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Monday, September 30, 2013

Early Life Holds Clues to Adult Heart Health

Published: Sep 30, 2013
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Family socioeconomic status, body mass index, and either personal or parental smoking during childhood predicted the likelihood of achieving ideal cardiovascular health as an adult, researchers found.
Better socioeconomic status and lower BMI were significantly associated with having ideal cardiovascular health 2 to 3 decades later in three cohort studies conducted in Finland, Australia, and the U.S. (P<0 .01="" according="" and="" bm="" both="" colleagues.="" finland="" for="" in="" laitinen="" of="" p="" the="" to="" tomi="" turku="" university="" variables="">

Aging

Why Older People Tend to Be Poor Decision-Makers

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Getty Images
It’s not just dementia and cognitive decline that makes people more uncertain with age; changes in rationality and the way the elderly evaluate risk could explain why they are more likely to make the wrong decisions affecting everything from their health to their finances.
While numerous studies have documented a drop in cognitive function with age, there isn’t solid data to explain what drives this decline in decision-making, particularly in the face of uncertainty. But according to the latest research, poor choices made by the elderly can’t be attributed to their lack of math skills or a fear of financial losses. In the study, people over age 65 tended to be inconsistent when making decisions where there was one obviously correct answer, such as choosing between a definite win of $5 and a lottery with indefinite odds of winning the same amount./.../

Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy’s Image Problem


PROVIDENCE, R.I. — PSYCHOTHERAPY is in decline. In the United States, from 1998 to 2007, the number of patients in outpatient mental health facilities receiving psychotherapy alone fell by 34 percent, while the number receiving medication alone increased by 23 percent.
Tim Lahan
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This is not necessarily for a lack of interest. A recent analysis of 33 studies found that patients expressed a three-times-greater preference for psychotherapy over medications.
As well they should: for patients with the most common conditions, like depression and anxiety, empirically supported psychotherapies — that is, those shown to be safe and effective in randomized controlled trials — are indeed the best treatments of first choice. Medications, because of their potential side effects, should in most cases be considered only if therapy either doesn’t work well or if the patient isn’t willing to try counseling.
So what explains the gap between what people might prefer and benefit from, and what they get?/.../

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Singularity

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

Technological Singularity

Technological singularity

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigationsearch
The technological singularity, or simply the singularity, is a theoretical moment in time when artificial intelligence will have progressed to the point of a greater-than-human intelligence that will "radically change human civilization, and perhaps even human nature itself."[1] Since the capabilities of such an intelligence may be difficult for an unaided human mind to comprehend, the technological singularity is often seen as an occurrence (akin to a gravitational singularity) beyond which—from the perspective of the present—the future course of human history is unpredictable or even unfathomable.
The first use of the term "singularity" in this context was by mathematician John von Neumann. Neumann in the mid-1950s spoke of "ever accelerating progress of technology and changes in the mode of human life, which gives the appearance of approaching some essential singularity in the history of the race beyond which human affairs, as we know them, could not continue".[2] The term was popularized by science fiction writerVernor Vinge, who argues that artificial intelligencehuman biological enhancement, orbrain-computer interfaces could be possible causes of the singularity.[3] Futurist Ray Kurzweil cited von Neumann's use of the term in a foreword to von Neumann's classicThe Computer and the Brain./.../

DM appropriate treatment

From Medscape Education

How to Use Appropriate Glucose-Lowering Medication in Your Cardiology Practice

Itamar Raz, MD; Lars Rydén, MD, PhD

https://www.evernote.com/shard/s255/sh/4b8a32b4-5aad-4f0b-9c22-e9a117cbb76e/2a24f9a997262c8891beca7344a55428

Success

Wisdom from a MacArthur Genius: Psychologist Angela Duckworth on Why Grit, Not IQ, Predicts Success

by 
“Character is at least as important as intellect.”
Creative history brims with embodied examples of why the secret of genius is doggedness rather than “god”-given talent, from the case of young Mozart’s upbringing to E. B. White’s wisdom on writing to Chuck Close’s assertion about art toTchaikovsky’s conviction about composition toNeil Gaiman’s advice to aspiring writers. But it takes a brilliant scholar of the psychology of achievement to empirically prove these creative intuitions: Math-teacher-turned-psychologistAngela Duckworth, who began her graduate studies under positive psychology godfather Martin Seligman at my alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania, has done more than anyone for advancing our understanding of how self-control and grit — the relentless work ethic of sustaining your commitments toward a long-term goal — impact success. So how heartening to hear that Duckworth is the recipient of a 2013 MacArthur “genius” grant for her extraordinary endeavors, the implications of which span from education to employment to human happiness./.../

