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Mars Base

Google's self-driving car takes blind man on errands - 0 views

www.physorg.com/...-self-driving-car-errands.html

scibyte41 google car

shared by Mars Base on 04 Apr 12 - No Cached
  • A self-driving car being developed by Google Inc. took a blind man for a ride this week, driving him to a Taco Bell and then to a dry cleaner in San Jose, Calif.
  • Google posted a video of a modified Toyota Prius driving Steve Mahan, who is legally blind, saying it shows one of the possibilities and benefits that could come from the technology.
  • The self-driving car took Mahan to Taco Bell for a quick meal and a dry cleaner to pick up his clothes.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • the drive took place on a carefully programmed route in San Jose and showed one of the possibilities that self-driving cars could offer.
  • we've now safely completed more than 200,000 miles of computer-led driving, gathering great experiences and an overwhelming number of enthusiastic supporters
Mars Base

First drug to improve heart failure mortality in over a decade - 0 views

medicalxpress.com/...-failure-mortality-decade.html

scibyte96 scibyte97 heart

shared by Mars Base on 01 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • Coenzyme Q10 decreases all cause mortality by half
  • results of a multicentre randomised double blind trial
  • It is the first drug to improve heart failure mortality in over a decade
  • ...22 more annotations...
  • Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) occurs naturally in the body and is essential to survival
  • CoQ10 works as an electron carrier in the mitochondria, the powerhouse of the cells, to produce energy and is also a powerful antioxidant
  • CoQ10 levels are decreased in the heart muscle of patients with heart failure, with the deficiency becoming more pronounced as heart failure severity worsens
  • Double blind controlled trials have shown that CoQ10 improves symptoms, functional capacity and quality of life in patients with heart failure with no side effects
  • until now, no trials have been statistically powered to address effects on survival
  • study randomised 420 patients with severe heart failure
  • to CoQ10 or placebo and followed them for 2 years
  • primary endpoint was time to first major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE)
  • unplanned hospitalisation due to worsening of heart failure, cardiovascular death, urgent cardiac transplantation and mechanical circulatory support
  • CoQ10 halved the risk of MACE
  • 29 (14%) patients in the CoQ10 group reaching the primary endpoint compared to 55 (25%) patients in the placebo group
  • CoQ10 also halved the risk of dying from all causes, which occurred in 18 (9%) patients in the CoQ10 group compared to 36 (17%) patients in the placebo group
  • CoQ10 treated patients had significantly lower cardiovascular mortality
  • and lower occurrence of hospitalisations for heart failure
  • There were fewer adverse events in the CoQ10 group compared to the placebo group
  • CoQ10 is the first medication to improve survival in chronic heart failure since ACE inhibitors and beta blockers more than a decade ago
  • Other heart failure medications block rather than enhance cellular processes and may have side effects
  • CoQ10
  • is a natural and safe substance, corrects a deficiency in the body and blocks the vicious metabolic cycle in chronic heart failure called the energy starved heart
  • CoQ10 is present in food, including red meat, plants and fish, but levels are insufficient to impact on heart failure
  • CoQ10 is also sold over the counter as a food supplement but
  • Food supplements can influence the effect of other medications including anticoagulants and patients should seek advice from their doctor before taking them
Mars Base

Eyeglasses read to the blind (w/ Video) - 0 views

phys.org/...2013-04-eyeglasses-video.html

scibyte90 HandicapAids

shared by Mars Base on 13 Apr 13 - No Cached
  • The Eyetalk
  • initially conceived for a student competition in social entrepreneurship, has been hailed by venture investors as a potentially breakthrough product that could make a difference for disabled people worldwide
  • By using a pair of eyeglasses and lightweight components, Eyetalk will allow a blind user to access printed material while walking around a store or library, which now requires bulkier, more expensive equipment
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • Eyetalk
  • is designed to be portable, affordable, and operate without requiring an Internet connection
  • Future versions of Eyetalk will target a global market and enable users to hear information aloud in one of many languages.
  • early prototype, known as the FreedomLens, was one of 16 semi-finalists chosen from 29 nations to present at the 2013 Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition (GSEC), February 25-30 at the University of Washington's Foster School of Business in Seattle
  • The project began with a challenge issued by
  • faculty member Seema Pissaris, a successful entrepreneur who founded Games Trader
  • Last fall, Pissaris urged students in several of her classes to think about developing a social entrepreneurship project
Mars Base

