Semantic Web May Be Cancer Information’s Next Step Forward

By Mike Martin for the Journal of the National Cancer Institute

The next big thing on the Web—which World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee nicknamed “Web 3.0,” or the Semantic Web—may also be the next milestone in cancer information.

Already deployed in the U.S. census, the catalog of electronics retailer Best Buy, and Facebook pages, Semantic Web technology could give rise to “a killer app that allows the clinical oncologist to access, integrate, and analyze drug and genomics data, medical records, and other cancer-related information to enhance care and efficiency,” said Kei-Hoi Cheung, Ph.D., an associate professor at the Yale University School of Medicine Center for Medical Informatics.

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Rewriting the Mathematics of Tumor Growth

By Mike Martin for the Journal of the National Cancer Institute

A new theory about tumor growth makes oncology look a little like cosmology. Just as the universe accelerates as it expands, tumors become malignant at an accelerating speed, according to a team of scientists who have been probing the mathematics of tumor growth.

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New Medical Education Program Selects Students for “Emotional Intelligence”

By Mike Martin for the AAMC Reporter, the flagship publication of the Association of American Medical Colleges

This July in Florida, a group of newly minted medical students embarked on their training. But instead of heading to gross anatomy lab or a biochemistry lecture, these students spent five days learning about empathy, cultural competence, and self-awareness.

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New Algorithm may help Data Centers Better Control Power Costs

by Mike Martin for HPC Source

Data centers can get more green with less power consumption thanks to a novel yet powerful algorithm that keeps power costs down and paying customers happy. 

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Modifying Google's MapReduce to Increase GPU Cluster Computing

by Mike Martin for HPC Source

A modified version of MapReduce—Google’s patented program for distributed and cluster computing—harnesses the power of graphics processing units (GPU) for large-scale, high-performance applications, claim University of California, Davis computer science researchers. 

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For Storing Web 3.0, HBase has the Edge

by Mike Martin for HPC Source

A storage system modeled after Google's Big Table has the edge in data management for cloud computing and next-gen Internet users, researchers claim. 

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Study details general aviation accident injuries

by Mike Martin for General Aviation News

A first ever study details general aviation accidents.

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Massive Information Stockpile Guides Humanity's Course

Tech News World

 

Sixty one CD-ROMS for every man, woman, and child on Earth.

 

That's the amount of global data humankind stored on devices of every kind in 2007 -- 295 exabytes, or 80 times more information per person than exists in the historic Library of Alexandria, Egypt, according to a study published in the journal Science.

 

"We tracked 60 analog and digital technologies from 1986 to 2007," said study co-author Martin Hilbert, Ph.D., an information researcher at USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism.

 

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Cold Fusion: It May Not Be Madness

 TechNewsWorld

 

A handful of intrepid scientists are reigniting interest in work that was dismissed as junk science more than 20 years ago, claiming to have found a way to create more energy from less. 

 

The most recent excitement was generated by Italians Sergio Focardi and Andrea Rossi, who demonstrated a device that turned 400 watts of heat power into 12,400 watts. If their results are reproducible, the implications could be monumental.

 

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Verizon Goes for FCC's Jugular in Net Neutrality War

 E-Commerce Times

 

Verizon may have been involved in the crafting of the FCC's Net neutrality rules, but that doesn't mean the company wouldn't rather do without them, and it's taking the matter back to the courts. 

 

For its part, the FCC is "prepared to defend its Open Internet Order in any forum." The battle may end up being waged in Congress, where Verizon may find fresh support.

 

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People Are People: Human Factors Engineering Works at the Intersection of Humanity and Technology

AAMC Reporter

Some teaching hospitals and health systems are taking a fresh look at human factors engineering (HFE), a discipline not often associated with medicine, but one that proponents say can improve the quality and safety of health care.

In a nutshell, human factors engineers attempt to learn about human strengths and limitations, and then apply that knowledge to products and processes to reduce errors and improve quality and productivity.

