Species split or speciasation" sounds like something out of a Nityanand video where the self-styled new-age guru assures a gathering of adoring followers that they were all a higher species than the rest of the homo sapiens. In a very different context, historian and philosopher Yuval Noah Harari wrote in his best-selling book, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, that unthinking globalization could result in the divergence of humankind into different biological castes . Economic inequality has always existed, but biotechnology could engineer bodies and brains for better physical and cognitive abilities. Of course, these will be expensive, causing humankind to split into biological castes. The two processes togetherbioengineering coupled with the rise of AImay result in the separation of humankind into a small class of superhumans, and a massive underclass of useless people." You can read the augment here: bit.ly/34xurEC

I remember reading this book a few years ago and shaking my head on this chapterit seems right out of a dystopian future movie script. But fast forward to today and suddenly, overnight, the world has to begin making choices that seemed impossible two months ago. According to several newspaper reports, this New York Times story in particular, the US is toying with the idea of using an anti-body testa blood test to show if the person has antibodies against covid-19to determine who goes back to work and school. This thought is not restricted to the US. The UK is thinking about immunity certificates" to get people back to work faster. Italy is also considering a a covid pass" for the uninfected.

If we take a step back from the current chaos, it does seem as if the world is being presented with choices it would much rather not make, but ones that will have far-reaching consequences on where we go in the future. Before the virus began affecting the young, there was debate on building herd immunity" by allowing the virus to run its course unchecked, with the old and the diseased more vulnerable, went the argument, the work force will be soon fit for work. The virus also made healthcare professionals in Italy take decisions that were unimaginable morally just two months beforeturn off the ventilator for those over a certain age to make them available for those who are younger. Some older people stepped forward and made this choice themselves .

The pandemic and the questions it throws up make this a good time to think through the choices we make and prepare the rules of the game for the next few 100 years. The post second world war rules of the game are frayed and well past their use-by date. How should we think through this question? Take the utilitarian routethe greatest good for the greatest numberand our decisions will be based on the percentage of the population that is old or young. Take the libertarian viewunfettered markets in the name of human freedomand we will have to decide on the economic value of each life, putting the young and those with the antibodies higher than those older and not immune. Take the basic human rights road and value each life equally? What about the need to redefine affirmative action to include the non-immune parts of the population or those with lower immunity? The direction we take will probably determine whether we move closer to Hararis dystopian biological caste world.

We need to judge Indias decision for a hard lockdown instead of keeping the country open for business in the context of these questions. Given that our healthcare system has been in a shambles for decades and cannot treat the projected 500 million people infected if the country did not social distance, or that the cost of the herd immunity" route will be millions dead, and that the lockdown has given both the state and central governments the elbow room to put basic infrastructure in place and to try and flatten the curve, it does look as if Indias decision has embedded in it the desire to protect every lifeimmune or not. It is a moral choice both central and state governments have made.

At a national level, the next choice will be who goes to work, study and travel. Will women, with a lower incidence and possibly a higher immunity, be allowed to work first? Will mass testing decide the ability to work? Our answers to these questions will determine the road we will take collectively. These scenarios will have a direct bearing on our employability and ability to earn money. Our financial future then depends on the decisions we take today for our health. If there ever was a time to get fit and not put work over health, it is now. Remember this time as we go back to work later this year and think of the choices ahead for governments as future events place us in even stranger places. The moral rules for the future will probably be laid out as we respond to this pandemicindividually and collectively.

Monika Halan is consulting editor at Mint and writes on household finance, policy and regulation

Continue reading here:
Opinion | Immunity certificates, the concept of speciasation and the future of work - Livemint

Fumaric Acid market report: A rundown

The Fumaric Acid markets business intelligence research comprehensively provides a brief of crucial facts consisting of the product catalog, analytical elaboration, and other industry-linked information.

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The following manufacturers are covered in this report:Yantai Hengyuan BioengineeringBartek IngredientsPolyntThirumalai ChemicalIsegenFuso ChemicalsJiangsu Jiecheng BioengineeringChangzhou Yabang ChemicalNIPPON SHOKUBAISealong BiotechnologyChangmao Biochemical EngineeringSuzhou Youhe Science and TechnologyXST Biological

Fumaric Acid Breakdown Data by TypeFood-GradeTechnical-GradeFumaric Acid Breakdown Data by ApplicationFood & BeveragesRosin Paper SizesUnsaturated Polyester ResinAlkyd ResinsOthers

Fumaric Acid Production Breakdown Data by RegionUnited StatesEuropeChinaJapanOther Regions

Fumaric Acid Consumption Breakdown Data by RegionNorth AmericaUnited StatesCanadaMexicoAsia-PacificChinaIndiaJapanSouth KoreaAustraliaIndonesiaMalaysiaPhilippinesThailandVietnamEuropeGermanyFranceUKItalyRussiaRest of EuropeCentral & South AmericaBrazilRest of South AmericaMiddle East & AfricaGCC CountriesTurkeyEgyptSouth AfricaRest of Middle East & Africa

The study objectives are:To analyze and research the global Fumaric Acid capacity, production, value, consumption, status and forecast;To focus on the key Fumaric Acid manufacturers and study the capacity, production, value, market share and development plans in next few years.To focuses on the global key manufacturers, to define, describe and analyze the market competition landscape, SWOT analysis.To define, describe and forecast the market by type, application and region.To analyze the global and key regions market potential and advantage, opportunity and challenge, restraints and risks.To identify significant trends and factors driving or inhibiting the market growth.To analyze the opportunities in the market for stakeholders by identifying the high growth segments.To strategically analyze each submarket with respect to individual growth trend and their contribution to the market.To analyze competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches, and acquisitions in the market.To strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their growth strategies.

In this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Fumaric Acid :History Year: 2014-2018Base Year: 2018Estimated Year: 2019Forecast Year 2019 to 2025For the data information by region, company, type and application, 2018 is considered as the base year. Whenever data information was unavailable for the base year, the prior year has been considered.

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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. With a new CRISPR gene-editing methodology, scientists from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign inactivated one of the genes responsible for an inherited form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis a debilitating and fatal neurological disease for which there is no cure. The novel treatment slowed disease progression, improved muscle function and extended lifespan in mice with an aggressive form of ALS.

ALS unfortunately has few treatment options. This is an important first step in showing that this new form of gene editing could be used to potentially treat the disease, said bioengineering professor Thomas Gaj, who co-led the study with bioengineering professor Pablo Perez-Pinera.

The method relied on an emerging gene-editing technology known as CRISPR base editors.

Traditional CRISPR gene-editing technologies cut both strands of a DNA molecule, which can introduce a variety of errors in the DNA sequence, limiting its efficiency and potentially leading to a number of unintended mutations in the genome. The Illinois group instead used base editing to change one letter of the DNA sequence to another without cutting through both DNA strands, Perez-Pinera said.

Base editors are too large to be delivered into cells with one of the most promising and successful gene therapy vectors, known as adeno-associated virus, Gaj said. However, in 2019, Perez-Pineras group developed a method of splitting the base editor proteins into halves that can be delivered by two separate AAV particles. Once inside the cell, the halves reassemble into the full-length base editor protein.

By combining the power of AAV gene delivery and split-base editors, Gaj and Perez-Pinera targeted and permanently disabled a mutant SOD1 gene, which is responsible for roughly 20% of inherited forms of ALS. They published their results in the journal Molecular Therapy.

Many ALS studies are focused on preventing or delaying the onset of the disease. However, in the real world, most patients are not diagnosed until symptoms are advanced, said graduate student Colin Lim. Slowing progression, rather than preventing it, may have a greater impact on patients. Lim is the co-first author of the study along with graduate students Michael Gapinske and Alexandra Brooks.

CRISPR base editing decreased the amount of a mutant protein (blue) that contributes to ALS in the spinal cord. Left, a spinal cord section from an untreated mouse. Right, a spinal cord section from an animal treated by base editing.

Image courtesy of Thomas Gaj

Edit embedded media in the Files Tab and re-insert as needed.

The researchers first tested the SOD1 base editor in human cells to verify reassembly of the split CRISPR base editor and inactivation of the SOD1 gene. Then they injected AAV particles encoding the base editors into the spinal columns of mice carrying a mutant SOD1 gene that causes a particularly severe form of ALS that paralyzes the mice within a few months after birth.

The disease progressed more slowly in treated mice, which had improved motor function, greater muscle strength and less weight loss. The researchers observed an 85% increase in time between the onset of the late stage of the disease and the end stage, as well as increased overall survival.

We were excited to find that many of the improvements happened well after the onset of the disease. This told us that we were slowing the progression of the disorder, Gapinske said.

The base editor introduces a stop signal near the start of the SOD1 gene, so it has the advantage of stopping the cell from making the malfunctioning protein no matter which genetic mutation a patient has. However, it potentially disrupts the healthy version of the gene, so the researchers are exploring ways to target the genes mutant copy.

Moving forward, we are thinking about how we can bring this and other gene-editing technologies to the clinic so that we can someday treat ALS in patients, Gaj said. For that, we have to develop new strategies capable of targeting all of the cells involved in the disease. We also have to further evaluate the efficiency and safety of this approach in other clinically relevant models.

The split base editor approach has potential for treating other diseases with a genetic basis as well, Perez-Pinera said. Though ALS was the first demonstration of the tool, his group has studies underway applying it to Duchenne muscular dystrophy and spinal muscular atrophy.

The Muscular Dystrophy Association, the Judith and Jean Pape Adams Foundation, the American Heart Association and the National Institutes of Health supported this work. Gaj and Perez-Pinera are affiliated with the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology at Illinois. Perez-Pinera also is affiliated with the Carle Illinois College of Medicine and the Cancer Center at Illinois.

