Dec. 13, 2012 ? Materials designed with specialized thermal properties have been integral components of NASA's space shuttles and other launch vehicles for many years. Now, two thermal insulation systems developed by scientists at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida may have application for future exploration programs, as well as the commercial world.
The thermal insulation system known as layered composite insulation, or LCI, and the foam-aerogel composite material, also known as AeroFoam, were assigned U.S. Patent numbers in 2005 and 2010 respectively. Just recently, exclusive research licenses for these technologies were granted to Flexure LLC.
Cody Bateman, the chief executive officer of Flexure, said there are numerous applications and industry crossovers, particularly in transportation and construction, which could benefit from these technologies.
"Flexure has a strong working relationship with NASA at Kennedy and Goddard Space Flight Center," Bateman said. "Since we specialize in cryogenics engineering, we are exposed to many of the best technologies in the world and understand applications where they can best be used."
Jeff Kohler is the business manager for QinetiQ North America and supports Kennedy's Technology Transfer Office. He said an exclusive research license is a short-term license that allows a company to look at technologies and determine how they want to develop them.
"Companies can commit significant resources during their evaluation of NASA technologies," Kohler said. "A short term exclusive research license helps protect their investment by granting them exclusive rights to the intellectual property associated with the invention"
LCI was developed by senior principal investigator James Fesmire, and senior principal scientist Dr. Stan Augustynowicz, co-founders of the Cryogenics Test Laboratory (CTL), with the idea for it dating back to 1998.
"The LCI system is the world record holder for the lowest thermal conductivity insulation system in a soft vacuum environment," Fesmire said. "It is made into blanket forms like multilayer insulation, but includes a third element of a high surface area material such as aerogel powder."
The AeroFoam technology, with origins back to 2002, was developed jointly by Fesmire, Trent Smith, who is now strategic communications manager for the Commercial Crew Program, lead polymer scientist Dr. Martha Williams in the Polymers Science and Technology Laboratory, lead engineer Jared Sass at Kennedy's CTL, and Dr. Eric Weiser, who was a senior materials engineer in the Research Directorate at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va.
According to Fesmire, AeroFoam is a composite of polymeric foams and aerogels.
"The foams and aerogels can be in different forms and be put together in many different ways," Fesmire said. "It is currently made in molded forms using heat-oven equipment."
Fesmire said both technologies could be tailored for a wide range of different applications, including cryogenic piping and tanks, building construction, superconducting power cables, hydrogen cars and space exploration habitats.
Kohler said the licensee may investigate a combination of the AeroFoam and the LCI in a soft vacuum for aerospace and military commercial applications, and in the food storage and transportation industries.
"While independently, each of these two technologies are truly innovative, combining the two technologies creates a system that Flexure believes will revolutionize the entire thermal and acoustical insulation industry," Bateman said. "The number of applications in industry is almost limitless."
Bateman added that there is still a significant amount of research required to commercialize these technologies. The first commercial use is scheduled for 2013, as several corporations have shown significant interest.
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Language is the essence of communication but as the CEO of Dakwak points out ? businesses don?t pay enough attention to that.
December 12, 2012 4:26 by M. Aldalou
It is no doubt that the Internet has broken down global barriers in business and trade but why is it that many companies still find it almost impossible to cash in on the trillions of dollars worth of online wallets around the world? There is more than one theory ? and speaking to Waheed Barghouthi, CEO of?Dakwak ? adds another to the list. He says that marketers in the United Arab Emirates are lost in translation, literally. And that there is an enormous black hole they are wandering around in.
The chief of the online translation company says that research proves that ?85 per cent of consumers are more inclined to buy a product when confronted with information in their own language, and 54 per cent say this is more important than the actual price?.
Now Kipp is no professional marketer but it does make sense that an online customer would be ? if anything ? at more ease surfing through a website in his or her own language. The question is, if the potential is so enormous why are so many ignoring it then?
Firstly, why do you think that businesses don?t invest enough into languages?
Businesses have?the perception that website translation and localisation requires a lot of resources and high budgets, they are afraid to dig into that field as they believe it?s an endless process and?that it?requires a lot of technical and operational involvement especially when it comes to ongoing website translation. Dakwak helps companies of varying sizes and budgets to expand their business into international markets; it?s the only software which gives marketers complete control over their translated websites.
Considering the diversity of the Middle East, isn?t having English enough to survive?
