Diagnosing autism with ipad games.

A new study by the University of Strathclyde shows that autism could be diagnosed by allowing children to play games on smart phones and tablets. The study, published in the Nature group journal Scientific Reports, the research team outlined how the technology could offer an accessible and less intrusive way to diagnose the developmental disorder. Dr Jonathan Delafield-Butt, of Strathclyde's Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, and colleagues used fun iPad games to track players' hand movements and gathered information that can help identify autism. Dr Delafield-Butt, a Senior Lecturer in Child Development, said: "We have shown that children with autism can be identified by their gameplay patterns on an iPad. "This is potentially a major breakthrough for early identification of autism, because no stressful and expensive tests by clinicians are needed. Early detection is important as this can allow parents and children to gain access to a range of services support. This new 'serious game' assessment offers a cheaper, faster, fun way of testing for autism. But more work is needed to confirm this finding, and to test for its limitations.In other words, it is not social, emotional, or cognitive aspects of the gameplay that identify autism. Rather, the key difference is in the way children with autism move their hands as they touch, swipe, and gesture with the iPad during the game. This finding adds new dimensions to a growing scientific understanding that movement is fundamentally disrupted in autism, and may underpin the disorder.In the study, researchers examined movement data gathered from 37 children with autism, aged three to six years. The children were asked to play games on smart tablet computers with touch-sensitive screens and embedded movement sensors. The result showed; analysis revealed these patterns consisted of greater forces at contact and with a different distribution of forces within a gesture, and gesture kinematics were faster and larger, with more distal use of space. These data support the notion that disruption to movement is a core feature of autism, and demonstrate autism can be computationally assessed by fun, smart device game-play.

Methods to stop tuta absoluta.

Tuta absoluta also known as tomato leafminer because of its strong preference for tomatoes,although it also affects eggplants, sweet peppers and potatoes. Tuta absoluta can cause 50-100% yield reduction in tomato crops and this is an economic loss because local and international trades are hampered. Prevention and proper management of the pest are crucial for successful harvesting . Chemical control may fail if not properly tailored because of the resistance of Tuta absoluta against many pesticides and also because a big part of its development takes place inside the plant or the soil, out of reach of pesticides. Syngenta with their product Ampligo, provide a simple and fast crop protection solution against many insect-pests. Ampligo works against wide varieties of sucking and biting pests in vegetables, potatoes and field crops, giving up to 21 days protection. This means farmers will reduce times they need to spray their fields, thus saving money,time and energy. The effective prevention of these pests is by effective crop protection which starts with timely and correct identification of the pests in the field. Early detection of pests will ensure early intervention resulting in salvaging more crops. This early detection of weeds, diseases and pests is often referred to as crop scouting,which is done by physical examination of the plants in the field The major challenge with tuta absoluta is that the eggs are small about 0.5mm thus not visible with naked eyes and the the adult moth is active at night,when signs of the destructive caterpillars are seen then the damage is done already without a remedy. An effective control must target more than one stage of the pest , the trapping system allows the farmer to target the moth stage of the caterpillar while the use of spray insecticides allows the farmer targets the caterpillar . The major method to stop the tuta absoluta is as follows 1)A pheromone-based trap makes use of a copy of chemicals stored in a rubber lure, this lure will start emitting pheromones over a six week period, which will attract male Tuta absoluta moths to the trap and they will be caught on the sticky surface at the bottom of the gadget. 2)The lures will prevent further access of more the moth into the field. Early in the season, two traps should be placed per acre of tomatoes. The farmer must count on a daily basis the nuumber of moths that are caught in the traps. It is important to keep a record of these counts to access population and note next phase of action. 3)When three moths or more are caught in one trap in a week, then the farmer should start control measures using of pesticides immediately. Now,the number the amount of traps should be increased to about eight to 10 per acre. Those eight can be delta-traps or water traps. The water traps are easy and a farmer can construct , using water with some soap to catch the pests. If catches are above 30 moths per trap / week, the number of traps should be increased to 20 /an acre. The Lures should be replaced after six weeks and water traps should be refilled with water and soap twice a week during hot periods.

Singapore's Zika cases send warning signal to Asia.

In just one week, Zika cases in Singapore have gone from zero to 242, raising concerns about a potential rapid surge in cases across Asia. A recent study estimates that roughly 2.6 billion people in the region and Africa could be at risk of contracting the virus, which has been linked to the neurological disorder microcephaly in unborn babies. It's not yet clear why Zika has spread so suddenly in Singapore. Many of the cases are thought to be locally-transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. On Saturday, Singapore's Ministry of Health said analysis of two cases found they had likely evolved from a strain of Zika that was already circulating in Southeast Asia. Malaysia confirmed its first case of Zika infection in a 58-year-old woman -- who had visited her daughter in Singapore -- on September 1. The country reported its first locally-transmitted case on September 3, with authorities expecting more to come. With 5.7 million-strong populace packed mostly in dense urban areas, Singapore doesn't immediately strike you as the kind of place that would suffer long from a Zika outbreak. But it's the city state's high population density and humid climes that offer the perfect breeding ground for the Aedes aegypti. And these are traits shared across many cities in the region. "In Asia, you have megacities with populations between five to 10 million people. The Aedes aegypti thrives in these densely-packed urban environments," Eng Eong Ooi, the deputy director of the Emerging Infectious Disease program at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore, told CNN. Where there high populations of people and mosquitoes, it's a good recipe for both dengue and Zika to spread,continue

VetCompass harnesses data to research and treat ailments in cats and dogs.

