The NPA is working with The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation and Macmillan Cancer Support to promote November's Lung Cancer Awareness Month through community pharmacy.
NPA members will receive with their October InTouch (the NPA's member magazine) an A4 'Lung Cancer Awareness' poster for pharmacists to display in their shops. The campaign message is "Early Diagnosis Saves Lives" and it is hoped that pharmacists will become a key healthcare professional in raising awareness of the disease throughout the month of November and beyond.
The NPA will also provide guidance on how pharmacists can help with the early detection of lung cancer. Members will be asked to look out for symptoms of lung cancer and refer patients presenting with them to their GPs.
Neal Patel, NPA Head of Communications said: "It is great that we have been able to develop our partnership with The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation and Macmillan Cancer Support that started in the run up to the smoking ban. When we heard they wanted to promote early detection of lung cancer we thought it made sense to involve pharmacists in this initiative - they are ideally placed to help with prevention as well as detection of lung cancer."
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Blood Testing Identifies Abnormal Cells Up To Six Years Prior To Leukemia Diagnosis
Testing of blood specimens may detect abnormal white blood cells in patients years before the chronic form of lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) develops, according to research published in the current issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The finding may lead to a better understanding of cellular changes that characterize the earliest stages of the disease and how it progresses.
Researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, led the study, which was co-authored by two researchers with Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE: DGX), Maher Albitar, M.D., Medical Director and Chief of Research and Development, Hematology and Oncology, and Wanlong Ma, M.S., Research and Development Manager, Hematology and Oncology.
For the study, Dr. Albitar and Ms. Ma developed a method to identify abnormal B-cell clones in blood specimens. Quest Diagnostics plans to use a similar approach to develop tests that may one day be used by physicians as an aid in identifying patients who will develop CLL.
"We searched for tumor cells by performing a sophisticated form of flow cytometry as well as molecular testing on frozen samples of whole blood and blood plasma," said Dr. Albitar. "The findings of this study lead to better understanding of biological processes underlying the development of CLL, and give us hope that in the future we will be able to develop new testing techniques to look at blood from patients with abnormal cells and distinguish those who will develop overt cancer from those who will not."
"Quest Diagnostics is the leader in cancer testing, and this study demonstrates the commitment of our science and innovation team to advancing cancer research," said Surya N. Mohapatra, Ph.D., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Quest Diagnostics.
CLL is a blood cancer that usually progresses slowly over many years. In this disease, abnormal white blood cells called B-cells accumulate in the blood and the bone marrow. The lymph nodes, spleen, and other organs may also be affected. Although CLL is the most common form of leukemia in adults in Western countries, little is known about what causes the disease or how it develops.
Previous research by the NCI/FDA team and others showed that some family members of CLL patients can have B-cells in their blood that have outer-surface proteins that are similar to proteins found on CLL cells. This abnormal condition, known as monoclonal B-cell lymphocytosis (MBL), occurs in over 10 percent of CLL family members and in about 3 percent to 5 percent of healthy adults over the age of 50, suggesting it might be a precursor of CLL.
In the current study, the research team identified 45 individuals among the more than 77,000 participants in the nationwide Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial who were cancer-free upon entering the trial, were later diagnosed with CLL, and had frozen blood samples available for analysis that had been collected upon their enrollment in PLCO. Using sophisticated laboratory techniques developed by Quest Diagnostics to analyze the blood samples, the researchers found that 44 of the 45 CLL patients had MBL between six months to more than six years prior to their CLL diagnosis. Prior research shows that the MBL cells were identified by examining cell-surface proteins, or CLL markers, using a method called flow cytometry, and by using molecular techniques to confirm the presence of certain rearranged genes, known as immunoglobulin heavy variable (IGHV) group genes, found in CLL. In 41 patients, MBL was confirmed by both methods.
The study, titled "B-Cell Clones as Early Markers for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia," (Vol. 360, No. 7, Feb. 12, 2009) was accompanied by the editorial "The Secret Lives of Monoclonal B Cells."
