What is Listeria ? Why Sabra Recall Hummus?

Listeria Be Aware To Avoid It

Listeria is a genus of bacteria that contains 10 species each containing two subspecies. Named after the English pioneer of sterile surgery Joseph Lister, the genus received its current name in 1940. Listeria species are facultatively anaerobic, non-spore formingbacilli. The major human pathogen in the Listeria genus is L. monocytogenes. It is usually the causative agent of the relatively rare bacterial disease, listeriosis, a serious infection caused by eating food contaminated with the bacteria. The disease affects primarily pregnant women, newborns, adults with weakened immune systems, and the elderly.

Listeriosis is a serious disease for humans; the overt form of the disease has a case-fatality rate of about 20 percent. The two main clinical manifestations are sepsis and meningitis. Meningitis is often complicated by encephalitis, a pathology that is unusual for bacterial infections. Listeria ivanovii is a pathogen of mammals, specifically ruminants, and has rarely caused listeriosis in humans.

 What is Listeriosis?

Listeriosis, a serious infection usually caused by eating food contaminated with the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes

, is an important public health problem in the United States . The disease primarily affects older adults, pregnant women, newborns, and adults with weakened immune systems. However, rarely, people without these risk factors can also be affected. The risk may be reduced by following a few simple recommendations.

What are the Symptoms of Listeriosis?

A person with listeriosis usually has fever and muscle aches, sometimes preceded by diarrhea or other gastrointestinal symptoms. Almost everyone who is diagnosed with listeriosis has "invasive" infection, in which the bacteria spread beyond the gastrointestinal tract. The symptoms vary with the infected person:

•    Pregnant women: Pregnant women typically experience fever and other non-specific symptoms, such as fatigue and aches. However, infections during pregnancy can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery, or life-threatening infection of the newborn.
• People other than pregnant women: Symptoms can include headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, and convulsions in addition to fever and muscle aches.
• 
  

Listeriosis can present in different ways. In older adults and people with immunecompromising conditions, septicemia and meningitis are the most common clinical presentations 2. Pregnant women may experience a fever and other non-specific symptoms, such as fatigue and aches, followed by fetal loss or bacteremia and meningitis in their newborns . Immunocompetent people may experience acute febrile gastroenteritis or no symptoms 

Key point 1: Invasive listeriosis is rare but deadly.

·         An estimated 1,600 cases of invasive listeriosis and 260 related deaths occur annually in the United States.

·         An estimated 18% of patients with listeriosis die.

·         Overall, Listeria monocytogenes ranks third as a cause of death due to major known foodborne pathogens in the United States.

Key point 2: Certain well-defined groups are at higher risk for invasive listeriosis.

Higher-risk groups include persons who have compromised cell-mediated immunity:

·         Older adults. In the 2011 outbreak, the median age of patients was 77 years. In fact, the incidence of listeriosis increases steadily with age after about age 50.

·         Patients undergoing transplants or receiving immunosuppressive medications.

·         Persons with other immunocompromising conditions. Well-established conditions that confer risk are AIDS and certain malignancies, especially hematologic. Some studies have found an increased risk with:

o    Liver disease;

o    Kidney disease;

o    Insulin-dependent diabetes; and

o    Alcoholism.

·         Pregnant women. In pregnant women, listeriosis may present as a non-specific, "flu-like illness" or be asymptomatic. The woman does not become seriously ill. However, listeriosis can cause:

o    Fetal loss;

o    Premature labor; and

o    Neonatal sepsis, meningitis, and death.

Key point 3: For higher-risk groups, food preparation, storage habits and food preferences should be considered modifiable risk factors.

·         Unlike most bacterial causes of foodborne illness, Listeria monocytogenes can continue to grow at refrigeration temperatures. This means that storage times are an important consideration for prevention of listeriosis, particularly for foods that are known to favor growth ofListeria. According to a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)/United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) risk assessment, some of the most highrisk foods include soft cheeses, unpasteurized dairy products (including raw milk); deli and lunch meats, cold cuts, hot dogs, pâté, and meat spreads.

·         Only 5% of the cases were pregnancy-associated during the 2011 outbreak. By comparison, almost two-thirds of cases were pregnancy-associated during the next largest listeriosis outbreak, which occurred in 1985 and was associated with Mexican-style cheese. Most of the women with pregnancy-associated listeriosis were Hispanic. Differences in the frequency of pregnancy-associated listeriosis during outbreaks indicate that cultural food preferences can affect risk.

Prevention

Preventing listeriosis as a food illness requires effective sanitation of food contact surfaces. Alcohol is an effective topical sanitizer against Listeria. Quaternary ammonium can be used in conjunction with alcohol as a food contact safe sanitizer with increased duration of the sanitizing action. Refrigerated foods in the home should be kept below 4 °C (39.2 °F) to discourage bacterial growth. Preventing listeriosis also can be done by carrying out an effective sanitation of food contact surfaces

Listeria in hummus prompts national recall by Sabra

The presence of potential listeria in several samples of hummus has prompted a national recall by Virginia-based Sabra Dipping Co. of 30,000 cases of Classic Hummus.

