Archive for the ‘Health/Hemorrhoids’ Category
August 27th, 2011 | 
Author: Work by University of Cincinnati researchers to create a sensor that provides fast feedback related to the presence and levels of heavy metals—specifically manganese—in humans is published in the August issue of the prestigious international journal, Biomedical Microdevices.
Described in the article is the development of a low-cost, disposable lab-on-a-chip sensor that detects highly electronegative heavy metals more quickly than current technology generally available in health-care settings. It’s envisioned that the new UC sensor technology will be used in point-of-care devices that provide needed feedback on heavy-metal levels within about ten minutes.
It’s expected that the sensor will have potential for large-scale use in clinical, occupational and research settings, e.g., for nutrition testing in children.
The new sensor is environmentally friendly in that its working electrode is made of bismuth vs. the more typical mercury, and it’s child friendly in that it requires only a droplet or two of blood for testing vs. the typical five-milliliter sample now required.
Explained one of the researchers, UC’s Ian Papautsky, “The conventional methods for measuring manganese levels in blood currently requires about five milliliters of whole blood sent to a lab, with results back in 48 hours. For a clinician monitoring health effects by measuring these levels in a patient’s blood—where a small level of manganese is normal and necessary for metabolic functions—you want an answer much more quickly about exposure levels, especially in a rural, high-risk area where access to a certified metals lab is limited. Our sensor will only require about two droplets of blood serum and will provide results in about ten minutes. It’s portable and usable anywhere.”
Papautsky, UC associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, is co-author of the Biomedical Devices-published research, “Lab-on-a-Chip Sensor for Detection of Highly Electronegative Heavy Metals by Anodic Stripping Voltammetry.” Other co-authors are Erin Haynes, assistant professor of environmental engineering; William Heineman, distinguished research professor of chemistry; and just-graduated electrical and computer engineering doctoral student Preetha Jothimuthu, just-graduated chemistry doctoral student Robert Wilson, and biomedical engineering undergraduate research co-op student Josi Herren.
FIRST FIELD TEST OF SENSOR EXPECTED IN 2012 IN MARIETTA, OHIO
One specific motivation for developing the sensor was an ongoing project by UC’s Erin Haynes, who is studying air pollution and the health effects of manganese and lead in Marietta, Ohio. Manganese is emitted in that area because it is home to the only manganese refinery in the United States and Canada. Preliminary results from UC’s Mid-Ohio Valley Air Pollution Study (M.A.P.S.) found elevated levels of manganese in Marietta residents when compared to those who live in other cities.
HOW THE UC SENSOR WORKS
The new UC sensor uses a technology called anodic stripping voltammetry that incorporates three electrodes: a working electrode, a reference electrode and an auxiliary electrode.
A critical challenge for such sensors is the detection of electronegative metals like manganese. Detection is difficult because hydrolysis, the splitting of a molecule into two parts by the addition of a water molecule, at the auxiliary electrode severely limits a sensor’s ability to detect an electronegative metal.
To resolve this challenge, the UC team developed a thin-film bismuth working electrode vs. the conventional mercury or carbon electrode. The favorable performance of the bismuth working electrode combined with its environmentally friendly nature means the new sensor will be especially attractive in settings where a disposable lab-on-a-chip is wanted.
In addition, the UC team also optimized the sensor layout and working-electrode surface to further reduce the effects of hydrolysis and to boost the reliability and sensitivity in detecting heavy metals. The new sensor layout better allowed for its functioning, which consists of taking of a blood serum sample, stripping out the heavy metal and then measuring that heavy metal.
Posted in 
By Chris Gorski, Inside Science News Service
(ISNS)—Before hopping on his motorcycle, Michael Carley puts on earplugs, followed by his helmet. It’s a step many riders take. After accelerating, most of the sound that a rider can hear isn’t from the bike engine or other vehicles on the road, but from the air rushing over and around his helmet.
The helmet Carley wears is designed and tested for comfort and impact protection—but not for sound protection. Noise inside the helmet can reach rock-concert levels when traveling at highway speeds.
Carley, a mechanical engineer, has gathered a group of engineers and psychologists to study how to minimize helmet noise. The group includes researchers from two U.K. universities, the University of Bath, where Carley works, and nearby Bath Spa University. They are studying how to protect riders from hearing damage and reduce the potential distraction that noise poses to riders.
