All the well-deserved excitement surrounding the Higgs Boson discovery last week has my head spinning, literally. Of course, that term, spinning, has ramifications not just for politics, but for physics, too, since physicists accept that three of the four forces of nature possess a property known as "spin."
But what all this quantum speculation really has me thinking about is what truly "matters," namely the bonds between two people in love. You could even call this post a "spin-off" of sorts, since it uses some of the same terms and conditions, such as force carriers, electromagnetism, gravity, super colliders, and energy.
In other words, my own "discovery" is that these elements are the same "particulars" that constitute a perfect wedding. I say this as a result of having just "officiated" my first wedding -- my nephew's on June 16 in Scottsdale, Arizona (Note: That's me with the gray hair standing between the wind-blown bride and groom).
So here's my quick spin on the physics necessary for a perfect wedding:
Electromagnetism - The Large Hardon Collider (LHC) is said to accelerate two beams of protons traveling in opposite directions until the beams reach the desired collision-energy level (sure sounds like a lot of the relationships I know!). People come together, often via outside forces -- in the case of my nephew, Michael, and his bride, Jessica, it was a mutual friend and a mutual affection for the Philadelphia Phillies. Then magnets (friends, families, romance) steer the beams (Michael and Jessica) through beam lines in anticipation of looming collisions (love, courtship, and marriage). According to physicists, these "collisions" take place in the "hearts" (their word) of two massive detectors -- one for each team (family) and each with a unique design. This way, if both teams see the same results (marriage) using independent approaches, both will have more confidence in the outcome! I could have said all that a little more warmly, and personally, but I think you get the picture.
Force Carriers - Bosons are so-called force carriers, associated with the four forces of nature, i.e., electromagnetism, the strong force (which binds particles in an atom's nucleus), the weak force (which governs radioactive decay), and gravity. Granted, just about everyone who is in love and wants to commit to spending the rest of his or her life together is a major force carrier. And while there are strong and weak forces at play in every relationship, keeping it together requires softer skills like patience and sacrifice and unselfishness. If you have that in spades, like Michael and Jessica do, then your union is likely to be stronger than any force.
Gravity - Physicists argue that a particle has yet to be found for gravity, although one (the graviton) has been proposed. Wedding-wise, it's all about the gravitational pull and the attraction (another physics term). If this didn't happen, nearly 100 of us wouldn't have all been standing outside in Arizona heat in the middle of June to watch two people in love tell us they were committed to staying together!
Super colliders - We wouldn't have the Higgs Boson discovery without them, but a good wedding needs this too. Michael and Jessica had this going for them on June 16 as well, including several adorable little ones (nieces, nephews and cousins) as part of the ceremony, attentive bridesmaids and groomsmen, supportive families, and an adoring audience. Of course, it also doesn't hurt to have an open bar, a great DJ, and a best man who wears his tuxedo without a shirt!
Energy - Our physicist friends tell us that the energy at the collision point eventually creates new particles which are analyzed and used to determine the nature of the particle they fleetingly created. Sure sounds a lot like procreation to me, but that's for another time! However, Mother Nature herself provided energy of a very different sort in Arizona that day. Just as we were preparing to begin the celebration, a "haboob" (desert storm) paid a surprise visit and, in doing so, shielded the happy couple, yours truly, the wedding party, and the audience from the scorching Arizona sun!
Since this was the first (and only) wedding ceremony I've been fortunate enough to officiate -- and I'm by no means a physicist -- you should probably take what I'm saying with a grain or two of NaCl (that's salt).
But having just been through the wedding ceremony process from start to finish, I have happily discovered it is unremitting love that is indeed the strongest, and best, force in the universe. Just ask Michael and Jessica.
?
Follow Doug Bradley on Twitter: www.twitter.com/DBradMSN
$10K for starters? That sounds about right. But only for stuff that's at the bottom of the Nielsen's. If you want to go above that, the $$ curve is VERY steep. Look for other areas than entertainment.
I have a basic card/dice game design that can be transformed into just about anything, given a set # of objects. Wanted to do an NFL version and a POKEMON version. Don't recall which one was $150K [upfront in cash], but it was the cheap one.