Inspectors with the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development learned of the possible contamination by Listeria monocytogenes after routine inspections March 30 at a Kroger in Port Huron, according to Jennifer Holton, MDARD spokeswoman.

Samples from the prepackaged product were collected for testing, and the results came back days later. Michigan officials alerted inspectors in Virginia and officials with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration who, in turn, are working with Sabra.

The recall is limited to five stock unit, or SKU, numbers of Classic Hummus. No other Sabra product is affected at this time.

U.S. Consumers should discard packages with the following codes, which are located on the top of each package. They can also return them for a refund, Holton said.

Consumers with any questions can call Sabra at 888-957-2272 weekdays.

These are the codes:

040822011143/300067 – Sabra Classic, 10 oz. – 3-059/Best before May 11;

040822011143/300067 – Sabra Classic 10 oz. - 3-060/Best before May 15

040822014687/300074 – Sabra Classic, 30 oz. – 3-059/Best before May 11

040822342049/301216 – Sabra Classic Without Garnish, 32 oz. – 3-059/Best before May 11

040822017497/301290 – Sabra Classic, 17 oz. Six Pack – 3-058/Best before May 11

040822017497/301290 – Sabra Classic, 17 oz. Six Pack – 3-059/Best before May 11

040822342209/301283 – Hummus Dual Pack Classic/Garlic – 3-058/Best before May 11

Contact Robin Erb: rerb@freepress.com or 313-222-2708. Follow her on Twitter@Freephealth.

What is Listeria ? Why Sabra Recall Hummus?

2:54 PM bacteris, featured, food, health, Listeria, listeriosis, risk, Sabra, Sabra recall hummus

The Light Emitting Fabric

The Cloath That Can Change Its Colour

@ Nature Publication

The emergence of wearable electronics and optoelectronics requires the development of devices that are not only highly flexible but can also be woven into textiles to offer a truly integrated solution. Here, we report a colour-tunable, weavable fibre-shaped polymer light-emitting electrochemical cell (PLEC). The fibre-shaped PLEC is fabricated using all-solution-based processes that can be scaled up for practical applications. The design has a coaxial structure comprising a modified metal wire cathode and a conducting aligned carbon nanotube sheet anode, with an electroluminescent polymer layer sandwiched between them. The fibre shape offers unique and promising advantages. For example, the luminance is independent of viewing angle, the fibre-shaped PLEC can provide a variety of different and tunable colours, it is lightweight, flexible and wearable, and it can potentially be woven into light-emitting clothes for the creation of smart fabrics.

Light-emitting electrochemical cells1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, in particular polymer light-emitting electrochemical cells (PLECs), have been widely studied for various applications, including flexible flat panel displays, signage and lighting4, 5, 6. Like organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) and polymer light-emitting diodes (PLEDs), PLECs have a structure that is usually composed of two metal electrodes connected to an organic semiconductor. However, PLECs differ in that mobile ions are incorporated into the organic semiconductor, thereby offering promising advantages such as low operating voltage, high electron/photon conversion efficiency and high power efficiency compared with OLEDs7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18. More importantly, PLECs do not require the use of low-workfunction cathodes composed of calcium or magnesium (which are sensitive in air). In contrast, PLEDs require a low-workfunction cathode and high-workfunction anode to realize efficient charge injection19, 20, 21. In a typical PLEC, the electroluminescent polymer layer forms an in situ light-emitting p-i-n junction for the injection of both electrons and holes from the electrodes4, 5, 22. This means that PLECs can be effectively operated with relatively rougher surfaces than is generally possible with OLEDs and PLEDs, which is advantageous when scaling them up for practical applications with low cost and high efficiency23, 24, 25.


Based on these described advantages, the PLEC is particularly promising for use in portable and wearable electronics, which are being developed for a wide range of applications, from microelectronics to biomedicine, transport and areospace26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32. Conventional planar light-emitting devices, including both rigid and flexible films, cannot satisfy the basic requirements for such an application, including softness, light weight and weavability33, 34. To this end, advances in the textile industry have suggested a useful direction in which to pursue a solution: if a PLEC is made into a continuous fibre using a melting or all-solution-based process, it can be woven into various flexible textiles or integrated into soft substrates for use in portable and wearable electronic devices35.

For practical applications it is also important to be able to emit various colours from a single device, so modifications such as polymer blending and electrochemical doping can be made to develop the desired light-emitting devices36. However, it is difficult to independently tune colours as well as their intensities. To truly realize in situ colour tunability, tandem structures with two to three sub-cells connected in series have been widely explored, although these are limited by the available colours and complex fabrication procedures, low efficiency and high cost37, 38.

