Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Children’s Hospital launches genome analysis contest

By Michelle Lang

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Joslin to build new diabetes research center with $10.8M support [January 25, 2012]

ACT stem cell trial in U.S. shows signs of safety [January 24, 2012]

MassBay, UMass, BU get notice for Alzheimer’s research [January 24, 2012]

Children’s Hospital Boston is counting on the combination of a $25,000 award and competitive fire to fuel genomic research into disorders of three pediatric patients.

The hospital launched its CLARITY (Children’s Leadership Award for the Reliable Interpretation and appropriate Transmission of Your genomic information) Challenge earlier this week, with a plan to award $25,000 in October to a team judged by an independent panel. The goal of the competition, Children’s Hospital noted in a news release, is to support genomic analysis and interpretation and bring the DNA sequencing process out of research and into practice; the contest may also add insight to rare and orphan diseases.

The challenge, sponsored by Life Technologies Corp. and Complete Genomics, centers around three patients with genetic disorders where the genetic cause is currently unknown. The 20 chosen teams are tasked with analyzing, interpreting and reporting on the responsible genomic factor in each of the three patients’ disorders and decode the results to help doctors and families make informed decisions on follow-up actions.

Children’s Hospital Boston plans to close applications for academic and commercial teams alike for the CLARITY Challenge on March 1.

The field of genome sequencing is particularly hot now, with companies vying to bring the cost of personal DNA sequencing to the $1,000 level. Earlier this month, Ion Torrent Systems Inc. of Guilford, Conn., claimed to be the first to map a human genome in 24 hours for $1,000 with its DNA sequencing machine and chip.  The company announced the news at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco. Ion Torrent was acquired by Life Technologies for $375 million in August 2010.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQYaVb4px7U&feature=related

Study of freakish mystery illness finds no cause

By MIKE STOBBE | Associated Press – 11 hrs ago

Related Content

• Enlarge Photo
  
  This photo provided by Centers for Disease Control shows a case-patient with skin …
  
• Enlarge Photo
  
  FILE – In this Aug. 1, 2006 file photo, Verna Gallagher, who claims to be suffering …

ATLANTA (AP) — Imagine having the feeling that tiny bugs are crawling on your body, that you have oozing sores and mysterious fibers sprouting from your skin. Sound like a horror movie? Well, at one point several years ago, government doctors were getting up to 20 calls a day from people saying they had such symptoms.

Many of these people were in California and one of that state’s U.S. senators, Dianne Feinstein, asked for a scientific study. In 2008, federal health officials began to study people saying they were affected by this freakish condition called Morgellons.

The study cost nearly $600,000. Its long-awaited results, released Wednesday, conclude that Morgellons exists only in the patients’ minds.

“We found no infectious cause,” said Mark Eberhard, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official who was part of the 15-member study team.

The study appears in PLoS One, one of the Public Library of Science journals.

Sufferers of Morgellons (mor-GELL-uns) describe a variety of symptoms, including fatigue, erupting sores, crawling sensations on their skin and — perhaps worst of all — mysterious red, blue or black fibers that sprout from their skin. Some say they’ve suffered for decades, but the syndrome wasn’t named until 2002, when “Morgellons” was chosen from a 1674 medical paper describing similar symptoms.

Afflicted patients have documented their suffering on websites and many have vainly searched for a doctor who believed them. Some doctors believe the condition is a form of delusional parasitosis, a psychosis in which people believe they are infected with parasites.

Last May, Mayo Clinic researchers published a study of 108 Morgellons patients and found none of them suffered from any unusual physical ailment. The study concluded that the sores on many of them were caused by their own scratching and picking at their skin.

The CDC study was meant to be broader, starting with a large population and then went looking for cases within the group. The intent was to give scientists a better idea of how common Morgellons actually is.

They focused on more than 3 million people who lived in 13 counties in Northern California, a location chosen in part because all had health insurance through Kaiser Permanente of Northern California, which had a research arm that could assist in the project. Also, many of the anecdotal reports of Morgellons came from the area.

Culling through Kaiser patient records from July 2006 through June 2008, the team found — and was able to reach — 115 who had what sounded like Morgellons. Most were middle-aged white women. They were not clustered in any one spot.

That led to the finding that Morgellons occurred in roughly 4 out of every 100,000 Kaiser enrollees. “So it’s rare,” Eberhard said.

Roughly 100 agreed to at least answer survey questions, and about 40 consented to a battery of physical and psychological tests that stretched over several days.

Blood and urine tests and skin biopsies checked for dozens of infectious diseases, including fungus and bacteria that could cause some of the symptoms. The researchers found none that would explain the cases.

There was no sign of an environmental cause, either, although researchers did not go to each person’s house to look around.

They took fibers from 12 people, which were tested at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. Nothing unusual there, either. Cotton and nylon, mainly — not some kind of organism wriggling out of a patient’s body.

Skin lesions were common, but researchers concluded most of them were from scratching.

What stood out was how the patients did on the psychological exams. Though normal in most respects, they had more depression than the general public and were more obsessive about physical ailments, the study found.

However, they did not have an unusual history of psychiatric problems, according to their medical records. And the testing gave no clear indication of a delusional disorder.

So what do they have? The researchers don’t know. They don’t even know what to call it, opting for the label “unexplained dermopathy” in their paper.

But clearly, something made them miserable. “The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence,” said Felicia Goldstein, an Emory University neurology professor and study co-author.

She said perhaps the patients could be helped by cognitive behavioral therapy that might help them deal with possible contributing psychological issues.

The study is not expected to be the last word on the subject.

Among those with additional questions is Randy Wymore, an Oklahoma State University pharmacologist who for years was the most reputable scientist to look into it and who has concluded Morgellons is not a psychiatric disorder.

On Wednesday, Wymore said he had not seen the CDC paper and was unable to comment on it. But when the study began, he questioned whether Kaiser patients with Morgellons would participate, especially if they were unhappy with how they were previously handled by their Kaiser doctors.

“There is always the question: How many of the study participants actually have Morgellons Disease?” he said, in an email.

The CDC is not planning additional study, however. The agency’s expertise is in infectious diseases and environmental health problems, and the researchers saw no evidence of that.

“We’re not mental health experts,” one CDC spokeswoman said.

Our Favorite Dividend ETFs for 2012

By Michael Rawson, CFA | 01-11-12 | 06:00 AM 

With bond coupon rates at historic lows, investment categories that offer alternative sources of yield have been among the most popular over the past couple of years. We see this trend continuing into 2012 and feel that investors should take comfort in the academic evidence supporting dividend investing and the total return approach.

Since 1927, high-dividend-paying stocks have returned 11% per year, beating the 8% return from nonpayers and resulting in an ending wealth that is 8 times larger. Better yet, they accomplished this feat while incurring less volatility. But dividend-paying stocks outperform only over the long haul, so why might 2012 be a particularly good year for dividend-paying stocks? First, stocks offer a better relative value than bonds. Second, large-cap quality stocks are selling at a discount compared with riskier small-cap stocks. Unlike small caps, large caps have the capacity to withstand continued slow economic growth.

Source: Kenneth French

Stocks are reasonably priced relative to bonds. In the four years prior to the start of the financial crisis in October 2007, investors poured $875 billion into stock exchange-traded funds and mutual funds. Stock funds captured 50% of each dollar invested. But in the four years since, investors have avoided stock funds, instead putting 68% of all fund flows into bond funds. That severe risk aversion has led stocks to appear attractive relative to bonds. In fact, the yield differential between the 10-year government bond and the dividend yield on the S&P 500 has not been this attractive since the 1950s. At that time, we were coming out of a period in which the Federal Reserve pegged interest rates at artificially low levels to help the government fund World War II. In the 30 years prior to 1980, the S&P 500 returned 6% per year after inflation compared with negative 2% from long-term government bonds.