Bio-Retina Implant Could Give Laser-Powered Sight to the Blind | Popular Science - 0 views

www.popsci.com/...d-give-sight-blind-laser-power

Scibyte55 RestoringVision

shared by Mars Base on 18 Jul 12 - No Cached
  • The near-infrared laser beam, gentle enough to shine harmlessly through the eye onto the implant, provides up to three milliwatts of power to a photovoltaic cell on the eye implant
  • Six hundred needle electrodes (wrapped in biocompatible silicon and sapphire to prevent the formation of scar tissue) penetrate the retina
Mars Base

Migraine Attacks Can be Prevented with High Blood Pressure Drug Candesartan - 0 views

www.scienceworldreport.com/...-pressure-drug-candesartan.htm

scibyte116 migraine

shared by Mars Base on 16 Jan 14 - No Cached
  • Researchers say that the drug Candesartan may be prescribed for those who get no relief from propranolol.
  • researchers
  • have found that the drug Candesartan is as effective in combating migraines as the commonly prescribed drug propranolol for the malady.
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • This finding is a follow up of a ten-year study from NTNU
  • Though the drug Candesartan is used by several doctors to treat migraine, this study proves the effectiveness of the drug in treating migraine
  • confirmed based on triple a blind test where the doctors, patients and even the researchers were unaware whether the patient was given a placebo or the real drug.
  • The study had 72 participants, who suffered migraine attacks atleast twice every month
  • The patients were given placebo, 16 mg of candesartan or 160 mg of propranolol for 12 weeks each and were given a break of 4 weeks without the medicines before the start of the drug and in between too.
  • more than 20 percent of those suffering with migraine attacks felt better even when they were given a placebo.
  • the blind test revealed that the candesartan works preventively for more 20-30 percent migraine patients
  • The study confirmed that 16 mg of candesartan was as effective as 160 mg of propranolol in treating migraine attacks.
Mars Base

Numbers Games Devised to Aid People with "Dyscalculia": Scientific American - 0 views

www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm

scibyte78 Dyscalculia

shared by Mars Base on 15 Jan 13 - No Cached
  • A cognitive scientist who studies numerical cognition and a learning disability likened to dyslexia for mathematics works on identifying its cause as well as ways to help those who suffer from it
  • After conducting some tests,
  • concluded that
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • “a disaster at arithmetic” and diagnosed him with dyscalculia, a little-known learning disability sometimes called number blindness and likened to dyslexia for maths
  • Researchers estimate that as much as 7% of the population has dyscalculia, which is marked by severe difficulties in dealing with numbers despite otherwise normal
  • well above normal) intelligence
  • he has crusaded to get dyscalculia recognized — by parents, teachers, politicians and anyone who will listen.
  • Number Sense, a suite of educational computer games
Mars Base

