Source: medicalobserverph.com
See on Scoop.it – Cardiovascular and vascular imaging
Archive for January, 2015
Young Women with CAD, More Vulnerable to Heart Ischemia Due to Stress | Medical Observer
Posted in Uncategorized on January 14, 2015| Leave a Comment »
Remapping the Damaged Brain
Posted in Uncategorized on January 14, 2015| Leave a Comment »
Researchers discover motor functions are remapped through rehabilitative training following brain injury.
Source: neurosciencenews.com
Glioblastoma stem-like cells: At the root of tumor recurrence and a therapeutic target
Posted in Uncategorized on January 14, 2015| Leave a Comment »
‘Pop-up’ fabrication technique trumps 3D printing
Posted in 3D Printing for Medical Application on January 14, 2015| Leave a Comment »
‘Pop-up’ fabrication technique trumps 3D printing
Reporter: Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN
3D silicon microstructures formed using concepts similar to those in children’s pop-up books, shown here based on a colorized scanning electron micrograph.
Researchers at Northwestern University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have developed a simple new fabrication technique to create beautiful, complex 3D micro- and nanostructures with advantages over 3D printing for a variety of uses. The technique mimics the action of a children’s pop-up book — starting as a flat two-dimensional structure and popping up into a more complex 3D structure. Using a variety of advanced materials, including silicon, the researchers produced more than 40 different geometric designs, including shapes resembling a peacock, flower, starburst, table, basket, tent, and starfish.
“In just one shot you get your structure,” said Northwestern’s Yonggang Huang, one of three co-corresponding authors on the study. “We first fabricate a two-dimensional structure on a stretched elastic material. Then we release the tension, and up pops a 3-D structure. The 2-D structure must have some place to go, so it pops up.”
The pop-up assembly technique is expected to be useful in building biomedical devices, sensors and electronics. It is the current cover story in the Jan. 9 issue of the journal Science.
References:S. Xu, Z. Yan, K. Jang, W. Huang et al. Assembly of micro/nanomaterials into complex, three-dimensional architectures by compressive buckling. Science 9 January 2015: Vol. 347 no. 6218 pp. 154-159 DOI: 10.1126/science.1260960
Source: www.kurzweilai.net
Lin28A Accelerates Wound Healing, Hair Regrowth, and Turns Back The Aging Clock A Little
Posted in Uncategorized on January 14, 2015| Leave a Comment »
For centuries, biologists have wondered why an organism’s capacity for tissue repair and wound healing tends to decline as it gets older. The new study, which is published in the journal Cell, submits that this strange phenomenon may be the result of Lin28a – a gene whose protein product plays a crucial role in the early growth and development of a wide variety of animals. According to senior author George Daley, our gradual loss of regenerative powers may be symptomatic of a decline in Lin28a protein levels.
“It sounds like science fiction, but Lin28a could be part of a healing cocktail that gives adults the superior tissue repair seen in juvenile animals,” he said in a press release.
To investigate the “fountain-of-youth” gene, the researchers reactivated it in adult mice. They found that the Lin28a protein accelerated the regeneration of cartilage, bone, and mesenchyme in a variety of injury models. Intriguingly, the gene also promoted faster regrowth of hair by stimulating anagen in the test subject’s hair follicles. Daley and his colleagues believe that Lin28a achieves these rejuvenating effects by stimulating metabolic processes otherwise associated with an organism’s embryo stage.
Study author Shyh-Chang Ng believes that the “fountain-of-youth” gene could be integrated into a number of different therapies. “We were surprised that what was previously believed to be a mundane cellular ‘housekeeping’ function would be so important for tissue repair,” he told reporters. “One of our experiments showed that bypassing Lin28a and directly activating mitochondrial metabolism with a small-molecule compound also had the effect of enhancing wound healing, suggesting that it could be possible to use drugs to promote tissue repair in humans.”
The current study is the latest in a growing series of inquiries into regeneration – a fascinating biological phenomenon that is observed across the entire evolutionary spectrum of organisms. Earlier this year, researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics showed that a single knocked-out gene allows planarian flatworms to regenerate their head and brain. A more recent study describes a so-called bio patch thatpromotes and sustains local bone growth in weakened and damaged areas. Like the current study, these research efforts remind us that when it comes to biotechnology and medicine, the line between science fiction and reality is not always clear.
