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Research Article | Open Access
Biocompatibility Evaluation of a New Hydrogel Dressing Based on Polyvinylpyrrolidone/Polyethylene Glycol
The composition of the dressings is based on polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), polyethylene glycol (PEG), and agar. The electron beam irradiation technique has been used to prepare hydrogel wound dressings. The in vitro biocompatibility of the hydrogel was investigated by check samples (hydrocolloid Comfeel), antibacterial test (Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia Coli k12), anti fungal test (Candida Albicans) and cytotoxicity test (Fibroblast L929). Results have shown cell attachment characteristics and nontoxicity of all samples. Antibacterial testing also showed that the antibacterial effect of the hydrogel sample to the check sample increased to 30%. Also, investigation of antifungal analysis did not show any trace of fungi growth on the surface of the hydrogel, whereas antifungal effect did not observe on the surface of the check sample. Finally, this hydrogel sample showed a good in vitro biocompatibility.
Bed sore is considered a wound resulted due to exerting high and protracted capillary pressures on the surface of the skin long time and can lead to the necrosis of the soft tissues [1, 2]. Among of these necrotic areas the pressure ulcers, burnt ulcers, as well as diabetic wounds can be mentioned [3, 4]. One way for healing these wounds is using of dressings. Conventional dressings like gauze and cotton have been increasingly applied. Modern dressing has been used in the past two decades provided the humid healing of the wounds . They have possessed most of the characteristics of an ideal dressing. Transparent dressing , hydrogel , alginate , and foam and hydrocolloids  are some examples of dressing for wound healing. Hydrogels are provided in two shape planes and shapeless gels. Hydrogels contain large amounts of water and the jelly substance constructed the polymer network [10, 11]. Other examples of hydrogels are polyethylene oxide or polyvinyl pyrrolidone, carboxyl methyl cellulose, alginate, collagen, and other materials . Also, PEG and PVP are hydrogel that can be used as wound dressing .
In vitro biocompatibility tests of dressings include cytotoxicity and antimicrobial tests (antibacterial and antifungal). Also, in vivo tests include irritation, sensitization, implantation, acute and chronic toxicity, and systemic toxicity. Fungi and bacteria are the resistant factors for fast wound healing. In our previous work , the application of the electron accelerator (Rhodotron TT200) for preparation of hydrogel dressings with polyvinyl pyrrolidone, polyethylene glycol, agar, and water composition was investigated. The effect of some parameters such as gel fraction and maximum swelling on the properties of the dressing demonstrated that hydrogel has the proper physical and mechanical properties. In this research, in vitro biocompatibility of hydrogel samples has been compared with the hydrocolloid (Coloplast Ltd. Comfeel plus Hydrocolloid dressing, England) as check and control sample through standard cytotoxicity (ISO 10993), antibacterial, and antifungal tests.
The hydrogel samples (PEG, PVP, agar, and water) have been prepared by the Radiation Processing Center in Yazd as follows . PVP (BASF, MW 1/4, 90000), PEG (BASF, MW 1/4, 200), agar (Difco) and water have been used to prepare the hydrogel. First, an aqueous solution of these materials has been prepared, and then, a homogeneous solution has been formed by solving and mixing the materials in a constant temperature. The solutions have been formed as wound dressings in the molds. After cooling down the solution, a gel structure with high viscosity has been manufactured. Gel samples are irradiated under a proper dose (600 kGy/min) and radiation energy of 10 MeV in Electron Accelerator for crosslinking. Finally, the samples have been sterilized under an appropriate dose of radiation. To assess the cytotoxicity of hydrogel samples, check sample (Comfeel: hydrocolloids contain CMC and calcium alginate; NHS: ELM351 Coloplast, Britain ltd.), polystyrene control (TCPS) and fibroblast cells (L929) were used. The Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli bacteria (Iran Pastor Institute), and Candida albicans fungi (Iran Pastor Institute) were used to assess antimicrobial effect.
2.2. Antifungal Analysis
A cell suspension was prepared by C. albicans and 8–10 cc physiologic serum in hemolysis tube. 64230 cells per each microliter of the suspension were put on the neobar lam. Then, a part of this suspension was poured into the petridish and cultured on the Sabroe Dextrose agar (SDA) with 0.05% chloramphenicol. The wound dressings of Comfeel and the hydrogel samples (20 samples with the best physical properties) were cut out ( cm) and placed on the culture media. C. albicans was placed on the (SDA) media along with dressing in the incubator at 35°C for 3–5 days.
2.3. Antibacterial Analysis
A suspension of each four bacteria (S.epidermidis, S.aureus, P. aeruginosa, and E. coli K12) was prepared in broth from fresh colonies after overnight incubation, and the turbidity was adjusted to the 0.5 McFarland standard (1.5 × 108 c.f.u./mL). A part of this bacterial suspension (10 mL) was added to each vial containing the dressing. Control broths with bacterial inoculation were also included. The vials were then incubated with agitation at 35°C in a water bath. 10 mL of the bacterial broth were sampled from each vial at specific time intervals (0, 24 h), and serial 10-fold dilutions for each aliquot were prepared in broth. Duplicate aliquots (25 mL) of each of the serially diluted samples were spread on plates. The plates were then incubated overnight at 35°C and colonies counted (c.f.u./mL). The dilutions that allowed quantification (10–150 colonies) were counted, and the mean counts calculated. vials, containing the antimicrobial dressings as well as the control dressing (Comfeel sample) together with the culture and the broth controls, were included in each experiment for each organism. Plate counts were measured in triplicate, and each experiment was repeated three times to obtain a mean value of c.f.u. counts. Results were evaluated by K square statistical analysis ().
2.4. Cytotoxicity Analysis
The fibroblast cell suspension (L929) was prepared from the mouse tail. The surface of the Comfeel sample (check) was well cleaned by using cotton and alcohol as well as the hydrogel samples. Pieces (0.5 × 0.5 cm) of Comfeel and the main sample were cut and placed in one of the Petri dish wall (each one separately) by using a sterilized pincer. 3 cc of the cell suspension was removed by pipette and poured on the Comfeel and the main samples. Then, all of the samples were placed in the Memmert incubator at 37°C for 24 and 48 hours, separately. The samples in the polystyrene Petri dish were removed from the incubator after 24 and 48 hours and were studied by Nikon Eclipse Ts-100 photonic microscope (100×).
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Antifungal Analysis
The results of the growth effect of Candida albicans fungi onto two hydrogel samples containing polyvinyl pyrrolidone, polyethylene glycol, agar, water, and the Comfeel as check sample are provided as follow.
The results in Table 1 have shown that fungi clearly grow onto the Comfeel surface (control sample), due to the lack of antifungal effect, but fungal growth is negative for hydrogel sample. Also, the results of the fungi growth on the check and hydrogel sample are shown in Figures 1 and 2, and they confirmed the results of Table 1. Figures 1(a) and 1(b) showed the bottom and the top surface of hydrogel sample effect on fungi growth, respectively. Also, Figures 2(a) and 2(b) showed the bottom and the top surface of the control sample effect on fungi growth, respectively, as well.
| K Square analysis: .|
Figure 1 revealed the hydrogel sample with the lack of full growth of fungi on the surface of the hydrogel (Figure 1(a) showed only some fungi on the surface). Figures 2(a) and 2(b) demonstrated the full growth of fungi onto the surface of Comfeel (check sample).
3.2. Antibacterial Analysis
The bactericidal activities of the antimicrobial dressings against the S.epidermidis, S.aureus, P. aeruginosa, and E. coli K12 was indicated by a reduction in bacterial counts presented as log10 c.f.u. (colony forming units) mL−1 over time. The Results have shown that the hydrogel sample relative to the check sample was able to remove up to 30% of S. epidermidis, S. aureus, and E. coli K12 after 24 hours. But on P. aeruginosa, the situation was different; P. aeruginosa possess an increasing ability to resist antibacterial agent and Its intrinsically resistant to antimicrobial agents might be because of its low permeability of its cell wall and Its genetic capacity to express a wide repertoire of resistance mechanisms so no effect was detected on P. aeruginosa. Antibacterial test of two samples revealed a better biocompatibility of the hydrogel sample in comparison with Comfeel check sample that show in the Figure 3. Antibacterial test of two samples revealed a better biocompatibility of the hydrogel sample in comparison with Comfeel check sample.
3.3. Cytotoxicity Analysis
The cytotoxicity of hydrogel, Comfeel check sample and polystyrene control Petri dish were studied by fibroblast cells (1929) of mouse tail. Figure 4 showed the fibroblast cells growth on the polystyrene control Petri dish (TCPS). The growth of fibroblast cells on the Comfeel and hydrogel samples are shown in Figures 5 and 6.
Figures 4(a) and 4(b) clearly demonstrated the fibroblast cells growth on the polystyrene control Petri dish (TCPS). As shown in Figures 5 and 6, the fibroblast cells are well clung and grown on the check (Comfeel) and hydrogel samples did not significantly differ to control sample. These results have shown a proper biocompatibility and viability of the hydrogel sample.
In this study, the hydrogel biocompatibility was compared with Comfeel sample. In vitro biocompatibility assessments included cytotoxicity, antifungal, and antibacterial tests, which were the most important in vitro tests for bed sore wounds dressings. According to the observations of the cytotoxicity analysis, both of the hydrogel and the check samples showed good biocompatibility. It means that attachment or viability cells of both hydrogel and check sample are appropriate. The results of antibacterial test showed a rather better biocompatibility of the hydrogel sample than the Comfeel check sample. Also, observations of antifungal test demonstrated the lack of attachment and fungal growth on the surface of the hydrogel sample unlike the Comfeel check sample.
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Copyright © 2012 Esmaeil Biazar 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.


