Any properly-organized, constant and lasting social media campaign is a vital part of a completely integrated web marketing strategy. Today, the highly complicated strategy of developing a site as well as optimising it efficiently to successfully gain a high search engine results position is not really adequate. A portion of your own campaign also needs to involve establishing a strong appeal throughout major online social network websites.
Even so, it is not as simple as merely beginning a Facebook account. From start-up organizations focusing on brand awareness to well-recognized organizations wanting to preserve if not enhance their prime rank, each business which begins into a marketing strategy within a social networking site should look for the assistance of experts. Promoting over online social media, business people know, demands as much concentration and tactical preparation as other standard media marketing strategies.
Sometimes, a straightforward, linear strategy can be successful in a social media promotion. A common model is a contest in which people are required to provide pictures which include the product or company getting marketed. The presented picture having the most number of votes (or perhaps ?likes?) gets fantastic rewards. To successfully win, people will naturally pass information regarding the actual event and also the brand to their group of associates, their friend?s friends, and also to more circles of influence. The goal of the marketing strategy is to improve their range to a broader base can then be achieved.
The issue with this method is that brand recall will last simply as long as the voter clicks on ?like,? particularly if it wasn?t thoroughly prepared or followed through. The absolutely successful social networking campaign method is something that is reinforced with an innovative as well as specialized structure. It should be built to complement the nature of your company, your brand image as well as your particular business targets. This is often particularly true to products or services which have to convince its public initially, like a health brand which requires a disciplined lifestyle or a product which replaces more recognized or known alternatives.
A successful social media campaign can certainly aid a business to be able to convert the involvement of social media users into actual income. However, the finest social media marketing strategy-the enduring and high-impact ones-knows that improved sales isn?t the be-all and end-all of the full effort. The power of social media websites is that they provide a podium for simple, direct and engaged connection with your target market. Work with that power to interact with your clients-sustain a dialogue with these people, discover much more about their requirements, search for the other areas in which you can offer solutions for them. In the process, you can eventually uncover different ways to serve these people better-the main quality of a credible as well as reliable company name.
Need assistance with marketing your company through social media? London experts will always be there to help you.
ScienceDaily (Sep. 30, 2012) ? Two proteins previously found to contribute to ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, have divergent roles. But a new study, led by researchers at the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, shows that a common pathway links them.
The discovery reveals a small set of target genes that could be used to measure the health of motor neurons, and provides a useful tool for development of new pharmaceuticals to treat the devastating disorder, which currently has no treatment or cure.
Funded in part by the National Institutes of Health and the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), the study will be published in the advance online edition of Nature Neuroscience on September 30.
ALS is an adult-onset neurodegenerative disorder characterized by premature degeneration of motor neurons, resulting in a progressive, fatal paralysis in patients.
The two proteins that contribute to the disease -- FUS/TLS and TDP-43 -- bind to ribonucleic acid (RNA), intermediate molecules that translate genetic information from DNA to proteins. In normal cells, both TDP-43 and FUS/TLS are found in the nucleus where they help maintain proper levels of RNA. In the majority of ALS patients, however, these proteins instead accumulate in the cell's cytoplasm -- the liquid that separates the nucleus from the outer membrane, and thus are excluded from the nucleus, which prevents them from performing their normal duties.
Since the proteins are in the wrong location in the cell, they are unable to perform their normal function, according to the study's lead authors, Kasey R. Hutt, Clotilde Lagier-Tourenne and Magdalini Polymenidou. "In diseased motor neurons where TDP-43 is cleared from the nucleus and forms cytoplasmic aggregates," the authors wrote, "we saw lower protein levels of three genes regulated by TDP-43 and FUS/TLS. We predicted that this, based on our mouse studies, and found the same results in neurons derived from human embryonic stem cells."
In 2011, this team of UC San Diego scientists discovered that more than one-third of the genes in the brains of mice are direct targets of TDP-43, affecting the functions of these genes. In the new study, they compared the impact of the FUS/TLS protein to that of TDP-43, hoping to find a large target overlap.
"Surprisingly, instead we saw a relatively small overlap, and the common RNA targets genes contained exceptionally long introns, or non-coding segments. The set is composed of genes that are important for synapse function," said principal investigator Gene Yeo, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine and the Institute for Genomic Medicine at UC San Diego and a visiting professor at the Molecular Engineering Laboratory in Singapore. "Loss of this common overlapping set of genes is evidence of a common pathway that appears to contribute to motor neuron degeneration."
In an effort to understand the normal function of these two RNA binding proteins, the scientists knocked down the proteins in brains of mice to mimic nuclear clearance, using antisense oligonucleotide technology developed in collaboration with ISIS Pharmaceuticals. The study resulted in a list of genes that are up or down regulated, and the researchers duplicated the findings in human cells.
"If we can somehow rescue the genes from down regulation, or being decreased by these proteins, it could point to a drug target for ALS to slow or halt degeneration of the motor neurons," said Yeo.
These proteins also look to be a central component in other neurodegenerative conditions. For example, accumulating abnormal TDP-43 and FUS/TLS in neuronal cytoplasm has been documented in frontotemporal lobar dementia, a neurological disorder that has been shown to be genetically and clinically linked to ALS, and which is the second most frequent cause of dementia after Alzheimer's disease.
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Journal Reference:
Clotilde Lagier-Tourenne, Magdalini Polymenidou, Kasey R Hutt, Anthony Q Vu, Michael Baughn, Stephanie C Huelga, Kevin M Clutario, Shuo-Chien Ling, Tiffany Y Liang, Curt Mazur, Edward Wancewicz, Aneeza S Kim, Andy Watt, Sue Freier, Geoffrey G Hicks, John Paul Donohue, Lily Shiue, C Frank Bennett, John Ravits, Don W Cleveland, Gene W Yeo. Divergent roles of ALS-linked proteins FUS/TLS and TDP-43 intersect in processing long pre-mRNAs. Nature Neuroscience, 2012; DOI: 10.1038/nn.3230
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
THE way to a lobster's age is through its stomach. The finding could improve our understanding of mortality rates within lobster populations, with implications for sustainable fishing practices.