About Quest Diagnostics and Blood-based Tumor Testing
Quest Diagnostics is a leader in noninvasive blood-based biomarker testing used by physicians to screen for, diagnose and monitor carcinomas and other tissue-based disease. The company's proprietary Leumeta(TM) portfolio of tests helps physicians identify and analyze genetic components of leukemia and lymphoma tumors using blood plasma instead of bone marrow, which can only be tested after extraction through painful biopsy. In addition, the company is the exclusive national reference laboratory provider of the blood-based HE4 Ovarian Cancer Monitoring test, which is FDA cleared as an aid in monitoring recurrent or progressive disease in women with epithelial ovarian cancer. The company is also developing a molecular blood test based on Epigenomics AG's Septin 9 DNA methylation biomarker that can help physicians detect colorectal cancer based on a patient's blood specimen.
About Quest Diagnostics
Quest Diagnostics is the world's leading provider of diagnostic testing, information and services that patients and doctors need to make better healthcare decisions. The company offers the broadest access to diagnostic testing services through its network of laboratories and patient service centers, and provides interpretive consultation through its extensive medical and scientific staff. Quest Diagnostics is a pioneer in developing innovative diagnostic tests and advanced healthcare information technology solutions that help improve patient care. Additional company information is available at questdiagnostics.
The statements in this press release that are not historical facts or information may be forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and outcomes to be materially different. Certain of these risks and uncertainties may include, but are not limited to, competitive environment, changes in government regulations, changing relationships with customers, payers, suppliers and strategic partners and other factors described in the Quest Diagnostics Incorporated 2007 Form 10-K and subsequent SEC filings.
Quest Diagnostics
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Researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, led the study, which was co-authored by two researchers with Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE: DGX), Maher Albitar, M.D., Medical Director and Chief of Research and Development, Hematology and Oncology, and Wanlong Ma, M.S., Research and Development Manager, Hematology and Oncology.
For the study, Dr. Albitar and Ms. Ma developed a method to identify abnormal B-cell clones in blood specimens. Quest Diagnostics plans to use a similar approach to develop tests that may one day be used by physicians as an aid in identifying patients who will develop CLL.
"We searched for tumor cells by performing a sophisticated form of flow cytometry as well as molecular testing on frozen samples of whole blood and blood plasma," said Dr. Albitar. "The findings of this study lead to better understanding of biological processes underlying the development of CLL, and give us hope that in the future we will be able to develop new testing techniques to look at blood from patients with abnormal cells and distinguish those who will develop overt cancer from those who will not."
"Quest Diagnostics is the leader in cancer testing, and this study demonstrates the commitment of our science and innovation team to advancing cancer research," said Surya N. Mohapatra, Ph.D., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Quest Diagnostics.
CLL is a blood cancer that usually progresses slowly over many years. In this disease, abnormal white blood cells called B-cells accumulate in the blood and the bone marrow. The lymph nodes, spleen, and other organs may also be affected. Although CLL is the most common form of leukemia in adults in Western countries, little is known about what causes the disease or how it develops.
Previous research by the NCI/FDA team and others showed that some family members of CLL patients can have B-cells in their blood that have outer-surface proteins that are similar to proteins found on CLL cells. This abnormal condition, known as monoclonal B-cell lymphocytosis (MBL), occurs in over 10 percent of CLL family members and in about 3 percent to 5 percent of healthy adults over the age of 50, suggesting it might be a precursor of CLL.
In the current study, the research team identified 45 individuals among the more than 77,000 participants in the nationwide Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial who were cancer-free upon entering the trial, were later diagnosed with CLL, and had frozen blood samples available for analysis that had been collected upon their enrollment in PLCO. Using sophisticated laboratory techniques developed by Quest Diagnostics to analyze the blood samples, the researchers found that 44 of the 45 CLL patients had MBL between six months to more than six years prior to their CLL diagnosis. Prior research shows that the MBL cells were identified by examining cell-surface proteins, or CLL markers, using a method called flow cytometry, and by using molecular techniques to confirm the presence of certain rearranged genes, known as immunoglobulin heavy variable (IGHV) group genes, found in CLL. In 41 patients, MBL was confirmed by both methods.