"Riding a motorcycle is a very noisy endeavor," said Rick Korchak, editor of webBikeWorld, a popular motorcycle website that carries detailed helmet reviews. "There are no quiet motorcycles and there are no quiet helmets."
While riders and others recognize that noise can be a problem, many U.S. jurisdictions prohibit the use of earplugs or other noise-reducinging devices. One long road trip could take a rider through numerous changes in local laws.
"A lot of people, they just do what they’re comfortable with, irrespective of what the jurisdiction says is the law," said Charles Brown, a psychologist specializing in sound perception from the University of South Alabama in Mobile.
"We strongly advocate the use of high-quality, correctly inserted ear plugs when riding a motorcycle," said Korchak. He added that good ear plugs will not eliminate all noises, allowing sirens and traffic to be heard.
Sound Research
Riders experience noise from multiple sources.
First is the engine noise, which is a relatively insignificant factor once riders accelerate to highway speeds. Audible wind noise can reach volumes as high as 115 decibels or more, roughly equivalent to what power saw operators without ear protection would hear. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommends limiting such exposure to 15 minutes or less per day.
Most initial academic research in motorcycle sound focused on long term hearing damage. The group from Bath began researching the topic by establishing reliable measurements of what happens to air passing over a helmet in a wind tunnel. Then, on roads and test tracks, they studied the relative placement of the rider and the motorcycle. They studied how all the important variables interact, such as the height of the windshield, the location of the helmet and the size of the rider.
Turbulent air buffeting off the motorcycle windshield is one problem. The researchers found that small differences in air flow patterns can cause large variations in sound level. Subsequently, the Bath group took their experiments to wind tunnels to measure in detail what riders experience.
The Bath group’s most recent paper, accepted for publication by The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, details the way airflow around the helmet creates noise. They found that for the type of helmets with a full shield and visor covering the face, the largest component of noise comes from air rushing around the chin bar, which wraps around the jaw.
There’s another type of sound experienced by riders, but it’s more difficult to quantify, and not affected by earplugs. It’s called body conducted sound. Aboard a motorcycle, this process transmits engine vibrations and the percussive force of the wind through the flesh and bone to the ear. Earplugs don’t stop it, and it can be significant.
"It’s why your voice sounds different when you hear a recording of your voice versus what you experience as your own voice," said Carley.
Limiting Sound’s Impact
Reducing the amount of sound that reaches riders can benefit more than motorcyclists’ hearing. Riders have to process the sound of riding, the sound conducted through their bones, and a wide variety of visual stimuli as well, all while responding to the situation around them.
“Es la primera vez que se detecta una asimetrÃa fuera de la teorÃa estándar”
Los datos analizados en los últimos meses por los cientÃficos de Tevatron, muestran cómo en un tipo de colisión entre partÃculas se produce una ligera tendencia a generar más materia que antimateria. Estos resultados, aún preliminares, podrÃan ser confirmados por el LHC en los próximos meses y abrir asà un camino hacia la respuesta a una de las grandes preguntas de la fÃsica: ¿por qué y cómo venció la materia?
Para situar el problema, el profesor de investigación del CSIC y jefe de la unidad teórica del Instituto de FÃsica Corpuscular, José Furtado Valle, se remonta al origen de todo, el Big Bang. Durante este periodo el Universo no era más que una sopa de partÃculas que chocaban entre sà a gran temperatura y “en este escenario inicial la creación de partÃculas se daba de forma democrática, con cantidades iguales de materia y antimateria”, explica Valle. El problema es que, “si no existieran mecanismos que favorecieran la creación de una de ellas, el Universo serÃa un plasma simétrico”. En esta situación, partÃculas y antipartÃculas se habrÃan aniquilado mutuamente, con lo que no existirÃan estrellas, ni planetas, ni seres humanos. Para los fÃsicos, está claro que de algún modo se generó menos antimateria, por lo que “tienen que existir mecanismos que favorezcan la creación de materia”, afirma Valle.