Businesses these days are not seeking survival, they want to expand and grow. There is enormous potential for businesses to maximise sales by creating localised content, the internet has removed boundaries and made it easier for companies to embark on global trading. ?Using online translation software to remove language barriers can help change a business?s reach, fortune and exposure to a wider market.
How does offering other languages increase sales?
According to recent surveys done by Common Sense Advisory, 85% of internet consumers require to see information about the product in their native language before making a purchase order.?Another survey that solidifies this case highlights that?only?18% of European internet users buy from websites in foreign languages. That said, we believe translating and localising websites into different languages is definitely very important to increase revenues even if the percentage of increase is relatively small.
How would you advise companies to go about adopting new languages ? in terms of investment and phases of implementation?
It?s a pretty straight forward process; it starts with researching which languages are the most relevant for their product/website in terms of traffic sources. They can then translate their website to those languages using machine translation and track the traffic coming on those selected languages for a short period of time, for three months for example, and decide accordingly which of these languages should be professionally translated to enhance the user experience and increase conversions, and which aren?t attracting traffic and should be replaced with other languages.
Specifically for the GCC, many major websites have both English and Arabic, is that enough in your view?
It is greatly dependent on the nature of the product or service; in the case where it is a regional or international product, expanding into more languages should be a priority. For example, French would be important for any business targeting the MENA region. The other case would be businesses in the GCC with a local product or service; adding more languages would be more of an added value and would enhance users? trust in the website more than making a direct impact on the conversion rate.
Do you think if more businesses adopt international languages in the UAE, it would have a strong and immediate effect on investment?
Yes indeed, businesses investing in more languages especially in a country of diverse cultures and nationalities like the UAE, will directly impact their revenues and sales as it will ensure reaching and communicating with all potential customers in their native language.
According to his statistics, a?$30 trillion internet sales black hole is being lost in translation because marketers in the United Arab Emirates are not?localising?their websites for different countries. He adds that?adopting eleven languages could theoretically reach 85 percent of the world?s population. Now, eleven languages seems a bit excessive for Kipp but perhaps that?s where the future is headed.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) ? Gov. Jerry Brown's office says the California governor is undergoing radiation treatment for prostate cancer.
In an announcement Wednesday, his office said the 74-year-old is being treated for "localized prostate cancer."
University of California San Francisco oncologist Eric Small said in a statement released by the governor's office that the cancer was in its early stages.
He said it is being treated with a short course of conventional radiotherapy. He called the governor's prognosis excellent.
On Monday loyalists, angered over the removal of the British flag from Belfast City Hall, protested, throwing rocks, fireworks, and in one case a homemade bomb, at police.
By Ian Graham,?Reuters / December 10, 2012
A hijacked car burns in the Newtownards road area of East Belfast December 8. Police officers have been injured in Northern Ireland in riots, which followed several nights of violence, provoked by a decision to remove the British flag from Belfast City Hall.
Cathal McNaughton/Reuters
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Police were attacked in Belfast on Monday night by loyalists enraged by a decision to remove the British flag from?Belfast City Hall, which has sparked eight consecutive days of protests.
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About 15 masked men broke out of a crowd assembled in the predominantly Protestant Newtownards Road area, smashed the windows of a police car and threw a petrol bomb into it while an officer was still inside, police said.
The officer escaped unharmed but the?Police Service?of?Northern Ireland?(PSNI) said they were treating the attack as attempted murder.
The attack was one of a series of protests across the city on Monday during which stones and fireworks were hurled at police, who responded with water cannon in at least two locations.
Loyalists have been protesting against a decision by Irish nationalist city councillors from?Sinn Fein?and the SDLP to take down the flag which had flown above the provincial capital's?city hall?every day since it opened in 1906.
The decision by councillors means Britain's 'Union Jack' flag will now fly on 17 days during the year, as is the case at the provincial assembly at Stormont in the British-controlled province.
"This was a planned attempt to kill a police officer which also put the lives of the public in danger," Assistant Chief Constable?George Hamilton?said.
The attack happened outside the constituency office of Naomi Long, a member of the?British parliament?for the non-sectarian centrist?Alliance party.
Long was forced to flee her home last week after receiving threats over her party's support of the removal of the flag from?City Hall.
Later on Monday night, police separated rival loyalist and republican crowds rioting in a flashpoint area between the loyalist east Belfast and the small nationalist Short Strand enclave.
