Graphene based Implant will Deepen the Understanding of Brain at Low Frequencies

Researchers in Barcelona have found a new grapheme based implant to map the brains activity below 0.1 Hz of frequency. The prototype created at Barcelona Microelectronics Institute will help in understanding the brains activity exponentially.

For decades researchers were using electrode arrays to map the activity in the various parts of the brain. The electrode arrays were helpful in understanding which areas of the brain are active when a particular activity was being performed and which areas were silent. But a limitation to this technology was that this could only detect frequencies over certain threshold. This limited the scope of understanding brains working at subtle frequencies. The new technology has paved the way for understanding brains working below the frequency of 0.1 Hz.

The technology was invented as a collaboration project involving Barcelona Microelectronics Institute, CIBER in Bioengineering, Catalan Institute of Nano sciences and Nanotechnology, August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute. The Technology by using a transistor based architecture amplifies low frequencies before they are transmitted to the receiver, this technology will do away the existing electrode array method of brain’s activity mapping.

Graphene being flexible and slim will enable the use of implants in various parts of brain earlier unexplored by the electrode array method of mapping. Information on Many new regions of brain will be available by this technology’s application. For neurologists this is good news as hearing and understanding subtle whispers of the brain will be possible for the first time with the new technology. Unprecedented insights are awaited by academia and researchers alike on such matters like the origins of seizure and effective diagnosis and treatment for conditions like epilepsy by the full throttle application of this technology.

The technique where a large number are recording sites are explored by using transistor configuration is called multiplexing strategy. A European project BrainCom, is using the same technique to restore communication and speech in patients. The project is working on creating new array of brain-computer interfaces to repair high level of cognitive functions focusing particularly on speech disorders caused by spinal cord or brain injuries.

Graphene has shown promising applications in medical implants field, with news reports in April 2018 breakthrough innovation where vertical; grapheme could be used to kill bacteria while surgery and stop further infection. When the flakes were added to the surface of the implant Graphene hindered bacterial infection during the surgery. This and other interesting applications of Graphene has shown promising future for nanotechnology applications in medicine and medical implants.

Medical Manufacturers are Exploiting a Grandfathering Clause in the Regulation to Postpone Implementation of EU’s New Rules

As Implant Files, an investigation by International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), have exposed failure of medical regulators to test faulty medical implants and save lives, companies are using an exemption clause to escape from EU’s new rules. The May 2020 Deadline for manufacturers who test medical devices to comply with recertification norms has led many companies to look for loopholes in the law.

EU instead of making new regulation is opting for stricter compliance of norms in the existing law.

ICIJ’s Implant files reported 4400 violations by device companies to report complaints and device problems in the last decade, the outrage ran across all sections of public opinion.

Companies are exploiting a grandfathering clause in the law to postpone recertification for another five years. European commission stated that the intention for the clause was to apply under some very specific conditions so that key products which could not make it up to the deadline wouldn’t have to be taken off the shelf. A clause which was meant to be a safe exit or a Plan B is being used by medical manufacturers to bypass implementation deadline.

The postponement of recertification will result in delay in access to critical medical devices to patients.   The grace period clause which allows companies to postpone recertification up to 2025 will not be feasible for the safety of patient as well as by transparency perspective, according to a senior member of EPF, A nodal patient advocacy group in Europe.

The Delay seems deliberate as MedTech, a lobbying firm for device makers warned of large scale discontinuation of vital medical technology products the healthcare industry has relied on for decades. In May 2018, just two years away from deadline, the firm replied with a negative response on whether recertification was on track. Concerned voices in European Parliament have shown skepticism about the new framework’s ability to effectively ensure compliance.

The medical device industry has around 27,000 players which collectively make 5, 00,000 products. Around a handful of 60 bodies which have been notified, has gained final approval from European commission to scrutinize and certify medical products according to safety standards. The regulation attracted criticism as the bodies which appointed certification are themselves waiting for final approval. The administrative lapses along with escapist attitude of companies has enraged patient rights and advocacy groups all over the continent.

Spain and Denmark seems to have taken the issue seriously and it was put on immediate agenda on Health Council in December last year. The commission having worked for decades to formulate these norms, can’t wait for another delay in its implementation, said Ellen Trane Norby, the Danish Health Minister.

