Hi every one I hope that i will have a good answer for my question :

What is combinatorial genetic transformation and how can it be used to dissect and modify complex multigene pathways in plants ?

thank you

We all know that computers owe their existence to humans. On the other hand, the study of computers and their development has led to many questions that man would have never get answers if it weren’t for computers.

To understand who we are and what we are, we often the first look for answers around ourselves, so that we can learn to ask questions that will help us to better comprehend ourselves.

This mechanism of indirect learning is happening all the time, and one example of the way by which our brains manage to cope with a large number of visual information received in the course of even a single day, and not to mention the whole life.

How do we actually remember all those images that come to us?


The story of memory and data storage, begins with the invention of computers. When an image is saved to the specific place on hard drive or CD, actually the specific mechanism is activated to optimize and reduce the amount of information needed to preserve a certain image, and more importantly, to allow its faithful reproduction. There are a lot of different algorithms, and all of those were invented by people, and among them are best known and most commonly used formats JPG and PNG. There are also ancient BMP, GIF and giant TIFF, and beside them, a whole gallery of algorithms that are in use today. All these algorithms are still caught between the quality (to preserve the credibility of content - pictures) and the amount of data required to preserve the credibility. Therefore, there is a constant confrontation of the two characteristics: quality and quantity. All these algorithms are solutions to the computer, because without them, sending files would even today took a long time and require us to be very patient when sending and receiving e-mail.

Finally, based on the above, we recognize that our brain has to deal with similar situation, or if you like – similar problem. The cells in the retina, which are susceptible to light, have the ability of capturing the image which is measured in megapixels. The brain, on the other hand, does not have the ability or memory capacity to handle such graphic formats during the life. Therefore, the brain is forced to choose the most vital information and to understand the visual world using that information.

In a recent edition of the Current Biology journal, the research team led by scientists Ed Connor and Zhang Kechen from Johns Hopkins University, describe the following piece of knowledge that will help us to better understand how the brain compresses and stores visual information (any similarity to the computers is no accident).

Researches have shown that there are cells in the brain of primates (meaning not only in humans) that are highly selective for the parts of the image that contain harsh and severe curvature. When we say "curvature" we do not mean just the line but also the entire area that is in a way, very, different from the rest of the picture. Area of the brain where the cells are marked with the "V4" and which is located in the central part of the the brain, is responsible for processing the image. Simply put, in the brain, the information obtained is filtered, where the parameter by which to filter, in fact, is the information about curves that represent the picture. For these cells, straight edges and gentle curves are not interesting at all, but sharp and angular are very well noted.

Keeping this in mind, researchers, and one of the co-authors have developed a computer model of the cells from area V4. The cells were carefully "trained" by thousands of images that show a variety of objects from nature. After viewing a picture, the cell is forced to invoke that particular image back. Computer V4 cells reacted in the opposite way, as for those cells the straight edges and gentle curves were more attractive.

However, the number of artificial cells that were involved in the process of image reconstruction was not limited. The next phase of the experiment sought to substantively reduce the number of cells, with each new scan of the picture. The more number of active cells decreased, the more their selectivity lead to sharp and angular aspect of the image. So, modeled V4 cells were done not bad, they just had a better position than natural. As soon as the conditions were made equal, they both reacted in the same way.

What's so important about these sharp edges?

Sharpness or sharp line is several times rarer in nature than straight line or gentle curve. Using sharpness as a critical element of recognition and reproduction of the object, in visual terms, keeping the image is much more economical. Uniqueness has always attracted more attention than, widely present, ordinariness.

"At this moment, our computers are defeating us in chess and are solveing certain mathematical problems better than we do, but we are still unbeatable when it comes to the ability to differentiate, recognize, understand, and manipulate memory objects that make up our world." underlines Connor.

This advantage is achieved due to the human ability to condense the information to the level of recognition and tracking, rather than storing complete information. From the Computer’s point of view, the human brain is still the best compression algorithm for visual information.
"If I wanted to search for a particular sexy old car or an elegant dinner jacket, wouldn't it be great if I could take a picture of what I wanted, upload it and tell Google to find what's in the picture?" said Garrett Kenyon, a neurophysicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory who is studying the way the brain processes visual information. "If we could help computers understand what underlies the 'aha!' moment when we recognize something, we would be able to communicate better with it about what we were looking for visually. The computer would be able to understand." That would probably become possible as soon as we teach the computer to act in the same manner as the human brain.

Staging of emotions to manage the thoughts of other people just got a lot harder. If you are not a professional thief or a manipulator you would probably not be worried about this news, but from time to time it is nice to remind how developed the technology is today, says SingularityHub.

The New Software

Scientists at MIT have developed a software that is able to distinguish between "real" smile that is a product of sincere excitement of the "fake" smile that occurs as a product of some frustration. Whether you realize it or not, scientists say that most people laugh when trying to deal with some frustration. The problem occurs when the non-trained human eye interprets this "frustrated" smile as a "real" smile of delight. What is actually the difference between these smiles?

Frustrated Smile Syndrome

By analyzing the video recordings, the researchers concluded that the fundamental difference is in duration: sincere smile develops gradually, and as a result of frustration smile appears suddenly and disappears in the same way from the face. During the research scientists have conducted a lot of experiments. With a sincere smile, computer people equally well estimated emotion that smile was showing. In "Frustrated" Smile Syndrome, people misinterpreted emotion in roughly half of the cases, while the software in 92% of cases identified the emotion behind the smile correctly.

The motive for conducting this research was to help the people who have problems with interpretation of direct personal communication (such as people with various forms of autistic disorder). In addition, scientists have developed new software and other practical functions.

Experimental Settings

This study, which was published in the journal IEEE Transactions on Affective Computing (unfortunately, the full version of the article requires registration, which is not free, but a summary of the article is available for free), is based on two separate experiments. In the first experiment, the scientists requested from the male and female respondents to express the delight and frustration. After this, the participants had to fill out an online questionnaire that was designed to create a natural reaction to the frustration (deliberately encouraging frustrating online experiences such as slow page load, CAPTCHA, the disabled and copy-and-paste option of transferring text). Just reading these brutal methods used in the experiment causes frustration and that was followed by second part of the experiment in which they attempted to boost enthusiasm reaction in participants (by playing the popular Youtube video baby laughing, etc.)

In both experiments, detailed webcam was recording the facial expressions of subjects. After that, the expressions were analyzed with the help of Google software for the analysis of facial expressions that captures 22 different points on the face and received data was inserted into the interpretive mathematical model which is able to distinguish true from false smiles.


The results of the study offered some pretty interesting results related to the human smile. For example, there is an obvious difference in the speed and size of different types of smiles. Smiles of delight lasted an average of 13.8 seconds, while smiles as an expression of frustration on average lasted about 7.5 seconds. Also, smiles of enthusiasm were 60% more intense than frustration smiles.

What is very interesting is that the majority of respondents were not even aware that they naturally smiled as a reaction to the feeling of frustration. It seems that the idea that someone is frustrated substantially limits the ability to remember of the smile in the particular situation as for most of the respondents, smile is just completely non related to the sense of frustration. This explains the fact that the majority of respondents misinterpreted smile that came as a result of frustration.

On the basis of the recorded data, the researchers ultimately concluded that the most useful component in determining the emotions behind the smile is dynamic form through which the smile develops over time. The very fact that the face is smiling, tells us virtually nothing about how a person feels.

What is truly fascinating about this study is that it provides a better understanding of human behavior, but also that it can be constructed by using a computer program that helps certain people in interpersonal communication.

The Possible Uses of New Software

This is primarily due to individuals who suffer from some form of autism. They usually have developed non-verbal communication skills, especially when they need to "read" other people's emotions. Autistic individuals, simply put, tend to “prove” the emotional state of the person by looking at the parts of the face where the emotions are not expressed. To assist them, the most common treatment is learning basic facial expressions and adopting some basic principles such as the smile that means that someone is happy, and so forth.

