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Tag Archives: Technion-Israel Institute of Technology
Israeli startup (Nanomedic) and a 'ray' gun that shoots wound-healing skin
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Where I see a 'ray' gun, Rina Raphael, author of a July 6, 2019 article for Fast tCompany, sees a water pistol (Note: Links have been removed),
Imagine if bandaging looked a little more like, well, a water gun?
Israeli startup Nanomedic Technologies Ltd., a subsidiary of medical device company Nicast, has invented a new mechanical contraption to treat burns, wounds, and surgical injuries by mimicking human tissue. Shaped like a children's toy, the lightweight SpinCare emits a proprietary nanofiber "second skin" that completely covers the area that needs to heal.
All one needs to do is aim, squeeze the two triggers, and fire off an electrospun polymer material that attaches to the skin.
The Nanomedic spray method avoids any need to come into direct contact with the wound. In that sense, it completely sidesteps painful routine bandage dressings. The transient skin then fully develops into a secure physical barrier with tough adherence. Once new skin is regenerated, usually between two to three weeks (depending on the individual's heal time), the layer naturally peels off.
"You don't replace it," explains Nanomedic CEO Dr. Chen Barak. "You put it only once—on the day of application—and it remains there until it feels the new layer of skin healed."
"It's the same model as an espresso machine," says Barak.
The SpinCare holds single-use ampoules containing Nanomedic's polymer formulation. Once the capsule is firmly in place, one activates the device roughly eight inches towards the wound. Pressing the trigger activates the electron-spinning process, which sprays a web-like a layer of nano fibers directly on the wound.
The solution adjusts to the morphology of the wound, thereby creating a transient skin layer that imitates the skin structure's human tissue. It's a transparent, protective film that then allows the patient and doctor to monitor progress. Once the wound has healed and developed a new layer of skin, the SpinCare "bandage" falls off on its own.
The product is already being tested in hospitals. In the coming year, following FDA clearance, Nanomedic plans to expand to emergency rooms, ambulances, military use, and disaster relief response like fire truck companies. The global wound healing market is expected to hit $35 billion by 2025, according to a report by Transparency Market Research.
Nanomedic joins other researchers attempting to reimagine the wound healing process. Engineers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, for example, created a new kind of protective bandage that sends a mild electrical stimulation, thereby "dramatically" reducing the time deep surgical wounds take to heal.
As for the the playful (yet functional) design, it resembles other medical tools utilizing the point-and-shoot feature. Researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and Boston Children's Hospital recently revealed a "hot-glue gun" that melds torn human tissues together. The medical glue is meant to replace painful and often scarring stitches and staples.
Down the line, Nanomedic plans to enter the in-home care market, where it believes it can better assist caretakers for treatment of chronic wounds, such as pressure ulcers. The chronic wounds segment is projected to hold the dominant share in the wound healing market due to aging populations.
But a bigger opportunity lies in the multiple uses the SpinCare can ultimately provide. It is, in essence, a platform technology that could benefit multiple categories, not just medical wound care. Currently, the SpinCare's capsules do not contain any active ingredients.
Nanomedic is already researching how to add different additives, such as antibacterial compliments, collagen, silicone, cannabinoids—and, eventually, stem cells and cellular treatments.
Such advancements would propel the device to new markets, like plastic surgery, aesthetics, and dermatology. The latter, for example, spans "burns" caused by deep, cosmetic laser peels.
"Because it is a solution, we can combine additives inside," explains Katz. "By that, we are transforming the transient skin into a drug delivery system and slow release system."
Nanomedic is still at the premarket phase, [emphasis mine] having concluded one clinical trial related to the treatment of split graft donor site wounds and currently engaged in two ongoing burn studies. Barak anticipates FDA approval will take between nine to 12 months, during which the company will focus on building manufacturing lines and preparing for a European launch in early 2020.
According to the startup's estimates, the product's final price (not yet determined) will be far more affordable than traditional dressings. Nanomedic has raised $7 million in funding to date, including a grant by the EU's Horizon 2020 SME Instrument program.
Barak believes Nanocare [sic] brings a highly cost-effective alternative to the healthcare system, but more than anything, she's proud that SpinCare, above all else, mitigates patient pain and hassle. Some users, the company reports, are able to return to work and physical activity right away.
The Nanomedic website can be found here. The company has also produced a video featuring SpinCare,
There's a bit more about the technology (I'm especially interested in the electrospinning) on Nanomedic's Technology webpage,
Electrospinning technology allows the development of a wide range of products and devices, with tailored composition, geometry and morphology.
Almost any natural or synthetic polymer can be electrospun to create a nanofibrous mat. The intrinsic structure of the electrospun products, which mimics the natural extra cellular matrix (ECM), encourages quick and efficient tissue integration and minimizes medical complications.
Raphael's article and the Nanomedic website offer more detail to what you can see in the excerpts provided here. If you have the time, I recommend checking out both.
This entry was posted in medicine, nanotechnology and tagged Boston Children's Hospital, Chen Barak, electrospinning, extracellullar matrix (ECM), Israel, Nanomedic Technologies, Nicast, Rina Raphael, SpinCare, Technion, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, wound healing market, wound healing polymer on October 31, 2019 by Maryse de la Giroday.
Therapeutic nanoparticles for agricultural crops
Nanoscale drug delivery systems developed by the biomedical community may prove useful to farmers. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) featured the story in a May 26, 2018 online news item (with audio file; Note: A link has been removed),
Thanks to a fortuitous conversation between an Israeli chemical engineer who works on medical nanotechnology and his farmer friend, there's a new way to deliver nourishment to nutrient-starved crops.
Avi Schroeder, the chemical engineer and cancer researcher from Technion — Israel Institute of Technology asked his friend what are the major problems facing agriculture today. "He said, 'You know Avi, one of the major issues we're facing is that in some of the crops we try to grow, we actually have a lack of nutrients. And then we end up not growing those crops even though they're very valuable or very important crops.'"
This problem is only going to become more acute in many regions of the world as global population approaches eight billion people.
"Feeding them with healthy food and nutritious food is becoming a major limiting factor. And … the land we can actually grow crops on are also becoming smaller and smaller in every country because people need to build houses too. So what we want is to get actually more crops per hectare."
The way farmers currently deliver nutrients to malnourished agricultural crops is very inefficient. Much of what is added to the leaves of the plant is wasted. Most of it washes away or isn't taken up by the plants.
If plants don't get the nutrients they need, their leaves start to yellow, their growth becomes stunted and they don't produce as much food as nutrient-rich crops.
"We work primarily in the field of medicine," says Schroeder. "What we do many times is we'll load minuscule doses of medicine into nanoparticles — we'll inject them into the patient. And those nanoparticles will actually be able to detect the disease site inside the body. That sounded very, very similar to the problem the farmers were actually facing — how do you get a medicine into a crop or a nutrient into a crop and get it to the right region within the crop where it's actually necessary."
The nanoparticles Schroeder developed are tiny packages that can deliver nutrients — any nutrients — that are placed inside.
A June 6, 2018 news item on Nanowerk offers a few more details,
An innovative technology developed at the Technion [Israel Institute of Technology] could lead to significant increases in agricultural yields. Using a nanometric transport platform on plants that was previously utilized for targeted drug delivery, researchers increased the penetration rate of nutrients into the plants, from 1% to approximately 33%.
A May 27,2018 Technion press release, which originated the news item, fleshes out the details,
The technology exploits nanoscale delivery platforms which until now were used to transport drugs to specific targets in the patient's body. The work was published in Scientific Reports and will be presented in Nature Press.
The use of the nanotechnology for targeted drug delivery has been the focus of research activity conducted at the Laboratory for Targeted Drug Delivery and Personalized Medicine Technologies at the Wolfson Faculty of Chemical Engineering. The present research repurposes this technology for agricultural use; and is being pursued by laboratory director Prof. Avi Schroeder and graduate student Avishai Karny.
"The constant growth in the world population demands more efficient agricultural technologies, which will produce greater supplies of healthier foods and reduce environmental damage," said Prof. Schroeder. "The present work provides a new means of delivering essential nutrients without harming the environment."
The researchers loaded the nutrients into liposomes which are small spheres generated in the laboratory, comprised of a fatty outer layer enveloping the required nutrients. The particles are stable in the plant's aqueous environment and can penetrate the cells. In addition, the Technion researchers can 'program' them to disintegrate and release the load at precisely the location and time of interest, namely, in the roots and leaves. Disintegration occurs in acidic environments or in response to an external signal, such as light waves or heat. The molecules comprising the particles are derived from soy plants and are therefore approved and safe for consumption by both humans and animals.
In the present experiment, the researchers used 100-nanometer liposomes to deliver the nutrients iron and magnesium into both young and adult tomato crops. They demonstrated that the liposomes, which were sprayed in the form of a solution onto the leaves, penetrated the leaves and reached other leaves and roots. Only when reaching the root cells did they disintegrate and release the nutrients. As said, the technology greatly increased the nutrient penetration rate.
In addition to demonstrating the effectivity of this approach as compared to the standard spray method, the researchers also assessed the regulatory limitations associated with the spread of volatile particles.
"Our engineered liposomes are only stable within a short spraying range of up to 2 meters," explained Prof. Schroeder. "If they travel in the air beyond that distance, they break down into safe materials (phospholipids). We hope that the success of this study will expand the research and development of similar agricultural products, to increase the yield and quality of food crops."
This is an illustration of the work,
Each liposome (light blue bubble) was loaded with iron and magnesium particles. The liposomes sprayed on the leaves, penetrated and then spread throughout the various parts of the plant and released their load within the cells. Courtesy: Technion
Here's a link to and a citation for the paper,
Therapeutic nanoparticles penetrate leaves and deliver nutrients to agricultural crops by Avishai Karny, Assaf Zinger, Ashima Kajal, Janna Shainsky-Roitman, & Avi Schroeder. Scientific Reportsvolume 8, Article number: 7589 (2018) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-25197-y Published 17 May 2018
This paper is open access.
This entry was posted in agriculture, medicine, nanotechnology and tagged Ashima Kajal, Assaf Zinger, Avi Schroeder, Avishai Karny, deliver nutrients, Israel, Janna Shainsky-Roitman, liposomes, malnourished agricultural crops, nanometric transport platform, nanoparticles, nutrient-starved crops, phospholipids, targeted drug delivery, Technion, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Therapeutic nanoparticles penetrate leaves and deliver nutrients to agricultural crops on December 6, 2018 by Maryse de la Giroday.
Extinction of Experience (EOE)
'Extinction of experience' is a bit of an attention getter isn't it? Well, it worked for me when I first saw it and it seems particularly apt after putting together my August 9, 2018 posting about the 2018 SIGGRAPH conference, in particular, the 'Previews' where I featured a synthetic sound project. Here's a little more about EOE from a July 3, 2018 news item on phys.org,
Opportunities for people to interact with nature have declined over the past century, as most people now live in urban areas and spend much of their time indoors. And while adults are not only experiencing nature less, they are also less likely to take their children outdoors and shape their attitudes toward nature, creating a negative cycle. In 1978, ecologist Robert Pyle coined the phrase "extinction of experience" (EOE) to describe this alienation from nature, and argued that this process is one of the greatest causes of the biodiversity crisis. Four decades later, the question arises: How can we break the cycle and begin to reverse EOE?
A July 3, 2018 North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences news release, which originated the news item, delves further,
In citizen science programs, people participate in real research, helping scientists conduct studies on local, regional and even global scales. In a study released today, researchers from the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, North Carolina State University, Rutgers University, and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology propose nature-based citizen science as a means to reconnect people to nature. For people to take the next step and develop a desire to preserve nature, they need to not only go outdoors or learn about nature, but to develop emotional connections to and empathy for nature. Because citizen science programs usually involve data collection, they encourage participants to search for, observe and investigate natural elements around them. According to co-author Caren Cooper, assistant head of the Biodiversity Lab at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences, "Nature-based citizen science provides a structure and purpose that might help people notice nature around them and appreciate it in their daily lives."