I'll let you do the math.
My one game using licensed logos - EXPRESS LINE, which used a goodly number of train logos - took me a year and a half to get authorized. The Rail folks were all wonderful [once everybody was on board - pun intended] and most charged me little or nothing... but the stipulation was that I was only allowed to run 100 copies. So I produced 100 numbered copies, hoping that one of the big publishers would be interested in snapping up a product that had the permission of all four major Railroads to use their logos in one place. While I got a number of incredulous pats-on-the-back [I was surprised at how many folks were amazed that I had been able to get all the endorsements], no-one was willing to follow up on all my prep work.
So, there you go. If you've got big bucks you can make things happens if you aren't afraid of opening your wallet. On the other hand, even if you can find a genre where the licensees aren't outrageous [RR logos run from $50-$1500 and go up depending on the size of the print-run, but they're flexible depending on the item or project. They were VERY pleased to be ASKED FIRST and were looking forward to seeing themselves in a legitimate game box].
Therefore- even if you can line things up for publishers [doing all the hard work for them], it's no guarantee they're going to be interested. Most of the publishers were polite, but their bottom line was, "We've been doing without them for so long, we're not really interested in the real thing anymore, but thank you anyway."
And that was that.
Needless to say, I won't do licensed items anymore.
IPad helps five-year-old Hunter Harrison find his voice.
Born with a neuromuscular disability, Hunter has experienced
significant developmental delays in his motor abilities, including those
required for oral speech. Unlike most children, who begin to make speech sounds
spontaneously in their first year, Hunter's speech has proceeded slowly and
with great effort. He also uses a walker and a wheelchair.
Yet in nearly every other way, Hunter is a
typical 5-year-old boy. His eyes sparkle with a child's curiosity and
mischievous humor. He knows his numbers, letters, colors and shapes. He is
learning to read. Last year, he completed kindergarten at Jessamine Early
Learning Village, in Nicholasville. He will begin first grade in the fall at
Rosenwald-Dunbar Elementary School.
This is why it's imperative that Hunter have a
communication system, to enable him to stay within a regular classroom at an
appropriate age and grade level, says Jane Kleinert, associate professor in the
Division of Communication Sciences and Disorders in the University of Kentucky
College of Health Sciences.
"Children like Hunter, or children with
autism who are more mobile, need a communication system they can carry with
them or pull out of their pocket when they need it," Kleinert said.
"The incredible technology that has come with the iPad has made it
possible for these children to be more like typical children."
The iPad has become tremendously popular as an
assistive device in schools around the country, where it has proven useful in
helping students with a wide variety of disabilities. Part of its appeal is its
adaptability and the ease with which applications may be built and customized
to meet the needs of each individual user.
"It's become very very popular with children
around the country with autism," Kleinert said. "It's been very
successful in developing their communication. As a matter of fact, some of the
best communication applications are relatively inexpensive and have been
developed by parents of children with autism."
Kleinert and a colleague, Jacqui Kearns of UK's
Human Development Institute (HDI), assessed the needs for augmentative and
alternative communication (AAC) in multiple states across the country and
discovered that less than half of the children who would benefit from AAC
actually have it in place. The two are now working on a low-incidence
initiative to develop communication systems for children with the most
significant disabilities, supported with a grant from the Kentucky Department
of Education, administered through HDI.
Through that initiative, and with funds from a UK
Commonwealth Collaborative grant, they were able to lend Hunter an iPad loaded
with Proloquo2Go, an AAC app. Hunter also comes to UK once a week to see a team
led by Kleinert in the Communication Sciences and Disorders Clinic, along with
Health Sciences graduate students Rachel Hooey and Seth Brashear. Through a
routine of games and exercises that incorporate physical and speech therapy
techniques, Hunter is learning to pronounce individual words and to put them
together to make sentences.