Source: Morningstar Analysts

Within stocks, we prefer large-cap and low-risk stocks to smaller-cap or pricier stocks. Economic growth will likely remain subpar, so we want to avoid high beta stocks and those pricing in an expectation for rapid growth. But even with slow growth, dividend-paying stocks should be able to maintain their payouts. Payout ratios are below their historical average, so firms could boost payouts to maintain the dollar amount of payouts. In addition, firms have built a sizable cash buffer, which could be used to increase payments. Companies in the S&P 500 have cash equivalent to $296 per index unit, compared with an index level of 1,250. Net debt per unit has dropped from $1,058 at the end of 2007 to $470 today. In other words, if we enter another recession, companies are much better prepared to handle it.

With that investment thesis in mind, here are some of the funds that we recommend as well as a few high-yielding funds we might avoid. 

 Vanguard High Dividend Yield Index ETF
(VYM) 

Vanguard has two funds on this list, and of the two, this one offers a higher yield and a large-cap-value tilt. It is low-cost and widely diversified, so it could serve as a core fund and will likely have a fair amount of overlap with your other large-cap funds. Despite industry practice, the “high yield” in the name is not a euphemism for junk–this is a Vanguard fund after all. 

 WisdomTree DEFA  (DWM) 

This is but one from a stable of high-yielding international ETFs from WisdomTree. This one weights firms by the amount of dividends paid, resulting in a large-cap-value tilt. While dividends are more common overseas, they are also a good check on corporate governance, particularly when investing in foreign markets where due diligence is more difficult.

 PowerShares FTSE RAFI US 1000  (PRF) 

This ETF is also not marketed as a dividend fund, but it incorporates dividend information, along with sales, book value, and cash flow. The result is a more stable approach than using dividends alone–after all, many top-performing companies pay no dividends at all. For example, VYM does not own any stock in

 Apple
(AAPL). Of all the funds mentioned in the list, PRF is the most well-balanced core fund.

 Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF  (VIG) 

VIG is a perennial favorite, and while this fund does not have a high yield, it earns points for stability. Firms in this fund need to increase dividends for 10 consecutive years, which limits exposure to more-cyclical industries. Firms with strong brand names and stable repeat businesses are often able to consistently grow dividends. Thus, it is little wonder that firms like

 McDonald’s
(MCD),

 Coca-Cola
(KO), and

 Procter & Gamble
(PG) make the list.

 iShares High Dividend Equity  (HDV) 

(Morningstar licenses HDV’s index to BlackRock and earns asset-based fees.) This is another 2011 new launch that has quickly gained assets, but it is still much smaller than iShares’ other dividend-focused fund,

 iShares Dow Jones Select Dividend Index
(DVY). HDV screens for high-yielding stocks that pass both qualitative and quantitative tests for stability. This results in a high yield without sacrificing quality.

Not all of the funds we like sport attractive yields, but investors need to remember that the higher the yield, the higher the risk. Instead, we prefer funds take steps to insure quality stocks and mitigate stock-specific risks. We would avoid high-yielding funds with abnormal sector concentration. For example, DVY had nearly 50% of its assets in financial stocks in 2007, right before the financial crisis. Defensive sectors such as consumer staples and utilities have outperformed the market over the past year and are no longer attractively priced. The stocks in

 Utilities Sector SPDR  (XLU) offer a 4.1% yield, but our analysts feel that utilities stocks are currently fairly priced, offering little downside protection compared with the rest of the market, which is priced at about 83% of fair value.

In the table below, I show the portfolio dividend yield rather than the 12-month yield because HDV has not existed for a full 12 months. The 12-month yield reflects total cash paid out by the fund over the past year, so it requires a full year of data, and cash flows are net of expenses. Portfolio dividend yield is the weighted average yield of the stocks in the portfolio.

Expense Ratio

Portfolio Yield

S&P 500

NA

2.27

PowerShares FTSE RAFI US 1000 (PRF)

0.39

2.47

Vanguard High Dividend Yield Indx (VYM)

0.18

3.60

iShares High Dividend Equity (HDV)

0.40

4.15

PowerShares S&P 500 Low Volatility (SPLV)

0.25

3.58

WisdomTree DEFA (DWM)

0.48

4.60

Vanguard Dividend Appreciation (VIG)

0.18

2.64

Data through 11/30/11.

Property of ©

Benton Aerospace and

Christopher E. Benton

Essential amino acid

An essential amino acid or indispensable amino acid is an amino acid that cannot be synthesized de novo by the organism (usually referring to humans), and therefore must be supplied in the diet.

Contents

• 1 Essentiality vs. conditional essentiality in humans
  
  
• 1.1 “Newer” Common Amino Acids
• 2 Recommended daily amounts
• 3 Use of essential amino acids
• 4 Essential Amino Acid Deficiency
• 5 Mnemonics
• 6 See also
• 7 References
• 8 External links

  Essentiality vs. conditional essentiality in humans
  

(*) Essential only in certain cases.^[1][2]

(**) Truly unclassified. Added to sustain the 21 Numbers of Essential Amino Acids.

Eight amino acids are generally regarded as essential for humans: phenylalanine, valine, threonine, tryptophan, isoleucine, methionine, leucine, and lysine.^[3] Additionally, cysteine (or sulphur-containing amino acids), tyrosine (or aromatic amino acids), histidine and arginine are required by infants and growing children.^[4][5] Essential amino acids are so called not because they are more important to life than the others, but because the body does not synthesize them, making it essential to include them in one’s diet in order to obtain them. In addition, the amino acids arginine, cysteine, glycine, glutamine, histidine, proline, serine and tyrosine are considered conditionally essential, meaning they are not normally required in the diet, but must be supplied exogenously to specific populations that do not synthesize it in adequate amounts.^[6][7] An example would be with the disease phenylketonuria (PKU). Individuals living with PKU must keep their intake of phenylalanine extremely low to prevent mental retardation and other metabolic complications. However, phenylalanine is the precursor for tyrosine synthesis. Without phenylalanine, tyrosine cannot be made and so tyrosine becomes essential in the diet of PKU patients.

The distinction between essential and non-essential amino acids is somewhat unclear, as some amino acids can be produced from others. The sulfur-containing amino acids, methionine and homocysteine, can be converted into each other but neither can be synthesized de novo in humans. Likewise, cysteine can be made from homocysteine but cannot be synthesized on its own. So, for convenience, sulfur-containing amino acids are sometimes considered a single pool of nutritionally-equivalent amino acids as are the aromatic amino acid pair, phenylalanine and tyrosine. Likewise arginine, ornithine, and citrulline, which are interconvertible by the urea cycle, are considered a single group.

“Newer” Common Amino Acids

The above list of 20 common amino acids is the traditional one, but there are more than 20 amino acids that are routinely found in proteins. The common 22 amino acids, referred to as the proteinogenic amino acids, include the less-well known pyrrolysine and selenocysteine^[8]. Selenocysteine thus far is the only one that is conditionally essential. In addition to the 22+ alpha-amino acids, scientists are finding far more beta-amino acids in bacteria with a variety of natural functions, such as contributing to antibiotic resistance.

Recommended daily amounts

Estimating the daily requirement for the indispensable amino acids has proven to be difficult; these numbers have undergone considerable revision over the last 20 years. The following table lists the WHO recommended daily amounts currently in use for essential amino acids in adult humans, together with their standard one-letter abbreviations.^[5]

The recommended daily intakes for children aged three years and older is 10% to 20% higher than adult levels and those for infants can be as much as 150% higher in the first year of life.

Use of essential amino acids

Foodstuffs that lack essential amino acids are poor sources of protein equivalents, as the body tends to deaminate the amino acids obtained, converting proteins into fats and carbohydrates^[9]. Therefore, a balance of essential amino acids is necessary for a high degree of net protein utilization, which is the mass ratio of amino acids converted to proteins to amino acids supplied.