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New CRISPR base-editing technology slows ALS progression in mice - University of Illinois News

The global Wearable Healthcare Devices and Services Market size was valued at USD 10.3 billion in 2019 and is expected to witness a CAGR of +26% over the forecast period.

Wearable Healthcare Devices and Services Industry qyreports focuses Market Size, Share, Growth and Forecast to 2026. This Market qyreports primarily based upon factors on which the companies compete in the market and this factor which is useful and valuable to the business.

Wearable Healthcare Devices and Services actually means -Healthcare Wearable health care devices are small electronic products, often consisting of one or more sensors, and having computational capability. They are embedded into items that are attach to the body parts, such as head, feet, arms, wrists and waist.And it also includes consumer wearable electronic devices such as Fit bit and smart watches and is designed to collect your personal health and exercise data.

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Apple, Fitbit, Google, Samsung, 3L Labs, 9 Solutions, Amiigo, BTS Bioengineering, Cool Shirt Systems, Esko Bionics, Finis, Fitbug, Force Impact Technologies, Geopalz, IMEC, KMS, Moticon, Myontec, Netatmo, Nuubo, Owlet, Phyode, Pixie Scientific, Preventice, RSLSTEEPER, Sensecore, Sensible Baby, Sentimoto, Seraphim Sense, Sproulting, Sunfriend, Touch Bionics, Vancive Medical Technologies, Xybermind, and Zoll Medical.

The scope of the Wearable Healthcare Devices and Services market report is as follows the report provides information on growth segments and opportunities for investment and Benchmark performance against key competitors. Geographically, the global mobile application market has been segmented into four regions such as United States, North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia, India and the rest of the world.

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The antimicrobial properties in the honey appear to be due to a compound found within the honey called methylglyoxal, according to an investigation conducted at Newcastle University in the U.K.. Having identified the specific compound, this could enable researchers to use the compound in medical devices in order to promote wound healing. An example of such a device is a surgical mesh. The reason for focusing on devices like a mesh is while a mesh is needed to provide support for tissue regeneration, the design of the mesh also provides opportunity for bacterial biofilms to develop, which increases the chances of a patient becoming infected.Mnuka honey is a monofloral honey produced from the nectar of the mnuka tree, Leptospermum scoparium. To assess the compound, a study was set up whereby nanolayers of Manuka honey were carefully inserted between layers of a polymer. Following this, an electrostatic nanocoating was produced (with the field created between the honey, which has a negative charge, and the polymer, which carries a positive charge). A simulation of wound healing was conducted, whereby the honey was allowed to be slowly released over a three week period. This was demonstrated to inhibit bacterial growth over the study period. Further work trying different layers of the honey were attempted, with the most effective quantity found to be what the researchers are calling a 16-layered 'charged sandwich'. Commenting on the study, lead researcher Dr. Piergiorgio Gentile states: These results are really very exciting. Honey has been used to treat infected wounds for thousands of years but this is the first time it has been shown to be effective at fighting infection in cells from inside the body." The researcher also states that the use of the honey in this way represents one of the most effective antimicrobial materials that have been tried to date. While effective, the properties have, so far, only been tested out in culture against the bacteria Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Further work will need to conducted against an animal model. The research, outing the success of combining a naturally occurring antimicrobial material with nanotechnology, has been reported to the journal Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology. The research paper is titled Potential of Manuka Honey as a Natural Polyelectrolyte to Develop Biomimetic Nanostructured Meshes With Antimicrobial Properties.

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Healing powers of Manuka honey explored in new study - Digital Journal

UTD researchers hope to push drug research forward bydeveloping technology that mimics the human eye, to provide some insight on howexactly the eye heals.

Researchers in the department of bioengineering at UTD areworking in collaboration with UT Southwestern Medical Center on the project.Professor of bioengineering and principal investigator David Schmidtke saidsmall ropelike bundles of collagen called fibrils and their aligned crisscrossarrangement in the eye is believed to have an effect on the healing of injuredeye tissue.

What were trying to do is create an in-vitro platform thatcan answer some of these questions, Schmidtke said. If we can mimic thestructure of these collagen fibrils and then combine them with growth factorsand grow cells on them, we can then see how important the alignment is to thesefibrils.

The experiment employed the use of microfluidic devices,small plastic pieces with thin hair-like channels that allow fluid to passthrough them, Schmidtke said. Graduate research assistant Kevin Lam said heworked on developing a substrate, a surface for the chemical reaction, thatwould mimic the structure of the cornea and provide a surface on which to placethe collagen fibrils.

In order to do that, we employed a microfluidic device thatwould attach over glass, Lam said. Then from that we infused a collagensolution.

A cold collagen solution was infused through themicrofluidic device while the device was on a hot plate, Lam said. This formedan aligned collagen fibril on top of the glass substrate he developed.

In normal wound healing, Schmitdke said, the keratocytes,which play a key role in maintaining the structure of the cornea, help repairinjury, leading to recovered normal vision. In abnormal wound healing, scartissue forms, impairing vision. The keratocytes are wedged between crisscrossinglayers of fibrils in the cornea, Schmidtke said.

Its thought that in wound healing, that keratocytes gettransformed, Schmidtke said. Whether you have normal wound healing, whereyouget your vision back versus scarring its thought that the topography orthe structures of these aligned fibrils plays an important role.

Possible applications of the research, Schmidtke said wouldbe to test the effects of certain drugs on eye healing.

Right now, its being used to understand some of the biologyof the cornea. Assuming that its an accurate mimic, then potentially you couldstart doing some drug screening assays, he said. If the cells behave similarto what they would do in vivo, then you can start looking at how drugs affectthe wound healing process.

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Researchers Develop Eye Healing Model - THE MERCURY - The UTD Mercury

Our graduates join and leadinterdisciplinary teams of engineers, scientists and clinicians to solve fundamental problems in the world around us.Temple's Bioengineering Department has a strong focus on understanding human physiology and pathophysiology as well as the associated diseases and injuries.

Bioengineers graduating from our programs have a solid foundation in both engineering and life sciences, as well as a strong sense for translational bioengineering research. Our courses and our research helps to trainstudentsto understand and employ basic and applied knowledge from diverse areas of engineering and sciences, such as thermodynamics, biomechanics, bioinformatics, bioimaging, bioprocessing, fluid mechanics, polymer chemistry, biomaterials and tissue engineering. These students alsogain an understanding of cellular, molecular and regenerative engineering.

The department aims to use engineering to solve and improve in areas such asinnovative medical devices and diagnostic equipment, smart biomaterials, novel bioimaging modalities to detect and predict diseases such as cancer.Our bioengineering research and well trained bioengineers aim to thesolve fundamental problems in the world around us andimprove the quality of global health care and the standard of living throughout the world.

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Bioengineering Department | Temple University College of ...

"We are excited to have reached this important milestone in the clinical evaluation of INXN-4001 for treatment of end-stage heart failure," stated Amit Patel, MD, MS, Co-Founder and Medical Director of TripleGene. "Heart failure rarely results from a single genetic defect, and while single gene therapy approaches have been studied, these treatments may not fully address the causes of the disease. Our unique multigenic approach is designed to stimulate biological activity targeting multiple points in the disease progression pathway."

Triple-Gene's investigational therapy uses non-viral delivery of a constitutively expressed multigenic plasmid designed to express human S100A1, SDF-1, and VEGF165 gene products, which affect progenitor cell recruitment, angiogenesis, and calcium handling, respectively, and target the underlying molecular mechanisms of pathological myocardial remodeling. The plasmid therapy is delivered via RCSI which allows for cardiac-specific delivery to the ventricle.

"Heart failure is the leading cause of death worldwide and represents a significant and growing global health problem. Aside from heart transplant and LVAD, current treatment options for those patients with end-stage disease are limited," commented Timothy Henry, MD, FACC, MSCAI, Medical Director of the Carl and Edyth Lindner Center for Research and Education at The Christ Hospital and a member of the Triple-Gene Medical Advisory Board. "The INXN4001 investigational therapy represents a biologically-based method focused on repairing the multiple malfunctions of cardiomyocytes, and I look forward to seeing the results of this initial safety study and further exploring the promise of this innovative treatment approach."

Triple-Gene will present preliminary data from the Phase 1 study at theAmerican Heart Association Scientific Sessionsat the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. A poster titled "Safety of First in Human Triple-Gene Therapy Candidate for Heart Failure Patients" will be presented on Sunday, November 17thfrom 3:00 pm - 3:30 pm ETin Zone 4 of the Science and Technology Hall.

About the Phase 1 Trial of INXN-4001INXN-4001 is being evaluated in a Phase I open label study in adult patients with implanted Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD). The study is designed to investigate the safety and feasibility of supplemental cardiac expression of S100A1, SDF-1 and VEGF-165 from a single, multigenic plasmid delivered via Retrograde Coronary Sinus Infusion (RCSI) in stable patients implanted with a LVAD for mechanical support of end-stage heart failure. Twelve stable patients with an implanted LVAD were allocated into 2 cohorts (6 subjects each) to evaluate the safety and feasibility of infusing 80mg of INXN4001 in either a 40mL (Cohort 1) or 80mL (Cohort 2) volume. The primary endpoint of safety and feasibility is assessed at the 6-month endpoint. Daily activity data are also collected throughout the study using a wearable biosensor. Dosing on both Cohorts 1 and 2 has been completed, and patients continue follow-up per protocol.

