Selfie-diagnosis

Love it or hate it, the selfie is a widespread Internet phenomenon that has captured the attention of the media, as well as that of the academe, having been named 2013 Word of the Year of the Oxford English Dictionary. A practice of countless celebrities like Kim Kardashian, politicians like President Barack Obama, and ordinary people alike, the selfie has spawned many a debate regarding its social implications (such as whether it promotes Feminism or undermines it), artistic significance, and even the definition of the word itself. However, for all the cultural import that it has accumulated in the past year or so, the selfie seldom—if at all—receives any emphasis in the light of hard science and technology.

This may change with the advent of a new mobile phone application that uses the phone’s built-in camera to check a person’s cholesterol level. The Smartphone Cholesterol Application for Rapid Diagnostics, or “smartCARD” for short, “optically detects biomarkers in a drop of blood, sweat or saliva” then uses optical analysis to determine the results. The accompanying accessory resembles a smartphone credit card reader and is clamped over the phone camera. A sample is placed on the test strip fitted onto the smartCARD reader to take a photo; the camera flash evenly illuminates the test strip, enabling the software application on the phone to analyze the sample and produce results based on the color values of the image. The test currently measures total cholesterol, but the Cornell engineers who developed it are working on adding functions that indicate measurements of LDL (“bad” cholesterol), HDL (“good” cholesterol), and triglicerydes—as well as applications for detecting other conditions.

This may not sound like the typical selfie that most of us are familiar with, but it is no doubt a selfie that we can all benefit from taking. According to statistics cited by Dr. David Erickson, who was part of the team that created the application, in 2016 there will be an estimated 260 million smartphones being used in the US alone. Dr. Erickson believes that the increasingly ubiquitous and sophisticated smartphone technology can replace specialized equipment in addressing health issues.

This is good news for the growing populations of smartphone users in the world who may not have the means to consult with doctors or get tested in hospitals. Though the trickling of technological advancements down to the masses does not indicate well-distributed economic progress, that scientists have developed a way to utilize a growingly accessible technology is a leap towards social equity. smartCARD is ready to hit the US market soon, with more planned improvements and similar projects on the way. Such developments comprise a new movement in mobile technology, which Dr. Erickson referred to as “mobile health” and hailed as the “next big thing.”

Once upon a time, self-diagnosis of medical conditions through a handy device was just the stuff of science fiction and wild imaginations, and the selfie was merely an example of an at times redundant social media behavior. Now, the potential of these to improve quality of life for many is starting to be realized. In a country like the Philippines, in which the prevalence of mobile phone usage is high, proper healthcare is still unavailable to majority of the population, and bright scientists and engineers are not uncommon, mobile health can be seen as an achievable dream for the future. If for some reason we Filipinos cannot access these foreign mobile health developments, we should be empowered and visionary enough to produce our own.

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This blog entry was written in response to the article New Tech Lets Cholesterol-Tracking Smartphone Users Take Lifesaving Selfies.

Article source:
Cornell University (2013, December 13). New tech lets cholesterol-tracking smartphone users take lifesaving selfies. ScienceDaily. Retrieved December 16, 2013, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131213161150.htm

Image source: 
http://static.indianexpress.com/m-images/Tue%20Nov%2019%202013,%2014:37%20hrs/M_Id_440783_Selfie.jpg

The Recovery of the Ozone Layer

With the ushering of the industrial revolution, the use of natural resources have dramatically increased. The impact of human interaction towards the environment has gotten larger since then.

The further discovery of chlorofluorocarbons which was extensively used before for air conditioning and as a propellant. When this was being used extensively before, the effect of it towards our atmosphere was not yet observed. Now we know that the use of CFCs do a lot of harm towards the ozone layer. This ozone layer is important because it is what protects us from the sun's UV rays. The hole created with the advent of environmental effects have detrimental effects to our health.

Luckily, in 1990, the Clean Air Act was put into place so that the repair of the ozone layer will start again. The latest news on this is that the ozone layer has been seeing massive improvement compared to before. The damage is stabilising but full recovery of the layer will not be done until 2070 according to NASA.

This prompts us to do more for our ozone layer and our environment. Addressing this problem cannot be done by simply looking at it on a case by case basis. The environment is a highly sophisticated systems which are joined together. To address this problem, we must also address other environmental concerns. It is not enough that we reduce CFCs but leave factories spewing toxic waste to rivers and other bodies of water. In the Philippines, I think massive reform is needed so that our natural resource rich land and water will not be further polluted. Going back to the problem on illegal logging, it is connected to this because trees are what clean our atmosphere and with the dwindling number of thriving forests, the atmosphere will just get polluted more especially with unregulated factories and electrical plants burning coal. Through this, we can see that repairing the already damaged environment will need much more than a single solution.