Source: www.medicaldaily.com
‘Text neck’ is becoming an ‘epidemic’ and could wreck your spine
Posted in Bone Disease and Musculoskeletal Disease on January 14, 2015| Leave a Comment »
‘Text neck’ is becoming an ‘epidemic’ and could wreck your spine
Reporter: Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN
The human head weighs about a dozen pounds. But as the neck bends forward and down, the weight on the cervical spine begins to increase. At a 15-degree angle, this weight is about 27 pounds, at 30 degrees it’s 40 pounds, at 45 degrees it’s 49 pounds, and at 60 degrees it’s 60 pounds.
That’s the burden that comes with staring at a smartphone — the way millions do for hours every day, according to research published by Kenneth Hansraj in the National Library of Medicine. The study will appear next month in Surgical Technology International. Over time, researchers say, this poor posture, sometimes called “text neck,” can lead to early wear-and-tear on the spine, degeneration and even surgery.
“It is an epidemic or, at least, it’s very common,” Hansraj, chief of spine surgery at New York Spine Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine, told The Washington Post. “Just look around you, everyone has their heads down.”
Can’t grasp the significance of 60 pounds? Imagine carrying an 8-year-old around your neck several hours per day. Smartphone users spend an average of two to four hours per day hunched over, reading e-mails, sending texts or checking social media sites. That’s 700 to 1,400 hours per year people are putting stress on their spines, according to the research. And high-schoolers might be the worst. They could conceivably spend an additional 5,000 hours in this position, Hansraj said.
“The problem is really profound in young people,” he said. “With this excessive stress in the neck, we might start seeing young people needing spine care. I would really like to see parents showing more guidance.”
Source: www.washingtonpost.com
3 Surprising Digital Bets for 2015 (Infographic)
Posted in Uncategorized on January 14, 2015| Leave a Comment »
AGENDA for MassBio 2015 Annual Meeting, March 26-27, 2015, Royal Sonesta Hotel, Cambridge, MA
Posted in Academic Publishing, Conference Coverage with Social Media, Scientific & Biotech Conferences: Press Coverage on January 13, 2015| Leave a Comment »
MassBio 2015 Annual Meeting, March 26-27, 2015, Royal Sonesta Hotel, Cambridge, MA
Reporter: Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN
http://www.massbio.org/events/calendar/3000-massbio_annual_meeting_2015/event_detail
|
AGENDA
MassBio Annual Meeting 2015
Thursday, March 26
8:00 am – 9:00 am Breakfast and Registration
9:00 am – 9:30 am Welcome Remarks & MassBio Board Elections
- Jay Ash, Secretary of Housing and Economic Development, Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
9:30 am – 10:15 am Keynote: Kathy Guisti, Founder & Executive Chairman of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation
10:15 am – 10:30 am Coffee Break
10:30 am – 11:30 am Breakout sessions
Better Business Track: It’s Not Your Grandfather’s Manufacturing
- Geoff Hodge, Leader, Fast Trak Solutions, GE Healthcare Life Sciences
- Ralph Lambalot, Vice President, Biologics Development, AbbVie
- David Smith, Head, Cell Therapy Manufacturing, Lonza
- Bayan Takizawa, Co-Founder & Chief Business Officer, Continuus Pharma
Trends in Science Track: From Bioterrorism to Superorganisms: Perils, Pitfalls, and Promise
- Chris Garabedian, President & CEO, Sarepta
- Steve Gilman
- David Lubner, CFO, Tetraphase
11:45 am – 1:30 pm The MassBio Annual Awards Luncheon
- Henri A. Termeer Innovative Leadership Award – Presented to Mark Levin, Partner, Third Rock Ventures
- Joshua Boger Innovative School of the Year Award
- Leading Impact Award
1:30 pm – 2:20 pm Precision Medicine: Who’s Paying?
- David Altshuler, Executive Vice President of Global Research and Chief Scientific Officer, Vertex
- Walter Carney, Chief Scientific Officer, Nuclea Diagnostics
- Sue Hagar, VP Communications and Government Affairs, Foundation Medicine
2:25 pm – 3:15 pm Breakout sessions
Better Business Track: Externalizing Pharma R&D
- Thomas Luby, Senior Director of New Ventures , Johnson & Johnson
- John Orloff, Global Head of Research and Development, Baxter
Trends in Science Track: Trends in Healthcare Technology
- Zen Chu, Managing Director of Accelerated Medical Ventures, MIT
3:15 pm – 3:30 pm Coffee break
3:30 pm – 4:20 pm Breakout sessions
Better Business Track: Technology Transfer: Status Quo, Evolution, or Revolution?