In this Article, a novel fibre-shaped PLEC is reported using all-solution-based processes. The fibre-shaped PLEC has a coaxial structure that includes a modified metal wire cathode and a conducting aligned carbon nanotube (CNT) sheet anode, with an electroluminescent polymer layer sandwiched between them. The fibre shape has unique and promising advantages, such as the luminance being independent of the observation angle. Furthermore, the use of an aligned CNT sheet as the anode can significantly decrease the light loss compared with the indium tin oxide of a conventional planar OLED37, 38. A wide variety of colours are achieved by assembling two fibre-shaped PLECs that emit different colours, and the luminance of each can be continuously and independently tuned by varying the external current source. As expected, the fibre-shaped PLEC is lightweight, flexible and soft, and it can be woven into light-emitting textiles for large-scale applicatio

Fabrication of fibre-shaped PLECs

Figure 1a,b shows the fabrication process for the fibre-shaped PLEC. A stainless steel wire was first dip-coated with a thin layer of ZnO nanoparticles, which functions as an electron transfer layer and protects the subsequently coated electroluminescent polymer from fluorescence quenching by the metal matrix. More importantly, the ZnO nanoparticle layer can significantly decrease the leakage current, enhancing the current efficiency and possibly resulting in a more balanced injection of electrons and holes6, 39. The electroluminescent polymer layer, consisting of a blend of a blue light-emitting polymer (PF-B), ethoxylated trimethylopropane triacrylate (ETT-15) and lithium trifluoromethane sulphonate (LiTf), was deposited on the modified steel wire, also using a dip-coating method. PF-B was selected because of its built-in oligo (ethylene oxide) side groups, which are beneficial for ionic conductivity and high electroluminescent performance (Supplementary Fig. 1). ETT-15 serves as the ionically conductive component, and LiTf provides the ionic dopant for the doped polymer in the formation of the p-i-n junction in the PLEC. An aligned CNT sheet was uniformly wrapped around the modified steel wire to produce the designed fibre-shaped PLEC (see inset of Fig. 1c for a photograph of a fibre-shaped PLEC with arcuate shape). The entire fabrication was carried out in air and is suitable for large-scale production.
Figure 1: Schematic illustration of the preparation and structural characterization of the PLEC.

a, Schematic of fabrication of a fibre-shaped PLEC. b, Schematic of wrapping an aligned CNT sheet around a modified stainless steel wire. c, Schematic of the structure of a flexible fibre-shaped PLEC. Inset: photograph of a fibre-shaped PLEC biased at 10 V. d, AFM image of the polymer layer coated on the ZnO nanoparticle layer. e, SEM side-view image of a fibre-shaped PLEC. f, Aligned CNT sheet wrapped around the modified stainless steel wire with an angle of 15°.


The aligned CNT sheet plays a critical role in the successful fabrication of the fibre-shaped PLEC. The CNT has a multi-walled structure with a diameter of ∼11 nm (Supplementary Fig. 2). The sheet was dry-drawn from a spinnable CNT array that was synthesized by chemical vapour deposition (Supplementary Figs 3 and 4)40, 41. The wrapping of the aligned CNT sheet onto the modified steel wire is shown schematically in Fig. 1b. The two ends of the modified steel wire were fixed by two motors and a spinnable CNT array was fixed onto a precisely motorized translation stage. A continuous, aligned CNT sheet was drawn out of the spinnable CNT array and attached onto the modified steel wire at an angle α. The thickness of the aligned CNT sheet on the modified steel wire was accurately controlled by varying the helical angle and width of the CNT sheet.

The flexibility of the aligned CNT sheet is important in order to achieve close and stable wrapping on the fibre-based substrate, and had been investigated by winding it on a flexible polymer fibre (Supplementary Fig. 5). The resistance of the resulting fibre varied by less than 6% after bending for 1,000 cycles (Supplementary Fig. 6). The CNTs were highly aligned, thereby providing the sheet with high electrical conductivities on the order of 102 to 103 S cm−1. The aligned CNT sheet (thickness of 18 nm) was optically transparent with a transmittance of over 87% at wavelengths above 550 nm (Supplementary Fig. 7) and a symbol located under the CNT sheet could be clearly observed (Supplementary Fig. 8). As a result of the high contact area between the aligned CNT and electroluminescent polymer layer, the aligned CNT sheet is closely attached to the modified steel wire predominantly by van der Waals forces.

