NewBlue Announces Revolutionary Broadcast Graphics Solution: Titler Live 4

NewBlue, Inc. today released a new version of its on-air graphics solution, Titler Live 4, offering professional broadcast quality graphics and streamlined live production workflows at a fraction of the cost of competing systems. Titler Live 4 offers many user experience enhancements as well as numerous powerful new features.

NewBlue Titler Live 4

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This is the latest generation of NewBlue's Titler Live product suite, which has a rapidly growing international customer base of live streamers and broadcast professionals. This release includes purpose-driven workflows designed to help save users time and provide intuitive, streamlined processes while still offering the power and flexibility that Titler Live users value. New features include Microsoft® Excel®spreadsheet connectivity, additional variable/data input and editing tools, and enhanced social media management. Sports broadcasters will benefit from additional Stat Crew®statistics integration and new graphics packages per sport.

"Historically in our industry, users have had two alternatives for on-air graphics: unbelievably expensive, complex systems or very primitive low-cost solutions," said Todor Fay, CEO of NewBlue. "With today's technology, there's no reason why everyone – from major networks to YouTubers – can't have a system that's as powerful as their imagination while offering the ease of use and affordability that we expect of modern day software. That has been the driving vision behind NewBlue's products. With Titler Live 4, we're continuing to build on that foundation and provide our customers with even better workflows and expanded features."

Titler Live 4 is available in multiple versions that are tailored to meet the needs of social streamers, sports broadcasters, and professional media organizations. The flagship product, Titler Live Broadcast, works with leading streaming solutions to deliver unlimited layers of graphics for any live broadcast on up to 16 channels of NDI® or SDI key/fill. Graphics may be created natively, or users can leverage existing 3D animated graphics imported from any design source, including Adobe® Photoshop® and After Effects®.

About NewBlue, Inc.

NewBlue is a leading provider of video editing, post-production, live streaming and broadcast solutions worldwide. Since 2006, NewBlue has empowered video pros and enthusiasts alike take their productions to new heights with creative video titling, effects plugins and on-air graphics tools.  We share our customer's passion for visual storytelling and partner with industry leaders such as Adobe, AVID, Grass Valley, Telestream, EVS and more to provide seamless end-to-end experiences. Learn more at www.newbluefx.com.

New Technology to Streamline Purchase and Distribution

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state has decided to leverage blockchain technology to streamline the purchase and distribution networks of milk, vegetables and fish. The state will also make its crop insurance scheme smarter and fool-proof, ensuring quick processing and settlement of claims to farmers suffering crop losses.

The country's first such government initiative, the project is being implemented through the Kerala Development and Innovation Strategic Council (K-DISC), the state's think-tank mandated to formulate and implement path-breaking plans to create a healthy and conducive ecosystem with the help of new technologies.

"In the dairy sector, the project will ensure speedy delivery of high quality milk by continuously monitoring production, procurement and distribution through an electronic ledger," said K-DISC chairman K M Abraham. Each component of the supply network will have a separate ID number, using which the source and quality of the product can be checked at every point of the chain. New technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT) will be employed and RFID tags and mobile applications will be used to monitor the movement of trucks and refrigerated tanks to make sure that they adhere to fixed parameters like temperature in which the products are to be kept.

Blockchain technology in crop insurance would help avoid time lag in the assessment and delivery of compensation to farmers who suffer losses due to natural calamities. It will make the entire processes starting from making applications for coverage to the settlement of claims hassle-free. The new technology will come in handy to determine if the crop loss is due to natural causes or not, which, in turn, will avoid unnecessary disputes between insurance firms and beneficiaries besides eliminating the role of middlemen.

Supply of vegetables and fish is a key area where the new technology is to be introduced, where farms and fish-landing spots will be linked with packaging centres using geo-coded images, with the help of which the content of each packet can be weighed and registered in the supply network with QR Code and RFID.

KSLC 3rd Leadership Conclave 2018 Organized In Capital

A High Octane Knowledge Sharing Event 3rd Leadership Conclave was organized by ‘KSLC at Hotel Radisson Blu, Dwarka, New Delhi. This was in continuation with its ideological league of events which are regularly hosted by the aforementioned company.

Pallavi Prakash who is the Founder of KSLC (Knowledge Seed Learning Center) & PPI (Pallavi Prakash International) states- ‘The objective of this program was to share inspirational success stories with the next generation of budding leaders which would eventually help them inculcate those skills’.  Pallavi is a celebrity Author , Filmmaker & Corporate Trainer. She has credit of 3 published books, corporate training delivery to more than 5000 MNC’s, PSU’s, B- Schools nationally & internationally plus production of many TV Shows & movies.  With a dedicated team of professionals working for her, she has successfully ventured her both companies to higher avenues of success. She is the recipient of several awards like “Inspiring Woman Aacheivers Award”, “ Sabrang Film Award”, “Nari Shakti Award”, “Bihar Gaurav Award”, “Medha  Samaan”, “Chitrans Gaurav “ just to name a few.