About Triple-GeneTriple-Gene LLC is a clinical stage gene therapy company focused on advancing targeted, controllable, and multigenic gene therapies for the treatment of complex cardiovascular diseases. The Company's lead product is a non-viral investigational gene therapy candidate that drives expression of three candidate effector genes involved in heart failure. Triple-Gene is a majority owned subsidiary ofIntrexon Corporation(NASDAQ: XON) co-founded by Amit Patel, MD, MS, and Thomas D. Reed, PhD, Founder and Chief Science Officer of Intrexon. Learn more about Triple-Gene atwww.3GTx.com.

About Intrexon CorporationIntrexon Corporation (NASDAQ: XON) is Powering the Bioindustrial Revolution with Better DNAto create biologically-based products that improve the quality of life and the health of the planet through two operating units Intrexon Health and Intrexon Bioengineering. Intrexon Health is focused on addressing unmet medical needs through a diverse spectrum of therapeutic modalities, including gene and cell therapies, microbial bioproduction, and regenerative medicine. Intrexon Bioengineering seeks to address global challenges across food, agriculture, environmental, energy, and industrial fields by advancing biologically engineered solutions to improve sustainability and efficiency. Our integrated technology suite provides industrial-scale design and development of complex biological systems delivering unprecedented control, quality, function, and performance of living cells. We call our synthetic biology approach Better DNA, and we invite you to discover more atwww.dna.comor follow us on Twitter at@Intrexon, onFacebook, andLinkedIn.

TrademarksIntrexon, Powering the Bioindustrial Revolution with Better DNA,and Better DNA are trademarks of Intrexon and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

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Triple-Gene Announces Completion of Enrollment and Dosing in Phase 1 Trial of INXN4001, First Multigenic Investigational Therapeutic Candidate for...

Researchers at Columbia University have found a way to bioengineer aworking lung a very complex structure with a viable and intactblood vessel network that can support studies of lung cell repair and stem cell transplants, aiding both research into lung diseases and, potentially, the availability of donor lungs.

The team, led by Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic, director of the Laboratory for Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering, recently published itfindings inthe journal Science Advances in a study titled Functional vascularized lung grafts for lung bioengineering.

We developed a radically new approach to bioengineering of the lung, Vunjak-Novakovic, who is also aprofessor of medical sciences at Columbia, said in a news release.

With more than 40 different cell types and a large airway and vasculature surface area, the lung is an incredibly complex organ. It has been a challenge to find ways to promote lung repair to treat advanced lung diseases, the third leading cause of death worldwide.

In contrast toprevious bioengineering projects that required an extensive reconstruction of the lungs vasculature, theteamshowed itis possible to recreate the pulmonary epithelium while preserving its main structural elements, including such supporting such as fibroblasts, myocytes, chondrocytes, and pericytes. The epithelium is tissue that lines the cavities and surfaces of organs and blood vessels.

We reasoned that an ideal lung scaffold would need to have perfusable and healthy vasculature, and so we developed a method that maintains fully functional lung vasculature while we remove defective epithelial lining of the airways and replace it with healthy therapeutic cells, Vunjak-Novakovic said. This ability to selectively treat the pulmonary epithelium is important, as most lung conditions are diseases of the epithelium.

The research team used an ex vivo lung perfusion system (EVLP) in a rodent, and delivered to the lung a mild detergent solution to remove lung tissue-specific cells while protecting the remaining structures and other types of cells.

EVLP works in ways similar to theextracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) system used to support patients incardiovascular and respiratory failure. EMCObypasses the lungs to provide the body with necessary oxygen and promote gas exchange in an externally controlled system.

Using its system, the team created a lung scaffold with functional bronchial and vascular architecture. These structures were able to support the attachment and growth of human adult and stem cell-derived pulmonary cells.

Researchers think the bioengineered lung model can help with lung repair, andalso help to improve the number of transplantable lungs by makingdonor lungsmore resilient and durable, said Matthew Bacchetta, at associate professor of surgery at the Columbia University Medical Center, and astudyco-author.

The team is nowtesting itsapproach to study lung development and repair in disease, andto develop new targeted therapeutics. They are also focused on developing new imaging-guided lung evaluation strategies for clinical applications.

This research project was supported by a $8.2 million, seven-year grant from the National Institutes of Healththat aims to support research into the mechanisms and treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a serious lung disease.

This is a major step forward in bioengineering lungs, Vunjak-Novakovic said. The creation of de-epithelialized whole lungs with functional vasculature may open new frontiers in lung bioengineering and regenerative medicine.

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Working Lung Model with Intact Vasculature Likely to Aid Research, Lung Transplants - Lung Disease News

KIRKLAND, QC, Sept. 6, 2017 /CNW/ -Ortho Regenerative Technologies Inc. ("Ortho RTi" or the "Company"), an emerging Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Technology company, wishes to congratulate its Chief Scientific Officer, Michael Buschmann, PhD, on his recent appointment as Bioengineering Chair, Professor and Eminent Scholar (an award from Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology) at George Mason University ("Mason") in Fairfax, VA.

Dr. Buschmann's selection as the next chair of Bioengineering at Mason resulted from a highly competitive and rigorous recruitment process. Prior to his appointment, Dr. Buschmann established and led a multidisciplinary research program at Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal, QC, focusing on the use of biomaterials to repair cartilage, meniscus and bone and to deliver plasmid DNA and small interfering RNA.

Dr. Buschmann earned his PhD in 1992 in Medical Engineering and Medical Physics from the Massuchusetts Institute of Technology in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology and conducted his postdoctoral studies at the ME Mueller Institute of Biomechanics, University of Bern, Switzerland. He became a faculty member at cole Polytechnique in 1994, becoming a full professor in 2001. His research achievements include over 150 peer-reviewed articles, over 330 conference proceedings, 5 book chapters, over 75 invited presentations, 19 patent applications (7 granted), over 12,000 citations, and an h-index of 56. He has graduated 20 PhD students, 17 MSc students, and supervised 14 postdoctoral fellows. During his academic career at cole Polytechnique, he obtained over $50 million in external research funding as principal investigator.

Dr. Buschmann's research work has been recognized by 19 prizes/awards and his abilities as an educator have earned him 6 teaching awards at cole Polytechnique. Dr. Buschmann has received numerous awards for his research, including the prestigious Canada Research Chair Tier 1 in 2001 and in 2008, the Melville Medal of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering ("ASME") in 1997, and Article of the Year for ASME Journal of Biomedical Engineering in 1996. In addition to Ortho RTi, Dr. Buschmann has been the driving force behind several biotech startup companies as founder or principal inventor.

"On behalf of the Board and staff at Orthi RTi, I would like to congratulate Michael on this prestigious appointment, said the Company's Executive Chairman and CEO, Dr. Brent Norton. "It is very well deserved. Michael is a world-class researcher who has made fundamental and translational contributions to the fields of biomechanics, biomaterials, and nanomedicine. On a personal note, I look forward to continuing to work with him to bring products based on Ortho RTi's proprietary biopolymer platform successfully to market."

About Ortho Regenerative Technologies Inc.

Ortho RTi is an emerging Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine technology company dedicated to the development of novel therapeutic tissue repair devices to dramatically improve the success rate of sports medicine surgeries. We are committed to improving patients' lives through increasing the success rates of surgeries for soft tissue injuries. Our proprietary biopolymer has been specifically designed to increase the healing rates of sports related injuries to ligaments, tendons and cartilage. The polymer can be directly placed into the site of injury by a surgeon during a routine operative procedure without significantly extending the time of the surgery and without further intervention. Visit us on the internet at http://www.orthorti.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release may contain certain forward-looking statements regarding the Corporation's expectations for future events. Such expectations are based on certain assumptions that are founded on currently available information. If these assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include, amongst others, uncertainty as to the final result and other risks. The Corporation disclaims any intention or obligation to publicly update or revise any forward- looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by security laws.

SOURCE Ortho Regenerative Technologies Inc.

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Ortho Regenerative Technologies' CSO, Michael Buschmann, PhD, Appointed Bioengineering Chair at George Mason ... - Markets Insider

For Rice University degree-granting programs:To view the list of official course offerings, please see Rices Course CatalogTo view the most recent semesters course schedule, please see Rice's Course Schedule

BIOE 202 - CAREERS IN BIOENGINEERING

Description: This seminar is suitable for freshman, sophomores, and non-majors. A series of guest lectures will introduce students to a variety of career options in bioengineering. Students will participate in at least one field trip to an industry partner or hospital to learn more about careers in bioengineering.

BIOE 252 - BIOENGINEERING FUNDAMENTALS

Description: Introduction to material, energy, charge, and momentum balances in biological systems. Steady state and transient conservation equations for mass, energy, charge and momentum will be derived and applied using basic mathematical principles, physical laws, stoichiometry, and thermodynamic properties. Problem based learning groups will solve open-ended problems. Required for students intending to major in bioengineering. MATH211 is a concurrent prerequisite and may be taken the same semester.

BIOE 302 - SYSTEMS PHYSIOLOGY

Description: This course will teach the fundamentals of human physiology with a specific focus on the nervous, cardiovascular, respiratory, and urinary systems. Basic introductory engineering principles will be applied to the study of physiological systems. The course is aimed to be accessible to students with non-engineering backgrounds. Students may receive credit for only one of BIOE302, BIOE322, and BIOC332. Cross-list: BIOC332. Mutually Exclusive: Credit cannot be earned for BIOE302 and BIOE322.

BIOE 307 - SYSTEMS BIOLOGY OF BLOOD VESSELS

Description: How blood vessels respond to hypoxia is a process critical to the progression of many diseases and conditions including cardiovascular disease, cancer, cerebrovascular disease, diabetes, obesity and arthritis. Physiological processes such as exercise, aging, and wound healing also depend on hypoxia-induced microvessel changes. This course introduces engineering concepts of hypoxic response, angiogenesis, and capillary remodeling - from the effects at the intracellular level to the whole body. Topics covered include computational systems biology modeling of hypoxia and angiogenesis, the use of angiogenesis in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, imaging of blood vessel dynamics, capillaries of the brain, and the design of new blood vessels. Graduate/Undergraduate Equivalency: BIOE507. Mutually Exclusive: Credit cannot be earned for BIOE307 and BIOE507.