The study, titled "B-Cell Clones as Early Markers for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia," (Vol. 360, No. 7, Feb. 12, 2009) was accompanied by the editorial "The Secret Lives of Monoclonal B Cells."
About Quest Diagnostics and Blood-based Tumor Testing
Quest Diagnostics is a leader in noninvasive blood-based biomarker testing used by physicians to screen for, diagnose and monitor carcinomas and other tissue-based disease. The company's proprietary Leumeta(TM) portfolio of tests helps physicians identify and analyze genetic components of leukemia and lymphoma tumors using blood plasma instead of bone marrow, which can only be tested after extraction through painful biopsy. In addition, the company is the exclusive national reference laboratory provider of the blood-based HE4 Ovarian Cancer Monitoring test, which is FDA cleared as an aid in monitoring recurrent or progressive disease in women with epithelial ovarian cancer. The company is also developing a molecular blood test based on Epigenomics AG's Septin 9 DNA methylation biomarker that can help physicians detect colorectal cancer based on a patient's blood specimen.
About Quest Diagnostics
Quest Diagnostics is the world's leading provider of diagnostic testing, information and services that patients and doctors need to make better healthcare decisions. The company offers the broadest access to diagnostic testing services through its network of laboratories and patient service centers, and provides interpretive consultation through its extensive medical and scientific staff. Quest Diagnostics is a pioneer in developing innovative diagnostic tests and advanced healthcare information technology solutions that help improve patient care. Additional company information is available at questdiagnostics.
The statements in this press release that are not historical facts or information may be forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and outcomes to be materially different. Certain of these risks and uncertainties may include, but are not limited to, competitive environment, changes in government regulations, changing relationships with customers, payers, suppliers and strategic partners and other factors described in the Quest Diagnostics Incorporated 2007 Form 10-K and subsequent SEC filings.
Quest Diagnostics
questdiagnostics
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Researchers Find Botox Eases Painful Spinal Headaches
A Mayo Clinic case study finds Botox may offer new hope to patients suffering disabling low cerebrospinal fluid headaches. The successful treatment also offers new insight into Botox and headache treatment generally. The case study was presented March 13th, 2011 at the American Academy of Neurology meeting in Hawaii.
Low CSF pressure headaches are caused by an internal spinal fluid leak. The pain can range from slight to disabling. The headaches are most commonly triggered by a lumbar puncture. The pain is caused as fluid leaks out and the brain sags. For many patients, lying down has offered the only relief, because existing therapies weren't fully effective. Traditional treatment is a blood patch, which is just that: a patch of the patient's blood injected over the puncture hole.
The patient in the case study suffered low CSF pressure headaches for 25 years. For most of that time, she only felt better while lying down, curtailing her day-to-day activities. Five years ago, she sought help from Michael Cutrer, M.D., and Paul Mathew, M.D. The patient has received Botox for three years and the results have been consistently positive. After each treatment, improvement would last for three months before pain returned, requiring another dose. While not cured, the patient is now able to live a more normal life.
"We had been using Botox for several years for treatment of migraine and had been successful in many patients. And because we really didn't have anything else to offer her, we gave her the Botox," says Dr. Cutrer, a neurologist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and the report's co-author. "To everybody's surprise she made a remarkable improvement." The intensity of the patient's headaches dropped from 8 out of 10 on a visual pain scale to 3 out of 10.
Source:
Mayo Clinic
View drug information on Botox.
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Low CSF pressure headaches are caused by an internal spinal fluid leak. The pain can range from slight to disabling. The headaches are most commonly triggered by a lumbar puncture. The pain is caused as fluid leaks out and the brain sags. For many patients, lying down has offered the only relief, because existing therapies weren't fully effective. Traditional treatment is a blood patch, which is just that: a patch of the patient's blood injected over the puncture hole.
The patient in the case study suffered low CSF pressure headaches for 25 years. For most of that time, she only felt better while lying down, curtailing her day-to-day activities. Five years ago, she sought help from Michael Cutrer, M.D., and Paul Mathew, M.D. The patient has received Botox for three years and the results have been consistently positive. After each treatment, improvement would last for three months before pain returned, requiring another dose. While not cured, the patient is now able to live a more normal life.
