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In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you'd like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with "Insert Coin" as the subject line.
It's safe to say that most people's idea of home networking involves the following steps: buy a wireless router, set it up with an SSID and a password, and then never ever think about it again as long as the WiFi keeps working. But if you're one of a dedicated few who want deeper IT admin-level control over your family's internet usage, then a new Kickstarter campaign from PowerCloud Systems just might be right up your alley. The product is called Skydog, and while you do get a slim and compact dual-band 802.11n five-port gigabit router out of it, Skydog is really more about the cloud-based platform than the physical hardware. Customers are able to visually survey who and what device is on their home network, manage permissions based on that information, allocate bandwidth priority, troubleshoot network issues with ease and more.
PowerCloud Systems is no stranger to cloud-managed networking -- it's been providing just such a solution to enterprises such as hotels, schools, multi-dwelling units and retail chains ever since 2008 when it was spun out of Xerox Parc. In order to bring that level of sophistication to the home audience, however, the company needed consumer-facing software to simplify the process for the masses, and that's exactly what it has tried to do with Skydog. After the break, we offer a tour of the service and interview the people behind it to see just why they're seeking funding via Kickstarter.
Apr. 9, 2013 ? In a development that could make the advanced form of secure communications known as quantum cryptography more practical, University of Michigan researchers have demonstrated a simpler, more efficient single-photon emitter that can be made using traditional semiconductor processing techniques.
Single-photon emitters release one particle of light, or photon, at a time, as opposed to devices like lasers that release a stream of them. Single-photon emitters are essential for quantum cryptography, which keeps secrets safe by taking advantage of the so-called observer effect: The very act of an eavesdropper listening in jumbles the message. This is because in the quantum realm, observing a system always changes it.
For quantum cryptography to work, it's necessary to encode the message -- which could be a bank password or a piece of military intelligence, for example -- just one photon at a time. That way, the sender and the recipient will know whether anyone has tampered with the message.
While the U-M researchers didn't make the first single-photon emitter, they say their new device improves upon the current technology and is much easier to make.
"This thing is very, very simple. It is all based on silicon," said Pallab Bhattacharya, the Charles M. Vest Distinguished University Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and the James R. Mellor Professor of Engineering.
Bhattacharya, who leads this project, is a co-author of a paper on the work published in Nature Communications on April 9.
Bhattacharya's emitter is a single nanowire made of gallium nitride with a very small region of indium gallium nitride that behaves as a quantum dot. A quantum dot is a nanostructure that can generate a bit of information. In the binary code of conventional computers, a bit is a 0 or a 1. A quantum bit can be either or both at the same time.
The semiconducting materials the new emitter is made of are commonly used in LEDs and solar cells. The researchers grew the nanowires on a wafer of silicon. Because their technique is silicon-based, the infrastructure to manufacture the emitters on a larger scale already exists. Silicon is the basis of modern electronics.
"This is a big step in that it produces the pathway to realizing a practical electrically injected single-photon emitter," Bhattacharya said.
Key enablers of the new technology are size and compactness.
"By making the diameter of the nanowire very small and by altering the composition over a very small section of it, a quantum dot is realized," Bhattacharya said. "The quantum dot emits single-photons upon electrical excitation."
The U-M emitter is fueled by electricity, rather than light -- another aspect that makes it more practical. And each photon it emits possesses the same degree of linear polarization. Polarization refers to the orientation of the electric field of a beam of light. Most other single-photon emitters release light particles with a random polarization.
"So half might have one polarization and the other half might have the other," Bhattacharya said. "So in cryptic message, if you want to code them, you would only be able to use 50 percent of the photons. With our device, you could use almost all of them."
This device operates at cold temperatures, but the researchers are working on one that operates closer to room temperature.
The paper is titled "Electrically-driven polarized single-photon emission from an InGaN quantum dot in a GaN nanowire." The first author is Saniya Deshpande, a graduate student in electrical engineering and computer science. The work is supported by the National Science Foundation. The device was fabricated at the U-M Lurie Nanofabrication Facility.
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Journal Reference:
Saniya Deshpande, Junseok Heo, Ayan Das, Pallab Bhattacharya. Electrically driven polarized single-photon emission from an InGaN quantum dot in a GaN nanowire. Nature Communications, 2013; 4: 1675 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms2691
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
A stabbing victim is loaded into a helicopter on the Lone Star College Cy-Fair campus. (Reuters)
At least 14 people were wounded in an apparent mass stabbing at Lone Star College's CyFair campus in Cypress, Texas, on Tuesday. The suspect, armed with what one witness described as an X-Acto knife, was detained.
The incident occurred near and around the school's Health Science Center and remains an active crime scene, police said.
Four victims were transported by helicopter with serious injuries "consistent with laceration," a spokesman for the Harris County Sheriff's Office said. Two others were taken by ambulance to a local trauma center. The rest were treated for minor injuries.
A public information officer with the Another witness told CNN that the suspect in custody was hearing impaired.
An announcement was made over loud speakers warning students to seek shelter. "This is an emergency," the announcement said, according to KHOU-TV. "Everybody stay inside of your rooms. Do not leave your rooms."
An alert issued on the school's website indicated that "another suspect may possibly be at large." But the spokesman for Harris County Sheriff's Office said there was no evidence of other suspects.
In January, three people were wounded in a shooting at Lone Star College's North Harris campus near Houston. More than 90,000 students attend classes across the Lone Star College system's six campuses.
Editor?s note: The following is an excerpt from our Building Wellness from the Inside Out workbook and training program. If you like what you see here, download a free copy of the workbook to see if you would be interested in providing the Building Wellness book and training program for employees at your facility.?
Building a Wellness Plan
?Visualize this thing that you want, see it, feel?it, believe in it. Make your mental blue print,?and then begin to build.?
~Robert Collier
Building Block #1: Face the Truth
When I enter a final destination address into my GPS, it first calculates my current location before it gives me the directions and road map. Considering where we are and where we want to be is an important initial step that we must not overlook. Taking an ?inside-out? approach to my personal health means to start first with myself, to take responsibility and remove the excuse list that serves as a barrier to my improved health and wellness. Only after the ?excuse? and ?blame? factors are identified and eliminated can I go to work on building a better plan for my health.
