Archive for August, 2010

« Older Entries
Responding to Biological Threats, Natural and Manmade Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

As the spread of H1N1 and AIDS highlighted, pandemic diseases can cause serious disruption to society and the lives of its members. In addition to these natural threats, a new threat lurks in the background, biological terrorism where disgruntled groups are able to deliberately spread biological agents that cause serious diseases. Considering these threats, the Department of Human and Health Services (HHS) of USA released a review on August 19 titled Public Health Emergency Medical Countermeasure Enterprise Review: Transforming the Enterprise to Meet Long Range National Needs.

The review looks at the federal government’s system to produce medications, vaccines, equipment and supplies needed for a health emergency, known as medical countermeasures. The review examines the current scenario involved in research, development and FDA approval of medications, vaccines, medical equipment and supplies for a health emergency. The review was triggered by the challenges posed by the recent H1N1 pandemic.

Releasing the document, HHS Secretary suggested that “with a strong base of discovery, a clear regulatory pathway, and agile manufacturing, we will be able to respond faster and more effectively to public health threats.”

According to the review, HHS proposes significant investments to help FDA scientists find faster ways to analyze promising new discoveries and to give innovators a clear regulatory pathway to bring their products to market.

Read the report at FierceBiotech.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Information Technology for Cardiovascular Diseases Sunday, August 29th, 2010

A news release mentions about the launch of a new product jointly by Beijing Goodwill Information and Technology Co., Ltd. that provides electronic cardiogram systems in China and IBM. The product is an all-in-one electronic cardiogram management system introduced for the first time in China. The system provides real-time insight for doctors treating patients with cardiovascular conditions.

WHO estimates that heart disease, stroke, and diabetes have cost China US$558 billion in national income. The new system helps improve the management of ECG processes. Physicians will be able to deliver ECG tests and diagnoses by tapping into a databank of centralized ECG information. The centralized databank can be accessed from anywhere, even from mobile devices.

The integration of patient data as exemplified above enables doctors, patients and insurers to share information seamlessly. Such a connected system will result in fewer mistakes, and better prediction and prevention of diseases. A substantial improvement in healthcare is the consequence.

The new system includes Beijing Goodwill’s Cardiogram suite of professional applications and medical devices – such as holter systems, treadmill stress machines and patient monitors. Using IBM analytics and DB2 database software as the backbone, Beijing Goodwill was able to deliver an all-in-one solution for hospitals.

Read the news release at PR Newswire.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Nanotechnology and the Textile Industry Saturday, August 28th, 2010

Nanotechnology works at the levels of molecules and atoms, and can modify the properties of materials through molecular engineering. Though molecular engineering technology is not yet advanced enough to do all the things that we want, nanotechnology has already succeeded in modifying certain properties of existing materials. For example, stain-repellant fabrics and textiles, and wound dressings that deliver antimicrobials to the wounds are already in the market.

What can we expect in the future as the technology develops? The potential is quite exciting. Future developments will have two major areas of focus in the case of textiles:

* Improve upon existing functions and the current performance of textile materials
* Develop smart textiles that have functions presently not associated with textiles

Developing light clothing material that offers protection against cold similar to what provided by heavy woolens now will be an example of the first category. In the area of smart textiles, the possibilities are immense:

* Clothes that sense environmental conditions and modify their behavior
* Clothes that clean and repair themselves, say by closing any tears caused by sharp edges
* Clothes that produce and store energy needed for various devices we carry around
* Clothes that sense wounds (say those caused by the same sharp edges) and deliver healing medication to the injured area

Products already in the market indicate that the above types of solutions are not purely fanciful.

Tags: ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

A Gathering of IT Companies Off-the-beaten-path Friday, August 27th, 2010

You expect companies to care mainly for profit making. Even if they do some work for their communities, it is more than likely that the exercise is more for image-building to further their business. In such a context, it was refreshing to read about a philanthropy-oriented meeting of IT companies during CompTIA’s annual Breakaway conference in San Antonio, Texas recently.

