Category Archives: BioEngineering

Posted Thursday, January 23, 2020 - 6:19 pm

By Sandra Sims

The Beverly Hills High School (BHHS) Robotics Team hosted a Women in STEM event for Beverly Vista Middle School (BVMS) students on Jan. 17. Senior Eva Danesh,President of the Business-Robotics Team called MorTorq, said that the motivation behind the event was to outreach and inspire younger students especially femaleswho may not otherwise consider careers in the male-dominated STEM field. MorTorqs mission is to empower and inspire younger generations to explore careers and pathways in the fields of science, engineering, technology, and entrepreneurship, Danesh told the Courier.

The panel discussion took place at Beverly Vista Middle School in the auditorium right after lunch period. Students attended as part of 7th grade science classes.I am happy that our middle school students are having a chance to see what futures in STEM can look like, saidBVMS teacher Alana Castanon.

Danesh added that MorTorq wanted to convene a panel that represented diverse professions in the STEM field. STEM is not only aerospace engineering it is programming, medicine, and more. She added, We finalized with four successful women who truly exemplified the meaning of our series: Dr. Liz Warren, an Operations Lead for the International Space Station Medical Project; Alexis Crane, former NASA researcher and current BVMS STEM teacher; Ariella Simoni, a former lead programmer of our team and current USC bioengineering major; and Dr. Taraneh Noorvash, a local orthodontist. They each spoke about how they achieved their phenomenal success, the obstacles they overcame, and the drive they were able to discover within themselves. Their words truly resonated with our audience and their presence demonstrated the power and opportunity girls have in STEM.

For full story see the print edition of The Beverly Hills Courier, or downloadthe e-edition.

https://bhcourier.com/?p=233711

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Beverly Hills High School Robotics Team Hosts Women in STEM - The Beverly Hills Courier

A small injury to a nerve outside the brain and spinal cord is relatively easy to repair just by stretching it, but a major gap in such a peripheral nerve poses problems. Usually, another nerve is taken from elsewhere in the body, and it causes an extra injury and returns only limited movement.

Now researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have found an effective way to bridge such a gapat least in mice and monkeysby inserting a biodegradable tube that releases a protein called a growth factor for several months. In a study published Wednesday in Science Translational Medicine, the team showed that the tube works as a guide for the nerve to grow along the proper path, and the naturally occurring protein induces the nerve to grow faster.

Kacey Marra, a professor at the universitys departments of plastic surgery and bioengineering, says shes been working for a dozen years on the device, which she particularly hopes will help soldiers injured in combat. More than half of injured soldiers suffer nerve injuries, she says. And as the daughter and granddaughter of military men, she considers it her mission to help their successors. Combat gear does a good job of protecting a soldiers chest and head, but arms and legs are often exposed, which is why peripheral nerve injuries are so common, Marra says. Car crashes and accidents involving machinery such as snowblowers can also damage nerves involved in hand, arm, leg and foot control.

In the U.S., there are about 600,000 nerve injuries every year, she says, though she is unsure how many are severe enough to require the relocation of a second nerve because that information is not tracked yet. When the injuries are severe, the only current treatment is to take a nerve from somewhere else on the body, Marra says. But patients recover just about 50 to 60 percent of function in the damaged nerve.

Longer nerve grafts are always more challenging, says Christine Schmidt, a professor and chair of the department of biomedical engineering at the University of Florida, who was not involved with the research. It would be great to be able to tackle long-term nerve damage. She notes that the nerve the Pittsburgh team tested is relatively small in macaques. It will still be a challenge to scale up to larger nerves, she says. It would be nice to see a little bit larger nerve, which would be more relevant to patients.

The new device restored nearly 80 percent of function, the study showed. It uses glial-cell-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), a protein that promotes nerve cell survival. Marra chose GDNF, she says, because if you get a nerve injury like a paper cut, the cells in your nerves are going to express this protein at high levels. And that recruits other cells to come in and repair the nerve. The tube is made of the same polymer as dissolvable stitches, which has already been federally approved for surgical use.

Other researchers are exploring the use of stem cells or other cells to help bridge the gap in the nerve, but Marra and her colleagues approach is likely to have an easier time receiving federal approval because it does not involve cells. If they were to go adding stem cells or too many complexities, it would be harder to win a regulatory green light, Schmidt says. It is better to make advances with small steps, as the Pittsburgh researchers have, she says. Theyre doing it in a very realistic way that can lead to a clinical outcome, and thats really what you want, Schmidt adds.

