Giving Tuesday.

Turkey Day. Check. Ate too much. Black Friday and?Cyber Monday. Check (and as much as you hate the name,?today?s new moniker is?here to stay).

The good news is that Thelma has a more meaningful way?to?transition from Thanksgiving into the Christmas season.?Tuesday, November 27 is Giving Tuesday ? a celebration of the?great tradition of giving.

Giving Tuesday was launched by a consortium of NFPs and ?do good? groups, led by the United Nations Foundation. They have?banded together to?raise awareness for their own causes as well as raise the profile of charitable giving in general.?Partners include The Financial Times, (RED), 92nd Street Y, Unilever, DoSomething.org and 2,000 groups who have committed to spearhead a project that will benefit at least one 501(c)3.

This is a day that Thelma can celebrate. Get on board and help spread the word.

Thelma Says?Tell Others that?Tuesday is for Giving.

Tags: Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday, National giving day, United Nations Foundation

Posted in Cause Connections

Source: http://www.thelmasays.com/2012/11/26/thelma-says-tuesday-is-for-giving/

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Use of stem cells in personalized medicine

ScienceDaily (Nov. 26, 2012) ? Johns Hopkins researchers report concrete steps in the use of human stem cells to test how diseased cells respond to drugs. Their success highlights a pathway toward faster, cheaper drug development for some genetic illnesses, as well as the ability to pre-test a therapy's safety and effectiveness on cultured clones of a patient's own cells.

The project, described in an article published November 25 on the website of the journal Nature Biotechnology, began several years ago, when Gabsang Lee, D.V.M., Ph.D., an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine's Institute for Cell Engineering, was a postdoctoral fellow at Sloan-Kettering Institute in New York. To see if induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) could be used to make specialized disease cells for quick and easy drug testing, Lee and his colleagues extracted cells from the skin of a person with a rare genetic disease called Riley-Day syndrome, chosen because it affects only one type of nerve cell that is difficult if not impossible to extract directly from a traditional biopsy. These traits made Riley-Day an ideal candidate for alternative ways of generating cells for study.

In a so-called "proof of concept" experiment, the researchers biochemically reprogrammed the skin cells from the patient to form iPSCs, which can grow into any cell type in the body. The team then induced the iPSCs to grow into nerve cells. "Because we could study the nerve cells directly, we could for the first time see exactly what was going wrong in this disease," says Lee. Some symptoms of Riley-Day syndrome are insensitivity to pain, episodes of vomiting, poor coordination and seizures; only about half of affected patients reach age 30.

In the recent research at Johns Hopkins and Memorial Sloan-Kettering, Lee and his co-workers used these same lab-grown Riley-Day nerve cells to screen about 7,000 drugs for their effects on the diseased cells. With the aid of a robot programmed to analyze the effects, the researchers quickly identified eight compounds for further testing, of which one -- SKF-86466 -- ultimately showed promise for stopping or reversing the disease process at the cellular level.

Lee says a clinical trial with SKF-86466 might not be feasible because of the small number of Riley-Day patients worldwide, but suggests that a closely related version of the compound, one that has already been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for another use, could be employed for the patients after a few tests.

The implications of the experiment reach beyond Riley-Day syndrome, however. "There are many rare, 'orphan' genetic diseases that will never be addressed through the costly current model of drug development," Lee explains. "We've shown that there may be another way forward to treat these illnesses."

Another application of the new stem cell process could be treatments tailored not only to an illness, but also to an individual patient, Lee says. That is, iPSCs could be made for a patient, then used to create a laboratory culture of, for example, pancreatic cells, in the case of a patient with type 1 diabetes. The efficacy and safety of various drugs could then be tested on the cultured cells, and doctors could use the results to help determine the best treatment. "This approach could move much of the trial-and-error process of beginning a new treatment from the patient to the petri dish, and help people to get better faster," says Lee.