Clearly, this research may be the best proof of how wrong the basic principles of learning are, but still they are an integral part of therapy for people with autistic disorder. Therefore, such persons should probably learn to distinguish between different types of smiles but only to note the fact whether or not there is a smile. This research is a major step forward since it shows that it is possible to develop sophisticated software by which autistic people will be able to notice how quickly the smile is developing, how long it lasts, etc. This technology will likely be even more important in the future because the U.S. CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) claims that 1 of 88 children suffer from an autistic disorder, but these figures are a clear upward trend.

Fine nuances to differentiate types of smiles on people show that this research can be used even for analyzing differences among cultures where a smile has an important role in communication.

Possible areas for application of the new software are quite a range. One of the areas are programs for the analysis of facial expressions that would, with the help of new software better read emotions. Analysis of expression is becoming more widespread and more advanced, and the results of this research could help to develop programs that would be able to notice the changes of behavior and subtle facial expressions that would be confusing to many people or they would even not be able to notice them at all. In addition to the algorithm for age determination which was recently presented by Face.com, it would be possible to create an algorithm to determine the emotions that would be of great help in police investigations. Another possible application are so-called new technologies. Augmented reality like Google Glass. Imagine that when you start a conversation with some (known or unknown) person you have a software that tells you in the emotional state of the person.

Researchers from the University of Sheffield have developed a method for the production of synthetic, biodegradable membranes that would made possible to incorporate stem cells into the eyes. This technique allows scientists, whose research is published in the journal Acta Biomaterialia to produce membranes that mimic the structure of the eye. They hope to be able to use this novelty in treating a great number of damaged corneal injuries which are responsible for a large number of cases of blindness in the world.

Synthetic Membranes

This project, funded by the Wellcome Trust and Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), is managed in cooperation with Dr. Virender Sangwan, assistant director and head of clinical research at the Institute for Ophtalmology LV Prasad in Hyderabad in India. The researchers are confident that their synthetic membranes significantly increase the availability of reparative operation using corneal stem cells.
Sheila MacNeil, professor in the Department of Tissue Engineering, Faculty of Engineering at the University of Sheffield, talked about the improvements that this method could allow. For starters it is a question of the production of these synthetic membranes.

Electrospin and Microstereolithography

"First, we use a technique called electrospin," she said. "It's kind of like making the spider web of thin fibers. These fibers are made from a material called PLGA, which is used for the production of degradable sutures. PLGA is placed in the syringe and the polymers which are gathered on the rotating drum are squeezed. At the end we get a soft fabric fiber thickness of approximately 100 microns. This fabric is not much structurally different from a paper tissue. Then we use a technique called microstereolithography by which we install protective pockets where stem cells can "hide". We actually imitate the natural environment of the limbal stem cells in the eye. This is a great, but very hard work. It takes a long time to produce adequate membranes using microstereolithography.


Fortunately, we were able to overcome this obstacle as we accidentally discovered how to achieve it more easily. We covered the drum by material that bakers use to prevent their cakes to stick to the casserole. In this material, there is a certain pattern of which in the beginning we did not even think. However, as we have put PLGA on drum covered by this method, we noticed that it shapes by that pattern. So we came up with the idea to use as a mold the membranes which are already processed by microstereolithography. On the surface of the drum we put the membrane as a template and inflicted on her soft fibers using the electrospin. That way, we achieved the shape of “micro pockets” the same as on the template. Now we work with a company that uses the electrospin method and with this method we are able to produce between 20 and 24 pieces every couple of hours. "

Approach to the use of membranes in stem cell therapy is not new. However, the production of large quantities of synthetic membranes could increase the availability of this type of therapy.

"Stem cells can be taken from the patient's healthy eye and, when they are grown enough, they can be incorporated into the damaged eye," explained Professor MacNeil. "However, the damaged area is so avascular that the cells would not survive without additional substrate. Scientists currently use small pieces of amniotic membrane – the tissue in which a child is wrapped in childbirth – on which they put the stem cells. This method is successful. Amniotic membrane is a good biological substrate, cells can easily connect to it, it breaks down relatively quickly and, once decomposed, corneal cells remain in the right position. Unfortunately, there is a shortage. "

The Disadvantages

"These membranes are part of human tissue. Material must therefore be taken by patients who have agreed to it - from women who have given birth and who willingly agree to have their amniotic membrane used for these purposes. Furthermore, since it is human tissue, results vary from case to case. However, the biggest problem is that the fabric must be kept under conditions approved by the tissue bank. This means that the tissue can be obtained in a safe way if you have access to an accredited tissue bank has the tissue in stock. In reality, most of the ophthalmic surgeons do not have such access. If we manage to produce an efficient synthetic material, it will be necessary to have access to bank tissue. Membranes will simply be stored under sterile conditions until they are needed. This method would be safer and more accessible. It is the goal of our research. "

This project is not yet at the stage of clinical testing, but the team has achieved very promising results in the laboratory. According to Professor MacNeil, an improvement in vision can come in less than a month after the surgery.

Preclinical Investigations

"To make sure that this method is effective, we are currently testing the eyes of rabbits," she said. "I stress that we use only the eyes of rabbits killed for commercial purposes and that we do not kill new rabbits. We make an incision on the cornea of the eye to create the injured area, remove part of the cornea using ethanol, grown the cells on our artificial membranes, and then using glue we paste fibers of the membrane on damaged cornea. Membrane begins to dissolve and the cells form a new corneal epithelium. In the laboratory, a new epithelium of several layers is produced in about three weeks. "

"We believe that the vision would improve in people in that short time if we used cells grown on human corneas," continues Professor MacNeil. "How much will the vision improve, varies depending on the patient. In some cases, patients are practically blind because of an injury, and others can see the movement and some basic shapes. In Hyderabad, our collaborators using amniotic membranes, have almost completely restored vision in some patients. Vision will not always be perfect, but it will be significantly improved. Dr. Sangwan performed approximately eight hundred these processes and the results were stunning. Within a year this method was successful in 80% of cases. "

At the end, we asked Professor MacNeil on the next steps in this exciting research project.

"We are currently in the process of negotiations with regulatory agencies in India," he answered. "We reported it to our colleagues from Hyderabad for a license for the first human trials. While much remains to be done before this, we would like to conduct a study with our synthetic membranes by the end of next year. "

Advanced PG Diploma in Intellectual Property Rights-IPR & Patents
BioMed Informatics Medwin Hospitals

Features:
• Certificate will be provided after successful completion of the course
• Job experience certificate will be provided till you are getting placement, because of availability of data with us from time to time
• Job experience certificate will be provided till you are going to abroad
• This is the only place in India where you can get job experience certificate because of availability of data. This job experience certificate will be very much useful in shortlisting process by companies
• Relieving certificate will be provided after getting the job
• Resume preparation tips / Interview guidance
• Printed material will be provided

Medwin Hospitals, a Multi Speciality Hospital with excellence in modern health care ventures BioMed Informatics (Member of BCIL-DBT) in the field of IPR & Clinical Research by keeping in view of the tremendous applications in improving the quality of the health care.

Intellectual Property Rights is creating excellent job opportunities for Pharma/Science candidates to work as Patent Analyst, IPR Executive, Patent Drafting Expert, Patent Writer, Patent Executive, IPR Associate, Patent Manager, Patent Research Executive, Docketing Specialist, Patent Agent, Patent Associate, Patent Officer in India, USA & UK.