Cholesterol-lowering eye drops could treat macular degeneration - 0 views

medicalxpress.com/...s-atherosclerosis-macular.html

scibyte89

shared by Mars Base on 03 Apr 13 - No Cached
  • A new study raises the intriguing possibility that drugs prescribed to lower cholesterol may be effective against macular degeneration, a blinding eye disease.
  • Researchers
  • have found that age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of vision loss in Americans over 50, shares a common link with atherosclerosis
  • ...25 more annotations...
  • Both problems have the same underlying defect: the inability to remove a buildup of fat and cholesterol
  • researchers shed new light on how deposits of cholesterol contribute to macular degeneration and atherosclerosis and even blood vessel growth in some types of cancer
  • Patients who have atherosclerosis often are prescribed medications to lower cholesterol and keep arteries clear
  • This study suggests that some of those same drugs could be evaluated in patients with macular degeneration
  • we need to investigate whether vision loss caused by macular degeneration could be prevented with cholesterol-lowering eye drops or other medications that might prevent the buildup of lipids beneath the retina
  • The new research centers on macrophages, key immune cells that remove cholesterol and fats from tissues
  • In macular degeneration, the excessive buildup of cholesterol begins to occur as we age, and our macrophages begin to malfunction
  • In the "dry" form of age-related macular degeneration, doctors examining the eye can see lipid deposits beneath the retina
  • As those deposits become larger and more numerous, they slowly begin to destroy the central part of the eye, interfering with the vision needed to read a book or drive a car
  • As aging macrophages clear fewer fat deposits beneath the retina, the macrophage cells themselves can become bloated with cholesterol, creating an inflammatory process that leads to the formation of new blood vessels that can cause further damage
  • Those vessels characterize the later "wet" form of the disease
  • that inflammation creates a toxic mix of things that leads to new blood vessel growth
  • Most of the vision loss
  • is the result of bleeding and scar-tissue formation related to abnormal vessel growth
  • the scientists identified a protein that macrophages need to clear fats and cholesterol
  • As mice and humans age, they make less of the protein, and macrophages become less effective at engulfing and removing fat and cholesterol
  • team found that macrophages, from old mice and in patients with macular degeneration, have inadequate levels of the protein, called ABCA1, which transports cholesterol out of cells
  • As a result, the old macrophages accumulated high levels of cholesterol and couldn't inhibit the growth of the damaging blood vessels
  • when the researchers treated the macrophages with a substance that helped restore levels of ABCA1, the cells could remove cholesterol more effectively, and the development of new blood vessels was slowed
  • able to deliver the drug, called an LXR agonist, in eye drops
  • found that we could reverse the macular degeneration in the eye of an old mouse
  • could focus therapy only on the eyes, and we likely could limit the side effects of drugs taken orally
  • since macrophages are important in atherosclerosis and in the formation of new blood vessels around certain types of cancerous tumors, the same pathway also might provide a target for more effective therapies for those diseases
  • can reverse the disease cascade in mice by improving macrophage function, either with eye drops or with systemic treatments,
  • Some of the therapies already being used to treat atherosclerosis target this same pathway, so we may be able to modify drugs that already are available and use them to deliver treatment to the eye
Mars Base

Multiple sclerosis breakthrough: Trial safely resets patients' immune systems and reduc... - 0 views

medicalxpress.com/...breakthrough-trial-safely.html

scibyte97 MultipleSclerosis

shared by Mars Base on 06 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • In MS, the immune system attacks and destroys myelin, the insulating layer that forms around nerves in the spinal cord, brain and optic nerve
  • When the insulation is destroyed, electrical signals can't be effectively conducted, resulting in symptoms that range from mild limb numbness to paralysis or blindness
  • A phase 1 clinical trial for the first treatment to reset the immune system of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients showed the therapy was safe and dramatically reduced patients' immune systems' reactivity to myelin by 50 to 75 percent
  • ...23 more annotations...
  • The therapy stops autoimmune responses that are already activated and prevents the activation of new autoimmune cells
  • In the trial, the MS patients' own specially processed white blood cells were used to stealthily deliver billions of myelin antigens into their bodies so their immune systems would recognize them as harmless and develop tolerance to them
  • Current therapies for MS suppress the entire immune system, making patients more susceptible to everyday infections and higher rates of cancer
  • the study did show patients who received the highest dose of white blood cells had the greatest reduction in myelin reactivity
  • While the trial's nine patients
  • were too few to statistically determine the treatment
  • primary aim of the study was to demonstrate the treatment's safety and tolerability
  • the intravenous injection of up to 3 billion white blood cells with myelin antigens caused no adverse affects in MS patients
  • it did not reactivate the patients' disease and did not affect their healthy immunity to real pathogens
  • researchers tested patients' immunity to tetanus because all had received tetanus shots in their lifetime
  • One month after the treatment, their immune responses to tetanus remained strong, showing the treatment's immune effect was specific only to myelin
  • human safety study sets the stage for a phase 2 trial to see if the new treatment can prevent the progression of MS in humans
  • the trial, which has already been approved in Switzerland
  • patients' white blood cells were filtered out, specially processed and coupled with myelin antigens by a complex GMP manufacturing process
  • In the phase 2 trial we want to treat patients as early as possible in the disease before they have paralysis due to myelin damage
  • Then billions of these dead cells secretly carrying the myelin antigens were injected intravenously into the patients
  • The cells entered the spleen, which filters the blood and helps the body dispose of aging and dying blood cells
  • During this process, the immune cells start to recognize myelin as a harmless and immune tolerance quickly develops
  • This therapy,
  • may be useful for treating not only MS but also a host of other autoimmune and allergic diseases simply by switching the antigens attached to the cells
  • recently published research in mice in which he used nanoparticles—rather than a patient's white blood cells—to deliver the myelin antigen
  • Using a patient's white blood cells is a costly and labor-intensive procedure
  • study showed the nanoparticles, which are potentially cheaper and more accessible to a general population, could be as effective as the white blood cells as delivery vehicles
Mars Base