Other authors of the paper are Christina N. Ramirez, Ph.D., Nadja Zeltner, Ph.D., Becky Liu, Constantin Radu, M.S., Bhavneet Bhinder, Hakim Djaballah, Ph.D., and Lorenz Studer, Ph.D., of the Sloan-Kettering Institute; and Hyesoo Kim, Ph.D., Young Jun Kim, M.D., Ph.D., InYoung Choi, Ph.D., and Bipasha Mukherjee-Clavin of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

The work was supported by funds from New York State Stem Cell Science (NYSTEM), the New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF), the state of Maryland (TEDCO, MSCRF), the Commonwealth Foundation for Cancer Research, the Experimental Therapeutics Center at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, the William Randolph Hearst Fund in Experimental Therapeutics, the L.S. Wells Foundation, and the National Cancer Institute (grant number 5 P30 CA008748-44).

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Johns Hopkins Medicine, via Newswise.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Gabsang Lee, Christina N Ramirez, Hyesoo Kim, Nadja Zeltner, Becky Liu, Constantin Radu, Bhavneet Bhinder, Yong Jun Kim, In Young Choi, Bipasha Mukherjee-Clavin, Hakim Djaballah, Lorenz Studer. Large-scale screening using familial dysautonomia induced pluripotent stem cells identifies compounds that rescue IKBKAP expression. Nature Biotechnology, 2012; DOI: 10.1038/nbt.2435

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/atjPK3Bc9qU/121126151021.htm

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Source: http://chamsoji11.blogspot.com/2012/11/lijansharma-kudals-molina-anvil.html

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Undefeated: No. 4 Ohio State over No. 20 UM, 26-21

Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller passes against Michigan in the first quarter of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Nov. 24, 2012, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)

Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller passes against Michigan in the first quarter of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Nov. 24, 2012, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)

Michigan wide receiver Jeremy Gallon (10) can't hang on to a pass asnst Ohio State defensive back C.J. Barnett (4) defends in the first quarter of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Nov. 24, 2012, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)

Michigan wide receiver Roy Roundtree (21) beats Ohio State defensive back Christian Bryant (2) on a 75-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Nov. 24, 2012, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)

Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner passes against Ohio State in the first quarter of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Nov. 24, 2012, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

Former Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel gathers with members of his 2002 national championship team between quarters of an NCAA college football game between Ohio State and Michigan Saturday, Nov. 24, 2012, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) ? The only thing Urban Meyer lost during his first season at Ohio State was his cool ? at the end of the last game.

Carlos Hyde ran for 146 yards and the fourth-ranked Buckeyes' defense shut out No. 20 Michigan in the second half to grab a bruising 26-21 win on Saturday, completing an improbable 12-0 season for the Buckeyes.

Meyer got emotional as the final seconds ticked off, embracing his players on the sideline at a raucous Ohio Stadium. Too emotional, he said later.

"I've got to keep a little more composure, I guess," he said sheepishly. "In the coaching manual, I think it's chapter 13, it says, 'Keep cool.' I lost it there for a couple of minutes."

Well, give the guy a break.

Almost no one ? up to and including Meyer ? expected such a rapid turnaround for the Buckeyes, who were just 6-7 last season with a loss to their archrivals in a transitional year when they were facing heavy NCAA penalties. A month after Meyer took the job last November, they were socked with a bowl ban after this season ? and still ran the table.

"You get all the wins you can, especially against the Team Up North, especially at home on top of that," said exuberant Buckeyes quarterback Braxton Miller.

Ohio State (12-0, 8-0 Big Ten) is ineligible for a BCS national title but still has an outside shot at finishing No. 1 in the final Associated Press Top 25 if other contenders lose. Michigan (8-4, 6-2) will now await a minor bowl bid.

"At this point in time, Ohio State can go and play with anybody in America," Meyer said. "I wouldn't say that five weeks ago, but you've seen the growth, what we did today and the growth of our defense."