Banana and Plantain Wastes 4: Use of banana and plantain peels as animal feed
Published Date: 31st August 2020
Peels are the major wastes generated from banana and plantain fruits. Huge quantities of the peels are produced in many tropical countries, where plantain or the cooking type of banana are major staple foods. Banana peels are also produced as wastes in many urban and peri-urban markets in banana producing and consuming countries. The peel constitutes approximately 40 percent of the fruit, with an estimated 200 tons of waste being generated daily, and continues to increase as industrial processing of bananas become more common in many tropical countries. An estimated 18 – 20 percent of the banana peels are discarded as waste every year in such a manner that they constitute environmental problems. Traditionally, banana peels in the form of kitchen wastes are given to animals as feed. Many farmers offer banana peels to their animals because they are cheap, palatable, and readily available feed resources. In Nigeria, the production of chips from the unripe plantain also generates tons of plantain peels, which could be processed into feed raw material. Several research findings have therefore highlighted better techniques of optimizing the nutritional values of banana and plantain peels in animal production.
Banana peels are also used in wine, alcohol, and carbon black production, as a substrate for citric acid, biogas and mushroom production as well as material for pectin extraction. The peel ash because of its high content of potassium salts is used as alkaline for soap making and in the preparation of several traditional foods. In southeastern Nigeria, unripe banana and plantain peels are processed into chips and used to enhance the nutrient value of cassava chips-based dishes. Banana and plantain peels contain considerable amounts of plant bioactive compounds that protect the inner edible part from predator attacks. Based on this, banana peels are used in the production of highly insoluble dietary fiber, and antioxidant compounds both for health benefits, and functional foods development. They are relatively moderate in crude fibre, but rich in mineral matter, carbohydrate and certain vitamins. Other benefits of banana peels include its recent use in the preparation of nano-fertilizer blends to improve germination percentages of crops like tomato and fenugreek.
Nutrient composition of banana and plantain peels
The nutrient composition of banana and plantain peels is influenced by the stage of maturity and the cultivar. For example, dessert banana peel contains more fiber than plantain peel, while lignin content increases with ripening. Green plantain peel contains mostly starch which on ripening is converted into sugars, while green banana peel contains much less starch and more free sugars on ripening. Table 1 shows the proximate composition of ripe, and unripe plantain peels. The ripe peel has higher moisture, crude protein, crude fiber, and ash contents than the unripe peel. The unripe peel on the other hand has much higher ether extract, and carbohydrate values than the ripe peel, indicating that it could serve as energy source in animal diets. The sulfur-containing amino acids, methionine, and cysteine are moderately limiting in plantain protein, although it is well balanced with regard to the ratio of protein to calories, and considerably higher than those of maize, and other cereals. The protein content of banana peel is also low (6.36 – 10.8 percent), although the protein is rich in essential amino acids such as leucine, valine, phenylalanine, threonine. The crude fibre values in the peel range from 18.7 to 20.7 percent, while the ether extract ranges from 1.87 to 2.51 percent. The carbohydrate value also ranges from 53.2 to 62.1 percent, while the gross energy ranges from 3369 to 3494 Kcal/Kg, indicating that the unripe banana peel can also serve as an energy source in animal diets.
Potassium is the most abundant mineral in plantain peels, with an estimated value of 750 mg/kg in the unripe peel, which increases slightly during the ripening process. The ripe and unripe plantain peels have similarly high levels of zinc, magnesium, and manganese, while the unripe peel has higher calcium and iron values than the ripe peel. Banana peel also contains high levels of phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, iron, calcium, and potassium. Due to its low level of crude protein, banana peels are usually supplementation with protein-rich feedstuff in order to enhance their nutritive values.
Banana peels anti-nutrients and processing methods
The use of banana and plantain peels in animal feed formulation has been limited because of possible deleterious effects resulting from the presence of anti-nutrients, such as tannins, oxalate, and phytate amongst others. Tannins exist in the plantain peels in form of free or active tannins, which impart a strong bitter taste to the peel, and bound tannins or vegetable tannates, which are insoluble and have little or no effect on palatability. These anti-nutrients induce adverse effects such as depressed growth, reduced feed efficiency, and vital organ damage in the body, leading to mortality when fed fresh to poultry. Thus, there is a need for appropriate processing of the peels to detoxify these anti-nutrients.
Several methods such as the addition of ash, and cover for 3 - 5 days, sun drying for 4 - 5 days, oven drying for 2 hours at 100oC, and use of different alkali, and sodium hydroxide amongst others have been successfully used to reduce the anti-nutrient levels in banana, and plantain peels. During the sun drying process, the level of free tannin decreases because the tannins are slowly bound in an insoluble form. Although the level of free tannin is much higher in the peel than in the pulp, both are significantly reduced by sun-drying that reduces the moisture content to 10 percent. Researchers at the Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi (FIIRO), Lagos, Nigeria, have been able to produce dry banana peels for extended storage. The banana peels were sorted, washed with clean water, and spread openly on jute bags over the cemented floor, and under high sun intensity for 4 - 5 days until they were dried. They were thereafter, transferred to a cabinet tray drier, and dried at 125oC for 25 minutes, before cooling and further air-drying to obtain well dried crispy banana peels, which were packaged for onward milling. The moisture content of the dried peels on analysis was found to be less than 10 percent, while crude protein and fibre contents were 1.93 and 26.68 percent respectively.
Fermentation has also been used to improve the nutrient quality of banana peels by increasing the crude protein content, amino acids, and vitamin values. Fermentation also reduces the crude fiber, and anti-nutrients contents, which results in increased digestibility of the peels. During fermentation, metabolic processes with the help of enzymes produced from microbial aided oxidation, reduction, hydrolysis, and other chemical reactions, cause chemical changes in the organic substrate to produce a particular product. Fermentation can improve the nutrient quality of banana peels by increasing the crude protein, amino acids, and vitamins content while reducing the crude fiber contents, and increasing its overall digestibility. For example, the crude protein content of banana peels increased by about 54.02 percent from an initial 9.2 percent to 14.17 percent after fermentation with Rhizopus oligosporus.
In a study at Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, researchers investigated the ensiling characteristics of banana peelings using naturally occurring bacteria. The fresh peels were packed in a polyethylene lined trench and covered to ensile for 28 days. It was concluded from the study results that since banana peelings lack the appropriate amounts of easily fermentable carbohydrates needed for good quality preservation, they should be ensiled together with materials rich in fermentable carbohydrates. Nigerian researchers at the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria, subjected ripe and unripe plantain peels to solid-state fermentation for seven days using pure fungal isolates, Aspergillus niger, A. flavus, and Penicillium sp. The A. niger, A. flavus, and Penicillium sp improved the crude protein content of the unripe and ripe peels by 34.0, 30.3, 2.3 percent and 9.5, 4.5, 4.0 percent respectively, indicating that the Penicillium sp may not be the ideal organism for seven days’ fermentation of the peels. However, on the 21st day of fermentation, the Penicillium sp increased the crude protein content by 39.8 percent. The ripe plantain peel fermented with A. flavus recorded a 142.6 percent increase in sugar content after seven days. There was also a corresponding reduction in the cellulose content of both peels with A. niger (300 percent reduction), indicating that the nutritional value of plantain peels could be increased by fermentation using A. niger, A. flavus, and Penicillium sp.
The nutritive value of banana and plantain peels for poultry
The use of plantain peels in poultry feeding has been generally limited by the deleterious effects of tannins present in the peel. Through the sun-drying process, the tannin content could be reduced to safe levels. Researchers at the University of Abuja, Nigeria, evaluated the performance of broiler chickens fed graded levels of ripe plantain peel meal as a replacement for maize. The peel meal was included at 25, 50, 75, and 100 percent levels in the diets, so that they contained averagely 23 and 20 percent crude protein in the starter, and finisher diets respectively. They reported that feed intake and weight gain decreased with increasing inclusion level of the peels, although the weight was gain slightly maintained at up to 75 percent inclusion level. They, therefore, concluded that ripe plantain peel could replace maize up to 75 percent in broiler diets for the best feed conversion ratio, and cost-efficiency.
The effects of fungal (Aspergillus niger) degraded plantain peel on the performance, nutrient digestibility, and other physiological characteristics of broiler finisher birds were also studied at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. The peels were subjected to solid-state fermentation after inoculation with the fungal culture, and moistening with water at the rate of 300 ml per kg of the peel. After 7 days, the substrate was dried for 24 hours, and incorporated into the diets at 3, 5, and 7 percent inclusion levels. The highest weight gain and best feed conversion ratio were achieved with the 7 percent inclusion level, indicating that fungal biodegradation using A. niger has the potential of enhancing feed intake, nutrient digestibility, and the bodyweight gain of broiler finisher birds. Researchers at the Federal University of Technology Owerri, Nigeria, have also evaluated the effects of partial replacement of maize (25 and 50 percent levels), with 2:1:1 ratio of plantain peels, yam peels, and palm kernel cake in broiler starter diets. They reported that body weight gain and feed cost were significantly lower at the 50 percent level of maize replacement than others, while no significant difference in feed intake was observed among the various groups. They, therefore, concluded that plantain peels, yam peels, and palm kernel cake when combined in the ratio of 2:1:1 could optimally replace up to 25 percent of the maize in broiler starter diets.
The banana peel was also used to replace maize in a broiler study at the University of Maiduguri, Nigeria in order to determine the effect on growth performance, and other physiological parameters. The results showed that up to 15 percent replacement of maize with banana peel meal did not affect the performance of the broiler chickens, while there were reductions in feed cost N/kg, and feed cost per kg gain. Banana peel has also proved beneficial in alleviating the adverse effects of heat stress in poultry because of its high minerals, and essential vitamins (vitamin A 5.1%, 20% vitamin C, vitamin B,2,6%) content. This was evaluated in broilers by researchers at the University Padjadjaran, Bandung, Indonesia, using three rations containing banana peels at 10, 20, and 30 percent inclusion levels, and at an ambient temperature range of 28 – 35oC. At 20 percent inclusion level, no differences were recorded in final body weight, percentage carcass, and an abdominal fat percentage between the control and the experimental bird, indicating that 20 percent inclusion in the ration of broilers suffering from heat stress supports vital performance indices.
The nutritive value of banana and plantain peels for pigs
Feeding banana peels to pigs in smallholder farms has been an effective option for handling banana wastes since pigs can readily transform the inedible residues into high-quality meat products. Most smallholder farmers however feed the peel straight without any form of processing to enhance its nutrient value. In a study designed to evaluate the value of ripe plantain peel meal as a replacement for maize in the diets of growing pigs, researchers at the University of Science and Technology Kumasi, Ghana, reported that plantain peel can constitute as much as 20 percent of the diet while replacing 30 percent of maize. In another study, growing pigs were fed either 50, and 100, percent banana peel meal, or corn-soya or commercial ration as a control for three months. Feed intake of the pigs fed 50 percent banana peel was comparable to those fed corn-soya diet, and commercial diets, and was better than feed intake of pigs on 100 percent banana peel diet. However, the control feed was the costliest, while profits from pigs fed corn-soya diet was significantly higher than profit from pigs fed 50 percent banana peel diet, which in turn was better than profit from pigs fed 100 percent banana peel diet. Feeding growing pigs with diets containing up to 50 percent banana peel as a replacement for maize is therefore recommended.
Researchers at the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria have also evaluated the effects of replacing concentrates with plantain peels, and maize stalk on the performance of weaned pigs. Three diets in which the control contained 100 percent concentrate, and the other two contained the concentrate supplemented with plantain peels or maize stalk in the diet at the ratio of 40: 60 were fed to the animals for six weeks. The pigs fed the supplemented diets ate slightly more than the control pigs, which however had a better feed conversion ratio compared to the others. Again the supplemented diets were cheaper by as much as 35 to 41 percent than the control diet. These findings indicate that growing pigs could tolerate as much as 50 percent of plantain and banana peels in their diets without any deleterious effects.
The nutritive value of banana and plantain peels for ruminants
The potential of banana peels as ruminant feed material, based on their availability, and nutritional value is high when properly processed to eliminate its inherent anti-nutrients. To achieve this, banana peels have in different trials been treated with steam, ammonia, and silage fermentation to reduce its neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber, cellulose, hemicelluloses, lignin, and silica contents. The best results have however been obtained by fermentation or ensiling process.
The effects of feeding varying levels of banana peels on the performance of lactating Friesian dairy cows was investigated by researchers at Makerere University, Uganda. The banana peels were offered at 0, 20, 40 and 60 percent levels of the total ration in addition to fresh elephant grass as basal diet, supplemented with maize bran, cottonseed cake, and dry Gliricidia sepium to achieve a balanced diet containing at least 11 to 12 percent crude protein. The feed supported moderate milk yield, while other performance indices of the animals were not affected as the level of the banana peels in the diets was increased. They however suggested that banana peels should not be offered solely because they are low in most nutrients and their inclusion level should not exceed 50 percent. The nutritive value of dried ripe plantain peels as a replacement of maize has also been evaluated in goats by a researcher at College of Education, Warri, Nigeria. The ripe plantain peels replaced maize at 0, 60, 80, and 100 percent levels in diets fed ad libitum for 84 days. Daily weight gains were higher at the 60 and 80 percent replacement levels, with values of 73 and 74 g/head/day, respectively, indicating that ripe plantain peel is acceptable and can replace maize in goat diets without adverse effects on growth performance. Both raw and ripened banana peels have been used to also feed sheep and were found to improve the degradability, volatile fatty acids production, and potential by-pass protein, at up to 40 percent inclusion level.
Traditionally, small-scale farmers offer banana, and plantain peelings to their animals because they are cheap, palatable, and readily available feed resources. Research has however shown that although they are rich in nutrients, they also contain anti-nutritional factors that affect their nutrient values for a different type of livestock. Several methods such as sun drying, oven drying, treatment with alkali or sodium hydroxide, and fermentation amongst others have been used to reduce the anti-nutrients to safe levels required for poultry, pig, and ruminant feeding.
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A story in today’s Australian, but not prominently displayed, goes to the heart of the current crisis in remote communities: ‘Crisis’ in welfare of children.
FORMER Australian of the Year Fiona Stanley has told an international forum that the poor health and welfare of Aboriginal children represents a “domestic humanitarian crisis”.
… Professor Stanley told The Australian that the military intervention in Northern Territory communities and a proposal for a similar move in Western Australia arose from a substantial and growing gap between sections of Australia’s population.
“That’s exactly what we’re seeing: the extreme end of inequality in opportunity, education, welfare and crime,” Professor Stanley said.
She called for trained Aboriginal health workers to be mobilised to work in troubled communities as part of the healing process.
“There are a huge number of Aboriginal people with health training but they have no career path,” she said.
“They deliver a service that’s trusted and they are often swamped because they are so successful. But often the plug is pulled because they are employed in pilot programs.”
While strongly endorsing moves to protect children from abuse, she warned against repeating past policies that separated Aboriginal children from their families.
“The removal of children in the Stolen Generation explains almost everything about the problems we’re seeing today,” she said.
“We need to go back to the Stolen Generation report and implement every aspect of its recommendations.”
The child health survey, which collected information from 2000 families and interviewed 11,500 family members, found 41 per cent of indigenous children were living in households that had experienced the forced separation of at least one parent, primary carer or grandparent.
Stephen Zubrick, the survey’s chief investigator, said the present focus on remote communities ignored identical or worse problems plaguing Aboriginal families in metropolitan Perth and southwest towns.
“There’s a fascination with looking at the remote communities, but there are only 2800 children under 18 living outside the metro area,” he said.
“Some 60 per cent of all Aboriginal people in this state live in metropolitan settings.”
The survey’s figures indicated that the health of Aboriginal children in urban areas was worse on some indicators, such as the incidence of asthma, he said.
“It would suggest the remote kids are actually doing better than city kids in one or two areas.”