Some may be afraid to get moving in another direction because of past failure. I understand that feeling, been there and done that. But friends, we can do absolutely nothing about the past. It?s over. Done. May I suggest that you bury your past today? Do it, and this will allow you to take control of your future. You can make changes that will stick, changes that will have a great and positive impact on your future. You can make changes in your life and lifestyle?just give yourself a chance.
Building Block #2: Identify the Reasons
The next question to address is not ?How?? or ?What? It?s ?Why?? Having a powerful reason to make important?changes in your lifestyle is something that no one can give you. I encourage you to take time to identify?some powerful reasons to make changes in your lifestyle. When you identify reasons that are important?enough, you will be better equipped to handle the inner battles that will inevitably take place as you seek to?form new habits.
Like me, maybe your ?why? is that you are sick and tired of feeling sick and tired. Maybe it?s being there for?your family. Maybe it?s keeping your job. Living longer and healthier. Looking better on the beach.?Here?s another important ?why.? We are living longer, but we are not living healthier. We are aging prematurely?in this country, and the decline in health that we see around us is not related primarily to chronological age.?Abnormal and early loss of functional health is caused by lifestyle diseases.
Early aging leads to a lower quality?of life in the last years of life, which is very sad indeed. One of the most important reasons to build a good?wellness plan is so that we can live a longer, healthier, and happier life. Lifestyle determines the aging process,?not merely the number of years that we?ve lived. There?s an important difference between lifespan (how long?you live) and health span (how long you stay healthy). It?s very important to keep the difference between the?two very small, a good wellness plan will help us do just that.
What are your reasons?
Building Block #3: Decide
The next step toward positive change is making a clear and definite decision that you are determined to do?something, or to stop doing something.?Back in my days as a professional football athletic trainer, our coach was Marv Levy who later led the Buffalo?Bills to four Super Bowls. I?ll never forget what Coach Levy frequently told our team. He said, ?It?s not enough?to have a desire to win, guys. Everyone has the desire to win, but not everyone is willing to do what it takes to?win. Are you willing to do what it takes? That means doing the simple things, the daily disciplines needed to?become a winner.
You need to do the little things in the fitness center, at the dinner table, in every practice, and?on every play. The little things aren?t that hard to do; it?s just easier not to do them.??A desire to be healthy is not enough?desire is not what gets you there. The question we all need to ask ourselves?is: Am I willing to do what it takes? It?s easy to do something when you feel like it. When you don?t?feel like it, you need to draw upon the power that comes from having made an ?all in? decision.
Based on the?strong reasons you?ve identified and the decision you?ve made, you?ll force yourself to do it even when you?don?t feel like it. I?m telling you, this attitude can change the whole direction of your life.?So, here?s the question I had to ask myself. Am I willing to develop the simple daily disciplines needed to be?healthy? It?s an easy question, with a simple ?yes? or ?no? answer. Decide today that you are going to take action?toward your better health and say, ?Yes, I am ready to do this now. I?m all in.?
Building Block #4: Study Wellness
I would encourage you to become a serious student of health and wellness. If you have a strong desire to be?healthy, then you need to study health. Building Wellness from the Inside Out is only one person?s viewpoint.?You need to gather from a wide variety of viewpoints, and then make informed decisions for yourself. Here are?some ways that you can learn from others:
Learn from others by reading books, articles and blogs about wellness.
Learn by listening to the wisdom and folly of other people.
Learn by observing the habits of healthy and unhealthy people.
Make it a habit to capture all the knowledge you can. Make it a daily goal to take at least a few minutes to build?your wellness ?knowledge base. This will help you stay on track and keep you motivated. Study with discernment?and consider the source, and then use all the information that?you?ve?gathered to build a wellness plan?that will work best for you.
Building Block #5: Set Goals
Now is a great time for you to set a better sail for your boat. I believe that setting clear goals is vital. Perhaps the?biggest reason that most people fail to change lifestyle habits is that they don?t clearly define any goals. Success?comes from knowing exactly where you are going, how you are going to get there, what you plan to do along?the way, and who will be coming along for the ride. We need to have very specific, written goals and objectives?when it comes to building a better plan for our wellness.
Work on setting specific goals today. Begin with the?end in mind. What exactly do you want? Write it down. Then, set a deadline date for accomplishing your goals.
When the deadline date arrives, you?ll either wish you had or be glad that you did.
Building Block #6: Plan for Wellness
Investing the necessary time to properly plan for wellness is essential. If you grab the cart in the grocery store?with no healthy meal plan in mind, you will be tempted to just grab whatever looks good to you even if it is not?the healthiest choice. Likewise, if you don?t have an exercise plan it?s very easy to let it slide.
For me this is a weekly and daily habit that is done with pen and paper, actually writing down my plan for each?week and each day on paper. I spend some time on Sunday evening to plan my week in advance, and then each?evening during the week I make my ?to do? list for the next day. Included on this list is my plan for meals and?exercise, in addition to the other things that I need to do for work and home. This technique helps me see exactly?what I will be doing in advance, and the process keeps me focused and very intentional about my choices.
When I determine my day in advance, I find that I?m much less likely to make poor and impulsive choices. I?know what I?m going to do, and I simply execute the plan. At the end of each day, I can easily take inventory of?my performance by comparing my plan with my actual choices.
Building Block # 7: Keep Score
I highly recommend that you use the journal that we have included in the next section of this book. Try it?for the next 30 days, and see if you don?t find it to be very valuable. Journaling is a great way to keep track of?what you eat and how much you exercise, and will really help you stay on top of your goals. It?s a vehicle for?daily self-accountability.
It?s fun to use a journal as a scorecard, checking off the items accomplished on the list?throughout, or at the end, of the day. At the end of each day? I know the score.
