June 30 (Reuters)- The World health organization on Tuesday declared Cuba the first country in the world to eliminate the transmission of HIV and syphilis from mother to child.
In 2013, only two children in Cuba were born with HIV and five with syphilis, the statement said."
The PAHO and WHO credited Cuba with offering women early access to prenatal care, HIV and syphilis testing,
The two organizations began an effort to end congenital transmission of HIV and syphilis in Cuba and other countries in The americas in 2010.
Eventually, of course, healers and scientists realized that the three pounds of entangled neurons beneath our crania serve some rather critical functions.
a neurobiological Oz crewing our bodies and minds from behind the scenes with unique biology and unique pathologies.
When exposed to foreign bacteria, viruses, tumors, and transplant tissue, the body stirs up a torrent of immune activity:
white blood cells devour invading pathogens and burst compromised cells; antibodies tag outsiders for destruction. Except, that is, in the brain.
Thought to be too vulnerable to host an onslaught of angry defensive cells, the brain was assumed to be protected from this immune cascade.
However research published last month reported a previously unknown line of communication between our brains
The new work could have important implications for understanding and treating disorders of the brain.
meaning it can tolerate the introduction of outside pathogens and tissues. The central nervous system was seen as existing separately from the peripheral immune system,
In most parts of the body, antigens molecules on pathogens or foreign tissue that alert our immune system to potential threats are presented to white blood cells in our the lymph nodes causing an immune response.
lead author and University of Virginia neuroscience professor Dr. Jonathan Kipnis and his group identified a previously undetected network of lymphatic vessels in the meninges the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord that shuttle fluid and immune cells from the cerebrospinal fluid to a group of lymph nodes in the neck, the deep cervical lymph nodes.
and hence were curious about the role of meningeal immunity on brain function. By mounting whole mouse meninges and using neuroimaging the team noticed that T-cells were present in vessels separate from arteries and veins
confirming that the brain does in fact have a lymphatic system linking it directly the peripheral immune system. e stumbled upon these vessels completely by serendipity,
namely how the immune system contributes to neurological and psychiatric disease. t early to speculate, says Kipnis,
ut I think that alteration in these vessels may affect disease progression in those neurological disorders with a prominent immune component, such as multiple sclerosis, autism and Alzheimer disease."
"For example MS, at least in some cases, is thought to result from autoimmune activity in response to an infection in the central nervous system and cerebrospinal fluid.
Perhaps antigens from the infectious culprit find their way to the cervical lymph nodes via the meningeal lymphatic vessels,
and that somehow improving their patency might help rid the brain of the pathologic protein.
Other recent work by Kipnis and colleagues found that an injury to the central nervous system results in a strong activation of T-cells in the deep cervical lymph nodes.
A similar scenario may be at work in other neurological conditions; that too much or too little drainage from the central nervous system to the immune system might contribute to brain disease.
If so, Kipnis feels targeting the vessels with drugs, genetic manipulation and surgery are therapeutic approaches worth pursuing.
Dr. Josep Dalmau, a neurology professor at the University of Pennsylvania not involved with the new study, agrees that the new findings could help to explain the initiation, maintenance,
and perhaps worsening of autoimmune disorders that affect the brain; and also that in light of the new findings the textbooks might need some revising t has become increasingly clear that the central nervous system is immune different rather than immune privileged,
Abnormal immune activity was reported in schizophrenia in the 1930s, and numerous mental and neurologic illnesses are known
or thought to have an immune component. However that Kipnisgroup identified a tangible, anatomical structure facilitating this relationship suggests that the brain
#US Congress Curbs NSA Surveillance, Sends Bill to Obama The US Senate passed landmark legislation Tuesday that ends the government's bulk telephone data dragnet,
"The bill halts the National security agency's ability to scoop up and store metadata--telephone numbers, dates and times of calls,
It shifts responsibility for storing the data to telephone companies, allowing authorities to access the information only with a warrant from a secret counterterror court that identifies a specific person
with many Republicans split over their support for strong counterterror measures and the need for personal privacy protections in the wake of former NSA contractor Edward Snowden's revelations about the bulk data dragnet in 2003.
a Republican 2016 presidential candidate, forced an expiration of the bulk data collection program and two other sections of the USA Patriot act, roving wiretap and lone-wolf tracking authorities, all of
#China stock market plunges Share prices in China plunged Friday in one of the sharpest sell offs in years,
the world best-performing stock market. China two major market indexes fell in tandem. The Shanghai composite was down 7. 4 percent,
and the Shenzhen composite plunged 7. 9 percent. Share prices in Hong kong, which is regulated separately, also weakened,
dropping 1. 8 percent. Analysts had been warning for months about the risks of a stock market bubble in China,
where giddy investors have driven up stock prices by purchasing shares on margin, with money borrowed from brokers.