"We had been using Botox for several years for treatment of migraine and had been successful in many patients. And because we really didn't have anything else to offer her, we gave her the Botox," says Dr. Cutrer, a neurologist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and the report's co-author. "To everybody's surprise she made a remarkable improvement." The intensity of the patient's headaches dropped from 8 out of 10 on a visual pain scale to 3 out of 10.
Source:
Mayo Clinic
View drug information on Botox.
Buy Emla Online no Prescription
Minuscule Molecules Pack A Powerful Punch In Immune Defence
Scientists have shown that a tiny microRNA molecule called miR-155, plays a critical role in immune defence and may be a lynchpin in the immune system. The findings reported today in Science reveal that mice lacking the bic/miR-155 gene, one of the world's first microRNA 'knockout' mice, have compromised immune systems and are less able to resist infection and mount an immune response to bacteria like Salmonella typhimurium, a leading cause of human gastroenteritis. They also develop symptoms similar to those of human autoimmune disorders.
The researchers from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, The Babraham Institute, The Gurdon Institute and University of Cambridge, suggest that the corresponding human gene will have a similar role. This discovery provides insights into what makes our immune systems tick, what underpins diseases of the immune system like lymphoma development or autoimmunity, and how these minuscule molecules may be harnessed as effective therapeutic agents.
MicroRNAs, also known as short interfering (si) RNAs, are copied from DNA but do not contain code for protein. Rather they control gene activity by binding to specific related sequences, thereby interfering with a gene's ability to produce the proteins that co-ordinate cellular activities.
Previous research showed that miR-155 was active in cells of the immune system and over-activity of miR-155 has been reported in B-cell lymphomas and solid tumours, implicating this region of the genome in cancer. The research team, led by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, targeted the Bic/microRNA-155 gene in embryonic stem cells, which they used to transfer the mutation into mice.
"Very little is known about the function of the hundreds of microRNA genes," said Dr Antony Rodriguez, lead author on the paper from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. "Although plentiful, this class of gene had never before been knocked out in mice, the best model for human disease. But we simply did not know whether microRNA knockouts would have an effect in mice: previous knockout studies in nematode worms suggested that most microRNAs were not essential. Our findings were dramatically different."
The effects of the miR-155 knockout swept across the immune system; although knockout of miR-155 did not appear to affect normal growth and development of cells in the immune system, three critical components that normally orchestrate the immune response, T-cells, B-cells and dendritic cells, performed less well. The ability of T-cells to produce chemical signals called cytokines, regulators of the immune response, was disrupted. Antibody production by B cells was dramatically reduced and dendritic cells, which normally 'present' foreign proteins to the immune system to activate a response in T-cells, were unable to do so.
"These findings demonstrate the importance of this level of control in the immune system and will lead immunologists to rethink how the immune system works," said Dr Martin Turner, Head of the Laboratory of Lymphocyte Signalling and Development at the Babraham Institute.
To uncover how miR-155 might cause such widespread disruption, the team used microarray analysis to spot the genes whose activity was altered in the immune cells of the knockouts. The activity of over 150 genes with a large range of biological functions was reduced by miR-155, of particular note the gene c-Maf, which normally increases cytokine production and is critical for T-cell function. The team showed that miR-155 interacted directly with c-Maf, reducing its activity with consequences for activation of other genes, production of an effective immune response and susceptibility to autoimmunity and infection.
The knockout mice also develop changes to lung tissue, with scarring that is similar to some human systemic autoimmune disorders. The human Bic/miRNA-155 gene, which is 96% identical with the mature mouse microRNA, is located in a region of chromosome 21 associated with asthma, pollen sensitivity and atopic dermatitis. Hence it is thought that the equivalent human microRNA may be linked with the onset of some immune diseases.
"This dramatic finding reflects a large amount of work by collaborating groups," said Professor Allan Bradley, Director of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. "Showing that knocking out a microRNA has such dramatic effects opens new doors to understanding this novel class of gene regulation, with consequences for human health and disease. Our work builds upon the sequences of the human and mouse genomes, the power of computer analysis and microarray work and exemplifies why whole-organism research can bring understanding that cannot be developed in any other way."