Our candidates employed in Novartis, Quintiles, Parexel International (India) Pvt Ltd, Global Hospitals, Apollo Hospitals, NIMS, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Jubilant, Reliance Life Sciences, Shantha Biotechnics Ltd, Mahindra Satyam, SMO Clinical Research (I) Pvt Ltd, Pioneer Corporate Services Inc-USA, ICMR, AstraZeneca-UK, Texas Woman’s University-USA and many more…

Interested candidates are kindly requested to fill the enquiry form in the website www.biomedlifesciences.com for further information.

Please note that we also provide separate hostel facility assistance for ladies as well as gents.

Thanking you,

G.V.L.P. Subba Rao
BioMed Informatics
Medwin Hospitals B Block First Floor,
Nampally, Hyderabad-500 001, India
Phone: 040 - 40209750
Website: www.biomedlifesciences.com


Course Curriculum

Module 1: Intellectual Property and Patents
• Introduction to IP
• Patents
• Trademarks
• Copyrights
• Patent Corporation Treaty
• Patent Specification
• Terms and Terminology

Module 2: Basic Patent Laws and Concepts
• Concepts of Indian Patent law
• Concepts of US law
• Concepts of EU law

Module 3: Patent Searches
• Structure of Patent
• Patent Searching
• Indian Patent Office (IPO)
• United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
• European Patent Office (EPO)
• Delphion and Thomson Reuters
• Tools of Patent Searching
• Keyword Searching
• Boolean Searching
• Query Searching
• Image Searching
• Chemical Structure Searching
• Citation Searching
• Cluster Searching
• Classification Code Searching

Module 4: Patent Analysis
• Prior Art Search
• Validity Search
• Infringement Search
• Freedom to Operate Search
• Patentability Search
• Novelty Search
• Technology Landscaping
• State of Art Search
• Maps Portraying an Overall Composition of a Technology Field or an Expanse of a Technology Field
• Map Portraying Expanses of Applications of a Technology Field
• Map Portraying Technology Fields Related to a Technology Field
• Map Portraying a Technological Progress
• Map Portraying Changes of Relations between Activity of a Technology Development and Participating Companies
• Map Portraying the Degree of Maturity of a Technology Field
• Map Portraying Changes of Technical Contents
• Map Portraying Trends of Problems in a Technological Development
• Map Portraying Changes of Influential Industrial Field in Technological Development
• Map Portraying the Status Quo of Applications with Multiple Perspective of a Technology Field
• Maps Portraying Problems in a Technological Development
• Map Portraying Correspondence between Problems and Technologies
• Map Portraying Applicants Having Filed Many Applications
• Map Portraying Structural Differences of Applications among the US, Europe and Japan
• Map Portraying Upper Ranked Applicants (Right Holders) of Foreign Countries
• Map Portraying Expanses of a Technology Development in Foreign Countries

Module 5: Case Studies and Sample Reports

Advanced PG Diploma in Clinical Research, Clinical Data Management, Pharmacovigilance & SAS Clinical (Base SAS and Advance SAS) with Live Projects
BioMed Informatics Medwin Hospitals

Features:
• Certificate will be provided after successful completion of the course
• Job experience certificate will be provided till you are getting placement, because of availability of patients data with us from time to time
• Job experience certificate will be provided till you are going to abroad
• This is the only place in India where you can get job experience certificate because of availability of clinical records. This job experience certificate will be very much useful in shortlisting process by companies
• Relieving certificate will be provided after getting the job
• Resume preparation tips / Interview guidance
• Printed material will be provided

Medwin Hospitals, a Multi Speciality Hospital with excellence in modern health care ventures BioMed Informatics (Member of BCIL-DBT) in the field of Clinical Research by keeping in view of the tremendous applications in improving the quality of the health care.

Our candidates employed in Novartis, Quintiles, Parexel International (India) Pvt Ltd, Global Hospitals, Apollo Hospitals, NIMS, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Jubilant, Reliance Life Sciences, Shantha Biotechnics Ltd, Mahindra Satyam, SMO Clinical Research (I) Pvt Ltd, Pioneer Corporate Services Inc-USA, ICMR, AstraZeneca-UK, Texas Woman’s University-USA and many more…

Interested candidates are kindly requested to fill the enquiry form in the website www.biomedlifesciences.com for further information.

Please note that we also provide separate hostel facility assistance for ladies as well as gents.

Thanking you,

G.V.L.P. Subba Rao
BioMed Informatics
Medwin Hospitals B Block First Floor,
Nampally, Hyderabad-500 001, India
Phone: 040 - 40209750
Website: www.biomedlifesciences.com

Course Curriculum

Clinical Research

• Introduction to Clinical Research
• Pharma Research/Drug Development Process
• Pre-Clinical Research
• Clinical Trial Phases (I - IV)
• IND/NDA/ANDA
• Ethics in Clinical Research
• ICH-GCP Guidelines
• Regulatory Affairs
• US FDA Guidelines
• DCGI/Schedule Y
• EMA
• CRO Industry
• IRB / IEC
• Informed Consent Process
• Roles and Responsibilities of Clinical Trial Team
• Site Initiation Study
• CRF & e-CRF
• Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
• Investigator Brochure (IB)
• Protocol Design and Format
• Investigational Product (IP)
• Essential Documents for a Clinical Trial
• Submission & Publication of Clinical Study Report
• Audits & Inspections

Pharmacovigilance
• Introduction to Pharmacovigilance
• Good Pharmacovigilance Practices
• Pharmacovigilance Plan (ICH E2E)
• Classification & Reporting of ADRs
• Periodic Safety Update Reports (PSURs) for Marketed Drugs (ICH E2C)
• Safety Signal Detection
• Safety Signal Assessment
• Reporting of Safety Signals
• Management of Safety Signals
• Indian Scenario
• Risk Management Process
• Risk MAPs
• Pharmacoepidemiological Studies
• Registers
• Surveys

Clinical Data Management
• Introduction to Clinical Data Management
• Guidelines for CDM
• Roles and Responsibilities of CDM Team
• 21 CFR Part 11
• CRF Designing
• Data Capture Methods
• Data Entry
• External Data Loading
• Data Validation Procedures
• Data Cleaning
• Discrepancy Management
• Query Management
• Data Clarification Form (DCF)
• Database Closure and Freezing
• Data Storage & Archival
• Data Coding and Medical Dictionaries
• Safety Data Management (AEs/SAEs)
• SAE Reconciliation
• Quality Assurance & Quality Control
• Auditing
• CDISC Standards

Live Project

• Clinical Data Management System
• Protocol Designing
• CRF Designing
• CRF Tracking
• Study Event Creation
• Groups Creation
• Data Entry
• Data Validation
• Discrepancy Management
• Query Management
• Database Locking
• Data Security and Data Privacy


SAS Clinical (Base SAS and Advance SAS)
SAS Modules:
 SAS / BASE
 SAS / STAT
 SAS / REPORT
 SAS / ODS
 SAS / GRAPH
 SAS / SQL
 SAS / MACROS
 SAS / ACCESS
 SAS / CONNECT
 LIVE SAS CLINICAL PROJECT

SAS / BASE
• Introduction to SAS System & Architecture
• SAS Windowing Environment
• SAS Libraries
• Variables & SAS Syntax Rules
• Data Step and Proc Step
• Titles & Footnotes
• Proc Print Statement
• Proc Print Options
• Set Statement
• Dataset Options
• Options Statement
• Types of Input Statements
• Infile Statement With Options
• Keep, Drop and Rename Statements
• Update Statement
• Modify Statement
• Merging Concepts
• Interleaving Concept
• Logical Variables
• Retain Statement
• Formats and Informats
• Conditional Statements
• SAS Functions
• Do Statement
• Randomization

BASE SAS PROCEDURES
• Proc Sort
• Proc Append
• Proc Transpose
• Proc Contents
• Proc Format
• Proc Import
• Proc Export
• Proc Compare
• Proc Copy
• Proc Options
• Proc Forms
• Proc Datasets
• Proc Printto
• Proc Calendar