Building Block #8: Win the Inner Battle
A constant battle is going on inside of us which determines the choices that we make. Which will we choose?a?doughnut or apple, the couch or exercise, Mountain Dew or water, ease or discipline? The path of immediate?gratification and least resistance pulls hard on us. Each day we encounter choices that will lead us toward good?health, or alternatively toward disease. We know deep down that we need to fight our tendency to take the easy?road, and become disciplined instead.
The building blocks for wellness that we?ve discussed previously in this chapter will help you win this inner?battle and make good choices. But there?s one more important building block that will help you win the daily?inner battles that you will undoubtedly face.
It is this: Don?t go on this journey alone. Recognize that you need?help from others to keep on track. Don?t be afraid to ask others to help you, and bring them along if you can.?It?s more fun than going at it alone, and I believe you will find inspiration and motivation from being a part of?a united effort.
If you have a belief in God, I would encourage you to ask for His help. I realize that this is a workplace taboo,?and I certainly don?t intend to offend anyone or impose my views. My desire is to tell you what helps me stay?on track, and then you can take it or leave it. I believe we are made with a mind, body and spirit that are interrelated,?inseparable and work together in an amazing way. Our health has an effect on our spirit, and our spirit?has an effect on our health. Scripture encourages us to treat our bodies like a temple, with the utmost respect?and care, so it makes sense to me that God will help us with this when we ask.
Building Block #9: Execute the Plan
The process of changing your health begins and ends with action. Action is the ignition switch, the spark that?will bring to you inspiration, accomplishment, and improved health. Our goals determine our actions, and our?actions ensure the desired result. The fact that you are reading these words tells me that you are ready to take?action. The end of this book is the start of your journey. I?m thrilled for you. You are on the way toward building?wellness from the inside out.
Now, I urge you to take the next step. Grab a pen and let?s go to work.
?We must all suffer from one of two pains, the pain of discipline or the pain?of regret. Discipline weighs ounces?regret weighs tons.?
~Jim Rohn
Grab your free copy today!
Get a free PDF copy of the entire workbook to see if you?d be interested in providing the Building Wellness workbook and training program for the people at your facility.
TIRANA, Albania (AP) ? Albania pledged Tuesday to hold a historic referendum on whether to scrap waste imports, a money-making program strongly opposed by environmentalists who say the poor Balkan country is already buried under its own trash.
A law passed in 2011 allows the import of non-radioactive waste for destruction or recycling in factories. But litter clogs rivers and piles up on the side of roads, and activists say the government can't be trusted to track the imported garbage.
The referendum is a major step for a country still working out its democracy some two decades after the fall of the repressive regime of communist dictator Enver Hoxha. Bowing to a petition signed by 64,000 people, the president's office on Tuesday set Dec. 22 as the date for the vote ? the first forced by popular demand since the country gained independence from Ottoman Turkey in 1912.
The conservative government insists that the program is drawing foreign investment and has created some 3,000 badly needed local jobs to one of Europe's poorest countries. But environmentalists say the small country is in danger of turning into a garbage dump, and that the government must first build new landfills and take care of its own trash before it tries to take on more.
"How can we try to help the recycling business at a time when the country has not resolved its own waste management?," asked Zamir Dedej, who heads the Institute of Nature Protection in Albania.
Private companies have built about half a dozen factories to handle the waste, but the government has been tight-lipped about where the rubbish is coming from. Albanian media have reported that much of it is coming from Italy.
Although the law stipulates that special government approval is needed for hazardous waste, its opponents say that is not enough.
"Our country still does not have the proper institutions or personnel to check the incoming waste," said Lavdosh Ferruni, an environmentalist and one of the leaders behind the referendum push.
A lawmaker with the main opposition Socialist Party, Besnik Bare, said his party will scrap the law if elected on June 23.
Apr. 8, 2013 ? Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown they can coax cells to move toward a beam of light. The feat is a first step toward manipulating cells to control insulin secretion or heart rate using light.
Their research is published April 8 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Online Early Edition.
"We have succeeded in using light as a kind of on-off switch to control cells' behavior," says principal investigator N. Gautam, PhD, a professor of anesthesiology. "Much of the way cells behave is due to their ability to sense signals in the environment. In these experiments, what the cells sense is the presence of light."
The new research focuses on immune cells. By adding a light-sensitive protein to the cells, the scientists could direct cells to move simply by shining a laser in the direction they wanted a cell to travel.
"We were interested in the idea that you could activate receptors on a single area of a cell's exterior," says Gautam. "It's what happens naturally when an immune cell senses something amiss in its environment and then migrates toward that potential trouble, perhaps a bacterial infection or inflammation."
The researchers used genetic engineering techniques to introduce a light-sensing protein, called an opsin, into immune cells. Humans and other animals make opsins in the eye, and when activated by light, they allow cells in the eye to translate light signals into vision.
Gautam and the study's first author, Ajith Karunarathne, PhD, postdoctoral research associate in anesthesiology, introduced several different opsins into immune cells. After demonstrating that those cells had an affinity for light, the researchers performed the same experiment with nerve cells, with equal success. The idea is to "trick" the cells into thinking that the opsin is a normal receptor protein.
The light-sensing opsin they snuck into immune cells and nerve cells belongs to a family of receptors that recently has been in the spotlight. These are G protein-coupled receptors whose importance was recognized in the awarding of the 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The same receptors play a key role in vision, smell, behavior and mood, regulation of the immune system, heart rate and the spread of some tumors.
In another recent study, also in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Online Early Edition, Gautam's team made nerve cells grow branches, called neurites, when the cells were exposed to light. Currently, the laboratory is working with cardiac cells to test whether light signals can speed up or slow down the rate at which heart cells pulse.
"Eventually, we would like to introduce multiple light-sensing proteins into these cells," says Karunarathne. "The idea would be to use two different wavelengths of light. That way, when you shine one light for example, it could signal the first light-sensing protein to make the heart beat faster. Then a different wavelength of light could be used to slow down the heart rate."
In future studies, the researchers plan to use the same kind of strategy to learn whether light can influence insulin secretion and the regeneration of nerve cells. They also are using the approach to study signaling circuitry in cells to find out how networks of molecular pathways control cell behavior.