Retinal implants with wireless microchip restore functional vision in retinitis pigment... - 0 views

medicalxpress.com/...less-microchip-functional.html

scibyte83 BionicEye

shared by Mars Base on 20 Feb 13 - No Cached
  • research found that, during the course of a three to nine month observation period, functional vision was restored in the majority of nine German patients implanted with a subretinal microchip as part of the first module of the Company's second human clinical trial
  • visual acuity for two of the nine patients surpassed the visual resolution of patients from the Company's first human clinical trial
  • Patients were implanted with Retina Implant AG's subretinal wireless 3x3 mm2, 1500 pixel Alpha IMS microchip and are able to adjust the level of stimulation received to view objects at varied distances
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • Of the nine patients observed in the study, three patients were able to read letters spontaneously
  • During observation in and outside the laboratory patients also reported the ability to recognize faces, distinguish objects such as telephones and read signs on doors
  • Results from the first trial
  • concluding that the implantation of Retina Implant's microchip was successful in restoring useful vision in patients previously blind due to retinitis pigmentosa
  • second clinical trial with a wireless device that allows patients to use the implant outdoors and at home
  • has since expanded into the multicentre phase
Mars Base

2012 Venus Transit - The Countdown Is On! - 0 views

www.universetoday.com/...us-transit-the-countdown-is-on

scibyte45 venus transit scibyte49 scibyte48

shared by Mars Base on 04 May 12 - No Cached
  • On June 5 (June 6 in Australia and Asia), it will pass between the Earth and Sun… an event which only happens about twice and century and won’t happen again until the year 2117!
  • now is the time to begin your preparations to view the transit of Venus.
  • Because the transit of Venus is such a rare event, many retailers are carrying special eclipse/transit viewing glasses
  • ...9 more annotations...
  • appear much like the cardboard 3D glasses you get at the movie theatre, but instead of red and blue lenses, they will have either black mylar or Baader filter film.
  • inspect the edges carefully to make sure they are sealed and no sunlight can enter
  • do not use them in conjunction with binoculars or a telescope
  • meant strictly for use with your eyes
  • Concentrating sunlight with an optical aid and hoping the glasses will be enough to block the Sun’s harmful rays is taking a chance at blinding yourself
  • . If you plan on filming
  • now is the time to practice
  • Make sure well in advance of exactly what time the transit starts in your area
  • times are given on an astronomical standard – Universal Time. If you are unsure of how to convert, try the Time Zone Converter to assist you.
Mars Base