CompTIA Educational Foundation provides career opportunities for individuals who historically have been under-represented in the IT workforce. It does this with support from individuals, industry leaders, companies and the government.

At the meeting, representatives from AMD, Applied Materials, CDW, Dell, IBM, Intel, iSys, Microsoft, SalesForce.com Foundation, Symantec, VMware and Xerox looked at the possible future of IT philanthropy and the potential impact it can make.

The IT companies have been seeing volunteerism within their companies to aid the communities in which they work. STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) educational programs for the communities, disaster relief work, environmental efforts, civic development, mentoring, health and hunger challenges, workforce skills development and job creation, and diversity issues are examples of work the volunteers do.

The attendees felt that they need to work in a collaborative manner to accomplish better results, and also to measure the impact of their efforts.

Read the news release at BusinessWire.

Tags: , ,
Posted in business, corporate responsibility | No Comments »

Planes that Mimic Birds Thursday, August 26th, 2010

Planes that Mimic Birds

Aerospace vehicles are currently designed for specific missions, such as space flight, reconnaissance, interdiction and aerial combat. A vehicle designed for one mission will typically have serious constraints for executing other missions. Researchers have been looking at ways to design multi-mission capable vehicles.

The solution of variable sweep wings is an example of a preliminary solution to the problem. The wings change shape to meet changing requirements, trying to mimic birds in flight. However, the existing solution is only a primitive one compared to the birds’ solution.

Things might change dramatically with the new morphing metal technology. Nanotechnology can theoretically work at molecular levels and change the properties of the building blocks of materials. Doing this “on-the-go”, adapting to changes in pressure or temperature for example, can make the materials almost “living materials.”

Wings made of such materials could then unfurl, bend and shape themselves to changing demands, just as bird wings do in flight. Such wings will be able to avoid aerodynamic destabilization caused by varying flight conditions.

Once such morphing technology has been mastered, it will be possible to design air vehicles that can be used for multiple roles, say from passenger or cargo carriage to aerial warfare.

Read the speculative report at Center for Intelligence News Study.

Tags: , ,
Posted in nanomaterials, nanotechnology | 1 Comment »

Improving Drug Development Process through Experience Management Wednesday, August 25th, 2010

The $800 billion drug development industry is not exactly in the best of health, if reports are correct. That is the impression one gains from criticisms such as:

* Costs of new drug development are so high that many companies are cutting back on drug discovery programs
* The costs are high because of the long research and development cycles, and low success rates of clinical trials
* Regulatory reviews are slow and unpredictable

A major factor contributing to this sorry state is wastage of valuable information, according to RedOak Logic LLC of North Carolina. The volume of information that needs to be considered during drug development is so huge that companies in the industry are unable to make any sense out of the mass. The data analysis and decision support tools being used now are just inadequate for the task.

RedOak Logics says that they are developing “an advanced decision modeling support platform and proprietary application interface – an ‘Experience Management’ solution” tailored to the needs of the drug development industry.

The company reports that the solution is based on Saffron Natural Intelligence Platform. Saffron Technology seeks to develop business analytics that resemble the way humans use experience, noticing differences and similarities from past experiences each time they face a situation.

Read the News Release at PR Newswire.

Tags: , ,
Posted in business, information technology, management information system | No Comments »

Safety of Workers in Biotech Labs Tuesday, August 24th, 2010

In a recent blog post, the Council for Responsible Genetics has listed several shocking cases of workers in biotech labs contracting illnesses apparently related to their work, and yet being denied compensation in a timely manner.

A scientist who worked for Pfizer developing genetic delivery systems for cloning into viruses fell ill, and was sacked by the company when she could not return to work by the deadline date. She had to wage a struggle for several years before she was awarded compensation, and that too not for the illness but for the company violating her free speech and whistleblower rights.

It appeared that Pfizer could legally deny data on workers’ lab exposures, as it is protected as a trade secret.