- Zafrira Avnur, Global Head Academic Innovation, Roche
- Chris Coburn, Vice President, Innovation, Partners HealthCare
- Erik Halvorson, Senior Director, Technology Transfer & Industry Collaborations, Tufts University
Trends in Science Track: Immunotherapy: Oncology and Beyond
- Mani Mohindru, Vice President of Oncology Strategy, Curis, Inc.
- Anna Protopapas, President & CEO, Mersana
- Phil Vanik, General Manager for Cell Therapy Technologies, GE Life Sciences
- Leslie Williams, President & CEO, ImmusanT, Inc.
4:20 – 6:30 pm Networking Reception
Friday, March 27
8:00 am – 8:40 am Breakfast
8:40 am – 9:30 am Breakout sessions
Better Business Track: Innovative Ways to Fund Your Early Stage Company
Panelists:
- Navroze Alphonse, Managing Member, Crossover Capital Management LLC
- Ellen Baron, Managing Director, Healthios
- Walter Capone, President & CEO, MMRF
- Yuval Cohen, CEO, Corbus Pharmaceuticals
- Rick Jones, Broadview Ventures
- William Whelan, Co-Chair, Life Sciences Practice, Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, PC
Trends in Science Track: Current and Future Impact of Editing, CART and Gene Therapy
- Nessan Bermingham, CEO, Intellia Therapeutics
- Kevin Bitterman, Partner, Polaris
- Katrine Bosley, CEO, Editas Medicine
- Nick Leschly, chief bluebird, bluebird bio
9:40 am – 10:30 am Breakout sessions
Better Business Track: The Evolving Reimbursement Landscape
- Steve Miller, Senior Vice President & Chief Medical Officer, Express Scripts
- Lowell Schnipper, Chief, Division of Hematology and Oncology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Trends in Science Track: Neuroscience Therapeutics Development: Challenges, Opportunities and the Road Ahead
- Richard Mohs, Vice President for Neuroscience Clinical Development, Eli Lilly
- Rajesh Ranganathan, Director, Office of Translational Research, National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health
- Jonathan Solomon, President & CEO, NeuroPhage Pharmaceuticals
- Rudolph Tanzi, Vice-Chair, Neurology; Director, Genetics and Aging Research Unit, Harvard Medical School
10:30 am – 11:00 am Coffee Break
11:00 am – 12:00 pm Defining Value
- Sarah Emond, COO, lnstitute for Clinical and Economic Review
- Chris Hansen, President, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, Inc.
- William Sibold, Senior Vice President, Head of Multiple Sclerosis, Genzyme
12:00 pm – 12:45pm Buffet Lunch
12:45 pm – 1:30 pm Keynote: Andrew Lo, Charles E. and Susan T. Harris Professor and Director of the MIT Laboratory for Financial Engineering
1:30 pm – 2:00 pm Dessert Buffet & Networking Reception
SOURCE
http://www.massbio.org/events/calendar/3000-massbio_annual_meeting_2015/event_detail/627
ANNOUNCEMENT
LEADERS IN PHARMACEUTICAL BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE will cover the
MassBio 2015 Annual Meeting, March 26-27, 2015, Royal Sonesta Hotel, Cambridge, MA
event for the Scientific and Business Press. Dr. Lev-Ari will be in attendance on 3/26/2015 and 3/27/2015
Venture Overview Updated in New Company Page on LinkedIn:Leaders in Pharmaceutical Business Intelligence
University of California Santa Cruz’s Genomics Institute will create a Map of Human Genetic Variations
Posted in Genetics & Pharmaceutical, Genome Biology on January 13, 2015| Leave a Comment »
University of California Santa Cruz’s Genomics Institute will create a Map of Human Genetic Variations
Reporter: Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN
UCSC Receives $1M Grant from Simons Foundation to Create Human Genetic Variation Map
Jan 13, 2015 | a GenomeWeb staff reporter
NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Researchers at the University of California Santa Cruz’s Genomics Institute have received a grant for up to $1 million from the Simons Foundation that will support a one-year pilot project to create a comprehensive map of human genetic variation for biomedical research.
