.”

Artificial hearts are used in patients with severe heart failure who are extremely sick and at imminent risk of death. Heart failure affects more than 5 million patients in the United States. Over 500,000 new cases are diagnosed annually, and more than 50,000 heart failure patients die from the disease every year.

Artificial hearts can be used so that a patient will live until a donor heart becomes available for transplant or, for patients who cannot receive transplants, to extend their lives. Since the device requires that a portion of the patient’s heart be removed, an artificial heart patient must be supported by the device through the end of life or until heart transplantation.

The use of artificial heart technology has not been available to Medicare beneficiaries due to a 1986 non-coverage policy. Since the 1986 policy, two artificial heart device manufacturers have conducted clinical trials studying the safety and health outcomes of using their devices in these very sick patients. CMS believes there is now sufficient scientific evidence on the use of artificial hearts to allow coverage of these devices for beneficiaries in the carefully controlled clinical environment of an FDA-approved study.

This controlled clinical environment is one of the protections afforded beneficiaries under the Coverage with Evidence Development (CED) framework. CED allows CMS to determine that a technology can be covered when it is provided within a research setting where there are added safety, patient protections, monitoring, and clinical expertise available to the beneficiary.

Ultimately, this additional data will develop into new clinical evidence that can assists in the Medicare coverage process. An even more important outcome of this CED framework, however, is the production of evidence that will influence clinical practice and help Medicare beneficiaries and providers make the most appropriate diagnostic and therapeutic decisions.

The final coverage decision specifies the questions that studies must address and the standards those studies must meet for Medicare coverage. In developing this policy, CMS consulted with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and both agencies believe the questions and standards meet the requirements of the Medicare statute. CMS will accept submissions from the research community about trials that may answer CMS’ questions about artificial hearts. Clinical studies that are determined to meet CMS’ requirements will be listed on the CMS website.

“Our policy will allow beneficiaries to access artificial heart technology while also stimulating the research community to develop further evidence about the impact of this technology on improving patient outcomes,” Weems said.

The final coverage policy issued today follows a proposed decision issued in February 2008. Public comments received in response to the proposed decision were generally supportive of this decision. The final decision memorandum is available on the CMS Web site here.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Continue reading →

Loss of stability of the AHI1-HAP1 complex an issue in Joubert syndrome

Joubert syndrome is an inherited disorder that affects the area of the brain that controls balance and coordination; it is characterized by symptoms such as loss of muscle tone, developmental delay, and mental retardation. Mutations in several genes have been associated with Joubert syndrome. The mutations in one of these, AHI1, are known to generate truncated forms of the AHI1 protein but how this contributes to the development of disease has not been determined. However, Xiao-Jiang Li and colleagues have now provided insight into this issue by showing that mouse Ahi1 interacts with the protein Hap1, which is critical for neonatal development.

In the study, it was found that Ahi1 binds tightly to Hap1 and that they form a stable complex in the mouse brain. Further analysis indicated that the two proteins stabilize each other and that truncated mouse Ahi1 that resembled the truncated AHI1 protein observed in individuals with Joubert syndrome was unable to stabilize mouse Hap1. The ability of Hap1 and Ahi1 to stabilize each other was important for maintaining levels of the protein TrkB, which is critical for the generation of nerves and brain development. These data have provided insight into the mechanisms underlying disease in individuals with Joubert syndrome associated with AHI1 mutations and might provide new targets for the development of novel therapeutic approaches.

TITLE: Huntingtin-associated protein 1 interacts with Ahi1 to regulate cerebellar and brainstem development in mice

AUTHOR CONTACT:
Xiao-Jiang Li
Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

View the PDF of this article at: https://www.the-jci/article.php?id=35339

Human fats: a link between leprosy and atherosclerosis?

Leprosy is caused by the microbe Mycobacterium leprae, which lives inside cells and survives by both evading the immune system and using human fat molecules (lipids) to promote its growth and virulence. A link between these two factors influencing M. leprae survival in the lesions that characterize disease in individuals with the lepromatous form of human leprosy (L-lep) has now been uncovered by Robert Modlin and colleagues, at UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles.

In the study, expression of genes containing the information for making proteins involved in lipid metabolism (the production and breakdown of lipids) was observed in human L-lep lesions. Consistent with this, the lipid-laden cells (specifically macrophages) in human L-lep lesions that are known to harbor M. leprae were found to accumulate human lipids known as oxidized phospholipids. Further in vitro analysis indicated that some of these oxidized phospholipids inhibited innate immune responses. The accumulation of macrophages laden with human oxidized phospholipids in L-lep lesions is strikingly similar to what is observed in the lesions that narrow the blood vessels in the disease atherosclerosis – a common disease of the major arterial blood vessels that can result in heart attack or stroke. These similarities have led the authors to suggest that in both microbial infection and atherosclerosis there is a link between innate immunity and human lipid metabolism.