Enterprises that rely heavily on people interacting with technology, such as aviation and consumer electronics, are prominent HFE users. Health care, however, has lagged behind other industries in adopting HFE programs.

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New Study Narrows Epilepsy Drug Suicide Risk

Epilepsy USA

 

A recent study says the FDA may have overreached when it warned that all anti-epileptic drugs can increase the risk
of suicidal thoughts and behavior.

 

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Materials Scientists Join Oncologists To Explore Nano- and Microtherapeutics Materials

Journal of the National Cancer Institute

In the past year, researchers have reported killing cancer cells with magnetically driven, spinning iron–nickel discs; iron–cobalt particles; and radio waves aimed at gold, cadmium, indium, and gallium particles. 

It's all happened in preclinical studies so far. But the studies have drawn attention, partly because of their science-fiction–sounding methods and partly because they highlight a burgeoning partnership between two unlikely bedfellows: materials science researchers and clinical oncologists.

“I’ve seen a dramatic increase over the last 3–4 years in the involvement of chemists, physicists, bioengineers, and materials scientists in clinical oncology,” said Steven Curley, M.D. , a surgical oncologist at the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, who is working on the radio waves.

Some of the partnerships are focused on nanoimaging devices ( see accompanying news story); others, on nano- or microtherapeutics. The treatments they are exploring are diverse but share a core concept: the pairing of biologically active molecules such as drugs and antibodies with biologically inert particles such as metals and polymers.  

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Repairs Delay Discovery Launch as Shuttle Program Winds Down

By Mike Martin 

TechNewsWorld

The space shuttle Discovery is scheduled for at least one -- possibly two -- more missions to deliver cargo to the International Space Station, but it's having a hard time getting off the ground. 

The latest delay was necessitated by repairs to damaged struts supporting its exterior fuel tanks. NASA wants to make sure the mission is not endangered by cracks in the shuttle's foam insulation.

IPv6 for a Day: Sampling the New Web World

By Mike Martin
TechNewsWorld

It's been a long time coming, but IPv6 will soon go live -- for a day. Several Internet technology leaders are joining with the Internet Society to get some real Web-world experience using the new protocol this June. 

"By providing an opportunity for the Internet industry to collaborate to test IPv6 readiness, we expect to lay the groundwork for large-scale IPv6 adoption," said the Internet Society's Leslie Daigle.

Google Adds a Little Magic to Earth

By Mike Martin
TechNewsWorld

Google Earth is "a beautiful, user-friendly site to help us gain better awareness of our neighborhoods and our planet," said Jonathan Askin, a Brooklyn Law School professor. 

Among the new features of the latest release are "3D trees" that let users examine dozens of native species in detail when strolling through parks and forests at ground level.

Wikileaks Spill: Catalyst for New, More Open Style of Governing?

By Mike Martin
TechNewsWorld
 

Hero, fool -- even terrorist -- are some of the characterizations of Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks, which revealed sensitive exchanges between the U.S. and other governments on its website. 

"Mr. Assange doesn't understand how the U.S. constitutional democracy was meant to work, and has ensured that we will not be trusted in our foreign relations efforts for a long time to come," said BU professor Michael Corgan.

Is That a Computer You're Wearing on Your Head?

 By Mike Martin
TechNewsWorld

Motorola (NYSE: MOT) announced Wednesday that it will develop a hands-free wireless computing headset with micro-display specialists at Kopin -- a move reminiscent of previous attempts to create wearable computers and communications devices. 

The device will offer voice, audio and PC capabilities on a virtual reality-style 15-inch monitor that will also support simulation software and streaming video.

"We believe this computer headset will be a game-changing solution for mobile workforces," said Motorola emerging business director Tom Bianculli in a prepared statement. TechNewsWorld's attempts to contact Motorola were not successful.

FCC Aims to Bring 911 Into the Modern Era

By Mike Martin

TechNewsWorld


Letting people use texting, photo and video messaging to make 911 calls from any type of wired, wireless or IP-based device makes common sense, but implementation could be tricky. For one thing, equipping all 911 call centers to receive such messages will be expensive. For another, extra training will be required to teach operators how to interpret grainy photos, jittery videos or obscurely abbreviated texts.