Drew Basil matched his season output with four field goals and the defense did the rest, forcing three turnovers in the second half.

It was played before 105,899, the largest crowd ever to witness "The Game" in Columbus.

Meyer and his players were mobbed by thousands of fans who flooded the field after the Buckeyes' ninth victory in the last 11 years in the rivalry (the 2010 win was later vacated by the sanctions).

The crush of people precluded Michigan's Brady Hoke from the traditional postgame handshake with Meyer.

"No big deal. Not a big deal," Hoke said over his shoulder as he left his postgame news conference. "Not a story."

Hyde also ran for a touchdown. Miller completed 14 of 18 passes for 189 yards and a score to Corey Brown, who had eight catches for 95 yards.

The Buckeyes had already clinched the Big Ten's Leaders Division, but aren't allowed to play in next Saturday's conference title game. Michigan needed a win to capture a share of the Legends Division with Nebraska, which will meet Wisconsin for the championship.

Hoke had won his first game as a head coach in the rivalry.

"I like the W better," he said.

Now, about all Ohio State can hope for is that every other top team in the nation ? including the only other unbeaten, top-ranked Notre Dame ? loses and loses badly. A team banned from the postseason has never finished No. 1 in the AP Top 25 poll, and the Buckeyes are not eligible for the Bowl Championship Series rankings or coaches' poll.

Michigan's Denard Robinson had a brilliant first half, scoring on a 67-yard run, but was largely invisible in the second. He totaled 122 yards on 10 carries, but had lost 2 yards on his four carries after halftime.

"We know the reason we lost the game," Robinson said. "We had three turnovers in the second half. That's not acceptable."

Devin Gardner, the other half of Michigan's quarterback tandem, was 11 of 20 for 171 yards with an interception and a 75-yard touchdown pass to Roy Roundtree.

For the Buckeyes, the game will be remembered for the staunch defense played when most needed. Michigan had 26 plays for 219 yards in the first half, then ran 21 plays for a net of 60 yards in the second.

"It feels great," defensive back Christian Bryant said. "Taking it out for the seniors ? that was our motto for the season ? and that's what we did."

For the Wolverines, there will be lingering questions for Hoke, who wore short sleeves in the freezing temperatures ? just like Woody Hayes used to during the 1960s and 1970s in the rivalry.

With his team ahead 21-20, Hoke called timeout on fourth and 2 near midfield on Michigan's first possession of the second half. Robinson then tried the middle, but ran into linebacker Ryan Shazier for a two-yard loss.

That cost the Wolverines the lead as Ohio State drove to the Michigan 11 before settling for Basil's 28-yard field goal, putting the Buckeyes up 23-21.

"We've got to have each other's back," Hoke said. "We didn't get it and (our own) defense went out there and did a nice job."

Gardner fumbled when hit by Johnathan Hankins with 8:19 left, with Travis Howard pouncing on the loose ball after several players had a shot at it. Taking over at the Wolverines' 10, the Buckeyes could not move the ball and were forced to settle for Basil's fourth field goal of the game, a 25-yarder with 6:26 remaining, for a 26-21 lead.

Basil came into the game just 4 for 6 on the year.

The last turnover ended the Wolverines' hopes.

Gardner tossed a floater that was intercepted by C.J. Barnett, ending the Wolverines final threat as Hyde carried the ball repeatedly and the Buckeyes played keep-away to the finish.

Between the first and second quarters, Ohio State honored its 2002 national championship team. After a highlight clip was shown to a roaring crowd, several players hoisted coach Jim Tressel to their shoulders and carried him out of the end zone.

No boos were heard, or else they were drowned out ? even though it was Tressel's NCAA violations, he failed to report players exchanging team memorabilia for cash and tattoos, which will keep this year's unbeaten Buckeyes home in the postseason.