Nerves can regenerate at a rate of about one millimeter per day, and there are three months worth of GDNF in the tube, allowing for closing injuries of about 12 centimetersor 4.7 inches.

In the eight-year-long study, the researchers trained rhesus macaques to eat with their forefinger and thumbwhich they could only do if a repaired nerve was working properly. They used this finger maneuver rather than grabbing food with their fist, as they usually do when they eat. If they pinched the banana pellet, they got a second treat, Marra says. We were able to see the recovery, she adds. At that point, we knew we were ready to test in humans.

Marra says she and her colleagues have several pending proposals for the first clinical trials in humans, which are likely to start in 2021 and take at least three years. A start-up she launched, AxoMax Technologies, licensed the technology from the University of Pittsburgh to begin the experiments. Marra believes her device can be competitively priced, compared with moving a nerve from elsewhere in the bodyand, potentially, even compared with existing repair approaches for small nerve gaps.

Her team is also beginning to study whether its method will work for facial nerves, but she thinks it is unlikely to be effective for spinal cord injuries, which are far more complex and involve more nerves. The researchers are looking at regenerating the muscles affected by injured nerves as well. I think [this approach] really could revolutionize thinking about nerve repair and the different options a patient will have, Marra says.

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New Nerve-Growing Method Could Help Injured Soldiers and Others - Scientific American

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SHANGHAI, Jan 23 (Reuters) - China stocks fell about 3% on Thursday, their biggest single-day loss in nearly nine months, as investors unloaded shares related to restaurants, cinemas, airlines and theme parks after a lockdown in the central city of Wuhan to curb a SARS-like virus.

Authorities in Wuhan, the epicentre of the new coronavirus outbreak that has killed 17 and infected nearly 600 people, shut urban transport networks and suspended outgoing flights.

The drastic measures spooked investors who scrambled for safe haven in bonds.

Chinas blue-chip index CSI300 tanked 3.1% to 4,003.90 points, posting its biggest one-day loss in nearly nine months. Shanghai stocks lost 2.8% to 2,976.53 points.

The CSI300 index marked its worst week since May 2019, while the Shanghai benchmark fell the most on-week since August last year. China financial markets will be suspended on Friday for the week-long Lunar New Year holiday.

Selling intensified in afternoon trading as news trickled in about fresh cases of infection across China, and cancellation of entertainment events.

The market was dominated by fears of the Wuhan coronavirus, which stirs dark memories of the 2002-2003 SARS outbreak, said Larry Hu, an economist at Macquarie Capital Ltd.

We cant answer how severe it will be and when it will end, Hu wrote, adding The worst is yet to come.

However, fundamentals will eventually rule for the year, as the virus impact on Chinas economy is manageable and short-lived, Hu argued.

It was not clear yet whether the virus would follow the six-month life cycle of SARS, said Chi Lo, Greater China economist at BNP Paribas Asset Management.

The outbreak posed bigger downside risks in Chinas sequential economic growth as consumption and the service sector is a bigger part of the economy.

The sell-off was across the board, but most concentrated in transport and leisure sectors as people avoid interactions and outdoor activities.

The healthcare sector was the only bright spot, as demand for vaccines and health check-ups surged following the virus outbreak, although no drugs can directly treat the flu-like symptoms of the new coronavirus.

Airline shares continued to weaken, with Air China , China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines dropping more than 3% each.

Wanda Film slumped nearly 7%, while China Film and Beijing Enlight Media Co fell nearly 5%.

Bucking the trend, biotech firms and drugmakers surged with Shandong Lukang Pharmaceutical Co, Jiangsu Sihuan Bioengineering Co and Jiangsu Lianhua Pharmaceutical Co all advancing by their daily limit of 10%. (Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

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RPT-China stocks slump 3% on Wuhan lockdown over virus outbreak - Reuters

Competitive earners

The average median starting salary for recent college graduates from ranked National Universities is $52,201, according to data submitted to U.S. News by 379 schools. Some of these alumni, however, are making far more than that. Using data from PayScale, here are the 10 National Universities where graduates with three years of postgraduation work experience and whose highest degree is a bachelor's have the highest median starting salaries.