Chief guest of the event was  Sutapa Sanyal(IPS) – Director General Of Police (Retd.) and the other guest of honor were, Dr Sharad Kohli, International Economist,  Tax Guru, Seema Nayyar, Mrs Bharaticon 2017, Sushil Bharti, Filmmaker, Author. The event was covered LIVE by ZEE Hindustan. Several speakers of National & International fame were invited to speak & grace the occasion. They were, Sapna Khemani, Kamini Sharma, Siaa Kohli, Pooja Dahiya Dhankher, Nidhi Jindal Gupta, Shikha Sharma, Rajesh Agarwal, Sumiit Cheema, Vandana Todi, Tarveen Kaur, Pooja Rajput & Himani Deshwal. Special Guests of the event were : Kuldeep Srivastava, Adv. Rajeev Ranjan, ol, Anand.

Media partners were ZEE Hindustan, Delhi Chilli, MStv, Radio Noida 107.4 FM, Satyakalan Rastriya Hindi Saptahik and Branding Partner is APEXX Media. The Hospitality Partner is OYO.

About 25 Speakers from various walks of life- Law, Education, Administration, Service industry, Media, Fashion, Cinema, Journalism, Finance & Entrepreneurship spoke on the occasion.

Amidst  the inspiring atmosphere & the aura of light of the lamp second issue of Leadership Magazine- ‘The Leaders+’ will be inaugurated with thunderous applause & broad media coverage . In the second half after the celebrity luncheon at Radisson Blu Hotel, the leadership award ceremony was initiated.

FREE AMBULANCE SERVICES IN ODISHA

Aster Volunteers are reaching far and wide in India to cater to healthcare needs of poor patients. Its recent outing in Odisha will go a long way in helping them availing of government facilities.

  

Aster Volunteers, the CSR arm of Aster DM Healthcare, have launched an Ambulance services & rural health support program in collaboration with Local NGO ‘SWAD’ to provide a free ambulance service that will enable people from the district of Gajapati in Odisha to access government healthcare facilities.

 The service was launched at a function held in the district block headquarters by Local MLA Mrs Basanthi Mallick. Mrs Suloti Roito, sarpanch, Jibo Panchayat presided the function.

The Ambulance was donated by the Aster DM Foundation to Jibo Villagers to serve more than 5 lakh people in the tribal district of Odisha. Further, to the launch programme Aster Volunteers from Ramesh Hospitals – Dr Anjaneya Mishra, Dr Md Sadiq, Mr P S Kumarvel (Sr Echo technician), Mr N Suresh (ECG technician) organised a free comprehensive medical check-up camp including free ECG and Echocardiography. 356 people from tribal areas in the district underwent checks ups at this specially conducted medical camp.

Speaking about the service Dr Azad Moopen, Chairman and Managing Director, Aster DM Healthcare said, ‘More than 60% of the people in the Gajapati district are unable to access Primary and Community Healthcare facilities due to lack of roads and public transport. Poor accessibility is one of the main causes for the district having over 75% incidence of childbirth at home. We hope that the people will be able to use the ambulance and can get medical treatment on time.’

Vital Role of PR & Branding in developing ‘Brand Modi’

Since the Independence in 1947, the Indian Politics has evolved at a large taking the shape of corporate world and using the corporate promotional strategies. Especially, the way Prime Minister Narendra Modi has used the PR & Branding Campaign for Individual Promotion, has never been used in such an effective way. He has set an example of how PR & Branding can play a vital role in developing a ‘Political Brand’. For instance, Modi's transformation over the past year from a regional, right-wing politician to a decisive leader with a clear development agenda, the one best suited to take India forward is nothing short of extraordinary.

Bharatiya Janata Party pioneer leader Narendra Modi's decision juggernaut in the 2014 Lok Sabha surveys is an example of how to plan and effectively execute a promoting and marketing strategy. His representation and message conveying campaign such as ‘Man Ki Baat’ ‘Make In India’ ‘Swacch Bharat’ have overshadowed every single other brand - even that of his own party. In simple worlds, The techniques and well planned strategy is the key behind the formation of Brand Modi.

With his commendable victory in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, NarendraModi has reformed the rules of the political game and redefined the Indian politics. Brand Modi has not only captured contemporary political parties followers but also trumped the young and growing generations.

Senior BJP Leader Piyush Goyal and Ajay Singh took care of the general media strategy, and a team was constituted to deal with Modi's crusade in Varanasi. Promoting legends, for example, Ogilvy and Mather's Piyush Pandey, McCann Worldgroup's Prasoon Joshi and Sam Balsara of Madison World utilized their abilities at different levels. Advertising Agency Soho Square, made the strategy for TV, radio and print crusades with appealing catchlines, for example, "AbkiBaarModi Sarkar".