Fabrication of the fibre-shaped PLEC was tracked by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The stainless steel wire had a uniform diameter along the axial direction, with a smooth outer surface (Supplementary Figs 9 and 10), and the ZnO nanoparticles were uniformly coated on the stainless steel wire with an average thickness of 45 nm (Supplementary Fig. 11). Supplementary Fig. 12presents an SEM image after the electroluminescent polymer layer has been applied. Importantly, the outer surface appears uniform and smooth, without obvious aggregates or curved structure, favouring a close and stable wrapping of the aligned CNT sheet. The surface smoothness of the electroluminescent polymer layer was also characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM), and the roughness varied by less than 5 nm (Fig. 1d). The side view presented in Fig. 1e also shows the formed uniform electroluminescent polymer layer (thickness of ∼500 nm), while Fig. 1f andSupplementary Fig. 13 present typical SEM images after the CNT sheet has been wrapped around the modified steel wire (low and high magnifications, respectively). The CNTs remain highly aligned, maintaining their high electrical conductivity during wrapping. Supplementary Figs 14 and 15 show photographs of the resulting fibre-shaped PLEC, which can be bent easily into various forms. Metal wires with different diameters may be used to fabricate these fibre-shaped PLECs (although wires with a diameter of 510 µm have been studied here if not specified). Note that some attempts have been made to fabricate electroluminescent fibres based on OLEDs and inorganic phosphors (www.laserfocusworld.com/articles/2013/07/thread-becomes-functional-oled-emitter.html andwww.lytec-asia.com/products.html)42, but complicated fabrication processes are typically required.

Properties of fibre-shaped PLECs

The PLEC fibre was first driven to evaluate the time required to establish the p-i-n junction and device lifetime at 30 mA cm−2. As shown in Supplementary Fig. 16, the brightness of the device rises gradually to a peak value of 125 cd m−2 due to the gradual formation of a p-i-n junction in the electroluminescent polymer layer in the first 21 min (the time to establish such a p-i-n junction is determined mainly by the speed of ionic migration in the emissive layer). The emission intensity then gradually reduces to 63 cd m−2 in the following 4 h. We note that such a rather short operational stability is not uncommon in PLEC devices. Significant efforts have recently been reported in the literature to address this issue, with some success23, 43, 44, 45, 46. Many of those techniques could be introduced into or adapted for the fibre-shaped PLEC.

The fibre-shaped PLEC was further characterized after passing a current of 15 mA cm−2 for 10 min. The current density–luminance–driving voltage characteristic curves and current efficiency–luminance characteristic curves are presented in Fig. 2a,b. Light emission occurred at 5.6 V (at a light intensity of 1 cd m−2) and reached a peak value of 609 cd m−2 at 13 V. The current efficiency increased with increasing brightness and reached 0.83 cd A−1 at the end, with an external quantum efficiency of 0.35%. According to the CIE 1931 standard colour-matching functions, the emitted blue light can be demonstrated by x,y chromaticity coordinates (0.22, 0.36) (Supplementary Fig. 17). Due to the one-dimensional structure, which offers luminance in all directions, the brightness is almost independent of observation angle (Fig. 2c). The turn-on response of light emission from the p-i-n junction in the active layer was also investigated by means of a pulsed voltage operation (Fig. 2d). The pre-charged PLEC displays a rapid turn-on response that is similar to that of a conventional OLED. Figure 2e–h and Supplementary Fig. 18 also show that the PLEC fibre exhibits increasing blue light emission with increasing voltage. The uniformity of the brightness in the fibre-shaped PLEC was quantitatively compared at different locations biased at 9 V, and was found to vary by less than 7.8%.
Figure 2: Characterization of a fibre-shaped PLEC.



a, Current density–luminance–driving voltage characteristics of a fibre-shaped PLEC. b, Current efficiency–luminance characteristics of a fibre-shaped PLEC. c, Dependence of luminance on angle of a fibre-shaped PLEC. L0 and L correspond to luminance measured at 0° and the other angle, respectively. d, Transient light emission response under voltage pulses between 0 and 11 V with a 50% duty cycle for an initially charged fibre-shaped PLEC (50% duty cycle at 0.5 Hz). e–h, Photographs of a blue-light fibre-shaped PLEC biased at increasing voltages of 6 V (e), 7 V (f), 8 V (g) and 9 V (h). i–k, Fibre-shaped PLEC displaying blue and/or yellow light at its ends when biased at 9 V.


The emitting mechanism of the fibre-shaped PLEC is described in existing literature.4, 5, 22. Ions in the electroluminescent polymer layer are redistributed upon application of a voltage, establishing electric double layers at the cathodic and anodic interfaces that allow electron and hole injection, respectively. Electrons are injected into the electroluminescent polymer layer through the ZnO nanoparticles from the stainless steel wire, while holes are injected into the electroluminescent polymer layer from the aligned CNT sheet. The injected electrons and holes are electrostatically attracted, compensating an electrochemical doping process, with the electroluminescent conjugated polymer becoming n-doped at the cathode and p-doped at the anode. Eventually, a light-emitting p-i-n junction is formed in the electroluminescent polymer layer that facilitates electron and hole injection from the steel wire and aligned CNT sheet, respectively.