Aquatic species are usually aged by counting annual growth bands deposited on hard parts in their bodies - like counting tree rings. Many fish have bands on bones in the ear, but crustaceans lose their hard parts when they moult.
Raouf Kilada at the University of New Brunswick in Canada has found a lobster hard part that isn't lost - the gastric mills that grind its food. He presented the finding at the Crustacean Society meeting in Athens, Greece, in June.
Scientists use body size to approximate crustacean age in population models. Kilada's work could make the models more precise, says Adrian Linnane at the South Australian Research and Development Institute.
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Kate, sister Pippa, and parents Carole and Michael attended the wedding of Thierry Kelaart and Patrick Heathcote-Amory in Oxfordshire
Michael Middleton gave the bride away at the ceremony in St Bartholomew's Church near Henley-on-Thames
By Kerry Mcdermott
PUBLISHED: 11:09 EST, 29 September 2012 | UPDATED: 12:00 EST, 29 September 2012
More than a year has passed since Kate Middleton's father Michael walked her up the aisle to meet her groom Prince William.
Today the Duchess of Cambridge watched her father give away another beautiful bride as the Middleton family attended a society wedding.
Michael Middleton walked family friend Thierry Kelaart into St Bartholomew's church and down the aisle, standing in for her late father.
Sophisticated: The Duchess of Cambridge chose a pale blue knee-length dress and her trademark nude heels for the wedding, while sister Pippa wore a beige dress topped off with a jacket and matching fascinator
The elegant brunette tied the knot with groom Patrick Heathcote-Amory, a relative of Tory politician David Heathcote-Amory - whose career was marred by an expenses scandal in which he billed the cost of manure to the taxpayer.
Kate and Pippa looked glamorous as they watched the Church of England ceremony and the sounds of Glory Hallelujah could be heard ringing as the couple wed.
After the ceremony Kate's mother, Carole Middleton, led her daughters through a side door surrounded by other guests while the bride and groom stood in the entrance at the back of the church.
Kate Middleton's father Michael Middleton gave bride Thierry Kelaart away at the wedding
Fresh from her tour of Southeast Asia with husband Prince William, the Duchess of Cambridge wore a striking hat at the wedding of family friend Thierry Kelaart
Smiling Kate appeared eager to avoid the attention of photographers gathered at the church in Oxfordshire, keeping her head lowered beneath her hat
Surrounded by smartly dressed children the happy couple posed for photographs while guests lined the churchyard alongside them, while bells rang out in the background.
The bride and groom and their guests then made their way to a farmhouse next door to the church before other guests joined them and eventually Pippa, dressed in a cream suit jacket over a cream dress, followed.
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Kate was not far behind as, surrounded by several male pals, she made her way quietly up the dirt path alongside the church building to the reception area.
Dressed elegantly in a long-sleeved turquoise dress, the future Queen turned her hat, positioned at an angle, to a bank of waiting press photographers to hide her face.
Fresh back from her tour of the Far East she appeared shy and reluctant to return to the limelight after the exhausting round of public appearances.
High-profile guests: Kate Middleton's mother Carole wore an elegant pale pink dress and matching jacket, accessorised with a black hat, clutch bag and heels
Bride and Groom: Elegant bride Thierry Kelaart wore a satin dress with a delicate lace overlay to wed Patrick Heathcote-Amory in Oxfordshire
The Duchess did her best to remain in the background, avoiding upstaging the bride at the picturesque village wedding, in Nettlebed, near Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire.
A source at the church said: 'It went very well. The wedding was very well planned and it was a wonderful village occasion.
'As far as I'm aware the Middleton's are very, very old family friends of the bride.'
One wedding guest said: 'The wedding was lovely, absolutely lovely. I don't know why Michael Middleton was chosen to give the bride away but I know her father has passed away.'
The roads were empty during last year's uneventful Carmageddon, but the Los Angeles highway closure had one unexpected hitch: swarms of noisy, sightseeing helicopters.?
By Richard Read,?Guest blogger / September 29, 2012
This July 2011 file photo shows Interstate 405 free of traffic, seen looking south from the Skirball Drive bridge, as the demolition of two lanes Mulholland Drive bridge continue in Los Angeles at dawn. Though the last Carmageddon was uneventful, the air above Los Angeles did become noishy and crowded with helicopters.
Reed Saxon/AP/File
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If you live in Southern California, you probably remember?Carmageddon?-- not the?video game, not the pet name that some gave to the 2008/2009?auto?industry bailout, but?the closure of the 405, one of Los Angeles' busiest highways. Now, it's happening again, and once again, residents are concerned about its impact on their quality of life.
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In July of last year, officials closed a section of the 405 for three days in order to demolish the south side of Mulholland Bridge, a messy but necessary step in a?$1 billion highway improvement project. California officials urged residents who had to drive to stay as far away from the 405 as possible, warning of monumental traffic jams. Citizens panicked, the media predicted complete chaos, and in the end...well, in the end, it wasn't a big deal at all.
In fact, traffic over the Carmageddon weekend was pretty light, and the number of people?using mass transit soared. In fact, Carmageddon was such a non-event that some people began asking?if LA shouldn't promote car-free weekends more often.?
LA being LA, residents quickly resumed their auto-centric habits as soon as Carmageddon wrapped up (17 hours ahead of schedule, thank you very much). But they're going to get the chance to break the 405 habit once more this weekend.