The kid, when he became an adult, left his family to serve society. The way his story was presented in front of public was commendable PR Manipulations Skill.

I believe everyone has a unique quality and values, through Branding Skills the particular quality can be used for establishing his brand value. Any brand, can be actively managed with consistency and discipline. Modi and his marketing team showed the both once he was anointed the BJP's prime ministerial candidate on September 13 last year. In fact, they had been at it from much before.

Narendra Modi had been the chief minister of Gujrat for three times and was already a regional brand, planning to go national. In order to do so, the 63-year-old Modi focused to connect with the youth considering the 150 million first-time voters for the election. Modi, who was not able to communicate in English tried to deliver speeches in English, he also tried to connect with the urban, middle-class audience, has become more politically conscious. Then, he established himself as a champion for industry and development by providing the company land for Tata Motor’s Factory in 2008  and brought employment opportunities by helping in developing Industry in the state. This initiative helped Modi the most in making a mark on the national scene.

Apart from that the use of Social Media Campaigns, Media Buying has also majorly helped in presenting the positive image of Brand Modi. 

New technology for accelerated wound healing discovered

Researchers at Uppsala University and SLU have found a new way of accelerating wound healing. The technology and the mode of action method published in the highly ranked journal PNAS involves using lactic acid bacteria as vectors to produce and deliver a human chemokine on site in the wounds. The research group is the first in the world to have developed the concept for topical use and the technology could turn out to be disruptive to the field of biologic drugs.

Treatment of large and chronic wounds are a high cost burden to the health care system since effective tools to accelerate healing are lacking. Wound care is today limited to mechanical debridement, use of different dressings and significant amounts of antibiotics preventing or treating wound infections. With the aging population, occurrence of chronic diseases such as diabetes and the alarming global spread of antibiotic resistance, a treatment that kick-starts and accelerates wound healing will have a significant impact. There have been many attempts to solve the problem of chronic wounds that have failed. Drug candidates currently in late stage clinical trials comprise of growth factors, which are traditional protein-based biological drugs associated with high costs, and some trials have been prematurely terminated.

"We have developed a drug candidate, a next-generation biologic medical product, and are now publishing the fantastic results from the preclinical part where wound healing was strongly accelerated in mice," says Mia Phillipson, Professor at the Department of Medical Cell Biology, Division of Integrative Physiology, Uppsala University.

The acceleration of the healing process occurs due to changes in the microenvironment in the wound, which change the behaviour of specific immune cells. With the newly developed technology, the researchers can increase the level of a chemokine, CXCL12, for a sufficient time period through continuous delivery directly to the wound surface. In addition, bioavailability of CXCL12 is synergistically increased within the wound as the bacterial produced lactic acid causes a slight pH drop that inhibits degradation.

"The chemokine, CXCL12, is endogenously upregulated in injured tissue and by increasing the levels further, more immune cells are recruited and are more specialised to heal the wound, which accelerates the whole process," says Professor Phillipson.

The potent effect on acceleration of wound healing is demonstrated in healthy mice but also in two models of diabetes, one model of peripheral ischemia as well as in a model using human skin biopsies.

There were clear differences in the composition of immune cells in the wounds and the immune cells present produced higher levels of TGFß at earlier time points. The treatment was local without systemic exposure.

The Revolution: Indian Scientists Claim Discovery of Safer, Cheape...

The Revolution: Indian Scientists Claim Discovery of Safer, Cheape...: Indian scientists claim discovery of a safer, cheaper diagnosis and treatment of cancer. The process involves turning nanoparticles of c...

Indian Scientists Claim Discovery of Safer, Cheaper Diagnosis and Treatment of Cancer

Indian scientists claim discovery of a safer, cheaper diagnosis and treatment of cancer. The process involves turning nanoparticles of calcium phosphate, a biomineral naturally found in human bones, into fully biodegradable radio frequency agents and making them imageable by MRI and CT scans.

Kochi (ISJ) – Indian scientists have claimed discovery of a safer, cheaper diagnosis and treatment of cancer. The process involves turning nanoparticles of calcium phosphate, a biomineral naturally found in human bones, into fully biodegradable radio frequency agents and making them imageable by MRI and CT scans. "The development of calcium phosphate nanoparticles with imageable properties for drug delivery applications is a major innovation in the quest to develop biodegradable contrast agents for imaging (diagnostic) purposes," said Dr. Shanti Nair, Director of Centre for Nanosciences and Molecular Medicine at the Kochi-based Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences. 

"Calcium phosphate is naturally found in human bones and is non-toxic and fully biodegradable.