The study emphasises the value of the ES cell based knockout technology, currently being pursued on a large scale through the KOMP and EUCOMM programmes at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. This success illustrates the power of the mouse to reveal function and indicates a wider role for microRNAs in animals with large genomes.
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The researchers from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, The Babraham Institute, The Gurdon Institute and University of Cambridge, suggest that the corresponding human gene will have a similar role. This discovery provides insights into what makes our immune systems tick, what underpins diseases of the immune system like lymphoma development or autoimmunity, and how these minuscule molecules may be harnessed as effective therapeutic agents.
MicroRNAs, also known as short interfering (si) RNAs, are copied from DNA but do not contain code for protein. Rather they control gene activity by binding to specific related sequences, thereby interfering with a gene's ability to produce the proteins that co-ordinate cellular activities.
Previous research showed that miR-155 was active in cells of the immune system and over-activity of miR-155 has been reported in B-cell lymphomas and solid tumours, implicating this region of the genome in cancer. The research team, led by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, targeted the Bic/microRNA-155 gene in embryonic stem cells, which they used to transfer the mutation into mice.
"Very little is known about the function of the hundreds of microRNA genes," said Dr Antony Rodriguez, lead author on the paper from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. "Although plentiful, this class of gene had never before been knocked out in mice, the best model for human disease. But we simply did not know whether microRNA knockouts would have an effect in mice: previous knockout studies in nematode worms suggested that most microRNAs were not essential. Our findings were dramatically different."
The effects of the miR-155 knockout swept across the immune system; although knockout of miR-155 did not appear to affect normal growth and development of cells in the immune system, three critical components that normally orchestrate the immune response, T-cells, B-cells and dendritic cells, performed less well. The ability of T-cells to produce chemical signals called cytokines, regulators of the immune response, was disrupted. Antibody production by B cells was dramatically reduced and dendritic cells, which normally 'present' foreign proteins to the immune system to activate a response in T-cells, were unable to do so.
"These findings demonstrate the importance of this level of control in the immune system and will lead immunologists to rethink how the immune system works," said Dr Martin Turner, Head of the Laboratory of Lymphocyte Signalling and Development at the Babraham Institute.
To uncover how miR-155 might cause such widespread disruption, the team used microarray analysis to spot the genes whose activity was altered in the immune cells of the knockouts. The activity of over 150 genes with a large range of biological functions was reduced by miR-155, of particular note the gene c-Maf, which normally increases cytokine production and is critical for T-cell function. The team showed that miR-155 interacted directly with c-Maf, reducing its activity with consequences for activation of other genes, production of an effective immune response and susceptibility to autoimmunity and infection.
The knockout mice also develop changes to lung tissue, with scarring that is similar to some human systemic autoimmune disorders. The human Bic/miRNA-155 gene, which is 96% identical with the mature mouse microRNA, is located in a region of chromosome 21 associated with asthma, pollen sensitivity and atopic dermatitis. Hence it is thought that the equivalent human microRNA may be linked with the onset of some immune diseases.
"This dramatic finding reflects a large amount of work by collaborating groups," said Professor Allan Bradley, Director of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. "Showing that knocking out a microRNA has such dramatic effects opens new doors to understanding this novel class of gene regulation, with consequences for human health and disease. Our work builds upon the sequences of the human and mouse genomes, the power of computer analysis and microarray work and exemplifies why whole-organism research can bring understanding that cannot be developed in any other way."
The study emphasises the value of the ES cell based knockout technology, currently being pursued on a large scale through the KOMP and EUCOMM programmes at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. This success illustrates the power of the mouse to reveal function and indicates a wider role for microRNAs in animals with large genomes.