Asked if ? should his team end up as the only unbeaten in the nation ? it should be crowned No. 1 in the AP poll, Meyer said: "I'm not going to get into the 'what ifs.' You can't control what you can't control. ... We're 12-0 and I'm going to see to it when you walk into that Woody Hayes (practice) facility that this team will never be forgotten. Because they deserve that."

___

Follow Rusty Miller on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/rustymillerap

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-11-24-T25-Michigan-Ohio%20St/id-bb079bb28cf54421a884027c07b97d09

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Environmental Valuation & Cost-Benefit News: Call for Papers - The ...

February 21?22, 2013?

at the

FHI360 Conference Center?

1825 Connecticut Ave., NW, 8th Floor?

Washington, DC 20009

(202) 884-8279

Abstracts due November 30, 2012

The Society for Benefit-Cost Analysis promotes the development and appropriate application of benefit-cost analysis to a broad range of public policy issues. In 2013, the fifth annual conference and meeting will continue to focus on the practical use of benefit-cost analysis (BCA) in a variety of institutional and national settings. The Society welcomes abstracts and panel proposals on any topic related to improving the use of benefit-cost analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis, risk-benefit analysis, applied welfare economics, and damage assessment in policy settings, from scholars, practitioners, and others interested in these areas who wish to present research at the conference. Submit your abstract online now at http://benefitcostanalysis.org/abstract-submission-form.? Some examples of areas of interest including the following:

- Developing innovative analytic tools and testing their application in case studies
- Extending the use of BCA to new policy areas
- Improving the use BCA in decision making
- Interpreting research on happiness and life-satisfaction within the BCA framework
- Addressing the implications of behavioral economics for prediction and valuation
- Developing principles and standards for BCA
- Predicting costs and benefits and assessing distributional impacts
- Incorporating moral sentiments and equity considerations into BCA
- Considering the use of retrospective BCA in program evaluation and policy analysis
- Assessing the use of BCA in practice in the U.S. and other countries
- Communicating analytic results effectively
- Estimating shadow prices of potentially general use in BCA

Abstracts should be 200?300 words in length and provide adequate detail on the content of the research. Proposals for panels that include three to four speakers are also welcome, and should include a summary of the overall focus of the panel as well as a 200?300 word abstract for each presentation. Note that the program committee reserves the right to select the panel abstracts and to reorganize the panels as needed. Submission of a paper/panel is viewed as a firm commitment to participate in the conference if accepted.

Entries received after November 30,?2012, are not guaranteed consideration by the program committee.

For more information about the annual conference or the Society in general, please visit www.benefitcostanalysis.org or contact sbcainfo@uw.edu.

2013 Conference Program CommitteeDavid Weimer, Coordinator (University of Wisconsin), Joseph Cordes (The George Washington University), Lisa Robinson (Independent Consultant), Trudy Ann Cameron (University of Oregon), Clark Nardinelli (FDA), Kip Viscusi (Vanderbilt)

Source: http://www.envirovaluation.org/2012/11/call-for-papers-fifth-annual-conference.html

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Video: Blind patient reads words stimulated directly onto the retina

Friday, November 23, 2012

For the very first time researchers have streamed braille patterns directly into a blind patient's retina, allowing him to read four-letter words accurately and quickly with an ocular neuroprosthetic device. The device, the Argus II, has been implanted in over 50 patients, many of who can now see color, movement and objects. It uses a small camera mounted on a pair of glasses, a portable processor to translate the signal from the camera into electrical stimulation, and a microchip with electrodes implanted directly on the retina. The study was authored by researchers at Second Sight, the company who developed the device, and has been published in Frontiers in Neuroprosthetics on the 22nd of November.

"In this clinical test with a single blind patient, we bypassed the camera that is the usual input for the implant and directly stimulated the retina. Instead of feeling the braille on the tips of his fingers, the patient could see the patterns we projected and then read individual letters in less than a second with up to 89% accuracy," explains researcher Thomas Lauritzen, lead author of the paper.