BIOSTATISTICS
• Introduction To Biostatistics – Clinical Applications
• Frequency Distribution Of Clinical data
• Clinical Data Presentation
• Measures Of Centering Constants
• Measures Of Dispersion
• Normal Distribution
• Null Hypothesis / Alternate Hypothesis
• p – Value Interpretation
• Sampling Variation
• Probability Concepts In Clinical Trials
• t-Test – Pharma Applications
• Chi Square test – Adverse Event Analysis
• Correlation & Regression – Estimation Analysis
• ANOVA – Efficacy Analysis

SAS / STAT (DATA ANALYSIS)
• Proc Means (mean, median, std, n, var, cv, range, q, q3, qrange, p50)
• Proc Univariate
• Proc Summary
• Proc TTest (Paired and Unpaired)
• Proc Anova (One Way, Two Way and Manova)
• Proc Glm
• Proc Freq
• Proc Chisq
• Proc Corr
• Proc Reg

SAS / GRAPH
• Proc Plot
• Proc Gplot
• Mutliple Plots & Overlay
• Symbol Statement
• Title and Footnote Statements
• Proc Chart
• Proc Gchart
• Vertical, Horizontal, Pie
• Group, Subgroups
• Proc G3D
• Proc Gprint
• Graph-N-Go

SAS / REPORT
• Proc Report
• Column Statements
• Break/Rbreak Statements
• Compute Statement
• Frequency Procedure
• Proc Tabulate
• One-Dimensional Tables
• Two-Dimensional Tables
• Summary Statistics
• Proc Summary

SAS / ODS
• ODS Statements
• ODS Options
• Using ODS to Create HTML, PDF, RTF
• Proc Template
• Proc Report with ODS

SAS / SQL
• Introduction to SAS/SQL
• Proc Sql Statements
• Proc Sql Options
• Set Clause
• Where Clause
• Order by Clause
• Group by Clause
• Having Clause
• Distinct Clause
• Formatting Output
• Case Expression and Conditional Logic
• Sql Set Operators
• Joins in Sql
• Creating ,Populating & Deleting Tables
• Alter Table Statement
• Renaming A Table & Columns
• Changing Column's Length
• Aggregate Functions
• Pass Through Facility

SAS / MACROS
• Macro Concepts
• Macros And Macro Variables
• Creating Macro Variables
• Using Macro Variables
• Invoking A Macro
• Passing Arguments to Macros
• Macro Quoting Functions
• Macro Options
• Macro Expressions
• Macro Character Functions
• Macro Interface Functions

SAS / ACCESS
• Import & Export Procedures
• Proc Access
• Worksheet Statement

SAS / CONNECT
• Cimport Procedure
• Cport Procedure
• Using Select Statement

LIVE SAS CLINICAL PROJECT

In various pharmaceutical manufacturing plants and in medical field, biochemical tests are performed to identify microorganisms.
Such biochemical test helps in differentiating bacteria and thus is a way to diagnose the cause of infections and other disease related to micro-organisms. This test indicates different characteristics of microorganism with respect to subjected bio-chemicals and thus helps in their identification up to species level.
Once this identification is done, specific recommendations/corrective actions are implemented for treatments and further resolution of microbial infection or contamination.
Bio-chemical test includes Catalase test, Carbohydrate oxidation fermentation tests, MR-VP test, Simmon’s citrate test, Nitrogen metabolism – urea Hydrolysis test etc.
These tests are done under aseptic conditions under totally controlled environments. This is to avoid un-wanted contamination and to keep the validity of test.
In catalase test, oxygen is used as final electron acceptor by many micro-organisms the breakdown of H2O2 into water and oxygen molecules is characterized by bubble formation and this indicates the result as Positive (+). Eg. Staphyloccocus aureus.
In Carbohydrate fermentation test, acid and gases production are detected. Acid production is indicated with color change and it shows that microorganism under test are capable of utilizing various carbohydrates.
MRVP test, which is abbreviation of Methyl Red Voges Proskauer is test to know if organic acid is produced, the positive result is just a no change in color of MR chemical indicator.
Simmon’s citrate test is to identify the ability of bacteria to ferment citrate. In this test when citric acid or sodium citrate is in solution, it loses sodium ion to form citrate ion. This Citrate is break down to pyruvate. When a bacterium uses Citrate, medium turns alkaline.
Another test which is employed in identification of microorganism is Urea test. In this test, Urease breaks down urea into ammonia and carbon dioxide.
Bio-chemical test is fundamental concept in microbiology which helps in identification of micro-organism of interest out of hundreds of samples.

Hi,

I’m a biotechnology student. Bangalore India Bio is conducting the largest quiz on Biotechnology. The first round is happening on Jan 30 in Bangalore. I’m thinking about participating. Is there anyone else from Bangalore who is going for this?

How the life originated and evolved? Is there life elsewhere in the universe? What is the future of life on Earth and on other planets? These three fundamental issues define well area of interest of a new young interdisciplinary science called astrobiology. Earth is the only place in the universe known to harbor life.However, recent advances in planetary science have changed fundamental assumptions about the possibility of life in the universe, raising the estimates of habitable zones around other stars and the search for extraterrestrial microbial life.

Biotechnology discoveries may, in the near future, become very important for the development of astrobiology.

The Establishment of Astrobiology

Astrobiology explores life as a planetary phenomenon in order to understand the fundamental nature of life on Earth and possibility of life elsewhere in the universe. Astrobiology makes use of physics, chemistry, astronomy, biology, molecular biology, ecology, planetary science, geography, and geology to investigate the possibility of life on other worlds and help recognize biospheres that might be different from the biosphere on Earth. In recent years, a great amount of new data about extra solar planets and small bodies within our solar system are gathered, which has significantly increased our understanding of the origin and evolution of planets. Most astronomy-related astrobiological research falls into the category of extrasolar planet (exoplanet) detection, the hypothesis being that if life arose on Earth, then it could also arise on other planets with similar characteristics. After having established the NASA Astrobiology Institute - NAI 1998 yerar, astrobiology has become a formal science branch. The creation of this institute stemmed from the growing interest of NASA for planet Mars, the nearest planet that potentially has suitable properties that can support life.

Groundbreaking event was probably the discovery of Antarctic meteorite ALH84001 1996 year, originating from Mars, where they allegedly found microfossils of extraterrestrial life. NAI works as a virtual institute and currently comprises twelve U.S. research teams with over 700 scientists. Nearly a decade after its founding, NAI entered the crisis period (in the last two years, NASA astrobiology cut funding by 50%). The focus of research is shifting to other institutions, mostly European.

Research centers for astrobiology now exist around the world, such as the Centro de Astrobiologia in Spain and the Groupement de Recherche en Exobiologie in France, the Australian Centre for Astrobiology, Astrobiology Society of Britain and the European Exo / Astrobiology Network Association. Also, many reputable universities are giving the offer to study astrobiology classes. Strategy plan for astrobiology research is presented through seven primary scientific objectives.

Scientific Objectives of Astrobiology

1. To understand the nature of the environment suitable for life, and its distribution in space is the main component of this objective of modeling of planets suitable for life. For previously mentioned small bodies in the solar system, which are considered to be the remains which have failed to form planets, astrobiology is important for two reasons: to create a theoretical model of the origin and development of habitable planets, and the collisions with the early Earth that have significantly impacted chemical composition of the future biosphere on Earth. Another important component of the first objective is to directly and indirectly observe extra solar planets suitable for life. Up to now, more than 200 planets outside our solar system have been discovered. Very recently, the first extra solar planet similar to Earth is discovered. Researcher Dijana Dominis Prester Took a great part in this remarkable discovery.