Georgia Institute of Technology

U.S. News rank: 29 (tie)

Median starting salary: $70,100

2019-2020 tuition and fees: $12,682 (in-state), $33,794 (out-of-state)

Some of the most popular majors at the Georgia Institute of Technology are engineering; computer and information sciences and support services; business, management, marketing and related support services; biological and biomedical sciences; and physical sciences. The school offers other kinds of engineering majors, such as environmental engineering, and hosts major-specific career fairs, like the Schools of Architecture, City and Regional Planning, and Public Policy career fair.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (NY)

U.S. News rank: 50 (tie)

Median starting salary: $70,100

2019-2020 tuition and fees: $55,378

Engineering; computer and information sciences and support services; and business, management, marketing and related support services are a few of the most popular majors at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York. The school offers ample opportunities for research at its 32 research centers, which can be in fields like renewable energy, cybersecurity or biotechnology, according to its website.

Princeton University (NJ)

U.S. News rank: 1

Median starting salary: $70,200

2019-2020 tuition and fees: $51,870

Popular majors of study at Princeton University are wide-ranging, including fields like social sciences; engineering; computer and information sciences and support services; biological and biomedical sciences; and public administration and social service professions. The New Jersey university's report for 2016-2017 says that about 22% of recent graduates work in the nonprofit and government sector.

Stevens Institute of Technology (NJ)

U.S. News rank: 74 (tie)

Median starting salary: $70,400

2019-2020 tuition and fees: $54,014

With a strong emphasis on engineering, the Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey says on its website that students have opportunities to innovate in fields like artificial intelligence, nanotech and medicine. The most popular majors at the institution are mechanical engineering; computer science; business administration and management; bioengineering and biomedical engineering; and chemical engineering.

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (MA)

U.S. News rank: 64 (tie)

Median starting salary: $71,000

2019-2020 tuition and fees: $52,322

The most popular majors at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts are mostly engineering fields: mechanical engineering; computer science; chemical engineering; bioengineering and biomedical engineering; and electrical and electronics engineering. The institution's resources include career fairs and career outlook information available online on fields like physics, psychology, professional writing and industrial engineering.

Colorado School of Mines

U.S. News rank: 84 (tie)

Median starting salary: $71,200

2019-2020 tuition and fees: $19,062 (in-state), $39,762 (out-of-state)

The Colorado School of Mines offers students industry panel presentations on careers in energy; aerospace and aviation; and biomedical and biotechnical engineering, among others, each semester. The most popular majors at the college are engineering; computer and information sciences and support services; mathematics and statistics; physical sciences; and social sciences.

Stanford University (CA)

U.S. News rank: 6 (tie)

Median starting salary: $73,800

2019-2020 tuition and fees: $53,529

The most popular majors at Stanford University in California are computer and information sciences and support services; engineering; multi/interdisciplinary studies; social sciences; and physical sciences. According to its website, the university provides a program to humanities students aimed at connecting liberal arts courses with career paths in fields like marketing and advertising; government; media and journalism; social impact; and business.

Story continues

Carnegie Mellon University (PA)

U.S. News rank: 25 (tie)

Median starting salary: $74,200

2019-2020 tuition and fees: $57,119

Popular majors at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh include engineering; computer and information sciences and support services; and mathematics and statistics. According to the school's website, the university offers specialty area advising in career fields like data science and energy as well as more broad areas of interest like startup companies and diversity and inclusion.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

U.S. News rank: 3 (tie)

Median starting salary: $82,300

2019-2020 tuition and fees: $53,790

Events like analytics career night, a European career fair and polymer day allow students to explore the various industries they might enter after graduating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The most popular fields of study at the school are engineering; computer and information sciences and support services; mathematics and statistics; physical sciences; and biological and biomedical sciences.

California Institute of Technology

U.S. News rank: 12 (tie)

Median starting salary: $83,200

2019-2020 tuition and fees: $54,600

Engineering; physical sciences; computer and information sciences and support services; biological and biomedical sciences; and mathematics and statistics are the most popular majors at the California Institute of Technology. Students who study in Caltech's computing and mathematical sciences department can conduct research in areas like applied probability and stochastic analysis, and molecular programming and synthetic biology.

Learn more about National Universities.

Find out which top National Universities have rolling admissions, and use the 2020 Best Colleges rankings to help inform your search for the right school. For more advice and information on how to select a college, connect with U.S. News Education on Twitter and Facebook.

Schools where graduates make highest starting salaries

-- California Institute of Technology: $83,200

-- Massachusetts Institute of Technology: $82,300

-- Carnegie Mellon University: $74,200

-- Stanford University: $73,800

-- Colorado School of Mines: $71,200

-- Worcester Polytechnic Institute: $71,000

-- Stevens Institute of Technology: $70,400

-- Princeton University: $70,200

-- Georgia Institute of Technology: $70,100

-- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: $70,100

More From US News & World Report

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10 National Universities Where Grads Are Paid Well - Yahoo Finance

The University of Queensland (UQ) has been asked to develop a vaccine for the coronavirus that could be available worldwide in as little as six months.