Another person who worked as a researcher and technician on crop and insect control projects was exposed to living bacteria, fungi and insects, which he claims sickened him. He could not get any compensation due in no small measure to his employer providing him with the wrong name of its insurer. When finally he found the actual insurer, the latter also denied the claim.

The fact is that many of the microorganisms the researcher worked with were found in his body.

Read about these and other cases at CRG Blog.

Tags: , ,
Posted in biotechnology, business, worker safety | No Comments »

Breakthrough in Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM) Monday, August 23rd, 2010

Scanning Probe Microscopy creates images with the help of a physical probe that scans the specimen surface. As the probe scans the specimen line by line, the position of the probe is recorded to create the image. SPM helps study invisible specimens such as individual atoms and objects of nanometer scale.

Conventional SPM operates at only one frequency at a time. This is a serious limitation because probe-specimen surface interactions are dynamic and only by knowing how the interaction varies at many frequencies can one get a fuller picture.

A breakthrough has now been achieved by Asylum Research and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in this area. Band Excitation (BE) is a new SPM technology that involves exciting and detecting the tip dynamics at many frequencies simultaneously. This has been compared to seeing in color instead of just in black and white.

Band Excitation allows more rapid probing of energy dissipation at nanoscale “enabling scientists to characterize a sample’s electrical, magnetic, and mechanical energy conversion and dissipation properties at standard imaging rates.” Information about energy dissipation is important in diverse fields such as electronics, information technology and energy storage/transport.

The inventors hope that BE will bring in a new family of SPMs.

Asylum Research and ORNL has been awarded the Microscopy Today Innovation Award for the breakthrough. Read the news at Nanowerk.

Tags: , ,
Posted in electron microscopy, nanotechnology | 1 Comment »

Impact of Computers and Connectivity on Human Relationships and Cognition Sunday, August 22nd, 2010

The explosive growth in computer power and connectivity is changing the relationships among people and organizations. For example, real-time conversation between strangers at opposite ends of the world has become a commonplace occurrence these days. This is something that would have been rare indeed in a pre-Internet world.

What is the impact of such developments on human relationships is something that does indeed deserve serious research.

Another major area affected by powerful computers and connectivity is concerned with learning and discovery. For example, the Web has opened up new learning and information opportunities to the general public all across the world. It has also made possible discoveries in science that would not have been possible with the slow and limited methods of traditional scientific research.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) had announced grants under its Knowledge and Distributed intelligence initiative-a program that fosters interdisciplinary research into the effects of the explosive growth in computer power and connectivity.

A significant number of the finally approved grants were for projects that included a significant cognitive/behavioral/ psychological science aspect, reports the Observer, published by the Association of Psychological Science.

Read the report titled Psychological Science Makes Strong Showing.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in behavior, cognitive science, learning | No Comments »

The Ninth Biotechnology Industry Organization Investor Forum Saturday, August 21st, 2010

The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) Investor Forum is a national investor conference held in the US. Participants of the forum include leading private and emerging public biotech companies, venture and private equity investors in healthcare, and investors interested in buying or selling. Business development executives from leading pharmaceutical and biotech companies participating in the forum will have the opportunity for networking and exploring for the kinds of deals they are looking for.

At this year’s conference, Chairman/CEO of Advaxis Inc., a biotechnology company developing proprietary, live, attenuated Listeria monocytogenes (Listeria) vaccines that deliver engineered tumor antigens, will discuss recent developments in the areas of clinical trials and financing.

Other topics slated to be discussed include:
– First patient group dosing in US-based, Phase II cervical dysplasia (CIN) trial

– Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) clearance to proceed with a India-based, Phase II cervical cancer trial

– National Cancer Institute — Gynecologic Oncology Group’s trial in cervix cancer

– CRUK trial in Head and Neck cancer

– Collaborative research and development agreement (CRADA) signing with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to study Listeria in animals

– $7.5 million in financing agreement with life science fund

Read the news release at Market Watch.

Tags: , ,
Posted in biopharmaceutical, biotechnology | 2 Comments »

« Older Entries