Este fenómeno es opuesto a la autofecundación de algunas especies
Uno de los eventos fue cercano a un terremoto sucedido en la época romana
Los expertos analizan el tipo de sedimento y los restos de fauna
La NASA lanza en noviembre el robot de exploración âCuriosityâ
Su alimentación con plutonio podrÃa darle una vida de 10 años
“Una de las cosas que sabemos observando la Tierra es que la vida es muy pertinaz. Es muy difÃcil deshacerse de ella”, señaló Squyres. “Puedes encontrarla en ambientes muy ácidos, salados, en las profundidades de la Tierra, lugares en los que no se esperaba que estuviese. Si la vida se generó en Marte, es bastante razonable proponer que haya podido encontrar nichos ecológicos en los que pueda seguir aún hoy”, detalló Squyres.
![[PTECH-JUMP]](http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/PJ-BB835_PTECHJ_F_20110713204737.jpg)
Toshiba
Like many laptops, the Thrive, above, has full-size USB and HDMI ports.
While Microsoft and Apple are working to bring aspects of tablet computing to the next versions of their computer operating systems, one big computer maker, Toshiba, is going the other way: It is introducing a tablet that emulates a laptop in some key respects.
Unlike other well-known tablets on the market, the new Toshiba Thrive, a 10-inch Android model available this month, sports a full-sized USB port that works with a wide variety of devices and files; a removable battery; and a file manager application like those on PCs. It also includes a full-sized SD slot for flash memory cards and a full-sized connector, called an HDMI port, that can use a standard cable for linking to a high-definition TV.
Walt Mossberg reviews the new Toshiba Thrive, a 10” Android model tablet. Unlike most other tablets on the market, the Thrive emulates a laptop in a number of ways including its removable battery, SD card slot, and USB port.
Some tablets, such as Acer’s Iconia, have a few of these features, but I haven’t previously tested a tablet with all of them. And they aren’t built into the tablet that dominates the market, Apple’s iPad.
Mossberg’s Mailbox
Like Acer, Toshiba is trying to differentiate the Thrive from the iPad with a lower price. The base model of the Thrive will cost $430, which is $69 less than the entry-level iPad 2. However, there’s a catch: It only has half the memory, 8 gigabytes, versus the base $499 iPad 2′s 16 gigabytes. A Thrive model with 16 gigabytes of memory will cost $480, or just $19 less than the comparable iPad 2.
This first tablet from Toshiba is Wi-Fi only. But the company plans a model with cellular connectivity in the fourth quarter.
I’ve been testing the Thrive for about a week, and found it to be a mixed bag. Its laptop-like features, especially the USB port, worked very well and will be welcomed by users who have yearned for an easier, more standard way of getting files into and out of a tablet.
Like most tablets introduced this year, it is thick and heavy compared with the iPad. Like all Android tablets, it offers only a tiny fraction of the tablet-optimized apps available for the iPad, which claims 100,000 such programs.
And in my standard tablet battery test, its performance was weak, only a bit more than half of the iPad 2′s.
Design
The Thrive, which has rounded edges, weighs in at 1.6 pounds. It’s 0.62 inch thick, and about 11″ long by 7″ wide—shaped to optimize viewing of widescreen videos. That means it’s best used in landscape mode. Its back, which is rubbery and ribbed, feels comfortable, and snaps off, to provide access to the removable battery.
Extra batteries cost $80 each, and the company offers a variety of colorful replacement backs for $20 each.
The edges offer an array of switches and ports—some hidden behind little covers—including a mini-USB port for connecting to a PC or Mac. There’s a proprietary connector for attaching the Thrive to two optional docks. The device includes front and rear cameras.
There are also a couple of optional cases. I found the standard case to be very bulky. Also very bulky is the included AC adapter, for charging the Thrive, that’s the size of a small laptop charger.
USB
I focused a lot of my testing on the USB port, which worked very well. In my tests, I was able to successfully connect a variety of small flash drives and access their files, or copy them to the internal memory, using the File Manager app. Toshiba also includes a Media Player, which handles music, photos and videos, regardless of whether they are in internal memory or external storage.
I was also able to easily connect a variety of other devices to the USB port, including a camera, a wired keyboard and mouse. The USB port handled an external hard drive as well, once I converted it on a computer to the only hard-disk format the Thrive recognizes, which is called exFAT.
I was even able to simultaneously use a flash drive and a wired mouse with the Thrive by plugging in a small USB hub—a gadget that’s like a power strip for USB devices.