To search for evidence of these patterns across programs and the ability of citizen science to reach non-scientific audiences, the researchers studied the participants of citizen science programs. They reviewed 975 papers, analyzed results from studies that included participants' motivations and/or outcomes in nature-oriented programs, and found that nature-based citizen science fosters cognitive and emotional aspects of experiences in nature, giving it the potential to reverse EOE.
The eMammal citizen science programs offer children opportunities to use technology to observe nature in new ways. Photo: Matt Zeher.
The N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences' Stephanie Schuttler, lead author on the study and scientist on the eMammal citizen science camera trapping program, saw anecdotal evidence of this reversal through her work incorporating camera trap research into K-12 classrooms. "Teachers would tell me how excited and surprised students were about the wildlife in their school yards," Schuttler says. "They had no idea their campus flourished with coyotes, foxes and deer." The study Schuttler headed shows citizen science increased participants' knowledge, skills, interest in and curiosity about nature, and even produced positive behavioral changes. For example, one study revealed that participants in the Garden Butterfly Watch program changed gardening practices to make their yards more hospitable to wildlife. Another study found that participants in the Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team program started cleaning up beaches during surveys, even though this was never suggested by the facilitators.
While these results are promising, the EOE study also revealed that this work has only just begun and that most programs do not reach audiences who are not already engaged in science or nature. Only 26 of the 975 papers evaluated participants' motivations and/or outcomes, and only one of these papers studied children, the most important demographic in reversing EOE. "Many studies were full of amazing stories on how citizen science awakened participants to the nature around them, however, most did not study outcomes," Schuttler notes. "To fully evaluate the ability for nature-based citizen science to affect people, we encourage citizen science programs to formally study their participants and not just study the system in question."
Additionally, most citizen science programs attracted or even recruited environmentally mindful participants who likely already spend more time outside than the average person. "If we really want to reconnect people to nature, we need to preach beyond the choir, and attract people who are not already interested in science and/or nature," Schuttler adds. And as co-author Assaf Shwartz of Technion-Israel Institute of Technology asserts, "The best way to avert the extinction of experience is to create meaningful experiences of nature in the places where we all live and work – cities. Participating in citizen science is an excellent way to achieve this goal, as participation can enhance the sense of commitment people have to protect nature."
Luckily, some other factors appear to influence participants' involvement in citizen science. Desire for wellbeing, stewardship and community may provide a gateway for people to participate, an important first step in connecting people to nature. Though nature-based citizen science programs provide opportunities for people to interact with nature, further research on the mechanisms that drive this relationship is needed to strengthen our understanding of various outcomes of citizen science.
And, I because I love dragonflies,
Nature-based citizen science programs, like Dragonfly Pond Watch, offer participants opportunities to observe nature more closely. Credit: Lea Shell.
Bridging the nature gap: can citizen science reverse the extinction of experience? by Stephanie G Schuttler, Amanda E Sorensen, Rebecca C Jordan, Caren Cooper, Assaf Shwartz. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.1826 First published: 03 July 2018
This paper is behind a paywall.
This entry was posted in Citizen Science and tagged 2018 SIGGRAPH, alienation from nature, Amanda E Sorensen, Assaf Shwartz, beaches, biodiversity crisis, Bridging the nature gap: can citizen science reverse the extinction of experience?, Caren Cooper, Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team program, coyotes, deer, eMammal citizen science camera trapping program, eMammal citizen science programs, experiencing nature less, extinction of experience (EOE), foxes, Garden Butterfly Watch program, Israel, Matt Zeher, Nature, nature-based citizen science, North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, North Carolina State University, Rebecca C Jordan, Robert Pyle, Rutgers University, Stephanie G Schuttler, Stephanie Schuttler, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, urban areas, US on August 10, 2018 by Maryse de la Giroday.
Sniffing out disease (Na-Nose)
The 'artificial nose' is not a newcomer to this blog. The most recent post prior to this is a March 15, 2016 piece about Disney using an artificial nose for art conservation. Today's (Jan. 9, 2016) piece concerns itself with work from Israel and 'sniffing out' disease, according to a Dec. 30, 2016 news item in Sputnik News,
A team from the Israel Institute of Technology has developed a device that from a single breath can identify diseases such as multiple forms of cancer, Parkinson's disease, and multiple sclerosis. While the machine is still in the experimental stages, it has a high degree of promise for use in non-invasive diagnoses of serious illnesses.
The international team demonstrated that a medical theory first proposed by the Greek physician Hippocrates some 2400 years ago is true, certain diseases leave a "breathprint" on the exhalations of those afflicted. The researchers created a prototype for a machine that can pick up on those diseases using the outgoing breath of a patient. The machine, called the Na-Nose, tests breath samples for the presence of trace amounts of chemicals that are indicative of 17 different illnesses.
A Dec. 22, 2016 Technion Israel Institute of Technology press release offers more detail about the work,
An international team of 56 researchers in five countries has confirmed a hypothesis first proposed by the ancient Greeks – that different diseases are characterized by different "chemical signatures" identifiable in breath samples. …
Diagnostic techniques based on breath samples have been demonstrated in the past, but until now, there has not been scientific proof of the hypothesis that different and unrelated diseases are characterized by distinct chemical breath signatures. And technologies developed to date for this type of diagnosis have been limited to detecting a small number of clinical disorders, without differentiation between unrelated diseases.
The study of more than 1,400 patients included 17 different and unrelated diseases: lung cancer, colorectal cancer, head and neck cancer, ovarian cancer, bladder cancer, prostate cancer, kidney cancer, stomach cancer, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, Parkinson's disease (two types), multiple sclerosis, pulmonary hypertension, preeclampsia and chronic kidney disease. Samples were collected between January 2011 and June 2014 from in 14 departments at 9 medical centers in 5 countries: Israel, France, the USA, Latvia and China.
The researchers tested the chemical composition of the breath samples using an accepted analytical method (mass spectrometry), which enabled accurate quantitative detection of the chemical compounds they contained. 13 chemical components were identified, in different compositions, in all 17 of the diseases.
According to Prof. Haick, "each of these diseases is characterized by a unique fingerprint, meaning a different composition of these 13 chemical components. Just as each of us has a unique fingerprint that distinguishes us from others, each disease has a chemical signature that distinguishes it from other diseases and from a normal state of health. These odor signatures are what enables us to identify the diseases using the technology that we developed."
With a new technology called "artificially intelligent nanoarray," developed by Prof. Haick, the researchers were able to corroborate the clinical efficacy of the diagnostic technology. The array enables fast and inexpensive diagnosis and classification of diseases, based on "smelling" the patient's breath, and using artificial intelligence to analyze the data obtained from the sensors. Some of the sensors are based on layers of gold nanoscale particles and others contain a random network of carbon nanotubes coated with an organic layer for sensing and identification purposes.
The study also assessed the efficiency of the artificially intelligent nanoarray in detecting and classifying various diseases using breath signatures. To verify the reliability of the system, the team also examined the effect of various factors (such as gender, age, smoking habits and geographic location) on the sample composition, and found their effect to be negligible, and without impairment on the array's sensitivity.
"Each of the sensors responds to a wide range of exhalation components," explain Prof. Haick and his previous Ph.D student, Dr. Morad Nakhleh, "and integration of the information provides detailed data about the unique breath signatures characteristic of the various diseases. Our system has detected and classified various diseases with an average accuracy of 86%.
This is a new and promising direction for diagnosis and classification of diseases, which is characterized not only by considerable accuracy but also by low cost, low electricity consumption, miniaturization, comfort and the possibility of repeating the test easily."
"Breath is an excellent raw material for diagnosis," said Prof. Haick. "It is available without the need for invasive and unpleasant procedures, it's not dangerous, and you can sample it again and again if necessary."
Here's a schematic of the study, which the researchers have made available,
Diagram: A schematic view of the study. Two breath samples were taken from each subject, one was sent for chemical mapping using mass spectrometry, and the other was analyzed in the new system, which produced a clinical diagnosis based on the chemical fingerprint of the breath sample. Courtesy: Tech;nion
There is also a video, which covers much of the same ground as the press release but also includes information about the possible use of the Na-Nose technology in the European Union's SniffPhone project,
Diagnosis and Classification of 17 Diseases from 1404 Subjects via Pattern Analysis of Exhaled Molecules by Morad K. Nakhleh, Haitham Amal, Raneen Jeries, Yoav Y. Broza, Manal Aboud, Alaa Gharra, Hodaya Ivgi, Salam Khatib, Shifaa Badarneh, Lior Har-Shai, Lea Glass-Marmor, Izabella Lejbkowicz, Ariel Miller, Samih Badarny, Raz Winer, John Finberg, Sylvia Cohen-Kaminsky, Frédéric Perros, David Montani, Barbara Girerd, Gilles Garcia, Gérald Simonneau, Farid Nakhoul, Shira Baram, Raed Salim, Marwan Hakim, Maayan Gruber, Ohad Ronen, Tal Marshak, Ilana Doweck, Ofer Nativ, Zaher Bahouth, Da-you Shi, Wei Zhang, Qing-ling Hua, Yue-yin Pan, Li Tao, Hu Liu, Amir Karban, Eduard Koifman, Tova Rainis, Roberts Skapars, Armands Sivins, Guntis Ancans, Inta Liepniece-Karele, Ilze Kikuste, Ieva Lasina, Ivars Tolmanis, Douglas Johnson, Stuart Z. Millstone, Jennifer Fulton, John W. Wells, Larry H. Wilf, Marc Humbert, Marcis Leja, Nir Peled, and Hossam Haick. ACS Nano, Article ASAP DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.6b04930 Publication Date (Web): December 21, 2016
Copyright © 2017 American Chemical Society
This paper appears to be open access.
As for SniffPhone, they're hoping that Na-Nose or something like it will allow them to modify smartphones in a way that will allow diseases to be detected.
I can't help wondering who will own the data if your smartphone detects a disease. If you think that's an idle question, here's an excerpt from Sue Halpern's Dec. 22, 2016 review of two books ("Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy" by Cathy O'Neil and "Virtual Competition: The Promise and Perils of the Algorithm-Driven Economy" by Ariel Ezrachi and Maurice E. Stucke) for the New York Times Review of Books,
We give our data away. We give it away in drips and drops, not thinking that data brokers will collect it and sell it, let alone that it will be used against us. There are now private, unregulated DNA databases culled, in part, from DNA samples people supply to genealogical websites in pursuit of their ancestry. These samples are available online to be compared with crime scene DNA without a warrant or court order. (Police are also amassing their own DNA databases by swabbing cheeks during routine stops.) In the estimation of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, this will make it more likely that people will be implicated in crimes they did not commit.
Or consider the data from fitness trackers, like Fitbit. As reported in The Intercept:
During a 2013 FTC panel on "Connected Health and Fitness," University of Colorado law professor Scott Peppet said, "I can paint an incredibly detailed and rich picture of who you are based on your Fitbit data," adding, "That data is so high quality that I can do things like price insurance premiums or I could probably evaluate your credit score incredibly accurately."
Halpern's piece is well worth reading in its entirety.
This entry was posted in medicine, nanotechnology and tagged Alaa Gharra, Amir Karban, Ariel Ezrachi, Ariel Miller, Armands Sivins, artificial nose, artificially intelligent nanoarray, Barbara Girerd, bladder cancer, breath samples, breathprint, cancer, carbon nanotubes, Cathy O'Neil, China, CNTs, colorectal cancer, Crohn's disease, Da-you Shi, David Montani, Diagnosis and Classification of 17 Diseases from 1404 Subjects via Pattern Analysis of Exhaled Molecules, diagnostic techniques, Douglas Johnson, Eduard Koifman, Farid Nakhoul, France, Frédéric Perros, Gérald Simonneau, Gilles Garcia, gold nanoparticles, Guntis Ancans, Haitham Amal, head and neck cancer, Hippocrates, Hodaya Ivgi, Hossam Haick., Hu Liu, Ieva Lasina, Ilana Doweck, Ilze Kikuste, Inta Liepniece-Karele, irritable bowel syndrome, Israel, Ivars Tolmanis, Izabella Lejbkowicz, Jennifer Fulton, John Finberg, John W. Wells, kidney cancer, kidney disease, Larry H. Wilf, Latvia, Lea Glass-Marmor, Li Tao, Lior Har-Shai, lung cancer, Maayan Gruber, Manal Aboud, Marc Humbert, Marcis Leja, Marwan Hakim, Maurice E. Stucke, Morad K. Nakhleh, Morad Nakhleh, multiple sclerosis, Na-Nose, Nir Peled, Ofer Nativ, Ohad Ronen, ovarian cancer, Parkinson's Disease, preeclampsia, prostate cancer, pulmonary hypertension, Qing-ling Hua, Raed Salim, Raneen Jeries, Raz Winer, Roberts Skapars, Salam Khatib, Samih Badarny, Shifaa Badarneh, Shira Baram, stomach cancer, Stuart Z. Millstone, Sylvia Cohen-Kaminsky, Tal Marshak, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Tova Rainis, ulcerative colitis, USA, Virtual Competition: The Promise and Perils of the Algorithm-Driven Economy, Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy, Wei Zhang, Yoav Y. Broza, Yue-yin Pan, Zaher Bahouth on January 9, 2017 by Maryse de la Giroday.