On a personal level, we can all do our part in saving the environment. Planting a single tree or some small plants is not very taxing; in addition, in the long run, it can be very beneficial to ourselves as it helps our environment. If all of us do even a small thing for the benefit of the environment, it will create a big impact. Maybe big enough to reverse what has already been damaged.


This blog was written in reaction to:
http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-ozone-hole-recovery-nasa-20131212,0,2385709.story#axzz2nLswj0v4

References
http://www.epa.gov/ozone/science/sc_fact.html
http://yosemite.epa.gov/R10/airpage.nsf/webpage/Repairing+The+Ozone+Layer

Blog on the HIV Forum

It is very important to the people to have knowledge about this disease so that the people wouldn't do something that can ruin their life. HIV/ AIDS is a disease that all of us can have and there is no medicine to cure it . The only medicine that is available is to lessen it. 
Based on the first speaker, Sir Ryan Pinili , We should all have to take the test because it is not us who will benefit from it, it would benefit also the people around us. 
The second speaker is Dr. Enrique Tayag, He said that based on the research 33 percent of the population is afraid to take the test because if the test is positive many people think that people will get rid of them and their lives will change but their are many organizations that would help the one who is positive of having HIV / AIDS. He also said that it takes too much money to prevent it but the count of the HIV /AIDS positive gets worst so it is very hard to make the number decrease.
The importance of knowledge in this disease is important because of how conceited it can be in our world. The stigma connected to having HIV is strong and can be damaging to a person that is why they hide it. This stigma should be removed so that people with HIV can live a more normal life and not be marginalized. Information is abundant but people are lazy to search for it. They best way to tackle HIV is to inform the public without scaring them.

Blog by KC Lozada and Jared Ching

The first Filipino astronaut

Through the years, a lot of aspiring Filipinos dreamed to go out of space to research and discover new things. Finally, the Philippines may now make its mark on space itself.

For the very first time, a space travel agency called Space Expedition Corporation (SXC) and XCOR Aerospace will be sending regular untrained people to experience the environment of the real outer space. AXE Fragrance Cologne for Men have created the AXE Apollo Space Academy, a program where in it can send ordinary people to outer space. The grand plan is to send one person in every AXE Country on Earth, including the Philippines to experience a zero-gravity moon walking gig. 

The winners will travel to space onboard the XCOR Lync space plane in 2014.

“The program we’ve launched is an opportunity for our great nation to join the global community in taking the next big leap.  We’re very excited to meet the first Pinoy astronaut.  It could be anyone,” said Axe brand manager in the Philippines - Gem Laforteza

THE MAN

Chino Roque,the 22-year-old crossfit trainer, a psychology graduate from De La Salle University has been officially named as the first Filipino astronaut after legendary spaceman Buzz Aldrin  selected him as one of 24 astronauts to fly in space on board a Space

Expedition Corporation shuttle in 2015.  Aldrin, the  second person to walk on the moon, served

as lunar module pilot for Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing mission, in 1969.

Having this kind of innovation that is currently happening  in our generation means that space tourism can be possible by next year or perhaps after 2 years. You really got to have a lot of money because a seat in the spacecraft reportedly has a commercial rate of $100,000 (P4.3 million) for anyone who wants to experience the flight.

Reference:

http://ph.news.yahoo.com/first-filipino-astronaut-named-185504245.html

http://trailsunlimited.blogspot.com/2013/01/axe-philippines-to-launch-first.html

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/289591/scitech/science/search-launched-for-first-filipino-astronaut

http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/134365/our-first-filipino-astronaut-in-2014

Our Very Own Prosthetics

The internet has brought us to hundreds, if not millions, of Do-It-Yourself videos. How to make your very own fisheye lens, or your own barbecue, or even your own beer, all these you'll find on the internet. All you have to do is:

          First: Get internet access.
          Second: Open a browser.
          Third: Type whatever video you want to find. 
          Fourth: Press Enter.
          Fifth: Look for a link that suits you.
          Sixth: Watch the video.
          Seventh: Follow the video.

And viola! You have your very own whatever you looked for.

Paul McCarthy (Yes, it's not McCartney from The Beatles.), a father from Massachusetts, build his own son his very own prosthetic hand all from a video he found online.

The DIY video showed him how make a so called prosthetic hand using a 3-D printer, string, bolts and screw. McCarthy figured things out and eventually was able to build a hand for his son. And when his son outgrew the hand, he simply made a new one.

Though this homemade prosthetic hand does not do all the functions of a manufactured prosthetic, its functions are sufficient for everyday life. They help to give the person a relatively normal life, than not having a hand at all.