The progeria is a disease that causes pathological changes in internal organs and the skin from premature aging. There are two basic forms: children and adult.
Children progeria is recorded very rarely. The causes and course of the disease are poorly understood. Worldwide there are only individual cases of manifestations of this disease. There are several episodes of the birth of children with this disease when blood marriages, which may indicate a hereditary type of this disease. Patients were detected changes at the gene level, malnutrition cells of different layers of the skin. In children the disease is considered to be congenital, but it is only in the second year of life. In this case, the child's slowing growth, notable nutritional disorders skin and subcutaneous tissue, in particular, on the face and extremities. The skin becomes dry and thin, there is the formation of dark areas on the skin. Patient's face becomes a bird with a hooked nose, underdeveloped lower jaw and protruding frontal tubercles, the whole head is not proportionately large in relation to the body. There is loss of teeth and hair, underdeveloped muscles, changes in the bone-joint system, the deterioration of vision.
In adults, the disease begins to manifest itself during puberty malnourished skin, slow growth, lack of development of secondary sexual characteristics. The third ten years of the patient significantly deteriorating eyesight, hair falls out, disappears subcutaneous tissue and thin skin, arms and legs become very thin, the nose thin and become the coracoid, and mouth become already. The patient appear trophic ulcers, osteomyelitis, celebrated diabetes, possible malignancy.
Read also: Celiac disease
Diagnosis for progeria established on the basis of signs. This disease should be differentiated from scleroderma and congenital poykilodermii. All treatment is aimed at the elimination and prevention of complications of atherosclerosis, venous ulcers, diabetes. The treatment is prescribed by a doctor-internist, endocrinologist or other physician depending on the predominant symptoms. The prognosis is poor: the overwhelming majority of patients die from complications and malignant tumors, osteoporosis. Prevention progeria not developed.