"This strategy can be valuable," Gautam says. "We can control migration of cells, which is important not only to the immune system but also during embryonic development to ensure that cells that make the heart, liver and other organs go to the right place. It's also key in cancer metastasis, when a tumor releases cells that migrate to other parts of the body. We are excited by the many possibilities."
Funding for this research comes from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIH grant numbers are GM069027 and GM080558.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Washington University School of Medicine. The original article was written by Jim Dryden.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
Karunarathne WKA, Giri L, Patel AK, Venkatesh KV, Gautam N. Optical control demonstrates switch-like PIP3 dynamics underlying the initiation of immune cell migration. PNAS, 2013 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1220755110
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
[unable to retrieve full-text content]A parallel world of pseudo-academia, with prestigiously titled conferences and journals that will print seemingly anything for a fee, has the scientific community alarmed.
Being a technology service provider, I have the chance to meet many people and am given an opportunity to discuss the use of technology in their lives. One question that many have and often leads to much debate among everyone is whether you should leave a computer running all the time or turn it off when it?s not in use.
The answer is not a clear yes or no either way. Many years ago (until perhaps the early to mid 1990s) the general thought was that you should avoid turning the computer on and off as much as possible. This was due to poor power switches that could wear out, and some hardware not being resilient to the power cycles. Both issues are of no concern with today?s hardware, especially if we think of other similar devices such as televisions, which are rarely left running around the clock. This gives you the choice based upon your preferences and usage.
The biggest argument for turning the computer off is cost savings and conservation. Leaving the computer on will obviously consume more power, wasting both money and resources. If you own a business or have multiple computers in your home, this cost savings could be substantial over the course of a year.
Another reason often cited in favor of turning your computer off is that if it?s off it can?t be attacked by viruses or other malware. All of these points are valid and worth serious consideration.
On the flip side, leaving the computer on means that your system and software can check for updates, download, and even install the updates as well as perform maintenance routines. Often this is done when the computer is not being used to avoid using the computers resources at the same time you?re trying to get something accomplished.
Businesses may also wish to perform backups and other maintenance routines when the business is closed. Always turning the power off may prevent some of these important duties from ever occurring.
A prime example of this is the disk defragmenter, which from the Vista operating system on was automatically scheduled to run once a week in the middle of the night. This utility simply re-arranges data on the hard drive for higher efficiency. I?ve seen computers suffer serious performance loss because this utility was never able to run simply because of the default schedule set in Windows.
The good news is that we can now schedule most tasks to work around our schedules and allow us to still be able to conserve financial and power resources. So when it comes to the debate between you and your spouse, next of kin, co-worker, etc., my personal opinion is that you?re both right! Do whatever works for you. Use the technology to its fullest potential.
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Communicating the science of the '6XC egg' -- and much morePublic release date: 7-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Michael Bernstein
m_bernstein@acs.org
504-670-4707 (New Orleans Press Center, April 5-10)
202-872-6042
Michael Woods
m_woods@acs.org
504-670-4707 (New Orleans Press Center, April 5-10)
202-872-6293
American Chemical Society
NEW ORLEANS, April 7, 2013 Why does the "65-degree egg" and its "6XC" counterparts continue to entice chefs and diners at chic restaurants, when the science underpinning that supposed recipe for perfection in boiling an egg is flawed?
It all boils down to the need for greater society-wide understanding of basic scientific concepts, an expert said here today at the 245th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society. And in one of the keynote addresses at the meeting, which features almost 12,000 scientific reports, Csar Vega, Ph.D., explained why cooking ranks as an ideal way of fostering broader awareness about science.
"Cooking is chemistry, and the kitchen is a laboratory," said Vega. "Cooking and food are the single most direct and obvious personal experiences that people have with chemistry. Food is personal. Food is fun! Seemingly simple foods like cookies, fondue and eggs help illustrate key scientific principles. Why are some cookies chewy and others crunchy or even better, both at the same time? Why do egg whites whip better if we add cream of tartar? Why does Gruyre cheese make the perfect fondue? The sights, the smells, the textures of food can help people remember the science."
The fascination by both diners and chefs de cuisine with that "6XC" egg is a good example, said Vega, who has a Ph.D. in food science, culinary training from Le Cordon Bleu, and is research manager at Mars Botanical, a division of Mars, Incorporated. Vega also co-edited, with Job Ubbink and Erik van der Linden, The Kitchen as Laboratory: Reflections on the Science of Food and Cooking.
Heating an egg may seem like the simplest form of cooking, next to boiling water, Vega pointed out. But the best way of doing so remains a surprisingly contentious issue among great chefs. Eggs are a gastronomic enigma because the ovotransferrin and ovalbumin proteins in the white begin to coagulate or solidify at around 142 and 184 degrees Fahrenheit, respectively. The phosvitins and other egg yolk proteins, however, can start thickening even at temperatures as low as 130 degrees F. So what's the right temperature for the perfect egg?
Vega explained that some professional cooks have taken a relatively new approach by cooking eggs in temperature-controlled water circulators. Using these devices, chefs cook eggs at relatively low temperatures (such as 60 degrees C, or 140 degrees F), for relatively long periods of time (at least 1 hour). And what Vega terms the "6XC egg" is now ubiquitous on menus in chic restaurants. The "X" varies depending on the cook, but usually is from 0 to 5, such as the "65C egg." But chefs claim that temperature alone translates into the perfectly cooked egg, and cooking time one hour or three hours does not matter.
"The idea that cooking time does not matter is nonsense," Vega said, citing research he did and published in the peer-reviewed journal Food Biophysics that debunked the idea. It carefully documented that the texture of a cooked egg yolk depends on both temperature and time. The study gives chefs precise numbers of the time and temperature combinations needed to cook eggs to whatever firmness they want.