Antioxidants in Grain Bran Shows Potential for Naturally Preserving Food says Penn State Researchers

Food preservatives have shown a tendency to cause allergic reactions and have proved to be less than ideal for our health. Researchers from Pennsylvania State University have found a natural antioxidant in grain bran which has shown potential to be used for food preservation in the coming years. Grain bran is the hard cover of grain.

Antioxidants are compounds responsible for slowing down the degradation rate of omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids with lots of health benefits, for many years is being added to healthy foods. Antioxidants preserve the health benefits of these acids by slowing down their decay. A class of antioxidants called alkylresorcinols (AR) were studied by the Penn’s researchers which are naturally occurring compounds present in whole grains like rye, wheat and barley to prevent bacteria, mold and other organisms from growing on the grain kernels.

Food has very limited shelf life, which makes food preservatives an inevitable necessity for preserving foods for delayed consumption. Common food preservatives like nitrates and sulfites have shown numerous side effects including headache, nausea, allergies and palpitations. Some preservatives have been classified as probable cancer causing agents. Food industry have even fantasized using nuclear radiation for preserving food. The industry’s struggle to find natural antioxidants for preserving food in place of synthetic ones may be coming to an end with ARs.

ARs if used in preservation will make them ideal natural preservatives as they have many health benefits including helping to protect against cancer. Also ARs which come from bran layer of cereal grain, are very cost effective as gray bran is only used as animal fodder. Its use could be extended further by recycling.

Researchers extracted ARs from rye bran and used it in testing emulsion. As many people use oils as emulsions. Researchers found that the AR’s did work as antioxidants in preserving omega-3 fatty acids. The AR’s action was compared to two traditional antioxidants one natural and the other synthetic, namely Vitamin E and butylated hydroxytoluene respectively.

The research unfortunately showed that the AR’s did not prove to be as good as either the natural or synthetic antioxidants. They think the reason for the poor performance of AR may be that the ARs were not pure enough which may have reduced its activity. Now the researchers are testing the activity of ARs from different sources with different molecular structures. They are looking for a specific type of AR which will prove more effective than the conventional synthetic antioxidants.

An Infrared-based Food Scanner will be Able to Determine Shelf Life of Food

An infrared sensor based mobile food scanner will be able to determine the freshness of food. The device can be used by supermarkets and consumers alike to know the shelf life of food item. The technique uses infrared measurements to determine the shelf life and ripeness of a product which will help in understanding the edibility of a food item. Fraunhofer researchers developed the system in partnership with Bavarian ministry of food and the technology is available only for demonstration.

Every year ten million metric tons of food is thrown into garbage according to estimates by the environmental organization WWF Germany. US food and agricultural Association states that the one third of food produced in the world is wasted amounting 1.3 billion tons every year. Developed world which is responsible for the highest amount of food wastes the cost of such waste is US$680 billion.

The wastage is due to numerous factors including food aesthetics, food habits, cultural choices but the major reason is the inability of consumers to determine whether food is edible or not. To address this issue by offering a proactive solution, the Bavarian Ministry of Food launched 17 new initiatives one of which is the Fraunhofer’s food scanner. The device is inexpensive offering the consumer to determine fresh products from farm to table.

In the promising new technology, high-precision infrared beam is shined on the food product, and the reflected light measurement are recorded across the IR spectrum. The absorbed wavelengths will determine the chemical composition of food. The data will be sent to a central cloud where it will be analyzed, and the test results will be sent back to the user’s smartphone app where it will show the shelf life of the food product and consumption span.

Fraunhofer’s researchers have said that the food scanner is only in its initial testing phases and much work remains to be completed. One significant limitation of the technology is that it is only capable of determining freshness of homogenous food products. It is able to determine the freshness of a potato or onion but not that of pizza with many toppings. The research group wants to add new capabilities to the technology by new research. The group wants to employ AI based machine learning algorithms to expand its recognition potential. The more the number of food products tested on the device, through machine learning it will be able to determine and identify complex products.

The research group wants to test the device initially in supermarkets this year to see consumer response. The application can be expanded to other simple homogenous material like such as sorting wool, textiles, minerals and plastics.

Digital Hub Plans to Build Windmill Farm on its Campus, to be Completed by the End of 2019, As Demand for Office Space Soars

Digital Hub, Ireland’s cluster of technology, digital media and internet companies, based in Dublin is planning a windmill farm on its campus to support energy needs of growing number of companies in the hub.  A year earlier eight new companies bought new office space and nine companies expanded their space in the hub.