From 7pm today until 5am Monday, the same ten-mile stretch of the 405 will be shut down as?construction?teams -- you guessed it -- demolish the?north?side of the Mulholland Bridge so that it can be rebuilt wider and more seismically sound.
City officials are hoping that Carmageddon II -- which we affectionately dubbed "Carmageddon 2: Revenge of the Fallen: This Time, It's?Electric?Boogaloo (featuring Patty Smyth)"?-- will go as smoothly as the first one. However, some who live near the soon-to-be-closed interstate have a new concern:?traffic jams overhead.
According to the?LA Times,?there was one under-reported hitch in last year's Carmageddon:swarms of sightseers hovering in helicopters?above the Westside neighborhood to catch a glimpse of the Mulholland Bridge's destruction. In fact, the situation was so bad that U.S.?Congressman Howard Berman (D-Valley Village) proposed the?Los Angeles Residential Helicopter Noise Relief Act, which would have allowed the Federal Aviation Administration to set rules governing flight paths for helicopter operators in LA.
Alas, Berman's bill seems to have stalled, so officials are now?asking?insisting that helicopter pilots be considerate and reasonable over the weekend. While news crews will undoubtedly be on hand for the event, Sherman Oaks board director Bob Anderson has demanded that well-heeled gawkers "stop having wine and cheese parties on helicopters to watch the bridge come down."
Live in LA? What are your plans for the weekend? Will you find alternative fun to pass the time like?Artmageddon, or will you ignore Anderson's request and take to the skies?
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Improve annuities Your Personal Finances With These Tips
Many people feel overwhelmed when they think about improving their finances. However, personal finances don?t have to be complicated or painful. If you take the time to learn where your money is going and figure out where you want it to go instead, you should be able to improve your finances fairly quickly.
If you are trying to repair your credit score, be sure to check your credit report for mistakes. You may be suffering from a credit card company?s computer error. If you notice a mistake, be sure to have it corrected as soon as possible by writing to all of the major credit bureaus.
Even if your home has decreased in value since you bought it, this doesn?t mean you?re doomed to lose money. You don?t actually lose any money until you sell your house, so if you don?t have to sell at the moment, don?t. Wait until the market improves and your property value begins to rise again.
If you are young, ignore the conventional wisdom of investing in 80 percent stocks and 20 annuity rates percent bonds, and instead aim for a 50-50 balance. Given the volatility of the market, you can still lose quite a bit by putting most of your money in stocks. Having a mix of both may reduce your returns a little bit, but it might also cushion you against huge losses.
Check your credit report on a regular basis to make sure that nothing is hurting your credit. Each of the three major credit agencies is required to give you a free credit report once per year. By spacing out your requests, you can get a free credit report every four months.
Don?t let banks use your money for free. Many banks require customers to maintain a high minimum balance to avoid fees for checking or savings accounts, but pay very low or no interest on the amount. You can usually find a better deal at a credit union or an online bank.
To save money on your energy bill, clean te dust off your refrigerator coils. Simple maintenance like this can go a long way in reducing your overall expenses around the house. This easy task will mean that your fridge annuity rates can function at normal capacity with a lot less energy.
Taking a job at a store that carries many thing that are of interest to you can be a great decision. Not only will you earn a paycheck for working at that store, but will also receive an employee discount that can be used to save money on things bought there, providing two benefits to your personal finances.
When you are putting together a family budget, make sure to get all in the family involved including your children. Since money is spent on each family member, having your family?s input on how much they spend and how much to save, a compromise can then be made on a budget. It is easier to stick with a budget when you have a family consensus.
As you?ve just read, personal finances don?t have to be overwhelming. If you take the advice that you have read in this article and run with it, you can turn your financial situation around. Just look honestly at your finances and decide what changes you want to make, so that soon, you can enjoy the benefits of improved finances.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) ? California Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation Friday that will create the nation's first state-administered retirement savings program for private-sector workers, over the objection of critics who said it creates a new liability for taxpayers.
The bill will establish the California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Program for more than 6 million lower-income, private-sector workers whose employers do not offer retirement plans.
The program directs employers to withhold 3 percent of their workers' pay unless the employee opts out of the savings program, which can be done every two years. It would be administered by a seven-member board chaired by the state treasurer. The board would select a professional fund manager, which could be a private investment firm or the state's public pension system, to maintain the money.
State Sen. Kevin De Leon, D-Los Angeles, introduced the bill earlier this year in response to what he called the "looming retirement tsunami" as millions of lower-wage workers face financial hardship in their retirement years. He said the program will act as a supplement to Social Security by offering private-sector workers a portable savings plan with a guaranteed return.
He said the program is not a pension but rather acts as a savings account, which could be a national model for improving retirement savings.
"This is a major step forward for retirement security in America," De Leon said in a statement. "I am grateful for Gov. Brown's acumen and with his leadership we are setting the path for middle class hard-working Americas to prepare for retirement so they won't be forced into poverty."
State Sen. Mimi Walters, R-Lake Forest, called SB1234 the "worst bill to make its way out of the legislature this year" because it would allow the state's main pension system to invest the money.
Walters noted that the California Public Employees' Retirement System is running a shortfall and that the savings program will be controlled by a group of "career politicians."
"SB1234 looks like nothing more than a cynical effort to prop up the floundering public employee pension debt with new funds from private investors," Walters wrote in a blog ahead of the bill signing.
Many cities and counties already pool their contributions along with the state in the public pension system, but taxpayers are on the hook to cover public employee benefits if investment projections fall short.
It's too soon to say what would happen if CalPERS managed the new retirement program, said pension fund's spokesman, Brad Pacheco. CalPERS could create a separate account for private-sector workers, although it's more likely to pool investments with public employees.