2621 - AMICOR 16

Navegar

Aloyzio AchuttiemAMICOR - Há um minuto
*Navegar, Fernando Pessoa* *Compartilho poesia lembrada pelo AMICOR Cláudio Osório* * **Navega, descobre tesouros,* *mas não os tires do fundo do mar, * *o lugar deles é lá. * * **Admira a Lua, * *sonha com ela,* *mas não queiras trazê-la para Terra. * * **Goza a luz do Sol, * *deixa-te acariciar por ele.* *O calor é para todos.* *...*

Earth’s habitable lifetime

Aloyzio AchuttiemAMICOR - Há 21 minutos
Earth’s habitable lifetime: at least 1.75 billion years, say astrobiologists Why we should move to Mars before that September 23, 2013 [image: 599px-The_Earth_seen_from_Apollo_17] Good for another 1.75 billion years, say astrobiologists (credit: NASA) If we can just hold out another 1.75 billion years, we’ll be fine — as long as we move to Mars by then, **according to astrobiologists at theUniversity of East Anglia. “We used the ‘habitable zone’ concept to make these estimates — this is the distance from a planet’s star at which temperatures are conducive to having liquid water on the s... mais »

brain activity in deep coma

Aloyzio AchuttiemAMICOR - Há 36 minutos
Researchers observe never-before-detected brain activity in deep comaSeptember 25, 2013 *[+]* Flat line and Nu-complex signals (credit: Daniel Kroeger et al./*PLoS ONE*) University of Montreal researchers have found brain activity that kicks in after a patient’s EEG shows an isoelectric (“flat line”) EEG, according to their paper in *PLoS ONE* (open access). The flatline EEG (brainwave) pattern is usually recorded during very deep coma and is considered to be one of the limit points in establishing brain death. In particular clinical conditions, it is accepted as the only criterion. *... mais »

Smartphone Fundus Photography

Aloyzio AchuttiemAMICOR - Há 36 minutos
Journal of Ophthalmology Volume 2013 (2013), Article ID 518479, 5 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/518479 Research Article Simple, Inexpensive Technique for High-Quality Smartphone Fundus Photography in Human and Animal Eyes Luis J. Haddock, David Y. Kim, and Shizuo Mukai Retina Service, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, and Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, 243 Charles Street, Boston, MA 02114, USA Received 8 June 2013; Accepted 18 August 2013 Academic Editor: Gennady Landa Copyright © 2013 Luis J. Haddock et al. This is an open access article distributed u... mais »

Google Knowledge Graph

Aloyzio AchuttiemAMICOR - Há 56 minutos
Fifteen years on—and we’re just getting started 9/26/13 | 10:56:00 AM Google Search is turning 15. Remember what it was like to search in 1998? You’d sit down and boot up your bulky computer, dial up on your squawky modem, type in some keywords, and get 10 blue links to websites that had those words. It seemed like magic (and it was way way faster than card catalogs and microfiche!). The world has changed so much since then: billions of people have come online, the web has grown exponentially, and now you can ask any question on the powerful little device in your pocket. You can expl... mais »

Jose Pepe Mujica

Aloyzio AchuttiemAMICOR - Há 5 horas
*Publicado em 24/09/2013* Discurso completo de* Jose Pepe Mujica el Presidente de La Republica Oriental Del Uruguay en la ONU ,2013* http://youtu.be/mw-9XvcoHXo version en Ingles

Museu das Águas: Porto Alegre

Aloyzio AchuttiemAMICOR - Há 9 horas

MOOCS

Aloyzio AchuttiemAMICOR - Há 9 horas
Educação para Milhares *Parabéns ao Reginaldo Hollanda Albuquerque!* sexta-feira, 27 de setembro de 2013 QUANDO OS MOOCS NÃO SÃO MOOCS *O MS adverte* : os conceitos emitidos aqui podem causar uma revolução na forma como você pensa que a educação deve ser produzida– ensino e aprendizado – especialmente nas universidades. *Reginaldo Albuquerque* *QUANDO OS MOOCS NÃO SÃO MOOCS* * * Continuamos hoje com um novo artigo sobre os MOOCS. O primeiro desta série foi publicado nos sites: www.canvas-moocs.blogspot.com.br,www.unasus.gov.br, e www.observasaude.org.br e na primeira semana alcançou... mais »