The Meanings of “Righteous”
The Greek adjective dikaios, usually rendered “righteous” or “just,” occurs about eighty times in the New Testament.It is not easy to assign it a solitary meaning, because the term is used in a variety of ways, depending upon the context.
Let us illustrate at least three senses in which the inspired writers employed this word.
(1) The term is used in an absolute sense.For example, in the sermon that cost him his life, Stephen declared that the Jews had persecuted and killed their ancient prophets, who “showed before the coming of the Righteous One…” (Acts 7:52; cf. 22:14; 1 Pet. 3:18;1 Jn. 2:1).Jesus was "righteousin every respect.He always did the will of God (Jn. 8:29), never sinning, not even once (1 Pet. 2:22).When Paul described the whole human race by saying: “There is none righteous, no, not one” (Rom. 3:10), he similarly used the definitive in an absolute way.
Aside from Jesus, there is no responsible human being who has been wholly perfect.And so, underscore "righteous"in Acts 7:52, Romans 3:10, etc., and marginally note: Absolutely righteous
(2) “Righteous” may be used in a relative sense.Cornelius is called a “righteous” man (Acts 10:22).He was righteous compared to most Gentiles of that day, but he was not sinless because he was lost, hence, needed to be saved (11:14).Lot was a righteous man in contrast to the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah (see 2 Pet. 2:8), but he was far from perfect.
And so, underline "righteous"in Acts 10:22, etc., and in your margin write: Relatively righteous.
(3) Finally, there is that which may be designated as a self-perceived sense of righteous character.Jesus said that he did not come to “call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Lk. 5:32).The Lord was not suggesting that some are so righteous they do not need his message.Rather, he was saying: There are those who perceive themselves as righteous (e.g., the Pharisees – vss. 29-30).I can hardly do them any good so long as they entertain that view.I can only help those who acknowledge they are “sick,” hence need a physician (31).
Thus, underscore “righteous,” and note: Self-perceived as righteous.


Mathematical modeling is the process of creation of mathematical models in practice. A mathematical model is a system of math relationships, which describe the process under research or the event. One applies Mathematical modeling in such science as economics, sociology, ecology, physics, mechanics, chemistry, information technologies, biology, etc.
So, it is natural that every science which uses the definite numbers and statistical methods of the research has to rely on the mathematical models who help them organize the results of the analysis wisely and logically. To receive the mathematical model one applies the laws of ecology, special rules of exact sciences, the results of active and passive experiments, the imitative modeling with the help of the computing machines. The models help experts with the predictions about the development of the process, calculate the function, control the process, project systems with the required characteristics.
To create a mathematical model one can rely on any precise tool, such as probability theory, mathematical logic, abstract algebra, set theory, etc. Mathematical modeling is the most popular method of research in cybernetics. The process of modeling is vital in many sciences because it helps experts organize the operation of the study in the right way and make adequate predictions of the results achieved during this process. There are complicated mathematical models applied in cybernetics and programming. They are characterized by the fact that one complex model consists of several smaller ones which combine their functions and data for the single more complicated aim.
Mathematical modeling is a complicated process which provides experts which the detailed and logical models of various methods and events connected with different sciences. The student, who has decided to pay attention to the topic on mathematical modeling and prepare a project on it, should think about the selection of the most thought-provoking aspects and points of the issue to make the proposal informative and exciting for the professor. The young person has the chance to reveal the problem from all sides and demonstrate the list of the methods for the investigation and share the predictions concerning the research on mathematical modeling and its relevance in modern sciences.
The young person who is not sure whether the written assignment is prepared correctly can improve her knowledge about the style and format of writing with the help of the free example research proposal on mathematical modeling designed by the qualified and well-educated writer. It is quite reasonable to read a free sample research proposal on mathematical modeling online and learn about the right structure of the text, the research approach and the secrets of the persuasive manner of writing.
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ODBC (Open DataBase Connectivity) is a standard database access method developed by the SQL Access group in 1992. The goal of ODBC is to make it possible to access any data from any application, regardless of which database management system (DBMS) is handling the data. ODBC manages this by inserting a middle layer, called a database driver, between an application and the DBMS. The purpose of this layer is to translate the application's data queries into commands that the DBMS understands. For this to work, both the application and the DBMS must be ODBC-compliant; that is, the application must be capable of issuing ODBC commands and the DBMS must be capable of responding to them.


Open Access Senior Thesis
Bachelor of Arts
© 2012 Blake T. Bennett
The current study seeks to link traditional forms of empathy induction with new research that suggests videogames can be used as an experiential method of induction. One hundred-nine college students, sixty-four females and forty-six males, were used in a 2x2x2 design, the independent variables being prosocial/neutral videogame, empathic/neutral instructions, and gender. Dependent variables were both questionnaire responses to a fictional story and an opportunity to be realistically altruistic. Participants played either a prosocial or neutral videogame, received either empathic or neutral reading instructions, and then read a vignette depicting a difficult situation faced by the writer. They then rated their reactions on a 7-point Likert scale before being asked to donate time to a local charity. A marginally significant result of gender was found in that females generally responded more strongly than males, and no other results were significant. These finding were different than previous research.
Bennett, Blake T., "Virtual into Verisimilitude: Videogames' Ability to Induce Empathy" (2012). CMC Senior Theses. 304.


A CPU (Central Processing Unit) or Processor is often referred to as the brain of the computer. If that is the case, the Cores would then be the left brain and the right brain (for dual-core processors) or multiple brain partitions even.
One Core can function without the other and both can function simultaneously as is normally the case. The same cannot be said of the human brain, unfortunately. As you can tell from this analogy, the Core is not the entirety of the CPU but rather simply a slice of the pizza.
Something else to talk about is Intel’s Core naming scheme which introduced Core i3, Core i5, Core i7 and as of recently Core i9. This naming scheme replaced Intel Pentium (e.g. I, II, III and IV) and shouldn’t be confused with the actual Core which is more related to the CPU. We will get to this in a bit, or you can scroll below to read all about it if you wish.
CPU [Central Processing Unit]
The CPU is the ‘Einstein’ of your PC, that big brain. Our Einstein makes use of a system the good team here at Dignited have dubbed FEDEX – Fetch, Decode and Execute. The route FEDEX takes on Einstein’s behest starts with fetching data input. Einstein then makes light work of these instructions and decodes them before passing them along for their immediate execution. To further break this down, the CPU is composed of three core components:
- Control Unit(CU): that extracts instructions from memory which it decodes and executes.
- Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU): that handles arithmetic and logical operations.
- Processor Register – gives the ALU the needed data or operands and stores it.
Most modern CPUs are in truth microprocessors. Microprocessors are entire CPUs housed on a single Integrated Circuit (IC). Secondly, some, although not all CPUs pack an integrated GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), Imput/Output and memory controllers on board.
Once we move into smartphone and Internet of Things (IoT) territory, things get more interesting. Systems on a chip (SoC) contain a CPU, RAM, ROM, I/O (Input/Output) ports, RF (Radio Frequency), along with this and that on the Integrated Circuit which makes up a full-fledged PC.
What is a Core?
A core is the most basic computational/processing unit of a CPU capable of executing one instruction at a time. It consists of its own Arithmetic Logic Unit, Control Unit and set of registers. Where early CPUs consisted of only a single core, current CPUs can have several cores. You should note that the CPU itself remains a single physical computational unit which rather multiple cores.
Multi-core processors can be dual-core (2 CPUs), quad-core (4 CPUs) and so on and so forth and these execute parallel instructions at the same time given that each core is its own CPU. Hyperthreading further doubles the number of CPUs (called logical processors this time) for PCs that support it.
The core can be best described as the nervous system (the clock) or the road network of the PC with the brain (CPU) at the top. This nervous system or clock determines how fast our Einstein can ‘think’ which involves the speed at which program instructions are FEDEXed (Fetch, Decode, Execute). This clock is measured in Gigahertz, hence, for instance, a 2.5GHz PC ‘thinks’ 2.5 billion times per second.
In order for the core to be more efficient doing its job for FEDEX, it has two means of transport AKA cache. L1 cache is akin to a bicycle which is fastest and weaves through the road network like a bread through butter. L1 cache is the closest and smallest but also the fasted. L2 cache is a delivery van which is bigger but not as fast as L1 cache. L1 and L2 cache serve the purpose of storing data to and from RAM to speed up access.
What about Core i3, Core i5, Core i7 and Core i9?
I am going to say this three times: don’t confuse this numbering scheme with an actual core as they are fundamentally two separate things. The truth of the matter is that this numbering scheme is some next level nonsense which Intel came up with. Internally, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7 and Core i9 help Intel to explain how much horsepower a PC has.
Keep in mind that when you’re purchasing a PC, the devil is always in the details, as they say. You might find that a Core i3 and a Core i9 can both be a dual core or a quad core.
The pecking order is as follows: a Core i3 is reserved for budget PCs for light usage whereas Core i5 is reserved for midrange PCs. It’s a healthy balance between performance and price. A Core i7 and Core i9 are top of the range. This is the territory for professionals and enthusiasts who require tremendous performance and have the mullah to throw at it.
CPU vs Cores: Closing remarks
The difference between a CPU vs Cores is quite blurry for the uninitiated, hence the analogy galore up there. Anyway, long story short, a CPU performs basic arithmetic, logical, control and input/output operations. The core for its part does the actual legwork here, which includes fetch, decode and execute.
Multicore CPUs are definitely faster than single core CPUs. But there’s a catch. Most programs are executed by following step by step instructions on one single core. In this case, the other cores would lie idle which won’t be very helpful in terms of speed and efficiency.
Featured Image: bestbuy.ca


Confucianism and Ecology
The Interrelation of Heaven, Earth, and Humans
Edited by Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Berthrong
Confucianism demonstrates a remarkable wealth of resources for rethinking human-earth relations. This second volume in the series on religions of the world and the environment includes sixteen essays that address the ecological crisis and the question of Confucianism from three perspectives: the historical describes this East Asian tradition’s views of nature, social ethics, and cosmology, which may shed light on contemporary problems; a dialogical approach links Confucianism to other philosophic and religious traditions; an examination of engaged Confucianism looks at its involvement in concrete ecological issues.