CalPERS' fund posted an annual return of just 1 percent last year, missing its own long-term annual target of 7.5 percent. It currently has an estimated long-term unfunded liability of $100 billion.
Democratic lawmakers said the program gives workers more savings options, particularly women working low-paying jobs. Supporters say it will not cost the state money because it will be backed by underwriters and reinsured to protect returns. De Leon noted that the money would be placed into low-risk investments with interest guaranteed at a low rate tied to long-term Treasury bond yields.
Participants would also have to sign a liability waiver stating that California would not be liable for losses.
The bill would not be implemented unless the savings program is projected to be self-sustaining and exempt from federal rules that cover private-sector defined benefit plans. Such plans have to meet minimum standards under the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
The bill also requires the board to submit an annual audit. It was initially opposed by businesses, insurance companies and financial services firms. Business groups such as the California Chamber of Commerce dropped opposition after changes were made to the bill, according to De Leon's staff.
The governor also signed companion legislation under SB923.
Republican lawmakers who opposed the program when it was moving through the Legislature said low-income workers might be better off financially if they put after-tax earnings into a Roth IRA, which would allow them to take their contributions tax-free in retirement.
They also said there were too many unanswered questions about the program. GOP lawmakers said if the underwriter fails to meet investment targets, taxpayers and employers could be held responsible for covering losses and administrative overhead.
Homes For Sale Downtown Pleasanton CA August 2012 Downtown Pleasanton CA Real Estate Market Update September 29, 2012 | Homes for Sale in San Ramon, Danville CA, Dublin CA, Pleasanton
?2012 Bay East. ?2012 CCAR. ?2012 EBRD. All rights reserved. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. This information is provided from three separate sources: Bay East, CCAR and EBRD. The listings presented here may or may not be listed by the Broker/Agent operating this website. Information last updated on 9/29/12 10:09 PM PDT.
BEIJING (AP) ? One of the hottest items in bookstores across China is a map for a place that is closed to visitors, home only to animals such as goats and crabs, and the reason China's relations with Japan are at their lowest point in years.
China calls them the Diaoyus; Japan, the Senkakus. The new map shows a satellite image of a kidney-shaped main island with splotches of green and a list of 70 affiliated "islands" that are really half-submerged rocks.
China hastily published the map to help maintain public outrage over the Japanese government's purchase of some of the islands from their private Japanese owners. Beijing also has engaged in another type of mapmaking that may end up escalating the conflict.
It has drawn new territorial markers, or baselines, around the islands and submitted them to the United Nations. That could lead to a more serious attempt to claim the islands, and broad swaths of valuable ocean around them.
"The status quo has been broken in the last month by Japan's purchase and China's publishing of the baselines," said Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt of the International Crisis Group. She said friction is likely to reach its worst level since the 1980s when China and Japan tacitly agreed to set aside the dispute in pursuit of better overall relations.
Beijing has been firm rhetorically. On Saturday, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said the country must safeguard its territorial integrity at a reception celebrating the upcoming National Day.
State television on Saturday reported that the country's navy and air forces conducted joint military exercises with live fire targeting a small island in the East China Sea.
More than lines on paper are at stake. By submitting the baselines to the U.N., China is spelling out its claim to the waters, the fish in them and the oil, gas and other minerals beneath them. Up until now, China has sought to jointly exploit resources with Japan through negotiation.
Japan says it bought to islands to maintain stability, noting that the nationalist governor of Tokyo had been pushing a more radical plan to not only buy the islands but develop them. China, however, was outraged, and considered Japan's move a violation of their earlier agreements.
The dispute has brought nationalism and patriotism to the fore, and sparked sometimes-violent protests in China targeting Japanese businesses, restaurants and cars. A Chinese man driving a Toyota Corolla was beaten unconscious by a mob in the tourist city of Xi'an and left partially paralyzed, according to state media. Chinese and Japanese coast guard vessels have been facing off in the contested waters.
The dispute is testing perhaps the most important economic relationship in Asia, between the world's second- and third-largest economies.
Japan has claimed the islands since 1895. The U.S. took jurisdiction after World War II and turned them over to Japan in 1972. China says they have been part of its territory since ancient times, and that it opposed and never acknowledged the deal between Japan and the United States. Taiwan also claims them.
The islands make a strange setting for a potential conflict zone. The largest is less than 4 square kilometers (1.5 square miles). It is home to a growing population of goats ? the offspring of a pair brought there by right-wing Japanese activists in 1977 ? as well as moles, crabs, Okinawan ants, albatross and lizards, and plants including azalea.
The islands themselves are remote, "intrinsically worthless features" that were largely forgotten for decades, said Clive Schofield of the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security at the University of Wollongong.
"The reason why there is uncertainty over the ownership, sovereignty is because they have essentially been ignored over a large period of time," Schofield said.
A U.N. survey in the 1970s that said oil and gas may lie beneath the surrounding waters changed that. Then, the Law of the Sea Convention introduced the idea of 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zones, or EEZs, which give coastal countries sole exploitation rights over all natural resources contained within.
China's new baselines are a prelude to defining that exclusive zone. It has drawn straight lines around the main group of islands and a separate set around isolated Chiwei Island, some 50 nautical miles to the east.
It also plans to submit a document outlining the outer limits of its sea bed ? those that stretch beyond 200 nautical miles from land ? in the East China Sea to a U.N. commission. The move is a way for China to underscore its claim, but has little real impact. The commission, which comprises geological experts, evaluates the markers on technical grounds but has no authority to resolve overlapping claims.
"That puts a line in the sand, but it doesn't have any legal impact," said Ian Townsend Gault, director of the Centre for Asian Legal Studies at the University of British Columbia in Canada.
He doubts whether the islands would be capable of generating a 200-nautical-mile EEZ because they are too insignificant ? too small and without a population.