"When Hunter first came he did not use his
voice very much, so we used the AAC all the time," Kleinert says. "He
needed a way to say, 'No, I dont want to do that' or 'I want to play this
game' or to answer questions like 'What did you do at school today?' or 'Do you
need help?' Those kinds of things, he could use his augmentative system for. As
he would use that, we would ask him to say what the device was saying at the
same time. As he has progressed with his oral speech, we dont use the AAC
quite as much. But at school they use it for all of his academics and all his
social interactions."
Hunter's parents say the combination of intensive
therapy and augmentative communication have made a phenomenal difference.
"Weve noticed that his speech is obviously
becoming a hundred times better," said his mother, Melissa Harrison.
"Before we started, we could barely get just the normal first words that
most kids say like 'mom' and 'dad' and things like that. Now you can give him a
book, and he can sit down and read it clear enough for you to understand what
hes trying to say. So hes reading, and hes reading to people, which before
would have never happened."
Kleinert says that many other children with
communication disabilities could benefit from a device like the one Hunter
uses. But the biggest funders for AAC, such as Medicaid and Medicare, restrict
funding to "dedicated instruments" specifically designed for
communication. That means that, under current guidelines, a multitasker like
the iPad does not qualify. That's unfortunate, as dedicated AAC instruments tend
to be larger, often weighing several pounds, and much more expensive,
frequently costing several thousands of dollars.
"Dedicated instruments certainly have a
place for those who need more sophisticated equipment and who have very severe
physical limitations," Kleinert said. "But for many children the iPad
is a fantastic innovation. We want the funding agencies to know that these are
about one-tenth the cost of a dedicated instrument, while they provide many of
the same capacities," Kleinert said. "I think it is just a matter of
getting that word out."
The iPad has become very popular In addition to
the inherent portability and cost advantages, a tablet-based AAC system can
also make social integration easier. Whereas a bulky, dedicated AAC instrument
conspicuously marks its user as having a disability, an iPad is seen as
perfectly ordinary, or even as a badge of status.
"I worked with a little boy, actually a young man
now. Hes 20, but I met him when he was about 13 months of age. And for many
years he used one of those big devices," Kleinert says. "He hated it.
A couple of years ago, he got an iPad. He just finished his first year at
Western Kentucky University. He used his iPad for everything, except for
writing papers he used a computer for that but he fit right in. He didnt
look different with that big heavy instrument. He looked just like everyone
else, with his iPad and his iPhone. I see that Hunter will be able to do that
as well."
Journalists interested in reporting on indigenous populations can participate in this workshop.
The event, organized in part by the International Press Agency India AIPIN and XEUBJ Radio Universidad of Oaxaca, will address methods, techniques and basic tools of journalism used to report on the cultural and social development of the indigenous peoples of Oaxaca, Mexico.
The workshop will be held from July 13-15 and 20-22.
The event will also addressthe historic background of the indigenous media in Oaxaca, the theoretical and methodological foundations of indigenous journalism and the fundamental concepts of indigenous law applied to communication.
$53 million grant will help health researchers develop new therapies -- with the public's helpPublic release date: 9-Jul-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Kara Gavin kegavin@umich.edu 734-764-2220 University of Michigan Health System
Support for clinical and translational research accelerates discoveries
University of Michigan scientists and doctors do some of the most advanced medical research in the world. But much of it wouldn't be possible without the thousands of people a year who volunteer their time, health information, blood, saliva, DNA or other samples to help those researchers better understand diseases and improve health outcomes.
Now, a $53 million grant will renew U-M's ability to support such research. The Michigan Institute for Clinical & Health Research has again secured a Clinical and Translational Science Award from the National Institutes of Health. The five-year grant renewal will provide U-M researchers with training, tools and services necessary to speed their search for new ways to diagnose, treat and prevent disease and to involve even more research volunteers in their work.
Members of the public can help, by joining a registry of people who are willing to be contacted when a U-M researcher needs someone like them for a study. Right now, just over 11,000 people including many who have particular diseases and thousands more who are generally healthy have signed up.
Anyone can register for free at www.umclinicalstudies.org, and participation in any study is voluntary. That site also contains information about more than 420 U-M studies currently in need of volunteers.