Eggs certainly are not the only entry on the menu of scientific misconceptions in the kitchen. Vega pointed out that research published last year challenged time-honored ideas about the browning of sugar, known as caramelization. Everyone thought that sugar had to first melt before undergoing that mouth-watering transformation into caramel. The new research showed, however, that sugar can caramelize when heated while it's still solid.
"It's dismaying to think that so many could be so wrong for so long about what actually happens to such basic ingredients like sugar or eggs during cooking," Vega said. "But it also provides a rare opportunity to rethink the possibilities of the basic, and to communicate accurate information and the fun and excitement of science to the public."
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The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 163,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.
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Abstract
It is no secret that communicating science to the general public is a challenge. And, it should be no secret that to do this effectively provides the non-scientist with a more realistic perspective of the reaches and limitations of science, and in a better position to interpret and even apply scientific information. However, it seems that we have plenty of homework to do ahead of us. First consider that for the most part, the audience we aim to reach has less technical/scientific knowledge and second, that it is others, (i.e. the media) who take the lead on translating our findings not always accurately. Inaccurate science interpretation results in misinformation and confusion among the lay public which then minimizes the ability to make informed decision based on science. Is there something we can do to improve the quality of the message? Absolutely. I will try to make a case for the above through food. Food is personaland complex. Cooking makes food even more personal and brings up further complexity through the transformations and interactions that it promotes. I'm sure that most of your non-scientist friends wonder why using cream of tartar makes better meringues, do you? Cooking is a great tool to demonstrate scientific principles and science offers an exciting path into the kitchen. The challenge is in making the bridge, allowing others to cross it from both sides. I will provide a few examples of bridges that others and I have built.
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Communicating the science of the '6XC egg' -- and much morePublic release date: 7-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Michael Bernstein
m_bernstein@acs.org
504-670-4707 (New Orleans Press Center, April 5-10)
202-872-6042
Michael Woods
m_woods@acs.org
504-670-4707 (New Orleans Press Center, April 5-10)
202-872-6293
American Chemical Society
NEW ORLEANS, April 7, 2013 Why does the "65-degree egg" and its "6XC" counterparts continue to entice chefs and diners at chic restaurants, when the science underpinning that supposed recipe for perfection in boiling an egg is flawed?
It all boils down to the need for greater society-wide understanding of basic scientific concepts, an expert said here today at the 245th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society. And in one of the keynote addresses at the meeting, which features almost 12,000 scientific reports, Csar Vega, Ph.D., explained why cooking ranks as an ideal way of fostering broader awareness about science.
"Cooking is chemistry, and the kitchen is a laboratory," said Vega. "Cooking and food are the single most direct and obvious personal experiences that people have with chemistry. Food is personal. Food is fun! Seemingly simple foods like cookies, fondue and eggs help illustrate key scientific principles. Why are some cookies chewy and others crunchy or even better, both at the same time? Why do egg whites whip better if we add cream of tartar? Why does Gruyre cheese make the perfect fondue? The sights, the smells, the textures of food can help people remember the science."
The fascination by both diners and chefs de cuisine with that "6XC" egg is a good example, said Vega, who has a Ph.D. in food science, culinary training from Le Cordon Bleu, and is research manager at Mars Botanical, a division of Mars, Incorporated. Vega also co-edited, with Job Ubbink and Erik van der Linden, The Kitchen as Laboratory: Reflections on the Science of Food and Cooking.
Heating an egg may seem like the simplest form of cooking, next to boiling water, Vega pointed out. But the best way of doing so remains a surprisingly contentious issue among great chefs. Eggs are a gastronomic enigma because the ovotransferrin and ovalbumin proteins in the white begin to coagulate or solidify at around 142 and 184 degrees Fahrenheit, respectively. The phosvitins and other egg yolk proteins, however, can start thickening even at temperatures as low as 130 degrees F. So what's the right temperature for the perfect egg?
Vega explained that some professional cooks have taken a relatively new approach by cooking eggs in temperature-controlled water circulators. Using these devices, chefs cook eggs at relatively low temperatures (such as 60 degrees C, or 140 degrees F), for relatively long periods of time (at least 1 hour). And what Vega terms the "6XC egg" is now ubiquitous on menus in chic restaurants. The "X" varies depending on the cook, but usually is from 0 to 5, such as the "65C egg." But chefs claim that temperature alone translates into the perfectly cooked egg, and cooking time one hour or three hours does not matter.
"The idea that cooking time does not matter is nonsense," Vega said, citing research he did and published in the peer-reviewed journal Food Biophysics that debunked the idea. It carefully documented that the texture of a cooked egg yolk depends on both temperature and time. The study gives chefs precise numbers of the time and temperature combinations needed to cook eggs to whatever firmness they want.
Eggs certainly are not the only entry on the menu of scientific misconceptions in the kitchen. Vega pointed out that research published last year challenged time-honored ideas about the browning of sugar, known as caramelization. Everyone thought that sugar had to first melt before undergoing that mouth-watering transformation into caramel. The new research showed, however, that sugar can caramelize when heated while it's still solid.
"It's dismaying to think that so many could be so wrong for so long about what actually happens to such basic ingredients like sugar or eggs during cooking," Vega said. "But it also provides a rare opportunity to rethink the possibilities of the basic, and to communicate accurate information and the fun and excitement of science to the public."
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The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 163,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.
To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.
Note to journalists: Please report that this research was presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society.
Follow us: Twitter | Facebook
Abstract
It is no secret that communicating science to the general public is a challenge. And, it should be no secret that to do this effectively provides the non-scientist with a more realistic perspective of the reaches and limitations of science, and in a better position to interpret and even apply scientific information. However, it seems that we have plenty of homework to do ahead of us. First consider that for the most part, the audience we aim to reach has less technical/scientific knowledge and second, that it is others, (i.e. the media) who take the lead on translating our findings not always accurately. Inaccurate science interpretation results in misinformation and confusion among the lay public which then minimizes the ability to make informed decision based on science. Is there something we can do to improve the quality of the message? Absolutely. I will try to make a case for the above through food. Food is personaland complex. Cooking makes food even more personal and brings up further complexity through the transformations and interactions that it promotes. I'm sure that most of your non-scientist friends wonder why using cream of tartar makes better meringues, do you? Cooking is a great tool to demonstrate scientific principles and science offers an exciting path into the kitchen. The challenge is in making the bridge, allowing others to cross it from both sides. I will provide a few examples of bridges that others and I have built.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
SINGAPORE: Temasek Holdings has set up an energy company to tap Asia's growing energy demand.