Euratlas

Aloyzio AchuttiemAMICOR - Há 9 horas
*Euratlas* [image: What Inbetween]

GOOGLE

Aloyzio AchuttiemAMICOR - Há um dia
[image: TIME cover]10 Things I Didn’t Know About Google Interesting stuff that didn't fit into our big cover story. By Harry McCracken @harrymccrackenSept. 21, 201332 Comments Read Later For this week’s TIME cover story on Google’s “moon shot” projects — including Calico, a new company that will research ways to extend human life — I spent a big chunk of time hanging out at the company’s Googleplex headquarters talking to Googlers, including co-founder and CEO Larry Page. I’d visited Google often in the past, but never saw so much or spoke to so many people in different parts of ... mais »

Metformin x Cognition

Aloyzio AchuttiemAMICOR - Há 3 dias
Diabetes Drug Metformin May Impair Cognition Miriam E. Tucker Sep 24, 2013 EDITORS' RECOMMENDATIONS - Metformin Cuts Dementia Risk in Type 2 Diabetes - Effect of Metformin on B12 Status and Peripheral Neuropathy - Long-Term Metformin Treatment Linked to Vitamin B12 Deficiency Metformin use in some patients with type 2 diabetes is associated with cognitive impairment that might be alleviated with vitamin B12 and calcium supplementation, a new study from Australia suggests. This isn't the first time metformin has been linked to cognitive problems stemming from vitamin B12 defi... mais »

INTERNET 2050?

Aloyzio AchuttiemAMICOR - Há 3 dias
------------------------------ 8 inShare *What Will the Internet Be in 2050?* by Cadell Last | September 23, 2013 | ------------------------------ **A global computer-based communication network has fundamentally changed our social, cultural, and political landscape over the past 20 years. As an evolutionary anthropologist, I have to point out that there has been no previous communication revolution of this speed or intensity. Consequently, this communication tool gives us the power to completely restructure our entire existence, both on an individual and collective ... mais »

Tannosomes

Aloyzio AchuttiemAMICOR - Há 3 dias
Tannosomes and the trickle-around effect: a new cell organelle is discovered By Kathleen Raven | September 20, 2013 | [image: Comments]2 ------------------------------ Last week, when French researchers unveiled a newly discovered plant organelle related to wine and tea, I waited for frenetic coverage. And waited. Only a few obscure wine websites covered the news. When I contacted the study co-author, Jean-Marc Brillouet of the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA), he immediately put me in touch with another team member who could speak with me on short notice (... mais »

Medical Mistakes

Aloyzio AchuttiemAMICOR - Há 3 dias
How Many Die from Medical Mistakes in U.S. Hospitals? An updated estimate says it could be at least 210,000 patients a year, more than twice the number in a frequently quoted Institute of Medicine report By Marshall Allen and ProPublica By combining the findings and extrapolating across 34 million hospitalizations in 2007, James concluded that preventable errors contribute to the deaths of 210,000 hospital patients annually. That is the baseline. The actual number more than doubles, James reasoned, because the trigger tool doesn't catch errors in which treatment should have been provi... mais »

RNA

Aloyzio AchuttiemAMICOR - Há 3 dias
[image: Print Friendly] RNA da metástase Estudo mostra papel de um tipo especial de ácido ribonucleico no processo de disseminação do câncer MARCOS PIVETTA | Edição 211 - Setembro de 2013 © CHRISTINA SCHEEL / WHITEHEAD INSTITUTE [image: Células epiteliais (em vermelho) e mesenquimais (verde): as primeiras não são capazes de migrar como as segundas] Células epiteliais (em vermelho) e mesenquimais (verde): as primeiras não são capazes de migrar como as segundas Aquelas sequências do genoma humano que não carregam instruções para a fabricação de proteínas e, uma década atrás, eram denomi...mais »

How 142 Nations Capitalize on Science

Aloyzio AchuttiemAMICOR - Há 4 dias
How 142 Nations Capitalize on Science How well do mature and emerging nations capitalize on science? By The Editors | October 7, 2013 Since 2007 economists from Cornell University, INSEAD and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) have issued the annual Global Innovation Index (GII), a report that sizes up the innovative capacities and results of the world's economies. This year's report includes data on 142 economies, which represents 94.9 percent of the world's population and 98.7 percent of global GDP. How does one measure something as abstract as “innovation”? The GI... mais »