2. To investigate former or current environment and signs of life outside of the the solar system. Still, first task is exploring Mars, and then the rest of the solar system and planets and other bodies beyond it.

3. To get the grasp on how the life sprang from cosmic and planetary precursor example, how they were created and developed out of the biomolecules.

4. To understand how the early life on Earth adapted to early global changes, for example, how the complex organisms developed from simple forms in early biosphere environment.

5. To understanding the mechanisms of evolutionary constraints imposed by the environment. This goal is especially the matter of molecular evolution of organisms and their adaptation to the extreme conditions of the environment. Biologists cannot say that a process or phenomenon, by being mathematically possible, have to exist forcibly in the real nature. On the Earth have so far been discovered many extremophilles, microorganisms that live in extreme environments (from our viewpoint) temperature, pressure and acidity. Characterization of these organisms, their environments and their evolutionary pathways, is considered a crucial component to understanding how life might evolve elsewhere in the universe.

6. To get the grasp on the principles that will shape the future life on Earth and beyond. The emphasis is on living organisms that can adapt to extraterrestrial life conditions. For example, space biology explores the impact of space flight on living organisms. Today, it is part of astrobiology although it was developed much earlier.

7. To determine how to identify signs of life on other planets. The methane gas was recently found in the atmosphere of Mars. Given that methane in atmospheric conditions on Mars is not stable over time, there must be a constant source of it. It could be volcanic activity or an important sign of the presence of viable microorganisms. Active volcanoes on Mars, however, have not yet been observed.

Still Without Evidence

Until today, there was no reliable confirmation of the existence of extraterrestrial life. Similarly, no evidence was found that intelligent aliens ever visited Earth. I emphasize that I pointed out the difference between the science of astrobiology and the search for understanding of Hollywood aliens. The true goal of astrobiology is not looking for ET. The goal is to create the preconditions for the expansion of humanity beyond the planet Earth, which sooner or later must happen, probably long before Earth ceases to be suitable for life. Appeal to young readers to overgrow pulp-literature and naive stories of visitors from Sirius, but to pay attention to real scientific discoveries that can really change our future. In this sense, I recommend two excellent books that emphasize the importance of critical thinking, fighting the misconception and deception: Sagan’s Demon-Haunted World, and Dawkins' book A Devil's Chaplain.

Hello every one,

I've done Ames test to see the mutagenicity in some vegetables that were grown using treated waste water ..

I took 5 gm of each vegetable and homogenized it with 100ml DH2O == (5gm/100ml)
the vegetable juice was filtered and 100Ml was taken to be grown with the top agar then incubated in 37C for 48 hr
the control was Sodium Azide with the S.typhi TA100 and the colony count was for the control (486 CFU)
I know that the colony count for the +ve control should be more than 1000CFU for the Sodium azide with TA100 , but this is the best result that i had in many trials.
now I'm trying to calculate the mutagenicity % for my results and I need to consider if I had 100gm of my vegetables

I konw that the main formula is:

The % mutagenicity as positive control :
(# colony plate/+ve control )*100%

for example :
(34/486)*100= 6.99 (this number in 5gm/100ml)
but if I need it /100gm
should I multiply it with 20 (as 100/5) or multiply it with 100??

& is my calculations are right or what??

sorry for the long message
thanx

Hi,

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Registrations to participate in the event have begun. People registering till tomorrow can avail 15 per cent discount.

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A study on how the scientists are trying to preserve species by altering their Genetic Structure.

In the Mojave Desert in the U.S. state of Nevada, a few hundred meters above the famous Valley of Death, in a small underwater, probably the most endangered species of fish in the world has found its home. It is a silver-blue fish smaller than your smallest finger which came after millions of years of evolution to the edge of extinction. By unusual set of circumstances Cyprinodon species Diabolis (The Devils Hole Pupfish)is today reduced to only 75 living specimens.

The Cause of The Problem

Interestingly, the greatest threat to the survival of this species comes from a rather unexpected place - its DNA. In the past, these fish lived in a relatively large lake. About 20,000 years ago, the water level in the lake dropped very quickly, the landscape began to resemble the desert and the unfortunate fish found itself trapped in small physically separated lakes. So now there are nine different types of this fish, of which at least half are at the edge of extinction. The hardest case is the type of Cyprinodon Diabolis. Its population in September this year dropped to only 75 living members. Thousands of years of evolution made this fish capable of living in a very specific environment, to survive she needs water heated at thirty degrees Celsius, low oxygen saturation and a shallow part of the lake into which they retreat in the spawning season. Being an endangered species is already difficult enough, but to be an endangered species and at the same time picky regarding conditions in the environment is a totally new level of threat.

The Bad Luck

But that's not all. Besides being compromised and picky, this type of fish is followed by bad luck. In the early seventies of the last century American biologists have built three artificial lakes in which they tried to grow the backup fish from Devil's Cave (the location where the fish are located), to save them from collapse. Valves and other mechanical components cluttered up almost daily, and most of the fish died. When we say that this is a bad luck, then we really mean it, after completed repairs remaining fish were killed by a lightning strike that destroyed a generator for electricity, and that allowed the maintenance of very specific conditions in which this little fish could survive.

However, luck smiled to the fish that were in the third lake named Point of Rocks. Specifically, in this isolated population has somehow got the other related species of small fish and its DNA soon spread through the population like a wildfire. After about 50 years, every fish that was in the lake was a descendant of "intruders" who is who knows by what combination of circumstances made it into the lake. Scientists are able to very easily conclude this, as the hybrids between the two species had one pair of gills more than original type which they had tried to preserve. After some time, biologists who worked on the project, decided to move the fish into the hatchery. Unlike Cyprinodon Diabolis, which this facility led to the edge of extinction, a new hybrid species has simply exploded. "Huge aquariums we had were filled with new fish in very short time from top to bottom. Just a few decades ago, this species was dying, and now it suddenly experiences an unexpected increase of the population, "says Andy Martin, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Colorado, head of the group of scientists who investigated the specificity of DNA in a new hybrid species.

For Martin, this fact was clear evidence of what went wrong with the species Cyprinodon Diabolis – It was a genetic mutation. On the positive side, now that the diagnosis is finally established, there is a hope is that it is possible to find a drug that could save this fish. Martin claims to have a plan to rescue "the devil fish” from collapse, but for all those people who have in the past engaged in saving the various species from extinction, this idea probably will sound like a heresy tough.

The New Logic

For many years, scientists who were trying to preserve plant and animal species kept the same simple logic: it is necessary to protect the species X, as it existed at the time Y, in the place Z. Of course, evolution does not know the logic of this type, and changing is the only thing we can expect in all living beings on the planet. And here we come to Martin's heretical idea - he thinks that, in this case, the solution is not the preservation of species X as it was at the point Z, but the "breeding" of X species genes which would enable it to do what the evolution didn’t – the change. In other words, Martin wants to enrich this endangered species with the genes of her cousins - the type Cyprinodon nevadensis. those species have the common ancestor, and, interestingly, they live in small lakes just a few kilometers away. Martin's idea is pretty simple - throw a few individuals Cyprinodon nevadensis in the lake with the remaining 75 Diabolis and - wait. These few intruders would probably allow endangered species to stop spreading defective genes, says Martin. By the introduction of new genetic material this species could be saved, but the question is whether the individuals that survive could still be considered the same species.

This way, the small fish from the Mojave Desert have made us think about the one originally philosophical question of our relationship to the nature. It is already clear that we are likely to encounter in the future a variety of other endangered species, and the way we treat the problem of fish from Devil's Valley could become a precedent for all future cases. Scientists involved in the preservation of animal species therefore could become architects of the completely new ecosystem. Approach they have used until now was restricted to the exclusion of individuals from the wild and maintaining them in controlled and less risky conditions. But with this new approach, scientists will by manipulating the genome, practically create new species, which will contain smaller or larger fragments of those species they have tried to preserve. The idea is definitely controversial and Martin currently doesn’t have the support of the institution he is employed in. However, around the world there are a lot of endangered species and some are already preserved from extinction in a manner similar to that advocated by Martin.