Now that its nanoparticles have been made imageable by MRI and CT scans, their accumulation in tumours can be verified and the MR contrast used for image-guided surgical treatment of cancer." Currently, the most common treatment for cancer involves radiation and use of gamma rays to kill cancer cells. However, this inflicts collateral damage - healthy cells also get destroyed along with cancer cells. Radiation treatment with Cyber-Knife is much more precise, but very expensive. In this situation, the most easily accessible and cheapest cancer treatment available today uses radio frequency (RF) microwaves. But for this method to work, the RF agent should be non-toxic to human body and preferentially accumulated in the tumour. This is where the development of calcium phosphate nanoparticles as a biodegradable RF agent becomes significant.

 "The main advantage of calcium phosphate is that our body does not treat it as foreign material, leading to minimum toxicity and immune rejection compared to other engineered nanoparticles which are non-biodegradable. We have made this biomineral imageable using MRI and CT," explained Dr Manzoor Kyakutty, Professor at the Centre for Nanosciences and Molecular Medicine and the project's principal investigator. "It can be guided precisely to cancer tumours, which will enable their treatment under image guidance, using radio waves to heat up and destroy the cancerous cells. We are now conducting large animal studies, and clinical trials will follow."

 The team of co-inventors has launched a new company which has already acquired the rights from Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences to bring the product to clinics. The discovery of RF hyper-thermic property (heat generation under radio waves) of calcium phosphate was by chance. A team of researchers at the Centre while doing experiments to optimize MRI imaging and RF properties of some calcium-containing materials accidentally found that the calcium compound was getting heated up when exposed to radio waves. This led to the optimization of calcium phosphate nanoparticles for RF applications. The scientists enhanced their hyper-thermic properties by doping them with iron nanoparticles having magnetic properties, which also helped in magnetic resonance imaging.

Source: Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences

New Digital and Technology Centre for Real Estate set up in Gurugram

A real estate consulting firm has launched its first dedicated real estate technology Centre in Gurugram, India. The facility, launched by CBRE South Asia Pvt Ltd, will serve as the only dedicated development Centre outside of the United States.

The Gurugram site will initially host approximately 120 software engineers dedicated to work on CBRE’s expanding suite of Asia Pacific digital products. Moving into the new D&T Centre in Gurugram, CBRE plans to further invest in its India software development team, expanding both headcount and capabilities in the coming 12 months to pioneer the next generation real estate technology solutions and platforms.

The Digital & Technology Centre was inaugurated by  Vinay Pratap Singh, Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Gurugram along with Chandra Dhandapani, Chief Digital & Technology Officer, CBRE and Anshuman Magazine, Chairman, India & South East Asia, CBRE.

“The Digital & Technology Centre in Gurugram is a game changer for real estate and technology development in India. This centre will not only pioneer a new generation of best-in-class technology solutions to address the growing digitization needs of the realty sector but serve as a major drawcard for India’s world class digital talent,” said Anshuman Magazine, Chairman, India & South East Asia, CBRE.

“Launch of CBRE’s Digital & Technology Centre facility is a landmark event for the real estate and technology sectors in India, supporting the Government of India’s Digital India vision. Gurugram has emerged as a preferred destination for the IT industry in North India, with more than 400 IT and ITeS companies present in the city. We are extremely proud that CBRE has chosen Gurugram as the location for its first ever centre for Asia Pacific. This further strengthens Gurugram’s position as the next Central Business District in the NCR region,” said Vinay Pratap Singh, Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Gurugram.

Chandra Dhandapani, Chief Digital & Technology Officer, CBRE, said “At CBRE, we believe that technology is a key enabler in enhancing the services and experiences we provide for our clients. This Digital & Technology Centre will serve as a catalyst for the development of next generation technologies that help our clients achieve their aspirations through real estate. This centre will give us access to world class digital talent that India is well known for.”

Kayakalp Play School: An Initiative towards Social Transformation

From the comfort of air conditioned office in the national capital to the by lanes of Ranchi, the distance may seem too long, but not for Shashank Shekhar. An engineer and management professional Shashank along with a team of young resident of Hatma, Ranchi sat down together almost a year back to start the first of its kind, “Kayakalp Play School” for the children of Hatma, a village situated on the periphery of Ranchi City.

It turned into reality when, Chairman, Coal India Limited (CIL)/CMD, CCL Shri Gopal Singh himself came down to inaugurate the first “Kayakalp Play School” at Hatma, Ranchi. The school is based on a unique model, wherein it has been opened with complete co-operation of the locals. For instance, the Kayakalp Play School has been started at Community Hall of Hatma Village, readily offered by the villagers. The local themselves will take care of administration & management of the school, which will ensure responsibility of each stake-holder in this model project. And most importantly at “Kayakalp Play School” these kids will be imparted free education.

During the conversation Shashank emphasized, that one of the thrust areas of vibrant India is “quality education” for it paves the foundation of any nation. It’s the responsibility of the youth of this young country to ensure the bright future of their country. Disclosing his futures plan, Shashank said that the children will be taught on a pre-defined syllabus that has been chalked by his team. He is planning to open 100 play schools in the rural and interior parts of Jharkhand and he is already in touch with youths of many villages.

