This is the most painful thing that i have to face a day after another.

Whenever i am upto somwhere and introduce myself as a person pursuing biomedical engineering then only very few of them acknowledge me and say ohh!!! yes i know what biomedical is about?

But most of them end up saying that “this would be somewhere near to biotechnology” and i get  frustrated with that thing.

i know that most of us face this thing and then we have to clarify adding up that biomedical engineering is different from biotech engineering and there is a lot that differs between two of them

then someone would land up with the question that “what are the scope of this field in india & you would be probably trying to fly abroad”

then  again this is the most common thing that we have to face as a biomedical engineer

we all biomedical engineer are defined at their place but still we don’t have an identity

WHAT IS THE IDENTITY OF AN BIOMEDICAL ENGINEER?

A BIOMEDICAL ENGINEER IS THE MOST VERSATILE OF THE LOT

HE HAS THE SKILLS OF AN ELECTRONICS ENGINEER

HE HAS THE COMPUTING AND PROGRAMMING ABILITY AS A COMPUTER SCIENCE  & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ENGINEER

HE HAS THE CLINICAL UNDERSTANDING LIKE A DOCTOR

HE CONSIDERS EVERY ASPECT OF MECHANICAL PARTS OF MACHINE AND THEIR ABILITY TO COMFORT THE PATIENT LIKE THE MECHANICAL ENGINEER

THERE IS NO TRUE IDENTITY OF BIOMEDICAL  ENGINEER

“HE/SHE IS A PERSON WHO CAN APPLY AND USE THE ENGINEERING SKILLS

LEARNED IN A WAY TO HELP THE HEALTH-CARE EXTENSIVELY”

BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING IS THE KEY MOST THING & ONE SHOULD NOT FEEL EMBARRASSED

WHEN ONE SAY ” WHAT IS BIOMEDICAL ENGINEER”

YOU SHOULD PROUDLY BRIEF HIM OUT AND SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING.

By Kevin Grewal

As 2009 is coming to an end, we have watched the equity markets rally by over 30% and gold hit all time highs.  Additionally, signs of a global economic recovery have emerged and the future of the biotechnology, energy and materials sectors remains bright.

Biotechnology

Despite much uncertainty in the massive healthcare reform bill that is making its way through the legislative process, it is a safe bet to say that some sort of the bill will be passed.  With this in mind, heavy regulation and tax bills will likely hit Big Pharma, but not the biotech sector.  As a result, massive amounts of cash could flow into biotech.  Additionally, not all biotech companies have rallied from March lows and valuations for some are relatively still reasonable.  An ETF to watch is the PowerShares Dynamic Biotech & Genome (PBE), which is up 51% from its March low of $11.03 to close at $16.65 on Tuesday.

Energy

As the world’s economy is expected to continue to rebound through 2010, the demand for energy, in particularly oil is likely to increase.  China, India, Brazil and the United States are all expected to show economic growth in 2010 which will spur demand for energy, while production is anticipated to remain steady.  They key place to focus on in the energy sector is exploration and production.  With this in mind, an ETF to watch here is the iShares Dow Jones US Oil & Gas Exploration Index (IEO).  IEO is up 80% from a March low of $30.17 to close at $54.30 on Tuesday.

Materials

Much like the energy sector, as global economies start to rebound and expand basic materials will be in demand.  Many countries, like China and the United States, are focusing on improving infrastructure which will likely spur the demand for steel, aluminum, copper and other building materials.  An ETF to watch here is the iShares S&P Global Materials (MXI), which is up % from its March low of VV to close at YY on Tuesday.

These three sectors are likely to shine in 2010, but nothing is 100% certain.  With this in mind, it is important to have an exit strategy which indicates when an upward trend in these mentioned ETFs could come to an end.  Such a strategy can be found at www.SmartStops.net.  According to www.SmartStops.net, these price points are: PBE at $16.12; IEO at $52.57; MXI at $58.82.  These price points change as the markets fluctuate and updated data can be found at www.SmartStops.net.

Stem cell research carried out by biomedical scientists has enabled a man who was left partially sighted after intervening in a fight to recover his vision.

In 1994, Russell Turnbull lost most of the sight of his right eye after being sprayed in the face with ammonia while trying to break up an altercation on a bus, the Times reports.

