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App lets amputees program their bionic hands

PHILADELPHIA (AP) ? Double-amputee Jason Koger used to fly hundreds of miles to visit a clinician when he wanted to adjust the grips on his bionic hands.

Now, he's got an app.

Koger came to Philadelphia this week to demonstrate the i-limb ultra revolution, a prosthetic developed by the British firm Touch Bionics. Using a stylus and an iPhone, Koger can choose any of 24 grip patterns that best suit his needs.

It's the latest evolution in equipment for Koger, a 34-year-old married father of three from Owensboro, Ky., who lost his hands in an all-terrain vehicle accident in 2008.

"Five years ago, I couldn't pull my pants up by myself," said Koger. "Today, I go hunting and do some of the things that I probably never imagined I could have done five years ago."

The technology indicates how rapidly the field of prosthetics is changing, benefiting patients from injured military members to victims of the Boston Marathon bombing. Practitioners say increased government research in the wake of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is driving some of the advances.

In Koger's case, he was shocked by a downed power line. He went into a coma and had no idea until he woke up three days later that doctors had amputated both his limbs at mid-forearm.

His wife spent those three days researching prosthetics, Koger said.

Since then, he's used a variety of prostheses, which he considers like tools ? different extensions for different tasks. Electric hooks have allowed him to pursue his passion for hunting. Myoelectric hands, which react to electrical impulses generated by his remaining arm muscles, offer more precise movements.

The previous version of Koger's myoelectric device required programming by a prosthetist, meaning Koger had to fly to Advanced Arm Dynamics in Dallas. The prosthetist would work with Koger to pick a few grip patterns ? such as pinching, pointing or shaking hands ? to program into the i-limb.

Yet sometimes Koger would get home and realize they weren't the ones he needed. Now, the latest i-limb comes with iPhone or iPad app that allows Koger to reprogram his hand with the touch of a stylus. On Thursday, he demonstrated by gripping an orange, a baseball and a can of soda.

The i-limb allows fingers and thumbs move independently to conform around certain objects, said Ryan Spill, a prosthetist for Advanced Arm Dynamics' new office in Philadelphia, who is working with Koger. The thumb is also motorized, not passive, as in previous prostheses.

The Boston Marathon bombings, which wounded more than 260 people including many with serious leg injuries, have shined a light on the advances in prostheses. But experts note that technology for upper extremity bionics, which involve fine motor skills, is much different from what's needed for lower extremities, which focuses on weight distribution and gait.

There have also been huge advances in computerized knees and feet, said Joe Reda, assistant director of orthotic and prosthetic services at the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in West Orange, N.J.

"The changes are happening rather rapidly now and I think it's because of our wars overseas," said Reda. "The government is trying to put more money into research and development."

The i-limb ultra revolution costs about $100,000, though some insurance might cover it. Koger, who received his free in exchange for testing them and providing feedback, met Friday in Philadelphia with other amputees interested in the new technology.

Mark Dowling, 50, of Newark, Del., lost his arm to cancer several months ago. He said he cried while watching Koger demonstrate how the hand worked.

"I'm very touched with his story," Dowling said.

___

Online:

http://www.jasonkoger.com

http://www.touchbionics.com

http://www.armdynamics.com

___

Follow Kathy Matheson at www.twitter.com/kmatheson

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/app-lets-amputees-program-own-bionic-hands-170816955.html

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Why the US economy is taking so long to recover

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The American economy and job market are moving in the right direction, just not very quickly.

The news Friday that U.S. employers added a solid 165,000 jobs in April and unemployment fell to a four-year low of 7.5 percent came as a relief.

The Dow Jones industrial average surged 142 points, or 1 percent, on the news to close at a record 14,973. The better-than-expected April numbers erased worries that the U.S. economy was stalling for the fourth year in a row ? a fear that had emerged after a disappointing jobs report for March. Friday's report also showed job growth in March and February was stronger than first estimated.

