Monday, February 23, 2015

team of biomedical engineers at Columbia University has developed an iPhone dongle costing just $34 that can conduct HIV tests with similar accuracy to ‘gold standard’ laboratory equipment costing over $18,000. The test, which also detects syphilis, takes just 15 minutes to run … 

The work was reported in the Science Translational Medicine journal (via GigaOM).

This low-cost dongle replicates all mechanical, optical, and electronic functions of a laboratory-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) without requiring any stored energy; all necessary power is drawn from a smartphone. [Results] rivaled the gold standard of laboratory-based HIV ELISA.


The dongle plugs into the audio jack, and is compatible with both iPhones and Android smartphones. The test requires just a single pin-prick of blood.

Training health workers to administer the test takes just half an hour. By making the test cheap and quick to run using only minimal equipment, it’s hoped to dramatically increase testing in developing countries.

Smartphones are increasingly being used for low-cost medical diagnostic tests, previous examples including a $500 iPhone dongle to detect skin cancer with the same accuracy as dermatologists, and a $90 iPhone accessory that performs the same job as ophthalmology kit costing tens of thousands of dollars.

$34 iPhone dongle allows 15-minute HIV test with similar accuracy to ‘gold standard’ lab test


You’ve probably heard it more than once: drink more water to help you lose more weight. But does water really help weight loss? The short answer is yes. Drinking water helps boost your metabolism, cleanse your body of waste and acts as an appetite suppressant. Also, drinking more water helps your body stop retaining water, leading you to drop those extra pounds of water weight. So what can you do to make sure you’re drinking the recommended eight-to-10 8-ounce glasses per day to keep yourself hydrated and encourage weight loss?
Step 1: Drink before you eat
Because water is an appetite suppressant, drinking it before meals can make you feel fuller and therefore reduce your food intake. Health resource website WebMD states that drinking water before meals results in an average reduction in intake of 75 calories per meal. Drinking water before just one meal per day would cause you to ingest 27,000 fewer calories per year. Do the math: You'd lose about eight pounds per year just from drinking water! Now imagine if you drank it before each meal.
Step 2: Replace calorie-filled drinks with water
Ditch the sodas and juice and replace them with water to help you lose weight. If you think water tastes boring, add a slice of lemon. A glass of water with lemon is a recipe for successful weight loss because the pectin in lemons helps reduce food cravings. Think water doesn’t really help weight loss? Give up those sugary drinks for just a few weeks and see the difference.
Step 3: Drink it ice cold
According to the editorial staff at WebMD, drinking ice cold water helps boost your metabolism because your body has to work harder to warm the water up, therefore burning more calories and helping you to lose weight. Plus, ice cold water is just so much more refreshing than water that’s room temperature.
Step 4: Hit the gym
Because drinking water helps prevent muscle cramping and keeps your joints lubricated, you can work out longer and harder. Just another way keeping hydrated with water helps you lose weight.
Step 5: Make sure you get enough
If you really want the water you drink to help you lose weight, you should follow the “8x8” rule recommended by most nutritionists: Drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water per day for weight loss and to maintain an ideal weight. You might need to drink more water if you exercise a lot or sweat heavily, or less water if you drink other beverages like herbal tea (make sure they are decaffeinated).
Trent Nessler, PT, DPT, MPT, managing director of Baptist Sports Medicine in Nashville, says the amount of water you need depends on your size, weight and activity level. He adds that you should try to drink between half an ounce and an ounce of water for each pound you weigh, every day.
How do you know if you’re getting enough water? A general rule is to check the toilet after you’ve gone to the bathroom. You’ll know you’re well hydrated if your urine is clear or very light yellow in color. The darker your urine, the more water you need to drink, especially if weight loss is your goal.

How Drinking More Water Can Help You Lose Weight


Parents seeking help with children with autism are turning to a “miracle” cure that involves giving the children enemas, using a dangerous industrial solution used for bleaching wood pulp.
According to If You Only News, parents have turned to Miracle Mineral Solution (MMS), containing sodium chlorite which is mixed with citric acid (i.e. orange juice) to make chlorine dioxide. According to the promoters, the solution, which can be taken orally or administered via an enema, can cure HIV, malaria, hepatitis, autism, acne, and cancer.
Miracle Mineral Solution is the brainchild ofJim Humble, who quit the Church of Scientology to form the Genesis II Church of Health & Healing in order to promote his “miracle” cure in Africa and Mexico.
The Food and Drug Administration disagreeswith Humble’s claims and has posted a warning on their website calling the product “dangerous” and “potentially life threatening,” advising “drinking the amount recommended on product labels can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and symptoms of severe dehydration.”
Additionally, the Environmental Protection Agency warns that chronic exposure to small doses of chlorine dioxide could result in reproductive and neurodevelopmental damage, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued guidancein the use of chlorine dioxide in the workplace.
Kerri Rivera, founder of the website CD Autism (“Autism: Avoidable. Treatable. Curable.”) which promotes MMS, claims that autism is caused by yeast, parasites, viruses, and vaccines that can be flushed from the body.
On her Facebook page, Rivera — who identifies herself as a biomedical consultant and certified homeopath – keeps a running total of parents who have contacted her, saying MMS has “cured” their children of autism.
One parent wrote: “I just wanted to tell you great news we have received yesterday from bioresonance diagnostic treatment. We went there actually for the first time, just to check how we have improved with CD, which my 6 years old son has been using it for a year and a half now, and she said: I don’t know what’re doing but just keep doing what you’re doing, because you’re doing GREAT! She couldn’t find viruses, bacteria, parasites, yeast; his body has been cleaned a lot, also from heavy metals, she did saw a virus of measles inside in the intestine, that’s because of the vaccines he got we will try to treat that now and of course not stopping CD and parasite protocol. We are starting also with GcMAF in October and can’t wait! We are really happy.”
Other parents report that they are still continuing treatments despite extreme vomiting, kicking, and hysterics when enemas are being administered.
Despite Facebook tales of success, theAutism Science Foundation warns against online claims of cures that have not undergone rigorous clinical studies.
“It is important to remember that anyone can start a journal or post a study on the Internet to tout the efficacy of dangerous or useless interventions,” ASF explains. “Healthcare fraud is a huge business in the US, and parents of children with autism are often targeted. Fringe treatment providers prey on desperation and fear, and deceive parents with numerous unfounded claims.”

Parents trying to reverse kids’ autism by ‘flushing out’ vaccines with bogus ‘miracle’ bleach enemas

 
Hi-Tech Talk © 2015 - Designed by Templateism.com