BIOE 320 - SYSTEMS PHYSIOLOGY LAB MODULE

Description: Exploration of physiologic systems through measurement of biologic signals. EEG, ECG, EMG pulmonary function tests, etc. are performed and analyzed. Students will explore physiologic concepts through computer simulations, data collection, and analysis. Enrollment in or completion of BIOE322/BIOC332 is expected and maybe taken the same semester as BIOE320. For students intending to major in Bioengineering. Instructor Permission Required.

BIOE 321 - CELLULAR ENGINEERING

Description: Introduction to engineering principles and modeling regulation and circuitry at the cellular level. Topics include genetic metabolic networks and cell surface interactions.

BIOE 322 - FUNDAMENTALS OF SYSTEMS PHYSIOLOGY

Description: This course will teach the fundamentals of human physiology from an engineering perspective, with specific focus on the nervous, cardiovascular, respiratory and urinary systems. Lectures, assignments and exams will be quantitative and will introduce engineering principles, such as conservation of mass and energy, controls and system analysis, thermodynamics and mass transport, and apply them to the study of physiologic systems. This course is limited to undergraduates. Students may receive credit for only one of BIOE302, BIOE322, and BIOC332 Mutually Exclusive: Credit cannot be earned for BIOE322 and BIOC332/BIOE302.

BIOE 330 - BIOREACTION ENGINEERING

Description: Application of engineering principles to biological processes. Mathematical and experimental techniques for quantitative descriptions of enzyme kinetics, metabolic and genetic networks, cell growth kinetics, bioreactor design and operation.

BIOE 332 - BIOENGINEERING THERMODYNAMICS

Description: This course provides a mathematically rigorous and quantitative coverage of the fundamentals of thermodynamics with applications drawn from contemporary bioengineering problems. Fundamental topics will include the Zeroth, First and Second Law, Entropy Inequality, Gibbs and Helmholtz Free Energies, The Third Law, Maxwell Relations, chemical potential, equilibrium, phase transitions, solution thermodynamics, protein-ligand binding and statistical mechanics. Advanced topics will include transcription factor-DNA binding, nucleic acid hybridization, translation initiation and genetic circuits. The course will cover the role that thermodynamics plays in molecular engineering and synthetic biology.

BIOE 342 - LABORATORY IN TISSUE CULTURE

Description: Introduction to tissue culture techniques, including cell passage, cell viability, and cell attachment and proliferation assays. Students complete quantitative analysis of their data. Engineering design and applications are featured in graded work. Sections 1 and 2 are taught during the first half of the semester. Sections 3 and 4 are taught during the second half of the semester. Students may be required to attend lab on a university holiday. Instructor Permission Required. Cross-list: BIOC320.

BIOE 348 - MOLECULAR TECHNIQUES IN BIOENGINEERING

Description: Introduction to the fundamental physical principles of light interaction with matter, separation (by charge, size, confirmation) and detection techniques utilized in the field of bioengineering. These include absorbance and fluorescence spectroscopy, light and fluorescence microscopy, flow cytometry, electrophoresis, PCR, Blotting, and ELISA. BIOE342/BIOC320 may be taken concurrently with BIOE348.

BIOE 360 - APPROPRIATE DESIGN FOR GLOBAL HEALTH

Description: Seminar-style introductory design course covering epidemiology, pathophysiology, health systems, health economics, medical ethics, humanitarian emergencies, scientific and engineering design methods, and appropriate health technology case studies. To register, you must be enrolled in the GLHT minor and submit a 250 statement to beyondtraditionalborders@rice.edu by Monday of preregistration. The minor and course prerequisite is waived for students majoring in Bioengineering. Instructor Permission Required. Cross-list: GLHT360.

BIOE 361 - METABOLIC ENGINEERING FOR GLOBAL HEALTH ENVIRONMENTS

Description: Importance of nutritional and pharmaceutical compounds, impact of cost of compounds on global health; Overview of biochemical pathways; metabolite analysis; Genetic engineering and molecular biology tools for ME; Pharmaceuticals and drug discovery approaches (antibiotics, antivirals; anti-parasite compounds); anti-diarrhea treatments; vaccines. Cross-list: BIOC361, GLHT361.

BIOE 365 - SUSTAINABLE WATER PURIFICATION FOR THE DEVELOPING WORLD

Description: This course is an overview of sustainable strategies for safe water supply in off-the-grid, low-income regions. Topics covered include water quality and treatment, sustainability and WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene). A major element of the course is a project to solve a water-related issue in a real-world context. Cross-list: CEVE314, GLHT314. Repeatable for Credit.

BIOE 370 - BIOMATERIALS

Description: This course will introduce both basic materials science and biological concepts with an emphasis on application of basic quantitative engineering principles to understanding the interactions between materials and biological systems. Topics covered include chemical structure of biomaterials, physical, mechanical, and surface properties of biomaterials, biomaterial degradation, and biomaterial processing. Additional topics include protein and cell interactions with biomaterials, biomaterial implantation, and acute inflammation, wound healing and the presence of biomaterials immune responses to biomaterials, biomaterials, immune responses to biomaterials, biomaterials and thrombosis, as well as infection, tumorigenesis, and calcification of biomaterials that can collectively apply to design of biomaterials for myriad applications. MECH211 or CEVE211 may be taken concurrently with BIOE370.

BIOE 372 - BIOMECHANICS

Description: This course introduces the fundamental principles of mechanics applied to the analysis and characterization of biological systems. Topics covered include normal and shear stresses, normal and shear strains, mechanical properties of materials, load, deformation, elasticity and elastoplastic behavior. Quantitative analysis of statically determinate and indeterminate structures subjected to tension, compression, torsion and bending will be covered. Additionally, aspects of blood rheology, viscoelasticity, and musculoskeletal mechanics will be addressed.

BIOE 380 - INTRODUCTION TO NEUROENGINEERING: MEASURING AND MANIPULATING NEURAL ACTIVITY

Description: This course will serve as an introduction to quantitative modeling of neural activity and the methods used to stimulate and record brain activity. Cross-list: ELEC380, NEUR383. Mutually Exclusive: Credit cannot be earned for BIOE380 and BIOE 480/BIOE 590/ELEC 480/ELEC 580.

BIOE 381 - FUNDAMENTALS OF NERVE AND MUSCLE ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY

Description: An introduction to cellular electrophysiology. Includes development of whole-cell models for neurons and muscle (cardiac and skeletal muscle) cells, based on ion channel currents obtained from whole-cell voltage-clamp experiments. Material balance equations are developed for various ions and chemical signaling agents (e.g., second messengers). Numerical methods are introduced for solving the ordinary and partial differential equations associated with these models. Several types of cell models are discussed ranging from neurons and muscle cells to sensory cells of mechanoreceptors, auditory hair cells and photoreceptor cells. Volume conductor boundary-value problems frequently encountered in electrophysiology are posed. Course provides a cellular basis for the interpretation of macroscopic bioelectric signals such as the electrocardiogram (ECG), electromyogram (EMG), electroretinogram (ERG) and electroencephalogram. Cross-list: ELEC381.

BIOE 383 - BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING INSTRUMENTATION

Description: This is an introductory level course on fundamentals of biomedical engineering instrumentation and analysis. Topics include measurement principles; fundamental concepts in electronics including circuit analysis, data acquisition, amplifiers, filters and A/D converters; Fourier analysis; temperature, pressure, and flow measurements in biological systems.

BIOE 385 - BIOMEDICAL INSTRUMENTATION LAB

Description: Students will gain hands on experience with building biomedical instrumentation circuits and systems. Students will learn the basics of lab view programming and signal analysis. Instructor Permission Required.

BIOE 391 - NUMERICAL METHODS

Description: Introduction to numerical approximation techniques with bioengineering applications. Topics include error propagation, Taylor's Series expansions curre fitting, roots of equations, optimization numerical differentiation and integration, ordinary differential equations, and partial differential equations. Matlab and other software will be used for solving equations. Math 212 may be taken concurrently with BIOE391.

BIOE 392 - NEEDS FINDING AND DEVELOPMENT IN BIOENGINEERING

Description: Students in this course will learn and develop the engineering skill of needs finding in the field of bioengineering focused on designing for disabilities. Students will work in groups with patients with disabilities to identify daily needs and develop design criteria to meet those needs including preliminary prototype development. Instructor Permission Required. Cross-list: GLHT392.

BIOE 400 - ENGINEERING UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH

Description: Independent investigation of a specific topic or problem in modern bioengineering research under the direction of a selected faculty member. Research project has a strong engineering component. Repeatable for Credit.

BIOE 401 - UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH

Description: Independent investigation of a specific topic or problem in modern bioengineering research under the direction of a selected faculty member. Repeatable for Credit.

BIOE 403 - ADVANCES IN BIONANOTECHNOLOGY

Description: This course covers nanotechnology applications in bioengineering. Students learn about cutting edge research that uses the tools of nanotechnology to tackle medical problems. Topics include bionanotechnology - related research for diagnosis, detection, and treatment of disease; cell targeting; drug design and delivery; gene therapy; prostheses and implants and tissue regeneration. (REGISTRATION NOTE: The prerequisite BIOE370 can also be taken concurrently with BIOE403)

BIOE 408 - SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY

Description: Design of biology at scales from molecules to multicellular organisms will be covered by lecture, primary literature, and student presentations. Students will execute a team based design challenge. Graduate/Undergraduate Equivalency: BIOE508. Mutually Exclusive: Credit cannot be earned for BIOE408 and BIOE508.