Retinal Implants Could Restore Partial Vision - Science News - 0 views

www.sciencenews.org/...s_could_restore_partial_vision

scibyte46 eyes blind medical

shared by Mars Base on 14 May 12 - No Cached
  • Mars Base on 14 May 12
     
    Retinal implants could restore partial vision
Mars Base

Treatment with fungi makes a modern violin sound like a Stradiavarius - 0 views

phys.org/...dern-violin-stradiavarius.html

scibyte62 Violin Stradivarius

shared by Mars Base on 08 Sep 12 - No Cached
  • Low density, high speed of sound and a high modulus of elasticity – these qualities are essential for ideal violin tone wood.
  • In the late 17th and early 18th century the famous violin maker Antonio Stradivari used a special wood that had grown in the cold period between 1645 and 1715
  • long winters and the cool summers, the wood grew especially slowly and evenly, creating low density and a high modulus of elasticity
  • ...18 more annotations...
  • A good violin depends not only on the expertise of the violin maker, but also on the quality of the wood that is used.
  • Swiss wood researcher
  • has succeeded in modifying the wood for a violin through treatment with special fungi
  • making it sound indistinguishably similar to a Stradivarius
  • discovered two species of fungi
  • which decay Norway spruce and sycamore – the two important kinds of wood used for violin making – to such an extent that their tonal quality is improved
  • Normally fungi reduce the density of the wood, but at the same time they unfortunately reduce the speed with which the sound waves travel through the wood
  • unique feature of these fungi is that they gradually degrade the cell walls, thus inducing a thinning of the walls
  • , a stiff scaffold structure remains via which the sound waves can still travel directly
  • the wood remains just as resistant to strain as before the fungal treatment
  • Before the wood is further processed to a violin, it is treated with ethylene oxide gas. "No fungus can survive that
  • mycowood (wood treated with wood decay fungi
  • on September 7, 2012 in
  • reported on his research and gave a preview of what his wood treatment method could mean, particularly for young violinists
  • In 2009 the violins were played in a blind, behind-the-curtain test versus a genuine Stradivarius from 1711
  • Both the jury of experts and the majority of the audience thought that the mycowood violin that Schwarze had treated with fungi for nine months was the actual Strad
  • Currently Professor Schwarze is working on an interdisciplinary project to develop a quality-controlled treatment for violin wood, with successful, reliable and reproducible results
  • cessful implementation of biotechnological methods for treating soundboard wood could in the future give young musicians the opportunity to play on a violin with the sound quality of an expensive – and for most musicians unaffordable – Stradivarius
Mars Base

Company offers first true smartphone for the blind (w/ Video) - 0 views

phys.org/...any-true-smartphone-video.html

ScreenReader GrabBag

shared by Mars Base on 16 Jul 12 - No Cached
  • a suite of apps that turn a conventional phone running Android into a new way to use the phone
  • Instead of the usual mass of icons, the Georgie, as the company calls it, comes with a simple menu that offers auditory feedback and features that are important and useful to those who cannot see.
  • real world useful applications such as telling the user which direction they are facing, or where the nearest bus stop is
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • menus can be easily traversed by simply running the fingers across them, a voice calls out their function
  • Georgie can be purchased as a set of apps for those that already have a phone, or as a complete system, i.e. phones with preinstalled apps
  • comes with a single basic app that allows for performing functions such as dialing and voice dictation and has useful features such as “Places” that announce direction and can be loaded with known hazards such as low hanging tree branches or potholes
  • three different apps packages to choose from
  • “Travelers” app that features “Near Me,” which calls out place names such as restaurants, bus stops, stores, etc. along with weather reports
  • “Lifestyle” offers an ability to listen to newspaper and magazine articles or even whole books
  • “Communicate” helps users connect socially by helping them record, translate to text and then send twitter or text messages
  • basic app costs $230 and each add-on adds an additional $39. Most would consider this quite cheap however, as other systems total in the thousands and aren’t nearly as mobile.
Mars Base

Alzheimer's: A Ray of Hope? Just Perhaps Maybe | Talking back, Scientific American Blog... - 0 views

blogs.scientificamerican.com/...ray-of-hope-just-perhaps-maybe

scibyte55 Alzheimer

shared by Mars Base on 19 Jul 12 - No Cached
  • pharmaceutical company Baxter International reported
  • a drug that, if it works in larger clinical trials now under way, might actually stabilize patients and stop disease progression
  • Gammagard, or intravenous immunoglobulin, a soup of antibodies extracted from blood donors and already approved for some immune disorders, halted for three years  any decline in cognition and in the ability to perform everyday tasks for four patients who received  the highest dose
  • ...13 more annotations...
  • Four patients
  • may be nothing
  • for sure
  • the drug may falter and go by the wayside as it makes its way through the clinical trials pipeline
  • results still intrigued some in the research community
  • Results from late-stage clinical trials next year will show whether these four were patients who just happened to have plateaued for a while during their inevitable decline
  • initial findings are encouraging, they are extremely preliminary
  • Until the results of the larger double-blind Phase 3 results demonstrate a significant benefit, intravenous immunoglobulin’s role in the treatment of AD is unproven
  • If later trials succeed, the results would give credence to the idea that Alzheimer’s usual suspect—a toxic peptide called amyloid-beta—is, in fact, the major heavy in the neurodegeneration
  • positive Phase III trial next year will mean, though, that the real work lies ahead
  • The drug, not covered by insurers, is already used off-label to treat Alzheimer’s by some rich patients who can afford to shell out $50,000 a year from their own pockets
  • If one day insurers were to cover Gammagard, not enough supply would exist for the donor-based drug—and shortages would make life difficult for  patients already using it for immune conditions
  • promising outcome for the drug trial may serve more as a proof of principle
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