The 38-year-old was left with pain, extreme sensitivity to light and cloudy vision.

However, a team from the North East England Stem Cell Institute – which is a collaboration between Newcastle and Durham Universities, as well as Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and other partners – have managed to correct much of the damage.

They used stem cells from his left eye to repair the injured one and, a year and a half after the procedure, Mr Turnbull is not almost pain-free and has dramatically improved sight.

He remarked: “This has transformed my life, my eye is almost as good as it was before the accident.”

From MSNBC an overview of a few ways our tiny, tiny friends are being explored as useful tools in the drive to create clean, sustainable energy.

Microscopic organisms — archaea, bacteria and fungi — have the potential to reshape the world’s power supply. Microbes could provide a vast energy resource that is as efficient and portable as coal, oil and natural gas, said Bruce Rittmann, director of the Center for Environmental Biotechnology at Arizona State University’s Biodesign Institute.

Some microbial processes, such as using yeast to turn plant sugars into ethanol, already account for a few percent of the energy mix, noted Arnold Demain, a microbial biologist at Drew University in Madison, N.J. Other processes, such as using bacteria to derive electricity from fuel cells, are still in the research and development stage but show potential for deployment a few years down the road.

Of course, if you want your kids to take an interest, you can always tell them about the “Electric Fart Machine” at Pennsylvania State University that turns CO2 into methane for easy storage.

Book overview

Daniel Reda, co-Chair of the Biotechnology and Bioinformatics track at Singularity University, introduces the key concepts and breakthroughs in biotechnology and bioinformatics. Filmed during the November 2009 Executive Program at Singularity University.

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory and Northwestern University have discovered that common bacteria can turn microgears when suspended in a solution, providing insights for designs of bio-inspired dynamically adaptive materials for energy.

“The ability to harness and control the power of bacterial motion is an important requirement for further development of hybrid biomechanical systems driven by microorganisms,” said Argonne physicist and principal investigator Igor Aronson. “In this system, the gears are a million times more massive than the bacteria.”

Source: R&D Magazine.

Science News in Brief

The discovery of a 4.4 million year old fossil skeleton that may have belonged to an early human ancestor was discovered in October.  Now, this discovery is hailed by the journal Science, as the greatest scientific breakthrough of the year.

Poll:

The Copenhagen Climate Summit has come to a close and here are some of the stipulations the loose agreement includes:

1. recognition to limit temperature rises to less than 2 degrees Celsius.
2. promises to deliver 30 billion dollars of aid for developing nations over the next three years, and 100 billion by 2020.
3. includes a method for verifying industrialised nations’ reduction of emissions.

Turd Polishing: Making something crappy look better than it actually is.  That is how I define the above agreement.  It doesn’t look as if it will help much at all.  We are willing to admit there is a problem (the first step), but not willing to change.

Members of the European Space Agency have given final approval to plans to explore Mars.  The mission is to depart in 2018.

Mars Attacks: There have been 15 rovers sent to Mars.  There have been 6 manned missions to the moon.  One seems to interest scientists more than the other.

Cool Creature

The Northern blue-tongued skink, or Tiliqua scincoides intermedia, grows to 24 inches long, making it the largest of the blue tongued lizards.  These azure tongued beasties live in forests, woodlands, and grasslands of Northern Australia.  It is diurnal, and hunts for insects, snails, fruits, berries and wildflowers during the day.  At night, they are much less active and can be found resting in the hollows of logs.

Don't stick your tongue out at me.

Feature Story

Sorry I have once again neglected to post for a week, but exams take precedence.

Anyway, I have decided to post about the Copenhagen Climate Summit: formerly known as Hopenhagen, now seen as Nopenhagen.

I will now admit that I don’t really think that I should blog about this.  So much has already been said about Copenhagen that I will probably just wind up repeating what you have heard.  So, I just want to share with you what I consider an excellent assessment of the Summit.

By Amy Goodman

Denmark is the home of renowned children’s author Hans Christian Andersen. Copenhagen is dotted with historical spots where Andersen lived and wrote. “The Little Mermaid” was one of his most famous tales, published in 1837, along with “The Emperor’s New Clothes.”