Berners-Lee Sounds Alarm Over Appified, Siloed, Regulated Web

By Mike Martin
TechNewsWorld

Tim Berners-Lee has set off a debate over the future of the Web, arguing in an essay published in Scientific American that the walled gardens being created by social networks, businesses and governments could create isolated islands of information in a vast ocean of lost data. At stake is the "continuous worldwide conversation" that the Internet enables, he maintains.

New Exoplanet Discovery Hints at Earth's End

By Mike Martin
TechNewsWorld

Until now, planets known to humans have never wandered into the Milky Way galaxy. However, Friday's announcement that planet HIP 13044b entered our galaxy hitched to a giant star called HIP 13044 has astronomers rethinking how -- and where -- planets form.

"This is an exciting discovery," said Max Planck Institute for Astronomy researcher Rainer Klement, who selected HIP 13044 for the study. "For the first time, astronomers have detected a planetary system of extragalactic origin."

CERN Physicists Create Antimatter (and Could Build a Bomb in a Billion Years)

By Mike Martin
TechNewsWorld
11/18/10 

A product of the Big Bang theoretically produced in abundance, antimatter didn't survive whatever powerful evolutionary pressures permitted the matter we see all around us to reign supreme. As a result, it must be coaxed, very carefully, into existence. The "Alpha Experiment" had a simple goal, said CERN investigator Jeffrey Hangst. "We wanted to see if matter and antimatter behaved identically, as predicted by Dirac."

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Bells Ringing in Cupertino: The Beatles Have Been Landed

By Mike Martin
MacNewsWorld
Part of the ECT News Network
11/16/10

Steve Jobs has made no secret of his wish to draw The Beatles into his Apple universe, and once again, he has managed to turn his vision into reality. The legendary band has been deeply reluctant to join the digital download music revolution, but the day has come, spurring weighty reflections and hallelujahs in the form of one-liners pulled from the group's vast library of songs.

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Seizure Detecting Wristwatch May Promise Autonomy, Respite and Accuracy

By Mike Martin for Epilepsy USA

 

A wristwatch-style device may soon help allay a major fear among people with epilepsy: That a seizure could occur without the knowledge of someone who could help. 

 

“We are working on a device called the SmartWatch that will detect myoclonic and grand mal seizures within 4-5 seconds after onset and alert caregivers within 7-10 seconds after onset,” said Stanford University pediatric neurology professor Donald Olson, M.D.

 

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The Measure of Success

By Mike Martin for Oregon Quarterly

 

Frustrated by poor student performance in introductory courses they were teaching, University of Oregon physics professors James Schombert and Stephen Hsu wondered if they were missing something in the acronym-driven numbers game—GPA, SAT, GMAT, GRE, ACT—that dominates the college admissions process.

 

Freshman students with high entrance-exam scores weren’t performing as well as expected, and “we were unable to determine if there was a deficiency in our teaching or in student cognitive abilities,” Schombert explains. “Being good scientists, we began looking for answers.” 

 

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Like Google Earth, Below Ground

By Mike Martin for E Magazine

The power grid isn’t just above the ground. Much of the power transmission grid lies in a hard-to-navigate subterranean world. Mark Smith, CEO of Geospatial Corporation, believes the answer lies in a Google Earth-like application that maps the world below the ground’s surface.

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Medical Students Feel Unprepared for Health Care System

By Mike Martin for the AAMC Reporter

The U.S. health care system—like the 2,000-page reform bill proposed to change it—is a mountain of complexity. And less than half of graduating U.S. medical students comfortably understand it.

Citing inadequate education, a University of Michigan Medical School (UMMS) study of 58,294 AAMC medical student graduation questionnaires revealed that, while 92 percent of respondents were confident with their clinical training, nearly 60 percent felt unprepared for the managerial demands of medical practice.