References:
Written by Sasa (sale0303)

Bioreactors are containers with a life supporting environment within them, used to carry out biochemical reactions using living organisms or chemical derived from living organisms. Algal bioreactors are those based on photosynthesis utilizing green algae for various purposes such as biomass production, CO2 fixation, etc. It has attracted much of world’s attention due its capability of producing bio diesel and bio ethanol.

In the current scenario, where fuel prices are going up fast, bio diesel and bio ethanol are inviting more use as additives to fossil fuel or even as itself. These demand mass production of both the mentioned bio fuels. Here arise the challenges faced in setting up and maintenance of bioreactors. Right from the maintenance of the bioreactor environment which includes irradiance levels, CO2 concentration, pH, salinity, nutrient levels, O2 concentrations etc., to unresolved issues affecting the overall efficiency of the bioreactor. Efficiency is crucial for any bioreactor. Any critical change in the internal environment of a bioreactor will end up in its reduced efficiency.

Challenges related to a bioreactor start right from its construction and setting up. A location for it needs to be chosen wisely. In the construction and setting up of bioreactors, geographical factors play a vital role. Moisture of the selected area seems to be a challenging task, taking into account, the levels of optimum moisture needed. For example, the average moisture levels in northwest countries are much higher than the required optimum moisture levels of an algal bioreactor, whereas in dry desert zones it is way too low than the required. Any faults during the operational procedures hence may lead to serious drops in the efficiency of the bioreactor, or even total loss of the whole contents of the system in extreme cases. Problems related to sterilization could be pointed out here, in the case of complete loss of the bioreactor contents. Around 3-5% of bioreactors set up every year are being failures due to the problem of sterilization. Hence, an aseptic operation is strictly required for a bioreactor. Single use bioreactors gained much attraction from the fact that it skips dangers of sterilization problems. Single use bioreactors are made up of disposable bags rather than from glass or steel as in conventional bioreactors. The disposable bags used are sterilized, minimizing further sterilization requirements. Also when at a risk of breach of sterilization standards massive loss can be prevented. Single use bioreactors are said to heavily cut down costs of setting up a bioreactor. Cost of setting up a bioreactor is challenge faced while constructing one. Until now, the costs of mass production bioreactors meant for large scale production of those like bio fuels, are not at all as low as to extract all the positives of a bioreactor. Single use bioreactors may cut down the cost of setting up by around 60%, as its components are only disposable bags consisting of three layers. But maximum capacities of these single use bioreactors are only around 1000 liters, or up to highest of 2000 liters, which can’t be used when much higher capacities are needed. Also, the single use bioreactors show its disadvantage in the achievable oxygen transfer rate, which sets the advantage of costs upside down, and limiting the single use bioreactors to the pharmaceutical field mostly.

When the bioreactor is ready to start working, crucial challenges comes up. Most important aspect that needs to be taken care is the control of the biochemical reaction environment, which is the key factor that aids in the maximum productivity. Temperature is another major factor just like the moisture. Hence, for this purpose the heat load should be calculated, equating heat production rate, reactor liquid volume, specific growth rate, biomass concentration, and yield coefficient. Then heat transfer methods can be employed accordingly. Heat transfer can be done externally or internally. For large reactors internal methods should be used because only internal methods can soak up heat in larger quantities compared to external methods. While smaller reactors require only external cooling jackets and external cooling coils, which have got the advantage of being free from cleaning problems. Internal heat transfer methods are difficult to clean, and they are easily fouled by the cell growth on the surface. Another challenge to overcome is the gas transfer, which can be accomplished through agitation. Agitation can be caused by mechanical stirring or can be air driven agitation. Mechanical agitation is possible only for small reactors, viscous liquids or those with low heat reactions. Bioreactors and those with high reaction heat can depend only on air driven agitations. In the ongoing maintenance of a bioreactor the foam that accumulates at the top needs to be removed. Mechanical foam breakers or chemical anti foam agents are used to remove the foam and prevent foam formation respectively. In the case of aerobic bioreactors, providing adequate aeration is task that needs proper attention, otherwise seriously causing steep decline in productivity and efficiency of the bioreactor. Anaerobic bioreactors are devoid of this problem as its efficiency does not depend upon aeration. By obtaining the accurate leachate data, most of the key challenges in the internal environment control of a bioreactor can be accomplished. Also, when air inputs are given for aeration purposes in an aerobic bioreactor or for the agitation purposes for heavy mass and high reaction heat bioreactors, dry air inputs needed to be given. Then evaporation needs to be taken care of with appropriate methods.

Material used for the construction of the bioreactors is critical area of attention. Only material which is completely anti corrosive and could be used for construction is glass. But it can only be used for construction of small bioreactors. Larger bioreactors need metal itself for the construction purposes. On long term use of bioreactors, the main problem encountered is the corrosion of the metal area of the bioreactor. The metal parts will be in a hostile environment due to the varying pH levels and salinity of the contents in the bioreactor. The metal surfaces need to be coated with anti corrosive substances, for the prevention of damage caused by corrosion. For this purpose mostly iron mica containing anti corrosion solutions are used.

The all these issues need to be resolved to set up and run a bioreactor at its perfection. And, the extra researches in overcoming them are worth the effort because of the numerable applications of bioreactor, including those we are having now, and those we are looking to the future.

Salmon is one of the favorite and common fish that we are consuming now. Statistics state that commercial production of salmon exceeded 3 million tons in the year of 2010. According to the UN, as of 2007, the commercial salmon production accounts to about 70% of the total salmon consumed. Commercial aqua culture industry, which is now in the path of a tremendous growth, is facing a problem to meet the ever increasing needs for the fish. It is because salmons could be grown only during spring and summer. Also, due to the unique life cycle of salmons and increasing fishing, the salmon population has been found depleting over the years.

In order to speed up the production of salmon, Aqua Bounty Technologies developed the genetically modified salmon. Aqua Bounty Technologies is a biotechnology firm who does research and development in the commercial aquaculture field. The genetic modification was performed on the Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). They added growth hormone regulatory gene form Pacific Chinook salmon (Onchorhynchus tshawytscha), which is the largest of the salmons. They also introduced a regulator protein gene from ocean pout (Zoarces americanus). They named the genetically modified salmon as, Aqu Advantage, a trademark. The genetically modified version of the fish can be grown throughout the year and also twice as faster than the common salmon. It weighs more than twice the conventional salmon too. It requires 10% less feeding than the usual ones. The company calls the modified salmon is twice better than the unmodified salmon, without a compromise in size due to the genes from the Pacific Chinook salmon.

A thousand questions are raised against the genetically modified salmon. Most of these are on account of its effects on the environment. If the fish escapes from the hatchery, it can destroy the whole environmental balance because of its features that are claimed to be its advantages. It grows twice faster than the unmodified salmon, leading to an increased number of genetically modified salmon among the wild ones. The genetically modified salmons are able to survive longer than the wild ones. They switch their food they feed on, and adapt to any food source that is available for them. This feature of feeding which is more effective than usual, when combined with its capabilities to grow faster enables the genetically modified salmon to attain maturity and reproduce within a time span as low as two years. As the modified salmons achieve maturity faster, they will undergo smoltification also faster than the other fishes, which enables them to migrate to the freshwaters earlier. This also results in reduced competition for the modified salmons in foraging. If a complete depletion of food sources occurs, then they may feed on the wild unmodified salmons too. This will probably lead to near extinction of the wild salmons. Balance in food chain will be further disturbed as the genetically modified versions are capable of escaping from other living beings, which depend on salmons for their food, better than the other salmons. Other questions are regarding the safety issues on the consumption of genetically modified salmon. Many believed that it may contain many harmful substances that will affect the health of those who consume it more often. Even though tests have proved that there are no health problems due to its consumption, at least for a short term, some are still having the opinion that it will create problems on the long term consumption.