Complete proteins contain a balanced set of essential amino acids for humans. Animal sources such as meat, poultry, eggs, fish, milk, and cheese provide all of the essential amino acids.^[10] Near-complete proteins are also found in some plant sources such as quinoa,^[11]
buckwheat,^[12]
hempseed,^[13] and amaranth,^{[citation needed]} among others. Soya appears as lower in sulfur-containing amino acids (methionine and cysteine)^[11], which instead are abundant in many other plant protein sources. It is not necessary to consume plant foods containing complete proteins as long as a reasonably varied diet is maintained. By consuming a wide variety of plant foods, a full set of essential amino acids will be supplied and the human body can convert the amino acids into proteins.

The net protein utilization of a human eating only one protein source (only wheat, for instance) is affected by the limiting amino acid content (the essential amino acid found in the smallest quantity in the foodstuff) of that source. Adequate protein utilization, however, will readily be obtained if a balanced variety of protein sources is eaten within 4-6 hours,^[14] and/or the total (limited) protein consumed is greater than the requirement.

Essential Amino Acid Deficiency

A chronic deficiency in the essential amino acids will lead to either a form of childhood
oedema known as kwashiorkor or emaciation known as marasmus.

Mnemonics

Using the one letter designation shown above, mnemonic devices have been developed for students wanting or needing to memorize the essential amino acids. Previous devices have utilized the first letter of the amino acids’ names, and in general did not include arginine which is not always essential. Mnemonic devices that can used are PVT TIM HALL^[15] and TT HALL V(ery) IMP(ortant).^[16]

Another method uses the first letter of each essential amino acid to begin each word in a phrase, such as: “Any Help In Learning These Little Molecules Proves Truly Valuable.”^[17] This method begins with the two amino acids that need some qualifications as to their requirements.

Note that these devices work by using the first letter of the actual amino acids name. Due to repetition of letters, several amino acids have one letter abbreviations that are different from their first letter (e.g. lysine is K). Thus the complete list of essential amino acids using one-letter codes is M,I,L,K,F,R,H,T,V,W. It would help college students to have a one letter code mnemonic. One being: I
Like Koala Vision Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. Another could be I
Like Killing Vehicles Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. Yet another is M
I
L
K
FoR
THe VW. And another is I’M
LiKe WTF – High fiVe! A slightly easier mnemonic, due to its topical relevance, is “Must Ingest These, Vitamin-Like, From Wheat, Kale.” One of the shortest and easiest seems to be “RH+ MILK FTW Val!” with the “+” implying conditional essentiality.

See also

• Essential nutrient
  
• Essential fatty acid
• Biological Value (BV)
• List of standard amino acids
• Edible protein per unit area of land
• Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score
• Protein
• Orthomolecular medicine

  References
  

• ^ Fürst P, Stehle P (1 June 2004). “What are the essential elements needed for the determination of amino acid requirements in humans?”. Journal of Nutrition
  134 (6 Suppl): 1558S–1565S. PMID
  15173430. http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/full/134/6/1558S.
  
• ^ Reeds PJ (1 July 2000). “Dispensable and indispensable amino acids for humans”. J. Nutr.
  130 (7): 1835S–40S. PMID
  10867060. http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/full/130/7/1835S.
  
• ^ Young VR (1994). “Adult amino acid requirements: the case for a major revision in current recommendations”. J. Nutr.
  124 (8 Suppl): 1517S–1523S. PMID
  8064412. http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/reprint/124/8_Suppl/1517S.pdf.
  
• ^ Imura K, Okada A (1998). “Amino acid metabolism in pediatric patients”. Nutrition
  14 (1): 143–8. doi:10.1016/S0899-9007(97)00230-X. PMID
  9437700. http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/full/130/7/1835S.
  
• ^ ^{a
  b} FAO/WHO/UNU (2007). “PROTEIN AND AMINO ACID REQUIREMENTS IN HUMAN NUTRITION”. WHO Press. http://whqlibdoc.who.int/trs/WHO_TRS_935_eng.pdf., page 150
  
• ^ Fürst P, Stehle P (1 June 2004). “What are the essential elements needed for the determination of amino acid requirements in humans?”. J. Nutr.
  134 (6 Suppl): 1558S–1565S. PMID
  15173430. http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/full/134/6/1558S.
  
• ^ Reeds PJ (1 July 2000). “Dispensable and indispensable amino acids for humans”. J. Nutr.
  130 (7): 1835S–40S. PMID
  10867060. http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/full/130/7/1835S.
  
• ^
  [1]
  
• ^ McGilvery, Robert W. Biochemistry, a Functional Approach 1979. Chapter 41, esp Page 787
  
• ^
  “Nutrition for Everyone: Basics: Protein”. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/nutrition/nutrition_for_everyone/basics/protein.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-15.
  
• ^ ^{a
  b}
  http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19940015664_1994015664.pdf
  
• ^
  Buckwheat Profile
  
• ^
  hempnutrition.qxd
  
• ^ Position of the American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada: Vegetarian diets. JADA, 2003; 103(6) 748 – 765.
  
• ^
  Mnemonic at medicalmnemonics.com
  442 128
  
• ^
  Essential amino acids Essential amino acids, Mnemonic.
  
• ^ Williams, R.A.D.; Eliot, J.C. (1989). Basic and Applied Dental Biochemistry. Elsevier Health Sciences. pp. 149. ISBN
  0443031444.
  

  External links
  

• Amino acid content of some vegetarian foods – In a meal, make sure at least one food has a low value in each row of the “Amount to meet RDA” column, at veganhealth.org
  
• Amino Acid Profiles of Some Common Feeds at Virginia Tech
  
• Molecular Expressions: The Amino Acid Collection – Has detailed information and crystal photographs of each amino acid. at Florida State University
  

Categories: Amino acids | Essential nutrients | Nitrogen metabolism | Nutrition

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

2:08 AM

Tumor suppressor gene – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tumor_suppressor_gene

Screen clipping taken: 1/18/2012 2:08 AM

SOPA and PIPA – Learn more – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

2:08 AM

SOPA and PIPA – Learn more

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

< Wikipedia:SOPA initiative

Jump to: navigation, search

What exactly is Wikipedia doing?

Wikipedia is protesting against SOPA and PIPA by blacking out the English Wikipedia for 24 hours, beginning at midnight January 18, Eastern Time. Readers who come to English Wikipedia during the blackout will not be able to read the encyclopedia: instead, they will see messages intended to raise awareness about SOPA and PIPA, and encouraging them to share their views with their elected representatives, and via social media.

Why is this happening?

Nothing like this has ever happened before on the English Wikipedia. Wikipedians have chosen to black out the English Wikipedia for the first time ever, because we are concerned that SOPA and PIPA will severely inhibit people’s access to online information. This is not a problem that will solely affect people in the United States: it will affect everyone around the world.

Why? SOPA and PIPA are badly drafted legislation that won’t be effective in their main goal (to stop copyright infringement), and will cause serious damage to the free and open Internet. They put the burden on website owners to police user-contributed material and call for the unnecessary blocking of entire sites. Small sites won’t have sufficient resources to defend themselves. Big media companies may seek to cut off funding sources for their foreign competitors, even if copyright isn’t being infringed. Foreign sites will be blacklisted, which means they won’t show up in major search engines. And, SOPA and PIPA build a framework for future restrictions and suppression.

Isn’t SOPA dead? Wasn’t the bill shelved, and didn’t the White House declare that it won’t sign anything that resembles the current bill?

No, neither SOPA nor PIPA are dead. On January 17th, SOPA’s sponsor said the bill will be discussed in early February. There are signs PIPA may be debated on the Senate floor next week. Moreover, SOPA and PIPA are just indicators of a much broader problem. We are already seeing big media calling us names. In many jurisdictions around the world, we’re seeing the development of legislation that prioritizes overly-broad copyright enforcement laws, laws promoted by power players, over the preservation of individual civil liberties. We want the Internet to be free and open, everywhere, for everyone.

Aren’t SOPA/PIPA as they stand not even really a threat to Wikipedia? Won’t the DNS provisions be removed?