As the United Nations’ climate summit, called “COP 15,” enters its final week, with more than 100 world leaders arriving amid growing protests, the notion that a binding agreement will come from this conference looks more and more like a fairy tale.

The reality is harsher. Negotiations have repeatedly broken down, with divisions between the global North, or industrialized countries, and the global South. Leading the North is the United States, the world’s greatest polluter, historically, and a leader in per capita carbon emissions. Among the Southern nations are several groupings, including the least-developed countries, or LDCs; African nations; and nations from AOSIS, the Alliance of Small Island States. These are places where millions live on the edge, directly impacted by climate change, dealing with the effects, from cyclones and droughts to erosion and floods. Tuvalu, near Fiji, and other island nations, for example, are concerned that rising sea levels will wipe their countries off the map.

New conceptions of the crisis are emerging at COP 15. People are speaking of climate justice, climate debt and climate refugees. Indian scientist and activist Vandana Shiva was among those who addressed a climate justice rally of 100,000 Saturday in Copenhagen. Afterward, I asked her to respond to U.S. climate negotiator Jonathan Pershing, who said the Obama administration is willing to pay its fair share, but added that donors “don’t have unlimited largesse to disburse.” Shiva responded, “I think it’s time for the U.S. to stop seeing itself as a donor and recognize itself as a polluter, a polluter who must pay. … This is not about charity. This is about justice.”

Shiva went on: “A climate refugee is someone who has been uprooted from their home, from their livelihoods, because of climate instability. It could be people who’ve had to leave their agriculture because of extended drought. It could be communities in the Himalayas who are having to leave their villages, either because flash floods are washing out their villages or because streams are disappearing.”

Both inside and outside the summit there is a diverse cross section of nongovernmental organizations, or NGOs, from indigenous-peoples delegations to environmental and youth groups. Their separate but connected efforts have been coalescing into a new movement, a movement for climate justice. Broad consensus exists among the NGOs and the global South that any agreement coming out of the U.N. process must be fair, ambitious and binding, or as they put it, “FAB.”

The Bella Center itself, where the summit is being held, is said by the U.N. to be at capacity. Thousands of people line up daily in the cold, vainly hoping to get in to the Bella of the Beast. Thousands more, from the NGOs, are having their access stripped, ostensibly to make room for visiting heads of state, their entourages and security.

Outside, Copenhagen is seeing an unprecedented police crackdown, with the largest and most expensive security operation in Denmark’s history. More than 1,200 people were detained over the weekend, and as this column goes to press, targeted arrests of protest organizers and police raids of public protest convergence spaces are being reported. Heavy-handed police tactics give another meaning to “COP 15.”

After South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu spoke at a candlelight vigil for children, I asked whether he thought President Barack Obama was following through on climate change. He responded: “We hope he will, yes. He has given the world a great deal of hope. I have said he’s now a Nobel laureate—become what you are.”

Last week, as a polar bear ice statue melted downtown, revealing the dinosaur skeleton hidden within, a small ice replica of Copenhagen’s famous Little Mermaid statue sat outside the Bella Center, melting. She is now gone. Obama is making his second attempt to win a prize in Copenhagen, after the Chicago Olympics embarrassment. Unless he uses the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s new determination that carbon dioxide is a public health hazard and nails down a fair, ambitious and binding agreement, we may see Andersen’s “The Emperor’s New Clothes” played out on the global stage.

The Cosmic Perspective

When will we ever learn?  I will be the first to admit that we cannot “prove” that global warming is occurring.  But, there are two problems with doing nothing.  First, we have very strong evidence to support that assessment.  The so-called “Climategate,” has been largely debunked as overblown sensationalism and nitpicking on the part of climate change deniers.  At this point, countless studies have been done and the most of the ones not backed by large corporations indicate that the climate is most definitely warming:

Second, we don’t have time to wait and see.  We need to act now if we wish to avert the worst that could occur.  I like to use the precautionary principle.  The precautionary principle states that if an action or policy has suspected risk of causing harm to the public or to the environment, in the absence of a scientific consensus that harm would not ensue, the burden of proof falls on those who would advocate taking the action.  If I see a mushroom in the forest, I will not eat it if I am not sure that it is safe.  Likewise, we should not continue on our track of aggressively using up fossil fuels to power our excess.