Identifying a soybean disease can be a slow science. If it can’t be identified by the naked eye, a sample must be sent to a lab for testing, which often means a wait of several days for results. That wait could be the difference between the success and failure of a crop.
Ashli Brown hopes to decrease that wait time from several days to just a few minutes by finding a way to detect plant pathogens with infrared technology. The Mississippi Soybean Promotion Board (MSPB) partially funds her research.
“Researchers, extension agents and farmers need more reliable tools to detect pathogens in the field,” says Brown, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Mississippi State University and director of the Mississippi State Chemical Laboratory. “Faster detection of plant diseases will allow farmers to treat their fields more quickly and effectively.”
As farmers know, earlier detection and treatment of plant diseases will result in increased quality and yield.
Brown’s research focuses on fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) technology. This technology passes beams of infrared light through a pathogen sample, which causes the atoms in the cell walls of the sample to vibrate at different wavelengths. Because different pathogens vibrate at different wavelengths, a unique profile will be developed for each pathogen tested.
Brown and her team are now working to build a library with profiles for a variety of pathogens that cause diseases in crops, particularly soybeans. Next, they’ll work on software and a handheld version of the FT-IR equipment that will allow extension agents and consultants to diagnose diseases in the field.
“There are still a lot of kinks that need to be worked out,” Brown said, “but the results so far are extremely exciting and it looks very promising.”
Brown says funding from MSPB provided more than just monetary support.
“MSPB’s decision to fund this research proves that farmers believe the technology will have a direct impact on the state and its soybean farmers,” says Brown.
The research marks the first application of FT-IR technology to agriculture, although it is far from a new technology. Brown says the technology has been in use for many years. For example, the Drug Enforcement Agency uses FT-IR to determine if a powder is drug-related and by firefighters trying to determine if an object is an explosive.
To watch a video on Brown’s research, click here.


Sir Isaac Newton's garden
Isaac Newton was born in this modest manor house in 1642 and he made many of his most important discoveries about light and gravity here in the plague years of 1665-66.
The orchard at Woolsthorpe Manor is small, but home to one of the most famous trees in British history. The 400-year-old Flower of Kent apple tree which inspired Newton’s theory of gravity after he watched an apple fall from the tree.
It's a place of pilgrimage for scientists and mathematicians from all over the world - and one of the Tree Council's 50 Great British Trees.


Indiana State Tree
Alternate, simple, palmately veined, orbicular, 4-lobed with an entire margin, 4 to 8 inches long. Somewhat shaped like a tulip.
Showy, but high in the tree, 2 1/2 inches long, with yellow-green petals
and an orange corolla. Present April to June.
An oblong aggregate of samaras, deciduous at maturity. Each samara is
1-winged, 1 1/2 inches long, and 4-angled. Maturing August to October.
Red-brown in color, often with a shiny appearance or a waxy bloom. Stipules are large and encircle the twig. Buds are elongated and valvate, resembling a “duck bill”. Twigs have a sweet, spicy odor when broken.
Light gray-green in color, often with white in grooves or in patches.
Smooth when young, developing flat-topped ridges and furrows in diamond shaped
patterns. On older trees sapsucker holes are common.
In a stand, this tree is very straight with a limb-free bowl. Open-grown
trees have a pyramidal crown when young, becoming oval in shape.
Conservation; Photos and text by: John Seiler,
Edward Jensen, Alex Niemiera, and John Peterson;
Silvics reprinted from Ag Handbook 654;
range map source information


Article 17 (1) The freedom of expression and the right to information are guaranteed. (2) Everyone has the right to express her opinion in speech, in writing, in the press, in pictures, or in any other form, as well as freely to seek, receive, and disseminate ideas and information irrespective of the frontiers of the State. (3) Censorship is not permitted. (4) The freedom of expression and the right to seek and disseminate information may be limited by law in the case of measures necessary in a democratic society for protecting the rights and freedoms of others, the security of the State, public security, public health, and morals. (5) State bodies and territorial self-governing bodies are obliged, in an appropriate manner, to provide information on their activities. Conditions therefore and the implementation thereof shall be provided for by law.
Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms
Type of law:
National constitutional law