The importance of data in our world today cannot be overemphasized,from making everyday chores easier,to transport,agriculture medicine and veterinary practice. Data pooled will not only allow easy planning and treatment protocols but now can help streamline disorders common in various species so that students are more knowledgeable and can easy recognize and tackle these disorders. Data can also be generated for livestock to promote food security and also ensure food safety ;read Data in agribusiness with farmers,marketers,producers and value chains e.t.c can be sync with phones and mobile apps that will provide on-spot assessment,health tips,market prices,weather and market tips,this will be a broad platform for farmers, agribusiness,vets e.t.c .read The latest entrant to data-driven veterinary practice is VetCompass, which uses data already being noted by vets in standard practice records, pooling it and making it accessible to researchers. The data pool is able to provide useful information about breeds,diseases.disorders and lifespan. Miniature poodles live twice as long as chihuahuas. Almost half the cats that die under the age of five are killed in accidents. And for each kilogram your adult cat puts on, subtract six months from its lifespan, these are some of the insights from VetCompass, a system set to deliver the benefits of big data to the cats and dogs of Australia, as well as their owners. According to NSW, Professor Paul McGreevy, from Sydney University's Faculty of Veterinary Science, was part of the team that started VetCompass in the Britain in 2007. The data collected by the not-for-profit project, now launching in Australia, will help pets live happier, healthier lives. The system uses a software app to collect anonymized clinical records. The data will inform research on the causes and distribution of animal health problems, reveal the best treatments and allow vet schools to focus on the most common disorders when teaching. Without these data, it cant be ascertained precisely what disorder is affecting what animals and at what age,but the more information is pooled the greater the knowledge about the diseases they get and when they get them, the more tailored wellness plans for particular breeds or particular crosses. What's exciting for vets is that it's evidence-based medicine on a grand scale for species that are very important to us, but for which research is often badly underfunded. VetCompass Britain, with access to data from 11 million episodes of care at 450 clinics, has revealed that some of the most common ailments and causes of premature death in pets are easily preventable. Trauma, kidney disease and cancer are the most common causes of death in cats in Britain. For dogs under three years behavioral problems necessitating euthanasia, gastro-intestinal issues and car accidents cause the most deaths, while older dogs in Britain most commonly die from cancer, arthritis and neurological problems.

Designing ultrasound tools with Lego-like proteins.

Ultrasound imaging is used around the world to help visualize developing babies and diagnose diseases. Sound waves bounce off the tissues, revealing their different densities and shapes. The next step in ultrasound technology is to image not just anatomy, but specific cells and molecules deeper in the body, such as those associated with tumors or bacteria in our gut. A new study from Caltech outlines how protein engineering techniques might help achieve this milestone. The researchers engineered protein-shelled nanostructures called gas vesicles -- which reflect sound waves -- to exhibit new properties useful for ultrasound technologies. In the future, these gas vesicles could be administered to a patient to visualize tissues of interest. The modified gas vesicles were shown to: give off more distinct signals, making them easier to image; target specific cell types; and help create color ultrasound images. "It's somewhat like engineering with molecular Legos," says assistant professor of chemical engineering and Heritage Principal Investigator Mikhail Shapiro, who is the senior author of a new paper about the research published in this month's issue of the journal ACS Nano and featured on the journal's cover."We can swap different protein 'pieces' on the surface of gas vesicles to alter their targeting properties and to visualize multiple molecules in different colors."

Veterinarians and Congo virus.

All hands are on deck by veterinarians and para veterinary officers and other officers in the animal health sector to stop the Congo virus in its tracks .Sindh Minister for Livestock Muhammad Ali Malkani has cancelled holidays/ leaves of all veterinary doctors of Karachi to ensure the presence of veterinary staff at Cattle markets round the clock to prevent the spread of Congo virus . According to the statement issued the Minister Livestock' directions, Deputy Director Livestock, Dr. Muzaffar Ali Vighio has constituted teams of veterinary doctors, para veterinary and other field staff who were continuously taking efforts for the prevention of Congo virus/ticks on fast track in Asia's biggest cattle market. 'Over 9646 animals were sprayed while 2250 animals were treated of the viral and other minor disease, while fumigation has been made properly in collaboration with the superhighway cattle market administration and KMC', Vighio claimed. The teams since the establishment of cattle market superhighway, working round the clock , providing free treatment to animals and keeping vigil eye on the ticks/expected virus, these steps were taken in response to news published in media about the spread of the Congo virus in the superhighway cattle market. more

Congo virus cases in Balochistan.

According to the international news, a 14-year-old boy has who was admitted to the Fatima Jinnah Chest and TB Hospital has been confirmed positive after Congo virus was found in his blood samples sent to Aga Khan Hospital Laboratory Karachi. The number of patients infected with Congo virus in Balochistan has reached 24 while 10 of them had died of excessive bleeding.Doctors at Fatima Jinnah Chest and TB Hospital said Abdul Wali, 14, was brought from Pishin to Quetta after complaining of bleeding from nose and mouth. The blood samples of the patient were dispatched to Aga Khan Hospital Laboratory which confirmed the presence of Congo virus in blood. The patient was kept in isolation ward of the hospital and being provided medical treatment. Another patient identified as Ghulam Muhammad, who is resident of Quetta was also brought to the Fatima Jinnah Chest and TB Hospital with complaint of suffering from continuous bleeding.“We have dispatched blood samples of Ghulam Muhammad to the Laboratory and awaiting results, doctors said. A senior health expert Dr Mukhtar said the number of patients brought to Fatima Jinnah Hospital after suffering from bleeding this year has reached 86. He said 24 of them had been tested positive and adding that 10 patients had died of Congo virus in Balochistan during current year. He said 60 percent of Congo virus patients brought to the Fatima Jinnah Hospital belonged to Afghanistan and remaining 40 percent were residents of Balochistan.