TITLE: Host-derived oxidized phospholipids and HDL regulate innate immunity in human leprosy

AUTHOR CONTACT:
Robert L. Modlin
UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California, USA.

View the PDF of this article at: https://www.the-jci/article.php?id=34189

The protein MRP4 regulates disease-associated smooth muscle cell proliferation

The proteins MRP4 and MRP5 are expressed in several tissues and cell types, including smooth muscle cells, but their function has not been clearly determined. However, new insight into the function of these proteins has now been provided by Jean-S?©bastien Hulot and colleagues, at INSERM U621, France, who have shown that MRP4 regulates the amount of two signaling molecules known as cAMP and cGMP inside smooth muscle cells from the wall of human and rat arteries in disease-associated situations.

In the study, expression of MRP4, but not MRP5, was found to be increased in proliferating human smooth muscle cells from arteries and rat smooth muscle cells from damaged arteries. Inhibiting MRP4 in the rat smooth muscle cells blocked proliferation associated with damage and this was coupled with increased amounts of cAMP and cGMP inside the smooth muscle cells. The authors therefore suggest that MRP4 acts as regulator of levels of cAMP and cGMP inside smooth muscle cells. Further, as excessive smooth muscle cell proliferation in arteries is associated with several diseases, including a form of high blood pressure and atherosclerosis (the disease that is one of the most common causes of heart attack and stroke), it is suggested that MRP4 inhibition might have therapeutic potential.

TITLE: Multidrug resistance-associated protein 4 regulates cAMP-dependent signaling pathways and controls human and rat SMC proliferation

AUTHOR CONTACT:
Jean-S?©bastien Hulot
INSERM U621, Facult?© de M?©decine Piti?©-Salp??tri??re, Paris, France.

View the PDF of this article at: https://www.the-jci/article.php?id=35067

The protein CAR is essential for normal heart function

The adhesion protein CAR is expressed in a region of the adult heart known as the intercalated disc (which supports synchronized contraction of the heart), but its function there is unknown. However, a new study, by Kirk Knowlton and colleagues, at the University of California, San Diego, has revealed that CAR is essential for normal heart function in mice.

In the study, adult mice lacking CAR in the heart exhibited a complete block in conduction of electrical impulses from the upper chambers of the heart (the atria) to the lower chambers (the ventricles) (a process known as atrioventricular [AV] conduction), meaning that the heart did not beat synchronously. The complete block in AV conduction occurred for varying lengths of time in the different mice analyzed. Furthermore, the mice developed heart disease by 21 weeks of age, and this was associated with disorganization of the intercalated disc structure. Detailed analysis indicated that in the absence of CAR in the heart, cell-cell junctions at both the site of AV conduction and the intercalated disc were abnormal. The authors therefore conclude that CAR is essential for the adult mouse heart to function normally and suggest that these results have implications for the development of therapeutics for genetic and acquired heart diseases.

TITLE: Coxsackievirus and adenovirus receptor (CAR) mediates atrioventricular-node function and connexin 45 localization in the murine heart

AUTHOR CONTACT:
Kirk U. Knowlton
University of California, at San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA.

View the PDF of this article at: https://www.the-jci/article.php?id=34777

Revising what B cells see

New insight into mechanisms that operate to diminish an ongoing immune response targeting the body’s own tissues has been provided by Ying-Hua Wang, at Columbia University Medical Center, New York, and Betty Diamond, at North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System, Manhasset, who performed research using a mouse model of the autoimmune disease systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a disease commonly known as lupus.

B cells are immune cells that recognize microbes through a protein on their cell surface known as the BCR. In lupus, BCR interactions with normal components of the body mistakenly trigger B cells to attack. In the study, B cells responding to the normal components of the body were found to have increased expression of a protein known as RAG, which modifies the BCR such that it now recognizes different things. This ability of RAG to revise what the BCR recognizes was found to help dampen the ongoing immune response targeting the normal components of the mouse. The authors therefore suggest that perturbation of BCR revision might contribute to the development of autoimmune disease.

TITLE: B cell receptor revision diminishes the autoreactive B cell response after antigen activation in mice

AUTHOR CONTACT:
Betty Diamond
The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System, Manhasset, New York, USA.

View the PDF of this article at: https://www.the-jci/article.php?id=35618

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Source: Karen Honey

Journal of Clinical Investigation Continue reading →

A new and relatively little-known scientific discipline called molecular gastronomy has quietly revolutionized the dining experience in some famous restaurants and promises to foster a wider revolution in other restaurant and home kitchens. That’s the conclusion of an article in ACS’ Chemical Reviews, a monthly journal.