Pavilion Energy will have an initial authorised capital of S$1 billion and should be operational by September.
The company will invest globally across Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)-related businesses.
These include LNG trading and exploration as well as storage, processing and shipping.
Temasek said in a statement that as the region's economies continue to transform and urbanise, the demand for clean energy, especially LNG, is expected to increase.
According to the International Energy Agency, the global use of gas will rise 50 per cent by 2035, from the levels in 2010.
Gas will account for a quarter of the world's energy mix, especially with increasing demands from large economies such as China which is replacing coal with gas as an energy source.
Pavilion Energy will look to partner with energy industry leaders and players to meet the region's growing gas needs.
It may also co-invest alongside Temasek, which has been stepping up its investments in the energy and resource sectors over the last few years.
Pavilion has appointed Mohd Hassan Marican, the former president and CEO of Petronas, as chairman of its board.
The company has also appointed Seah Moon Ming as its chief executive officer.
Mr Seah joined Temasek in March and was most recently the deputy CEO of ST Engineering, overseeing ST Aerospace, ST Electronics, ST Kinetics and ST Marine.
"To secure long-term and stable supply of LNG to our customers in Singapore and the Asian region, we will be sourcing our LNG supply from multiple sources and various partners in North America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia," said Mr Seah in the statement.
Over the coming months, Pavilion Energy will work to set up the various parts of its operations and it expects to be operational in September 2013. ?
A former navy chief of the small West African nation of Guinea-Bissau who is suspected of being a kingpin in the international cocaine trade was brought to the U.S. for trial on drug charges following his arrest at sea by federal drug agents, authorities said Friday.
Four other men apprehended in the operation also were brought to New York for trial, the Drug Enforcement Administration and federal prosecutors said in a joint release. Two more men were arrested in Colombia Friday as part of a related investigation and were awaiting extradition.
Rear Adm. Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchuto and two other Guinea-Bissau nationals were taken into custody Tuesday aboard a vessel in international waters in the eastern Atlantic Ocean while two others were arrested Thursday in a West African country and later transferred to U.S. custody, the release said. Na Tchuto was charged with conspiring to import narcotics into the United States. Three others were charged with conspiring to sell weapons, including surface-to-air missiles, to be used to protect the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, cocaine processing operations in Colombia against U.S. military forces.
The arrests were made based on evidence gathered by confidential sources who posed as representatives or associates of the FARC as they communicated with the defendants beginning last summer, authorities said. Prosecutors said the evidence includes a series of audio recordings and videotaped meetings over several months in Guinea-Bissau.
According to court papers, the defendants agreed to receive cocaine off the coast of Guinea-Bissau and to store the cocaine in storage houses there prior to their shipment to the United States. The U.S. government alleged that the defendants also agreed that a portion of the cocaine would be used to pay Guinea-Bissau government officials to provide safe passage for the cocaine through Guineau-Bissau.
Prosecutors said Na Tchuto discussed shipping ton-quantities of cocaine from South America to Guinea Bissau by sea, saying it was a good time to transport drugs because Guinea Bissau government was weak because of a recent coup d'etat. They said he also said his fee would be $1 million per 1,000 kilograms of cocaine received in Guinea Bissau for the use of a company he owned to hide the shipments before they were moved to the United States. If convicted, he could face life in prison.
DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart called the arrests "significant victories against terrorism and international drug trafficking."
She added: "Alleged narco-terrorists such as these, who traffick drugs in West Africa and elsewhere, are some of the world's most violent and brutal criminals. They have no respect for borders, and no regard for either the rule of law or who they harm as a result of their criminal endeavors. These cases further illustrate frightening links between global drug trafficking and the financing of terror networks."
All five defendants were ordered held without bail after brief appearances in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, where they seemed to struggle to understand Portuguese and creole translators.
Sabrina Shroff, an assistant federal defender, declined to comment after representing Na Tchuto.
The U.S. Treasury Department designated Na Tchuto as a drug kingpin in 2010 for his alleged role in the cocaine trade in Guinea-Bissau, freezing any assets he may have had in the United States. For at least a decade, Guinea-Bissau has played a key role in the drug trade. The country's archipelago of virgin islands has been used by Latin American cartels as a stopover point for ferrying cocaine to Europe, where prices have skyrocketed at the same time that demand for cocaine leveled off in North America.
A former navy chief of staff, Na Tchuto is believed to have played a role in the arrival of a plane carrying hundreds of pounds of cocaine from Venezuela to Guinea-Bissau in July 2008, according to a statement from the Treasury Department. He later fled to nearby Gambia in August 2008, returning to Guinea-Bissau over a year later. He apparently feared for his life and sought refuge inside the United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office in Bissau, the country's capital.
The U.S. believes the former navy chief also was involved in organizing an April 2010 attempt to overthrow the Guinea-Bissau government.
Fernando Vaz, the spokesman for the government of Guinea-Bissau, said he hoped America would provide Na Tchuto a fair legal defense.
Guinea-Bissau has been plagued by coups. The last few, including one last year, are believed to have been fueled by an internal power struggle over which wing of the military would control the drug trade.
A booming cocaine trade has turned Guinea-Bissau into a narco-state. Key members of the military have been named as complicit in the trade, including several army and navy chiefs who are now on the United States' drug kingpin list. The infusion of illicit cash has emboldened an already bloated army. Drugs, observers say, played a role in the recent coup.
The arrest of Na Tchuto comes amid rumors of another looming coup in the capital.
Antonio Indjai, chief of staff of the country's armed forces, told reporters Thursday that reports that a coup was under way were false.