Violence has raged for seven of the last eight days since the decision, in Belfast and around the and nearly 30 officers have been injured.
About 10 people have appeared in court charged with offences linked to the rioting - the youngest just 13 years of age.
Violence between the province's mainly Catholic republicans and pro-British Protestants, which raged on and off for three decades, has largely ended since a peace agreement was signed in 1998, but much of Belfast remains divided along sectarian lines.
Targeted micro-bubbles detect artery inflammation, MU study findsPublic release date: 12-Dec-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Nathan Hurst hurstn@missouri.edu 573-882-6217 University of Missouri-Columbia
Procedure done in pigs could potentially detect heart disease early in humans
COLUMBIA, Mo. Heart disease is a leading cause of death throughout the world. Doctors say that it is important to detect heart disease early before it becomes too serious. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have found a way that they believe could help detect heart disease before it progresses too far as well as identify patients who are at risk for strokes.
In a study published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, Isabelle Masseau, an assistant teaching professor in the MU College of Veterinary Medicine, found that she could use targeted micro-bubbles to detect artery inflammation in pigs. She says that this procedure may help detect patients with heart disease or who are at risk for strokes before those ailments become too serious by monitoring artery inflammation, as that is an early warning sign of health problems. She says this procedure may also help monitor the effectiveness of artery inflammation treatments.
"It can be very difficult to detect early signs of heart disease, especially without the use of invasive procedures," Masseau said. "Doctors often have to wait until serious symptoms occur, such as chest pain or heart attacks, before they are aware of a problem, and many times that is too late. Targeted micro-bubbles have the potential to be able to detect early signs of heart disease very non-invasively."
Early signs of heart disease include inflammation on the insides of arteries, which leads to plaque buildup that could eventually result in heart attacks. Masseau was able to attach specific antibodies to tiny bubbles and then inject those bubbles into pigs with heart disease. The antibodies were able to seek out the inflammation in the pigs' arteries and attach themselves, along with the micro-bubbles, to the inflammatory sites. Then, using an ultrasound machine, Masseau was able to detect the targeted micro-bubbles that had gathered in the arteries of pigs. She says this is the first time the procedure has been successful in large animals.
"Because this procedure was successful in pigs, it also could potentially be reproduced in humans as well," Masseau said. "While it would still be a few years away, injecting targeted micro-bubbles into a human and then scanning them with an ultrasound would be a very simple procedure and could potentially help save lives."
Another part of Masseau's research involved studying pigs to observe the effects exercise has on artery inflammation. Before Masseau detected inflammation in the pigs using the targeted micro-bubbles, she submitted them to cardio exercise and measured its effect. Surprisingly, the exercise did not have any effect on reducing the arterial inflammation; however Masseau says that this does not mean that exercise is not important for heart health.
Masseau was joined in this study by Doug Bowles, a professor in the department of biomedical sciences in the MU Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center, and Michael Davis, a professor and associate head of the department of medical pharmacology and physiology in the MU Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center.
The early-stage results of this research are promising. If additional studies, including animal studies, are successful within the next few years, MU officials will request authority from the federal government to begin human trials. After this status has been granted, researchers may conduct human clinical trials with the hope of developing new treatments for heart disease.
This research is an example of the One Health/One Medicine area of Mizzou Advantage. Mizzou Advantage is a program that focuses on four areas of MU strength: food for the future; media of the future; one health/one medicine; and sustainable energy. The goals of Mizzou Advantage are to strengthen existing faculty networks, create new networks and propel Mizzou's research, instruction and other activities to the next level.
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Targeted micro-bubbles detect artery inflammation, MU study findsPublic release date: 12-Dec-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Nathan Hurst hurstn@missouri.edu 573-882-6217 University of Missouri-Columbia
Procedure done in pigs could potentially detect heart disease early in humans
COLUMBIA, Mo. Heart disease is a leading cause of death throughout the world. Doctors say that it is important to detect heart disease early before it becomes too serious. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have found a way that they believe could help detect heart disease before it progresses too far as well as identify patients who are at risk for strokes.
In a study published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, Isabelle Masseau, an assistant teaching professor in the MU College of Veterinary Medicine, found that she could use targeted micro-bubbles to detect artery inflammation in pigs. She says that this procedure may help detect patients with heart disease or who are at risk for strokes before those ailments become too serious by monitoring artery inflammation, as that is an early warning sign of health problems. She says this procedure may also help monitor the effectiveness of artery inflammation treatments.