Nearly four years after a devastating recession, the U.S. economy and job market are far from a full recovery, but they have made steady progress. Here is an overview of America's economic health:

?HIRING: PICKING UP BUT FACING A LONG SLOG

The U.S. economy has been adding 196,000 jobs a month this year, up from a monthly average of 179,000 in 2011 and 2012. Given how far it needs to go, the job market is recovering more slowly than people had hoped. The U.S. still has 2.6 million fewer jobs than it had when the Great Recession began in December 2007. At the current pace of hiring, total U.S. jobs won't reach the pre-recession level of 138 million for more than another year.

Account for population growth, and the jobs ditch is even deeper: Heidi Shierholz, an economist at the liberal Economic Policy Institute, says the economy needs to add 8.6 million jobs, not 2.6 million, to keep up with a rising population.

?UNEMPLOYMENT: FALLING ? BUT STILL HIGH

Unemployment has improved dramatically since peaking at 10 percent in October 2009. But by any normal standard, April's 7.5 percent unemployment was still a recession-level figure ? higher, for example, than it ever got in the short recession of 2001. The Federal Reserve doesn't expect the unemployment rate to reach a healthy level ? 6 percent or lower ? any sooner than 2015.

At least unemployment fell last month from 7.6 percent in March for the right reasons: More Americans reported having jobs and fewer reported being unemployed.

A big part of the drop in unemployment the past 3 ? years has come because people have given up looking for work. Only 63.3 percent of working-age Americans were working or looking for work last month and in March. That is the lowest "labor force participation rate" since May 1979. People without a job who stop looking for one are no longer counted as unemployed. If the participation rate were at the pre-recession level of 66 percent, the unemployment rate could have reached 11.3 percent last month.

?THE ECONOMY: GROWING SLOWLY

The economic recovery from the Great Recession is the slowest since World War II. Growth has been hobbled by lingering damage from a housing bust and financial crisis. The economy expanded just 2.4 percent in 2010, 1.8 percent in 2011 and 2.2 percent in 2012. It grew at an annual pace of 2.5 percent in the January-March quarter this year.

If the economy were healthy, 2.5 percent growth would be fine. But generating enough jobs to bring unemployment down quickly requires faster growth.

Economists had originally hoped the economy would expand at a brisker pace this year ? 3 percent or 4 percent. But across-the-board government spending cuts, which began taking effect March 1, are forcing federal agencies to furlough workers, reducing spending on public projects and making businesses nervous about investing and hiring.

Growth is expected to slow to 2 percent in the April-June quarter.

Budget cuts have already been a drag on the economy. Government spending at the local, state and federal levels fell at an annual rate of 4.1 percent from January through March and 7 percent the last three months of 2012. Normally, government spending contributes to economic recoveries.

The damage from government austerity has been offset in part by the Federal Reserve, which has kept short-term interest rates near zero since the end of 2008 and has been pumping $85 billion a month into the economy by buying bonds.

?CONSUMERS, HOUSING AND THE STOCK MARKET: LOOKING UP

Some of the U.S. economy's fundamentals are looking healthier.

Consumers have shrugged off an increase in their Social Security taxes this year and the budget shenanigans in Washington: From January through March, they spent at the strongest pace in two years. That's good news because consumers account for 70 percent of U.S. economic activity.

Fueled by near-record low mortgage rates, the housing market has been bouncing back. New-home sales in March were up 18.5 percent from a year earlier. Sales of previously occupied homes were up 10.3 percent. For the first time in five years, homebuilders started work on more than 1 million homes in March at a seasonally adjusted annual rate.

Investors have celebrated rising corporate profits and other good news. The Dow Jones industrial average is up 1,870 points, or more than 14 percent, so far this year, including Friday's gain.

Rising stock and home prices help feed consumer spending by making people feel wealthier and more willing to spend.

?EUROPE: MAKING THE U.S. ECONOMY LOOK GOOD

The American economy and job market look a lot better when you compare them with Europe's. Across the Atlantic, governments have been cutting spending and raising taxes even more aggressively. The 17 European Union countries that use the euro currency slid back into recession in the fall of 2011 and have been stuck there since.