"They are not important in the economic sense, no matter how beautiful they look on postcards," he said.
Legal questions aside, China sees the waters within its baselines as its internal waters under Beijing's administration.
That raises the risk of a confrontation in the clear waters around the disputed islands between Japanese coast guard vessels and Chinese fishing boats and law enforcement vessels, and even Taiwanese vessels ? all ostensibly with orders to patrol the area.
Already there has been sparring the past two weeks, with Chinese maritime surveillance vessels entering waters Japan claims, and the Japanese coast guard firing a water cannon at Taiwanese boats approaching the islands.
The parties could legally resolve their dispute if they submit it to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg, Germany, or their own court.
"Both would be equally terrified of losing on flimsy grounds," said Townsend Gault. "They have snookered each other legally and diplomatically speaking. They have driven each other into a corner. We need some third party to say can you put this to bed so we don't have this enormous disruption in your bilateral relations whereby people are smashing up Toyota dealerships."
___
Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.
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Follow Louise Watt on Twitter at http://twitter.com/louise_watt
An interdisciplinary team of researchers from Northwestern University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Tufts University are the first to demonstrate "transient electronics" -- which are electronics that gradually disappear on a specified schedule, whether it be a few days or six months.
These kinds of electronics could have applications in medicine, pharmaceuticals, environmental monitors and the military, among other uses.
Conventional electronics are made to last indefinitely. Transient electronics, on the other hand, offer the opposite behavior. They physically vanish over time in a well-controlled manner and at a prescribed time, dissolving when they react with water. A magnesium oxide encapsulation layer and silk overcoat envelops the electronics, and the thickness determines how long the system will take to disappear into its environment.
"These electronics are there when you need them, and after they've served their purpose they disappear," said Yonggang Huang, who led the Northwestern portion of the research focused on theory, design and modeling. "This is a completely new concept."
The novel technology opens up important possibilities. Transient electronics could be useful as medical devices implanted inside the human body to monitor such things as temperature or brain, heart and muscle tissue activity, to apply thermal therapy or to deliver drugs. When no longer needed, the electronics would be fully absorbed by the body with no adverse effects. (Implantable electronics are not commonly used in medicine because of concern about the long-term effects.)
Such a system also could be used as environmental monitors placed on buildings, roadways or military equipment to detect temperature change or structural deformation. The device would dissolve when exposed to water, eliminating the need for it to be recovered at a future date.
Details of the biocompatible electronics will be published in the Sept. 28 issue of the journal Science.
"We selected materials familiar to the human body, such as magnesium," said Huang, a senior author of the paper and the Joseph Cummings Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Mechanical Engineering at Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science. "We didn't want to use a material the body has no experience with."
While the researchers studied a number of different biocompatible materials, including zinc and iron, they focused on silicon-based electronics with conductors made of magnesium. The key question they needed to answer was: How long will it take the entire electronic device to dissolve?
The device is made up of the electronics and encapsulation layers (a magnesium oxide layer covered by a silk overcoat) surrounding the electronics. The encapsulation layers are the first to dissolve and dictate the first dissolution timescale. The magnesium electrodes in the electronics define the second timescale. These combined lengths of time determine the dissolution time for the entire system.
John Rogers, the Lee J. Flory-Founder professor of engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, led the overall multidisciplinary research team and the U. of I. group that worked on the experimental and fabrication work of the transient electronics.
Huang and his Northwestern team developed a model that can accurately predict how thick the encapsulation layers need to be for a specific dissolution time. The model was tested against experimental evidence, and the two agreed each time. (With a reliable model, the researchers don't need to keep repeating experiments.)
At Tufts, Fiorenzo G. Omenetto, professor of biomedical engineering, led the biomaterials and chemistry work and conducted a series of in vivo experiments to demonstrate bio-resorption and biocompatibility.
In the study, the researchers built several functional devices that are dissolvable, including field-effect transistors, resistors, diodes, a heater and a strain sensor. All the components of each electronic system disappear, and right on the programmed schedule.
The researchers demonstrated that the transient electronics, including heater, sensor and power supply, can operate in both water and a phosphate buffered saline (PBS) liquid. (PBS is very chemically similar to what is in the human body.) They also implanted the transient electronics in a mouse model and showed that the heating device was effective and could kill bacteria.
Induction coils provide a wireless power supply to the electronics. "This way the devices in water or PBS liquid can have power without being physically connected to a power source, such as a battery," Huang said.
The materials tested by the researchers are biocompatible, which is important for implantable electronics. Magnesium is an element found in the body, and the material also is used in some stents. Silk is approved for sutures and in tissue engineering. Other materials studied, such as magnesium oxide and porous silicon, also are biocompatible.
The materials, fabrication techniques and modeling tools can be used for component devices for almost any type of transient electronic system, the researchers said.
Thanks to Northwestern University for this article.
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We're YNAB users too. We got YNAB3 in 2009 when they offered a discounted price to a bunch of us on the We're Debt Free board (a Dave Ramsey spin-off) on BabyCenter.com.
I bought YNAB in November, used it for about 6 weeks before it really "clicked" and then we were off and running. I started up a new budget with the new year and have been happily budgeting since. I personally incorporate YNAB's budgeting ideas and mentaility into Dave Ramsey's living debt-free plan and it works well for us. We've paid off about $26k in debt, which is great considering my husband has been laid off more than half of the past 3 years.
For most people, YNAB does take a few weeks or so to "get". It's hard learning to not look at your bank account and think "I have xxx amount of money leftover to spend". With YNAB you give every dollar a job. So when you get paid, every single penny of that paycheck is budgeted towards something, be it your mortgage, your phone bill, your savings, or your video game fund. You can set up sinking funds for things that you know you'll need to buy or spend money on in the future. For example, I know that I have to renew my tags every August. So instead of coming up with the $200 every August (random number), I can put about $17 a month aside into the tags category and come August, it's all there ready to be paid out.