Achieving ultra-low friction without oil
Oiled gears as small parts of large mechanism Courtesy: Georgia Institute of Technology
Those gears are gorgeous, especially in full size; I will be giving a link to a full size version in a bit. Meanwhile, an Oct. 11, 2016 news item on Nanowerk makes an announcement about ultra-low friction without oil,
Researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology [Georgia Tech; US] have developed a new process for treating metal surfaces that has the potential to improve efficiency in piston engines and a range of other equipment.
The method improves the ability of metal surfaces to bond with oil, significantly reducing friction without special oil additives.
"About 50 percent of the mechanical energy losses in an internal combustion engine result from piston assembly friction. So if we can reduce the friction, we can save energy and reduce fuel and oil consumption," said Michael Varenberg, an assistant professor in Georgia Tech's George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering.
An Oct. 5, 2016 Georgia Tech news release (also on EurekAlert but dated Oct. 11, 2016), which originated the news item, describes the research in more detail,
In the study, which was published Oct. 5 [2016] in the journal Tribology Letters, the researchers at Georgia Tech and Technion – Israel Institute of Technology tested treating the surface of cast iron blocks by blasting it with mixture of copper sulfide and aluminum oxide. The shot peening modified the surface chemically that changed how oil molecules bonded with the metal and led to a superior surface lubricity.
"We want oil molecules to be connected strongly to the surface. Traditionally this connection is created by putting additives in the oil," Varenberg said. "In this specific case, we shot peen the surface with a blend of alumina and copper sulfide particles. Making the surface more active chemically by deforming it allows for replacement reaction to form iron sulfide on top of the iron. And iron sulfides are known for very strong bonds with oil molecules."
Oil is the primary tool used to reduce the friction that occurs when two surfaces slide in contact. The new surface treatment results in an ultra-low friction coefficient of about 0.01 in a base oil environment, which is about 10 times less than a friction coefficient obtained on a reference untreated surface, the researchers reported.
"The reported result surpasses the performance of the best current commercial oils and is similar to the performance of lubricants formulated with tungsten disulfide-based nanoparticles, but critically, our process does not use any expensive nanostructured media," Varenberg said.
The method for reducing surface friction is flexible and similar results can be achieved using a variety of processes other than shot peening, such as lapping, honing, burnishing, laser shock peening, the researchers suggest. That would make the process even easier to adapt to a range of uses and industries. The researchers plan to continue to examine that fundamental functional principles and physicochemical mechanisms that caused the treatment to be so successful.
"This straightforward, scalable pathway to ultra-low friction opens new horizons for surface engineering, and it could significantly reduce energy losses on an industrial scale," Varenberg said. "Moreover, our finding may result in a paradigm shift in the art of lubrication and initiate a whole new direction in surface science and engineering due to the generality of the idea and a broad range of potential applications."
Mechano-Chemical Surface Modification with Cu2S: Inducing Superior Lubricity by Michael Varenberg, Grigory Ryk, Alexander Yakhnis, Yuri Kligerman, Neha Kondekar, & Matthew T. McDowell. Tribol Lett (2016) 64: 28. doi:10.1007/s11249-016-0758-8 First online: Oct. 5, 2016
This entry was posted in coatings, nanotechnology and tagged Alexander Yakhnis, automotive industry, burnishing, Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia Tech, Grigory Ryk, honing, lapping, laser shock peening, lubricity, Matthew T. McDowell, Mechano-Chemical Surface Modification with Cu2S: Inducing Superior Lubricity, Michael Varenberg, Neha Kondekar, piston engines, shot peening, surface friction, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, tungsten disulfide-based nanoparticles, ultra-low friction, US, Yuri Kligerman on November 8, 2016 by Maryse de la Giroday.
Nanotechnology delivery system for skin disease therapies
A Feb. 29, 2016 news item on ScienceDaily announces a new development concerning free radicals that may be helpful with skin diseases and pathologies,
Researchers at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem have developed a nanotechnology-based delivery system containing a protective cellular pathway inducer that activates the body's natural defense against free radicals efficiently, a development that could control a variety of skin pathologies and disorders.
A Feb. 29, 2016 Hebrew University of Jerusalem press release on EurekAlert, which originated the news item, expands on the theme,
The human skin is constantly exposed to various pollutants, UV rays, radiation and other stressors that exist in our day-to-day environment. When they filter into the body they can create Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) – oxygen molecules known as Free Radicals, which are able to damage and destroy cells, including lipids, proteins and DNA.
In the skin – the largest organ of the body – an excess of ROS can lead to various skin conditions, including inflammatory diseases, pigmenting disorders, wrinkles and some types of skin cancer, and can also affect internal organs. This damage is known as Oxidative Stress.
The body is naturally equipped with defense mechanisms to counter oxidative stress. It has anti-oxidants and, more importantly, anti-oxidant enzymes that attack the ROS before they cause damage.
In a review article published in the journal Cosmetics, a PhD student from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, working in collaboration with researchers at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, suggested an innovative way to invigorate the body to produce antioxidant enzymes, while maintaining skin cell redox balance – a gentle equilibrium between Reactive Oxygen Species and their detoxification.
"The approach of using the body's own defense system is very effective. We showed that activation of the body's defense system with the aid of a unique delivery system is feasible, and may leverage dermal cure," said Hebrew University researcher Maya Ben-Yehuda Greenwald.
Ben-Yehuda Greenwald showed that applying nano-size droplets of microemulsion liquids containing a cellular protective pathway inducer into the skin activates the natural skin defense systems.
"Currently, there are many scientific studies supporting the activation of the body's defense mechanisms. However, none of these studies has demonstrated the use of a nanotechnology-based delivery system to do so," Ben-Yehuda Greenwald said.
Production of antioxidant enzymes in the body is signaled in the DNA by activation of Nrf2 – a powerful protein that exists in every cell in our body. This Nrf2 cellular-protective signaling pathway is a major intersection of many other signaling pathways affecting each other and determining cell functionality and fate. Nrf2 is capable of coordinating the cellular response to internal as well as external stressors by tight regulation of phase-II protective enzymes, such as the antioxidant enzymes.
Ben-Yehuda Greenwald has also discovered a new family of compounds capable of activating the Nrf2 pathway. Moreover, by incorporating them into the unique delivery system she has developed, she managed to efficiently stimulate the activation of the Nrf2 pathway and mimic the activity of the body's' natural way of coping with a variety of stress conditions.
"The formula we have created could be used in topical medication for treating skin conditions. Our formula could be used both as preventive means and for treatment of various skin conditions, such as infections, over-exposure to UV irradiation, inflammatory conditions, and also internal disease," she said.
While the researchers focused on the skin, the formulation could prove to be effective in enhancing the body's natural protection against the damaging effects of ROS in other parts of the body, such as inflammation in cardiovascular diseases, heart attack, cancer, multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's.
Here's an image provided by Ben-Yehuda Greenwald illustrating the team's work,
Caption: These are the consequences of skin exposure to stressors. Credit: Maya Ben-Yehuda Greenwald
Skin Redox Balance Maintenance: The Need for an Nrf2-Activator Delivery System by Maya Ben-Yehuda Greenwald, Shmuel Ben-Sasson, Havazelet Bianco-Peled, and Ron Kohen. Cosmetics 2016, 3(1), 1; doi:10.3390/cosmetics3010001 Published: 15 January 2016
This entry was posted in medicine, nanotechnology and tagged Alzheimer's Disease, cardiovascular diseases, free radicals, Havazelet Bianco-Peled, heart attack, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, inflammatory diseases, Israel, Maya Ben-Yehuda Greenwald, multiple sclerosis, nanotechnology-based delivery system, oxidative stress, pigmenting disorders, reactive oxygen species (ROS), Ron Kohen, Shmuel Ben-Sasson, skin cancers, skin disorders, skin pathologies, Skin Redox Balance Maintenance: The Need for an Nrf2-Activator Delivery System, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, wrinkles on March 4, 2016 by Maryse de la Giroday.
Silicon dioxide nanoparticles may affect the heart
This is an interesting piece of research although it's difficult to draw conclusions since the testing was 'in vitro', which literally means 'in glass' and in practice means testing cells in a test tube, a petri dish or, possibly, on a slide. That said, this work centering on silicon dioxide nanoparticles, which are increasingly used in biomedical applications, suggests further investigation is warranted. From a Jan. 9, 2015 news item on Azonano,
Nanoparticles, extremely tiny particles measured in billionths of a meter, are increasingly everywhere, and especially in biomedical products. Their toxicity has been researched in general terms, but now a team of Israeli scientists has for the first time found that exposure nanoparticles (NPs) of silicon dioxide (SiO2) can play a major role in the development of cardiovascular diseases when the NP cross tissue and cellular barriers and also find their way into the circulatory system.
A Jan. 8, 2015American Technion Society news release by Kevin Hattori, which originated the news item, describes the research in more detail,
"Environmental exposure to nanoparticles is becoming unavoidable due to the rapid expansion of nanotechnology," says the study's lead author, Prof. Michael Aviram, of the Technion Faculty of Medicine, "This exposure may be especially chronic for those employed in research laboratories and in high tech industry where workers handle, manufacture, use and dispose of nanoparticles. Products that use silica-based nanoparticles for biomedical uses, such as various chips, drug or gene delivery and tracking, imaging, ultrasound therapy, and diagnostics, may also pose an increased cardiovascular risk for consumers as well." [emphasis mine]
In this study, researchers exposed cultured laboratory mouse cells resembling the arterial wall cells to NPs of silicon dioxide and investigated the effects. SiO2 NPs are toxic to and have significant adverse effects on macrophages. a type of white blood cell that take up lipids, leading to atherosclerotic lesion development and its consequent cardiovascular events, such as heart attack or stroke. Macrophages accumulation in the arterial wall under atherogenic conditions such as high cholesterol, triglycerides, oxidative stress – are converted into lipids, or laden "foam cells" which, in turn, accelerate atherosclerosis development.
"Macrophage foam cells accumulation in the arterial wall are a key cell type in the development of atherosclerosis, which is an inflammatory disease" says co-author Dr. Lauren Petrick. "The aims of our study were to gain additional insight into the cardiovascular risk associated with silicon dioxide nanoparticle exposure and discover the mechanisms behind Si02's induced atherogenic effects on macrophages. We also wanted to use nanoparticles as a model for ultrafine particle (UFP) exposure as cardiovascular disease risk factors."
Both NPs and UFPs can be inhaled and induce negative biological effects. [emphasis mine] However, until this study, their effect on the development of atherosclerosis has been largely unknown. Here, researchers have discovered for the first time that the toxicity of silicon dioxide nanoparticles has a "significant and substantial effect on the accumulation of triglycerides in the macrophages," at all exposure concentrations analyzed, and that they also "increase oxidative stress and toxicity."
A recent update from the American Heart Association also suggested that "fine particles" in air pollution leads to elevated risk for cardiovascular diseases. However, more research was needed to examine the role of "ultrafine particles" (which are much smaller than "fine particles") on atherosclerosis development and cardiovascular risk.
"The number of nano-based consumer products has risen a thousand fold in recent years, with an estimated world market of $3 trillion by the year 2020," conclude the researchers. "This reality leads to increased human exposure and interaction of silica-based nanoparticles with biological systems. Because our research demonstrates a clear cardiovascular health risk associated with this trend, steps need to be taken to help ensure that potential health and environmental hazards are being addressed at the same time as the nanotechnology is being developed.
Unfortunately, there seems to be a little exaggeration at work in this news release. For example, I'm not sure how a consumer would go about inhaling a computer chip or more specifically the silicon dioxide nanoparticles embedded in the chip although I can see how someone involved in the manufacture of the chip might be exposed and inhale silicon dioxide nanoparticles. I'm not trying to negate the research but do want to point out that it has limitations.
Silicon dioxide nanoparticles increase macrophage atherogenicity: Stimulation of cellular cytotoxicity, oxidative stress, and triglycerides accumulation by Lauren Petrick, Mira Rosenblat, Nicole Paland, and Michael Aviram. Article first published online: 28 NOV 2014 DOI: 10.1002/tox.22084
Copyright © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
This article is behind a paywall.
This entry was posted in nanotechnology, risk and tagged and triglycerides accumulation, atherosclerosis, heart disease, Israel, Lauren Petrick, Michael Aviram, Mira Rosenblat, Nicole Paland, oxidative stress, silicon dioxide nanoparticles, Silicon dioxide nanoparticles increase macrophage atherogenicity: Stimulation of cellular cytotoxicity, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, ultrafine particles on January 13, 2015 by Maryse de la Giroday.