"It can be very difficult to detect early signs of heart disease, especially without the use of invasive procedures," Masseau said. "Doctors often have to wait until serious symptoms occur, such as chest pain or heart attacks, before they are aware of a problem, and many times that is too late. Targeted micro-bubbles have the potential to be able to detect early signs of heart disease very non-invasively."
Early signs of heart disease include inflammation on the insides of arteries, which leads to plaque buildup that could eventually result in heart attacks. Masseau was able to attach specific antibodies to tiny bubbles and then inject those bubbles into pigs with heart disease. The antibodies were able to seek out the inflammation in the pigs' arteries and attach themselves, along with the micro-bubbles, to the inflammatory sites. Then, using an ultrasound machine, Masseau was able to detect the targeted micro-bubbles that had gathered in the arteries of pigs. She says this is the first time the procedure has been successful in large animals.
"Because this procedure was successful in pigs, it also could potentially be reproduced in humans as well," Masseau said. "While it would still be a few years away, injecting targeted micro-bubbles into a human and then scanning them with an ultrasound would be a very simple procedure and could potentially help save lives."
Another part of Masseau's research involved studying pigs to observe the effects exercise has on artery inflammation. Before Masseau detected inflammation in the pigs using the targeted micro-bubbles, she submitted them to cardio exercise and measured its effect. Surprisingly, the exercise did not have any effect on reducing the arterial inflammation; however Masseau says that this does not mean that exercise is not important for heart health.
Masseau was joined in this study by Doug Bowles, a professor in the department of biomedical sciences in the MU Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center, and Michael Davis, a professor and associate head of the department of medical pharmacology and physiology in the MU Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center.
The early-stage results of this research are promising. If additional studies, including animal studies, are successful within the next few years, MU officials will request authority from the federal government to begin human trials. After this status has been granted, researchers may conduct human clinical trials with the hope of developing new treatments for heart disease.
This research is an example of the One Health/One Medicine area of Mizzou Advantage. Mizzou Advantage is a program that focuses on four areas of MU strength: food for the future; media of the future; one health/one medicine; and sustainable energy. The goals of Mizzou Advantage are to strengthen existing faculty networks, create new networks and propel Mizzou's research, instruction and other activities to the next level.
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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.
Cosmetic surgery in people under eighteen years of age is most deifinitely a subject that divides public opinion.
However, with the ever-increasing number of celebrities that have had cosmetic surgery such as breast enhancements, liposuction, rhinoplasty (nose job) or a facelift, the results of cosmetic surgery are never far from the public eye. With this in mind, it has become more and more common for children as young as fourteen (primarily young women instead of men) to feel they need cosmetic surgery in order to heal their low self-esteem.
As the media projects women with larger breasts as more attractive to men, it has had a knock-on effect on the self esteem of some girls with smaller breasts and they may feel a ?boob job? is the only answer.? As psychologically beneficial as this may be, on the other end of the spectrum it could be used to aid the sexualisation of children. For example, the woman who gave her seven year old daughter a voucher for breast enlargement surgery on her birthday.
Some cosmetic surgery in children and teenagers is of a medical nature, for example to remove a cleft palate or a large facial mole. The aesthetic benefits of this kind of surgery are evident, but the psychological benefits to children with facial disfigurements are endless, giving children a heightened sense of wellbeing and therefore a better quality of life.
Plastic surgery on children can occasionally be a decision of the parents so that their child will not be bullied at school. For example, in the news a boy born with no outer ear but with perfect hearing was given cosmetic surgery by his parents to form an outer ear, worrying that he would get bullied at school. This is obviously aesthetically beneficial to the boy, yet it shows how far parents will go to avoid their children being ridiculed in school. This procedure was not medically necessary but perhaps psychologically necessary.
A more controversial cosmetic surgery procedure on the market is known as ?Asian eye surgery?, an eye-widening procedure that makes the eyes of a person of Asian descent look more like the eyes of people of European descent. This is a grey area as it involves some very difficult psychological decisions with regards to ethnicity and self-image.
There will never be a unanimous argument for children undergoing cosmetic surgery, and a case-by-case analysis must be made in order to know if cosmetic surgery is the best way forward in a child.
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Public release date: 12-Dec-2012
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