This fibre shape has many unique and promising advantages. As already mentioned, its brightness is almost independent of viewing angle (Fig. 2c), which is important for the luminance when in use. Although, here, blue light has been investigated to demonstrate the fibre-shaped PLEC, other colours can also be realized by varying the polymer emitter. For instance, a yellow fibre-shaped PLEC has been produced with a similar structure, but with a yellow emissive layer instead. According to the CIE 1931 standard colour-matching functions, the emitted yellow light can be demonstrated by x,y chromaticity coordinates (0.46, 0.52) (Supplementary Fig. 19). Accordingly, different colours can be integrated into a single fibre device with a similar fabrication process; that is, a steel wire coated with ZnO nanoparticles is successively dip-coated with electroluminescent polymer layers that emit light of different colours, and an aligned CNT sheet is then wrapped onto the modified steel wire. A simple model with two colours at the end is shown in Fig. 2i. The two colours can be selectively lit, depending on the application requirement (Fig. 2j,k). Similarly, a series of fibre-shaped PLECs can also be made alternately on a metal wire (Supplementary Fig. 20).

The fibre-shaped PLEC is flexible, and its brightness was maintained at above 90% of its maximum after bending with a radius of curvature of 6 mm for 100 cycles (Supplementary Fig. 21). The surface structure of the electroluminescent polymer and the aligned CNT layer were further tracked by SEM images before and after bending (Supplementary Fig. 22). No obvious damage was observed in either layer after deformation. This means that the fibre-shaped PLEC can be easily woven into flexible electronic clothes to form patterns (Fig. 3a and Supplementary Fig. 23).Figure 3b–d shows that two crossed fibre-shaped PLECs can be selectively lit to produce various configurations. The fibre-shaped PLECs can also be easily woven into patterns, for example to form the word ‘FUDAN’, as in Fig. 3e–i, and each letter of the word may be selectively lit (Supplementary Fig. 24 and Supplementary Movie 1).
Figure 3: Integrated PLEC fibres and textiles.

a, Textile under bending and twisting. b–d, Two fibre-shaped PLECs with different colours being selectively illuminated (biased at 10 V). e–i, Fibre-shaped PLECs being woven into a ‘FUDAN’ pattern (biased at 9 V).j, Electroluminescent spectra with the brightness ratios of blue to yellow shown on the right (inset schematic: two co-assembled fibre-shaped PLECs). k, x,y chromaticity coordinates controlled by adjusting the brightness of two fibre-shaped PLECs of different colours. l, Schematic of testing method. m, Dependence of x,y chromaticity coordinate on viewing angle.



As previously mentioned, it remains challenging to emit different colours in practical applications. Here, fibre-shaped PLECs were woven into clothes and show tunable colours, as expected. The luminance of each fibre-shaped PLEC can be continuously and independently tuned by varying the external current source. The presented technology also provides a useful platform with which to adjust colours by co-assembling two PLEC fibres that emit different colours (Fig. 3j, inset), for example, yellow and blue. While keeping the brightness of the yellow PLEC fibre unchanged, the voltage applied to the blue PLEC was gradually raised to increase the blue-to-yellow brightness ratio from 0 to 7.13, thereby adjusting the resultant colour (Fig. 3j). The brightness of the blue PLEC was enhanced to achieve x,y chromaticity coordinates ranging from (0.46, 0.52) to (0.22, 0.36) (Fig. 3k). Based on a similar strategy, the area ratio of blue to yellow lights can be varied by changing the viewing angle to tune the brightness ratio. In this way, the x,y chromaticity coordinates were changed from (0.46, 0.52) to (0.22, 0.36) by increasing the angle from 0° to 180° (Fig. 3l,m).

Conclusion

In summary, a fibre-shaped PLEC has been developed by designing a coaxial structure and incorporating a flexible and conducting CNT sheet anode. We have demonstrated that the entire manufacture of fibre-shaped PLECs can be carried out in air using a simple dip-coating technique that is compatible with high-speed and low-cost roll-to-roll fabrication. The fibre-shaped PLEC provides the same brightness in all directions, and it is lightweight, flexible and wearable. It can be woven into various flexible electronic clothes using well-developed textile technology, so accurately designed and colourful textiles can be produced from these PLEC fibres with different colours. The driving voltages are a little higher than those of conventional OLEDs, but may be reduced after optimization such as increasing the electrical conductivity of the aligned CNT sheet.