BIOE 419 - INNOVATION LAB FOR MOBILE HEALTH

Description: This course will be an innovation lab for mobile health products. The students will organize themselves in groups with complementary skills and work on a single project for the whole semester. The aim will be to develop a product prototype which can then be demonstrated to both medical practitioners and potential investors. For successful projects with an operational prototype, the next steps could be applying for OWLspark (Rice accelerator program) or crowd sourcing (like Kickstarter) and/or work in Scalable Health Labs over summer. ELEC Juniors can also continue the project outcomes as a starting point for their senior design. Cross-list: ELEC419. Graduate/Undergraduate Equivalency: BIOE534. Mutually Exclusive: Credit cannot be earned for BIOE419 and BIOE534. Repeatable for Credit.

BIOE 420 - TRANSPORT PHENOMENA IN BIOENGINEERING

Description: BIOE/CHBE420 covers transport phenomena as applied to biological systems and biomedical devices. Conservation of momentum and mass equations are first derived and then used to analyze transport of momentum and mass in biology, physiology, and in biomedical devices. This course is designed for senior bioengineering students. Cross-list: CHBE420.

BIOE 421 - MICROCONTROLLER APPLICATONS

Description: This class covers the usage of microcontrollers in a laboratory setting. We will start with basic electronics and, in the lab component, design, program, and build systems utilizing widely-available microcontrollers (e.g. Arduino, Raspberry Pi). Units in motion control, sensors (light, temperature, humidity, UV/Vis absorbance), and actuation (pneumatics, gears, and motors) will provide students with functional knowledge to design and prototype their own experimental systems for laboratory-scale automation. Instructor Permission Required. Graduate/Undergraduate Equivalency: BIOE521. Mutually Exclusive: Credit cannot be earned for BIOE421 and BIOE521.

BIOE 422 - GENE THERAPY

Description: This course will examine the gene therapy field, with topics ranging from gene delivery to vectors to ethics of gene therapy. The design principles for engineering improved gene delivery vectors, both viral and nonviral, will be discussed. The course will culminate in a design project focused on engineering a gene delivery device for a specific therapeutic application. Graduate/Undergraduate Equivalency: BIOE522. Mutually Exclusive: Credit cannot be earned for BIOE422 and BIOE522.

BIOE 431 - BIOMATERIALS APPLICATIONS

Description: Emphasis will be placed on issues regarding the design, synthesis, evaluation, regulation and clinical translation of biomaterials for specific applications. An overview of significant biomaterials engineering applications will be given, including topics such as ophthalmologic, orthopedic, cardiovascular and drug delivery applications, with attention to specific case studies. Regulatory issues concerning biomaterial will also be addressed. Assignments for this class will include frequent readings of the scientific literature with occasional homework questions, one midterm and cumulative final, a group project, a seminar report and individual presentations. Graduate/Undergraduate Equivalency: BIOE631. Mutually Exclusive: Credit cannot be earned for BIOE431 and BIOE631.

BIOE 439 - APPLIED STATISTICS FOR BIOENGINEERING AND BIOTECHNOLOGY

Description: Course will cover fundamentals of probability and statistics with emphasis on application t biomedical problems and experimental design. Recommended for students pursuing careers in medicine or biotechnology. BIOE439 and BIOE440/STAT440 cannot both be taken for credit. Prerequisite BIOE252 may be taken concurrently. Graduate/Undergraduate Equivalency: BIOE539. Mutually Exclusive: Credit cannot be earned for BIOE439 and BIOE440/BIOE539/STAT440.

BIOE 440 - STATISTICS FOR BIOENGINEERING

Description: Course covers application of statistics to bioengineering. Topics include descriptive statistics, estimation, hypothesis testing, ANOVA, and regression. Offered first five weeks of the semester. BIOE252 may be taken concurrently with BIOE440. BIOE440/STAT440 and BIOE439 cannot both be taken for credit. Cross-list: STAT440. Mutually Exclusive: Credit cannot be earned for BIOE440 and BIOE439.

BIOE 442 - TISSUE ENGINEERING LAB MODULE

Description: Students design and conduct a series of tests to synthesize PLLA, characterize PLLA and PLGA, monitor PLLA and PLGA degradation, and assess the viability, attachment, and proliferation of HDF cells on PLLA films. The experiments include many of the basic types of experiments that would be required to do a preliminary investigation of a tissue engineered product. Sections 1 and 2 will be taught during the first half of the semester and sections 3 and 4 will be taught during the second half of the semester. In addition sections 1 and 3 will need to come into lab on 2-3 Fridays and sections 2 and 4 will need to come into lab on 2-3 Saturdays. Section sign-up is required by the instructor in Keck 108 during preregistration week.

BIOE 443 - BIOPROCESSING LAB MODULE

Description: Students design and conduct a series of experiments to observe the growth of E. coli under different conditions, including agar plates, shake flasks, and a small-scale bioreactor. The E. coli has been transformed with a plasmid that produces beta-galactosidase. Engineering applications are emphasized. Some work "off hours" (early evening) is required. Sections 1 and 2 are taught in the first half of the semester and Sections 3 and 4 are taught in the second half of the semester. Section sign-up is required by the instructor in Keck 108 during preregistration week.

BIOE 444 - MECHANICAL TESTING LAB MODULE

Description: Students design and conduct a series of tests to elucidate the mechanical and material properties of animal tissue using the Instron. BIOE372 may be taken concurrently with BIOE444.

BIOE 445 - ADVANCED INSTRUMENTATION LAB MODULE

Description: Students design and build a biomedical instrumentation device. Sign up is required in Keck 108 during preregistration week.

BIOE 446 - COMPUTATIONAL MODELING LAB

Description: This course offers a hands-on application to systems biology modeling. Students will learn a range of modeling methods, and apply them directly in class to current bioengineering problems. Weekly tutorials will be offered, and a laptop is required (or can be loaned). Topics covered include in silico drug delivery and design studies, integrating multiscale models with high-resolution imaging, experimental design vial computer modeling, and patient-specific simulations. Modeling methods include protein-protein interaction networks, biocircuits, stochastic differential equations, agent-based modeling, computational fluid dynamics, and finite element modeling.

BIOE 447 - DIGITAL DESIGN & VISUALIZATION

Description: Students will acquire basic to intermediate-level digital design proficiency for bioengineering-related applications. Programs for the design of patient-specific therapies including image reconstruction, computer aided design, and parameter modeling will be used to create models. Section sign up is required during pre-registration week.

BIOE 449 - TROUBLESHOOTING WORKSHOP FOR CLINICALLY-RELEVANT BIOMEDICAL EQUIPMENT

Description: Bioengineering course in the troubleshooting, repair, and maintenance of standard biomedical equipment used in hospitals in the developed and developing worlds. Cross-list: GLHT449. Repeatable for Credit.

BIOE 451 - BIOENGINEERING DESIGN I

Description: Senior Bioengineering students will design devices in biotechnology or biomedicine. This project-based course covers systematic design processes, engineering economics, FDA requirements, safety, engineering ethics, design failures, research design, intellectual property rights, environmental impact, business planning and marketing. Students will be expected to compile documentation and present orally progress of their teams. BIOE451 and 452 must be taken the same academic year. Instructor Permission Required.

BIOE 452 - BIOENGINEERING DESIGN II

Description: Senior Bioengineering students will design devices in biotechnology or biomedicine. This project-based course covers systematic design processes, engineering economics, FDA requirements, safety, engineering ethics, design failures, research design, intellectual property rights, environmental impact, business planning and marketing. Students will be expected to compile documentation and present orally progress of their teams. BIOE451 and 452 must be taken the same academic year. Instructor Permission Required.

BIOE 454 - COMPUTATIONAL FLUID MECHANICS

Description: Fundamental concepts of finite element methods in fluid mechanics, including spatial discretization and numerical integration in multidimensions, time-integration, and solution of nonlinear ordinary differential equation systems. Advanced numerical stabilization techniques designed for fluid mechanics problems. Strategies for solution of complex, real-world problems. Topics in large-scale computing, parallel processing, and visualization. Prerequisites may be taken concurrently. Cross-list: CEVE454, MECH454. Graduate/Undergraduate Equivalency: BIOE554. Mutually Exclusive: Credit cannot be earned for BIOE454 and BIOE554.

BIOE 460 - BIOCHEMICAL ENGINEERING

Description: Design, operation, and analysis of processes in the biochemical industries. Topics include enzyme kinetics, cell growth kinetics, energetics, recombinant DNA technology, microbial, tissue and plant cell cultures, bioreactor design and operation, and down stream processing. Cross-list: CHBE460.

BIOE 464 - EXTRACELLULAR MATRIX

Description: This course will address the biology, organization, mechanics, and turnover of extracellular matrix. There will be an emphasis on cells and cell-matrix interactions, matrix distribution within and design of connective tissues and organs techniques for quantitative analysis of matrix, techniques for measurement and modeling of connective tissue biomechanics, changes with growth and aging and tissue/matrix degradation. Cross-list: BIOC464. Graduate/Undergraduate Equivalency: BIOE524. Recommended Prerequisite(s): BIOE372, BIOC/BIOE 341. Mutually Exclusive: Credit cannot be earned for BIOE464 and BIOE524.

BIOE 470 - FROM SEQUENCE TO STRUCTURE: AN INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY

Description: Contemporary introduction to problems in computational biology spanning sequence to structure. The course has three modules: the first introduces students to the design and statistical analysis of gene expression studies; the second covers statistical machine learning techniques for understanding experimental data generated in computational biology; and the third introduces problems in the modeling of protein structure using computational methods from robotics. The course is project oriented with an emphasis on computation and problem-solving. Cross-list: COMP470, STAT470. Recommended Prerequisite(s): COMP 280 and (STAT310 or STAT 331).