Eurozone unemployment hit a record 12.1 percent in March, reaching 27.2 percent in Greece and 26.7 percent in Spain.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/why-us-economy-taking-long-recover-172954700.html

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WHITE HOUSE NOTEBOOK: 'Ticos,' songs and cheese

President Barack Obama smiles as he poses for a group photo at a cultural event with youth performers in San Jose, Costa Rica, Friday, May 3, 2013. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Barack Obama smiles as he poses for a group photo at a cultural event with youth performers in San Jose, Costa Rica, Friday, May 3, 2013. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Barack Obama and Costa Rica President Laura Chinchilla attend a cultural event with youth performing at the Casa Amarilla in San Jose, Costa Rica, Friday, May 3, 2013. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Barack Obama and Costa Rica's President Laura Chinchilla visit with a group of students upon his arrival to the foreign ministry, Casa Amarilla, in San Jose, Costa Rica, Friday, May 3, 2013. Obama's three-day visit to Mexico and Costa Rica is his first to Latin America since winning re-election. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

President Barack Obama, left, greets young performers after attending a cultural event at the Casa Amarrilla with Costa Rica?s President Laura Chinchilla in San Jose, Costa Rica, Friday, May 3, 2013. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Barack Obama and Costa Rica President Laura Chinchilla pose for a group photo with young children who performed at a cultural event at the Casa Amarilla in San Jose, Costa Rica, Friday, May 3, 2013. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) ? It was a party atmosphere along Barack Obama's motorcade route from the airport after he arrived in this Central American country for his first visit as president.

Thousands of locals, who are known as "Ticos," lined the road to welcome their fourth visiting American president. The most recent one to visit was Bill Clinton in 1997.

Municipal employees were given the day off to ease traffic.

Some of those who lined the roadway ? two and three people deep ? waved American flags. Others held homemade signs, including one that said "Fired Up!" ? a reference to Obama's campaign slogan. More crowds gathered along the route between Obama's hotel and Casa Amarilla, the headquarters for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including hundreds of students in school uniforms.

"We're very happy to welcome our big brother," said retiree Ricardo Marin, 62, explaining the jubilant mood. "We hope they don't neglect us, that this visit will help our country."

Obama's reception here was vastly different from Mexico. There was no major crowd presence for Obama's travels in Mexico City on Thursday and Friday.

___

Excitement over Obama's visit wasn't shared widely, however.

"I had to walk more than a mile to get to my job," grumbled Luis Humberto Rodriguez Burgos, 26, who sells cellphones in the city center, which was shuttered and empty. "There are no clients, no tourists and we're losing money. Clearly if they close the city for a foreign president, that's not going to improve my working conditions, nor help me feed my children."

___

Obama and Costa Rica's president, Laura Chincilla, strolled to a courtyard at Casa Amarilla, or Yellow House, after they met and were greeted by about 100 schoolchildren, ranging in age from about 7 to 16. All were in uniform, and the younger ones waved U.S. and Costa Rican flags. Obama wore a broad grin as he stood encircled by the singing students.

They sang "I'm Tico" and "The First Time I Saw Limon," a reference to a city on the country's Caribbean coast.

As the children sang, thunder roared in the distance and the wind picked up.

___

After the songs, Obama praised the students, calling them "brave" and their performances "very good." He also asked for their names.

The students gushed as Obama invited them to pose for photos.

"What do we say?" he asked.

The students and Chinchilla said: "Cheese." Obama responded with, "Queso!" the Spanish word for cheese.

___

Obama opened his day by making his second visit to Mexico City's soaring, modernistic National Museum of Anthropology.

"Each time that I come, I've been inspired," he told a predominantly student audience.

Of course, last time he may have narrowly avoided getting sick.

In April 2009, Obama was he honored guest at a state dinner at the museum ? just as the global swine flu outbreak was first surfacing in Mexico. Ultimately, the H1N1 strain killed thousands of people worldwide.

Obama never came down with the H1N1 flu. However, a security aide of his did ? and passed it on to family members in the U.S.