Methods

Fabrication of the fibre-shaped PLEC

The stainless steel wire was sequentially washed in acetone, isopropanol and deionized water. The ZnO precursor layer was coated onto the precleaned stainless steel wire after immersion in a ZnO precursor solution47. The ZnO precursor was prepared by dissolving 1.46 g Zn(CH3COO)2·2H2O and 0.2 ml NH2CH2CH2OH in 25 ml CH3OCH2CH2OH under vigorous stirring for 30 min at 60 °C to achieve a hydrolysis reaction in air. The ZnO nanocrystal layer was produced by thermal annealing at 300 °C for 30 min in air, and this procedure was repeated three times to obtain a continuous nanocrystal film with a thickness of ∼45 nm. The polymer layer was then dip-coated onto the modified stainless steel wire, followed by vacuum drying for 1 h. The blue-light-emissive conjugated polymers were dissolved in anhydrous, inhibitor-free tetrahydrofuran, followed by the addition of ETT-15 and LiTf. The weight ratios for the polymer/ETT-15/LiTf were 20/10/1, with the final concentration of conjugated polymer being 40 mg ml−1 (ref. 23). The yellow-light-emissive conjugated polymers were dissolved in anhydrous, inhibitor-free tetrahydrofuran, followed by the addition of ETT-15, Poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and LiTf. The weight ratios for the polymer/ETT-15/PEO/LiTf were 20/2/2/1, with the final concentration of the conjugated polymer being 3.5 mg ml−1 (ref. 6). The aligned CNT sheet was finally wrapped around the polymer-coated stainless steel wire to produce the fibre-shaped PLEC26 (for the synthesis of the CNT sheet see Supplementary Section ‘Synthesis of spinnable carbon nanotube (CNT) arrays’). The procedure for measuring the brightness is shown schematically in Supplementary Fig. 25 and is described further in theSupplementary Section ‘Calculation of luminance of the fibre-shaped polymer light-emitting electrochemical cell (PLEC)’. For convenience of characterization, the ends of two electrodes were connected to indium by an ultrasonic soldering mate (USM-V, Kuroda Techno).

The Light Emitting Fabric

4:59 PM AMOLED, colour changing cloths, LED, LED fabric, light emitting cloths, light emitting fabric, OLED, PLEC, programamble cloths

The technology is future of farming

Future farming a technology utilization

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) filming a combine harvester in wheat field in Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur, France.

 Today’s agriculture has transformed into a high-tech enterprise that most 20th-century farmers might barely recognize.

After all, it was only around 100 years ago that farming in the U.S. transitioned from animal power to combustion engines. Over the past 20 years the global positioning system (GPS), electronic sensors and other new tools have moved farming even further into a technological wonderland.

Beyond the now de rigeur air conditioning and stereo system, a modern large tractor’s enclosed cabin includes computer displays indicating machine performance, field position and operating characteristics of attached machinery like seed planters.

And as amazing as today’s technologies are, they’re just the beginning. Self-driving machinery and flying robots able to automatically survey and treat crops will become commonplace on farms that practice what’s come to be called precision agriculture.

The ultimate purpose of all this high-tech gadgetry is optimization, from both an economic and an environmental standpoint. We only want to apply the optimal amount of any input (water, fertilizer, pesticide, fuel, labor) when and where it’s needed to efficiently produce high crop yields.

Global positioning gives hyperlocal info

GPS provides accurate location information at any point on or near the earth’s surface by calculating your distance from at least three orbiting satellites at once. So farming machines with GPS receivers are able to recognize their position within a farm field and adjust operation to maximize productivity or efficiency at that location.

Take the example of soil fertility. The farmer uses a GPS receiver to locate preselected field positions to collect soil samples. Then a lab analyzes the samples, and creates a fertility map in a geographic information system. That’s essentially a computer database program adept at dealing with geographic data and mapping. Using the map, a farmer can then prescribe the amount of fertilizer for each field location that was sampled. Variable-rate technology (VRT) fertilizer applicators dispense just exactly the amount required across the field. This process is an example of what’s come to be known as precision agriculture.

Info, analysis, tools

Precision agriculture requires three things to be successful. It needs site-specific information, which the soil-fertility map satisfies. It requires the ability to understand and make decisions based on that site-specific information. Decision-making is often aided by computer models that mathematically and statistically analyze relationships between variables like soil fertility and the yield of the crop.

Finally, the farmer must have the physical tools to apply the management decisions. In the example, the GPS-enabled VRT fertilizer applicator serves this purpose by automatically adjusting its rate as appropriate for each field position. Other examples of precision agriculture involve varying the rate of planting seeds in the field according to soil type and using sensors to identify the presence of weeds, diseases, or insects so that pesticides can be applied only where needed.

Examples of remote sensing in agriculture, top to bottom: vegetation density, water deficit and crop stress.

IMAGE: SUSAN MORAN/NASA

Site-specific information goes far beyond maps of soil conditions and yield to include even satellite pictures that can indicate crop health across the field. Such remotely sensed images are also commonly collected from aircraft. Now unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs, or drones) can collect highly detailed images of crop and field characteristics. These images, whether analyzed visually or by computer, show differences in the amount of reflected light that can then be related to plant health or soil type, for example. Clear crop-health differences in images – diseased areas appear much darker in this case – have been used to delineate the presence of cotton root rot, a devastating and persistent soilborne fungal disease. Once disease extent is identified in a field, future treatments can be applied only where the disease exists. Advantages of UAVs include relatively low cost per flight and high image detail, but the legal framework for their use in agriculture remains under development.