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American College Of Medical Informatics Inducts 8 Fellows
Following their recent election, eight new Fellows were inducted into the American College of Medical Informatics (ACMI), at ceremonies that followed the opening of AMIA's 34th Annual Symposium on Biomedical and Health Informatics in Washington, DC, where more than 2,000 informatics professionals have gathered for five days of scientific sessions and panels on policy and ethical issues, EHRs and achieving meaningful use, translational bioinformatics and biomedicine, clinical research informatics, data mining and information extraction, and many other topics related to the science of informatics and its application areas. Incoming ACMI President Jim Cimino, MD, FACMI, welcomed the following Fellows to the College:
Elmer V. Bernstam, MD, MSE, MS, University of Texas-Houston, School of Health Information Sciences
Aziz Boxwala, MD, PhD, University of California at San Diego
Kenneth H. Buetow, Ph.D., National Cancer Institute
Rebecca Crowley, MD, MSIS, University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine
Stephen Downs, SM, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Christoph U. Lehmann, MD, Johns Hopkins University
Jack Li, MD, PhD, Taipei Medical University
Marco F. Ramoni, PhD (posthumously)
Dr. Cimino, Chief of the Laboratory for Clinical Informatics Development at the NIH Clinical Center, observed, "ACMI Fellows and the designation of FACMI will become more well known as the entire health system moves to adopt informatics--an emerging medical specialty-- and meaningful use of health information technology as an incremental part of modernizing the health sector for the computer age. These Fellows are way ahead of the curve, which is to say they are at the top of their fields: in clinical practice, in medical research, in medical education, and in patient care."
Source:
Keosha Burns
American Medical Informatics Association
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Elmer V. Bernstam, MD, MSE, MS, University of Texas-Houston, School of Health Information Sciences
Aziz Boxwala, MD, PhD, University of California at San Diego
Kenneth H. Buetow, Ph.D., National Cancer Institute
Rebecca Crowley, MD, MSIS, University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine
Stephen Downs, SM, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Christoph U. Lehmann, MD, Johns Hopkins University
Jack Li, MD, PhD, Taipei Medical University
Marco F. Ramoni, PhD (posthumously)
Dr. Cimino, Chief of the Laboratory for Clinical Informatics Development at the NIH Clinical Center, observed, "ACMI Fellows and the designation of FACMI will become more well known as the entire health system moves to adopt informatics--an emerging medical specialty-- and meaningful use of health information technology as an incremental part of modernizing the health sector for the computer age. These Fellows are way ahead of the curve, which is to say they are at the top of their fields: in clinical practice, in medical research, in medical education, and in patient care."
Source:
Keosha Burns
American Medical Informatics Association
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Latest Threat To Humanity Posed By Killer Military Robots
A robotics expert at the University of Sheffield will today (27 February 2008) issue stark warnings over the threat posed to humanity by new robot weapons being developed by powers worldwide.
In a keynote address to the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), Professor Noel Sharkey, from the University's Department of Computer Science, will express his concerns that we are beginning to see the first steps towards an international robot arms race. He will warn that it may not be long before robots become a standard terrorist weapon to replace the suicide bomber.
Many nations are now involved in developing the technology for robot weapons, with the US Department of Defence (DoD) being the most significant player. According to the Unmanned Systems Roadmap 2007-2013 (published in December 2007), the US propose to spend an estimated $4 billion by 2010 on unmanned systems technology. The total spending is expected to rise above $24 billion.
Over 4,000 robots are currently deployed on the ground in Iraq and by October 2006 unmanned aircraft had flown 400,000 flight hours. Currently there is always a human in the loop to decide on the use of lethal force. However, this is set to change with the US giving priority to autonomous weapons - robots that will decide on where, when and who to kill.
Others are now embarking on robot weapons programmes in Europe and other allied countries such as Canada, South Korea, South Africa, Singapore and Israel. China, Russia and India are also embarking on the development of unmanned aerial combat vehicle. The US DoD report is unsure about the activity in China but admits that they have strong infrastructure capability for parallel developments in robot weapons.
Professor Sharkey, who is famously known for his roles as chief judge on the TV series Robot Wars and as onscreen expert for the BBCВґs TechnoGames, said: "The trouble is that we can't really put the genie back in the bottle. Once the new weapons are out there, they will be fairly easy to copy. How long is it going to be before the terrorists get in on the act""
"With the current prices of robot construction falling dramatically and the availability of ready-made components for the amateur market, it wouldn't require a lot of skill to make autonomous robot weapons."