The windmill site covering 2.6 acres roughly will include the famous St Patrick’s tower, and two office spaces of the digital hub, Digital Depot and the Grainstore. The site will be located in north of Thomas street in Dublin sector 8. The windmill plan will be executed in phased manner and initial phase will include feasibility and cost-benefit analysis. The plan is to be completed before 2019 end.

Digital hub currently hosts 70 businesses with 750 employees. With 70,000 Sq. feet office space and 85% occupancy rate spread across nine buildings, the hub is still experiencing growing demand from existing companies. The hub currently hosts companies from diverse sectors from creative digital to health-tech sector. Notable companies include CB Media, Gingerbread Animation, Neuromod and PatientMpower. Health-tech companies occupy ten percent of the entire space, this cluster of companies from the same sector keeps everyone informed and up-to-date with new industry developments.

Full Health Medical, a health-tech company which moved to The Digital Hub in 2018, believes the specialized ecosystem of health-tech companies along with the proximity to St James Hospital has added value to their business. Black Shamrock, a game company specializing in the development of role-playing games for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC recently moved to the hub along with PunchOut2Go, an American e-procurement company and Eclipse Pictures which is the country’s largest film distribution company.  

Digital Hub’s CEO Fiach Mac Conghail feels very excited of the future of tech companies coming to the hub, the diverse ecosystem of tech companies will have long term positive and tangible impact on the socio-economic scenario of the Liberties area of Dublin which has great historical significance.

Other noteworthy initiatives taken by the hub include artist-in-residence program where it plans to provide a platform for interaction between innovation, art and technology. Residents of the Liberties community will hugely benefit from such initiatives says the hub’s CEO Mr. Conghail. The Hub has also started focusing on Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) projects with its Future Cadets Program.

In December 2018, The Digital Hub announced the appointment of architecture firm Scott Tallon Walker Architects and KSN Project Management to design the development of The Digital Hub.

Premier Inn, UK’s Hospitality Giant Installs 100kWh Battery at its Gyle Site, Expansion to Other Hotels Soon

Premier Inn has in partnership with E.ON has installed UK’s first hotel based battery storage unit. The lithium ion based battery has a capacity of 100 KWh and will be used to store excess energy produced from the hotel’s rooftop solar panel array. The battery will be used for at least 2 hours per day to meet the hotel’s energy demand at peak hours. As the Whitbred-owned hotel Gyle located in Edinburg park area has 200 rooms, its energy demand requires huge energy backup. The lithium battery will ensure energy backup as well

The company chose Edinburg park hotels. Scotland is one of the largest producer of renewable energy specifically wind energy owing to its windy territory even though onshore and offshore winds have tendency of volatility. The site already equipped with smart lighting, LED fitting and many more sustainable and energy efficient features is now also integrated to E.ON system. E.ON system will enable the smart features to be remotely controlled from its facility.

The hotel conglomerate owns 680 hotels in the UK plans to install the battery in all its hotels soon, as annual savings of £20,000 is expected from the Premier Inn battery installation. If the carbon cost and energy efficiency is up to the mark, the hotel chain will unroll the project in near future. The ultimate aim is to reduce carbon footprint, save money, achieve energy efficiency along with adoption of a low carbon smart grid in the country.

Premier Inn has already installed solar panels to 169 hotels in its hospitality business chain, the solar capacity of Premier Inn has surpassed 3MW. The company wants to cut its carbon reliance to half the current position by the end of 2025. The rest of the demand is met by renewable energy as well by SSE, this has made the hotel chain completely powered by clean energy. As Whitbred has already made rapid progress towards an eco-friendly completely clean operational model, it is also transitioning towards water efficiency. In 2017 regulator ofwat, The Water Regulation Authority, licensed the chain to deliver its own wastewater and water services. Self-supply of water through its own systems will ensure cost reductions and greater consumption control.

Premier Inn CEO said the project will have thorough impact on the country by serving as a role model for sustainable and zero carbon footprint businesses. As solar technology cost has dropped in the recent years, businesses are looking to green and save money at the same time.

Universal Electronics to Launch its Versatile and Security-enabled Smart Home Device based on Microsoft’s Azure Cloud Platform

Universal Electronics, a global leader in sensing and control technologies for smart homes, has in a collaborative project with Microsoft announced to launch a new digital assistant built on Microsoft’s Azure cloud services platform using IoT and AI Services.