The entire Copenhagen summit was a debate between developed and undeveloped nations.  Developed nations decry developing nations for using dirty energy to advance their states, while developing nations yell back that developed nations use much more fossil fuels per capita and are already developed, so who are they to say others should not.  After much back and forth nothing much has been done. The developed accord is toothless, and not even binding at that!  It looks unlikely to contain temperature rises to within the 2 degree Celsius  climate change threshold that UN scientists say is needed to avert serious climate change.  Nor will it bring back the levels of CO2 in the atmosphere to 350 parts per billion, the level that scientists believe is the maximum to avert the aforementioned 2 degree change.  Unfortunately, since we are insulated by the bubble of wealth, we do not yet feel the effects of this oncoming storm.  But eventually, every bubble pops.  Will we be ready to deal with it?  Perhaps the one silver lining that I can draw from this meeting is that globally, we have recognized that there is a problem.  Now, we must act and make actual attempts to fix it.

For all of you not up to date, I suggest you check out Democracy Now! for unbiased news and real journalism:

http://www.democracynow.org/

T R A N S M I S S I O N   O N E: The following is a transcript of a taped conversation found preserved within a capsule floating in the waters that had submerged London, England. It was found by one of our archaeological diving teams.  We are unsure of the date but believe it was recorded some three years before the collapse of Earth’s ecosystem and the establishment of the first lunar eco-base.

Begin Transmission…

A:            Let me frame the question as follows: If you lived on a tract of land that suddenly found itself in the path of an oncoming tsunami wave, such as the one that devastated Indonesia a century ago, I presume you would move inland?
B:             I would.
A:            And if you lived on an island, you would seek another island or another continent?
B:            Undoubtedly I would if it meant my survival.
A:            Would the distance matter?
B:            I would go until my legs couldn’t carry me anymore or I hadn’t any funds remaining.
A:            Now consider this: what nowadays is a distance?
B:            What it always has been – the space between two points.
A:            Is that altogether true?
B:            Why should it not be?
A:            Consider how insignificant distance has become: where messages travel instantaneously from Asia to North America, where a telescope outside of the earth’s  atmosphere sends images and data in no time at all.
B:            I see what you mean.
A:            So let’s return to the scenario… You are leaving your tract of land, or your island. The nearest tract of land appears a long ways off. It is impossible distance away… In a continent you have never seen, but you know is exotic and hot.
B:            I would be reluctant to leave.
A:            Despite the oncoming wave?
B:            My land is my home! You know: ‘home is where the heart is’
A:            And without a beating heart what is a home?
B:            I would be reluctant to leave, but I suppose I must. I would fly to the new continent. The trip then would not be so arduous.
A:            Now, I have not completed the scenario. This exotic continent is barren, devoid of life and alien from the land you are leaving.
B:            You are saying it has no soil? How would I survive without the soil, without the earth?
A:            Consider how insignificant the soil has become in our own day. The trend of genetically grown foods is astounding! Have you tried one of these marvels?
B:            Assuredly I have, although I remain a skeptic.
A:            Of course you do. We will discuss that later. But assume you were to witness a device that could grow vegetation and animal life independent of sexual reproduction. Say, a cow grown in a laboratory without a central nervous system?
B:            The mere idea of it is horrific. Who would think of such a thing? I would have to divorce myself from my allegiance to sexual reproduction.
A:            It is this choice or else you and all your progeny die.
B:            Then obviously I would eat the unholy meat.
A:            The meat could save you.
B:           Where, by the way, is this mysteriously distant and barren continent that bears no vegetation or meat?
A:            Look above.
B:            And where is the apocalyptic wave?
A:            Listen to the silent sea. It is about to wash in.

…End Transmission

Forcing Taxpayers to Support Abortion, Sex-Change and Physician Assisted Suicide

It should be alarmingly clear that if national health dictates pass, it will only be matter of time before advocates secure payments for abortion, sex-change operations and physician assisted suicide, either by forcing private insurers to cover them, or under government-run plans. Every American will either be forced to patronize a private insurer, buy a government policy, or pay a penalty, which is a de facto way of corralling their participation. Government agencies will determine what procedures must be covered.

Abortion is taxpayer-supported in many European countries through their national health programs. It is free, to the patient, in Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, and the Netherlands. It is free to low income women in Germany and subsidized in Sweden. Source BBC.