SOPA and PIPA are still alive, and they’re still a threat to the free and open web, which means they are a threat to Wikipedia. For example, in its current form, SOPA would require U.S. sites to take on the heavy burden of actively policing third-party links for infringing content. And even with the DNS provisions removed, the bill would give the U.S. government extraordinary, ambiguous, and loosely-defined powers to take control over content and information on the free web. Taking one bad provision out doesn’t make the bills okay, and regardless, Internet experts agree they won’t even be effective in their main goal: halting copyright infringement. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has published a really great post about some of the more dangerous SOPA and PIPA provisions.

What can users outside of the U.S. do to support this effort?

Readers who don’t live in the United States can contact their local State Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, or similar branch of government. Tell them that you oppose the draft U.S. SOPA and PIPA legislation, and all similar legislation. SOPA and PIPA will have a global effect – websites outside of the U.S. would be impacted by legislation that hurts the free and open web. And, other jurisdictions are grappling with similar issues, and may choose paths similar to SOPA and PIPA.

Is it still possible to access Wikipedia in any way?

The Wikipedia community, as part of their request to the Wikimedia Foundation to carry out this protest, asked us to ensure that we make English Wikipedia accessible in some way during an emergency. The English Wikipedia will be accessible on mobile devices and smart phones. You can also view Wikipedia normally by completely disabling JavaScript in your browser, as explained on this Technical FAQ page.

I keep hearing that this is a fight between Hollywood and Silicon Valley. Is that true?

No. Some people are characterizing it that way, probably in an effort to imply all the participants are motivated by commercial self-interest. But you can know it’s not that simple, because Wikipedia has no financial self-interest here: we are not trying to monetize your eyeballs or sell you products. We are protesting to raise awareness about SOPA and PIPA solely because we think they will hurt the Internet, and your ability to access information. We are doing this for you.

In carrying out this protest, is Wikipedia abandoning neutrality?

We hope you continue to trust Wikipedia to be a neutral informational resource. We are staging this blackout because, although Wikipedia’s articles are neutral, its existence actually is not. For over a decade, Wikipedians have spent millions of hours building the largest encyclopedia in human history. Wikipedia’s existence depends on a free, open and uncensored Internet. We are shutting Wikipedia down for you, our readers. We support your right to freedom of thought and freedom of expression. We think everyone should have access to educational material on a wide range of subjects, even if they can’t pay for it. We believe people should be able to share information without impediment. We believe that new proposed laws like SOPA and PIPA (and other similar laws under discussion inside and outside the United States) don’t advance the interests of the general public. That’s why we’re doing this.

What can I read to get more information?

Try these links:

• Blog post from Wikimedia Foundation Executive Director, Sue Gardner
  
• Official Wikimedia Foundation press release
• Statement from the community affirming blackout
• Electronic Frontier Foundation blog post on the problems with SOPA/PIPA
• Wikipedia’s articles on SOPA and PIPA

Inserted from <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:SOPA_initiative/Learn_more>

How PIPA and SOPA Violate White House Principles Supporting Free Speech and Innovation | Electronic Frontier Foundation

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

2:16 AM

Skip to main content

Electronic Frontier Foundation

Defending your rights in the digital world

STOP CENSORSHIP >

How PIPA and SOPA Violate White House Principles Supporting Free Speech and Innovation

Help fight the blacklist bills! Please take action by contacting Congress through our action center. It only takes a moment and it can make a big difference.

Over the weekend, the Obama administration issued a potentially game-changing statement on the blacklist bills, saying it would oppose PIPA and SOPA as written, and drew an important line in the sand by emphasizing that it “will not support” any bill “that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet.”

Yet, the fight is still far from over. Even though the New York Times reported that the White House statement “all but kill[s] current versions of the legislation,” the Senate is still poised to bring PIPA to the floor next week, and we can expect SOPA proponents in the House to try to revive the legislation—unless they get the message that these initiatives must stop, now.  So let’s take a look at the dangerous provisions in the blacklist bills that would violate the White House’s own principles by damaging free speech, Internet security, and online innovation:

The Anti-Circumvention Provision

In addition to going after websites allegedly directly involved in copyright infringement, a proposal in SOPA will allow the government to target sites that simply provide information that could help users get around the bills’ censorship mechanisms. Such a provision would not only amount to an unconstitutional prior restraint against protected speech, but would severely damage online innovation. And contrary to claims by SOPA’s supporters, this provision—at least what’s been proposed so far—applies to all websites, even those in the U.S. 

As First Amendment expert Marvin Ammori points out, “The language is pretty vague, but it appears all these companies must monitor their sites for anti-circumvention so they are not subject to court actions ‘enjoining’ them from continuing to provide ‘such product or service.’” That means social media sites like Facebook or YouTube—basically any site with user generated content—would have to police their own sites, forcing huge liability costs onto countless Internet companies. This is exactly why venture capitalists
have said en masse they won’t invest in online startups if PIPA and SOPA pass. Websites would be forced to block anything from a user post about browser add-ons like DeSopa, to a simple list of IP addresses of already-blocked sites.

Perhaps worse, EFF has detailed how this provision would also decimate the open source software community. Anyone who writes or distributes Virtual Private Network, proxy, privacy or anonymization software would be negatively affected. This includes organizations that are funded by the State Department to create circumvention software to help democratic activists get around authoritarian regimes’ online censorship mechanisms. Ironically, SOPA would not only institute the same practices as these regimes, but would essentially outlaw the tools used by activists to circumvent censorship in countries like Iran and China as well.

The “Vigilante” Provision

Another dangerous provision in PIPA and SOPA that hasn’t received a lot of attention is the “vigilante” provision, which would grant broad immunity to all service providers if they overblock innocent users or block sites voluntarily with no judicial oversight at all. The standard for immunity is incredibly low and the potential for abuse is off the charts. Intermediaries only need to act “in good faith” and base their decision “on credible evidence” to receive immunity.

As we noted months ago, this provision would allow the MPAA and RIAA to create literal blacklists of sites they want censored. Intermediaries will find themselves under pressure to act to avoid court orders, creating a vehicle for corporations to censor sites—even those in the U.S.—without any legal oversight. And as Public Knowledge has pointed out, not only can this provision be used for bogus copyright claims that are protected by fair use, but large corporations can take advantage of it to stamp out emerging competitors and skirt anti-trust laws:

For instance, an Internet service provider could block DNS requests for a website offering online video that competed with its cable television offerings, based upon “credible evidence” that the site was, in its own estimation, promoting its use for infringement….While the amendment requires that the action be taken in good faith, the blocked site now bears the burden of proving either its innocence or the bad faith of its accuser in order to be unblocked.

Corporate Right of Action

PIPA and SOPA also still allow copyright holders to get an unopposed court order to cut off foreign websites from payment processors and advertisers. As we have continually highlighted, copyright holders already can remove infringing material from the web under the DMCA notice-and-takedown procedure. Unfortunately, we’ve seen that power abused time and again. Yet the proponents of PIPA and SOPA want to give rightsholders even more power, allowing them to essentially shut down full sites instead of removing the specific infringing content.

While this provision only affects foreign sites, it still affects Americans’ free speech rights. As Marvin Ammori explained, “The seminal case of Lamont v. Postmaster makes it clear that Americans have the First Amendment right to read and listen to foreign speech, even if the foreigners lack a First Amendment speech right.” If history is any guide—and we’re afraid it is—we will see specious claims to wholesale take downs of legitimate and protected speech.

Expanded Attorney General Powers

PIPA and SOPA would also give the Attorney General new authority to block domain name services, a provision that has been universally criticized by both Internet security experts and First Amendment scholars. Even the blacklist bills’ authors are now publicly second-guessing that scary provision. But even without it, this section would still force many intermediaries to become the Internet police by putting the responsibility of censorship enforcement on those intermediaries, who are usually innocent third parties.

The Attorney General would also be empowered to de-list websites from search engines, which, as Google Chairman Eric Schmidt noted, would still “criminalize linking and the fundamental structure of the Internet itself.”  The same applies to payment processors and advertisers.