Multidimensional poverty

Aloyzio AchuttiemAMICOR - Há 4 dias
*Multidimensional poverty measurement in the post-2015 development context - * *live webcast of side-event at the UN General Assembly** 1.15-2.30 pm EST (**GMT-4**), 24 September 2013, United Nations, New York* Live and on-demand webcast coverage will be available on *UN Web TV**:* *http://webtv.un.org* The Multidimensional Poverty Peer Network will hold a special side-event today to coincide with the High Level Meetings of the 68th Session of the UN General Assembly. The event will address*the future of multidimensional poverty measurement* in the context of the post-2015 development ag... mais »

Desigualdades

Aloyzio AchuttiemAMICOR - Há 5 dias
*Dois artigos da Folha de SP recomendados pela AMICOR Maria Inês Reinert Azambuja* 21/09/2013 - 03h00 Inteligência e indigência(Drauzio Varela. FSP)Mil vezes ser filho de intelectuais ricos do que ter pais pobres e ignorantes. Nutrição inadequada, infecções de repetição e indigência cultural comprometem o desenvolvimento do cérebro da criança.Vamos à pobreza. O cérebro é o órgão que mais consome energia. No recém-nascido, 87% das calorias ingeridas são consumidas por ele. Esse número cai para 44% aos cinco anos; 34% aos dez; 23% nos homens e 27% nas mulheres adultas./.../ ******** 23/... mais »

Navegar

Navegar, Fernando Pessoa
Compartilho poesia lembrada pelo AMICOR Cláudio Osório

Navega, descobre tesouros,
mas não os tires do fundo do mar, 
o lugar deles é lá. 

Admira a Lua, 
sonha com ela,
mas não queiras trazê-la para Terra. 

Goza a luz do Sol, 
deixa-te acariciar por ele.
O calor é para todos.
...

Earth’s habitable lifetime

Earth’s habitable lifetime: at least 1.75 billion years, say astrobiologists

Why we should move to Mars before that
September 23, 2013
599px-The_Earth_seen_from_Apollo_17
Good for another 1.75 billion years, say astrobiologists (credit: NASA)
If we can just hold out another 1.75 billion years, we’ll be fine — as long as we move to Mars by then, according to astrobiologists at theUniversity of East Anglia.
“We used the ‘habitable zone’ concept to make these estimates — this is the distance from a planet’s star at which temperatures are conducive to having liquid water on the surface,” said Andrew Rushby from UEA’s school of Environmental Sciences, who led the research.
“We used stellar evolution models to estimate the end of a planet’s habitable lifetime by determining when it will no longer be in the habitable zone./.../

brain activity in deep coma

Researchers observe never-before-detected brain activity in deep coma

September 25, 2013
[+]
Flat line and Nu-complex signals (credit: Daniel Kroeger et al./PLoS ONE)
University of Montreal researchers have found brain activity that kicks in after a patient’s EEG shows an isoelectric (“flat line”) EEG, according to their paper in PLoS ONE (open access).
The flatline EEG (brainwave) pattern is usually recorded during very deep coma and is considered to be one of the limit points in establishing brain death. In particular clinical conditions, it is accepted as the only criterion.
Beyond flatline
But is it? The new research challenged this conventional wisdom after Dr. Bogdan Florea from Romania observed a human patient in an extreme deep hypoxic (deprived of oxygen) coma under powerful anti-epileptic medication (required to control his seizures) and observed some unusual EEG (brain-wave) signals instead of just a flatline, and then contacted the University of Montreal team.
After looking at the EEG and other data, the team “realized that there was cerebral activity, unknown until now, in the patient’s brain,” said Dr. Florin Amzica, director of the study and professor at the University of Montreal’s School of Dentistry.
Amzica’s team then decided to recreate the patient’s state in cats, the standard animal model for neurological studies. Using a higher amount isoflurane anesthetic than normal, they placed the cats in an extremely deep coma (beyond what is. The cat EEG showed the expected flat (isoelectric) EEG line./.../

Smartphone Fundus Photography

Journal of Ophthalmology
Volume 2013 (2013), Article ID 518479, 5 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/518479
Research Article