Artificial Intelligence has opened new doors to further improvise smart living experience. A great application of these services in security and safety related services has inspired technology companies to create virtual digital assistants on smartphones and home TVs to bring joy with meaningful interaction with technological gadgets. Smart Home digital assistants will play a huge role in developing ease of access to customers enriching comfort and safety to new highs.

Microsoft and UE’s Smart home assistant Nevo® Butler, which is a white label product developed and integrated on Azure cloud platform of Microsoft. The digital assistant has leveraged Azure’s cognitive services nova.ai, bot services, AI and IoT services uniting home automation and entertainment services. The smart home service will provide a wide range of services addressing energy management, entertainment control, home security and safety in hospitality as well as residential domain.

The design of the smart home device includes UE878 multiprotocol chipset which will ensure a wider of deliverable services across Zigbee, IP, Zigbee rf4ce, Infrared and Bluetooth smart. The device is also capable of supporting other voice assistants on the platform when customers are diversifying their choices across different devices.

A range of entertainment and add on services are planned to be added, in future, consumer electronics and service providers will be able to make end-to-end voice enabled services on its platform. The platform is aligned and integrated with QuickSet Cloud based on Azure Cloud service platform and the company plans to democratize access to essential technology by providing conversational and voice enabled to provide a naturally controlled and frictionless environment. By partnering with Azure and QuickSet the platform will enable customers to create custom solutions to the virtual assistant. The product is heading for a demonstration at Sans Expo in CES 2019.  The versatility of services has made the product lucrative by its innovative services on the smart home and also voice enabled services on existing smartphone devices. The product offers interoperability when users are increasingly leaning towards buying beyond a single brand.

Alphabet’s Drone Project, Wing gears up for Testing its New Quiet Drones as Complaints Pour in about ‘Ballistic’ Noises from its Current Drones

Wing, Google parent Alphabet’s subsidiary working on drone-based delivery, is now working on a quiet and noiseless drones. The company announced its plans after the Australian town Bonython’s residents where the drone is being tested reported complaints about the noise pollution by the drones.

Wing is testing its drone delivery system in the Australian township of Bonython. The company has not conducted any operations in USA owing to stricter regulation about drones in the country. An attempt by Wing to deliver Starbucks in America was wrapped up immediately. Wing has already successfully delivered thousands of items in Australia including home accessories, burritos, pizza, medicines. The company has also announced plans to start a drone delivery system in Finland on trial basis. The drones will be able to lift weights up to 1.5 Kg and less over a 10 Km distance.

But Australian experience of drones has been less than pleasing as the residents of the town reported the drone sounds as if chainsaw went ballistic. Residents are avoiding to go into their yards to avoid the irritable sound. Dog owners are avoiding the areas with drones as the drone sound make the dogs nervous. It has also triggered PTSD symptoms in military veterans. These complaints have raised questions on the commercial viability of adopting drone. This could create hurdles in large scale adoption of commercial drones.

Wing tried to address the resident’s complaints by changing the route of drones from frequent routes so that the drones don’t fly on the same homes and also by reducing the speed of drones. Learning from these experiences, the company has announced plans to design and build quitter drones. The company has reportedly developed a new propeller which creates low pitched sounds rather than ‘ballistic’ ones. The new drone has not yet been tested.

Wing claims that its battery powered drones are environment friendly compared to ground-based delivery. The promise of quick delivery along with environmental advantage of 22 times lesser carbon footprint than conventional alternatives has intrigued businesses and customers alike.

Drone technology is disrupting industries ranging from agriculture, retail to filmmaking. As large conglomerates like Amazon, Alphabet invest heavily on the commercial adoption of drone technology, concerns ranging from economic impact, its use in espionage operations and national security have made their way in the mainstream discussions. A recent PwC report suggests that commercial drone applications will replace $127 billion of human labor and jobs across a wide range of industries.

Perimeter Solutions Expands its Footprint in Global Fire Foam Market

Perimeter Solutions, one of the prominent producers offering a wide-range of fire retardants, water enhancing gels, and foams for management of fires of varying intensities across wild land, municipal, and industrial ecosystems, made an announcement yesterday. The announcement was about the completion of its acquisition of Solberg, the Amerex Corporation division of firefighting foam products. Solberg offers foam systems hardware as well as advanced technologies vis-à-vis firefighting foam concentrate under the brand names of ARCTIC®, SOLBERG®, FIRE-BRAKE®, and RE-HEALING™.