Garry Kasparov, the best human chess player in the world, is going to be beaten by a toy, and you can read about it right here on Electric Minds.
A very expensive toy, to be sure, and one with an impressive logo and heritage. But IBM's Deep Blue '97, for all of its chess-playing RS/6000 programming, is essentially just a toy designed to do only one thing, and do it very well: play a board game. It's fairly likely that the chess-playing capabilities of Deep Blue will be available to consumers within a decade or two, playable on consumer-quality home systems or even in pocket videogames. Toys -- very smart toys. This Future Surf is about what happens when our toys become as intelligent as we are, and then (in the next model year) smarter.
When we build the first consciously aware machine, what will it think of us?
Artificial intelligence is an elusive prize. The term itself has a history of grand pronouncements and even grander failures. Proponents of a limited approach to what computers could do tend to prefer the term "learning systems." This "soft AI" camp doesn't focus on creating self-aware machines; instead, its adherents build expert systems, focused neural networks, and other limited-task projects. Proponents of a more radical vision go with the expression "machine intelligence." The "hard AI" group pushes on to try to build a general-purpose intelligent system, able to learn and adapt, and functioning at human brain equivalence or better. So far, the Soft AI perspective is winning -- Deep Blue (and its various non-chess capabilities) is a wondrous example of how powerful a computer can be and still be as dumb as a box of sand, which is, if you think about it, what it is.
Hard AI is a lot more fun.
Minsky and MITThe traditional artificial-intelligence perspective can best be summed up in a single word: Minsky. Perhaps the best-known AI researcher in the United States (and probably in the world), MIT's Marvin Minsky is a pioneer in cutting-edge approaches to computer learning and machine cognition. His book "The Society of Mind" was among the first nonfiction attempts to explain the ideas and implications of machine cognition to a general audience. He later used many of these ideas in a science fiction novel, "The Turing Option." Minsky's classic 1982 article, "Why People Think Computers Can't," which appeared in AI Magazine in the fall of 1982, is a nontechnical answer to the standard objections about thinking machines. Although the cognitive sciences and the technology of computing have advanced significantly in the last fifteen years, this article remains quite relevant in the artificial-intelligence debate.
MIT's Artifical Intelligence Lab is, in part because of Minsky, the Mecca for machine cognition and robotics work in the US. Projects currently underway in the lab include the development of a system to communicate location to mobile robots via natural language, and Cog, a humanoid robot project.
Cog is particularly interesting. The idea is that a humaniform robot will more easily interact with humans, as people are accustomed to certain reactions and forms of body language when they speak with others. In addition, some cognitive philosophers posit that part of human consciousness derives from our relationship to the body; a bodiless machine intelligence, therefore, could never manifest a human-style intelligence.
Working closely with the AI lab at MIT is the Center for Biological and Computational Learning. Focusing on learning how intelligent systems learn, the CBCL supports projects in neuroscience, learning and recognition, and visual identification. This last area is an especially deep field of study, as visual recognition is a fundamental aspect of intelligent interaction with the world. Pawan Sinha has a fun and interesting slideshow on visual object recognition available on the site, done as an illustrated conversation between Larry King and Bill Clinton (!).
Cognition, Consciousness, and the Rise of IntelligenceTo understand why it is so difficult to build a machine that thinks, it is useful to pay attention to those who study the human brain.
To this end, MIT's Mind Articulation Project is a joint project involving neurophysiologists, cognitive scientists, linguists (including Noam Chomsky), computer scientists, and philosophers, all seeking to understand the nature of cognition. Their work focuses on determining which parts of the brain control which functions; they make great use of new noninvasive techniques for detailed observations of brain activity. How the brain recognizes speech is a main area of study.
Stanford's John McCarthy is looking at a somewhat more esoteric question. In "Making Robots Conscious of Their Mental States," he examines just what sorts of self-awareness an artificially intelligent system would need, or could have. MacCarthy is interested in determining when and how introspection is needed. This is from the Introduction to "Making Robots Conscious of their Mental States":
Suppose I ask you whether the President of the United States is standing, sitting, or lying down at the moment, and suppose you answer that you don't know. Suppose I then ask you to think harder about it, and you answer that no amount of thinking will help ... A certain amount of introspection is required to give this answer, and robots will need a corresponding ability if they are to decide correctly whether to think more about a question or to seek the information they require externally.
To really understand machine cognition, however, you have to have a grasp on why and how humans think. One of the better ways to spend a weekend is to read William Calvin's "The Ascent of Mind." An exploration of how intelligence emerged and the relationship between evolution and paleoclimatology, "Ascent" is a good introduction to the issues surrounding the brain and the mind (as well as the environment) -- and the entire book is available online. Dr. Calvin's later works (excerpts and chapter summaries are also available on his website) delve deeper into how brains work and, most importantly, how cognition works.
Calvin is no stranger to questions of the relationship between computers and the human brain. While cautious about describing brains as functioning in a manner at all similar to computers (he has observed that the brain is historically described as working just like whichever technology or process is considered "cutting-edge"), he does not immediately dismiss the idea of smarter-than-human machine intelligence as outlandish. A machine need not work just like a human brain to be considered intelligent. Calvin devotes the final chapter of his most recent book, "How Brains Think," to this question of whether we can or should develop superhuman intelligences.
CycDoug Lenat has a fairly novel approach to building a machine intelligence: use common sense. Literally.
Lenat and his programmers at Cycorp believe that they may be able to help achieve a human-style machine intelligence (or, at least, a human-friendly interface for computing systems) by the accretion of building blocks of commonsense rules of thumb about the world. Constructed in a formal machine code, the Cyc (from encyclopedia) system is not a massive neural network, but an "inference engine" intended to be able to draw logical conclusions when presented with novel situations. The Cyc FAQ gives a good overview of the Cyc team's intentions for the system. "Comparing Cyc to Other AI Systems" is an early look at Cyc and other AI projects.
Cyc-based software will soon be available for both Macs and PCs; in the meantime, the public can view the Cyc Ontology, a detailed discussion of the current set of heuristics Cyc uses (free registration is required). An example (from the introduction):
The Cyc project is certainly intriguing. The underlying notion for the group working on Cyc is not that the building blocks of rules will, over time, achieve intelligence per se, but that a Cyc Ontology Guide will be at the root of neural-network or other adaptive learning systems to help prevent the "brittleness" often found in these methods. Cyc is, in many respects, an attempt to create a meta-expert system for everyday interaction with humans, allowing the specialized systems to focus on particular limited tasks.
Moravec, Penrose, and the Debate over Hard AII read Hans Moravec's "Mind Children" soon after it first came out in 1988. Along with Eric Drexler's "Engines of Creation," which is about molecular nanotechnology, it twisted my brain into thinking about the future in ways I had not considered. "Mind Children" is not an easy read; Moravec challenges the reader to follow the leaps of his arguments, and his conclusions will disturb many. He endorses uploading minds from flesh brains to computers, sees no problem with digital copies of "individuals" roaming around, occasionally coming together to share experiential data, and believes that humans as flesh-and-blood creatures don't have much of a future.
For these reasons, Moravec remains obscure to the mainstream and a hero to those on the edge (in particular, the Extropian/trans-humanist types love him). His 1995 essay "Pigs in Cyberspace," for example, describes a future where the physical world is transformed into ultra-efficient data storage and communication media, and where minds uploaded to digital information systems rub shoulders with AIs created just for these cyberspatial realms. Soon the uploaded human consciousnesses abandon unnecessary human traits (such as the need for body sensation, even if simulated) and take their place among the "unhuman" beings. Moravec writes of this future in a way that makes it seem very distant, but all too real.
A recent Moravec essay that's a bit more down to earth is "The Age of Robots." An examination of the impact of robots and artificial intelligence on human society, it is a sober and thoughtful work. The speculation is sometimes radical -- this is clearly a Hans Moravec document -- yet the ideas are clear and the argument persuasive.
Not necessarily persuasive to everyone, however. Moravec's approach to machine intelligence is definitely in the Hard AI camp. The British mathematician Roger Penrose has risen to the challenge of the Hard AIers with a series of works designed to prove -- in the strict mathematical sense -- that nonbiological intelligence is impossible. The first of Penrose's treatises on this topic was 1991's "The Emperor's New Mind." Dense and filled with the minutiae of math and information theory, it pulls no punches in declaring the Hard AI position both technically and philosophically bankrupt.
Unsurprisingly, Moravec is at the forefront of those responding to Penrose's claims. The debate has intensified with the publication of Penrose's new work, "Shadows of the Mind." Penrose's prologue to the work gives a flavor of the work. Psyche: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Consciousness provided a forum for discussion between Penrose and those critical of "Shadows," including Moravec and a (very technical) review by Solomon Feferman, of Stanford's Department of Mathematics. Appropriately, Psyche also gave Penrose ample space to reply to his critics.
The SingularityIf those who hold the hard AI position are right, the next century will likely see more change than the human species has ever witnessed before. If we can construct a machine intelligence based on processor-type technology, the inexorable push of technological development means that these systems will only get more powerful, more sophisticated, and smarter. If Moore's Law continues to hold as it has for the last thirty years, that improvement will amount to a doubling every 18 months for the same cost.
Moravec estimates that the processing power of the human brain is, more or less, 10 teraflops (trillion floating-point operations per second). Late in 1996, Intel and Sandia National Labs constructed a 1-teraflops massively parallel machine. If Moore's law holds, we should see a 10-teraflops machine within five to six years. But let's be conservative: we could easily not see a functional implementation of 10+ teraflops computing until 2010. Let's be very conservative, and say it takes another twenty years after that to come up with a roughly human-equivalent system. If a human-equivalent machine were invented on January 1, 2030, a machine twice as powerful as the human brain would be available by mid-year 2031, four times as powerful by January 2033, and so forth. By 2050, a machine over 65,000 times faster than the human brain would be available, assuming that the introduction of trans-human intelligence systems doesn't increase the speed at which more powerful systems are developed.
Of course, if we put the 10-teraflops estimate at 2003, and human equivalence at 2005, then we're talking about machines 65,000 times as powerful as the human brain by 2030, or (to turn Moore's Law around) human-equivalent machines 65,000 times less expensive than the Intel/Sandia machine is now (one figure they conveniently neglected to include on the web page). If the Intel/Sandia machine cost $1 billion, a roughly equivalent machine in 2030 could cost around $16,000 -- about the price of a good server.
Science fiction writer and computer scientist Vernor Vinge, author of (among others) "True Names" and "A Fire Upon the Deep," has come up with a concept based upon this exponential improvement in processing power. He calls the point at which computing power has increased past our ability to understand it the Singularity. I strongly encourage you to read Vinge's article, as it is an excellent example of taking a process with which we are all comfortable today (computers are getting faster) and thinking seriously about what happens if it continues. I also suggest that you read William Calvin's essay on the Singularity.
The concept becomes even more powerful when combined with some other bleeding-edge technological concepts. A person by the name of Eliezer S. Yudkowsky has written an essay called "The Low Beyond," which combines some of Hans Moravec's ideas with Vinge's Singularity, and mixes in a healthy dose of molecular nanotechnology. You may not believe everything that Yudkowsky says about emerging technologies, but if he's even 10 percent right, it is likely that 2047 will bear little resemblance to 1997. This is perhaps the best and scariest spin on the Singularity (and nanotech and machine intelligence) I've ever read.
So we start with Deep Blue and we end up with the Deep Unknown. Although AI's promise has so far exceeded its delivery, the growth of processor speed combined with the continual improvement in process makes the emergence of an apparently conscious machine an increasing likelihood over the next couple of decades. One need not accept the notion of a sociotechnological Singularity to see the extraordinary implications -- for our culture, for our economy, for our identity -- of such a device. The possibilities are both exciting and frightening. Within most of our lifetimes we will probably see a world where our own creations are suddenly much, much smarter than we could ever be without them. What's more, if Moravec and Vinge are right, the twentieth century could well be the coda of the unmodified biological human brain.
Check your seat belts. Things start moving fast from here.
Join the conversation about artificial intelligence, and also follow Deep Blue's quest to defeat Garry Kasparov.
If you're looking for something that could change the face of civilization as we know it, the spread of tropical diseases to the rest of the world (or the mutation of existing diseases to new strains that can't be treated) have a much better chance for success than a disastrous run-in with an asteroid.
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Topic 13 Deep Futures
Topic 11 Twenty-Five Years Out...
Also in Future Surf:
Head First into the Future
It's the Only Way to Live.
Intense Pulses of Light
electric minds |
virtual community center |
world wide jam |
edge tech |
Any questions? We have answers.