SD Card and HDMI Port
The Thrive can handle SD cards up to 128 gigabytes in capacity—though the largest of these currently cost around $300. In fact, Toshiba justifies the low internal memory on its base model Thrive by noting that users can add memory via SD cards. In my tests of several SD cards, all worked fine.
I connected my HDTV to the Thrive via a plain-vanilla HDMI cable and it played videos, photos and music through the TV without any problems.
Battery Life
The Thrive fared poorly in my standard tablet battery test, in which I set the screen brightness at 75%, leave the Wi-Fi connected and collecting emails in the background, and play videos back to back until the juice is gone. It managed just 5½ hours before shutting down, compared with slightly over 10 hours for the iPad 2 during the same test.
Toshiba claims the Thrive’s battery will last up to 11 hours in more general and varied use, and, while I couldn’t test such a vague claim, I was able to go a couple of days between charges while doing intermittent Web surfing, emails, social networking, book reading and game playing. But the screen— which sucks power on all tablets—was off for hours at a time during this period.
Performance
In general, the Thrive performed crisply, handling almost everything I tried and running numerous programs at once.
However, it crashed multiple times. The tablet spontaneously rebooted once when I removed a flash drive and the popular game “Words With Friends” crashed twice. Several other apps also crashed.
Unlike the iPad, the Thrive will play Adobe Flash videos and websites, but, as with other Android tablets, this capability varies unpredictably. Some Flash videos played well, others poorly or not at all. A couple crashed the browser. And the beautiful Picnik photo-editing website, which depends on Flash, wouldn’t work at all.
Cameras and Sound
Both cameras worked OK for stills and videos. But the sound, which Toshiba says is superior to that on other tablets, was tinny on several songs compared with the sound on the iPad.
Trial Software
One more similarity, alas, that the Thrive has to laptops is that it comes pre-loaded with craplets, limited or trial apps you may not want. Its bundled version of QuickOffice, a productivity program for viewing and editing Microsoft Office documents, can only view files, not edit them. A security program works only for 30 days before you must pay for it. A printing program will only print five pages before payment is required.
Bottom Line
The Thrive is a good alternative to the iPad for people who place high value on having standard ports, especially a USB port, and a removable battery. While it suffers from many of the downsides of other non-Apple tablets, it is closer to a laptop, and that will please people looking for laptop features in a tablet.
—Find all of Walt Mossberg’s columns and videos at the All Things Digital website, http://walt.allthingsd.com. Email mossberg@wsj.com.
En este sentido, la agencia manifestó que el hecho de que más del 80% de los bancos acreedores aprueben las nuevas condiciones del plan, aceptando el aplazamiento de los vencimientos hasta 2013, implica una mejora “sustancial” de la liquidez del grupo a corto plazo.
La firma de calificación considera que el acuerdo “alivia” el riesgo de liquidez de la compañÃa presidida por José MarÃa Castellano, mejorando la capacidad de cumplimiento de su deuda, asà como de los ratios financieros de seguimiento (covenants).
Asimismo, Moody’s destacó en su informe que, como parte del acuerdo, se incluye el consentimiento para eventuales emisiones de deuda destinadas al repago de la deuda en forma de préstamos o bonos.
La maquinaria será de acero y cerámica y se alojará en una cueva de Texas
Ingeniero informático formado en el MIT e incansable emprendedor tecnológico, Hillis fantaseaba en 1993 con la idea de un reloj milenario, que llevó a las páginas de Wired dos años después. La quimera de Hillis aglutinó a algunos viejos compañeros que compartÃan su enfoque, entre ellos el antiguo componente de Roxy Music Brian Eno, el intelectual y biólogo Stewart Brand, el fundador de Lotus Corporation Mitch Kapor y la empresaria e hija del fÃsico Freeman Dyson, Esther Dyson. La Fundación The Long Now nació en 01996 (la notación adoptada por ellos, dicen, para evitar un futuro “efecto 10.000″). El hito se emplazó a 10.000 años por ser aproximadamente el mismo tiempo que la historia de la civilización humana ya ha dejado atrás. “Esto asume que estamos a la mitad del viaje, una declaración implÃcita de optimismo”, escribÃa Kelly. El nombre de la fundación lo acuñó Eno, recordando que al instalarse en la frenética Nueva York comenzó a echar de menos el “largo ahora” de su vida en Gran Bretaña.