These are just some of the egregious provisions in PIPA and SOPA that would drastically change the way we use the Internet (for the worse), and punish millions of innocent users who have never even thought about copyright infringement. As Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian explained, PIPA and SOPA are “the equivalent of being angry and trying to take action against Ford just because a Mustang was used in a bank robbery.” These bills must be stopped if we want to protect free speech and innovation on the web. 

Please take action now and tell your Congressional representatives you oppose the blacklist bills.

Free Speech

Internet Blacklist Legislation

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  Nice #SOPABlackout graphic on Minecraft.net: https://eff.org/r.P7B Thanks @notch! #J18 #SOPA
  

  Jan 17 @ 9:50pm
  

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Tuesday, January 17, 2012

4:04 AM

Financials: J.P. Morgan Gives Us A Glimpse Of The Coming Earnings

by: Kraken January 17, 2012  |  about: JPM, includes: BAC, C, GS, MS, WFC

Citigroup (C) will be reporting Tuesday before the bell and it should be very interesting to see where the financials will be this year after seeing lackluster performance in 2011.

J.P. Morgan (JPM) reported earnings last Friday and most of its metrics fell below expectations. JPM reported a profit of 90 cents per share. EPS was largely in line with estimates, but revenue fell 17%. This was primarily due to its investment banking and trading operations. CEO Jamie Dimon continues to be cautious on the outlook of the global economy, but he did state that he believes that housing has bottomed.

It’s also important to note that JPM has $15.9 billion exposure to European countries that are currently facing insolvency issues. Dimon also mentioned that regulation is causing the industry to become smaller and less profitable at a time when the government should be focused on growth.

While JPM’s earnings were disappointing, it will shed some light on the major financials reporting this week. Besides Citigroup, Wells Fargo (WFC) and Bank of America (BAC) are reporting this week. Then you have your investment banks such as Goldman Sachs (GS) and Morgan Stanley (MS), which will be reporting as well.

JP Morgan said that its commercial banking business is strong and is continuing to see improvement in card services as well. This is why there is a very good chance that Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and Citigroup could all surprise to the upside this week.

Non-performing loans have been falling for Wells Fargo, Citigroup, and Bank of America. Bank of America has been continuing to see its coverage ratio for non-performing loans fall. This is because it has been raising capital at a rapid pace as well as setting aside cash for loan provisions.

Bank Of America Coverage Ratio

click to enlarge

There is a chance that Citigroup and Bank of America’s investment banking divisions could drag down its commercial banking growth. Well Fargo will be less impacted as it is primarily commercial banking as well as it has much less exposure to Europe than the others do.

The other two financials to keep an eye on are Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. JPM already saw a massive decline in investment banking revenue. Bank of America expects trading and investment-banking revenue to decline by 10% sequentially to $3.3 billion. Investment banking has become a much more difficult business and if I were an investor in GS or MS, I would be very cautious going into earnings. JPM had its commercial banking segment balance out the loss from its investment banking division.

However, GS and MS have all their eggs in one basket. Not to mention investors will need to keep an eye on their exposure to Europe.

Among U.S. banks most heavily exposed to European markets are Goldman Sachs with $38.5 billion in exposure, Morgan Stanley with $28.1 billion in exposure and JP Morgan Chase with $22.8 billion in exposure.

- Fitch Ratings Agency

Investors that have banks with strong commercial banking operations should not be too concerned about this quarters earnings. Many of these banks believe that housing has bottomed. However, its the banks with large investment banking operations that will continue to see revenue decline. Just because the U.S. is slowly coming out of the woods does not mean that the world markets will jump back up. Investment banking will continue to see a lack of deals on a global scale. Expect trading revenue to fall as well as most of the world markets seem to have limited upside for the time being.

Disclosure: I am long BAC.

Additional disclosure: I have sold cash covered puts for the February expiration with a strike price of $6.

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Monday, December 18, 2006

12:56 AM

Syntonics

(Optometric Phototherapy)

Syntonics, also known as Optometric Phototherapy, has been used clinically for over sixty years in the field of optometry. It is the branch of ocular science dealing with the gentle and safe application of selected visible-light frequencies through the eyes. It is an alternative to traditional eye care. It is used for eye conditions like focusing problems, ocular discomfort and headaches, light sensitivity, visual field constriction, visual attention difficulties, stress or emotional related visual disorders, and certain visual problems related to traumatic brain injury.

The goal of Syntonics is to improve vision problems by balancing the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system. The yellow, orange and red ends of the visible spectrum stimulate the sympathetic nervous system; and the blue, indigo and violet ends stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system. Green is the balance frequency stimulating the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems equally.

Light entering the eyes not only serves vision, but also travels to other important brain regions. It is believed that applying certain frequencies of light by way of the eyes can restore balance within the bodys regulatory centers, thereby directly affecting the source of visual dysfunctions. This balance is referred to as syntony.

Interest in phototherapy has increased in recent years, with research showing that color changes the interaction and timing in the visual-processing system; and also with the discovery of a condition known as ™seasonal affective disorderÓ a psychological depression occurring during the winter months, which responds to phototherapy.

Since 1992 more than 5,000 articles have been published in the medical literature describing lights effect on the brain and visual system, of which roughly 1,100 studies involved the use of color.

At the 1999 Syntonic Conference, Dan Oren, MD PH D, researcher for Yale University and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) indicated that 50% of the entire blood volume in the body passes through the eyes in 40 minutes, and that there is a biochemical mechanism of light involving hemoglobin within the blood, allowing the eyes to be an appropriate portal for phototherapy treatment.

March 2002

From all indications, the 21st Century will be the century of light. New applications of light used in communication, chemistry, physics and medicine are already impacting our lives. Increasing numbers of science and technology articles contain reference to light. The surface of light’s use has barely been scratched. A recent invention, for example, will allow scientists to flash light at one ten-millionth of a millionth of a second, fast enough to stop the action of an electron being knocked out of orbit, or to examine the shape of a light wave. Yet as nature’s secrets unravel, the mysteries of our existence increase. Ideas rejected in the past by hard sciences as beyond possibility are now attracting serious consideration in clinics and laboratories around the world. Color healing, psychic communication, and the energy bodies that surround life seem less fantasy and more reality as the quantum sciences move from theoretical conjecture to scientific understanding.

Yet biological sciences continue to be dominated by 19th Century chemical concepts as researchers and practitioners of the allopathic model still calculate body energy in chemical terms. This review explores electrical aspects of syntonics.

SPITLER: THE LEAK IN POTENTIAL

Throughout the syntonic literature one reads that blue light increases the leak in potential (electrical charge) and red decreases it. After decades of wondering just what this means, I looked in The Syntonic Principle, Chapter X, Body Potential, Brain Waves and Action Currents. Here Spitler describes how electric voltage develops across a semi-permeable membrane separating two dissimilar solutions of salt. Living cells actually generate charge across their membranes. A cell’s nucleus is positively charged compared to its surrounding cytoplasm and a cell’s exterior is positive compared to its interior. This potential is generated by metabolic activities within the cell and nucleus. The greater the metabolic rate the stronger the charge. If a cell is stimulated by external sources, the charge increases. If a cell is starved or has compromised membranes, its charge drops. This weakens the vitality of the cell. When the charge falls to zero, the cell dies. In healthy animals, according to Spitler, similar voltages exist between the brain, organs and other body parts. The brain, like the cell nucleus, is positively charged compared with the rest of the body. He found the greatest polarity between the liver and the brain and described how a rabbit appeared to die when he reversed the normal brain/liver polarity by inserting electrodes into its brain and liver. The rabbit’s breathing and heartbeat ceased and medical examiners pronounced it dead. When Spitler reversed the electrodes to restore the normal liver-brain polarity, the rabbit suddenly regained consciousness, had normal vital signs, and appeared fully alive.