By Aine Cryts
Artificial intelligence (AI), and its applications in healthcare, has garnered a lot of attention in the headlines in recent years, and with good reason—a steadily increasing body of medical research has suggested that AI applications have the potential to become valuable tools to aid physicians with diagnostic and treatment decisions.
But how well does success in controlled trials translate to usefulness in clinical practice? “We are entering a period in which health systems around the country are going to be making more concerted efforts to implement artificial intelligence solutions in clinical practice,” said Casey Ross, a national technology correspondent for STAT, in a webinar titled “From Computer to Clinic: The Challenges of Implementing Artificial Intelligence in Practice” on Feb. 13, 2020.
“But how do you do that safely and effectively? How do you guard against bias and protect the privacy of patient information? How do you ensure that these technologies are not only accurate, but also improving patient outcomes?”
AI technologies still face some significant barriers before they can enter clinical practice, said Ross in the webinar. For example, there needs to be a way to ensure that the data used to train the systems are accurate and unbiased. One of the goals of AI is to remove bias from medical decision-making.
“If AI systems are not tested or trained on diverse data, they may not perform equally on different kinds of patients,” he said. “At a minimum, AI models need to be tested on diverse patient groups in different geographies, so they can generalize and perform across multiple populations. Otherwise, the bias you are trying to remove from patient care by implementing AI is actually going to increase and cause already marginalized groups to get even more so.”
Another major, and often overlooked, barrier to widespread implementation of AI in healthcare is changing clinician behaviors, Ross said: “I think this is an underestimated challenge both in terms of cost and logistics. It’s not enough to simply deliver an interesting piece of information; the piece of information must be meaningful to the doctor and delivered in a certain time window. And is it going to be presented in a form that physicians use and understand?”
Ross said it’s also important to ask: “What information is going to improve patient care?” After all, it can take many years to determine the long-term effects of specific treatment decisions on patient populations. Ross cites the example of computer-assisted detection (CAD) of breast cancer, which was hailed as a breakthrough in the 1990s. But, he said, later studies found that CAD did not improve outcomes in any metric studied—and it took more than 20 years for that evidence to become apparent.
AI systems are already making inroads into patient care in some specific areas, such as sepsis detection, and in pathology, oncology, and radiology—specialties with substantial digital datasets, which work well with training AI systems, Ross said.
“Modern machine learning systems are showing a lot of potential for certain applications that can improve care, but they will ultimately fail if they don’t meet certain criteria: A few key ones are, it must work on a diverse population of people. It must deliver clinically meaningful information that can be incorporated into the process of delivering care. And finally, it must improve outcomes. Very few, if any, check all of those boxes so far, and that’s why we are not seeing as many in clinical settings yet.”
To hear the entire webinar, go to STAT.
Aine Cryts is a contributing writer for AXIS Imaging News.


Boyle, Robert (1627–91), natural philosopher, was born 25 January 1627 at Lismore Castle, fourteenth child and seventh son of Richard Boyle (qv), 1st earl of Cork, and his second wife, Catherine Fenton (qv). Robert was brought up in Ireland till sent to Eton College, aged eight, in 1635. His father withdrew him from Eton in 1638 and, after a year in which he was educated privately at his father's English seat, Stalbridge House in Dorset, he set out on a continental tour under the tutelage of the huguenot savant Isaac Marcombes; he visited France and Italy and continued his education during a stay in Geneva from 1642 to 1644.
Returning to England, he initially settled on the estate at Stalbridge, which by this time had been bequeathed to him, and it was here that his career as a writer began. Initially, he devoted himself not to natural philosophy but to compositions written in a self-consciously literary style in which he advocated the pursuit of moral rectitude. Some of Boyle's writings from this period were published by him in modified form later in his life, while others were first published in the late twentieth century.
In 1649 Boyle's preoccupations changed dramatically when he erected a laboratory at Stalbridge and began to experiment for the first time. His writings from the years that follow display an acute sense of the value of such experimental knowledge in the defence of religion, which was to remain with him for the rest of his life: this is perhaps seen most clearly in his ‘Of the study of the book of nature’ (c.1650), which has recently been published for the first time in vol. xiii of the new edition of his Works.
In the early 1650s Boyle came into contact with the American chemist George Starkey, alias Eirenaeus Philalethes, and it is clear that this liaison had a profound effect on Boyle. Through Starkey, Boyle was introduced to the work of J. B. van Helmont – whose influence on Boyle is now known to have been far greater than was once thought – and to more sophisticated chemical experimentation than he had practiced previously. Boyle pursued similar interests in conjunction with contacts made through the ‘intelligencer’ Samuel Hartlib, with whom he carried out an extensive correspondence at this time. From this period onwards, Boyle retained a deep interest in alchemy, as recent study has made clear.
Between June 1652 and July 1654 Boyle spent all but about three months in Ireland. Towards the end of his stay, he fell seriously ill of a dropsy which permanently affected his eyesight. Although his profuse income remained substantially based on his Irish landholdings, he never visited Ireland again.
A new phase in Boyle's career opened with his move to Oxford in 1655 or 1656 to join the group of natural philosophers assembled there under the auspices of John Wilkins, warden of Wadham College, including such luminaries as Seth Ward, Thomas Willis, and Christopher Wren. Boyle now came into contact with a wider range of natural philosophical ideas, including the mechanical philosophy as adumbrated by Descartes and others, which profoundly affected his subsequent intellectual life. It was also now that Boyle discovered an extraordinary facility as an author, producing a torrent of writings which began to make their way into print over the following decade, establishing him as the international celebrity that he remained for the rest of his life.
The first work of natural philosophy that Boyle published was in many ways the most important, his New experiments physico-mechanical, touching the spring of the air and its effects (1660). This derived from his interest in the pneumatic experiments of Otto von Guericke, about which he heard in the late 1650s. With the help of Robert Hooke, his assistant and later a significant natural philosopher in his own right, Boyle devised a vacuum chamber which could be used to assess the characteristics and functions of air, notably by studying the effect of its withdrawal on flame, light, and living creatures. In his book he presented a series of experiments of extraordinary ingenuity, together with reflections on them, in a format that was to prove as influential as it was novel.
Hardly less significant was a book published by Boyle in 1661, Certain physiological essays. In part, this was important for the sophisticated rationale that it offered for the practice of experiments and their presentation in the form of ‘essays’. The work exemplified this particularly in the ‘Essay on nitre’, written early in Boyle's Oxford period, in which he showed how the changes that could be brought about on saltpetre by chemical means could be explained in ‘corpuscular’ terms (the name he coined for his version of the mechanical philosophy). A number of Boyle's later writings were presented as sequels to this epoch-making essay.
Also significant was a further programmatic work written in the late 1650s, the first ‘tome’ of Boyle's Usefulness of natural philosophy (1663), which comprised a series of essays justifying the study of natural philosophy partly on religious grounds and partly on practical ones. The section of this work published in 1663 dealt disproportionately with the medical applications of natural philosophy, but Boyle's essays on more miscellaneous aspects of the utilitarian benefits of science came out in a sequel published in 1671.
The books that Boyle produced in the early to mid 1660s also included his famous, if rather diffuse, The sceptical chymist (1661), in which he criticised the principles of ‘vulgar’ chemists. In addition, he responded to critics of Spring of the air, thus enabling him to expound and vindicate his ideas more fully: he was to publish further work on pneumatics in the 1670s. The mid 1660s saw the publication of Boyle's massive experimental ‘histories’ of Colours (1664) and Cold (1665), which further exemplified his programme of using experimental and observational data to vindicate corpuscular explanations of nature. Equally important was his Origin of forms and qualities (1666), in which he attacked Aristotelian notions, arguing for the superior intelligibility of mechanical explanations.
The Royal Society had been founded in 1660, and Boyle was central to the society in its early years. His publications were widely seen as exemplifying its aims and objectives and they were heavily promoted in the journal Philosophical Transactions, inaugurated by the society's first secretary, Henry Oldenburg, himself a protégé of Boyle.
From the later 1660s a further phase in Boyle's career opened; it may not be coincidental that this was juxtaposed with his move in 1668 from Oxford to London, where he was to live in the house of his sister, Katherine Jones (qv), Lady Ranelagh, for the rest of his life. At this point Boyle ceased to publish substantial, continuous treatises, instead issuing a series of rather disparate volumes of ‘tracts’, often more essayistic in form and sometimes more speculative in nature, dealing with such themes as the ‘cosmical qualities’ or ‘effluviums’ of things, though this was not exclusive of the publication of case studies of the mechanical philosophy, as seen in his Experiments, notes &c. about the mechanical origin of qualities (1675). Boyle's unabated experimental acumen is revealed by his trials in the late 1670s of the qualities of phosphorescent substances which came to the attention of English virtuosi at that time.
Though Boyle had earlier brought out devotional works alongside his scientific output, notably his Seraphic love (1659) and Occasional reflections (1665), the 1670s saw him publishing works concerned more overtly than hitherto with the mutual relations of science and religion. In such works as The excellency of theology, compared with natural philosophy (1674) and Some considerations about the reconcileableness of reason and religion (1675), Boyle dealt with issues to do with the religious significance of natural philosophy and with the role and limitations of reason, topics to which he was to revert repeatedly in publications of his later years.
Another topic on which he was to publish profusely in his later years concerned the medical spin-offs from natural philosophy, taking up one of the themes of The usefulness of natural philosophy, though he thought better of a direct assault on the medical profession. Among his works in this field was his Medicina hydrostatica (1690), which explored the value of the study of specific gravity in a medical context, while a volume published in 1685 comprised analytical tests of mineral waters.
Boyle also remained active throughout his life as a philanthropist and a promoter of missionary and other concerns. He was governor of the Corporation for the Propagation of the Gospel in New England, or New England Company, from 1662 to 1689, and he promoted various books aimed at the mission field, not least in the Near East, from 1660 to 1677. It is in this context that one should see his patronage in the early 1680s of the reprinting of the Irish translation of the New Testament and the publication of the William Bedell (qv) translation of the Old Testament. Subsequently, these translations were also distributed in the Scottish Highlands.
Boyle suffered a severe stroke in 1670, and he was increasingly infirm in his later years. He drew up an elaborate will in the summer of 1691, evidently feeling that the end was near, and he died 30 December 1691 within eight days of his beloved sister, Katherine, whose house he had shared since 1668. A memorable funeral sermon was preached by his confidant, Gilbert Burnet, bishop of Salisbury, at St Martin-in-the-Fields, on 7 January 1692.
The Boyle letters and papers are housed at the Royal Society in London, where they were deposited in 1769. For a catalogue of the archive, see Michael Hunter at al, The Boyle papers: understanding the manuscripts of Robert Boyle (2007). The Royal Society also has portraits of Boyle by Johann Kerseboom and John Riley. Various other versions of the Kerseboom portrait exist. The three other principal images of him are (1) a sculpture of him as a boy on the tomb of the 1st earl of Cork in St Patrick's cathedral, Dublin; (2) an engraved portrait based on a drawing by William Faithorne now in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford; and (3) a medal struck by C. R. Berch from a lost ivory medallion executed by Jean Cavalier. For a full account, see R. E. W. Maddison, ‘The portraiture of the Honourable Robert Boyle’, Annals of Science, xv (1959), 141–214. The standard editions of his writings are Michael Hunter and Edward B. Davis (ed.), The works of Robert Boyle (14 vols, 1999–2000), superseding the earlier edition by Thomas Birch (1744, reprinted 1772, 1965); Michael Hunter, Antonio Clericuzio, and Lawrence M. Principe (ed.), The correspondence of Robert Boyle (6 vols, 2001); 'The work-diaries of Robert Boyle' (revised 2004, available online at www.livesandletters.ac.uk/wd/index.html); J.J. McIntosh (ed), Boyle on atheism (2005); and John T. Harwood (ed.), The early essays and ethics of Robert Boyle (1991). Michael Hunter (ed.), Robert Boyle by himself and his friends (1994) is a collection of key early biographical sources.
Boyle left an important legacy. He was the leading exemplar of the new, experimental philosophy in late seventeenth-century England, his profuse books proving influential in exemplifying how experimental enquiries should be executed and reported, and in emphasising the significance of the ‘matters of fact’ obtained by such means. This was combined with a wariness of premature systematisation which was also highly influential – though Boyle's work was far from aimless, and his investigations were underlain by clear, if eclectic, explanatory goals.
Boyle was also a paradigm in terms of the broad affiliations of scientific inquiry. His aristocratic background gave him a patrician demeanour to which his contemporaries almost automatically deferred, and the pursuits to which he devoted himself undoubtedly gained kudos from this. Even more important was Boyle's role as ‘the Christian virtuoso’, to quote the title of one of his last books to be published in his lifetime. Quite apart from the extent to which he exemplified Christian principles in his own life, it now seems that Boyle's intense religiosity helps to explain his experimental activity, in that his laboratory practice can in many ways be seen as an extension of his indefatigable examination of his conscience. Equally significant was Boyle's conviction of the integrity of the study of nature to a proper understanding of religion, something which he not only exemplified in his own work but also promoted posthumously through the series of apologetic ‘Boyle Lectures’ that were inaugurated under one of the provisions of his will. The early enlightenment synthesis of science and religion owed more to Boyle than to anyone else, and the same may arguably also be said for the experimental method of modern science.