In order, to maintain the quality and ensure proficient monitoring of all the school, they will be connected through a centralized control center. These play schools will have e-classes and children will be taught the through video conferencing (VC), in order to maintain the quality and as add-on. The basic idea here is to prepare these children for getting admission in primary schools. These children will also be helped to secure admission in private schools where 25% seats reserved for children from economically weaker section (EWS) as per Right to education.

Sharing his thoughts, Shashank said that it’s equally important to motivate the parents of these children, so that they send them to play school regularly. It has not been easy and he has met several times with parents of each child at “Kayakalp Play School”, Hatma and he knows he has to work really hard in other villages too.

Inaugurating the first “Kayakalp Play School”, Shri Gopal Singh said that this will go down as one of the most important initiatives taken in a country, for it has been driven by none other but the youth of this country. This event will provide new direction to the society, state and country. It is the responsibility of the youth of this country to create a society in which we there is smile on every face and these youths lead by Shashank Shekhar will be an inspiration to others.

Recently, On January 15th Chairman, Coal India Limited (CIL)/CMD, CCL Shri Gopal Singh inaugurated “Kayakalp Public School” at Bukru village, Ranchi. This school will help the young but impoverished children and their family to realize their dreams, to provide them with right opportunity, which is a benchmark of equality. It will be a center for other institutions to replicate. Only, children from impoverished families and dropouts will be eligible for admission. “For the underprivileged people in India, education is perceived as a high-priced luxury, and this pessimistic outlook continues on with every generation.” Shri Singh said 

CCL, a subsidiary of Coal India Limited under energetic leadership of Shri Gopal Singh has initiated various schemes to ensure inclusive growth of the society. He has always believed that children of poor families have every right to study in English medium school and they should be provided the best education facilities. The school will have the best infrastructure with no compromise on quality of teaching. “Our objective is to create good human being so that they can play active role in nation building of the country,” Shri Singh has said often.

School has been started with 30 students and it will run on CBSE pattern. The students would be given technical & skill development training when they reach class 9 so that they could be equipped with additional certificate apart from the CBSE certificate. In addition to it, performing students will also be provided coaching and assistance for various competitive exams like Engineering, Medical etc. Digital Board and Wi-Fi facilities will be provided to the students of this school. Free mid-day meal will be provided to the students. The students will be undergoing regular medical check-ups by a team of doctors/specialists from Central Hospital, CCL, Gandhinagar to ensure their physical well being. Many qualified officers, retired teachers and others have voluntarily offered their service free of cost, which has given the impetus to this movement. On this occasion, Shri Gopal Singh said that this school will be a significant step towards realising the dream of our honourable PM i.e. “Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas”

With a goal worth achieving, “Kayakalp Play School”, Hatma, Ranchi is the first towards it.

REVOLUTIONARY WATER FILTER BOTTLE

A British start-up, nkd has shaken up the global bottled water market with the recent launch of its pod+

Representing the next generation of filtration, this little beauty allows you to fill up your bottle from the dirtiest lakes, rivers, ponds and puddles – in fact any source except sea water. Then as you drink, the state-of-the-art technology, from the NASA space programme no less, immediately filters out up to 99.9% of bacteria, viruses, heavy metals, chemicals and pharmaceuticals. The result? The cleanest, safest and best tasting water imaginable.

The problem with the bottled water we buy every day is that by the time we get to drink it, after a long process of bottling, shipping, storage and shop display, it has lost most of its potential health giving properties. What’s more, harmful chemicals can actually leach into the water from the bottle plastic.

Not only does the pod+ clean, it actually supercharges, resulting in water that is slightly more alkaline, ionised and higher in antioxidants thereby helping to hydrate you faster and take away old debris from your cells!

The pod shaped water bottle is impact resistant and leak proof while the fully attached cap protects the mouthpiece from exposure to dirt or germs.

Then of course there are the benefits to the environment of using the pod+ in place of bottled water. In the UK 75% of plastic bottles end up in landfills where they can take up to 1000 years to decompose, whilst in the Pacific, 90% of surface debris in the ocean is attributed to plastic.

This is also the invention that keeps on giving. For every litre of water a pod+ consumer enjoys, nkd will provide the same for a child in need in a developing country.

The striking and easy-to-use 585ml bottle comes in six different colours. The pod+ filter lasts 300 bottle refills, equivalent to 175 litres of water or around two months’ regular use, before it needs to be replaced.

Set to change the way we drink - and how we protect our world, the pod+ has been a massive success since its launch with Harrods in London and has quickly become the fastest selling water filter bottle in the UK.

Now available in INDIA the nkd pod+ is available from Croma, Relay Airport Stores, Amazon, Flipkart and Croma Retail Online across India.

The big bang is coming in health care, and it will spark the next industrial revolution

The big bang is coming in health care, and it will spark the next industrial revolution

This year's emergence of breakthrough innovations illustrates the vitality of the health care industry. And biopharma is largely what's underpinning this paradigm shift in the global health-care ecosystem.