These cellular and mass body voltages must respond to and predict changes in the external environment and to internal drives such as the four F’s — fight, flight, food and reproductive drives. The senses, stimulated by light, sound and chemical signals, are the primary controllers of adaptive variations in the body’s oxidation (metabolic) rate. Thus, according to Spitler, the stimulation of light on the retina directly influences general metabolic processes.

Spitler describes a simple photo-electric circuit diagram to demonstrate how ocular light therapy might alter biological energies. The circuit includes a battery, photocell, and charge-sensitive on-off switch. The photocell responds to light by sending charge to the switch. This turns the switch to its on position, thereby closing the circuit, discharging the switch, turning it off and breaking the circuit. The switch then recharges, turns on, and the process repeats itself as long as the battery stays charged and the photocell receives light. In stronger light the switch charges faster and increases the frequency of on-off cycles. Thus the frequency of discharges measures the intensity of the photocell response just as in animals stronger signals increase the frequency but not the amplitude of action potential spikes flowing along nerves. In the photocell circuit, each discharge taps the battery a little. The stronger the light stimulus, the faster the frequency of discharges, and the sooner the battery drains. In darkness there is no response, no leak, and the battery stays charged. Dim and red light produce a weak photocell response and very slow frequency of discharges and slight battery drain. Green light increases the frequency slightly but blue-violet light, the strongest stimulus, quadruples the frequency of discharge causing rapid drain on the battery.

Spitler proposes a similar circuit in animals. He demonstrates this parallel in a diagram showing a retinal photoreceptor, the sub-retinal choroid, optic nerve, brain, vagus nerve, liver, and blood stream. The photoreceptor and brain are positively charged and the choroid and liver are negative. The brain and liver have the greatest polarity and, according to Spitler, compose the animal’s ‘battery.’ If the brain-liver polarity runs down, the animal weakens and at zero charge, the animal dies.

In this model, centrifugal nerve fibers from the brain via the optic nerve stimulate a positive retinal charge relative to the electrolytes circulating in the blood plasma of the choroid. When short-wavelength light enters the eye, it passes through the retina into choroid to ionize these electrolytes. The negatively ionized electrolytes are attracted toward and move into the positively charged retina thereby neutralizing the retina/choroid polarity. Because of the retina’s connection to the brain and the choroid’s to the liver via the blood stream, this leak diminishes the brain/liver polarity and hence the vitality of the organism.

Stimulating the eye with red light does not ionize the choroidal electrolytes so the charge between the brain and liver is stays strong. Red light allows the vital charge in the body to build while blue light depletes it. Thus, red light decreases the leak in potential and blue light increases it.

Spitler cites an experiment to confirm this hypothesis. He inserted a galvanometer between the brain and the liver of a rabbit to measure the voltage changes in response to red and blue light. When he flooded the eye with red light he recorded an increase voltage over time. Blue light produced the opposite result. The brain/liver charge drained faster than the body could replenish it.

In syntonic phototherapy, red light is prescribed for amblyopia because red allows retinal charge to build. Then when the retina fires in response to light, it does so with an increased vigor capable of overwhelming resistant synapses in the retina and visual centers in the brain. Blue light depletes excess charge in the body. When a body builds too much charge, muscles will tighten in spastic knots and senses will be hyper reactive. Increased pain, for example, would result from lowered thresholds and increased sensation. By reducing charge, blue light relieves acute pain and tension.

This conception of the healing effects of red and blue light is in line with color therapy advocates who had written this decades before Spitler.

WORK BY LIGHT THERAPISTS PRECEDING SPITLER

SETH PANCOST, M.D.

Seth Pancost, in his book: Red and Blue Light: or, Light and Its Rays as Medicine (Philadelphia, J. M. Stoddart & Co. 1877) wrote that: “. . . These two rays produce the two opposite forces, or principles of light — the Red the positive, polarizing, integrating force or principle, the Blue the negative, depolarizing, disintegrating force or principle. . . . Relaxation of the nervous system means the relaxation of its tension, or the depolarization, disintegration of the centers or conductors of vital force . … Excessively accelerated tension means the excessive polarization, integration of the centers or conductors of vital force. So to counteract the former we employ the positive ray (red) and to relieve the latter we employ the negative ray (blue).”

And “…to accelerate the nervous system, in all cases of relaxation, the Red ray must be used, and to relax the nervous system in all cases of excessively accelerated tension, the Blue ray must be used.

But Pancost advised ” . . In light as in medicine there can be no invariable standard for doses determine alone by the symptoms; in each case, the physician must take into account the tone of body, the normal tension of the individual nervous systems and the entire temperament of the patient in health . . . A proper dose for one often proves insufficient for a second and an overdose for a third, even where the symptoms are identical. “

He used blue to relax specific areas of the body for such conditions as sub-acute rheumatism, sciatica, and stiffness in shoulder, tingling in fingers, moving pains in the back. Red light was used starting in small doses and increasing for physical and mental strain leading to exhaustion (pains in back of the head, shortness of breath, fluttering of heart, compressible pulse, loss of appetite, constipation and phosphoric urine).

EDWIN BABBITT, M.D.

In The Principles of Light and Color (1878) (see The Principles of Light and Color: The Healing Power of Color, edited by Faber Birren, University Books, New Hyde Park, NY 1967) Edwin Babbitt recommended blue for: All nervous and excitable conditions, fevers, inflammations and hemorrhages; all conditions with a surplus of the red element; diarrhea and visceral excitement; nausea, pleurisy, palpitation; excessive menstruation; points of acute pain, or too great heat; neuralgia, headache, spinal irritation. He recommended red for: all cold, dormant and chronic conditions; all anemic or impoverished states of the blood; all pale, sallow complexions with poor arterial blood; constipation of the bowels; suppressed menstruation; dormant liver, kidneys and lower spine; all hard, chronic tumors and negative inflammations; bronchitis, ulceration of lungs, paralysis, chromic rheumatism, chills; despondency, stupid brain, dropsy, exhaustion, etc.

WILLIAM HENNING, N.D., O.D.

William Henning in his book, The Practice of Modern Optometry (Actino Laboratories, Inc. Chicago, 1939) , described two fundamental responses: contraction and expansion. Although all frequencies are stimuli, application of the blue-indigo-violet frequencies induce expansion; disinhibition; dilation; relaxation; decreased secretions; increased absorption; pleasure, relief, etc. Red-yellow-orange frequencies elicit contraction; stimulation; constriction; tension; spasm; increased secretions; increased metabolism; decreased absorption; and increased pain and discomfort.

CARL LOEB, M.D.

In his A Course in Specific Light Therapy (Actino Laboratories, Inc. Chicago, [1939]), Carl Loeb described the use of filter #1 (flame-red) as a “liver and renal energizer and sensory stimulant. Red typifies the basic principle of life. It stands for blood, heat, and expansion.” He rarely used red alone but in combination with yellow or orange. He called attention to initial reactions of “buoying action and mental exhilaration but excess exposure lead to negative responses of irritation and depression and a form of pent-up pressure which accumulates and may be set off explosively in the form of violent tantrum, and contrariness.

In Loeb’s system he makes distinction between #4 (etheric-blue with no red frequencies) and #5 (blue-violet includes blue frequencies) (Spitler does this too with u = #4 and w = #5.) Loeb calls them ‘velocities’ and the #4 velocity for drying (as in runny noses), cooling (as in fevers and burns), calming (as in nervousness), pain reduction (as in headache), anti-inflammation (as in conjunctivitis) and sedation (as in insomnia). Loeb points out the difference between #4 as sedative and cooling to the blood and #5 as sedative to the nerves. So #5 would be used to slow all the body’s responses, also as a mental and emotional relaxant as well as a motor depressant.

“#5 is one of the most important frequencies in the treatment of ‘Americanitis’ expressed in hyperirritability, hurrying, speed mania, the desire to do many things in a limited amount of time, and over-activity of many kinds without plan or reason. Continuous over-exposure to various stimuli of light, sound, and motion has created hyper-irritability of nervous response in inhabitants of our big cities, and most of those coming for treatment suffer more or less from conditions which require lowering of tonus and relaxation, where #5 is indicated.” And this was in 1939!