This homemade invention shows such ingenuity and inventiveness. It went beyond the limitations of buying a manufactured prosthetic from clinics and hospital just so you could function and live like a normal human being, instead tt gave you that same opportunity at a different cost, at such a low cost.

These kinds of inventions bring hope to the future generation. Maybe such technologies do not necessarily need to be as expensive as they are today. Maybe they can be made in different ways that ordinary human beings, not scientists and geeks, have the ability to do. Maybe they don't necessarily need to be as grand as they are today, but still have that awesomeness in them.

We can't limit ourselves to the same path that people have passed on for the past decades, we can pass through a different path and get the same thing. And though different, it might be so bad.

References:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/04/dad-prints-prosthetic-hand-leon-mccarthy_n_4214217.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2478750/Father-builds-prosthetic-hand-son-3-D-printer-watching-online-DIY-video.html

Astral Projections and the Power of the Mind

Had you ever felt an out-of-body experience?

According to livescience.com, surveys suggest that between 8 and 20 percent of people claimed to have experienced possible out-of-body experiences at some point in their lives. This out-of-body experience can also be called an “astral projection”, wherein an existence of an “astral body” that separates from the physical body and is capable of travelling outside of it. This idea that humans can leave their bodies has been prominent even in the ancient times. Humans believe that it is through astral projection that people may be able to communicate with cosmic intelligence and reach the astral plane. These out-of-body experiences are also linked with near death experiences, and are frequently associated with people who experience illnesses, sleep paralysis, surgical operations, and drug experiences.

When do out-of-body experiences happen?

A research was made wherein people who experienced this phenomena were asked to described when their experiences happened. Around 85% of the respondents said they had experiences this while resting, sleeping, or dreaming. Other surveys show that the majority of people who experience this are people who are in bed rest from an illness while a smaller percentage comes from while a person is on drugs or medicated.

So how does the brain create these astral projections?

Survey evidence suggests the theory that these projections could arise with the same condition as sleep paralysis. Researchers link a strong connection between out-of-body experiences and lucid dreaming. But, there are arguments that refute this statement, as these types of experiences are not so frequent, and can happen with people who have not experienced lucid dreaming.

A research demonstrates that triggering these kinds of experiences is as simple of getting a person to watch a video of them with a heartbeat projected onto it. The study suggests that it’s easy to trick the mind of a person into thinking that it belongs to an external body and the person’s self-consciousness can be easily manipulated by externalising the body’s internal rhythms. Studies have shown that the brain incorporates information from a person’s multiple senses together with the first-person visual perspective, creating a sense of body ownership. Researchers from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden had participants lie inside an MRI scanner while wearing a head-mounted display. This display shows a first-person view of another person’s body lying in a corner of the scanner room, their heads either parallel to a wall or perpendicular to it. The researchers then repeatedly touched each of the participants with an object while simultaneously touching the body that the participants were shown in the camera view. When the researchers used a knife to threaten the body they saw in the camera, the measure of the participants’ skin conductance heightened, as it’s natural for humans to sweat more when they’re scared. While the participants were experiencing these body illusions, the areas in their brain that dealt with integrating sensory information and the planning of the body movements were involved. In addition to this, the level of the brain activity corresponded with how strong the illusion was. This suggests that these specific regions of the brain are important in experiencing astral projection.

There are also some instances wherein astral projection can be experienced on purpose. An article in wikihow gives some tips on how a person can experience an astral projection without having a near death experience.

• Step 1: Ready your mind and body by choosing a quiet place to relax. Make sure that you won’t be interrupted. It is better to try this during 4:00am-6:00am as these are more common at these times.
• Step 2: Find a comfortable position.
• Step 3: Affirm yourself that you will have an out-of-body experience.
• Step 4: Close your eyes and relax. Meditation techniques can also be helpful in maintaining an empty mind.
• Step 5: Allow yourself to almost fall asleep. Let yourself drift closely to sleep while still staying conscious of your sensations and mental state.

(The rest of the article gives tips on how to control yourself when you’re already in the astral plane.)

Astral projection has been practiced for millennia. These days, astral travel can also be big business. Online courses and books are offered, giving people tips on how to reach the astral plane. Though people are convinced that they really do leave their physical bodies while experiencing this, science suggests that there are still not enough evidences to explain how astral projection happens outside of the body. In the end, out-of-body experiences is still indeed the work of the brain.

References:

http://www.lucidity.com/NL32.OBEandLD.html
http://www.livescience.com/41128-out-of-body-experiences-explained.html
http://www.livescience.com/27978-astral-projection.html
http://www.gizmag.com/visualized-heartbeat-out-of-body-experience/28728/
http://www.wikihow.com/Have-an-Out-of-Body-Experience