Replacing copper wire in motors?
Finnish researchers at Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT) believe it may be possible to replace copper wire used in motors with spun carbon nanotubes. From an Oct. 15, 2014 news item on Azonano,
Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT) introduces the first electrical motor applying carbon nanotube yarn. The material replaces copper wires in windings. The motor is a step towards lightweight, efficient electric drives. Its output power is 40 W and rotation speed 15000 rpm.
Aiming at upgrading the performance and energy efficiency of electrical machines, higher-conductivity wires are searched for windings. Here, the new technology may revolutionize the industry. The best carbon nanotubes (CNTs) demonstrate conductivities far beyond the best metals; CNT windings may have double the conductivity of copper windings.
"If we keep the design parameters unchanged only replacing copper with carbon nanotube yarns, the Joule losses in windings can be reduced to half of present machine losses. By lighter and more ecological CNT yarn, we can reduce machine dimensions and CO2 emissions in manufacturing and operation. Machines could also be run in higher temperatures," says Professor Pyrhönen [Juha Pyrhönen], leading the prototype design at LUT.
An Oct. ??, 2014 (?) LUT press release, which originated the news item, further describes the work,
Traditionally, the windings in electrical machines are made of copper, which has the second best conductivity of metals at room temperature. Despite the high conductivity of copper, a large proportion of the electrical machine losses occur in the copper windings. For this reason, the Joule losses are often referred to as copper losses. The carbon nanotube yarn does not have a definite upper limit for conductivity (e.g. values of 100 MS/m have already been measured).
According to Pyrhönen, the electrical machines are so ubiquitous in everyday life that we often forget about their presence. In a single-family house alone there can be tens of electrical machines in various household appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines, hair dryers, and ventilators.
"In the industry, the number of electrical motors is enormous: there can be up to tens of thousands of motors in a single process industry unit. All these use copper in the windings. Consequently, finding a more efficient material to replace the copper conductors would lead to major changes in the industry," tells Professor Pyrhönen.
There are big plans for this work according to the press release,
The prototype motor uses carbon nanotube yarns spun and converted into an isolated tape by a Japanese-Dutch company Teijin Aramid, which has developed the spinning technology in collaboration with Rice University, the USA. The industrial applications of the new material are still in their infancy; scaling up the production capacity together with improving the yarn performance will facilitate major steps in the future, believes Business Development Manager Dr. Marcin Otto from Teijin Aramid, agreeing with Professor Pyrhönen.
"There is a significant improvement potential in the electrical machines, but we are now facing the limits of material physics set by traditional winding materials. Superconductivity appears not to develop to such a level that it could, in general, be applied to electrical machines. Carbonic materials, however, seem to have a pole position: We expect that in the future, the conductivity of carbon nanotube yarns could be even three times the practical conductivity of copper in electrical machines. In addition, carbon is abundant while copper needs to be mined or recycled by heavy industrial processes."
The researchers have produced this video about their research,
There's a reference to some work done at Rice University (Texas, US) with Teijin Armid (Japanese-Dutch company) and Technion Institute (Israel) with spinning carbon nanotubes into threads that look like black cotton (you'll see the threads in the video). It's this work that has made the latest research in Finland possible. I have more about the the Rice/Teijin Armid/Technion CNT project in my Jan. 11, 2013 posting, Prima donna of nanomaterials (carbon nanotubes) tamed by scientists at Rice University (Texas, US), Teijin Armid (Dutch/Japanese company), and Technion Institute (based in Israel).
This entry was posted in electronics, energy, nanotechnology and tagged carbon nanotubes, CNTs, Finland, Holland, Israel, Japan, Juha Pyrhönen, Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT), Marcin Otto, Netherlands, Rice University, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Teijin, Teijin Aramid, Texas, US on October 16, 2014 by Maryse de la Giroday.
Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and the University of Waterloo (Canada) together at last
A March 18, 2014 University of Waterloo news release describes a new agreement signed at a joint Technion-Israel Institute of Technology-University of Waterloo conference held in Israel.
"As two of the world's top innovation universities, the University of Waterloo and Technion are natural partners," said Feridun Hamdullahpur, president and vice-chancellor of the University of Waterloo. "This partnership positions both Waterloo and Technion for accelerated progress in the key areas of quantum information science, nanotechnology, and water. [emphasis mine] These disciplines will help to shape the future of communities, industries, and everyday life."
The conference to mark the start of the new partnership, and a reciprocal event in Waterloo planned for later in 2014, is funded by a donation to the University of Waterloo from The Gerald Schwartz & Heather Reisman Foundation.
"The agreement between the University of Waterloo and Technion will lead to joint research projects between Israeli and Canadian scientists in areas crucial for making our world a better place," said Peretz Lavie, president of Technion. "I could not think of a better partner for such projects than the University of Waterloo."
The new partnership agreement will connect students and faculty from both institutions with global markets through technology transfer and commercialization opportunities with industrial partners in Canada and in Israel.
"This partnership between two global innovation leaders puts in place the conditions to support research breakthroughs and new opportunities for commercialization on an international scale," said George Dixon, vice-president of research at Waterloo. "University of Waterloo and Technion have a history of research collaboration going back almost 20 years."
Which one of these items does not fit on the list "quantum information science, nanotechnology, and water?" I pick water. I think they mean water remediation or water desalination or, perhaps, water research.
Given the issues with the lack of potable water in that region the interest in water is eminently understandable. (My Feb. 24, 2014 posting mentions the situation in the Middle East in the context of water desalination research at a new nanotechnology at Oman's Sultan Qaboos University.)
This entry was posted in nanotechnology, water and tagged Canada, Feridun Hamdullahpu, George Dixon, Israel, Peretz Lavie, quantum computing, quantum information science, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo on March 24, 2014 by Maryse de la Giroday.
Electronic skin and its evolution
Michael Berger has featured an article in the journal Advanced Materials, which reviews 25 years of work on e-skin (aka, electronic skin or artificial skin) in his Nov. 15, 2013 Nanowerk Spotlight series article ,
Advances in materials, fabrication strategies and device designs for flexible and stretchable electronics and sensors make it possible to envision a not-too-distant future where ultra-thin, flexible circuits based on inorganic semiconductors can be wrapped and attached to any imaginable surface, including body parts and even internal organs. Robotic technologies will also benefit as it becomes possible to fabricate electronic skin ('e-skin') that, for instance, could allow surgical robots to interact, in a soft contacting mode, with their surroundings through touch. In addition to giving robots a finer sense of touch, engineers believe that e-skin technology could also be used to create things like wallpapers that double as touchscreen displays and dashboard laminates that allow drivers to adjust electronic controls with the wave of a hand.
Here's a link to and a citation for the 25-year review of work on e-skin,
25th Anniversary Article: The Evolution of Electronic Skin (E-Skin): A Brief History, Design Considerations, and Recent Progress by Mallory L. Hammock, Alex Chortos, Benjamin C.-K. Tee, Jeffrey B.-H. Tok, and Zhenan Bao. Advanced Materials Volume 25, Issue 42, pages 5997–6038, November 13, 2013 Article first published online: 22 OCT 2013 DOI: 10.1002/adma.201302240
© 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
The review article is behind a paywall but Berger's synopsis offers a good overview* and tidbits such as this timeline (Berger offers a larger version) which includes important moments in science fiction (Note: Links in the caption have been removed),
Figure 1. A brief chronology of the evolution of e-skin. We emphasize several science fictional events in popular culture that inspired subsequent critical technological advancements in the development of e-skin. Images reproduced with permission: "micro-structured pressure sensor,"[18] "stretchable OLEDs,"[20b] "stretchable OPVs,"[21a] "stretchable, transparent e-skin,"[22] "macroscale nanowire e-skin,"[23a] "rechargeable, stretchable batteries,"[137] "interlocked e-skin."[25] Copyright, respectively, 2010, 2009, 2012, 2005, 2010, 2013, 2012. Macmillan Publishers Ltd. "Flexible, active-matrix e-skin" image reproduced with permission.[26a] Copyright, 2004. National Academy of Sciences USA. "Epidermal electronics" image reproduced with permission.[390a] Copyright, American Association for the Advancement of Science. "Stretchable batteries" image reproduced with permission.[27] "Infrared e-skin" image reproduced with permission.[8b] Copyright 2001, IEEE. "Anthropomorphic cybernetic hand" image reproduced with permission.[426] Copyright 2006, IEEE. [downloaded from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.proxy.lib.sfu.ca/doi/10.1002/adma.201302240/full]
Here's an excerpt from the review article outlining the 1970s – 1990s period featuring some of the science fiction which has influenced the science (Note: Links have been removed),
The prospect of creating artificial skin was in many ways inspired by science fiction, which propelled the possibility of e-skin into the imagination of both the general public as well as the scientific community. One of the first science fiction books to explore the use of mechanical replacement organs was Caidin's Cyborg in 1971, on which the famed Six Million Dollar Man television series about a man with a bionic replacement arm and eye was later based (1974).[4] Shortly after, at the beginning of the 1980s, George Lucas created a vision of a future with e-skin in the famous Star Wars series. In particular, he depicted a scene showing a medical robot installing an electronic hand with full sensory perception on the main character, Luke Skywalker.[5] Shortly after, in 1984, the Terminator movie series depicted humanoid robots and even a self-healing robot.[6] These fictitious renditions of e-skin took place against a real-life backdrop of vibrant microelectronics research that began bridging science fiction with scientific reality.
Early technological advancements in the development of e-skin were concomitant with their science fiction inspirations. In 1974, Clippinger et al. demonstrated a prosthetic hand capable of discrete sensor feedback.[7] Nearly a decade later, Hewlett-Packard (HP) marketed a personal computer (HP-150) that was equipped with a touchscreen, allowing users to activate functions by simply touching the display. It was the first mass-marketed electronic device capitalizing on the intuitive nature of human touch. In 1985, General Electric (GE) built the first sensitive skin for a robotic arm using discrete infrared sensors placed on a flexible sheet at a resolution of ≈5 cm.[8] The fabricated sensitive skin was proximally aware of its surroundings, allowing the robot's arm to avert potential obstacles and effectively maneuver within its physical environment. Despite the robotic arm's lack of fingers and low resolution, it was capable of demonstrating that electronics integrated into a membrane could allow for natural human–machine interaction. For example, the robotic arm was able to 'dance' with a ballerina without any pre-programmed motions.[8] In addition to the ability of an artificial skin to interact with its surroundings, it is equally critical that the artificial skin mimics the mechanical properties of human skin to accommodate its various motions. Hence, to build life-like prosthetics or humanoid robots, soft, flexible, and stretchable electronics needed to be developed.
In the 1990s, scientists began using flexible electronic materials to create large-area, low-cost and printable sensor sheets. Jiang et al. proposed one of the first flexible sensor sheets for tactile shear force sensing by creating silicon (Si) micro-electro-mechanical (MEM) islands by etching thin Si wafers and integrating them on flexible polyimide foils.[9] Much work has since been done to enhance the reliability of large sensor sheets to mechanical bending.[10] Around the same time, flexible arrays fabricated from organic semiconductors began to emerge that rivaled the performance of amorphous Si.[11]
Just before the turn of the millennium, the first "Sensitive Skin Workshop" was held in Washington DC under the aegis of the National Science Foundation and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, bringing together approximately sixty researchers from different sectors of academia, industry, and government. It was discovered that there was significant industrial interest in e-skins for various applications, ranging from robotics to health care. A summary of concepts outlined in the workshop was compiled by Lumelsky et al.[12] In the early 2000s, the pace of e-skin development significantly increased as a result of this workshop, and researchers began to explore different types of sensors that could be more easily integrated with microprocessors.
I have written about e-skin a number of times, most recently in a July 9, 2013 posting about work on flexible sensors and gold nanoparticles being conducted at Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. This review helps to contextualize projects such as the one at Technion and elsewhere.
*To avoid redundancy 'synopsis' was replaced by 'overview' on Oct. 19, 2015.
This entry was posted in nanotechnology and tagged Alex Chortos, artificial skin, Benjamin C.-K. Tee, e-skin, electronic skin, Jeffrey B.-H. Tok, Michael Berger, prosthetics, science fiction, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, The Evolution of Electronic Skin (E-Skin): A Brief History Design Consideration and Recent Progress Mallory L. Hammock, Zhenan Bao on November 15, 2013 by Maryse de la Giroday.