China market has been an anomaly. Even though the broader Chinese economy has been relatively weak, which is typically bad for corporate profits,
share prices of many companies on the exchanges have skyrocketed during the past year. Many traded at record valuations, often 80,90 or 100 times their projected earnings.
The high valuations have been a boon for the companies and their major shareholders. The market boom has helped also encourage a wave of Chinese companies that had been listed in the United states to arrange stock buyouts and delist from American exchanges
then relist in China, where stock valuations are much higher. In the past few months, some well-known Chinese companies have announced plans to buy back shares
and leave Nasdaq and the New york stock exchange, including Wuxi Pharma Tech, Homeinn Hotels and Qihoo 360, the Internet service provider,
whose management is offering $9 billion to complete the buyout. But China roaring stock market showed this week how volatile it can be,
with Shenzhen main index falling the previous week, then rising early this week, then tumbling again.
The latest downturn comes as the authorities move to tighten rules on buying stock with borrowed money
which is believed to be one of the key reasons for a stock market rally that has sent share prices to seven-year highs.
The regulators are also trying to crack down on financing that comes from unregulated sources, what analysts refer to as over-the-counter stock margin financing. his is triggered
what the correction, said Steven Sun, a Hong kong analyst for HSBC. lso, there have been controlling shareholders,
significant shareholders and corporate management trying to cash out. They had been selling massively into the rally.
And these are people in a better position to know the performance of their company.
Many analysts say that the government props up the stock market as a policy move aimed at helping debt-burdened state-owned companies repair their balance sheets.
A strong market also improves the financing of private entrepreneurs, which could help spur innovation.
But the government has been careful to warn about some of the risks, including the use of borrowed money,
knowing that a sharp decline could hurt smaller investors. Analysts at some major banks, including HSBC
and Morgan stanley, have been cautioning investors about the risks of the market, particularly after a big sell off last month.
Although stock prices are still up significantly from a year ago, with the Shanghai composite reaching 5, 166.35, up as much as 160 percent in the past two years
there are signs that some of the most sought-after stocks are now in the doldrums. The Shanghai composite is down about 18 percent from its June high J
#This Injectable Brain Implant Can Record and Stimulate Individual Neurons For those who need them most,
brain implants have made inspiring strides in recent years. One implant eases the involuntary tremors associated with Parkinson disease.
Another allows completely paralyzed patients to manipulate robotic arms. This is amazing stuffut it only a rough draft of the future.
Most implants are still sizable relative to the brain, many are rigid, and all require invasive surgery.
A new approach aims to change all that by swapping out flat implants with an injectable electronic mesh.
In a recent paper, published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology a team of Harvard researchers describe the creation of a flexible nanowire mesh with nanoscale electrodes
or transistors placed at each wired junction. The mesh is malleable,"soft as silk, "and spacious, allowing it to naturally incorporate into the brain
and invite nearby cells to organize and position themselves in close proximity. The research was led by Harvard chemistry professor, Charles Lieber,
and an international team of scientists. Rafael Yuste, director of Columbia University's Neurotechnology Center, told Nature it"left a few of us with our jaws dropping"after a 2014 presentation.
Yust wasn't involved in the research. To implant the mesh, a few centimers of the stuff is rolled up in a 100-micrometer diameter syringe
and injected through a hole into the brain. This makes the procedure less invasive than current techniques.
Once inside, it unfurls and drapes onto the brain undulating surface. Nanowires connecting the mesh with computers in the outside world can either record brain activity
or stimulate nearby neurons. The team has tested 16-component implants on mice. They recorded and stimulated individual neurons,
and found no indication of an immune responsehat is did, the body not reject themfter five weeks. xisting techniques are crude relative to the way the brain is wired,
Lieber says. ut with our injectable electronics, it as if it not there at all. They are one million times more flexible than any state-of-the-art flexible electronics
and have sub-cellular feature sizes. Theye what I call euro-philic? they actually like to interact with neurons.
