Novel Diagnostics for Lung Diseases.

Dr. Jan De Backer gave an illuminating presentation about diagnosing lung diseases with Functional Respiratory Imaging, or FRI at the Mimics Innovation Conference. It’s is a proprietary technology that combines high-resolution CT scans with computer-based flow simulations. He explained that currently, doctors assess lung function by asking patients to forcefully exhale into a tube. The amount of air that can be exhaled is the main parameter that is used to determine how healthy or ill a patient is if they suffer from lung diseases such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (smoker’s lungs), cystic fibrosis etc. With this conventional test however, it is very difficult to know exactly where the exhaled air comes from inside the lungs, where the disease is present in the lungs and, if the patient uses an inhaler, whether the drugs reach the right areas. FRI provides a detailed look inside the lungs and can very accurately determine which areas in the lungs are more affected by the disease and whether the inhaled drug particles reach the right areas. These enhanced capabilities result in smaller, shorter and hence cheaper clinical trials so better drugs can come to market faster. In addition, FRI allows the doctor to select the optimal treatment for individual patients in clinical practice, thereby avoiding the costly trial-and-error approach. FRI is increasingly used in clinical trials and practices worldwide and facilitates the transition to personalized medicine. Thanks

Medical 3D Printing; Corrective Osteotomy Restores an Oslo Teen’s Mobility.

Medical 3Dprinting has been used for Corrective Osteotomy to restores an Oslo Teen’s Mobility.Dr. Ola Wiig, an experienced pediatric orthopaedic surgeon, was confronted with a very challenging deformity in a young teenager. Dr Wiig’s patient was suffering from severely reduced mobility as a result of an epiphysiolysis in her proximal femur, which caused her leg to be severely rotated outwards. This wasn’t just causing the patient pain, it was stopping her from being a normal teenager. Dr. Wiig’s colleague, Dr. John Slåstad, orthopaedic surgeon at Oslo University Hospital Rikshospitalet has successfully treated several patients with severe bone loss using 3D-printed aMace custom implants from Materialise. Knowing this, Dr. Wiig contacted Materialise to investigate whether it was possible to use this technology to better understand and to secure full correction of this severe deformity in 3D. Together with the surgeon, our clinical engineer worked to come up with a feasible treatment plan to create better leg function for the patient. The plan included a corrective osteotomy in the left femur. To execute it, a 3D-printed anatomical model and outcome model were provided, together with patient-specific guides to make sure the cut was made at exactly the right location and angle.more

AGRIBUSINESS: Creating wealth with feathers .

The waste to wealth initiative is expanding by the day,with various by-products finding usefulness in numerous sectors of the economy. Feathers have found usefulness in fashion,art, creative industry as well as feed production for animals.read 

   Today the feathers have found another use in construction of buildings. Feathers may already be used in feed in some parts of the world, and work has also been carried out in turning them into fuel and more surprisingly, computer chips, but for an industry that is already held up as being the most sustainable meat producer, finding a good new use for a waste material simply raises the sector’s environmental credential further. 

see Feathers though waste from poultry has found creative uses in fashion,feed,construction and plastic industry. Feathers are gaining ground in the hair and beauty industry,because of the keratin content.

The extraction of keratin protein from chicken feathers poses an environmentally friendly and cost-effective way to utilize this poultry industry waste and convert it to cash. 

 The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in South Africa, along with the University of KwaZulu-Natal, is researching cost-effective ways to extract keratin protein from chicken feathers for the manufacture of high-value products. International studies and patents on extraction of keratin and other products from feathers are available. The aim of the CSIR study is to develop new extraction procedures – by using a combination of unique solvents and microwave extraction techniques – to significantly reduce extraction costs. 

 Keratin is in high demand in a variety of high-value industries, resulting in it selling for more than 2,400 South African rand per kilogram (about 140 GBP per kilogram). By extracting keratin from feathers you might, in effect, be able to make this by-product just as valuable as poultry meat. 

 The extraction of keratin protein might create a whole new market opportunity for feathers. Chicken feathers contain about 91 per cent keratin, 1 per cent lipids and 8 per cent water. Keratin is in high demand in a variety of high-value industries, resulting in it selling for more than 2,400 South African rand per kilogram (about 140 GBP per kilogram). By extracting keratin from feathers you might, be able to make this by-product just as valuable as poultry meat. 