Some experts say the unconscious bias of law enforcement is a contributing factor, a charge denied by the NZ Police Association.
And you thought your weekend was wild.
Officer Francine is on the move to catch a pair of murderous kidnappers in a high-speed manga car chase.


Welcome to The Lviv Ruby Meetup Group! Here we're happy to see everyone who's interested in learning or sharing experiences with Ruby and Ruby on Rails. Our aim is to give a community for local Ruby developers to gather and brainstorm some new ideas. Speaker Proposals: If you have a pertinent subject matter that you'd like to present to the group at an upcoming meetup - please contact our coordinator Anna Golovchenko - with a short description of your presentation.


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Yaskawa opens new production facility in Slovenia
NewsApr 12, 2019
Following two years of construction, Japanese technology group Yaskawa has officially opened its new robot production facility with European robotics development centre at Kočevje/Slovenia. Yaskawa already started European production of its Motoman robots at the end of 2018. The investment volume is about 25 million euros. The new plant supplements the existing production facilities in Japan and China and will satisfy about 80% of the European demand for Motoman robots.
With the new – worldwide third – production facility for Motoman industrial robots Yaskawa is reacting to the sharp rise in demand in Europe and the EMEA region. Bruno Schnekenburger, CEO & President of YASKAWA Europe, explained prior to the opening: "Our goal is to shorten supply chains and delivery times, to enable us to react faster to regional market requirements and our customers' wishes – not only with the new plant, but also with a major European robotics development centre."
Marcus Mead, President Robotics Division, YASKAWA Europe, added: "With this investment we want to further strengthen direct contacts to customers in Europe and work even more closely on the path to Industrie 4.0, not least through first-class customer service."
High demands on sustainability and efficiency
The robots to be manufactured in Kočevje will for the main part be the current Motoman GP series with a payload of 7 to 225 kg. The GP series includes compact and extremely efficient handling robots for high-speed joining, packaging and general handling applications. "GP" stands for "General Purpose", also for diverse applications. The 6-axis robots are thus true productivity drivers.
On a total gross area of over 12,000 m², of which 10,000 m² are for production, the new factory building offers capacity for the manufacture of up to 10,000 Motoman robots per year. Furthermore, up to 150 new jobs are to be created step-by-step, about 10% thereof in the development department.
The new building, designed by the Slovenian architects' office Andrej Kalamar, fulfils stringent requirements regarding sustainability and efficiency. The prerequisites for this were created in the planning phase with a software-supported simulation of the building in the form of a 'digital twin'. The "Building Information Modelling" method – abbreviated to BIM – was used for the coordinated planning of the whole building with all parallel works, and simulated in the virtual digital model prior to the start of construction, then tested and corrected as needed.
Commitment to the location 'Europe'
Yaskawa – with over 430,000 installed units one of the largest global players in the field of industrial robots and a leading international supplier of drive, automation and control technology, as well as components for the generation of alternative energy – is pursuing an ambitious expansion strategy in Europe. "Current investments in Slovenia, similar to those recently made in Germany, France and Sweden, constitute a strategic element of the Europe initiative of the Yaskawa Group, as anchored in our global corporate goals 'Vision 2025' " says Manfred Stern, Regional Head Yaskawa Europe. In relocating its technological know-how and production competence from Europe to Asia, the company, founded in 1915, is consciously acting against the international trend.
Employing a workforce of over 1,900 at various European locations, YASKAWA Europe GmbH with head office in Eschborn, Germany, recently generated annual sales exceeding 600 million euros. Approx. 300 people are currently employed at Yaskawa's European Robotics Division, whose headquarters are located at Allershausen near Munich. Yaskawa has maintained its own subsidiary in Slovenia since 1990.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Allocinopus sculpticollis – gatunek chrząszcza z rodziny biegaczowatych i podrodziny Harpalinae.