The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) has requested the university use its recently developed rapid response technology to develop a new vaccine.

The Head of UQs School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, Professor Paul Young, said UQ has novel technology for the rapid generation of new vaccines from the knowledge of a viruss genetic sequence information.

The team hopes to develop a vaccine over the next six months, which may be used to help contain this outbreak, he said.

The vaccine would be distributed to first responders, helping to contain the virus from spreading around the world.

Dr Keith Chappell, from UQs School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences and the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, said the key to the speedy development of this potential vaccine is molecular clamp technology, invented by UQ scientists and patented by UniQuest.

The University of Queenslands molecular clamp technology provides stability to the viral protein that is the primary target for our immune defence, he said.

The technology has been designed as a platform approach to generate vaccines against a range of human and animal viruses and has shown promising results in the laboratory targeting viruses such as influenza, Ebola, Nipah and MERS coronavirus.

UQ Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Peter Hj AC said the fluidity of the current outbreak represents a significant challenge to the international community.

There is a lot that is still unknown regarding how easily the virus is able to be transmitted between humans, he said.

Working with CEPI, The University of Queensland is using its vaccine technology to respond to this global health challenge.

Image caption: (LR) Professor Paul Young, Dr Keith Chappell and Dr Dan Watterson. Image courtesy of The University of Queensland.

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University of Queensland asked to rapidly develop coronavirus vaccine - Australian Hospital + Healthcare Bulletin

Scientists affiliated with UK-based universities have disputed a widely-circulated study pointing to snakes as the source of Chinas deadly new coronavirus, saying that bats are more likely to be the real culprit.

A study published Wednesday in the peer-reviewed Journal of Medical Virology had compared the novel virus genes to that of other pathogens from various geographic locations and host species. It concluded that while the virus, dubbed 2019-nCoV by the World Health Organization, was a combination of coronaviruses found in bats and other unknown origins, it resided in snakes prior to making the jump to humans.

Results derived from our evolutionary analysis suggest for the first time that snake is the most probable wildlife animal reservoir for the 2019-nCoV, wrote the studys authors, hailing from Peking University, Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Ningbo University and the Wuhan University of Bioengineering.

However, scientists at the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research (CVR) and the Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University disputed the findings.

Citing recombination analysis, which create visual depictions of similarities between various genetic sequences, the researchers argued in a Thursday post on a medical discussion forum that 2019-nCoV is most closely related to several viruses originating from bats.

There is no evidence of snakes being involved, although, given the propensity of coronaviruses to switch hosts, involvement of another species cannot be discounted, wrote David L Robertson, head of CVR bioinformatics. There is also a very good chance that a non-bat intermediate species is responsible for the beginning of the current outbreak in Wuhan.

Coronaviruses are a category of pathogens that caused the deadly severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) that emerged in 2002 and also include far less lethal viruses such as some forms of the common cold.

The study identifying snakes as the possible source also noted that those who were first infected with the 2019-nCoV virus were exposed to wildlife animals at a now-shuttered wholesale market in Wuhan, Central Chinas Hubei province, where seafood, poultry, snake, bats, and farm animals were sold.

On Wednesday, Chinese biology and conservation experts called on (link in Chinese) law enforcement agencies in charge of wildlife protection to step up their duties in preventing the trade and consumption of wild game.

As of Thursday, Chinese officials said (link in Chinese) 617 people had fallen sick from the virus while 17 had died. Wuhan has imposed a massive quarantine of the entire city of 11 million, suspending all bus, subway, ferry and long-distance transport systems as of 10 a.m., and have asked residents to remain in the city.

Since its discovery in December, the disease, akin to pneumonia, has spread to regions including Thailand, Japan, South Korea, the U.S., and Singapore. Doctors at several major local hospitals in Wuhan told Caixin that it is estimated that the number of people infected with the epidemic may exceed 6,000.

Follow Caixin Globals latest updates on the Wuhan coronavirus here.

Contact reporter Dave Yin (davidyin@caixin.com)

Related: Wuhan Suspends Public Transit System Amid Virus Fears

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Scientists Dispute Whether Snakes Are Source of Wuhan Coronavirus In Humans - Caixin Global