"They're only speculation by people of bad faith that serve to destabilize the country," Indjai said in the capital of Bissau, according to comments reported by the Agencia Noticiosa da Guine-Bissau news agency.
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Yost reported from Washington. AP writers including Lassana Cassama in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau; Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal; Rukmini Callimachi in Dakar, Senegal, and Alan Clendenning in Madrid contributed to this report.
LEWIS RUN, Pa. (AP) ? Wesley Snipes has been released from a federal prison in Pennsylvania.
Snipes was convicted in 2008 on tax charges. He was released Tuesday and placed under home confinement. A Bureau of Corrections spokeswoman said Friday he'll be overseen by the New York Community Corrections Office until July 19.
Snipes has appeared in dozens of films, from "White Men Can't Jump" and "Demolition Man" in the early 1990s to the "Blade" trilogy. He entered the McKean prison in December 2010 to begin a three-year sentence for failure to file income tax returns.
Snipes belonged to a group that challenged the government's right to collect taxes. Prosecutors say he failed to file returns for at least a decade and owed millions of dollars in back taxes.
Snipes had appealed in an Atlanta court, saying he didn't get a fair trial.
With Mad Men returning to AMC on April 7, it's time once again to obsess over Christina Hendricks. Fortunately, she made it easy for us this year by gracing the cover of May's Flare magazine.
CENTENNIAL, Colo. (AP) ? A psychiatrist who treated James Holmes told campus police a month before the Colorado theater attack that Holmes had homicidal thoughts and was a danger to the public, according to documents released Thursday.
Dr. Lynne Fenton, a psychiatrist at the University of Colorado, Denver, told police in June that the shooting suspect also threatened and intimidated her. It was more than a month before the July 20 attack at a movie theater that killed 12 and injured 70.
In the days after the attack, campus police said they had never had contact with Holmes, who was a graduate student at the university.
But campus police Officer Lynn Whitten told investigators after the shooting that Fenton had contacted her. Whitten said Fenton was following her legal requirement to report threats to authorities, according to a search warrant affidavit.
"Dr. Fenton advised that through her contact with James Holmes she was reporting, per her requirement, his danger to the public due to homicidal statements he had made," the affidavit said.
Whitten added that Fenton said she began to receive threatening text messages from Holmes after he stopped seeing her for counseling, the documents said.
Whitten did not immediately respond to messages left at her home and office. University spokeswoman Jacque Montgomery said she could not comment because the school had not reviewed the court records.
The indication that a psychiatrist had called Holmes a danger to the public gave momentum to Democratic state lawmakers' plans to introduce legislation to further restrict mentally ill people from buying guns. State Rep. Beth McCann initially cited the information Thursday as a reason she would introduce a bill as soon as Friday, but quickly backed off and said no date has been set.
The theater massacre already helped inspire a new state ban on large-capacity firearm magazines.
Prosecutors have suggested Holmes was angry at the failure of a once promising academic career, and had stockpiled weapons, ammunition, tear gas grenades and body armor. Chief Deputy District Attorney Karen Pearson said Holmes failed a key oral exam in June, was banned from campus and began to voluntarily withdraw from the school.
Holmes last week offered to plead guilty in the attacks. Prosecutors rejected that offer and announced Monday they would seek the death penalty.
The new details were in previously sealed documents that the new judge overseeing the case ordered released Thursday. Media organizations, including The Associated Press, had argued that a "wealth of information already made public in the proceedings thus far," so there was no basis for the documents to remain sealed.
The document that included the threats to the psychiatrist was filed to obtain the contents of a package Holmes sent to her before the attack. That package included a notebook that the newly released documents describe as like a "journal."
The package was dated July 12 ? eight days before the massacre ? but was found four days after the attack, in the university mail room. It included a note with an "infinity design" and burnt $20 bills.
Other court documents described Holmes' behavior after police found him, still clad in ballistic gear, leaving the theater after the attack. After Holmes' arrest, one officer asked if anyone was with him.
Holmes, who was carrying $280 in cash and credit cards, replied: "It's just me."
He warned detectives that his apartment had booby-traps, which took days for authorities to disarm. When police informed Holmes of his rights to an attorney, he asked for one, ending their interview with him.
The records show that police collected more than 100 items of evidence from the apartment, including included 50 cans and bottles of beer, a Batman mask, paper shooting targets and prescription medications to treat anxiety and depression. Holmes' attorneys have said he is mentally ill.
The documents ? including arrest and search warrant affidavits ? were unsealed Thursday by District Judge Carlos Samour, who took over this week after the previous judge, who had sealed the documents, removed himself.
Judge William Sylvester had said prosecutors' decision to seek the death penalty against Holmes meant the case would take up so much time that he couldn't carry out his administrative duties as chief judge of a busy four-county district.
Both prosecutors and defense attorneys had raised concerns about releasing the documents. Prosecutors said they were worried about the privacy of victims and witnesses if the records were released. Attorneys for Holmes said they didn't want to hurt his chances for a fair trial.
Sylvester had said he was reluctant to release the documents before the preliminary hearing, when prosecutors laid out evidence on whether Holmes could be brought to trial. After that hearing occurred in January, Samour said lawyers failed to show that releasing the records would cause any harm, or that keeping the documents sealed would prevent any harm.
___
Associated Press writer Catherine Tsai contributed to this report.
Apr. 5, 2013 ? Researchers of the Max Delbr?ck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) and the Leibniz Institute of Molecular Pharmacology (FMP) in Berlin-Buch, Germany, have now detected a substance that can prevent the accumulation of fluid in body tissue and thus edema formation.
The results of Dr. Jana Bogum (MDC/FMP) from the MDC research group led by Professor Walter Rosenthal and PD Dr. Enno Klu?mann could be important in the future for the treatment of excessive fluid retention in patients with chronic heart failure. Using a novel approach, the researchers have also discovered a new molecular mechanism controlling water homeostasis in the kidneys (Journal of the American Society of Nephrology).