On account of the issues raised against the genetically modified salmon, the verdict of the Food and Drug Administration was eagerly awaited. The FDA stated that the genetically modified salmons will not cause any threat to environment and it’s completely safe as the Atlantic salmon. Those supporting and opposing this development are putting forward their own statements to prove their respective sides. The genetically modified salmons haven’t reached anyone’s dining table yet, but current FDA’s reports mean it will soon, as the first of its kind in the commercial market. To counter all the allegations against it, several explanations and remedies are being given by Aqua Bounty itself. They say that all the fishes produced will be sterile female and no male population will be produced, and hence there is no fear of multiplication of these fishes in the outer environment even if it escapes. Even in this context, issues are raised saying that 100% sterilization of the fishes cannot be achieved, and at least 5% of the total fishes produced will be fertile. Aqua Bounty says that farmers are given eggs of the fishes only, rather than providing them with young ones. Environmental activists are shutting their ears to all the remedies and explanations for the issues, and are strongly advocating that the genetically modified salmon can never be harmless to environment or humans. They add that tests conducted until now are only short term tests that cannot demonstrate the long term effects of it. The newly developed salmon is said to contain allergens that will cause severe health problems on continuous consumption of the fish. This problem has not received any explanation other than mere statements that the transgenic fish does not contain any harmful allergen. Tests also report that it does not contain any allergens, but still not giving a complete clarity for the issue.

From the first transgenic salmon that was made in 1989, the researches went at full swing, giving sleepless nights to scientists to reach the current milestone of producing a genetically modified salmon that can be applied on a commercial level. If the FDA further approves the production of the transgenic fish, it will soon reach the commercial market. The environmental activists are strongly opposing the whole development of transgenic fishes. The allegations against the transgenic salmon seem to be in need of genuine clarification to the public at least, as it is them who decide the fate of this fish as a commercial product. There is also a strong opinion to label the transgenic salmon, rather than selling it in the name of common Atlantic salmon, so that people can be selective about what they need. But here also FDA has taken a stand in support of it, claiming that as the transgenic salmon is completely safe to consume, so there is no need of any such labels that differentiates genetically modified salmon from natural salmon and consumers are required to do a wild guess here.

Putting aside the issues aside, on the assumption that all of those are solved and found a permanent solution, the genetically modified salmon is a big leap forward in the commercial aquaculture. It can provide food security up to a great level as the fishes can be produced twice as fast, as well as twice the weight of a natural salmon.

The cochlear implant is a sophisticated device that is installed in the inner ear, in order to enable the deaf persons to hear again. Cochlear implant replaces the lost function of the inner ear by receiving the sounds, and then using the speech processor converting the electrical signals. These electrical signals are transmitted through the electrodes embedded in the inner ear to the auditory nerve and then further to the brain centers. The result of this advanced technology is giving deaf individuals contact with the sound, and by proper rehabilitation, the understanding of the language and the development of speech is achievable. Children with good rehabilitation success can attend school.

Elements of Cochlear Implant

A cochlear implant consists of an inner and outer part. The inner part consists of electrodes that are surgically implanted in the inner ear. Surgical procedure for installing the cochlear implant does not differ significantly from normal microsurgical operations of the ear. External component of the cochlear implant consists of a microphone and speech processor. Speech processor enables the conversion of sound energy received via microphone into electrical signals, which are then transmitted through the electrode to the nerve fibers in the auditory nerve, and further to the hearing centers of the brain cortex. In this way the patient becomes aware of the sound and is able to habilitate during rehabilitation for independent and unobstructed auditory-verbal communication. Speech processor can be placed behind the ear or worn around the neck.

All elements of the system for cochlear implants are made of natural materials and each product undergoes a rigorous medical and technical tests.

Candidates for Cochlear Implantation

Cochlear implants can help almost all deaf children up to 8 years old, and adults who once had developed speech, and then completely lost their hearing. In children older than 8 years and adults who have not been in contact with the sound, a cochlear implant can provide only a sense of sound, but not understanding of the speech. Consequence of many years of living in complete silence is loss of ability of hearing centers in the brain to create sound pictures, and therefore, the understanding is persistently disabled. This phenomenon occurs because the aging brain loses its plasticity and ability to process the sounds. For this reason it is necessary to install the cochlear implant as early as possible.

Preoperative Diagnosis

In the preoperative evaluation of the patient, the attention is paid to the whole patient, and not just a state of hearing.
Thus, except for audiology diagnostics, the patient must be reviewed by surdologist , neurologists, psychologists, ophthalmologists, and radiologists in order to assess the condition of the inner ear. After the set of analysis, the decision is made about the possibility of installing the cochlear implant.

The Operations

Installation of cochlear implant is a microsurgical operation that takes about 3 hours. During surgery, electrodes are placed in the inner ear, and during the operation, we examine the activity of the electrode set. After receiving results of the measuring that show that the implant is functional, the operation is finished. The postoperative course lasts seven days, when the stitches are removed and the patient discharged from the hospital.

Programming Implants

After the surgery, the implant is not functional. 6 weeks after the surgery the activation of implant is made by linking the implant that is surgically fitted to the speech processor which is located behind the ear or worn on the body. Simultaneously, the hearing map is constructed, and the minimally and maximally bearable sound is determined. That is the range within which the cochlear implant will work. This range extends by auditory training, and in the following programming sessions is getting bigger and bigger. Programming is conducted every month in the first year and every second month in the second year after the operation.

Rehabilitation

After installing the cochlear implant, the rehabilitation is necessary. Cochlear implant itself does not mean the patient can communicate smoothly. In the course of rehabilitation treatment, an acoustic memory is formed and the patient begins to communicate. Many patients after the rehabilitation treatment can attend regular school and, besides that, they can even use the phone.
In short we can say: "A cochlear implant is not a miracle, but it allows the miracle to happen."

One of the most common and most effective ways to fight the spread of malaria is to control mosquitoes that carry them from one man to another. Unfortunately, this way of fighting turned out to be ineffective as the epidemic of malaria can not be fully controlled. Spraying mosquitoes in the past few years has been less effective because the mosquitoes quickly developed immunity to pesticides. A similar process occurs with the very parasite that causes malaria, which repeatedly developed resistance to various drugs that came from science labs.

But it is possible that science finally has a solution that does not mean the destruction of large populations of mosquitoes, the carriers of malaria, according to Ars Technica. In fact, several years ago began testing in the wilderness, during which the mosquitoes that transmitted dengue fever were infected with a special type of bacteria that prevents the spread of parasite. In a recently published study, a team of scientists published almost sensational results of long-term experiments – they were able to create genetically modified mosquitoes, which, even if they pick up the parasites of malaria, are not able to transmit it to humans. Very simply put: scientists "forced" the Mosquitoes to eject specific antibodies that destroy the parasites that cause human malaria, every time they feed on human blood.

Malaria Parasite Camouflage

Various antibodies and vaccines in the past have proven to be fairly ineffective methods of treatment and prevention of the spread of epidemic malaria. Vaccines have been indeed ineffective because the Plasmodium falciparum, a parasite that causes malaria, showed remarkable ability to develop resistance to almost every vaccine that scientists have tried to develop. This parasite rapidly develops immunity to vaccines, completely changing the proteins that are found on its surface, and all this in order to "confuse" the antibodies. This method of parasite camouflage is possible only after the Plasmodium falciparum has already reached the body of the host.