 The chicken feathers are pre-treated to remove debris and decontaminated to remove any bacteria and viruses, before the keratin is extracted. Once extracted the keratin proteins are characterised according to their physical and chemical properties. The extracted keratin protein could be incorporated into all kinds of hair products, due to its moisturizing properties. 

 The harvested proteins are useful in the form of keratin bio-fibres or keratin protein based products. Electrospinning could, be used to regenerate keratin bio-fibers that will be used to replace synthetic petroleum-based fibers in the textile industry. Feathers from waste to food ,to fashion accessories to building material ,to textile fiber,to hair care product,to arts and crafts,to interior design....the possibilities are endless.

New developments in layer hen feeding.

A new method has been proposed that adapts the normal behavior of the hen to the requirements of modern farming. A single diet offered during the early hours of the light period with some source of calcium top-dresses during the afternoon is the standard feeding program for layers worldwide. A new method has been proposed that adapts the normal behavior of the hen to the requirements of modern farming. This method, called split feeding, is based on the principle that two feeds can be offered, one in the morning and another in the afternoon, at different quantities and with different nutrient composition. The morning feed focuses on the protein and energy requirements of the hen, whereas the afternoon feed focuses on the calcium requirement that coincides with eggshell formation. In preliminary studies, hens in split-feeding regimens consumed slightly less nutrients and eggshell quality remained strong or improved. Thus, not only was normal feeding behavior allowed, but profitability increased if we discount the extra cost of logistics for the second feed. This reduction in nutrient intake can have further positive consequences in terms of reduced nitrogen and phosphorus excretion and less stress on the hen coming from the excessive consumption of calcium needed to sustain eggshell quality, especially during the late laying period. This feeding programme results in a more profitable egg production through reduced cost of production, improved eggshell quality, increased number of marketable eggs and improved performance under sustainability criteria. Laying hens lay the majority of their eggs during the morning (Etches, 1986; Larbier and Leclercq, 1992). The interval between two successive ovipositions is about 24 hours or slightly greater (Keshavarz, 1998). After oviposition, the subsequent ovulation occurs about 30 minutes later. During the first four hours, the egg white is formed. Thereafter, the egg moves through the shell gland and the shell is deposited around the albumen during approximately the next 20 hours (Larbier and Leclercq, 1992). This shell formation mainly takes place during the evening and night. The requirements of laying hens for amino acids, energy, calcium and phosphorus do not remain constant but vary during the day. This depends on the hen's physiological needs for formation of the various components of the egg. Current methods of feeding laying hens with one diet with constant levels of nutrients may not result in optimal utilization of the nutrients (Chah, 1972; Leeson and Summers, 1997).When birds are offered diets that allow self-selection of nutrients, there is an increased intake of protein and energy observed in the morning around time when the egg is produced. The intake of calcium is higher during the later part of the day. In a study by Chah (1972) in which hens were offered diets that allow self-selection of nutrients, the total daily intake of protein was 11 per cent lower, while intakes of energy and calcium were eight per cent and 26 per cent, respectively, lower than hens fed a single, normal diet. This suggests that the hen is using the energy, amino acids, calcium and phosphorus more efficiently by consuming these nutrients at moments of the day when the requirements are high. Therefore, the current practice of providing hens with only one diet might not be an ideal approach for optimal utilization of nutrients. Nutreco R&D developed a new feeding programme which shows that Split Feeding offers the following benefits:1)More profitable egg production by reduction of production cost. 2)Improved eggshell quality and increased number of marketed eggs. 3)improved nutrient efficiency and sustainability. see

Litter composting can improve broiler performance.