If you're a strength athlete, you know that nutrition plays a crucial role in your performance and results. One of the most important nutrients for strength athletes is protein. In this blog post, we'll discuss the importance of eating a high protein diet and how it can benefit strength athletes.
What is protein?
Protein is one of the three macronutrients (the others are carbohydrates and fat) that our bodies need in large amounts to function properly. Protein is made up of amino acids, which are the building blocks of our muscles, bones, skin, and other tissues. Protein is essential for muscle growth, repair, and maintenance.
Why is protein important for strength athletes?
Strength athletes need more protein than the average person because they put more stress on their muscles during training. When you lift weights or perform other strength exercises, you cause microscopic damage to your muscle fibers. Your body repairs this damage by synthesizing new muscle protein, which leads to muscle growth and increased strength.
If you don't consume enough protein, your body won't have the raw materials it needs to repair and build new muscle tissue. This can lead to slower progress in the gym, increased risk of injury, and muscle loss.
How much protein do strength athletes need?
The exact amount of protein you need depends on a variety of factors, including your body weight, training volume, and goals. However, most strength athletes should aim to consume between 1.2-2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day.
For example, a 200-pound (90kg) powerlifter who trains four times per week might aim to consume 180-330 grams of protein per day. This may sound like a lot, but it's achievable with a well-planned diet.
What are some good sources of protein?
There are many sources of protein, both animal and plant-based. Animal sources of protein include:
Meat (beef, pork, chicken, etc.)
Fish and seafood
Dairy products (milk, cheese, yogurt, etc.)
Plant-based sources of protein include:
Beans and legumes (lentils, chickpeas, black beans, etc.)
Nuts and seeds (almonds, peanuts, chia seeds, etc.)
Soy products (tofu, tempeh, edamame, etc.)
Whole grains (quinoa, brown rice, etc.)
While animal sources of protein tend to be higher in protein per serving, plant-based sources of protein can be a great addition to a high protein diet, especially for those who follow a vegetarian or vegan diet.
In conclusion, if you're a strength athlete, eating a high protein diet is essential for achieving your goals. Aim to consume 1.2-2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, and make sure to include a variety of protein sources in your diet. With a well-planned diet and consistent training, you can maximize your strength and performance in the gym.


Each year on 14 October, the members of the IEC, ISO and ITU celebrate World Standards Day, which is a means of paying tribute to the collaborative efforts of thousands of experts worldwide who develop the voluntary technical agreements that are published as International Standards.
World Standards Day is about our shared vision for a better world . Learn more about the theme in this message from IEC, ISO and ITU.
World Standards Day — Standards for SDGs
Our shared vision for a better world
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which project to address social imbalances, develop a sustainable economy, and slow the rate of climate change, are highly ambitious. To reach them will require the cooperation of many public and private partners, and the use of all available tools, including international standards and conformity assessment.
The intense battle against a persistent global pandemic revealed the absolute necessity of addressing the SDGs in an inclusive way, to strengthen our societies, making them more resilient and more equitable. Today, we are asking you to join us on a mission that affirms the importance of the SDGs to build back better. In this pursuit, standards are more relevant than ever.
The entire standards system is built on collaboration. It is testament to the power of cooperation and the belief that we are stronger than the sum of our parts. By working together, we are empowering people with real-world solutions to face sustainability challenges head-on.
It is in this spirit that we are engaging in a multi-year World Standards Day journey that showcases the many ways in which international standards contribute to the success of the SDGs.
We stand united to work together to accelerate the 2030 Agenda, with standards for the SDGs, and our ‘Shared vision for a better world’.


Text: Matthew 17:24-27; 22:17-22
Prop: A penny
Summary: Jesus paid his taxes and gives us an example of obeying laws. We can trust Jesus to provide for our needs.
Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s. – Matthew 22:21
(Read Matthew 17:24-27)
Peter was approached by the tax collectors and asked whether Jesus was going to pay his taxes or not. This must have really worried Peter. Jesus and the disciples were always helping so many other people I imagine that Peter probably didn’t have much money. Now his taxes were due. He must have wondered how he was going to come up with the money needed to pay the tax.
When he got back to the house where they were staying, Jesus already knew what Peter was going to ask. So Jesus asked Peter whether the kings made their own children pay taxes or if they took the tax from others. Peter knew the answer: from others. Jesus did not tell Peter to cheat on his taxes or to not pay them at all. Instead, he told him that God would provide the tax. He told Peter they would pay the tax so they didn’t offend those who expected that they pay it.
What Jesus told Peter next must have surprised him. Peter was so worried, Jesus told him to take the day off and go fishing! Remember, Peter had given up his love of fishing to follow Jesus. Now Jesus was telling him to go do what he loved to do, to relax and take it easy. Go fishing! It was truly an act of faith when Peter did as Jesus told him and when he caught the first fish, he looked in the mouth, and there was a coin! It was just the right amount to pay the tax for Peter and Jesus. God performed a mighty miracle!
As told by Rev. Lewis Shaffer, Son Shine Ministries International Inc. Used by permission.
This article was written by Jim