Taksonomia
Gatunek opisany został w 1903 roku przez Thomasa Brouna.

Opis
Ciało długości od 9 do 11 mm, umiarkowanie wypukłe, czarniawe z czułkami, głaszczkami i odnóżami brązowawo-czerwonymi, żuwaczkami ciemnoczerwonymi i 1-2 czerwonymi kropkami na głowie, ogólnie gładkie i bezwłose. Mikrorzeźba silna: u populacji z Wyspy Północnej poprzeczna, a u tej z Wyspy Południowej izodiametryczna. Połysk ciała umiarkowany, niemetaliczny. Głowa na wysokości oczu szerokości wierzchołka przedplecza, z przodu płaska, a z tyłu nieco wypukła. Przedplecze sercowate, najszersze przed środkiem, o bokach silnie zbiegających się ku prostej, nieco węższej od pokryw nasadzie. Wierzchołek przedplecza wklęśnięty, a boczne zagłębienia rozszerzone ku tyłowi. Przednie kąty ostro ścięte, a tylne prawie wielokątne. Dołki przypodstawowe płytkie. Przednio-boczne uszczecinione punkty stykające się z obrzeżeniem bocznym. Punktowanie przedplecza silnie rozwinięte. Episternity zatułowia dłuższe niż szerokie. Pokrywy najszersze około połowy długości, o ramionach kanciastych, przedwierzchołkowym zafalowaniu słabym, rządkach przytarczkowych obecnych, a międzyrzędzie 3 pozbawionym uszczecinionych punktów za połową długości. Edeagus w widoku bocznym słabo łukowaty, o wierzchołku wąsko-spiczastym, a w widoku grzbietowym symetryczny, o prostym wierzchołku z dyskiem wierzchołkowym zaokrąglenie trójkątnym.

Biologia i ekologia
Gatunek zamieszkuje góry i niziny. Występuje w wilgotnych lasach, lasach bagiennych i w zaroślach wzdłuż strumieni. Żyje w ściółce. Prowadzi nocny tryb życia. Za dnia kryje się pod kamienia i kłodami. Aktywny od października do kwietnia.

Występowanie
Gatunek ten jest endemiczny dla Nowej Zelandii.

Przypisy

Biegaczowate
Chrząszcze Nowej Zelandii
Gatunki i podgatunki zwierząt nazwane w 1903 roku

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Craig is co-founder and CMO of Sendle, a disruptive technology company locked in a 'David and Goliath' battle with Australia Post in the booming parcel delivery business. Sendle is focused on exceeding the expectations of Australia's 2 million small businesses and has been named one of Australia's Top 10 Most Innovative Companies by the AFR for two years running. Craig has been recognised as one of Australia's Top 10 marketers by CMO Magazine for two consecutive years as well.
As one of Australia's most accomplished advertising and marketing experts Craig has created numerous campaigns for the Australian Army, Navy and Airforce, Tourism Victoria, and many others.
He has worked on a corporate scale leading business and creative transformations across international networks of 11,000 people, and worked at his kitchen table as an entrepreneur to start three businesses since returning to Australia 9 years ago.
Craig is an Adjunct Professor at UTS Business School, columnist, media commentator (ABC, BBC, China Central TV, Sky), and has served on the Boards of Advance, the Communications Council, AWARD and NSW Creative Industries Taskforce.
Fun fact: He also happen to be the fastest Australian to run a marathon at the North Pole.
Other Past Speakers & Guests


The total leverage loan market is now doubled what is was in 2008, around 59% of them are junk loans.
Central bank has been paying attention to elevated loans this year. Powell said: we have our eyes on that.
Mnuchin inquires about whether fed could tighten policy by accelerating its balance sheeting shrinkage process rather than raising rates.
Trump and Xi agree to refrain from implementing incremental tariff for a brief period during which time the negotiations will take place.


Up for sale is an incredible pair of Bauer Impact Force 200 ice hockey skates. They are equipped with Tuuk Fasteel blades and are adult size 9R. They have some light wear about them, but they are in attractive shape overall. Please review the photos for additional details. I am happy to answer questions. ---------------------------- STORE INFO: Description/Refunds/Returns: We are as descriptive as possible, even with the smallest of things that others may not mention. For this reason, we do not offer refunds or returns, as common practice. Please review the images and ask questions. We are quick to answer and happy to do so. Feedback: Without fail, we provide feedback once received. We want to make sure that you have received your item and you are completely satisfied. If you are not, then please contact us, at which time we will be able to find an amicable solution. Age: If we list an item as vintage, though some of those may fit a more traditional definition, we may simply be describing the fact that it is not its contemporary norm. This may indicate it is likely from 20-30 yrs in the past or possibly more. Assume all pre-owned items have some type of normal wear. We will still be as descriptive as possible, as necessary. Shipping: We ship incredibly fast, sometimes the same day and without a doubt the next available day. This is only affected by time of day and day of week. You can be sure that it will arrive as quickly as the shippers can get it to you. If there is a delay, then we will be sure to communicate it. General: Our items are purchased from just about anywhere, once we determine that it is something that 1 of our customers on or off line will enjoy. Many times, we learn about different items as we go. We are not experts on anything, but we do provide item descriptions and item operability, if applicable. If we fall short on accuracy or if an item fails to work upon arrival, then simply contact us, so that we may collectively find an appropriate resolution. Lastly, since we are not experts, we avoid formal ratings or grading for any of our items, such as books, comic books, golf clubs, clothing, trading cards or generally anything else for which others might provide formal ratings and grades. We will instead use descriptions and images to describe the condition. Words such as good, very good, excellent and/or poor are not to be considered anything more than how we view an item. Use the entire description, including any flaws or wear, along with the images, to gather your own assessment as to an item's suitability for you.


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Q: SQLite: Order by 'insertOrderinDB' i need to know how to make a select with the insert order in DB without making any index field by my own . May be this posible?
And , the insertion order in a transaction is linear-mode? (first insert sentences -> first insert )
DB CREATION:
private static final String CREATE_TABLE_SONGS = "CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS SONGS (" +
        "LIST_ID int NOT NULL, " +
        "PLAY_ID int NOT NULL, " + //ID of the song in the list
        "SONG_ID int NOT NULL, " + //ID of the song
        "TITLE varchar(200) NOT NULL," +
        "TIME int NOT NULL, " +
        "PROVIDER int NOT NULL, " +
        "PROVIDER_ID varchar(200) NOT NULL, " +
        "SONG_STATE int NOT NULL, " +
        "PRIMARY KEY (LIST_ID,PLAY_ID));";

And then
db.execSQL(CREATE_TABLE_SONGS);

A: order by _id

should do, given the autoincrement nature of the id.

A: SQLite tables have a "secret" column called ROWID the value of which increases as you add rows.  It can serve as a proxy for "order entered into table".  ROWID is basically a "free" auto-incrementing integer primary key column for the table.
Note that by definition SQL databases have no notion of row ordering.  While I would be surprised if the behavior of ROWID every changed in SQLite (since it's existence and behavior is documented), as a rule if you want to retrieve rows in an ordered fashion in SQL databases you're responsible for storing the ordering information yourself.