Let’s automate

Automatic guidance, whereby a GPS-based system steers the tractor in a much more precise pattern than the driver is capable of a tremendous success story. Safety concerns currently limit completely driverless capability to smaller machines. Fully autonomous or robotic field machines have begun to be employed in small-scale high profit-margin agriculture such as wine grapes, nursery plants and some fruits and vegetables.
Autonomous machines can replace people performing tedious tasks, such as hand-harvesting vegetables. They use sensor technologies, including machine vision that can detect things like location and size of stalks and leaves to inform their mechanical processes. Japan is a trend leader in this area. Typically, agriculture is performed on smaller fields and plots there, and the country is an innovator in robotics. But autonomous machines are becoming more evident in the U.S., particularly in California where much of the country’s specialty crops are grown.
The development of flying robots gives rise to the possibility that most field-crop scouting currently done by humans could be replaced by UAVs with machine vision and hand-like grippers. Many scouting tasks, such as for insect pests, require someone to walk to distant locations in a field, grasp plant leaves on representative plants and turn them over to see the presence or absence of insects. Researchers are developing technologies to enable such flying robots to do this without human involvement.

Breeding + sensors + robots

High-throughput plant phenotyping (HTPP) is an up-and-coming precision agriculture technology at the intersection of genetics, sensors and robotics. It is used to develop new varieties or “lines” of a crop to improve characteristics such as nutritive content and drought and pest tolerance. HTPP employs multiple sensors to measure important physical characteristics of plants, such as height; leaf number, size, shape, angle, color, wilting; stalk thickness; number of fruiting positions. These are examples of phenotypic traits, the physical expression of what a plant’s genes code for. Scientists can compare these measurements to already-known genetic markers for a particular plant variety.

The sensor combinations can very quickly measure phenotypic traits on thousands of plants on a regular basis, enabling breeders and geneticists to decide which varieties to include or exclude in further testing, tremendously speeding up further research to improve crops.

Just another day on the future farm?

IMAGE: FLICKR, MAURICIO LIMA

Agricultural production has come so far in even the past couple decades that it’s hard to imagine what it will look like in a few more. But the pace of high-tech innovations in agriculture is only increasing. Don’t be surprised if, 10 years from now, you drive down a rural highway and see a very small helicopter flying over a field, stopping to descend into the crop, use robotic grippers to manipulate leaves, cameras and machine vision to look for insects, and then rise back above the crop canopy and head toward its next scouting location. All with nary a human being in sight.

The technology is future of farming

10:13 PM agriculture, drones, farming, featured, future farming, new technology, precision farming, technology farming

Googles wearable to zap cancer

Google new patent application for wearable technology

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office / Via appft.uspto.gov

A side view of Google's wearable and the magnetic nanoparticles inside the bloodstream.

Google's plans for a wearable that would zap harmful particles in the body are shaping up.

In a recently issued patent application, Google provided details on a novel medical that would involve sending tiny magnetic particles into patients' bloodstreams. The magnetic particles, activated by a smart wristband, would attack cancer cells and pathogens linked to other diseases. The patent was filed in September 2013 by Andrew Conrad, head of Google's life sciences division.

The patent appears similar to a treatmentGoogle described in October, but the company did not immediately return BuzzFeed News' requests for confirmation.

A patient would first inject, ingest, inhale, or absorb tiny magnetic particles into their bloodstream. These nanoparticles, as they're also known, would be designed to selectively bind with or recognize the targeted molecules. For example, they might be designed to stick to proteins that appear to foster the development of Parkinson's disease, according to documents.

The patient would wear a wristband a few millimeters from an artery or vein, although it could also be worn on the ankle, waist, chest, or elsewhere on the body, according to the patent. The device would then transmit energy, such as a radio frequency pulse, that would cause the magnetic particles to vibrate and heat up, and destroy or handicap the targeted pathogen.

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office / Via appft.uspto.gov

What the wearable looks like from the bottom and top.

While it sounds wild, Google isn't one to shy away from ideas straight out of science fiction. Researchers in its experimental lab, Google[x], are also cooking up driverless cars, a smart contact lens for diabetics, and a network of high-altitude balloons that provide internet access. And like all of those projects, the nanoparticle treatment would have to clear a litany of technical and regulatory hurdles before it became reality. A product that doctors could use is at least five years away, industry experts have said.

The wearable, as described in the patent, wouldn't just zap pathogens. It could also include sensors for measuring blood pressure, pulse rate, and skin temperature. It'd also display the time and date — as if this were just another ordinary watch.

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Googles wearable to zap cancer

8:53 AM Cancer, featured, Google, Google patent, magnetic nano particles, wearables

Design your own baby

Ethics of embryo editing

(Published @Nature)

Research that uses powerful gene-editing techniques on human embryos needs to be restricted, scientists agree — but they are split over why.

Some say that if safety fears can be allayed, such applications could have a bright future, and could help to eradicate devastating diseases. Others say that modifying the DNA of embryos, which means that the changes could be passed on to future generations, is an ethical line that should not be crossed.