COLONEL DINSHAW P. GHADIALI

In Dinshaw’s Spectro-Chrome Metry Encyclopaedia (Spectro-Chrome Institute, Malaga, N.J., 1934, 1940), he refers to blue as “the refrigerant wave” and assigns to it the following attributes: Antipruritic, an agent that prevents or relieves itching; Diaphoretic, an agent that increases the perspiration; Febrifuge, an agent that dispels or reduces fever; Counter-irritant. an agent that allays irritation; Anodyne, an agent that soothes suffering; Demulcent, an agent that allays the irritation of abraded or scratched surfaces; and a Vitality Builder, an agent that builds the life principle. Indigo, the “semi-radio-active wave,” he describes as the “opium antagonist” with the following properties: Parathyroid stimulant; Thyroid depressant; Respiratory depressant; Astringent, an agent that causes contraction and arrests discharges; Sedative, an agent that allays activity and excitement; Pain reliever, an agent that allays suffering; Hemostatic, an agent that checks the flow of blood; Inspissator, an agent that dries or thickens; and Phagocyte builder, an agent that builds cells which destroy harmful micro-organisms. He used it for excessive menstruation, for reducing tumors both cancerous and otherwise, and to stop bleeding and pain.

“The color of the liver is red; it selects from the spectrum the red wave to build itself.” The attributes of red include: Sensory Stimulant, an agent that increases the activity of the sensory nervous system; Liver energizer, an agent that activates the liver; Irritant, an agent that irritates; Vesicant, an agent that blisters; Pestulant, an agent that produces or discharges puss; Rubefacient, an agent that reddens the skin; Caustic, an agent that burns or corrodes; and is a Hemoglobin builder. Although scarlet looks red (but has some added violet, as does aw), Dinshaw assigns to it different attributes including: Arterial stimulant; Renal energizer; Genital excitant; Aphrodisiac; Emmenagogue, stimulates menstruation; Vasoconstrictor; Ecbolic, an agent that accelerates the expulsion of a fetus (and placenta); Sex builder in subnormal, an agent that builds the sex powers by enhancing the sensitivity.

THE CONTRIBUTION OF GEORGE W. CRILE, M.D. In addition to the influence of these earlier color therapists and authors, Spitler’s ideas about the electrical charges in the cell and body were also supported by the research and writings of George W. Crile. (See The Phenomena of Life: A Radio-Electric Interpretation, W.W. Norton & Co., NY, 1936.) George Crile was a world-renowned medical researcher, inventor and pioneering surgeon who performed this country’s first successful thyroidectomy operation and the first successful direct blood transfusion for humans. In medical school he became interested in why a fellow medical student died as a result of an accident that damaged his legs. The student did not suffer great loss of blood, low blood pressure or injury to the head or any organ. According to the medical knowledge at that time, the young man should not have died. This fascinated Crile. He spent the next 50 years researching the biology of life and death. He compared morphologic changes of cells and tissues from brains, livers, adrenals, and other organs before and after injury, infection, surgical trauma, insomnia, emotion, hemorrhage, asphyxia, narcotics, gland and organ excision, anaphylaxis, poisons and other causes of depression and death. “We examined all the cells of all the organs of foxes which had been pursued by hounds; of salmon before and after they had made a 1000 mile swim; of electric fish before and after discharge of their electric energy; of woodchucks in hibernation. . .” His investigation of different properties of anesthetics led to important changes in emergency medical procedures used during and since WW I.

THE BIPOLAR THEORY OF LIVING PROCESSES

According to Crile, living animals are a based more on energetic forces than material structures. (See the rainbow paragraph at the end of this article.) Life forms are distinguished from non-living material by electrical charges produced in the protoplasm. Electrical forces arrange the atoms and molecules to construct the component structures inside and outside of cells. In each of the trillions cells in the body there is created an electric strain, the vibratory discharges of which serve as the catalyst for oxidation. Oxidation in turn renews the electric charges on the countless interfaces within the cells. The structure and function of cells are both dependent upon the maintenance of the normal electrical potential. Anything that diminishes this electric charge will reduce the frequency and force of the vibratory energy released and lead to a progressive loss of vitality, fatigue, vulnerability to disease, and, if not remedied, exhaustion, unconsciousness, and finally death.

“The nucleus of the cell is comparatively acid. The cytoplasm of the cell is comparatively alkaline. The nucleus and the cytoplasm are separated by a semi-permeable membrane. Therefore the cell is a bipolar mechanism or an electric battery, the nucleus being the positive element, the cytoplasm the negative element. The rate of oxidation in the nucleus is greater than the rate of oxidation in the cytoplasm and therefore as the electric tension increases in the nucleus, the electricity passes through the nuclear membrane; the electric potential in the nucleus falls and in consequence the current is interrupted. Since the potential is again immediately restored by oxidation, radiation and other chemical activity, we conceive that an interrupted current passes continually from the positive nucleus to the negative cytoplasm. . .” George W. Crile

Crile probed living cells with tiny electrodes and discovered a voltage across the semi-permeable membrane separating the nucleus and cytoplasm. He also discovered a similar charge between parts and organs of the body and that the brain, like the nucleus of the cell, exhibits the highest charge while the liver, like the cell cytoplasm, is the least charged part of the body. He pointed out that the liver is composed of molecules similar to those found in cytoplasm and performs a similar function for the body as the cytoplasm serves for the cell. In further experiments he ran a wire between the cell’s nucleus and cytoplasm causing the charge to vanish and the cell to die. If within a certain time period he removed the wire to allow the charge to rebuild, the cell came back to life. And when he neutralized the liver/brain charge by inserting wires in the liver and brain, the animal appeared to die but then came back to life after the electrodes were removed. This is similar to what Spitler described in his rabbit experiment and Spitler makes reference to Crile’s research.

OXIDATION, NITROGEN AND ULTRA VIOLET LIGHT

How is this bio-electrical energy created? Crile believed that oxidation produces this charge. Oxidation is the most universal chemical reaction in nature. Oxidation is the burning of oxygen and carbon (e.g., in sugar and fat) to create CO2 and water. So basic is oxidation to life’s fundamental process that the intake of oxygen and output of carbon dioxide equals the body’s basal metabolic rate. Nitrogen is also important to the process. Ammonia (NH3) is a product of animal metabolism and the amount of NH3 in the blood and urine is also an accurate measure of metabolic rate.

Carbon compounds are very stable and oxidize too slowly to produce the dynamic, bioelectrical energetics required for life. Crile saw that a more explosive ingredient than carbon is required so he investigated nitrogen, which, along with carbon, is a major component of protein. Nitrogen and carbon, with oxygen, are used to make explosives such as nitroglycerin and gunpowder, a mixture of nitrate, sulfur and charcoal (carbon).

“Lightening and terrestrial electricity, which fix nitrogen, form the nitrates. The nitrates in the soil represent a pre-plant phase of living things. Solar radiance added to the nitrates generates plants. Plants generate animals. Thus solar radiation generates man. Animals, like plants, grow by virtue of solar radiation and re-radiate solar radiation. Much of the body of animals, the lungs and the circulatory system, is related to the fact that it is through oxidation in animals that the sun’s radiance is re-radiated in protoplasm; that is, oxidation causes the sun to ‘shine”‘again in protoplasm.” George W. Crile

The nitrogen in animal cells comes from eating vegetation. Plant nitrogen comes from the soil. The nitrogen in the soil comes from the air. Air is mostly nitrogen plus a little oxygen and trace amounts of other substances. The nitrogen in air, N2 (N-N), is extremely stable and biologically inert. It must be converted, or fixed, in order to become biologically useful. This conversion happens naturally by two means — lightning flashes or via nitrogen-fixing bacteria. This is where ultraviolet light comes into the picture. Only ultraviolet light has the power to ionize the nitrogen atoms to fracture the N-N bond. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria emit ultraviolet radiation in the process of nitrogen fixation. Lightning flashes, more than twice as hot as the 6000 Co surface temperature of the sun, radiate much more ultraviolet light. During lightning storms, ionized nitrogen combines with oxygen and water (rain) to become nitric acid, HNO3. This falls to earth to couple with potassium in the soil forming potassium nitrate (KNO3), ubiquitous in animal protoplasm and a chief ingredient of plant protein. KNO3 is also the base of the nitro-explosives. Nitro-explosives radiate intense, high-energy (ultraviolet) light, and free CO2 and N2 when detonated.