Every day around 1 500 liters of blood flow through the kidneys. Of this total volume, the kidneys initially filter 180 liters of primary urine, which they concentrate to two liters and then excrete as the final urine. A key regulatory step of the concentration mechanism is the release of the hormone AVP (arginine-vasopressin) from the brain. This hormone triggers a multi-step signaling cascade in the kidneys which affects water channels (aquaporins) and in particular aquaporin-2. "The water channels, specifically aquaporin-2, and their redistribution play a key role in the regulation of the water balance," said Dr. Klu?mann.
AVP, which is released from the brain upon thirst, induces aquaporin-2 located in the renal collecting duct principal cells to redistribute from the cell interior to the plasma membrane. The renal cells can then filter out the water from the primary urine flowing past the membrane via aquaporin-2. Dr. Klu?mann explained: "To keep the renal cell from bursting and the body from dehydrating, the water is directed back via another group of water channels, aquaporin 3 and 4, into the bloodstream and body tissue. In contrast to aquaporin-2, these water channels are located in another domain of the plasma membrane in the renal principal cells and stay there permanently." Once the thirst is quenched, the levels of the hormone AVP are reduced and aquaporin-2 is shuttled back into the interior of the renal cell until it is needed again.
However, if the AVP level is too high, as is the case in patients with chronic heart failure, aquaporin-2 remains permanently in the plasma membrane of the renal principal cell and directs the water continuously from the primary urine into the renal collecting duct principal cells. These cells funnel the excess water into the body tissue. "This process contributes to edema," Dr. Klu?mann said.
Discovery of how translocation of water channels can be inhibited
How can aquaporin-2 be prevented from settling permanently in the plasma membrane and thus triggering diseases or making them worse? Using a new research approach, the scientists were able to identify an inhibitor which prevents the translocation of the water channel aquaporin-2 into the cell membrane. At the same time they discovered a new regulatory mechanism of water homeostasis at the molecular level.
The researchers used "small molecules," low molecular weight organic compounds, which penetrate well into cells. They tested 17 700 such substances in renal cells and ultimately filtered out a substance that blocks the redistribution of aquaporin-2 to the plasma membrane. The substance (4-acetyldiphyllin) prevents phosphorylation, an important biological and regulatory activation step. In particular, the compound prevents a phosphorylation reaction that is catalyzed by a protein termed protein kinase A. This protein is activated in the signaling cascade that is triggered by AVP in the renal principal cells. In the presence of 4-acetyldiphillin protein kinase A cannot add a phosphate group to aquaporin-2, with the result that the water channels can no longer redistribute to the plasma membrane.
The new research findings may not only be of interest for the treatment of edema but also for the treatment of depression. Here, by contrast, medical researchers are seeking a way to shuttle aquaporin-2 to the plasma membrane of the renal principal cell, because lithium, which is often used to treat depression, prevents aquaporin-2 from redistributing to the plasma membrane, thus causing diabetes insipidus. If AVP is not released from the brain, or if the receptor for AVP in the renal cell is defective, this likewise results in diabetes insipidus, as Professor Rosenthal discovered several years ago. The affected individuals excrete 20 liters of urine every day. A similar effect, but not quite as drastic, is caused by alcohol. Drinking lots of beer causes the body to excrete large amounts of urine. The reason -- alcohol prevents the brain from releasing the hormone AVP and thus prevents the redistribution of aquaporin-2 to the plasma membrane.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Max Delbr?ck Center for Molecular Medicine.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
J. Bogum, D. Faust, K. Zuhlke, J. Eichhorst, M. C. Moutty, J. Furkert, A. Eldahshan, M. Neuenschwander, J. P. von Kries, B. Wiesner, C. Trimpert, P. M. T. Deen, G. Valenti, W. Rosenthal, E. Klussmann. Small-Molecule Screening Identifies Modulators of Aquaporin-2 Trafficking. Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, 2013; DOI: 10.1681/ASN.2012030295
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index capped a five-day losing streak by slumping to its lowest in more than 3-1/2 months on Friday, led by declines in the financial sector, as gloomy Canadian and U.S. jobs data suggested the North American economy could be losing steam.
The economic uncertainty weighed on oil prices, which fell to a five-month low, but a rising bullion price took gold shares higher.
The benchmark Canadian index slipped 3.3 percent on the week, recording its biggest weekly fall in about 10 months. The week's losses have erased all the gains the index made in 2013.
March data showed that American employers hired at the slowest pace in nine months and Canada posted the worst monthly jobs loss in more than four years.
"The market was somewhat ahead of itself on expectations it was going to be full steam ahead," said Gavin Graham, president at Graham Investment Strategy. "We've been reminded that there will be some bumps in the road."
"You're going to get months when job gains are not as high as expected or even have a reversal," he added.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index <.gsptse> closed down 31.20 points, or 0.25 percent, at 12,331.85, after reaching 12,244.23, its lowest point since December 17, 2012. On Wednesday, the index had its biggest one-day percentage decline in more than nine months.
The latest numbers followed weak economic data throughout the week, unnerving investors and casting doubts about a smooth recovery.
"It's a very reluctant, obstinate and grinding recovery. But it's a recovery," said Stephen Wood, chief market strategist, North America, at Russell Investments in New York.
"We've been anticipating that it would not be a smooth, uninterrupted ride up," he added. "There will be a volatile path to positive returns for 2013."
The TSX has had an uneven rally since November. The market climbed almost 10 percent from a low in November to a peak on March 12, before easing.
Some analysts said the market prices have gotten further than fundamentals.
Seven of the 10 main sectors on the index were in the red.
Financials, the index's weightiest sector, were the biggest negative influence, giving back 1 percent. Royal Bank of Canada dropped 1.3 percent to C$59.62.
But the materials sector, which includes mining stocks, rose and helped stem the losses.
The price of gold received a boost because the bad economic news created interest in safe-haven assets. Goldcorp Inc gained 1.2 percent to C$32.33.
Energy shares also made gains, with Encana Corp up 3.1 percent to C$19.11.
In company news, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, one of the world's largest pension funds, said it has voted to support Agrium Inc's board nominees ahead of a shareholder meeting next week. Agrium shares were down 0.3 percent.
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