"Everyone benefits when medical students are introduced to key concepts regarding health care systems," said AAMC Chief Academic Officer John Prescott, M.D.

"That is why, when students say they believe their knowledge in this area is not where it should be, we take it very seriously. Our goal is for systems-based practice to be a core competency at every medical school and across the continuum of medical education. As students become aware of real-world issues and concerns, they can become active participants in finding solutions."

Published in the September 2009 issue of Academic Medicine, the study, which covered graduates from 2003 to 2007, found lagging student confidence in practice management, record keeping, insurance, medical economics, and managed care.

This may be especially important as health care reform legislation makes its way through Congress. 

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Resident Workload Debate Unveils Bigger Picture

By Mike Martin for the AAMC Reporter

 

A 25-year debate over resident workloads continues to stir the medical community, as the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) considers new standards stimulated by 2008 Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommendations.

 

The IOM recommendations, which include shift limitations, guaranteed sleep periods, and stricter moonlighting guidelines, have some medical professionals welcoming new ways to reduce medical errors and fatigue. At the same time, others, such as Kevin Simpson, M.D., who directs the internal medicine residency program at the Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine in Chicago, see further reductions in resident training time as unnecessary and possibly costly for hospitals covering the same patient loads with fewer available resident hours. Resident fatigue issues were at the heart of a set of 2003 ACGME standards limiting residents to 80 duty hours per week.

 

"The IOM report is excellent, but I disagree with the emphasis on further reducing hours," Simpson said. "Going from unlimited hours to 80 hours a week was great, but there's no need to go any further."

 

In a 2009 letter to the ACGME, the AAMC noted that improving how fatigue (and the residents themselves) are managed—as opposed to duty-hour limits or scheduling—is now the central issue. "We believe resident supervision and attention to patient handovers are critical but under-emphasized components of this debate," said AAMC health care affairs director Sunny Yoder. "A third important issue is resident fatigue—whatever its sources. We support the development of measures of 'fitness for duty' that could be used generally in the 24/7 health care environment." 

 

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The Great Green Grid

A Smart Grid That Lets Us Better Control Our Energy Use May Finally Be Ready to Launch 

 

By Mike Martin for E Magazine

 

Our current electric power grid hasn’t changed in the last 100 years. It’s designed to move electricity in one direction—from mostly fossil-fueled generation plants to user—and makes only limited use of automation and information technology. And it can’t collect power consumption information in real time. The smart grid would change that dynamic with a two-way flow of both electricity and information. It would also open the door for renewable energy sources like wind and solar to get connected and start to reduce the national dependence on dirty fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas.

 

Many homes already feature solar panels and even wind turbines that could actually add electricity to the grid. But the current system of transmission lines isn’t able to determine how much renewable energy will be available at a given time—after all, solar power and wind power are both subject to fluctuation—so utilities produce the same amount of electricity regardless. And, in general, they have to overcompensate. In order to match electricity supply with demand, utilities decide on a level of demand that would be excessive and then match it. 

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Green Schools: The Eco-Schoolhouse That Could

By Mike Martin for E Magazine

The “eco-schoolhouse” was built after an arson fire destroyed a portable classroom at Grant Elementary in Columbia, Missouri. It’s a 21st century one-room schoolhouse nestled behind a century-old main building named for President Ulysses S. Grant.  

 

The 1,024 square-foot classroom was designed for platinum certification under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. Rain barrels irrigate a student garden; reflective/conductive roofing reduces heating and cooling costs; solar panels generate electricity; and students use desks, chairs and tables made from recycled materials.   

 

Ultra-economical R-24 insulation buffers fireproof drywall, a subtle reminder of the tragedy—and the community it brought together. After the fire, parents donated books and educational aids; students made art and decorations; contractors, building suppliers and architect Nick Peckham—whose granddaughter Nora attended Grant—designed and built the schoolhouse, donating what fire insurance wouldn’t cover—about $250,000 in time and materials.  

 

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