Professor Sharkey is reluctant to explain how such robots could be made but he points out that a small GPS guided drone with autopilot could be made for around ВЈ250.
The robotics expert is also concerned with a number of ethical issues that arise from the use of autonomous weapons. He added: "Current robots are dumb machines with very limited sensing capability. What this means is that it is not possible to guarantee discrimination between combatants and innocents or a proportional use of force as required by the current Laws of War.
"It seems clear that there is an urgent need for the international community to assess the risks of these new weapons now rather than after they have crept their way into common use."
Professor Sharkey's talk will be at a one-day conference at RUSI in Whitehall on 27 February 2008.
Noel Sharkey is a Professor of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence, Professor of Public Engagement and EPSRC Senior Media Fellow at the University of Sheffield UK.
Click here for further reading about Professor Sharkey's research into autonomous-robotics.
Source: Lindsey Bird
University of Sheffield
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In a keynote address to the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), Professor Noel Sharkey, from the University's Department of Computer Science, will express his concerns that we are beginning to see the first steps towards an international robot arms race. He will warn that it may not be long before robots become a standard terrorist weapon to replace the suicide bomber.
Many nations are now involved in developing the technology for robot weapons, with the US Department of Defence (DoD) being the most significant player. According to the Unmanned Systems Roadmap 2007-2013 (published in December 2007), the US propose to spend an estimated $4 billion by 2010 on unmanned systems technology. The total spending is expected to rise above $24 billion.
Over 4,000 robots are currently deployed on the ground in Iraq and by October 2006 unmanned aircraft had flown 400,000 flight hours. Currently there is always a human in the loop to decide on the use of lethal force. However, this is set to change with the US giving priority to autonomous weapons - robots that will decide on where, when and who to kill.
Others are now embarking on robot weapons programmes in Europe and other allied countries such as Canada, South Korea, South Africa, Singapore and Israel. China, Russia and India are also embarking on the development of unmanned aerial combat vehicle. The US DoD report is unsure about the activity in China but admits that they have strong infrastructure capability for parallel developments in robot weapons.
Professor Sharkey, who is famously known for his roles as chief judge on the TV series Robot Wars and as onscreen expert for the BBCВґs TechnoGames, said: "The trouble is that we can't really put the genie back in the bottle. Once the new weapons are out there, they will be fairly easy to copy. How long is it going to be before the terrorists get in on the act""
"With the current prices of robot construction falling dramatically and the availability of ready-made components for the amateur market, it wouldn't require a lot of skill to make autonomous robot weapons."
Professor Sharkey is reluctant to explain how such robots could be made but he points out that a small GPS guided drone with autopilot could be made for around ВЈ250.
The robotics expert is also concerned with a number of ethical issues that arise from the use of autonomous weapons. He added: "Current robots are dumb machines with very limited sensing capability. What this means is that it is not possible to guarantee discrimination between combatants and innocents or a proportional use of force as required by the current Laws of War.
"It seems clear that there is an urgent need for the international community to assess the risks of these new weapons now rather than after they have crept their way into common use."
Professor Sharkey's talk will be at a one-day conference at RUSI in Whitehall on 27 February 2008.
Noel Sharkey is a Professor of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence, Professor of Public Engagement and EPSRC Senior Media Fellow at the University of Sheffield UK.
Click here for further reading about Professor Sharkey's research into autonomous-robotics.
Source: Lindsey Bird
University of Sheffield
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EPA Funds $2.25 Million To Research Connection Between Biodiversity And Disease
Biodiversity has long been recognized by EPA as critical for environmental well-being. Humans rely on healthy ecosystems to provide food, clean air, and drinking water. But less understood is the connection between disease and biodiversity (the number and variety of plants and animals found in a geographic region). Recent studies suggest that maintaining biodiversity may protect us against diseases such as Lyme disease and West Nile encephalitis, the disease caused by West Nile Virus.
Changing land use and development have altered natural ecosystems greatly in the last 50 years, contributing to a decline in biodiversity. At the same time, there has been a rise in new infectious diseases as well as infectious diseases previously thought to be under control. To find out if there is a connection; EPA has funded three interdisciplinary teams to explore the links between biodiversity and human health.