If you've picked up a pair of Apple's new EarPods, you've probably read that Apple designed them to fit all types of ears. That hasn't stopped many reviewers from pointing out they're a little loose and prone to falling out. The fix? A little sugru, that moldable silicone we love so much.
Instructables user juniortan picked up a pair and says they're a little loose in his ears, but all it took was a touch of sugru around the outside of the EarPods to fix the problem. He explained you only need a little bit?maybe 1/5 of the pack?to customize both earpieces, and once the sugru has dried nicely, they'll fit like a glove. Plus, you can always press down the sugru or add more to get a perfect fit. We've shown you how to repair damaged earbuds before with Sugru?it makes sense that it can also be used to improve the fit of the ones you have. Check out the link below for a full step-by-step, complete with photos of the finished product.
LONDON (AP) ? Britain's Health Protection Agency has published an early genetic sequence of the new respiratory virus related to SARS that shows it is most closely linked to bat viruses, and scientists say camels, sheep or goats might end up being implicated too.
So far, officials have only identified two confirmed cases and say the virus isn't as infectious as SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, which killed hundreds of people, mostly in Asia, in a 2003 global outbreak.
In Geneva, World Health Organization spokesman Glenn Thomas told reporters Friday that so far the signs are that the virus is "not easily transmitted from person to person" ? but analyses are ongoing. The agency said it's too early to tell how big a threat the new virus will be since it is unknown how exactly it spreads and whether it will evolve into a more dangerous form.
Global health officials suspect two victims from the Middle East may have caught it from animals.
"It's a logical possibility to consider any animals present in the region in large numbers," said Ralph Baric, a coronavirus expert at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "Biologists now need to go into the area and take samples from any animals they can get their hands on, including camels and goats," he said. Baric said it was crucial to find out how widespread the virus is in animals and what kind of contact might be risky for people.
Baric suggested bats might be spreading the virus directly to humans since the two confirmed infections happened months apart. "If there was an established transmission pattern from other animals, we probably would have seen a lot more cases," he said.
WHO said it is considering the possibility the new coronavirus sickened humans after direct contact with animals. The agency is now working with experts in the Middle East to figure out how the two confirmed cases got infected but could not share details until the investigation was finished.
One patient was a Saudi Arabian man who died several months ago while the other is a Qatari national who traveled to Saudi Arabia before falling ill and is currently in critical but stable condition in a London hospital.
Earlier this week, WHO issued a global alert asking doctors to be on guard for any potential cases of the new respiratory virus, which also causes kidney failure.
Saudi officials have already warned that next month's annual Muslim Hajj pilgrimage, which brings millions to Saudi Arabia from all around the world, could allow the virus to spread. As a precautionary measure, they are advising pilgrims to keep their hands clean and wear masks in crowded places.
Experts said knowing where a virus comes from provides clues on how to stop it.
"This means we could prevent the fire before it starts instead of rushing towards it with fire trucks and water hoses afterwards," said Michael Osterholm, an infectious diseases expert at the University of Minnesota.
Osterholm said it was possible bats had simply passed on the virus from other animals and that there could be a complicated transmission chain that ultimately ended in humans.
Viruses reproduce as they infect animals and people, giving them more chances to evolve into a deadlier version.
"We don't know enough about coronaviruses to predict which mutations might make them more lethal or transmissible," Osterholm said. "But you don't want to tempt genetic fate with microbes because you're bound to lose most times."
____
Michael Casey in Dubai and Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this report.
Ancient stinging nettles reveal Bronze Age trade connectionsPublic release date: 28-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Karin Margarita Frei kmfrei@hum.ku.dk 45-61-83-20-01 University of Copenhagen
A piece of nettle cloth retrieved from Denmark's richest known Bronze Age burial mound Lusehj may actually derive from Austria, new findings suggest. The cloth thus tells a surprising story about long-distance Bronze Age trade connections around 800 BC. The findings have just been published in Nature's online journal Scientific Reports.
2,800 years ago, one of Denmark's richest and most powerful men died. His body was burned. And the bereaved wrapped his bones in a cloth made from stinging nettle and put them in a stately bronze container, which also functioned as urn.
Now new findings suggest that the man's voyage to his final resting place may have been longer than such voyages usually were during the Bronze Age: the nettle cloth, which was wrapped around the deceased's bones, was not made in Denmark, and the evidence points to present-day Austria as the place of origin.
"I expected the nettles to have grown in Danish soil on the island of Funen, but when I analysed the plant fibres' strontium isotope levels, I could see that this was not the case," explains postdoc Karin Margarita Frei from the Danish National Research Foundation's Centre for Textile Research at the University of Copenhagen.
"The levels indicate that the nettles grew in an area with geologically old bedrock. We can only find rock with similar levels of strontium isotope in Sweden and Norway as well as in Central Europe."
Karin Margarita Frei had to conclude that Bronze Age Danes did not use local stinging nettle for their nettle textiles.
Strontium tells us where we come from
It is Karin Margarita Frei who has developed the method to determine plant textiles' strontium isotope levels that has led to the surprising discovery.
Strontium is an element which exists in the earth's crust, but its prevalence is subject to geological and topographical variation. Humans, animals, and plants absorb strontium through water and food. By measuring the strontium level in archaeological remains, researchers can determine where humans and animals lived, and where plants grew.
The new discovery is the result of a collaboration between an international team of researchers from the Danish National Research Foundation's Centre for Textile Research at the University of Copenhagen, the University of Bergen in Norway, and the National Museum of Denmark. The findings are described in an article that has just been published in Nature's online journal Scientific Reports.
Made in Austria
Karin Margarita Frei's work and the grave's archaeological remains suggest that the cloth may have been produced as far away as the Alps.