The biopharma innovation flow in 2017 was the most exciting the world has seen. New modes of action emerged, and in quantity. These included cell therapy using energized T-cells to go out as foot soldiers to find and hunt down cancer cells. Gene therapy came upon the scene, this time to fix a specific gene defect in the retina of the eye.

In the recent PWC Money Tree report on venture capital money flow in 2017, the top sectors in 2017 investment inflows were the internet, which got the most investor money ($6.5 billion), followed by health care ($4 billion). These two sectors were ahead of mobile and telecommunications and software (non-internet and mobile). While internet is part of an industrial revolution, health care has been waiting for its turn.

Innovations creating magic — past and present

Industrial revolutions occur when there is an unmet need and when different technologies come together to create magic. New industrial revolutions begin even as previous industrial revolutions are continuing. They are not in series; they overlap, as in a Gantt chart.

The First Industrial Revolution, which spanned the second half of the 18th and the first half of the 19th centuries, occurred by the harnessing of energy (from coal and water power) to replace human or animal labor. These included innovations such as the steam engine and cotton-spinning machines. Because it was led by countries in the West, it set the stage for rising living standards in those countries.

The Second Industrial Revolution, in the second half of the 19th century and up until World War I was primarily powered by even "smarter power": electricity (e.g. telegraph) and hydrocarbons (e.g. internal combustion engine).

Just like electricity and petroleum followed coal and water power to become drivers of the Second Industrial Revolution, the Third Industrial Revolution, which began in the '80s, was driven by electronics, a "smart derivative" of electricity.

Electronics ushered in the personal computer, the internet, fast communication transmissions and lasers. Earlier, I stated that industrial revolutions overlap, as in a Gantt chart. This Third Revolution continues even as the Fourth Industrial Revolution has begun.

The Fourth Revolution is about networked power at a scale the world has never seen. More than 2 billion people in the world now carry a networked supercomputer (e.g.iPhone or other smartphone) in their pockets. Autonomous vehicles, big data, artificial intelligence are making our planet more instant and more tightly connected than ever before.

Just like the first two industrial revolutions drove people out of farms and into factories, there is now the angst of what happens to full employment if artificial intelligence displaces entire categories of workers. The common belief remains that humans will continue to adapt and prosper as we go through this Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Harnessing the power of the biological sciences

This brings me to the Fifth Industrial Revolution. The previous ones were all about the mechanical or physical sciences. The Fifth Industrial Revolution will be powered by the coming acceleration in harnessing the biological sciences.

Biology is difficult to characterize, difficult to chart on a systems basis. It is ever changing, difficult to intervene at specific intervention points and can take evasive action when human intervention occurs. Biology is ruled by nature, much more than the laws of physical science or mechanical science.

he stars are now aligning for the Fifth Industrial Revolution to start within the next decade. The need is clearly there. Just look at Alzheimer's. The world faces a tsunami as boomers start going past 80 in 1926 — only eight years from now. One in two beyond the age of 80 will get Alzheimer's. The cost of nursing-home care alone can bankrupt health-care systems. Fifteen years ago the beta amyloid thesis presented great hope. It is now coming under challenge as massive and expensive drug trials keep failing. Besides Alzheimer's, there are other diseases where the unmet need remains large.

In addition to the need, the convergence of technologies will power the coming Fifth Industrial Revolution.

Never before has it all come together in such a profound way. This includes the growing knowledge of disease cascades and intervention targets. It also includes the bubbling genomic science and data science. The research institutes around the globe, whether they be the NIH or Max Planck — are building on each other's findings and accumulated knowledge — all at an exponential pace.

Some say as much new research is getting added on in the previous two years as the entire period before that. The cost of sequencing a genome has dropped below $1,000, a stunning drop from $2 billion level less than two decades ago. This cost will keep dropping. It is estimated that more than a billion people will soon supply the world's databases with their genomic and phenotypic information to carry out correlations that educate us about gene variants and their linkage to diseases — and even lifestyles. Artificial intelligence will aggregate learnings to rapidly help find druggable protein targets at a pace never seen before.

The European Medicines Agency was rapidly emerging as a science-driven regulatory body that, along with the FDA, was the world's authority in assessing and approving innovation. Now, with Brexit causing confusion to the London-based EMA, the FDA has again emerged preeminent, like it was before the EMA was founded 23 years ago. Fortunately, the FDA is showing its determination to modernize and change. In 2017 we saw 46 new product approvals, about double the pace 10 years earlier.

Already, every 10 years, we are adding about two years to wellness and longevity. That will get even better. For example, we may find very early biomarkers, maybe 15 years earlier, to identify people at risk for Alzheimer's so they can take proactive measures. These biomarkers could be sophisticated PET scans or new approaches, such as using A.I. technology. Once the condition becomes predictable at an early stage, approaches could be deployed to prevent or mitigate the inflammatory cascade that is associated with Alzheimer's.