A: The best-practices method of sorting rows by the temporal order in which they have been inserted is to use a timestamp column which is assigned as a default value the date-time corresponding to "now", as the row is being inserted.  This is easy to do in SQLite.
sqlite database default time value 'now'

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


If you have an infant in your care, then you should know that they will need a baby walker to move around. Whether or not your child is four to sixteen months old, you should know that a baby walker will still prove useful as long as they still need to learn how to walk. As for the components of the baby walker, it's basically made with hard plastic on top as the body support and a suspended fabric seat. As for its movement, the baby will insert their legs on the two leg holes on the suspended seat and move with the help of rotating wheels.
You also have the option to use this as an attachment to toys if you want your baby to learn how to walk while also having fun. Also, the baby walker is a great tool to keep the baby exercised so that they can digest their food easily. It's also possible that you can order this product online by searching for an online store that sells baby accessories.
While buying a baby walker seems to be a no-brainer, you should know that it's actually quite the opposite. When it comes to buying baby walkers, you should know that quality is a factor to consider. With that said, it's only natural that you'd want the best for your baby especially when it comes to baby walkers. When choosing a baby walker, you have to check if its exterior is sturdy.
It's important that your baby doesn't fall down due to the fact that the baby walker you bought wasn't durable enough for prolonged usage. A light and durable baby walker is also necessary to find. Aside from the fact that it will be easy to carry, a light and durable baby walker would also be ideal for the purpose of the baby learning how to walk since they won't have a hard time moving around with it. So if you're trying to buy a baby walker, it's important that you prioritize its safety measures. For more details be sure to view here!
Keep in mind that babies and infants get scared easily and it's only important that they don't get scared when it comes to using the device that will help them to learn how to walk. If you're having trouble shopping for the baby walker that you need from the typical brick and mortar stores, you can always utilize your online access to the internet. Just be certain that the seller of the baby walker has the reputation of providing quality products to their customers.
Price is another thing to be considered when buying a baby walker. You might get tempted to buy a super cheap baby walker, but that's not something that you have to focus on. In any case, it's important that you buy a baby walker at an affordable price while making sure that it's durable enough for your baby's use. For more ideas about baby product click here at https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/economics-business-and-labor/businesses-and-occupations/baby-products.


text:
'It's a club!' BBC in disarray after Rabbi slams 'Guardian reading is required!'
A rabbi who was fired from the BBC over an anti-Semitism row accused the corporation of being "a club" of people who read The Guardian this evening.
Rabbi YY Rubinstein claimed that The Guardian is "absolute required reading" in BBC offices, and that those with views other than "left-wing, woke" should look for another job as a "dartboard" in the BBC's bar.
The shocking allegations come as Rabbi YY Rubinstein resigned from the BBC after the corporation incorrectly accused victims of an anti-semitic attack in central London of using anti-Muslim slurs.
The BBC later retracted its claim that slurs were used, but claimed that one of the victims had used a slur, which is reportedly false.
A group of men hurled anti-Semitic abuse, spitting at, and punching the windows of a bus carrying a Jewish group as they celebrated Chanukah on Oxford Street in November.
Rabbi Rubinstein told GB News on Wednesday that the BBC's impartiality "is always up for debate" in the United Kingdom, but that the broadcaster is biased.
He claimed that "it's a club" and that "left-wing" attitudes "are a membership thing" in his 30-years at the Beeb.
"A symbol of membership is absolute required Guardian reading!" the Rabbi observed.
"You see people with their Guardians under their arms wandering around the BBC canteen all the time!"
"You might get away with reading The Times, but if you read The Telegraph, you're toast; you're out of a job!" he said.
The Rabbi went on to say that those who disagree with him should look for "new jobs as a dartboard in the BBC bar."
He said the BBC "certainly has a culture, and the culture is woke, left-wing, and always has been" in a candid assessment.
Rabbi YY Rubinstein said he was "not convinced" about the BBC's ability to separate "politics from objective reporting" in a further blow to the BBC's neutrality.
In a letter that he then shared on Facebook, the Rabbi, who contributed to Good Morning Sunday and Thought For The Day, announced his resignation.
He wrote in the letter that the incident's coverage "was and is inexcusable," and that "the obfuscation, denial that followed, was and is utterly damning."
"Brinkwire Summary News," he said at the end.
Previous ArticleIn an Atlantic confrontation, a Royal Navy warship collided with a Russian 'hunter-killer' nuclear submarine.
Next Article Star Hobson's bereaved grandfather died of an overdose only months after the tragic girl's death.
Arsenal fans are enraged as Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp continues his charm offensive with Bukayo Saka.
Researchers discover bacteria resistant to a key antibiotic, raising fears of a superbug apocalypse.
Let us know what you think: Would you be willing to give up your car if it meant the end of car ownership in the UK?
Should cannabis be legalized in the UK? A new pilot scheme will be launched by the Mayor of London.
After Ronaldo's Man United bombshells – such as Keane's MUTV rant – five damning club interviews have emerged.
London on a budget: There are plenty of cheap and free things to do in the capital.
'Fossilised butthole' elucidates dinosaur sex, including the mating signal.
According to experts, a 30-second quickie could improve your health – as well as your orgasms.
How to tell if there's a party in YOUR garden, according to Brinkwire.
Rangnick updates Van de Beek and Henderson, and Fred discusses Cavani's future at Man United.
Vitamin B12 deficiency can cause'sore' mouth changes, which could be a sign of 'deficiency anemia.'
Putin incites fear by slashing EU gas supplies and announcing that Russia is on the verge of war.
For a simple driving habit mistake, all UK drivers risk a £5,000 fine and penalty points.


"We needed new roofing after only 13 years. Shingles were worn and lots of small leaks after a big rain. Although the..."
"Excellent service, excellent clean up. they were fast and they were efficient. I found them in the phone book, them..."
"David was very quick on site to do the estimate. Re- roof the house and stayed true to his estimate. Found and..."
"Fast, efficient, cleaned up after themselves. They were very professional. Not the cheapest quote nor the most..."
"We had a small outbuilding that we converted into a guest cottage. We looked around for a reputable roofing company..."
"very trustworthy, very reliable and everything went on time. very honest to deal with... the way they work was very..."
"Contractors arrived on time. The work was completed professionally. I was walked through each step of the process..."
"The crew was very friendly offering great workmanship and competitve pricing. I was really impressed with how quickly..."
"this company was true to their word. They honoured the quote even though it ended up having additional costs. They..."
"we were very happy with the job it was complete in one day. the job was very well down. we have had no leaking or..."
"Did my roof work from here. My wife loved it from here and they also gave me a discount. I really liked the store and..."


text:
class drm_getlicense {
    constructor() {
    }

    // void GetAsyncCallStatus (Variant, Variant)
    GetAsyncCallStatus(Variant, Variant) {

    }

    // string GetDRMSecurityVersion ()
    GetDRMSecurityVersion() {

    }

    // string GetDRMVersion ()
    GetDRMVersion() {

    }

    // void GetLicenseFromURL (string, string)
    GetLicenseFromURL(string, string) {

    }

    // void GetLicenseFromURLAsync (string, string)
    GetLicenseFromURLAsync(string, string) {

    }

    // string GetSystemInfo ()
    GetSystemInfo() {

    }

    // void StoreLicense (string)
    StoreLicense(string) {

    }

}

module.exports = drm_getlicense;

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


As H-2B employers are well aware, January 1, 2018, was the earliest date on which an employer seeking a start date of April 1, 2018, could file an H-2B application requesting temporary labor certification. Yesterday, on January 3, the U.S. Department of Labor ("DOL") issued a public service announcement to alert employers and other interested stakeholders about the high volume of applications received on January 1. Specifically, the DOL received approximately 4,500 applications covering more than 81,600 worker positions.
Except where a statutory exemption applies, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services ("USCIS") may only issue up to 33,000 H-2B visas for employers seeking to hire H-2B workers during the second half of Fiscal Year 2018 (April 1 to September 30). Accordingly, the demand for H-2B visas significantly outweighs the number of available H-2B visas, which, absent a legislative change, will likely result in some employers not being able to obtain the desired H-2B visas in 2018.
According to the DOL, the agency is working as expeditiously as possible to issue first case actions, review responses to Notices of Deficiency ("NODs"), and issue Notices of Acceptance where possible. First case actions are taken on a first-filed basis and responses to NODs are evaluated in the order in which they are received. An employer may petition USCIS for H-2B visas only after the DOL has accepted the H-2B application for processing, the employer has conducted the required advertising and recruitment, and the DOL has certified the H-2B application. Importantly, it is the USCIS filing, not the DOL filing, that secures H-2B visas for an employer.


The biggest lingerie shoot in history. Victoria's Secret Holiday with its first-ever short film.
7 Angels. Stella Maxwell, Elsa Hosk, Taylor Hill, Romee Strijd, Sara Sampaio, Josephine Skriver & Jasmine Tookes.
Set at the famous Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte, located just outside Paris.
Teased on Supreme's Instagram today, Japanese magazine POPEYE will feature Supreme FW18 editorial shot in Berlin by Steffen Grap.
This season, Hedi Slimane's invitation and show book of artwork featured the images of American conceptual artist John Baldessari.
Director: Glen Luchford. Creative director: Alessandro Michele. Art director: Chris Simmonds.
M.I.A.'s merch collaboration with Danish designer Astrid Andersen launches tomorrow, celebrating Copenhagen Fashion Week.