The bronze container, which has been used as urn, is of Central European origin and probably from the Krnten-Steiermark region in Austria. The strontium isotope analysis of the cloth indicates that it may very well be from the same region. This assumption is supported by yet incomplete analyses of pitch found in the Lusehj grave.
Textile archaeologist Ulla Mannering from the National Museum of Denmark offers an explanation as to how an Austrian cloth ended up in Funen, Denmark.
"Bronze Age Danes got their bronze from Central Europe, and imports were controlled by rich and powerful men. We can imagine how a bronze importer from Funen in Denmark died on a business trip to Austria. His bones were wrapped in an Austrian nettle cloth and placed in a stately urn that his travel companions transported back to Denmark," Ulla Mannering suggests.
Nettles made good textile
The strontium isotope analyses have surprised Ulla Mannering.
She concludes on the basis of the analyses that Central Europeans still used wild plants for textile production during the Bronze Age while at the same time cultivating textile plants such as flax on a large scale. Nettle textiles could apparently compete with textiles made from flax and other materials because top quality nettle fabrics are as good as raw silk.
The strontium isotope analyses also mean that Danish textile history needs revision.
"Until recently the Lusehj nettle cloth was the oldest nettle cloth we knew, and the only Bronze Age nettle cloth, but with our new findings we actually have no evidence that nettle textiles were produced in Denmark at all during the Bronze Age," Ulla Mannering points out.
###
Contact:
Postdoc Karin Margarita Frei
Danish National Research Foundation's Centre for Textile Research
University of Copenhagen
Phone: + 45 61 83 20 01
Archaeologist Ulla Mannering
National Museum of Denmark
Phone: + 45 41 20 61 58
Professor Bodil Holst
University of Bergen, Norway
Phone: +47 47 607 608
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Ancient stinging nettles reveal Bronze Age trade connectionsPublic release date: 28-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Karin Margarita Frei kmfrei@hum.ku.dk 45-61-83-20-01 University of Copenhagen
A piece of nettle cloth retrieved from Denmark's richest known Bronze Age burial mound Lusehj may actually derive from Austria, new findings suggest. The cloth thus tells a surprising story about long-distance Bronze Age trade connections around 800 BC. The findings have just been published in Nature's online journal Scientific Reports.
2,800 years ago, one of Denmark's richest and most powerful men died. His body was burned. And the bereaved wrapped his bones in a cloth made from stinging nettle and put them in a stately bronze container, which also functioned as urn.
Now new findings suggest that the man's voyage to his final resting place may have been longer than such voyages usually were during the Bronze Age: the nettle cloth, which was wrapped around the deceased's bones, was not made in Denmark, and the evidence points to present-day Austria as the place of origin.
"I expected the nettles to have grown in Danish soil on the island of Funen, but when I analysed the plant fibres' strontium isotope levels, I could see that this was not the case," explains postdoc Karin Margarita Frei from the Danish National Research Foundation's Centre for Textile Research at the University of Copenhagen.
"The levels indicate that the nettles grew in an area with geologically old bedrock. We can only find rock with similar levels of strontium isotope in Sweden and Norway as well as in Central Europe."
Karin Margarita Frei had to conclude that Bronze Age Danes did not use local stinging nettle for their nettle textiles.
Strontium tells us where we come from
It is Karin Margarita Frei who has developed the method to determine plant textiles' strontium isotope levels that has led to the surprising discovery.
Strontium is an element which exists in the earth's crust, but its prevalence is subject to geological and topographical variation. Humans, animals, and plants absorb strontium through water and food. By measuring the strontium level in archaeological remains, researchers can determine where humans and animals lived, and where plants grew.
The new discovery is the result of a collaboration between an international team of researchers from the Danish National Research Foundation's Centre for Textile Research at the University of Copenhagen, the University of Bergen in Norway, and the National Museum of Denmark. The findings are described in an article that has just been published in Nature's online journal Scientific Reports.
Made in Austria
Karin Margarita Frei's work and the grave's archaeological remains suggest that the cloth may have been produced as far away as the Alps.
The bronze container, which has been used as urn, is of Central European origin and probably from the Krnten-Steiermark region in Austria. The strontium isotope analysis of the cloth indicates that it may very well be from the same region. This assumption is supported by yet incomplete analyses of pitch found in the Lusehj grave.
Textile archaeologist Ulla Mannering from the National Museum of Denmark offers an explanation as to how an Austrian cloth ended up in Funen, Denmark.
"Bronze Age Danes got their bronze from Central Europe, and imports were controlled by rich and powerful men. We can imagine how a bronze importer from Funen in Denmark died on a business trip to Austria. His bones were wrapped in an Austrian nettle cloth and placed in a stately urn that his travel companions transported back to Denmark," Ulla Mannering suggests.
Nettles made good textile
The strontium isotope analyses have surprised Ulla Mannering.
She concludes on the basis of the analyses that Central Europeans still used wild plants for textile production during the Bronze Age while at the same time cultivating textile plants such as flax on a large scale. Nettle textiles could apparently compete with textiles made from flax and other materials because top quality nettle fabrics are as good as raw silk.
The strontium isotope analyses also mean that Danish textile history needs revision.
"Until recently the Lusehj nettle cloth was the oldest nettle cloth we knew, and the only Bronze Age nettle cloth, but with our new findings we actually have no evidence that nettle textiles were produced in Denmark at all during the Bronze Age," Ulla Mannering points out.
###
Contact:
Postdoc Karin Margarita Frei
Danish National Research Foundation's Centre for Textile Research
University of Copenhagen
Phone: + 45 61 83 20 01
Archaeologist Ulla Mannering
National Museum of Denmark
Phone: + 45 41 20 61 58
Professor Bodil Holst
University of Bergen, Norway
Phone: +47 47 607 608
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
BLACKBURN, England (AP) -Steve Kean has resigned as Blackburn manager, saying he had been "forced" out and that his position had become "untenable."