The concerns are laid out in an article¹ published in Nature on 12 March and in one expected to appear in Science, amid suspicions that scientists have already edited the genes of human embryos

Gene-editing techniques use enzymes called nucleases to snip DNA at specific points and then delete or rewrite the genetic information at those locations. Most recently, excitement has focused on a technique called CRISPR/Cas9, which is particularly easy to use. Current applications of the technology are in non-reproductive, or somatic, cells: for example, Sangamo BioSciences of Richmond, California, has used zinc-finger nucleases, an older gene-editing technology, to remove a gene from white-blood cells that encodes the receptor to which HIV binds to enter the cells.

But concerns focus on the use of gene editing to modify the genomes of eggs and fertilized eggs — a process known as germline modification.

Edward Lanphier, president of Sangamo and chairman of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine in Washington DC, together with colleagues from both organizations, wrote the Comment article¹ inNature calling on scientists not to modify human embryos, even in research. The authors warn that such work could be exploited for “non-therapeutic modifications” — to change a child’s eye colour, for example — and that a public outcry about such an “ethical breach” could hinder the use of gene editing in somatic cells.

They also have more basic objections. “We are humans, not transgenic rats,” says Lanphier. “We believe there is a fundamental ethical issue in crossing the boundary to modifying the human germ line.”

George Church, a geneticist at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, agrees that there should be a moratorium on embryo editing, but only “until safety issues are cleared up and there is general consensus that it is OK”. Church, along with a group of scientists who met in Napa, California, in January to discuss the ethics and potential of the procedure, authored the piece for publication in Science detailing their concerns.

One concern is that nucleases could make mutations at locations other than those targeted, potentially causing disease. Church says that gene editing in animals is likely to reveal how to understand and avoid this complication. In one application, his group is editing genes related to the immune system in pig embryos to ‘humanize’ them, potentially allowing the pig’s organs to be transplanted into people.

Other indications of safety will come from trials on somatic cells. Sangamo has already demonstrated the safety of its modified white-blood cells in a clinical trial of people with HIV².

Church sees no fundamental problem with editing the germ line — he notes that even the somatic-cell therapies are still a form of artificial modification. He compares gene editing in embryos to in vitrofertilization, which people objected to until it was shown to be safe.

“In the distant future, I could imagine that altered germ lines would protect humans against cancer, diabetes and other age-related problems,” says Nobel-prizewinning geneticist Craig Mello of the University of Massachusetts in Worcester. In the nearer term, “there could be good reason to experiment with discarded embryos or embryonic stem cells for research purposes”, he says.

But Lanphier says that for most cases in which parents carry disease-causing genes, not all of a couple’s embryos will carry the faulty gene. Existing technology can be used to genetically screen and select healthy embryos before transplantation into the uterus, negating the need for permanent germline repair. “There are almost always alternatives,” he says.

Church, however, says that for the growing number of known cases in which several genes are involved in a disease, most embryos need to be discarded. Editing would greatly increase the odds of getting a healthy embryo.

Dana Carroll, a geneticist at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City who was at the Napa meeting, says that a national agency such as the US National Academy of Sciences should convene a conference that includes medical professionals and the interested public to weigh up the positive and negative aspects of germline editing. They had better hurry: several researchers who do not want to be named told Nature’s news team that papers describing such work are currently being considered for publication in journals.

Carroll also cites the importance of educating the next generation of physicians about gene editing. “They should be learning now what the technology is able to do and what the social, as well as clinical, concerns are.”

Design your own baby

2:10 PM design your baby, DNA, Embryo editing, featured, Gene editing, genome

How To Activate WhatsApp Voice Calling?

Activating Voice Call On Whatsapp

WhatsApp's voice calling feature is now available to all Android users. The world's most popular messaging app with over 700 million monthly active users only introduced this feature recently and rolled it out gradually to its Android users. If you are not an Android user, you'll just have to wait a little longer to get this feature. But if you use Android, and haven't yet activated voice calling on WhatsApp, what are you waiting for?

The process isn't as simple as updating WhatsApp to start using the voice calling features. It involves a couple more steps that you need to follow. We've described these below, so take a look to enable voice calling on WhatsApp for Android.

1. Download the latest version of WhatsApp for Android from here. The latest version on WhatsApp's website is 2.12.7, but if you're downloading from Google Play, ensure that your device has version 2.11.561. Older versions don't support this feature for all users.
2. Once you have the latest version of WhatsApp installed on your Android phone, ask someone who has WhatsApp calling enabled to make a WhatsApp call to your number.
3. Multiple users have reported that giving a missed call doesn't work. You'll have to receive the call and wait for a few seconds before disconnecting to activate WhatsApp voice calling.
4. When the feature is enabled on your smartphone, you'll see a new three-tab layout on WhatsApp, one each for Calls, Chats and Contacts.

How To Activate WhatsApp Voice Calling?

5:13 PM android, featured, Google, Google Play, How to Activate WhatsApp Voice Calling, Voice Calling, whatsApp, WhatsApp for Android, WhatsApp Voice Calling