Mental Health

Four-dimensional Brain Imaging

Researchers from the Department of Neurology/Alzheimer's Disease Research Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital describe the development of a tool that enables direct, quantitative detection of the amyloid- deposits found in Alzheimer's Disease with the goal of providing a  viable biomarker. This article demonstrates the real-time biodistribution kinetics of an imaging agent in transgenic mouse models of AD

The results and supporting videos are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Radio Chips in Health Care

RFID or radio frequency identification tags consist of silicon chips and an antenna that can transmit data to a wireless receiver. It is predicted that in the near future, virtually everything from soda cans to cereal boxes.will contain a traceable tag. Recently John's Hopkins Medical Center signed up to become one of the first hospitals to use radio-frequency ID tags to track drugs. These will be used to track intravenous fluid bags, which will contain the RFID tags on each IV bag label.

According to an article in Forbes, in addition to Hopkins, the Red Cross and pharmaceutical companies are looking into this technology.

Wired article about RFID tags

RSS vs E-mail

Things are changing in e-mail. Spam has taken its toll and individuals and businesses are seriously re-thinking their options. Spam filters work, only they work too well and often filter things that you don't want filtered. Many institutions/businesses who have traditionally used e-mail to send newsletters and information are now turning to RSS (really simple syndication or rich site summary) feeds. According to Internet News.com "As legitimate online publishers struggle to get e-mail newsletters into clogged inboxes, RSS is fast emerging as the answer to the spam nightmare."

For an explanation and  brief history of RSS, O'Reilly's XML.com is the best source.