Brazil, Britain and Cuba now offer sex-change operations at taxpayer expense.

In Oregon, a woman was offered physician-assisted suicide under the State plan.

Below are the stories that pertain.

—————

A growing number of public and commercial health insurance plans in the United States now contain defined benefits covering sex reassignment related procedures, usually including genital reconstruction surgery (MTF and FTM), chest reconstruction (FTM), breast augmentation (MTF), and hysterectomy (FTM).^[2] In June 2008, the American Medical Association House of Delegates declared that discrimination ^[3], stating that the denial to patients with Gender Identity Disorder of otherwise covered benefits represents discrimination, and that the AMA supports “public and private health insurance coverage for treatment for gender identity disorder as recommended by the patient’s physician.” Other organizations have issued similar statements, including WPATH ^[4], the American Psychological Association ^[5], and the National Association of Social Workers ^[6]. Wikipedia

In Britain:

Many transsexuals, often intensely uncomfortable living with the genitalia they were born with, find it impossible to wait the necessary year or two before being admitted to one of the few hospitals which collaborates with the public health service and end up covering the costs themselves… http://www.gendercentre.org.au/14article1.htm

Nov 6, 2009 … The NHS carried out some 150 operations in the last year (up from about … I remember a MTF transexual referred to me once as a born woman, …
www.standpointmag.co.uk/the-operation-that-can-ruin-your-life-features-november-09-julie-bindel-transsexuals

Abstract Whereas hormonal and surgical sex change have been increasingly refined and accepted medically during the past 40 years, legal protections have only recently received attention. This overview focuses on employment, medical treatment, and civil status as male or female in the United States and the United Kingdom. Employment protection in the UK is assured since a court decision in 1994, but in the U.S. is generally uncertain and inconsistent between states. Health care, including surgery, under the UK National Health Service, is assured since a court decision in 1996.    http://www.springerlink.com/content/e35vn471v5047024/

Brazil govt offers free sex change operations

06/07/2008 | 09:17 AM

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RIO DE JANEIRO—Brazil’s health minister said on Thurday that sex change operations would now be free under the country’s public health system.

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/99859/brazil-govt-offers-free-sex-change-operations

The powerful story of Barbara Wagner demonstrates why this discussion is of utmost importance. When Barbara’s lung cancer reappeared during the spring of 2008 her oncologist recommended aggressive treatment with Tarceva, a new chemotherapy. However, Oregon’s state run health plan denied the potentially life altering drug because they did not feel it was “cost-effective.” Instead, the State plan offered to pay for either hospice care or physician-assisted suicide.

http://www.physiciansforreform.org/index.php?id=30

With the advent of pesticides, biotechnology, genetic patents, and other nature altering mechanisms like the terminator seed, we are depleting our historical roots to nature and becoming more dependent on corporate farming—which is not like farming at all, but more like production.

The terminator seed creates a crop that does not reproduce a second generation of seeds.

My mom might have had a couple of these seeds in her womb.

Only one of her four offspring had progeny.

I wonder if my mom ever talked to anybody at Monsanto about this.

If Human seed production fell prey to the same corporate patents and gene splicing that food has been subjected to, we might be a little bit more resistant to pestilence, but we probably wouldn’t need to worry about our offspring—on account of… we wouldn’t have any.

We are beginning to see some of the ramifications of not adhering to that old adage “Don’t mess with Mother Nature.”

I’m wondering how far we will let this go before we understand that we really will reap what we sow.

Presently, humans cross pollinate.

We have the capacity to generate our own seeds and plant them wherever we want.

Nature likes it like that.

It creates human diversity and healthy people if they don’t breed with their cousins.

But what would happen if Monsanto decided they wanted to patent human seeds and create a terminator gene for a more sturdy crop of humanoids?

What if they told us it would better the world, alleviate diseases, and create a bountiful crop of shiny, happy people holding hands?

But what if the catch was…

There’s only going to be one crop of these people because they have a genetically modified terminator gene?

If you wanted more people, you’d have to buy breed seeds from the folks who held the patent and eliminated all the previous breed seeds through propaganda and lawsuits against organic birth givers.

Then what?

I’m just sayin’.

Maybe we should reconsider where we plant a terminator.