In the future, the team hopes to make the device wireless and scale it up to include hundreds of elements and multiple types of sensors.
One such sensor, for example, might be a airpin-shapednanowire able to measure electrical activity both inside and outside neurons.
It should be noted, of course, that the research is still in the early stages. Just because it works in mice doesn mean it will perform identically in humans.
Further more research and longer trials (beyond five weeks) are needed to establish the tech safety. However
though still the bleeding edge, it hints at what to come. The potential power of less-invasive, more targeted brain implants
and interfaces is significant. On the one hand, just as brain imaging technology has deepened our understanding of how the brain works,
implants measuring neurons in vivo can make that picture even more detailed and complete. Such research may provide valuable insights into the causes of brain disease and how the brain processes informationpening the door for reverse engineering certain processes in computers,
to make them more efficient and, when practical, to allow them to think creatively and make sense of the world more like us.
Also better brain implants may prove powerful therapeutic toolshether easing the symptoms of Parkinson or restoring a degree of freedom to those suffering paralysis. And more.)
And of course, the less invasive, the better. As the risk profile decreases, the technology will make sense for more patients.
Science fiction writer, Ramez Naam, recently wrote an excellent primer on the current state of the technology
and added a glimpse into the far future. Naam calls this the DOS era for brain implants.
But as devices shrink, become less invasive and more biocompatiblee're inching toward the iphone era r
#SCOTUS Racing to Declare Same-Sex Marriage Constitutional The Supreme court of the United states of america is revving up for another briefing to present opinions
The work of trawling through the documents, many of which are in Arabic and pertain to mundane administrative matters,
is being crowed sourced on Twitter, where the hashtag#Saudicables is buzzing as journalists, researchers, and citizen correspondents report their findings.
and not bring pressure to close down Al qaeda training camps. Saudi businesses, meanwhile, would ensure that money also flowed directly to Bin laden. The full cable can be read here.
In a press release, Wikileaks indicated they would be publishing around 70 000 documents today, and several more thousand over the coming weeks and months.
#16 Year Old Girl Develops Groundbreaking $5. 00 HIV Test Sixteen year old Nicole Sabina Ticea has just been named runner-up at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair,
According to Intel announcement, Ticea eveloped a low-cost, easy-to-use testing device to diagnose HIV infections in low-resource communities. er invention is described as a disposable microfluidic cartridge which costs less than $5
Intel states this makes the device ideal for testing newborn babies. They elaborate: For her work, Ticea has received a $50, 000 scholarship fund reward.
Her device is expected to be approved FDA and mass-produced within five years. Speaking to other young scientists, she stated:
Other exceptional youths from Intel program include grand prize winner Raymond Wang, for his research on curbing the spread of disease in aircraft cabins,
and second runner-up Karan Jerath, who efined and tested a novel device that could allow an undersea oil well to rapidly
anyone, regardless of age, can change the world. thers likewise congratulated the teens for their breakthroughs on social media.
#Students Invent Condom That Changes Color When It Comes In Contact With STIS A group of young teens are being praised after inventing a condom that changes colors
when it comes in contact with certain sexually-transmitted infections. Named. T. EYE the condom indicates
when it finds infections, such as chlamydia and syphilis. It will turn the corresponding color for whatever strain of bacteria it finds.
Pretty gross, but useful. It might be an awkward moment, but it could save a life.
Students, Daanyaal Ali, 14, Muaz Nawaz, 13 and Chirag Shah, 14, pupils at Isaac newton Academy in Ilford
so that people can take immediate action in the privacy of their own homes without the invasive procedures at the doctors,
explains Daanyaal. ee made sure wee able to give peace of mind to users and make sure people can be even more responsible than ever before. he intelligent condom won the Teentech Awards,
The group will receive £1, 000 and a trip to Buckingham Palace. Former Tomorrow World presenter Maggie Philbin, founder and chief executive of Teentech, said:
e encourage students to take their ideas out of the classroom by putting them face-to-face with industry professionals,
helping to open their eyes to the real potential of their ideas. ther inventions that stood out at the competition was shoes that allow the user to charge up electrical items while walking,
#US Air force Launches X-37b Space Plane on 4th Mystery Mission The U s. Air force's X-37b space plane blasted into Earth orbit today,
kicking off the robotic vehicle's clandestine fourth mission as well as the first flight of a tiny solar-sailing spacecraft.