The grants, totaling $2.25 million, support research programs working to better understand and characterize the mechanisms that link environmental stressors, such as deforestation and climate change, to the loss of biodiversity and the transmission of infections diseases to people. The grants are funded by EPA's Office of the Science Advisor and the Agency's Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program, run by EPA's Office of Research and Development.
"Biodiversity loss and emergence and re-emergence of infectious diseases are both of great concern," said George Gray, EPA Science Advisor and assistant administrator of the Office of Research and Development. "With these grants, we can explore the possible linkages, so that policy-makers can make better decisions on land use and development, ecosystems, and integrated pest management - and possibly reduce or even prevent human disease."
These three grants will bring together ecologists, biologists, public health experts, earth scientists, and social scientists. Together, they will integrate data on ecosystems, human health, and man-made stressors such as deforestation to investigate how environmental factors and people's behaviors contribute to disease transmission. The research will inform and also involve decision-makers to consider how land use and management decisions, as well as decisions on integrated pest management, can protect both human health and the environment.
The grants funded by EPA were awarded to:
Cary Institute for Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY, $750,000 - will investigate how differences in animal community composition affect the risk of Lyme disease transmission in Duchess County, NY.
Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, $749,995 - will investigate the relationships between diversity in plant, bird, and mosquito populations and West Nile virus prevalence in urban wetland communities in northern NJ. The research team will also consider how people's attitudes about and behaviors in these wetlands affect their risk of disease transmission.
University of California, Los Angeles, CA, $749,296 - will investigate the role of migratory birds in West Nile Virus transmission and use earth observations to better understand how climate and anthropogenic changes to the environment might predict risk.
For more information on these grants: es.epa/ncer/07biodiversity
EPA's Biodiversity Research: es.epa/ncer/biodiversity/
EPA's Office of Research and Development: epa/ord
Source: Melissa Anley-Mills
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
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Changing land use and development have altered natural ecosystems greatly in the last 50 years, contributing to a decline in biodiversity. At the same time, there has been a rise in new infectious diseases as well as infectious diseases previously thought to be under control. To find out if there is a connection; EPA has funded three interdisciplinary teams to explore the links between biodiversity and human health.
The grants, totaling $2.25 million, support research programs working to better understand and characterize the mechanisms that link environmental stressors, such as deforestation and climate change, to the loss of biodiversity and the transmission of infections diseases to people. The grants are funded by EPA's Office of the Science Advisor and the Agency's Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program, run by EPA's Office of Research and Development.
"Biodiversity loss and emergence and re-emergence of infectious diseases are both of great concern," said George Gray, EPA Science Advisor and assistant administrator of the Office of Research and Development. "With these grants, we can explore the possible linkages, so that policy-makers can make better decisions on land use and development, ecosystems, and integrated pest management - and possibly reduce or even prevent human disease."
These three grants will bring together ecologists, biologists, public health experts, earth scientists, and social scientists. Together, they will integrate data on ecosystems, human health, and man-made stressors such as deforestation to investigate how environmental factors and people's behaviors contribute to disease transmission. The research will inform and also involve decision-makers to consider how land use and management decisions, as well as decisions on integrated pest management, can protect both human health and the environment.
The grants funded by EPA were awarded to:
Cary Institute for Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY, $750,000 - will investigate how differences in animal community composition affect the risk of Lyme disease transmission in Duchess County, NY.
Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, $749,995 - will investigate the relationships between diversity in plant, bird, and mosquito populations and West Nile virus prevalence in urban wetland communities in northern NJ. The research team will also consider how people's attitudes about and behaviors in these wetlands affect their risk of disease transmission.
University of California, Los Angeles, CA, $749,296 - will investigate the role of migratory birds in West Nile Virus transmission and use earth observations to better understand how climate and anthropogenic changes to the environment might predict risk.
For more information on these grants: es.epa/ncer/07biodiversity
EPA's Biodiversity Research: es.epa/ncer/biodiversity/
EPA's Office of Research and Development: epa/ord
Source: Melissa Anley-Mills
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
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