Litter composting can improve broiler performance.Reusing poultry bedding, referred to as built-up litter, is a common practice in U.S. broiler houses and turkey finishing barns. Windrow composting techniques have been developed which, if properly implemented, can achieve several positive benefits. There are three primary reasons for windrow composting litter: 1)Conserve bedding/extend litter life. 2)Reduce on-farm waste storage capacity. 3)Reduce disease challenge and improve performance.Bud Malone, consultant, Malone Poultry Consulting said its unknown how many years broiler producers can go without a total house cleanout if windrow composting is properly done. Composting litter inside the poultry house between flocks reduces total litter volume and this, coupled with decreasing the frequency of total house cleanouts, reduces the amount of space required on the farm for litter storage. The potential big payback from windrow composting comes from improved bird health and performance. Malone cited research that shows windrow composting of poultry litter between flocks can reduce or eliminate E.coli, Staphylococcus, Salmonella, Aspergilla, respiratory viruses, Clostridium perfringens and coccidia. Properly implemented windrow composting programs have been successful intervention strategies for dermatitis, necrotic enteritis, and runting and stunting syndrome. Windrow composting, when combined with timely insecticide treatment, has even been successful at reducing darkling beetle populations in poultry houses to near zero, he reported. Windrow composting, if done properly, can reduce disease challenge for the next flock, and it is proving to be a useful disease suppression strategy for reduced antibiotic growing programs, Malone said. But, windrow composting is not without cost. It requires a significant investment of time, and equipment is needed to make the windrows and turn them. When windrow composting is not done properly, Malone warned that the investment of time and equipment can be with minimal benefit. Also, he said before growers embark on a composting program, they need to have a strategy in place for controlling ammonia, like a litter amendment, before the next flock is brought into the house. In a windrow composting situations, poultry litter utilized as a soil amendment for growing fruits and vegetables will need to be composted reaching a temperature of at least 131F for at least 15 days and be turned a minimum of five times. Under normal circumstances, the downtime between flocks would not be long enough to allow for this process to be done inside the poultry house, so it would have to be done after the litter was removed from the house. watch

The risk of infection from heater-cooler systems in hospitals.

Invasive infections likely caused by the aerosolization of Mycobacterium chimaera from contaminated heater-cooler devices during cardiac surgery have been reported around the world and the outbreaks have prompted responses from major public health agencies. The Isolation and removal of heater-cooler devices from OR and other critical care areas could limit M. chimaera infections and keep patients from being infected by contaminated exhaust air. There is evidence that the coolers implicated in outbreaks were already contaminated from source when they arrived to the hospitals. Water outside the German plant where the heater-cooler device (HCDs) are manufactured was found to harbor M. chimaera. There was pretty good evidence that most of the devices were colonized at the factory site. HCDs are used with heart-lung machines to regulate body temperature during cardiothoracic surgeries and other medical procedures. The CDC says the devices are used in more than 250,000 procedures in the U.S. every year. The agency estimated that in hospitals where at least one HCD–related infection has been identified, the risk of a patient being infected with M. chimaera was between approximately one in 100 to one in 1,000. M. chimaera is a slow-growing species of nontuberculosis mycobacteria commonly found in soil and water, according to the CDC. Although it rarely makes people sick, symptoms of infection can be general and nonspecific and are often delayed. When the FDA linked the devices to infections in 2015, the CDC alerted health departments and providers around the United States and issued interim practical guidance advising facilities to remove contaminated units, maintain those in service and track reports about potential infections and the CDC also offers guidance on how to notify patients and health care providers about potential infection. There is no reliable disinfection procedures exist to eradicate the bacteria from HCDs, separating the devices from the air of critical medical areas is necessary to keep patients safe.more

Farmcrowdy; farming for you.

Farmcrowdy; farming for you. Agriculture is the next goldmine with every country looking at how to feed the ever increasing population without disrupting the ecosystem while looking for innovative ways to farm,feed and ensure food security. Farming like many have suggested as plan out of the ditch of depression,everybody is moving to the farm directly or indirectly. Farming can be simple or complex depending on how your mode of action and approach,but the basic requirement is determine the type of farming you want to dabble in ,acquire knowledge and skill of how-to-then start. The learning curve is shorter now as you can actually get experts to farm for you,simply by investing and after stipulated time get paid. This is the summary of farmcrowdy,Nigeria's 1st Digital Agriculture Platform focused on connecting farm sponsors with real farmers in order to increase food production while promoting youth participation in Agriculture. Farmcrowdy is an agric-tech platform that gives Nigerians the opportunity to invest in Agriculture by selecting the kind of farms they want to sponsor. We use the investors funds secure the land, engage the farmer, plant the seeds, insure the farmers and farm produce, complete the full farming cycle, sell the harvest and then pay the investor a return for their investment. While this farm process is on-going, the farm sponsors are able to keep track of the full-cycle by getting updates in text, pictures and videos. Agriculture just got so simple, you can actually be in Lagos and have a tomato farm in the north or poultry in Oyo and you will not break any sweat as your investments are safe and secured.All farms are insured and there is an off takers arrangement, this is so cool. Continue