This Fifth Revolution, which I predict will start in the next decade, will make this century the Life Sciences Century for Mankind. We will succeed in taming biology and making it into a more predictable science that can be harnessed, similar to the way the previous four industrial revolutions harnessed the physical and mechanical sciences.

As the Fifth Industrial revolution unfolds, the pace of human development will accelerate. More and more of us will be living longer and living better.

RARE CARDIAC SURGERY SAVED LIFE OF A SEVERELY PREMATURE BABY GIRL

At the current rate of allegations raging against corporate hospitals, the bills for the rare treatment and three months hospital stay of the severely preterm baby girl would have been a bomb.

But the baby girl of a migrant worker availed it completely free! At 23 weeks, she also becomes the youngest child to survive heart surgery for a congenital heart defect.
The premature baby girl was born at 23 weeks, which in itself is a deathly condition, with a rare heart condition called Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA) that would send too much blood into the lungs and make it impossible for her to breathe. That she got a new lease of life in an area infamous for female feticide and a skewed sex also makes this a rare event.

The frail girl also showed an extraordinary fighting spirit. She valiantly battled her condition for the past 3 months at Artemis. Baby Anandita (name changed) was extremely underweight, about 500, equal to the size of our palm. Right after birth, she struggled to breathe and had to be connected to a ventilator to keep her alive. She needed a heart surgery promptly to survive.

Her parents being migrant workers, who live off their daily wages, could not afford such a surgery along with months of specialized care- that was necessary to keep Anandita alive. The hospital management came forward to show utmost generosity and decided to bear the complete cost of surgery, medicines as well as hospitalization.

Dr. Aseem Ranjan Srivastava, Senior Consultant Paediatric Cardiac Surgery, said, ‘Baby Anandita was suffering from Patent Ductus Arteriosus– an easy fix if one were dealing with a grown up child. But when you have a child which is equal to the size of your palm things are sensitive. Her severe prematurity, made the surgery extremely complex and fraught with danger.’

Dr Srivastava further said, ‘Operating through the chest, you are trying to close an abnormal artery carrying blood under high pressure, that has walls that are less than paper thin, in probably the tiniest baby you will ever see’

Dr Srivastava added, ‘At 23 weeks, she is the youngest child to survive heart surgery for a congenital heart defect. She is recovering well at hospital’s Neonatal ICU under Dr. Prabhat Maheshweri Head- NICU, and is expected to be discharged by next week. She will be visiting the hospital very frequently for about a year, after which she will probably be just another healthy kid with no heart disease but the small scar on her chest that will always tell stories about a ‘Brave child’ who fought against all odds to survive.’

3D structure of a protein linked to longer lives Revealed

Scientists have unveiled the 3D structure of a protein linked to longer lives, paving the way for new therapies to treat a wide range of medical conditions, including diabetes, obesity and certain cancers.

Named after the Greek goddess who spun the thread of life, Klotho proteins play an important role in the regulation of longevity and metabolism.

Researchers from Yale University in the United States revealed the three-dimensional structure of one of these proteins, beta- Klotho, illuminating its intricate mechanism and therapeutic potential.

The Klotho family of two receptor proteins are located on the surface of cells of specific tissues.

The proteins bind to a family of hormones, designated endocrine FGFs, that regulate critical metabolic processes in the liver, kidneys, and brain, among other organs.

X-ray crystallography used

To understand how beta-Klotho works, the research team used X-ray crystallography, a technique that provides high- resolution, 3D views of these proteins.

The researchers’ analysis yielded several insights.

First, beta-Klotho is the primary receptor that binds to FGF21, a key hormone produced upon starvation.

When bound to beta-Klotho, FGF21 stimulates insulin sensitivity and glucose metabolism, causing weight loss.

Can help in Diabetes Therapies

This new understanding of beta-Klotho and FGF21 can guide the development of therapies for conditions such as type 2 diabetes in obese patients, the researchers said.

“Like insulin, FGF21 stimulates metabolism including glucose uptake,” said Joseph Schlessinger from the Yale School of Medicine.

“In animals and in some clinical trials of FGF21, it shows that you can increase burning of calories without changing food intake, and we now understand how to improve the biological activity of FGF21,” Mr. Schlessinger said.

The study, published in the journal Nature, also describes a new variant of FGF21 that has 10 times higher potency and cellular activity.

The team presented evidence of how a structurally-related enzyme, glycosidase, which breaks down sugars, evolved into a receptor for a hormone that lowers blood sugar — which may not be a coincidence, Mr. Schlessinger added.

Hopes for multiple maladies

Having untangled the structure of beta-Klotho, researchers have a platform for exploring potential therapies for multiple diseases.

By developing drugs that enhance the pathway, Mr. Schlessinger said, researchers can target diabetes and obesity.