The renewed CTSA grant will also help U-M researchers do the preliminary studies that lay the groundwork for them to bring even more research funding into Michigan.
"The award will enable MICHR to continue to accelerate discoveries toward better health by educating, funding, connecting, and supporting clinical and translational research teams across the university," says Tom Shanley, M.D., Associate Dean for Clinical and Translational Research at the U-M Medical School and Director of MICHR. "We want to continue to serve as a catalytic partner for U-M researchers, so their work can result in improved health for local, national, and global communities."
The NIH's CTSA grants are administered by its National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, established last year to help re-engineer the research pipeline. U-M is one of about 60 centers to receive such funding.
The majority of MICHR's funding is dispersed directly to researchers in the form of funds and pilot grants, stipends for scholars and many free research management support services. In addition to federal support provided by the CTSA award, both the Medical School and the U-M Health System provide significant resources to allow MICHR to offer centralized programs and services that can reach a greater number of researchers and scholars across U-M.
"CTSAs provide critical infrastructure needed to strengthen the entire spectrum of NIH-supported clinical and translational research, including cool tools for clinical study management and data capture," said Josephine P. Briggs, M.D., acting director of NCATS' Division of Clinical Innovation. "NCATS looks forward to the continued evolution of this national program aimed at re-engineering the translational research pipeline."
This marks the second time U-M has won a CTSA grant. In the five years since the first one was awarded, MICHR has helped train researchers to carry out clinical and translational research, awarded pilot grants and provided services that have helped researchers secure an additional $222 million in grants, recruited thousands of participants to the registry, supported more than 460 U-M researchers and 250 clinical trials. It has also handled more than 23,000 visits by clinical research volunteers to four special research clinics that it operates in Ann Arbor including one where volunteers can stay overnight for studies that require constant monitoring.
The new funding will continue and enhance this work, and help fund facilities where researchers can process and store DNA samples.
"We are proud of our track record from our first five years, which has built upon the foundations laid by Dan Clauw and Ken Pienta," former MICHR directors, says Shanley. "Together with internal partners across the university biomedical and health science schools and our U-M Health System, and external partners in our communities and the national CTSA Consortium, we look forward to building on those accomplishments to serve as a key driver of helping researchers create the future of health care through discovery."
###
For more information, visit www.michr.umich.edu.
The grant renewal is NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences grant 2UL1TR000433-06 .
About Clinical & Translational Research
Clinical and translational research spans much of the research performed across the University of Michigan in areas related to human health.
Clinical research is medical research that involves members of the public, who volunteer to participate in carefully conducted investigations that ultimately uncover better ways to treat, prevent, diagnose, and understand human disease. Clinical research includes trials that test new treatments and therapies as well as long-term natural history studies, which provide valuable information about how disease and health progress.
Translational research means research that applies discoveries generated in the laboratory to studies in humans (bench to bedside), or that speeds the adoption of best practices into community settings (bedside to practice).
Phases of translational research include:
T1 First phase of translational research, or "Bench to Bedside," moves a basic discovery into a clinical application
T2 "Bedside to Practice" research provides evidence of the value of taking the basic discovery in the clinical setting
T3 Research that moves the evidence-based guidelines developed in phase 2 into health practice
T4 Research to evaluate the "real world" health outcomes of the original T1 development
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
$53 million grant will help health researchers develop new therapies -- with the public's helpPublic release date: 9-Jul-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Kara Gavin kegavin@umich.edu 734-764-2220 University of Michigan Health System
Support for clinical and translational research accelerates discoveries
University of Michigan scientists and doctors do some of the most advanced medical research in the world. But much of it wouldn't be possible without the thousands of people a year who volunteer their time, health information, blood, saliva, DNA or other samples to help those researchers better understand diseases and improve health outcomes.
Now, a $53 million grant will renew U-M's ability to support such research. The Michigan Institute for Clinical & Health Research has again secured a Clinical and Translational Science Award from the National Institutes of Health. The five-year grant renewal will provide U-M researchers with training, tools and services necessary to speed their search for new ways to diagnose, treat and prevent disease and to involve even more research volunteers in their work.