Similar in concept to successful cochlear implants, the visual implant uses a grid of 60 electrodes?attached to the retina?to stimulate patterns directly onto the nerve cells. For this study, the researchers at Second Sight used a computer to stimulate six of these points on the grid to project the braille letters. A series of tests were conducted with single letters as well as words ranging in length from two letters up to four. The patient was shown each letter for half a second and had up to 80% accuracy for short words.

In this video, a patient reads words with the Argus II setup using the camera and not the direct braille stimulation. Credit: Second Sight

"There was no input except the electrode stimulation and the patient recognized the braille letters easily. This proves that the patient has good spatial resolution because he could easily distinguish between signals on different, individual electrodes." says Lauritzen.

According to Silvestro Micera at EPFL's Center for Neuroprosthetics and scientific reviewer for the article, "this study is a proof of concept that points to the importance of clinical experiments involving new neuroprosthetic devices to improve the technology and innovate adaptable solutions."

Primarily for sufferers of the genetic disease Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), the implant Argus II has been shown to restore limited reading capability of large conventional letters and short words when used with the camera. While reading should improve with future iterations of the Argus II, the current study shows how the Argus II could be adapted to provide an alternative and potentially faster method of text reading with the addition of letter recognition software. This ability to perform image processing in software prior to sending the signal to the implant is a unique advantage of Argus II.

###

Frontiers: http://www.frontiersin.org

Thanks to Frontiers for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/125440/Video__Blind_patient_reads_words_stimulated_directly_onto_the_retina

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Technology Meets Legal Practice at our Second Law and Practice ...

Who wouldn?t want to learn tactics for increasing productivity, or how to implement technology to improve office efficiency?

For most solo practitioners and small firms, the work of running an office is often just as challenging as their legal practice. So, we offered our second Law and Practice Update last weekend, focusing on everything a general practitioner needs to consider when making improvements to their practice.?The seminar included substantive content for the major practice areas as well as technology advice and strategy for the small firm.

And we were thrilled by the response of the participants. ?I have attended both of the Law and Practice Update courses and strongly recommend them to all solo and small firm practitioners,? says Eric Harvie, a solo practitioner from Banff. ?Last year, I implemented several of [legal technology expert] Barron Henley?s suggestions regarding law firm technology and saw an immediate increase in productivity. And every lawyer would learn something from courses like ?Help! My Inbox is Exploding? or ?Drowning in Paper: Paper Reduction Strategies for Lawyers.?

?It really is an excellent opportunity for lawyers to come together for two full days to learn not only updates in the law, but also technological strategies for running your business,? says seminar chair Darryl Aarbo of Courtney Aarbo in Calgary. ?The program accounts for upwards of 12 hours of CPD, and provides really hands-on, practical tips. I think the technology aspect is so valuable, because as we all know, technology is constantly changing, but in a busy practice we don?t necessarily have time to keep up with the changes. A seminar like this helps make it all really doable. I tell lawyers that if they?re going to attend just one seminar a year, this is the one to go to.?

There are other advantages to attending as well, including a number of LESA coupons for use towards our live events and resources, and the chance to connect with other lawyers and exhibitors. ?For us, this kind of seminar is a fantastic opportunity to meet people in the legal community,? says Rebecca Hyder, a customer development specialist with econveyance?, our conference Gold Sponsor and an exhibitor. ?The technology aspect really connects to what we do and what we?re trying to promote within the legal community, as our software handles all aspects of a real estate file. We?re new to the Alberta market ? we?ve only been here a couple of years ? so it?s great to talk to so many people who are interested in technology and who are applying it in their firms. And it?s a great chance to touch base with some of our clients as well.?

Did you miss this year?s Law and Practice Update? Keep watch for our next one. As Eric Harvie says, ?I will be back next year.?

Source: http://blog.lesaonline.org/?p=1017

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