Conversely, using agents that block the pathway, they hope to explore therapies for conditions such as liver cancer and bone diseases, among others.

“The next step will be to make better hormones, make new potent blockers, do animal studies, and move forward,” Mr. Schlessinger said.

Want To Catch A Killer? Know Your Science

For a doctor, putting puzzle pieces together is essential to becoming a master diagnostician. Being a detective is a vital skill employed daily in medical practice. So, despite the fact forensics routinely involves the deceased and primary care the living, the two disciplines amazingly run in parallel, sharing much common ground.

As a result, a new report on expanding the use of science to estimate time of death better in suspected homicides caught my attention.

After all, I did consider being a medical examiner for a whole week many years ago -- until I recognized that working all day usually without windows in basements, never delivering happy news and being surrounded by the macabre day in and day out might not best gel with my optimistic nature and spirited disposition. Instead, I binge watch Law & Order and its various permutations, documentaries and read fascinating medical mysteries to get my fix and hone my problem-solving abilities.

This brings me to work just published in Scientific Reports which details the challenges of determining time of death after a long post-mortem interval (PMI, or time after death) in criminal investigations of suspected homicide. Estimating the PMI is a main focus within forensic science dating back to 1894 when stages of body decay and decomposition were first defined.

Estimating minimum PMI (PMImin) depends on medical assessment of the body's physical changes and entomological evidence. This method of evaluation can be pretty reliable within hours, weeks, even months of death, but with the greater passage of time the PMImin accuracy weakens. Thankfully, it is infrequent that such older decomposed bodies are found that warrant more involved investigations, but it does happen often enough for the authors of this study to recommend the utility of combining several independent lines of evidence to pinpoint more ideally PMI, and thus time of death.

The deterioration of a corpse follows well-established stages: fresh, bloated, active decay, advanced decay, dry and remains.This is further influenced by weather conditions (e.g. temperature) and predators, for example. The necrobiome is understood as the microbial life after death or the dynamic ecosystem that evolves after death (see here). As one's body shuts down and its internal environment allows for bacterial growth previously incompatible with life, skin break down affords entry to bugs and foreign exposures while body fluids seep out and react with the environment (e.g. soil, micro-organisms).

Analyzing a crime scene includes but is not limited to tests of the body, the soil chemistry beneath the victim and the critters to tell the ultimate tale.

In this report, the researchers presented a case of human remains discovered in a Swiss forest. Through a multidisciplinary approach, they managed to approximate the PMI of the deceased, identify him by age, gender and name and create a timeline of his movements. Through a combined analysis of the human remains alone and the soil samples beneath it, they got many answers from scrutinizing the following five components (some examples listed):

• Bone and Hair
  • young, adult human male
  • died 1-2 years prior to discovery
  • bones showed he was burned in-situ
  • as a result of these conclusions, he was identified - he was last seen 22 months prior 
• Mites
  • helped reveal part of decomposition took place on site and the body was there at least 8-9 months with greater likelihood > 1 year
  • revealed he was moved from the original spot elsewhere to the forest soil when already in late stage of decay
  • life cycle of one type determined body burned on the soil and just months before discovery
• Nematodes
  • helped reveal part of decomposition took place on site and the body was there at least 8-9 months with greater likelihood > 1 year
• Micro-eukaryotes (like fungi)
  • helped reveal part of decomposition took place on site and the body was there at least 8-9 months with greater likelihood > 1 year
• Soil Chemical/Numerical Analyses
  • Multiple Factor Analysis (MFA), hierarchical clustering, Indicator Value

Ultimately, knowing the degenerating acceleration tendencies of a body's exposure to hot weather and the subsequent increased scavenger access it causes, they were able to conclude from all the information collected that he died in the fall or winter, started to deteriorate in a confined space (e.g. farm) then was likely moved to the final location in early spring of the next year where he was partially exposed to fire.

Due to confidentiality issues, further descriptions were excluded. Overall, the team managed to meet their goal:

"The main aim of this work was to provide a strong incentive for case work as well as experimental studies to further develop a comprehensive toolbox for forensic or crime scene investigations."

CES 2018: everything you need to know about the world's biggest tech show

CES 2018 is a wrap, folks! The show that brought us a week's worth of gadgety goodness is saying so long to Las Vegas. 

If you want to see the best of the best from this year's show, check out the TechRadar 2018 CES Awards. From Best in Show winner The Wall by Samsung to People's Choice recipient HTC Vive Pro, this year's batch is truly a worthy group.

Before the show even kicked off on January 9 and we started scouring the crowded halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center, we saw a rollable LG OLED TV, new Sony smartphones and ultra-thin laptops from a wide range of manufacturers. On the show floor, we went up close with everything from 8K TVs to solar-powered smartwatches.

What were the big themes at this year's CES? Nearly every company infused their tech with AI and voice assistants, meaning our smart products are about to get even smarter.