BIOE 481 - COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE AND NEURAL ENGINEERING

Description: An introduction to the anatomy and physiology of the brain. Includes basic electrophysiology of nerve and muscle. Develops mathematical models of neurons, synaptic transmission and natural neural networks. Leads to a discussion of neuromorphic circuits which can represent neuron and neural network behavior in silicon. Recommendation: Knowledge of electrical circuits, operational amplifier circuits and ordinary differential equations. Involves programming Matlab. Cross-list: ELEC481, NEUR481. Graduate/Undergraduate Equivalency: BIOE583. Recommended Prerequisite(s): Knowledge of basic electrical and operational amplifier circuits; and ordinary differential equations. Mutually Exclusive: Credit cannot be earned for BIOE481 and BIOE583.

BIOE 482 - PHYSIOLOGICAL CONTROL SYSTEMS

Description: A study of the somatic and autonomic nervous system control of biological systems. Simulation methods, as well as, techniques common to linear and nonlinear control theory are used. Also included is an introduction to sensors and instrumentation techniques. Examples are taken from the cardiovascular, respiratory, and visual systems. Cross-list: ELEC482. Graduate/Undergraduate Equivalency: BIOE582. Recommended Prerequisite(s): Knowledge of basic electrical and operational amplifier circuits: and ordinary differential equations. Mutually Exclusive: Credit cannot be earned for BIOE482 and BIOE582.

BIOE 484 - BIOPHOTONICS INSTRUMENTATION AND APPLICATIONS

Description: This course is an introduction to the fundamentals of Biophotonics instrumentation related to coherent light generation, transmission by optical components such as lenses and fibers, and modulation and detection. Interference and polarization concepts and light theories including ray and wave optics will be covered. A broad variety of optical imaging and detection techniques including numerous microscopy techniques, spectral imaging, polarimetry, OCT and others will be covered. The course will guide through the principles and concepts used in a variety of optical instruments and point to special requirements for Biomedical applications with emphasis on principles and concepts used in a variety of optical instruments and point to special requirements for Biomedical applications with emphasis on principles and concepts used in a variety of optical instruments and point out special requirements for bio-medical applications in optical sensing, diagnosis, and biomedical applications. Graduate/Undergraduate Equivalency: BIOE512. Mutually Exclusive: Credit cannot be earned for BIOE484 and BIOE512.

BIOE 485 - FUNDAMENTALS OF MEDICAL IMAGING I

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Bioengineering < Rice University

An interdisciplinary team of researchers has developed technology that enables a smartphone to perform lab-grade medical diagnostic tests that typically require large, expensive instruments.

Costing only $550 USD, the spectral transmission-reflectance-intensity (TRI)-Analyzer was spearheaded by bioengineering and electrical and computer engineering professor Brian Cunningham at the University of Illinois. The device attaches to a smartphone and analyzes patient blood, urine, or saliva samples as reliably as clinic-based instruments that cost thousands of dollars.

"Our TRI Analyzer is like the Swiss Army knife of biosensing," said Cunningham. "It's capable of performing the three most common types of tests in medical diagnostics, so in practice, thousands of already-developed tests could be adapted to it."

In a recently published paper, Cunningham's team used the TRI Analyzer to perform two commercially available assaysa test to detect a biomarker associated with pre-term birth in pregnant women and the PKU test for newborns to indirectly detect an enzyme essential for normal growth and development. Their tests results were comparable to those acquired with clinic-grade spectrometer instrumentation.

"The TRI Analyzer is more of a portable laboratory than a specialized device," said Kenny Long, an MD/PhD student and lead author of the research study.

Among the many diagnostic tests that can be adapted to their point-of-care smartphone format, Long said, is an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), which detects and measures a wide variety of proteins and antibodies in blood and is commonly used for a wide range of health diagnostics tests.

The system is capable of detecting the output of any test that uses a liquid that changes color, or a liquid that generates light output (such as from fluorescent dyes).

The TRI Analyzer operates by converting the smartphone camera into a high-performance spectrometer. Specifically, the analyzer illuminates a sample fluid with the phone's internal white LED flash or with an inexpensive external green laser diode.

The light from the sample is collected in an optical fiber and guided through a diffraction grating into the phone's rear-facing internal camera. These optical components are all arranged within a 3D-printed plastic cradle.

The TRI Analyzer can simultaneously measure multiple samples by using a microfluidic cartridge that slides through an opening in the back of the cradle. This ability to analyze multiple samples quickly and reliably makes the Analyzer suitable for patients who lack convenient access to a clinic or hospital with diagnostic test facilities or for patients with urgent health situations requiring rapid results.

"Our Analyzer can scan many tests in a sequence by swiping the cartridge past the readout head, in a similar manner to the way magnetic strip credit cards are swiped," said Long.

In addition to its applications in health diagnostics, Cunningham said the TRI Analyzer can also be applied to point-of use applications that include animal health, environmental monitoring, drug testing, manufacturing quality control, and food safety. The patented technology is available for license.

For more smartphone modifications, find out how the T3D Smartphone 3D Printer Could Democratize 3D Printing.

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Add-On Turns Smartphones into Tricorders - ENGINEERING.com

In his new book, The Body Builders: Inside the Science of the Engineered Human,author and award-winning journalist Adam Piore says the new frontier that intrigues scientists and engineers today is the human body.

He says amazing work and research is underway that melds technology with biology.These innovations can heal devastating injuries or even rewire the brain.

Piore tells us about this evolving science through the stories of the people who develop the technology and the people who are transformed by it.

Piore recently sat down with All Things Considered Host Bill Buchner. Below is a transcript of their conversation.

You are a journalist by profession, a foreign correspondent at one point.So how did you come to write this book?

I covered a lot of things, I covered Congress, I lived in Cambodia, and I went to Iraq, but one of the things that has always intrigued me in my journalism is stories of human resilience.Its always fascinated me how people overcome adversity and are able to live with setbacks.

So a few years ago I came across the story of an incredible scientist named Hugh Herr.And his story so fascinated me that I sort of followed along that path and went sort of down the rabbit hole into these new technologies bioengineering which are unleashing untapped resilience in the human body.I found that the most exciting stories of human resilience in the United States are often being unleashed by these biotechnologies.

Speaking of Hugh Herr, he survived a rock climbing incident that led him to develop more advanced forms of prosthetic legs that he calls wearable robots. Would you tell us about that?

Hugh had a really remarkable story.He was not that great a student when he was a teenager, he was a C and D student, but he lived to rock climb and he was a nationally known athlete, one of the best up and coming rock climbers in the country.He went ice climbing with a friend in New Hampshires Mount Washington.They got stuck in a blizzard and they wandered into the wilderness, and they got lost and they almost died.They were saved at the last moment but not in time to save them completely.They both had frostbite and Hughs legs were amputated below the knees.

And the doctors told him he would never run or climb again.And every day, he would wake up dreaming that he was running through the cornfields behind his house, and then hed wake up and his legs would be gone.But he didnt stay in bed very long. He began tinkering with his prosthetics and he was back on the climbing wall. And he made them seven-feet long and he made blades that he could slip into crevices.And he became an even better rock climber than he had been before.

And this tinkering sort of led him to tinker when he was down on the ground because his prosthetics were so uncomfortable.He began taking engineering classes.And flash forward 20 or 30 years, hes one of the leading bioengineers and prosthetic engineers in the world.Hes at MIT.And he has designed these bionic limbs that really kind of show whats possible, that allow him to walk again.

Pat Fletcher is featured in the part of your book where you explore how bionics can enhance our senses.Fletcher survived an industrial accident which left her blind. Twenty-five years later, she was able to use new technology that allowed her to see with her ears.How likely are we to see more Pat Fletchers out there with this type of technology?

Where Hugh just wanted to climb and run, Pat loved nature and she was blinded in a grenade factory explosion and could no longer see and years later she is seeing mountains again.Its an example of the incredible plasticity of the human mind.What she discovered online was this device that was created by this Dutch engineer, which they call a sensory substitution device and its based on this insight that we see with the brain and not the eyes.

If we can get the information from the outside world into our brain, its the worlds most sophisticated pattern recognition machine. What this device does is it takes the pixel in pictures and turns them into different tones, sort of like a wall of sound.Over time Pats brain learned to recognize these sounds and route them to her visual cortex. And she can actually make sense of the world. Shes regained depth perception. She can see the leaves on trees, she can see mountains.She can see the cracks on sidewalks.Its pretty remarkable.

Continued here:
Interview: Adam Piore And The Jaw-Dropping Science Of Bioengineering - WSHU

Bioengineering graduate takes off at Rocket Lab

When Alex Anderson was a teenager growing up in Waiuku, he read a lot of science fiction and dreamt of one day building futuristic things like robots.

Today Alex has arguably done even better than that. The 30-year-old Mt Eden resident who graduates from the University of Aucklands Bioengineering Institute with a PhD in Biomedical Engineering, is now building rockets for a living.

Its a dream job, he says of his role with Rocket Lab.

Rocket Lab is a US company with a base of operations in New Zealand.

They are developing launch vehicles to put small satellites into space, explains Alex. These satellites traditionally have to compromise on orbit to ride share with larger satellites.

Rocket Labs Electron will lower the barrier to commercial space by offering frequent and cheap launches direct to orbit from the Mahia Peninsula on the North Islands East Coast.

Alex is a vehicle test engineer with Rocket Lab and says his role involves testing all the various components and systems which make up a launch vehicle and feeding the results of those tests back to the designers.