Antibodies That Attack The Parasites of Malaria

Mosquitoes, on the other hand, have no immune system based on the antibodies like it is the case in humans, which means that the parasite does not have to use all sorts of tricks while in the body of mosquito. For of this reason, scientists have managed to create the special type of antibody that recognizes the structure of proteins of malaria-causing parasite, and is specific for life stage in which the parasite is, while his host is a mosquito.

Antibodies that attack the parasites of malaria are often complex combination of four proteins (two heavy and two light chains). To avoid a rather laborious process of inserting a variety of genes for the entire combination of four proteins that make antibodies, researchers have developed a compact version of the antibody, which contains only one gene with combined heavy and light chains. After this, scientists inserted two genes that encourage compact development of antibodies in the special places of mosquito genome. To limit the impact of antibodies to the mosquitoes, the researchers ensured that the antibody genes activated only after a mosquito ate his first meal and came in contact with the bloodstream of the victim.

No Risk for Mosquito Population

As for the risk of this genetic modification of mosquitoes will harm them, scientists claimed tests have found that fear misplaced. For female mosquito, genes with antibodies had absolutely no effect, and the males were with minimally shortened lifespan. It is important to note that this shortened life span in no way affects the reduction of mosquito population, since the genetically modified mosquitoes can easily experience a period of sexual maturity. So, the new genes didn’t practically do anything bad to mosquitoes, and those are definitely good news for scientists.

If it is to believe the results of this study, scientists have finally succeeded. To use a metaphor, from the malaria mosquito they managed to create a hotel in which the parasite can check-in, but has no way to check-out. Once Plasmodium falciparum enters the body of mosquito, it must find a way to get the salivary glands in order to be spread to other organisms. Specific genes inserted into the genome of mosquitoes were able to prevent this migration, and in this way they practically stopped from being an important link in the chain of spread of epidemic malaria.

iPS or iPSC are derived from skin or blood cells that have been reprogrammed back into an embryonic-like pluripotent state that enables the development of an unlimited source of any type of human cell needed for therapeutic purposes.

The discovery of embryonic stem cell (ESCs) from mouse as well as from human embryos has created more interest due to the pluripotency of the cells, that is their ability to produce any kind of cell in the body. They were engaged to transform the area of regenerative medicine in which unhealthy tissues or organs in an individual could be replaced by transplantation of cultured cells or an in-vitro produced tissue or organ. On the other hand its utilization has often been restricted by the fact that, if utilized for transplantation, the source of these cells (blastocyst from the donor) that is from a genetically dissimilar but of a similar species (allogenic), will be most probably recognised as non-self by the immune system of the recipient. Therefore utilizing the cells derived from embryonic stem cells for transplantation from an allogenic donor, may require a lifelong immunosupression and the problems associated with it. Further the reality that embryonic stem cells normally necessitate the utilization and destruction of blastocyst staged human embryos has important ethical issues.

The above hindrances have been resolved by an important breakthrough made by the team of Shinya Yamanaka in Japan. For about a period of ten years, Yamanaka worked on the likelihood of transforming somatic cells of adults into pluripotent stem cells. To carry out that task, he concentrated on a set of genes that were exclusively or greatly expressed in embryonic stem cells. The researchers in his group initially utilized retroviruses to over-express twenty four genes in fibroblasts of mouse and astonishingly after a few weeks afterwards they found that colonies greatly alike to usual mouse embryonic stem cells appeared in the cluster plates. In contrast to the initial fibroblast population, the resultant cells could be indefinitely maintained in culture and was able to function as embryonic stem cells. Furthermore they went still far to reveal that only a combination of four out of the twenty four genes, named oct 4, klf 4, sox 2 and cMyc (all of which code for the proteins that function as transcription factors to control the expression of diverse sets of genes) were adequate to induce nuclear reprogramming of somatic cells and to revert them to a primeval, pluripotent state. To differentiate these novel cells from their embryonic counterparts, they were mentioned as “induced pluripotent stem cells” or “iPS cells”. Later research showed that similar ideology could be applied to reprogram human somatic cells, a key move towards the long wanted utilization of pluripotent stem cells in the field of regenerative medicine.

Even though the initial investigations utilized the fibroblasts, scientists have revealed that various kinds of cells including cells from liver, stomach, pancreas, and also blood lymphocytes can be reprogrammed to become induced pluripotent stem cells. Further studies by the scientists have revealed that almost any kind of cell could be utilized as a potent target for reprogramming, excluding the thought that a rare progenitor or stem cell was the foundation for the production of an iPS cell. In an effort to recognize the biology of the reprogramming mechanisms, various researchers have tried to decode the function of each individual reprogramming factor. Even though yet not wholly understood, it revealed that cMyc gene has a distinct role from the other 3 genes, oct 4, klf 4, and sox 2. During the initial stages of nuclear reprogramming, cMyc is accountable for inducing the down regulation of genes usually expressed by differentiated somatic cells and at the same time initiating cellular metabolic changes. Oct 4, klf 4 and sox 2 seems to be significant in maintaining and establishing the stem cell gene expression program. About the dynamics of the reprogramming mechanisms, it is a comparatively slow process, utilizing a minimum of about eight to ten days of sustained expression of the reprogramming factors. In that period the endogeneous loci of genes that are significant in establishing a stem cell programme are remodelled to become actively expressed, whereas the expression of the reprogramming genes introduced through the viral vectors become silent. This feature might be principally essential for appropriated differentiation of the induced pluripotent stem cells.

It is well known that the enduring presence of the reprogramming factor transgenes (foreign genes) inside the genome of the established induced pluripotent stem cells, in which the reprogramming genes are not regulated by their usual or natural regulatory elements but by a viral or other regulatory elements, presents a strict complication for the use of this technology in the clinical field. But there is a huge potential for induced pluripotent stem cell research, where adult somatic cells such as skin, fibroblasts and peripheral blood cells can be collected effortlessly from any individual and can be utilized as the source for the production of personalised pluripotent stem cells. Subsequently, induced pluripotent stem cells can be engaged for the production of definite tissues or organs that can serve for the learning of any disease, monitor for novel therapeutic drugs or utilization in cell replacement therapy.

Exemplary illnesses that benefit from this technology includes, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), alpha -1 antitrypsin deficiency (AAT), Alzheimer’s Disease, Cystic fibrosis, Diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, cancer and so on. The practical revelation that induced pluripotent cells were in fact pluripotent was their capability to contribute to all kinds of tissues when injected in to immuno-compromised mice to form teratogens (tumors that include tissues from all 3 primary germ layers). Notably the mouse induced pluripotent cells were able to produce a whole mouse when injected into a mouse blastocyst. Pluripotent stem cells, similar to embryonic stem cells, have specific epigenetic prospect, which are significant for preservation of pluripotency. Production of induced pluripotent cells that are induced by Transcription factors requires total alteration of the epigenetic form of somatic cell into an embryonic stem cell like state. Therefore gathering evidence specifies that epigenetic processes not only play vital roles in the induced pluripotent cell production process, but also have an effect on the properties of reprogrammed induced pluripotent cells. Considering the functions of several epigenetic factors in induced pluripotent cell production also adds to our information of the reprogramming processes.

Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells have the prospective to alter drug discovery by supplying physiologically suitable cells for poisonous compound identification, target validation, compound screening, and tool discovery. The technique for producing induced pluripotent cells is marching speedily, as is the range of cell types that can be differentiated. Tissue-specific cells derived from induced pluripotent cells are presently being investigated by the pharmaceutical diligence for their use in recognition of cardiotoxic and hepatotoxic substances as therapeutically applicable systems for modelling cardiovascular, neurodegenerative and metabolic disorders, as well as for production of individual specific cell kinds.