The robotic X-37b space plane launched atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas v rocket today (May 20) at 11:05 a m. EDT (1505 GMT) from Florida's Cape canaveral Air force station.
But Air force officials have said that mission number four known as Orbital Test vehicle-4 (OTV-4) will concentrate less on the X-37b itself
director of the Air force Rapid Capabilities Office, said in a statement late last month.""With the demonstrated success of the first three missions, we're able to shift our focus from initial checkouts of the vehicle to testing of experimental payloads."
"Also on board the Atlas v were 10 miniscule"cubesats, "including the Lightsail solar sail that was developed by the nonprofit Planetary Society.
The Air force owns two X-37b spacecraft, both of which were built by Boeing's Phantom Works division.
Each space plane is just 29 feet long by 9. 5 feet tall (8. 8 by 2. 9 meters),
The secrecy surrounding X-37b missions has led to speculation in some quarters that the craft is some sort of space weapon that it's designed to inspect and/or cripple hostile nations'satellites, for example.
But Air force officials have refuted long that notion, saying the X-37b is simply testing out technologies for reusable vehicles and future spacecraft.
Top 10 Space Weapons"OTV missions allow us to examine a payload system or technology in the environment in which it will perform its mission,"
"Capt. Chris Hoyler, an Air force spokesman, told Space. com via email.""The unique aspects of the OTV allow us to mature these new technologies
and inspect them following the deorbit sequence.""Air force officials have not said how long they expect OTV-4 to last,
but the mission will be extended an one if the previous X-37b flights are any guide.
OTV-1 blasted off in April 2010 and landed in December of that year, spending 225 days aloft.
OTV-3 lifted off in December 2012, sending the vehicle that flew OTV-1 to space for 675 days record for a reusable space vehicle.
or the space plane that flew OTV-2."The program selects the orbital test vehicle for each activity based upon the experiment objectives,
The Air force has revealed that an advanced Hall thruster propulsion system and a NASA materials investigation are among OTV-4's scientific gear.
A Hall thruster is a type of ion engine; it generates thrust by accelerating ions (electrically charged atoms or molecules) out the back of a spacecraft.
The engine getting an in-space test on OTV-4 is advanced an version of the Hall thruster that powered the first three Advanced Extremely high frequency military communications satellites,
Air force officials said.""A more efficient on-orbit thruster capability is huge,"Maj. Gen. Tom Masiello, commander of the Air force Research Laboratory in Ohio, said in a statement last month."
"Less fuel-burn lowers the cost to get up there, plus it enhances spacecraft operational flexibility, survivability and longevity."
"The NASA payload, called the Materials Exposure and Technology Innovation in Space experiment, will study how exposure to the space environment affects nearly 100 different types of materials.
The goal is to gather data that could aid in the design of future spacecraft,
and tips on its website (www. planetary. org) during the mission. Follow Mike Wall on Twitter@michaeldwall and Google+.
+Follow us@Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+.+Originally published on Space. com y
#New Spaceship Antenna Prevents Radio Silence During Fiery Re-Entry When future spacecraft re-enter the atmosphere,
a new kind of antenna might help them keep in contact with ground control, despite the fiery sheaths of superhot plasma around them, researchers say.
The technology might also help keep communication lines open to other hypersonic vehicles, such as military planes and ballistic missiles.
When a vehicle travels at hypersonic speeds that is, five or more times the speed of sound an envelope of hot,
ionized air develops around it. This so-called"plasma sheath"acts as a mirror against electromagnetic signals under most conditions
cutting off radio communications with anything outside the vehicle. Photos: US Military Tests Hypersonic Craft As NASA's Apollo 13 crisis revealed in 1970,
this radio silence can be fraught with extraordinary tension. As the crippled spacecraft plummeted back toward Earth,
the communications blackout lasted more than a minute longer than expected, leaving ground control in tortured suspense over
whether the three astronauts aboard had survived.""When a re-entry vehicle is unable to be connected,
the only thing you can do is pray for it, "study lead author Xiaotian Gao,
a physicist at the Harbin Institute of technology in China, said in a statement. Prior studies have tried to solve this communication blackout problem,
but they all had their shortcomings. For instance, scientists have suggested changing the shape of hypersonic vehicles,
because sharp-nosed vehicles have thinner plasma sheaths than blunt-nosed ones. But sometimes, blunt-nosed bodies are preferable
because they can withstand heat better and slow down more quickly. Other approaches involve using magnetic fields to control the plasma sheath
or injecting water or other liquids into the plasma sheath to make it more permeable to radio signals,
but these methods require extra power and weight, respectively. Now, Gao and his colleague Binhao Jiang, also of the Harbin Institute of technology, reveal they might be able to use the plasma sheath itself to enhance signals from antennas to maintain communications during hypersonic flight."
