TARGET Discovery Series on YouTube - AT success story

The TARGET Center, under the US Department of Agriculture, provides a Discovery Series that presents a lot of good information about assistive technology and electronic information accessibility. Here’s a recent announcement about their YouTube series:

The TARGET Discovery Series will return with a new session on December 8th, but in the meantime we are excited to announce that our first Profiles in Technology video is available at USDA YouTube.

Through this video series, individuals with disabilities will share brief stories about how technology has impacted their career.

In our first episode, we introduce Dr. Denise Decker, an NRCS employee who has a successful career at Agriculture during which she has travelled the world and written a published book about her guide dog, all with the help of assistive technology.

Look for additional episodes coming soon.

NOTE: To view the video of Dr. Denise Decker, click on the title above.

Hubscrub Event December 8 - DRC Charleston

This announcement comes from Walton Options, part of the SC STAR Network for Equipment Reutilization.

This is a great opportunity to get equipment sanitized by the Hubscrub, which doesn’t come often to our state.

Bring your medical equipment to get Santa-tized!

When: December 8, 2010 ---12 noon- 2PM

Where: Disability Resource Center

7944 Dorchester Rd, Ste 5
North Charleston, SC 29418

843-225-5080

Bring your medical equipment to be: Sanitized, Disinfected, Lubed. (no electrical or battery operated items)

No limit per person. Donations Accepted

For more information,or to get a flyer about this event, contact Ebony or Kathy at 1-877-821-8400

NOTE: To read more about SCATP Reutilization programs, click on the title above.

SC Adult Sibling Leadership Network

NOTE: To view the newsletter in full size, please click on the image above

Brain Scans Detect Autism's Signature

ScienceDaily (Dec. 1, 2010) — "An autism study by Yale School of Medicine researchers using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has identified a pattern of brain activity that may characterize the genetic vulnerability to developing autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Published Nov. 15 in the early edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study could eventually lead to earlier and more accurate autism diagnosis.ASD is defined by impaired social interaction and communication, and can disrupt the brain's ability to interpret the movements of other people, known as "biological motion." ASD is a strongly genetic, highly prevalent disorder.
Using fMRI, Yale researchers Martha Kaiser, Kevin Pelphrey and colleagues scanned the brains of children with autism and their unaffected siblings, as well as those of typically developing children as the three groups watched animations of biological movement. The study included 62 children age 4 to 17.
The team identified three distinct "neural signatures": trait markers -- brain regions with reduced activity in children with ASD and their unaffected siblings; state markers -- brain areas with reduced activity found only in children with autism; and compensatory activity -- enhanced activity seen only in unaffected siblings."
NOTE: To read the entire article, click on the title above.

Workshop: Building or Updating Your Home for Accessibility

Date: Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Time: 6:00pm – 8:00pm

Location:

2nd Floor Conference Room,

Family Practice Center

Interagency Office of Disability and Health

3209 Colonial Drive

Columbia, SC 29203

Cost: Free

Directions and a map are provided for Family Medicine (PDF)

Note about parking: Parking is in the chain link fenced area adjacent to the building. Conference room is on the second floor. It is the only room you can enter without a pass card and is on your left when you come off the elevator. (On your right if you come up the stairs).

Presenters:

Wesley Farnum, CAPS, owner of MyHome Builders, LLC

Catherine Leigh Graham, MEMBE, Interagency Office of Disability and Health, USC School of Medicine

Description: Wesley and Catherine will discuss a variety of home design features that can improve accessibility for people with disabilities or those wishing to remain in their homes as they age. The design features covered are common to all homes and are available without sacrificing aesthetics and style. The objective of this seminar is to educate participants on design, features and products that can make a home more accessible and enjoyable. Before and after pictures will illustrate options. Listed below are a few of the topics that will be discussed:

• Exterior features for accessibility and curb appeal
• Kitchen design
• Electrical items for safety and comfort
• Bath and shower design and products
• Flooring that works
• Funding options

After the presentation is completed, the presenters will be available for one-on-one questions.