Simple, Inexpensive Technique for High-Quality Smartphone Fundus Photography in Human and Animal Eyes

Retina Service, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, and Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, 243 Charles Street, Boston, MA 02114, USA
Received 8 June 2013; Accepted 18 August 2013
Academic Editor: Gennady Landa
Copyright © 2013 Luis J. Haddock et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Purpose. We describe in detail a relatively simple technique of fundus photography in human and rabbit eyes using a smartphone, an inexpensive app for the smartphone, and instruments that are readily available in an ophthalmic practice. Methods. Fundus images were captured with a smartphone and a 20D lens with or without a Koeppe lens. By using the coaxial light source of the phone, this system works as an indirect ophthalmoscope that creates a digital image of the fundus. The application whose software allows for independent control of focus, exposure, and light intensity during video filming was used. With this app, we recorded high-definition videos of the fundus and subsequently extracted high-quality, still images from the video clip. Results. The described technique of smartphone fundus photography was able to capture excellent high-quality fundus images in both children under anesthesia and in awake adults. Excellent images were acquired with the 20D lens alone in the clinic, and the addition of the Koeppe lens in the operating room resulted in the best quality images. Successful photodocumentation of rabbit fundus was achieved in control and experimental eyes. Conclusion. The currently described system was able to take consistently high-quality fundus photographs in patients and in animals using readily available instruments that are portable with simple power sources. It is relatively simple to master, is relatively inexpensive, and can take advantage of the expanding mobile-telephone networks for telemedicine.

Google Knowledge Graph

Fifteen years on—and we’re just getting started

9/26/13 | 10:56:00 AM
Google Search is turning 15. Remember what it was like to search in 1998? You’d sit down and boot up your bulky computer, dial up on your squawky modem, type in some keywords, and get 10 blue links to websites that had those words. It seemed like magic (and it was way way faster than card catalogs and microfiche!).

The world has changed so much since then: billions of people have come online, the web has grown exponentially, and now you can ask any question on the powerful little device in your pocket. You can explore the world with the Knowledge Graph, ask questions aloud with voice search, andget info before you even need to ask with Google Now.

But 15 years on, we’re just getting started. We want to help you make more of each day. Here are a few of the latest features you can try out:/.../

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Jose Pepe Mujica

Museu das Águas: Porto Alegre

MOOCS


sexta-feira, 27 de setembro de 2013


QUANDO OS MOOCS NÃO SÃO MOOCS

O MS adverte : os conceitos emitidos aqui podem causar uma revolução na forma como você pensa que a educação deve ser produzida– ensino e aprendizado – especialmente nas universidades.
Reginaldo Albuquerque


QUANDO OS MOOCS NÃO SÃO MOOCS

Continuamos hoje com um novo artigo sobre os MOOCS. O primeiro desta série foi publicado nos sites: www.canvas-moocs.blogspot.com.br,www.unasus.gov.br, e www.observasaude.org.br e na primeira semana alcançou 300 visitas. Uma boa repercussão, novas dúvidas e algumas críticas. Uma delas me deixou particularmente feliz ao referir o artigo como uma colcha de retalhos. Nada mais significativo. MOOCS é também um espaço, às  vezes uma loja, onde as pessoas trocam ou vendem os seus pertences indesejados. O nome é perfeito para esta concepção de curso, um espaço de troca de conhecimentos, de conteúdos, de vivências, etc. Não se trata de um conteúdo estático que não se renova e não se integra com o grupo que dele participa. É uma inovação disruptiva como são aquelas que ajudam a criar novos valores causando uma desorganização nos valores presentes.

A desconstrução leva  ao ambiente do futuro. Usualmente,  ao propor mudanças nos  paradigmas existentes,  causam revoluções tecnológicas e cognitivas. Como exemplo, temos a introdução do computador pessoal que evoluiu de uma brincadeira para crianças e em 20 anos eliminou os grandes computadores.  Incomoda, assim, a muita gente que precisa desaprender os seus paradigmas de trabalho. E isto é difícil. Muito difícil. 

MOOC é um conceito desenvolvido no movimento OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES. Usa tecnologias da web 3.0 e assim permite a adição de páginas ativas no material textual.  Um vídeo pode ser parado para introdução de explicações e perguntas, uso exaustivo de hipertextos, avaliações dinâmicas com registro dos percursos dentro do website, revisão por pares, uso de hangouts, skypes, rede sociais, etc.