Members of the public can help, by joining a registry of people who are willing to be contacted when a U-M researcher needs someone like them for a study. Right now, just over 11,000 people including many who have particular diseases and thousands more who are generally healthy have signed up.
Anyone can register for free at www.umclinicalstudies.org, and participation in any study is voluntary. That site also contains information about more than 420 U-M studies currently in need of volunteers.
The renewed CTSA grant will also help U-M researchers do the preliminary studies that lay the groundwork for them to bring even more research funding into Michigan.
"The award will enable MICHR to continue to accelerate discoveries toward better health by educating, funding, connecting, and supporting clinical and translational research teams across the university," says Tom Shanley, M.D., Associate Dean for Clinical and Translational Research at the U-M Medical School and Director of MICHR. "We want to continue to serve as a catalytic partner for U-M researchers, so their work can result in improved health for local, national, and global communities."
The NIH's CTSA grants are administered by its National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, established last year to help re-engineer the research pipeline. U-M is one of about 60 centers to receive such funding.
The majority of MICHR's funding is dispersed directly to researchers in the form of funds and pilot grants, stipends for scholars and many free research management support services. In addition to federal support provided by the CTSA award, both the Medical School and the U-M Health System provide significant resources to allow MICHR to offer centralized programs and services that can reach a greater number of researchers and scholars across U-M.
"CTSAs provide critical infrastructure needed to strengthen the entire spectrum of NIH-supported clinical and translational research, including cool tools for clinical study management and data capture," said Josephine P. Briggs, M.D., acting director of NCATS' Division of Clinical Innovation. "NCATS looks forward to the continued evolution of this national program aimed at re-engineering the translational research pipeline."
This marks the second time U-M has won a CTSA grant. In the five years since the first one was awarded, MICHR has helped train researchers to carry out clinical and translational research, awarded pilot grants and provided services that have helped researchers secure an additional $222 million in grants, recruited thousands of participants to the registry, supported more than 460 U-M researchers and 250 clinical trials. It has also handled more than 23,000 visits by clinical research volunteers to four special research clinics that it operates in Ann Arbor including one where volunteers can stay overnight for studies that require constant monitoring.
The new funding will continue and enhance this work, and help fund facilities where researchers can process and store DNA samples.
"We are proud of our track record from our first five years, which has built upon the foundations laid by Dan Clauw and Ken Pienta," former MICHR directors, says Shanley. "Together with internal partners across the university biomedical and health science schools and our U-M Health System, and external partners in our communities and the national CTSA Consortium, we look forward to building on those accomplishments to serve as a key driver of helping researchers create the future of health care through discovery."
###
For more information, visit www.michr.umich.edu.
The grant renewal is NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences grant 2UL1TR000433-06 .
About Clinical & Translational Research
Clinical and translational research spans much of the research performed across the University of Michigan in areas related to human health.
Clinical research is medical research that involves members of the public, who volunteer to participate in carefully conducted investigations that ultimately uncover better ways to treat, prevent, diagnose, and understand human disease. Clinical research includes trials that test new treatments and therapies as well as long-term natural history studies, which provide valuable information about how disease and health progress.
Translational research means research that applies discoveries generated in the laboratory to studies in humans (bench to bedside), or that speeds the adoption of best practices into community settings (bedside to practice).
Phases of translational research include:
T1 First phase of translational research, or "Bench to Bedside," moves a basic discovery into a clinical application
T2 "Bedside to Practice" research provides evidence of the value of taking the basic discovery in the clinical setting
T3 Research that moves the evidence-based guidelines developed in phase 2 into health practice
T4 Research to evaluate the "real world" health outcomes of the original T1 development
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_uIjo1sUy8ed6rmwq9JdrzWZvJwzNzERt0pau5yUUgsc6i8NO8d0p3BdiGB3kpb-j2Idh723mlx6nELmRIrdqUm5gzWTkurIj4_b1zVz0Q=s0-d){kind=small}
Public release date: 9-Jul-2012
Share ]