More about the presenters: Wesley is a local builder and business owner and a Certified Aging in Place Specialist. Catherine is a rehabilitation engineer who has been a wheelchair user for over 20 years. They, in conjunction with the SC Assistive Technology Program, are offering this free seminar.

To register for this workshop:

• Option 1: Complete the online registration form (preferred)
• Option 2: Fax your registration information to (803)935-5342 or email it toWill.McCain@uscmed.sc.edu. Please include your name, organization, address, email address, and phone number.

To view the map and directions to the conference, follow the link in this post's title.

Growth-Factor Gel Shows Promise as Hearing-Loss Treatment

ScienceDaily (Nov. 26, 2010) — A new treatment has been developed for sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSHL), a condition that causes deafness in 40,000 Americans each year, usually in early middle-age. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Medicine describe the positive results of a preliminary trial of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1), applied as a topical gel.

Takayuki Nakagawa, from Kyoto University, Japan, worked with a team of researchers to test the gel in 25 patients whose SSHL had not responded to the normal treatment of systemic gluticosteroids. He said, "The results indicated that the topical IGF1 application using gelatin hydrogels was safe, and had equivalent or superior efficiency to the hyperbaric oxygen therapy that was used as a historical control; this suggests that the efficacy of topical IGF1 application should be further evaluated using randomized clinical trials."

NOTE: To read the entire article, click on the title above.

New Spinal Implant to Help People With Paraplegia Exercise Paralyzed Limbs

ScienceDaily (Nov. 22, 2010) — Engineers have developed a new type of microchip muscle stimulator implant that will enable people with paraplegia to exercise their paralysed leg muscles.

It is the first time that researchers have developed a device of this kind that is small enough to be implanted into the spinal canal and incorporates the electrodes and muscle stimulator in one unit. The implant is the size of a child's fingernail.

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) project is being led by Professor Andreas Demosthenous from University College London. It includes engineers from Freiburg University and the Tyndall Institute in Cork.

"The work has the potential to stimulate more muscle groups than is currently possible with existing technology because a number of these devices can be implanted into the spinal canal," said Professor Andreas Demosthenous. "Stimulation of more muscle groups means users can perform enough movement to carry out controlled exercise such as cycling or rowing."

The devices could also be used for a wide range of restorative functions such as stimulating bladder muscles to help overcome incontinence and stimulating nerves to improve bowel capacity and suppress spasms.

To read the entire article, follow the link in this post's title.

Modulating a Protein in the Brain Could Help Control Alzheimer's Disease

ScienceDaily (Nov. 18, 2010) — A protein known to exist in the brain for more than 30 years, called 5-lipoxygenase, has been found to play a regulatory role in the formation of the amyloid beta in the brain, the major component of plaques implicated in the development of Alzheimer's disease, according to researchers at Temple University's School of Medicine.

The researchers also found that inhibitors of this protein currently used to control asthma could possibly be used to prevent or treat Alzheimer's disease.

The researchers published their findings in the Annals of Neurology.According to Domenico Praticò, an associate professor of pharmacology in Temple's School of Medicine and the study's lead researcher, the 5-Lipoxygenase enzyme is found in abundance mainly in the region of the brain, the hippocampus, involved in memory.

Praticò and his team discovered that 5-lipoxygenase, which unlike most proteins in the brain increases its levels during the aging process. It also controls the activation state of another protein, called gamma secretase, a complex of four elements which are necessary and responsible for the final production of the amyloid beta, a peptide that when produced in excess deposits and forms plaques in the brain. Today the amount of these amyloid plaques in the brain is used as a measurement of the severity of Alzheimer's.

To read the entire article, follow the link in this post's title.

Controlling Cursors With Thoughts: Faster, Simpler, and More Accurately; Advance Helps People Regulate Their Own Brain Response, With Therapeutic Impl

ScienceDaily (Nov. 16, 2010) — Using a new brain-computer training approach, 14 volunteers learned in only six minutes how to move a screen cursor with their thoughts. Near-instant feedback helped the people quickly master some of their own brain responses.

Researchers have developed a speedier system that allows people to control a cursor with thought alone. Studies show that when people and animals are given feedback about their brain signals, they can gain some control over those signals. It's now possible to acquire that feedback faster than ever before -- in "real time" -- using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which registers blood flow in active brain regions.