He has drawn on his general engineering background in instrumentation and electronics, as well as the training hes received in scientific method (for example striving for rigorous tests) to do his job.

Alex is a good example of how transferrable Bioengineering skills can be to a broad range of industries and applications, says his PhD supervisor Associate Professor Andrew Taberner.

For his PhD, Alex developed a new scientific instrument for studying tissue extracted from a living heart. In this device, a pulse of electricity causes calcium ions to be released into living muscle cells. This stimulates the cells to shorten, change shape, release heat and perform work.

Alex's instrument is the first to allow all of these events to be observed together, says Associate Professor Taberner. It will enable a deeper study of the relationships between the systems driving the heart, in health and disease.

https://www.rocketlabusa.com

http://www.abi.auckland.ac.nz/

http://www.abi.auckland.ac.nz/

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Bioengineering graduate takes off at Rocket Lab | Scoop News - Scoop.co.nz (press release)

University of Canterbury researchers at the Rose Centre for Stroke Recovery and Research have revealed an innovative new treatment for people with swallowing impairments.

Swallowing impairments, also known as dysphagia, impact on people affected by stroke or other neurological disorders. The new treatment will make a big difference to potentially thousands of lives, says Professor Maggie-Lee Huckabee, Director of the Rose Centre.

Food and drink sustain us physiologically, nutritionally, socially and culturally. They are critical to maintaining health, but equally valued for the human engagement that emerges from sharing a drink with a friend, or a meal with family.

Individuals who struggle with eating and drinking can develop chest infections or require feeding through a tube, and consequently experience exclusion from many social engagements.

New thinking brings solution

Historically, swallowing has been considered a reflex, and thus amenable only to rehabilitation programmes that focus on increasing strength of muscles in the throat. More recent research suggests that the cortex the thinking part of the brain plays a significant role in modulating this pseudo-reflex.

This new understanding led UCs researchers to approach the problem differently, using bioengineering application to facilitate recovery. Bioengineering applies engineering principles to biological systems, and can include elements of electrical and mechanical engineering, computer science, chemistry and biology. This approach is central to the Rose Centres clinical research programme.

The Biofeedback in Strength and Skill Training (BiSSkiT) software-driven treatment protocol was developed through a collaboration between clinical researchers and medical bioengineers; including Professor Huckabee and Esther Guiu Hernandez at the Rose Centre, and Associate Professor Paul Gaynor and Adjunct Professor Richard Jones, in UCs Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Rather than focusing on strengthening, the innovative skill training protocol in the BiSSkiT software takes a different approach.

Swallowing relies on precision and speed in movement, not strength, says Professor Huckabee.

With BiSSkiT, a small device that measures the electrical activity of muscles involved in swallowing displays that information through the software as a waveform on a computer screen. When patients see what is happening, they can then improve precision in motor control of swallowing by using the waveform to hit a randomly placed target on the computer screen.

Research at the Rose Centre suggests very positive outcomes following two weeks of skill training in patients with Parkinsons disease. Significant improvements were seen across a small group of ten patients in speed and efficiency of swallowing, which carried over to improvement on quality of life measures. Further research is under way, which supports the research education of four UC PhD students.

Approved for clinical use

The end of 2016 marked a major step in development of the software, thanks in part to UCs global connections. Considered a Class 1 medical device, the software has recently received CE mark approval, so is now approved for sale to the European market for clinical use. Further approvals have been granted for sales in New Zealand and in the coming year, approvals will be sought for Australasian and North American markets, potentially helping thousands of people with swallowing disorders.

This development offers people with swallowing disorders a completely new opportunity to improve their quality of life, Professor Huckabee says.

The skill training protocol is being evaluated through international trials in a larger group of patients with Parkinsons disease, as well as others with motor neurone disease and Huntingtons disease. In addition to the novel skill training approach, there is also a strengthening protocol if the traditional approach to muscle strengthening is required. Other UC students are developing a test based on the software that will help clinicians determine which type of training is required.

Changing brains, changing lives

Housed at St Georges Medical Centre, the Rose Centre sees patients from around Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia and the United States of America, and integrates clinical diagnostic and rehabilitation services for swallowing impairment with the development and execution of translational research. Professor Huckabee says the keystone of translational research at the centre is patient engagement.

The brain is a remarkably adaptable organ and because of the way swallowing is controlled by the brain, there is great potential for rehabilitation.

The key to recovery is finding a way for patients to visualise the very abstract task of swallowing, which is exactly what the BiSSkiT software does. If they can see it, they are much more likely to be able to change it.

The focus on patient engagement has recently been formalised with the development of the PERC programme Patients, Engineers, Researchers and Clinicians. Funded by the Farina Thompson Charitable Trust, this unique programme brings together all partners in the collaborative development of translational research, which applies findings from basic science to enhance human health and wellbeing. The PERC programme at the Rose Centre will provide a platform for development of several other projects that provide visual feedback of other aspects of swallowing.

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Text size: research 11 UT Dallas Students, Alumni Receive National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships

May 2, 2017

The best and brightest students at The University of Texas at Dallas seek out opportunities to use their expertise and passion to work for the betterment of humanity. Jenny Boothby is one such researcher, envisioning advances to point-of-care technology that would allow diagnosis of diseases to occur as quickly as litmus paper changes color.

Boothby, a doctoral student in the Department of Bioengineering, is among 11 students with ties to UT Dallas chosen this year for the Graduate Research Fellowship Program by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The program provides three years of financial support for graduate studies, each year consisting of a stipend of $34,000 plus a $12,000 cost-of-education allowance.

Boothby arrived from Georgia Tech in the fall of 2015 to work in the lab of Dr. Taylor WareMS'11, PhD'13, assistant professor of bioengineering, on formulating smart materials for biomedical applications. Her work has focused on liquid crystalline films commonly used for products such as LCD screens, but not yet utilized in a biological setting.

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program

The National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program is the countrys oldest fellowship program that directly supports graduate students in various STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields. This year, 2,000 awards were offered from nearly 13,000 applicants. The award includes a three-year, $34,000 annual stipend plus a $12,000 educational allowance that goes toward tuition and fees.

We think these polymers can be applicable to biomedical engineering because we can control their order, their molecular structure, so well, Boothby said. My specific research is tuning these polymers to be water-responsive so that they can be used in a device in the body, like a heart valve, but without needing an external power source.

Boothbys eventual goal involves point-of-care biosensors for developing countries, such as powerless devices capable of replacing expensive, unwieldy electrical equipment for running medical lab tests.

These small devices would enable you to apply a sample to the device and figure out what disease someone has based on the color change, Boothby said. No lab, no reagents you can fit everything into this piece of plastic. It would open up access to so many more people.

Boothbys determination to expand the availability of such technologies crystallized with the help of several experiences beyond our borders, including service trips to Peru and the Dominican Republic.

Through both of those, I developed this belief thatits our duty to help others. I feel fortunate to have an opportunity to work on this technology that could bridge that gap, to create something thats applicable in all environments everywhere, instead of only in resource-rich environments.

Interim vice president for research Rafael Martn believes the sharp increase in UT Dallas honorees indicates both the Universitys growing profile nationwide as well as the strength of UT Dallas programs across many disciplines.

These awards are a tremendous external validation of the quality of both our undergraduate and graduate students, Martin said. UT Dallas has been recognized for some time for our academically exemplary undergraduate population. That NSF Graduate Research Fellows are choosing to pursue their graduate education here demonstrates a growing awareness of the quality of our graduate programs and students as well.

Two UT Dallas alumni who chose to continue their doctoral studies at the University also received NSF fellowships.

Like Boothby, fellowship winner Candace Benjamin came to UT Dallas from out of state. A 2014 graduate of St. John Fisher College in New York, Benjamin is a chemistry doctoral student in the lab of Dr. Jeremiah Gassensmith. Her work concerns developing a virus-like particle as a possible carrier for medication.

Two UT Dallas graduates whose graduate studies have taken them to other prestigious universities were also selected by the NSF.

The NSF also chose five students who are expected to earn their undergraduate degrees from UT Dallas in May.

Media Contact: Stephen Fontenot, UT Dallas, (972) 883-4405, [emailprotected] or the Office of Media Relations, UT Dallas, (972) 883-2155, [emailprotected]

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Newest NSF Honorees Share Devotion to Improving Our World - University of Texas at Dallas (press release)

This report also covers the impact of COVID-19 on the global market. The pandemic caused by Coronavirus (COVID-19) has affected every aspect of life globally, including the business sector. This has brought along several changes in market conditions.

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Global Trans Butenedioic Acid Market provides the latest information on the present and the future industry trends, allowing the readers to identify the products and services, hence driving the revenue growth and profitability. The research report provides an in-depth study of all the leading factors influencing the market on a global and regional level, including drivers, restraints, threats, challenges, opportunities, and industry-specific trends.

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Impact of Covid-19 on Trans Butenedioic Acid Market is slated to grow rapidly in the forthcoming years with Top Leading Players Bartek Ingredients,...

Salt Lake CityBy the time someone realizes they damaged a ligament, tendon or cartilage from too much exercise or other types of physical activity, its too late. The tissue is stretched and torn and the person is writhing in pain.

But a team of researchers led by University of Utah bioengineering professors Jeffrey Weiss and Michael Yu has discovered that damage to collagen, the main building block of all human tissue, can occur much earlier at a molecular level from too much physical stress, alerting doctors and scientists that a patient is on the path to major tissue damage and pain.

This could be especially helpful for some who want to know earlier if they are developing diseases such as arthritis or for athletes who want to know if repeated stress on their bodies is taking a toll.