You've been tasked with developing an email marketing campaign. There's obvious potential value; the vast majority of people still use email, and once the campaign is developed, you can spread it far and wide at minimal cost. But you hear the stories of people with five thousand unread emails in their inboxes and you're not generating any leads if your email is number 5,001.
So how do you succeed, especially if you've never run this type of campaign? Here's a quick set of guidelines to help you.
Even if you need to start a new campaign ASAP, take some time to set yourself up for better future campaigns. Experiment with opt-in forms that will convince people to sign up. For example, you could try welcome gates, the 'subscribe' pop-ups people see when they visit your site; lightbox pop-ups, which blank out the rest of the content and can appear anywhere; and exit-intent pop-ups, which appear when people are about to leave the site. Different sets of customers will react differently to each idea, so don't be afraid to switch (or attempt entirely different ideas) if you're not seeing the desired results.
Are you introducing yourself to new subscribers? Boosting engagement with your current content, ie. trying to promote a new product? Offering value to longer-term subscribers? Re-engagement with those who haven't been active with your company lately?
All of these populations need a different message. Segment your subscriber base appropriately (subscribed within the last month, have been subscribers for over a year, haven't clicked through in six months, etc), and develop a message suitable to the segment you're trying to reach.
Promotional emails are the most common type. You talk about what new products are on offer, redesigns of old products, sales, and so on. They're the most common because they're most often correct for a broad audience, but they're also the easiest for subscribers to bypass if they're not immediately interested. Make sure you're targeting the message well.
Consider sending a relationship-building email as well. These should include a link to your site, but they're all about giving something to subscribers. We're used to seeing these as a follow-through on promises for subscribing—weekly newsletters, free gifts, and so on—but the occasional unexpected freebie can go a long way towards maintaining loyalty.
Obviously you'll know the basics of the customers your company draws in, but an email subscriber base doesn't always match the overall customer base. If you're new to this type of campaign, you may need to rely on more experienced hands, or hopefully have some analytical data to go on. If not, take what data is available.
In any case, figure out your (probable) audience, determine what they'll be most interested in, and tailor your message around that information.
This is critical. Of course you want your email campaign to be a winner, but over the course of a marketing career, that's not going to happen every time. The way for every email campaign to succeed is to use the data it brings in to make future campaigns better. How many different people clicked through on the campaign email? Which links in the email were clicked most often? What products were bought by people who used those links?
Remember, every campaign is a building block, both in your relationship with customers and your ability to connect with more customers down the road. Maximize what you can in the present while setting yourself up with information and experience for the future, and you're always on the road to success.


text:
Invite Jim to Speak
Book Jim
Welcome Fellow Parent!
The purpose of Common Sense for Our Common Good: A Parent Guide To Good Schools is to make critical information about good schools available to you so you know what makes your child's school a good one and how you can assist your child's school to become better. It puts a premium on common sense linked to research and effective practices by identifying basic components that all good schools should have.
Common Sense for Our Common Good also suggests ways by which you, in your parental role as school parent partner, children's advocate and informed educational consumer, can be effective in supporting and promoting a good school.
Raising expectations for every child and clearing their way toward learning success and a purposeful life is what all good schools do. As parents we can be powerful champions for good schools because we recognize the important role schools play in our child's life and we believe in the brilliance and potential in every child!
Supporting your child and your childs school is not just the right thing to do but also the most sensible and productive thing to do. Education is a thoughtful and prudent investment in the brilliance within every child. That investment will reap human and societal benefits both today and into the future.
It's just common sense. Common sense for our common good.
How Do You, As A Parent, Make Sense of It All?
So how can you know when a school is operating to its full potential around maximizing the learning and human potential for your child and for every child? Common Sense for Our Common Good provides a roadmap for you to sort through a thicket of educational, social and political complexities by providing answers to two crucial questions:
What makes a good school good?
What can you do to help make your child's school better?
"The book offers a compelling vision of what a "good school" looks and feels like: one that raises expectations for every child, provides a clear path to learning success and a purposeful life, and believes in the brilliance and potential of every child."
Kristine Morris - Foreword Reviews
"In this book, Baumann explores the qualities of a strong school, offers a rubric for evaluating a system, and provides guidelines for parents who want to get involved in their children's education."
Kirkus Reviews -
---Order my personal copy of the book.Raise money for my organization.Invite Jim to speak.Ask a question.Leave a comment.
Jim Baumann
Teton Village, WY 83025


text:
Flyers' Leighton doing a nice job minding the net
WHEN GOALTENDERS Ray Emery and Brian Boucher went down with the Flyers in the middle of a 3-13-1 stretch, Ian Laperriere was left scratching his head.
Michael Leighton (above) could start against the Rangers even if Brian Boucher is healthy. (Karl B DeBlaker/AP)Read more
by By FRANK SERAVALLI, seravaf@phillynews.com
"We didn't talk about it," Laperriere said. "But everybody in the back of their head was thinking, 'Holy cow, who's going to play in net?' "
Michael Leighton had probably not even entered Laperriere's mind. At the time, he seemed like nothing more than a stopgap.
Coming back to Philadelphia after a forgettable four-game stint in the abyss that was the 2006-07 Flyers season, Leighton wanted to prove himself worthy. His stats this season with Carolina - a 1-4-0 record with 25 goals against on 164 shots - were less than stellar.
Leighton had been shuttled back and forth between Albany and Carolina this year on the waiver wire.
Now, Leighton has carried the Flyers to a three-game winning streak, and the team arrived at the rink yesterday with "smiles on their faces," Laperriere said. It also has people wondering whether Leighton could start tomorrow against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden, even if Boucher (lacerated finger) is healthy.
"When I came here, I didn't know what was going to happen," Leighton said. "It was obviously a tough start for me. I didn't really get a great chance in Carolina. [The Flyers] told me I was going to get one or two games to get 'Boosh' a rest. With Boosh getting hurt, it gave me an opportunity."
Coach Peter Laviolette said Sunday that although he wanted to give Boucher an extra day of rest, Leighton - who played for him in Carolina - earned his spot in net. Leighton's .932 save percentage speaks for itself.
"I haven't made that decision yet [for tomorrow], but I will say that Lates [Leighton] has played very well," Laviolette said yesterday. "He has given us an opportunity to win every game. He has been steady in the net and steady in his performance. He has earned the right to go back in there. He has an opportunity to run with it."
Leighton, 28, knows his window with the Flyers is rapidly closing. He said he was "sure" Boucher would be ready to return tomorrow. Boucher and Emery - who had abdominal surgery on Dec. 9 - took shots from Danny Syvret, Riley Cote and Mika Pyorala yesterday.
"I'm just happy with the way things are going," Leighton said. "The better I play, the better my future is going to be for me. When they both come back, who knows what's going to happen. As long as the team wins, I'm happy."
Boucher said he was still sore. He has missed the last three games with a nasty cut on his right ring finger that required stitches. Since the injury is on the hand with which he grips his stick, pucks that bounce off his stick sting.
"When the puck hits my stick is when I have problems," Boucher said. "I don't have as much strength in my fingers as I'd probably like to have to grip the stick. We'll just take it a day at a time and see how it feels."
Emery, meanwhile, said he took shots on the ice for the first time yesterday. He skated last week but didn't drop to make saves. His surgery came with a 6-week target date, which would bring him back around Jan. 20.
"I feel pretty good," Emery said. "Better every day. I felt better than I thought I would. I took a bunch of shots. I went maybe 65 or 70 percent. I'm pretty sure I'm kind of ahead [of schedule]. I don't have a meeting with the doctor for another week or so and I'm already on the ice, so that's pretty good."
For now, with the Flyers beginning to break through the clouds, Laperriere doesn't care if it's Leighton or Bob Froese or Robbie Moore in net.
"Michael has had the opportunity and taken big advantage of it," Laperriere said. "He is playing really well for us. We need him to keeping playing like that."
Parent absent
Ryan Parent was not on the ice yesterday taking shots on Emery and Boucher. He was a late scratch on Saturday in Carolina with back spasms.
General manager Paul Holmgren provided little update other than to say that Parent is still "day-to-day." Danny Syvret, Parent's replacement on Sunday in Long Island, returned to Philadelphia with the team.
Slap shots
The NHL announced yesterday that five-time Grammy winner James Taylor will sing the national anthem at Friday's Winter Classic at Fenway Park . . . The current weather forecast is calling for a mix of rain and snow with a high temperature of 37 degrees for the outdoor game. The rain date for the game is Saturday. NHL ice guru Dan Craig's team painted both the lines and game logos to the ice at the stadium yesterday.
For more news and analysis, read Frank Seravalli's blog, Frequent Flyers, at http://go.philly.com/frequentflyers.
By FRANK SERAVALLI, seravaf@phillynews.com


When you move into a new home, one of the last things you might think about is your mailbox. However, having a good quality mailbox is pretty important. You receive all incoming correspondence there including all of your bills, letters, and magazines. It's a good idea to ensure that you have a quality mail receptacle installed at your home or business.
When you decide to have a mailbox installed, you should consider whether you want one that is without a lock or one that is locked. If you choose a traditional non-locking mail receptacle it means that you have easy access to your mail. However, so does everyone else. With people finding more and more ways to steal identities and other things that do not belong to them, one can never be too careful. It might be a good idea to consider getting a locking mailbox.
A locking mailbox is just what it sounds like. There is a locking mechanism on the box that prevents anyone from accessing the mail inside unless they have a key. These types of mailboxes come in a variety of sizes and styles. There is the cluster design that has several different mail receptacles housed together in one container, with separate slots and locks for mail going to different address. This cluster type of locking mailbox is the type that is commonly used in apartment buildings. Everyone has their own key and can only access their mail.
Another type of locking mail receptacle is the individual mailbox. This style has a locking door that the owner would have access to. They can unlock the door with their own personal key. However, if they don't have their key, they can't access the mail. This is a good way to keep people out of your mail. It ensures that the only ones who access the mail are the mail delivery people and the recipients of the mail.
Unfortunately, if you own a locking mailbox, the key to the box becomes another one that you will have to keep track of. Many people check their mail every day. This means that they will have to keep up with their key and have it with them every time they decide to check their mail. It's not uncommon for people to unintentionally leave their key inside of their mailbox and close the door, locking themselves out of their mailbox. If this should happen to you, you can always call a locksmith to unlock your mailbox's door for you. They will most likely be able to pick the lock to get you back inside so you can have access to your mail.
If you are moving into a home or apartment with a locking mail receptacle that someone else may have a key to, you might want to consider getting the lock changed. The person who originally had the mailbox may have made a copy of the key, and you don't want unauthorized people having access to your mail. You can simply call a locksmith and he can come install a new lock on your mail receptacle, keeping your mail secure.
Getting a locking mailbox is something that you can purchase one time and enjoy the benefits for years to come. While having a locking mailbox is not a necessity, it definitely serves to provide extra peace of mind and adds an extra layer of protection, keeping your identity more secure.