THE RADIOGEN

Just as the sun is the primary generator of energy via electromagnetic radiation for Earth, Crile postulated that billions of tiny suns in the nucleus of each cell radiate light and that this light is the source of bioelectricity. Radiogen is Crile’s descriptive term to denote the theoretical units of protoplasm in which oxidation occurs and from which radiation is emitted. Each radiogen, each infinitesimal sun, is an atom of iron burning at the temperature of lightning. Powered by the oxidation of nitrogen and carbon, the radiogen radiates ultraviolet and visible light. The idea is that the portion of light from each spectral band (e.g., visible colors, infra red, ultraviolet) changes to meet the requirements of the cell and the organism as a whole. Particularly important is the radiation of ultraviolet (UV) light because only UV light has the energy to remove an electron from its existing orbit, thereby ionizing or creating charge in otherwise neutral atoms and molecules. These tiny charges accumulate in the nucleus to create the electrical potential across the membrane between the nucleus and cytoplasm. The charge builds until the membrane capacitance is exceeded. When this happens the membrane resistance breaks down and the stored energy discharges into the rest of the cell. The membrane recovers, the charge builds again, and wave after wave of energy is released to power the cell. The more UV light the radiogen radiates, the quicker the charge builds, the faster the cycle of energy release, and the greater the vitality of the cell. The mix of chemical elements present at the moment of oxidation determines the amount of UV radiated.

THE ROLE OF THE ENDOCRINE AND AUTONOMIC

A living cell’s energy must match the changing needs of the organism. For example, during fight, flight or hard work, muscle cells require extra energy. Crile’s research lead him to conclude that the thyroid is the governor of UV radiation and thereby controls the ongoing activity level of all cells. The thyroid concentrates iodine and secretes thyroxin, a compound containing iodine and a nitrogen fraction. Adding this to the oxygen and carbon at the radiogen brightens the fire and shifts the spectrum of radiation toward ultraviolet. Crile measured the radiation from thyroid and organ tissues oxidized with and without added thyroxin. Only the tissue high in thyroxin emitted high levels of UV light. Recall that human metabolic rate is commonly measured by thyroid function and that hyperthyroid people are energetic, mentally quick and slender while the symptoms of hypothyroidism are sluggishness, weight gain, and lack of vitality. Increased bioelectricity correlates with increase in ultraviolet.

Thyroxin also stimulates the adrenal medulla (adrenalin) and sympathetic nerve ganglions (noradrenalin). These substances increase the body’s energy to prepare for and deal with emergencies. The adrenal/sympathetic hormones bring emergency powers to animals by increasing the intensity of ultraviolet radiation in the radiogens and also lend anaerobic support to sustain oxidation (after the depletion of oxygen from the blood that is supplied by the lungs). Animals that die from asphyxiation can be resuscitated by injection of adrenaline and artificial respiration. THE RADIANCE OF LIFE

Crile describes four bands of light radiation important for life. Ultraviolet light is important because it ionizes matter to create structure and growth as well as the electric energy for life. Visible light drives the sense of sight and directs movement through space in fight, flight and attraction. Long-wave infrared light maintains body heat within its critical range. And since plants use near-infrared for the photosynthesis of carbohydrates, Crile links near-infrared to insulin.

THE RAINBOW OF LIFE

The body of life is an energy form. What seems to be solid structure is in constant flux. The atoms, molecules and cells of our body are short lived, yet we look, feel and act as if nothing has changed. What remains are the fields of energy that hold and guide life’s developmental process. Crile paints an image of life as a rainbow “To a child and to a primitive man, a rainbow would seem to be an object that could be felt and measured and weighed. . .Neither the energy, nor the matter that forms the rainbow, nor the energy and matter that form the living state, is constant. It is only the pattern that is constant. The entrance of each creative wavelength into the pattern of the living is the “birth” of that fraction of the living state; while the passing of that wavelength out of the pattern of the living is the ‘death’ of that infinitely small fraction of the living state. So, too, is the rainbow being constantly ‘reborn.’ So, too, is the rainbow ‘dying’ — dying in quanta or wavelengths. It is only the apparition caused by the unseen velocities of wave and electric energy which our senses experience as a solid form.”

6:56 PM

Friday, February 09, 2007

Plastic Electronics Head for Market

The first commercial flexible electronics are, after more than a decade of development, finally on their way.

By Duncan Graham-Rowe

An image of an electronic map on a rollable active-matrix display made by Polymer Vision.

Credit: Courtesy of Polymer Vision

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In the past few weeks, two leading startup companies have separately announced plans to scale up commercial production of flexible plastic electronics. Unlike silicon components, polymer-based semiconductors can be fabricated on flexible substrates. The announcements are likely to lead to an explosion of small portable devices with uncharacteristically large displays that fold up or roll up into the device.

Earlier this week, the Dutch firm Polymer Vision, which was spun off from Philips Electronics last year, said that within the coming months it will begin producing its first device: a foldable electronic reader dubbed Readius. The device is scheduled to become commercially available in the second half of the year. And last month Plastic
Logic, a Cambridge University startup, said that it had received $100 million in funding for a high-volume production facility dedicated to printing organic electronics. “The factory will produce its first products in 2008,” says Henning
Sirringhaus, a Cambridge University physicist who cofounded the company in Cambridge, UK.

Large-scale fabrication of these circuits is an important step, especially for new types of paperlike displays, says Russ Wilcox, CEO of E-Ink, based in Cambridge, MA. Although companies like E-Ink already have on the market electronic-paper devices, such as Sony’s E-reader (see “Tech’s Libris“), that feature displays with paperlike image quality, these devices have rigid screens. Making electronic paper that is bendable will require the use of the flexible polymer-based circuitry. “The promise of electronic paper is not just the look but also the feel of paper,” says Wilcox. “And you can’t have that without plastic electronics.”

Despite a common goal, there are huge differences in the way the two companies are approaching the plastic-electronics market. Polymer Vision, which was spun out of the Philips Incubator Programme, in Eindhoven, in the Netherlands, in January, is concentrating on getting its product to market first, so it has opted to stick with traditional lithographic fabrication techniques more typically used to make silicon chips.

There are a number of advantages to this, says Pieter van Lieshout, head of product research and development. Besides allowing the company to get to market sooner, lithographic fabrication is a mature technology, he says. This not only reduces capital costs, but it also inspires confidence because the technology is tried and tested, says Guido Aelbers, Polymer Vision’s COO.

Plastic Logic, on the other hand, is building a new facility in Dresden, Germany, that will print the polymer electronics. It will use nozzles to deposit tiny liquid droplets of semiconductor polymer materials on a plastic substrate to form circuits in much the same way that inkjets print type on paper. By taking this approach, Plastic Logic should, in the long run, benefit in terms of cost and speed. Its facility will be capable of producing more than a million units a year–several times more than Polymer Vision.

There are advantages to both approaches, says E-Ink’s Wilcox, whose firm has partnerships with both companies. But a printing approach particularly lends itself to high-volume, low-cost production.

It’s likely that both companies will eventually branch out into making, in addition to displays, flexible radio frequency ID (RFID) tags. But even experts say that it’s difficult to predict precisely what applications plastic electronics will be used in. “Silicon is so advanced and sophisticated [that] it’s hard to see how plastic electronics could replace it,” says Sirringhaus. So it seems inevitable that the polymer-electronics startups will have to stick with flexible applications, where silicon is unable to compete.