Co-leading the project is David Haussler, a professor of biomolecular engineering and director of the Genomics Institute at UC Santa Cruz, and Benedict Paten, a research scientist at the Genomics Institute.
They’ll work with scientists at the Broad Institute, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, UC San Francisco, Oxford University, the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, and the European Bioinformatics Institute to develop algorithms and formulate the best mathematical approaches for constructing a new graph-based human reference genome structure that will better account for and reflect the different kinds of variation that occur across populations. They’ll test algorithms developed as part of the project on tricky parts of the genome within the first six months of the pilot, Paten said in a statement.
The researchers will use a dataset of more than 300 complete and ethnically diverse human genomes sequenced by researchers at the Broad Institute to construct the reference structure and they’ll also leverage work done to create a standard data model for the structure by members of the reference variation task team, a subgroup of the data working arm of the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health that Paten co-leads.
The project aims to overcome the limitations of the current model for analyzing human genomic data, which relies on mapping newly sequenced data to a single set of arbitrarily chosen reference sequences resulting in biases and mapping ambiguities. “One exemplary human genome cannot represent humanity as a whole, and the scientific community has not been able to agree on a single precise method to refer to and represent human genome variants,” Haussler said in a statement. “There is a great deal we still don’t know about human genetic variation because of these problems.”
Paten added that the proliferation of different genomic databases within the biomedical research community has resulted in hundreds of specialized coordinate systems and nomenclatures for describing human genetic variation. This poses problems for tools such as the widely used UCSC Genome Browser which was developed and is maintained by UCSC researchers. “For now, all our browser staff can do is to serve the data from these disparate sources in their native, mutually incompatible formats,” Paten said in a statement. “This lack of comprehensive integration, coupled with the over-simplicity of the reference model, seriously impedes progress in the science of genomics and its use in medicine.”
The diversity of genomes in the Broad’s dataset, Paten continued, offers a rich data resource that will be used “to define a comprehensive reference genome structure that can be truly representative of human variation.” The plan is eventually to expand the graph-structure to include many more genomes, he said.
The researchers expect to have a draft variation map available by the end of the year. Paten and Haussler have also outlined the follow-up activities needed to extend the pilot project and fully realize their vision for the new map.
The new map will make it easier to detect and analyze both simple and complex variants that contribute to conditions with a genetic component such as autism and diabetes. It will also be a valuable tool for understanding recent human evolution, according to the researchers.
SOURCE
In Boston, Medical Devices Summit From Vision to Reality – The Future of Biotechnology February 19-20, 2015 Marriott Long Wharf Boston, MA
Posted in Medical Devices R&D Investment, Medical Imaging Technology on January 13, 2015| Leave a Comment »
In Boston, Medical Devices Summit From Vision to Reality – The Future of Biotechnology February 19-20, 2015 Marriott Long Wharf Boston, MA
Reporter: Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN
The 2015 conference is open for pre-registration & sponsorship!
With the current volatility of the health care industry, many medical device manufacturers are plagued with questions and concerns about their products. Opal Events’ 6th Annual Medical Devices Summit strives to bring together industry and regulatory professionals from across the country to address key issues in compliance, quality and innovation. Medical device manufacturers are tasked with staying on top of regulatory updiates, competitive designs and new opportunities- and can find them all in one place at this celebrated event! And to ensure that we have a diverse group of industry professionals ready to engage in thought-provoking discussion- we offer complimentary registration for many Medical Device OEM employees!
The conference is bringing together industry professionals and thought leaders to discuss some of the most pressing issues in the device industry today, including:
- Reimbursement and Return: Getting a Bang for Your Buck
- Combination Devices – what is the industry doing to meet the requirements?
- Interactions with the FDA
- Big in Japan
- Understanding and Implementing Unique Device Identification (UDI)
- Human Factors Engineering and Usability
- Mobile Device Innovation
- Security in Medical Devices
- Requirements for effective design control
- Healthcare informatics – database analytics
Join 400+ Medical Device industry professionals for panels, presentations, workshop and tons of networking opportunities with the industry’s best!
Attend high level workshops hosted by industry service providers and learn about the latest solutions and industry developments.
Opal Events’ Medical Devices Summits have grown by leaps and bounds since their launch, and are now held in Boston, San Diego and Minnesota!
SOURCE
https://www.opalevents.org/medical-devices-summit?productid=62#.VLV8KRy7Rwh
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