In the article, Peter Barham and colleagues present a sweeping overview of molecular gastronomy, which focuses on the science behind food preparation techniques, including the chemistry of cooking. “Our basic premise is that the application of chemical and physical techniques in some restaurant kitchens to produce novel textures and flavor combinations has not only revolutionized the restaurant experience but also led to new enjoyment and appreciation of food,” the scientists note. Examples include the restaurants El Bulli in Spain and Fat Duck in the United Kingdom, which have become regarded by some as among the finest in the world after adopting this scientific approach to cooking.

The new science pays particular attention to the conditions that underpin an individual’s enjoyment of food, including flavor levels in a food dish and even a diner’s “frame of mind” for enjoying a meal. The authors note that “we may be able to serve different variants of the same dish to our dinner party guests so that each has their own uniquely pleasing experience. If molecular gastronomy can achieve such a goal, it will go a long way to changing forever the public perception of chemistry.”

Article: “Molecular Gastronomy: A New Emerging Scientific Discipline”

Source:
Michael Bernstein

American Chemical Society Continue reading →

The 43rd Midyear Meeting of the Health Physics Society (HPS) will take place January 24 – 27, 2010 in Albuquerque, New Mexico at the Doubletree Hotel. The topical meeting will focus on “Radiation Risk Communication to the Public.” About 400 attendees are expected, with 49 presentations during the 2.5 day topical session.

MEETING HIGHLIGHTS
Communication during a crisis

Red Dragon

Issues affecting understanding

Communication techniques

A universal hazard index

Making communication effective

Radiological event scale

Addressing radiation myths

Health Physics Society public education efforts

Radon risk communication

Fact and Information sheets

Communication of risk to patients

Providing radiation safety information (risks and benefits)

Face-to-face

Consent forms

Radiation science education in schools

“Nuclear is Hot” teaching tool

Practical presentations for students of all ages

First responder readiness

Training in a virtual environment

Lessons learned

Availability of specially prepared response teams

Information about these and all of the presentations can be found at hps/meetings/.

Source:
Kelly Classic

Health Physics Society Continue reading →

UK Health Secretary John Reid today invited bidders to supply the NHS with new, mobile, ‘state of the art’ MRI scanners and highly qualified staff to help cut waiting times across England. These new scanners will targeted at areas of greatest need. It’s expected that they will be operational this summer.

This new 5 year deal will see 80,000 more MRI scans a year on the NHS – a 10 percent increase in capacity. The Department of Health plans to sign contracts with the independent or voluntary sector in the next few months.

John Reid said:

“MRI scans help diagnose many cancers and other serious conditions such as: congenital disorders; acute or chronic migraine and headaches; epilepsy; bone infections; severe back pain; coronary heart disease; high blood pressure and chest pains.

“Significant investments in MRI and other techniques have already made strong headway, but waiting lists remain across England for this key diagnostic procedure and we need to do more to improve this situation.

“Supplying the NHS with new, mobile, ‘state of the art’ MRI scanners and highly qualified staff will help cut waiting times across England.

“This new deal will supply approximately 80,000 additional MRI scans per year over 5 years and will constitute a 10% increase in NHS capacity. This will ensure more NHS patients get access to important early diagnosis and therefore better prospects for successful treatment.

“Mobile solutions will ensure we reach NHS patients in the areas of greatest need, and provide greater access to important diagnostic tests. The independent sector will provide additional staff to ease pressure on existing NHS diagnostic teams and a fast track procurement process will ensure that the NHS and patients get early access to this additional diagnostic capacity.” Continue reading →

Over one in eight American adults may have signs of internet addiction, say researchers from Stanford University, USA. In fact, 8% are so obsessed that they hide their habits from their partners.

Signs of internet addiction can include compulsive checking of your e-mail and chat rooms, as well as habitually checking out web pages. There is even an internet addict stereotype. He is male, white, has a college education, is in his thirties and spends over 30 hours each week on the computer for ‘non-essential’ use.

In this study, the researchers telephoned 2,513 members of the public, each person was talked to for an average of 11.3 minutes.

The researchers said that the internet, a wonderful resource, also has its downside – it is creating real problems for a subset of people.

Internet addiction has brought with it clinics offering therapy to get you weaned off – there is even one in Beijing, China.

Whether or not the internet is the cause of the compulsion, or a reflection of a different problem, the researchers could not say.

The survey found that:

– 14% of respondents found it hard to abstain from internet use for several days
– 5.9% said excessive internet use affected their relationships
– 8.2% said the internet was a means of escape from the real world
– 3.7% felt preoccupied by the Internet when offline

“Potential Markers for Problematic Internet Use: A Telephone Survey of 2,513 Adults”
Elias Aboujaoude, MD, MA, Lorrin M. Koran, MD, Nona Gamel, MSW, Michael D. Large, PhD, and Richard T. Serpe, PhD
CNS Spectr. 2006;11(10):750-755
Click here to see abstract online

Continue reading →