___

AP White House Correspondent Julie Pace in San Jose, Costa Rica, and Associated Press writer Mark S. Smith in Washington contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-05-03-US-Obama-Ticos-Welcome/id-6e12fd706c804429be40ae2d05ba4e5c

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Harvard University's robotic insect takes its first controlled flight (video)

There's hardly a shortage of animal inspired robots, but few are as tiny as Harvard's autonomous RoboBee. The robotic insect has been around for a while, but researchers at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering only recently managed a minor breakthrough: controlled flight. Using new manufacturing and design processes, the team has managed to keep the coin-sized bug aloft by independently manipulating the robot's wings with piezoelectric actuators and a delicate control system.

"This is what I have been trying to do for literally the last 12 years," explains Professor Robert J Wood, Charles River Professor of Engineering and Applied Sciences. "Now that we've got this unique platform, there are dozens of tests that we're starting to do, including more aggressive control maneuvers and landing." There's more to be done, however. The tiny machine still requires a tether for power and control, and researchers are still studying nature to suss out how insects cope with flying through wind and the elements. Eventually, the team hopes to outfit the RoboBee with lightweight batteries, an internal control system and a lighter chassis. For now, however, they're just happy to learned to steer. Check out the insect in action after the break.

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Gay Catholic school teacher in Ohio fights firing

A gay teacher who said she was fired by an Ohio Catholic school after her mother's published obituary included the name of her partner is fighting to get her job back.

Carla Hale said she was told she was being let go because her relationship is against teachings of the church.

She plans to file a complaint this week with the city of Columbus, which prohibits firings based on sexual orientation, her attorney said Monday. She already filed a grievance that is now in the hands of a union representing teachers in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus.

Some current and former students have rallied behind the physical education teacher, staging a protest outside the diocese headquarters and starting an online petition that has collected about 100,000 supporters.

Hale, 57, said she was fired during Holy Week in March after an anonymous letter sent to school administrators drew attention to the obituary published in The Columbus Dispatch.

A copy of the letter provided by her attorney was signed "a concerned parent."

"My daughter came home and told me that one of the gym teacher's mother had died," the letter said. "She asked me to pray for her. When we looked in the obituaries, I was shocked by what I saw. It had her teacher's name and that of her 'spouse' listed. It was two females!"

Hale, who is Methodist, was informed about two weeks after her mother's death that the school was investigating, but she never had a chance to discuss it with school leaders, said attorney Thomas Tootle.

Hale, who had spent 19 years teaching at Bishop Watterson High School, said the decision to acknowledge her partner was not immoral.

"It's kind of baffling that someone would take an obituary and use it, to me, in such a mean-spirited manner," Hale said at a news conference last week.

The Diocese of Columbus would not comment directly about the firing, but it said school employees can't go against teachings of the church.

"All Catholic school personnel at the outset of their employment agree that they will abide by the rules, regulations and policies of the Catholic Diocese, including respecting the moral values advanced by the teachings of Christ," the diocese said in a statement.

Hale's attorney said he will file a complaint Tuesday with a Columbus community relations board, arguing that the firing violates the city ordinance on employers discriminating based on sexual orientation. Another option is a wrongful termination lawsuit, Tootle said.

He said some courts have allowed religious groups exemptions to similar discrimination laws but he thinks the case is similar to one in Cincinnati, where a teacher challenged her firing by the archdiocese over her use of artificial insemination to become pregnant. A federal judge has allowed that lawsuit to continue.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gay-catholic-school-teacher-ohio-183007702.html

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He Helped Discover Evolution, And Then Became Extinct

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He Helped Discover Evolution, And Then Became Extinct
Charles Darwin is known as the father of evolution. But another British naturalist, Alfred Russel Wallace, played a major role in developing the theory of natural selection before fading into obscurity. A trip to what's now Sulawesi in Indonesia, and the unique animals he found there, helped form his seminal ideas.

Source: NPR
Posted on: Tuesday, Apr 30, 2013, 10:18am
Views: 8

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127986/He_Helped_Discover_Evolution__And_Then_Became_Extinct

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