Kean faced constant calls for his resignation from fans last season when the club was relegated from the Premier League, but had retained the public backing of the club's owners, Indian poultry firm Venky's.
Blackburn is third in the League Championship after a good start, but Kean issued a statement Friday saying that "it is with deep regret, given my hard work and service for the club for a number of years, that I have been forced to resign as manager of Blackburn Rovers Football Club with immediate effect, due to my position as team manager becoming untenable."
The club did not immediately announce a replacement.
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Flacco throws for 356 yards as Baltimore (3-1) beats AFC North rival, 23-16
Patrick Smith / Reuters
Baltimore receiver Torrey Smith?celebrates with teammate Dennis Pitta after scoring a touchdown. The Ravens improved to 3-1 with Thursday's win.
By DAVID GINSBURG
updated 1:19 a.m. ET Sept. 28, 2012
BALTIMORE - The regular NFL officials returned to action, and the ending of their first game was eerily familiar to the one that hastened the exit of the replacement refs.
This time, however, there were no replays or arguments at the end. Just another win by the Baltimore Ravens over the Cleveland Browns, 23-16 on Thursday night.
If not for two failed desperation passes into the end zone in the closing seconds, the returning officials might have had to work overtime on their first night back.
Cleveland began its final drive with 1:05 to go on its own 10. Rookie Brandon Weeden moved the Browns to the Baltimore 33 before a fourth-down pass into the end zone fell incomplete. But a personal foul penalty on Baltimore linebacker Paul Kruger gave winless Cleveland one more chance.
That pass sailed out of the end zone.
"Too much juice," Weeden lamented.
The final sequence was not unlike the controversial ending of Monday night's Green Bay-Seattle game, when a Hail Mary pass was ruled a touchdown. That play, and the furor it created, hastened negotiations that brought the regular officials back.
The lockout ended late Wednesday, bringing about the exit of the unpopular replacement refs. And so, finally, the tenured officials were in place for Week 4.
"I felt so bad for that Green Bay situation," Ravens running back Ray Rice said. "Replacement refs, their families, I can't knock them. The scrutiny they were under. That kind of scrutiny is bad. It's hard going from like Pop Warner to the big leagues."
As they walked onto the field hours before this game, the officiating crew received a round of applause and shouts of encouragement from fans in the lower sections. Head linesman Wayne Mackie and line judge Jeff Seeman both tipped their caps to acknowledge the support.
And then, before the pregame coin flip, referee Gene Steratore greeted the players at midfield by saying, "Good evening, men, it's good to be back."
Many in the sellout crowd of 70,944 stood and roared their approval.
Afterward, Ravens coach John Harbaugh echoed the sentiment of the crowd.
"Welcome back to the officials. Good to have them back," he said. "These guys are really good. The communication was good. I didn't agree with every call, but they were excellent."
Joe Flacco went 28 for 46 for 356 yards, threw one touchdown and ran for another. Yet, it wasn't until Cary Williams returned an interception 63 yards for a score at the end of the third quarter that the Ravens (3-1) put some distance between themselves and the young Browns (0-4).
"I thought our secondary made plays that had to be made, especially at the end there when they were knocking at the door," Harbaugh said. "Cary Wiliams was the difference in the game with the interception return for a touchdown."
The fans waited until the third quarter to boo the officials. On a 13-yard completion from Weeden to Benjamin Watson, Ravens safety Bernard Pollard was called for a helmet-to-helmet hit. The crowd jeered the call, but replays appeared to confirm the penalty.
The 15-yard markoff set up a 51-yard field goal by Phil Dawson that got the Browns within 16-10.
Late in the quarter, Williams ambushed an out pattern by Travis Benjamin and took the interception down the right sideline for a 13-point lead.
It was the 13th consecutive home win for the Ravens, the longest current run in the NFL, and their streak of 10 straight wins in the division is also the most of any team. Baltimore has also won nine straight over Cleveland.
Anquan Boldin caught nine passes for 131 yards, and Torrey Smith had six catches for 97 yards and a score.
Weeden went 25 for 52 for 320 yards, but rookie running back Trent Richardson gained only 47 yards rushing on 14 carries. Dawson kicked field goals of 51, 50 and 52 yards, the last one with 4:33 left to make it 23-16.
It's the third time since 1998 that the Browns have lost their first four games. They finished 2-14 in 1999 and 5-11 in 2009.
Coach Pat Shurmur applauded the performance of the refs, and acknowledged he deserved an unsportsmanlike conduct call in the fourth quarter.
"I can't do that," he said. "It's an emotional game, and I got to make sure I keep my emotions in check."
Cleveland played the majority of the game without wide receiver and punt returner Joshua Cribbs, who sustained a concussion while returning a kick late in the first quarter.
Cribbs had his helmet knocked off and lost the handle on the ball after absorbing a hard hit by Dannell Ellerbe. It was legal tackle, shoulder to helmet, and the officials did not call a penalty. Cribbs lay prone for several minutes before finally rising to his feet and walking off the field.
Flacco went 16 for 26 for 186 yards and a touchdown to stake the Ravens to 9-7 halftime lead.
NOTES: Former Browns and Ravens RB Jamal Lewis was inducted in Baltimore's Ring of Honor. ... Cleveland safeties Tashaun Gipson and Usama Young both sustained knee injuries. ... Dawson is the seventh player in NFL history to kick three FGs of at least 50 yards in a game.
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Ravens outlast Browns
Baltimore defeated winless Cleveland 23-16 on Thursday in a game that was just as notable for who was officiating as it was for the players.