"For most of us, most of the time, the ongoing activity of the brain is hidden and not under voluntary control," said lead author Anna Rose Childress, PhD, of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. "Brain feedback studies are changing this long-standing, one-way relationship.

"Thought-only cursor control may provide more options for people with "locked-in" syndromes -- in which a person is aware but unable to communicate -- and individuals with brain injuries. Previous trials have also shown that people can learn to control pain using real-time fMRI, and researchers believe this same technique may be applied to other conditions. They theorize that if the structures that underlie these diseases can be controlled, the disease itself can be altered.

To view the full article, follow the link in this post's title.

New Technology Allows Medical Workers to Better Assess Brain Injuries

ScienceDaily (Nov. 15, 2010) — A Queen's University neuroscientist is launching a medical tool at the world's largest neuroscience conference in San Diego on Nov. 15. The KINARM Assessment Station will greatly improve the way healthcare workers assess patients suffering from brain injuries and disease.

The new technology, invented by Stephen Scott, is the only objective tool for assessing brain function, and clinical researchers need this tool to develop better therapies for treating brain injury or disease.

KINARM combines a chair with robotic 'arms' and a virtual/augmented reality system that enables neuroscience and rehabilitation researchers to guide their patient through a series of standardized tasks, such as hitting balls with virtual paddles. Once the tests are completed, the system instantly generates a detailed report, pinpointing variations from normal behaviour.

To view the full article, follow the link in this post's title.

'Magic Number' 695 Opens Up New Areas for Alzheimer's Research

ScienceDaily (Nov. 15, 2010) — Alzheimer's disease is widely believed to be caused by the gradual accumulation in the brain of amyloid-beta peptide which is toxic to nerve cells. Amyloid beta peptide is formed from a protein known as APP, which is found in three forms. Most research into APP -- a key area of study for the disease -- does not distinguish between the different forms of the protein.

The findings, published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, show that amyloid beta peptide is actually created mainly by just one form of APP -- known as APP695 for the number of its amino acids. APP695 is found at greater concentration in brain and nerve cells, but this study -- funded by the Medical Research Council and the Alzheimer's Research Trust -- is the first time the significance of that has been shown. This discovery will now enable research to focus more clearly on the exact mechanism by which amyloid beta peptide accumulates in the brain.

To read the full article, follow the link in this post's title.

Functional MRI Predicts Outcome to Talk Therapy in Children With an Anxiety Disorder

ScienceDaily (Nov. 14, 2010) — A brain scan with functional MRI (fMRI) is enough to predict which patients with pediatric anxiety disorder will respond to "talk therapy," and so may not need to use psychiatric medication, say neuroscientists from Georgetown University Medical Center.

Their study, being presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in San Diego, showed that children and adolescents, ages 8 to16, who show fear when looking at happy faces on a screen inside an fMRI scanner were those who had least success with an eight-week course of cognitive behavioral therapy.

Conversely, children who showed fear while looking at fearful faces benefitted from the treatment, which is also known as talk therapy, the researchers found.

To view the full article, follow the link in this post's title.

Helping Older Adults Live Independently and Safely using Technology

Technologies for Monitoring Safe Medication Regimens

Learn about current research efforts underway and exciting collaborative opportunities as part of the SmartHOME® initiative to help older adults live independently and safely. This lunch seminar is presented by Sue Levkoff, MSW, SM, ScD, Director, SeniorSMART® & CoEE Chair, SmartHOME®, Professor, College of Social Work; and Deb Krotish, PhD, Assistant Director SeniorSMART®, Assistant Professor, USC School of Medicine, Division of Geriatrics.

Admission: Free
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
12:00 PM -1:00 PM
Coker Life Sciences Building, CLS110
Open to Faculty, Staff, Students and the general public
Please feel free to bring a brown bag lunch

For directions or more information on this seminar contact Pam Weiss at pweiss@mailbox.sc.edu, or 803-576-6074.
If you plan to attend and need special accommodations, please let Pam Weiss know.