The scientific value of this is high because collagen is everywhere, Yu said. When we are talking about this mechanical damage, were talking about cartilage and tendons and even heart valves that move all the time. There are so many tissues which involve collagen that can go bad mechanically. This issue is important for understanding many injuries and diseases.

The teams research, funded by the National Institutes of Health, was published this week in the latest issue of Nature Communications. The paper can be viewed here.

Before, scientists thought collagenwhich are strands of protein braided into a ropelike structure that give tissue its strength and stiffnesswould just stretch or slide by each other during repeated stress and never knew if they actually got damaged. As a result, patients who put repeated stress on their body would not know if they were on the road to something worse from tough physical activity.

But now the team discovered that the collagen molecule does in fact get unraveled at a molecular level before complete failure of the tissue occurs. This type of minor damage, called subfailure damage, is associated with common injuries to connective tissues such as ligament and meniscus tears and various types of tendinitis such as tennis elbow and rotator cuff tendinopathy.

Accumulation of subfailure damage can go on for a long time with no catastrophic failure, but repeated damage results in inflammation, said Weiss. So this vicious cycle continues, the inflammation breaks down the tissue, making it more susceptible to damage, which then can result in a massive tear.

The team used a new probe called collagen hybridizing peptide (CHP), a tiny version of collagen that binds to unraveled strands of damaged collagen, to figure out where and how much damage has occurred in overloaded tendons.

This paves the way for medical researchers to use CHP probes in the future as a way of diagnosing if a person has damaged collagen and if so, how much and where, before a massive tear happens. Weiss and Yu also believe it can be used as a way to deliver drugs straight to the damaged tissue because the CHP targets only the damaged collagen. Finally, it will tell doctors even more about what happens to our bodies during repeated physical activity.

A fundamental understanding of the loads and strain that cause molecular damage has eluded us until now, said Weiss. Our findings can translate into recommendations for athletes on how to train or what rehabilitation protocols people who are injured can use.

Co-authors include researchers in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Utah (Jared Zitnay, Yang Li, Boi Hoa San and Shawn Reese) and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Markus Buehler, Zhao Qin and Baptiste DePalle. The CHP probe has been commercialized by 3Helix, Inc, based in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Excerpt from:
U of U Bioengineers Detect Early Signs of Tendon, Ligament Damage - Utah Business

UCR researchers used glass tubing and off-the-shelf electronics to create an inexpensive sensor that can weigh microgram-sized biological samples in fluids

By Sarah Nightingale on April 5, 2017

A glass tube sensor developed by engineers at the University of California, Riverside will allow scientists to weigh tiny biological samples in their native liquid environments.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (www.ucr.edu) Researchers at the University of California, Riverside have found an innovative new use for a simple piece of glass tubing: weighing things. Their glass tube sensor will help speed up chemical toxicity tests, shed light on plant growth, and develop new biomaterials, among many other applications.

The research, led by William Grover, assistant professor of bioengineering in UC Riversides Bourns College of Engineering, and Shirin Mesbah Oskui, a doctoral student in Grovers lab who recently graduated, was published today in the journal PLOS ONE. The paper describes the development of a simple, inexpensive sensor to measure the mass, volume, and density of microgram-sized biological samples in fluid. The research has important applications in toxicity research as well as many other areas, including developmental biology, plant sciences, and biomaterials engineering.

While weight is one of the most fundamental and important measures of an object, weighing tiny biological samples in their native liquid environments is not possible with conventional scales. To change that, Mesbah Oskui developed a sensor comprising a small piece of glass tubing bent into a U shape and attached to an inexpensive speaker. The speaker vibrates the glass at its resonance frequency, which is a function of the overall mass of the tube. When a sample is pumped into the tube, the resonance frequency changes, allowing the samples mass, density and volume to be calculated. The research expands a technique originally developed at MIT for weighing single cells. By opening this technique to larger samples, the research vastly increases its applications.

As proof of concept, the researchers turned to an important research area: toxicology. Many chemicals in use today are yet to be fully evaluated for their risk to human health and the environment, primarily because toxicology tests on traditional animal models are expensive, time consuming and labor-intensive. While the introduction of tests using tiny, fast-developing zebrafish embryos is speeding things up, until now, scientists havent been able to weigh the embryos in their native fluid environment. In the paper, the researchers used the sensors to measure mass changes in zebrafish embryos as they reacted to toxic silver nanoparticles.

Left to right: William Grover, assistant professor of bioengineering at UCR, Shirin Mesbah Oskui, who recently completed her Ph.D. in bioengineering, and Heran Bhakta, a graduate student in bioengineering.

Zebrafish embryos are becoming an important toxicological model species, but until now scientists have not been able to include a very simple measure of healththe organisms weightin their panel of measurements. Our research changes that, which will further expand the use of this model in helping protect human health and the environment, Mesbah Oskui said.

Also in the paper, the researchers described using the sensor to measure density changes in seeds undergoing rehydration and germination, and degradation rates of biomaterials used in medical implants. Heran Bhakta, a graduate student in bioengineering, led the work on biomaterials degradation.

Biodegradable materials can be used to cover a wound after surgery, but if they degrade too quickly they can leave an open wound and if they dont degrade quickly enough they can cause complications, Bhakta said. Previously, tracking the degradation of biomaterials in a fluid environment has been a painstaking and error-prone process in which the biomaterial sample must be removed, cleaned, weighed and replaced on an ongoing basis. In contrast, our sensors enable us to measure the degradation of even the tiniest biomaterials samples continuously as they break down in a biological fluid, Bhakta said.

Grover said the automation, portability and low cost of the technique make the sensors well suited for applications in the field or in resource-limited settings.

Our technique is so versatile because all objects have fundamental properties like weight. I am excited to see how the sensors will be used by other researchers to address scientific problems in many other fields, he said.

In addition to Grover, Mesbah Oskui and Bhakta, other contributors included Graciel Diamante, a graduate student in environmental sciences; Huinan Liu, associate professor of bioengineering; and Daniel Schlenk, professor of aquatic ecotoxicology, all at UC Riverside.

Archived under: Science/Technology, bioengineering, Bourns College of Engineering, Department of Bioengineering, press release, William Grover

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Innovative Sensor Can Screen Toxic Drugs, Help Develop Biomaterials, and Much More - UCR Today (press release)

Russ Altman (Image credit: Courtesy Russ Altman)

The impact of COVID-19 on society and the way artificial intelligence can be leveraged to increase understanding of the virus and its spread will be the focus of an April 1 virtual conference sponsored by the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI).

COVID-19 and AI: A Virtual Conference, which is open to the public, will convene experts from Stanford and beyond. It will be livestreamed to engage the broad research community, government and international organizations, and civil society.

Russ Altman, one of the conference chairs, is an associate director of HAI and the Kenneth Fong Professor and professor of bioengineering, of genetics, of medicine, of biomedical data science, and, by courtesy, of computer science. He is also the host of the Sirius radio show The Future of Everything. He discusses the aims of the conference.

What was the idea behind the conference?

At HAI, we felt this was an opportunity to use our unique focus on AI and humanity to serve the public in a time of crisis. The issues involved in the pandemic are both nuanced and complex. Approaching it from multiple fields of expertise will help speed us toward solutions. The goal is to make leading-edge and interdisciplinary research available, bringing together our network of experts from across different schools and departments.

We have a world-class set of doctors and biological scientists at Stanford Medical School and theyll, of course, be involved. Well also have experts on AI, as well as the social sciences and humanities, to give their scholarly perspective on the implications of this virus, now and over time. The conference will be entirely virtual with every speaker participating remotely, providing an unpolished but authentic window into the minds of thinkers we respect.

What useful information will come out of the conference?

Were asking our speakers to begin their presentation by talking about the problem theyre addressing and why it matters. They will present the methods theyre using, whether scientific or sociological or humanistic, the results theyre seeing even if their work is preliminary and the caveats to their conclusions. Then theyll go into deeper detail that will be very interesting to academic researchers and colleagues. Importantly, we intend to have a summary of key takeaways afterward along with links to information where people can learn more.

We will not give medical advice or information about how to ensure personal safety. The CDC and other public health agencies are mobilized to do that.

What do you think AI has to offer in the fight over viruses like COVID-19?

AI is extremely good at finding patterns across multiple data types. For example, were now able to analyze patterns of human response to the pressures of the pandemic as measured through sentiments on social media, and even patterns in geospatial data to see where social distancing may and may not be working. And, of course, we are using AI to look for patterns in the genome of the virus and its biology to see where we can attack it.

This interdisciplinary conference will show how the availability of molecular, cellular and genomic data, patient and hospital data, population data all of that can be harnessed for insight. Weve always examined these data sources through more traditional methods. But now for the first time, and at a critical time of global crisis, we have the ability to use AI to look deeper into data and see patterns that were otherwise not visible previously, including the social and cultural impact of this pandemic. This is what will enable us to work together as a scholarly, scientific community to help the future of humankind.

Who do you hope will attend?

The core audience is scholars and researchers. We want to have a meaningful discussion about the research challenges and opportunities in the battle against this virus. Having said that, we know that there are many people with an interest in how scientists, researchers, sociologists and humanists are helping in this time of crisis. So were making the conference open to anyone interested in attending. It will be a live video stream from a link on our website, and available as a recording afterward.

What kind of policy effect do you hope the conference can have?

Good policy is always informed by good research. A major goal of HAI is to catalyze high-quality research that we hope will be heeded by policymakers as they work to craft responses to COVID-19 and future pandemic threats. So this will give insights to policymakers on what will be published in the coming months.

Register for the April 1 conference.

Learn more about the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI (HAI).

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Stanford virtual conference to focus on COVID19 and artificial intelligence | Stanford News - Stanford University News