Solberg foam products have long famed for their competency to be in the same page with the rising technological demand in terms of meeting stringent criteria of fire performance and standards vis-à-vis environmental safety. Acquisitions across various industries, including chemical, have been instrumental in terms of giving the much-needed fillip to the business performances of both the parties involved in the acquisition.

“Acquisition of Solberg was a crucial step in the strategic framework of fire safety business of Perimeter Solutions. This acquisition notably lays the foundation for affluent expansion of the company’s commitment to its clients, diversified capabilities, and technical know-how in foam products,”- Edward Goldberg, President and CEO, Perimeter Solutions. “We are super excited to have the extremely talented and experienced team of Solberg on-board and looking forward to some amazing results to be achieved together in terms of expanding services to our highly-valued customers.”, added Goldberg.

Perimeter Solutions will be integrating the operational framework of Solberg to its current manufacturing as well as sales ecosystem for ameliorating its position in terms of technology and supply in the fire suppressant foam technologies’ space.

“We are super excited to work together with the Perimeter Solutions family. As we were on the lookout for the right partner to proceed in our journey, it was extremely pivotal to find a firm whose core values were on the same page with ours”- Bill Smith, President, Solberg. “By working together, we will be able to provide our customers with highly innovative range of products with effective results and unparalleled ease of usage”, added Smith.

Perimeter Solutions holds a major spot in the manufacturing framework in Class A foam products meant for municipal as well as wild land firefighting in North America and has gained prominence on the back of its innovative business framework with superior capabilities in terms of technology. This acquisition is believed to upgrade the manufacturing abilities of Perimeter Solutions via an additional state-of-the-art facility in North America and extended footprint in Europe as well as Asia Pacific.

PolyOne Corp Completed its Acquisition of Fiber-Line for $120 million

PolyOne Corp. (www.polyone.com) announced its strategic acquisition of Fiber-Line (www.fiber-line.com), a leading manufacturer of customized composite materials and engineered fibers for around $120 million.

Founded in the year 1987, Fiber-Line has used its customer-centric values as well as specialty innovation to build a robust portfolio of offerings catering to oil & gas, industrial, fiber optic cable, and consumer industries.  With five fully-fledged manufacturing establishments in North America, Europe and Asia, Fiber-Line offers material science and polymer sythesis know-how to inculcate standard performance attributes for fiber. Some of the aforementioned characteristics include abrasion, strength, chemical resistance, and specialty colorants.

“Fiber-Line is a unique as well as necessary addition to the existing portfolio i.e. fiber and composite solutions, which is foreseen to offer tremendous scope for growth,” said Robert M. Patterson, CEO, PolyOne Corporation. “This acquisition is one of the key strategic moves that represents a notable investment vis-à-vis our segment of specialty engineered materials segment. “We anticipate this move to add approximately $100 million in revenue in 2019 and grow via a gradual addition to the company’s revenue earnings”, added Mr. Patterson.

With an aim of solidifying their market sustenance, companies have been persistently developing interest for mergers and acquisitions, irrespective of size. This acquisition will not only help in amelioration of the current operations of PolyOne Corp., but will also facilitate the abilities of learning from Fiber-Line. Value creation remains one of the key benefits in case of mergers and acquisitions, wherein new technology standards are created enabling high-scale product diversification.

Fiber-Line’s leading technologies befits the existing specialty composite offerings and wire & cable applications of PolyOne. By utilizing the effective invest-to-grow integration strategy of Fiber-line, PolyOne looks forward to heightened innovation. Moreover, PolyOne is also likely to leverage strategic formulation know-how and high-scale presence of Fiber-line to accelerate its own growth trajectory.

“This acquisition, which resulted in Fiber-Line joining hands with PolyOne, is foreseen to represent exciting opportunities for creating best-quality products to serve our evolving customer needs”, added Dale Outhous, CEO, Fiber-Line. “Through the future investments by PolyOne in the technical abilities, geographical reach, and operational framework of Fiber-Line, our service for our customers would be much better than before.” Mr. Patterson also added, “We are extremely thrilled to welcome the entire team of Fiber-Line on board.  Through rising number of collaborative efforts with customers, we’ll get hold of both short-term as well as long-term growth prospects, which will benefit us in terms of business expansion.”