"We may have found a novel approach to solve the communication blackout problem, "Gao told Space. com. The researchers explained that,
when the electromagnetic fluctuations of radio antennas are in sync with those of their surroundings, a phenomenon known as resonance can amplify radio signals.
One example of resonance is the way a playground swing will climb higher from repeated pushes.
Another well-known example of resonance can be seen when an opera singer hits just the right note to cause a champagne glass to resonate
The researchers suggested adding a carefully designed layer of electrically insulating material onto communications antennas that would essentially store electrical energy.
In combination with the plasma sheath this"matched layer"would generate resonant conditions during hypersonic flight,
and radio signals could propagate through, they explained. For the resonance to work, the thickness of this matched layer and the plasma sheath must be smaller than the wavelengths of the radio signals used for communication, the scientists noted.
The properties of the plasma sheath can vary during flight, complicating any efforts to generate resonance,
but the researchers suggested the matched layer can compensate for these changes if it is made from a material
"We don't need to know exactly the properties of the plasma layer, but we need to know the ranges for these properties,
It does not rely on a particular shape of vehicle in order to work, nor does it consume additional energy
or require extra weight. Still, Gao cautioned that this finding is only a theoretical prediction."
The researchers do not plan to build such a hypersonic communication system themselves.""We hope engineers from all over the world can solve this problem by using our approach,
"and Blue moon Brewing Co. will celebrate its 20th anniversary by painting the town red. A celestial Blue moon comes around roughly every 2. 7 years.
Tonight (July 31), a Blue moon will rise on the same night as Blue moon Brewing Co. celebrates its 20th anniversary with parties and events at more than 750 locations across the country.
although volcanic eruptions and forest fires have been known to cause the moon to appear blue. This effect is caused by particulates like dust and smoke,
In celebration of its 20th anniversary, Blue moon Brewing Co. which is owned by the Molson coors brewing Co.)will release a new beer that is part Belgian-style white and part Belgian-style Tripel.
"brewery representatives said in a statement. The company's founder said the beer brings back fond memories of the time he spent earning his Ph d. in brewing studies in Brussels."As a brewery,
we've come a long way in 20 years, and we're excited to celebrate this with the people who got us here our fans
food, music and great beer,"Keith Villa, founder and head brewmaster of Blue moon, said in the same statement.
where there will be four rooftop concerts. Blue moon plans to open another brewery and tasting room in Denver's River North neighborhood e
#Smart oven knows what is inside and how to cook it For those who just can get their heads around the intricacies of home cooking,
thermometer and Nvidia processors to recognize the raw ingredients and work out how to cook them,
June was created by Nikhil Bhogal and Matt Van horn former employees of Apple and boasts a 1. 0 cubic foot capacity.
which enables users to monitor their meal via their smartphone and adjust temperature or cooking time remotely.
It uses carbon fiber heating, advanced insulation and convection fans to ensure maximum efficiency. June is currently available to pre-order for USD 1,
The price will rise to USD 2, 995 next month. Website: www. juneoven. com Contact:
www. juneoven. com/contact Spotted another good idea? Join our network and earn reward e
#Braille tablet can convert text for blind users and let them read, write and chat We have seen technology springing up in many forms to empower those that are visually impaired.
which give audio directions to blind users. Now, also combing the sense of touch with new tech,
an Austrian company planning to release a responsive Braille tablet. Braille, the longstanding, universal language
and write using a Braille Perkins Keyboard without any mechanical elements. It also allows for direct converting from PDF, TXT,
Doc and other formats into Braille code users can simply insert files via USB STICKS or memory cards to read e-books or other materials.
The Bluetooth function also enables users to chat in real time with other devices. A GPS navigation system is included so users can be guided to destinations.
Blitlab is currently welcoming contributions to the development of the product from financial donations to developer time with the aim of bringing the first product to market by September 2016.
What other technology can be adapted to enhance touch for visually impaired individuals i
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