Printing Veins with a 3D Printer

Engineers at the University of Colorado Boulder have developed a way to mimic the complex geometry of blood vessels using 3D printing. The technique could help doctors come up with new ways to fight vascular disease such as hypertension, by creating artificial tissue with soft, pliable arteries and veins. It uses oxygen to set 3D-printed models with different degrees of hardness.
"Oxygen is usually a bad thing in that it causes incomplete curing," said Yonghui Ding, one of the authors of the study. "Here, we utilize a layer that allows a fixed rate of oxygen permeation." By tightly controlling how oxygen is spread during the printing process, the researchers were able to build objects with the same geometry, but with different levels of rigidity. The results were published in the journal Nature.

As part of their experiment, the engineers created a small Chinese warrior figure, printed so that the outer layers remained hard while the interior remained soft. They also printed three versions of a simple structure. a beam supported by two rods. Depending on how hard or soft the different parts were designed to be, the structure would either stand firm or slump.

The printer can currently work with biomaterials down to a size of 10 microns; about one-tenth the width of a human hair. Future iterations will aim to get this down even further.

Wordology, Put a Sock In It

This means stop talking. It comes from the late 19th century when people would use woolen socks to stuff the horns of their gramophones or record players to lower the sound, because these machines had no volume controllers.

Size Matters

I took a look at 2018 populations and land sizes in the various countries that are dominating the news. It is interesting that the news describes the economic and other influences out of proportion to the population or size of these areas. For instance the news would have us think there is not much to Mexico, but its population is the fourth largest in the world and has the sixth largest land mass in the world. Also, Iran is not just a little dot in the desert.

I threw in three states, California, Florida, and Texas for comparison.

Happy Friday

Life happens, whether you take advantage of it or not.

Be happy and take advantage of celebrating a Happy Friday!

What's in a Name, Chock Full O'Nuts

The coffee is named for a chain of nut stores the founder converted into coffee shops. Its coffee does not contain nuts.

Discount Store Tidbits

Sam's Club - A former worker says on his blog that a price ending in 1 means it is a sale price, and that the letter on the top right of the shelf tag can give you even more valuable info. If it is an A or an N that means it is something they always carry and always try to have in stock. Something with a C means it's a canceled item they are going to get rid of, so you can definitely watch for this one to go on clearance. An S means it is a seasonal item and might only be there for a short time, but it is the O that is hugely important. That means it is a one-time buy, so once it is gone, it's gone. Stock up on this one if you find something you like, because it is not coming back.

Because of existing laws, Sam's and Costco, you do not need to be a member to buy booze and wine, also pharmacy and food court.

Lidl - It should be pronounced leedle. After Josef Schwarz died in 1977, his son Dieter bought the rights to his partner Ludwig Lidl's name for 1,000 Marks. He wisely did he not use his family's own name, because ‘Schwarz Markt' would have meant ‘black market'.

Words When You Were Born

Here is a website that shows you what words were first found in print during the year you were born. LINK  Fun diversion.

Snopes

Many of us have used the Snopes web site from time to time in order to check out the veracity of stories or to check out emails to see if they are real.
Snopes was founded by a husband and wife team who are now in the middle of a contentious divorce in which founder David Mikkelsen has been accused of embezzling $98,000 of company money to spend on “himself and prostitutes”.

The site is now 50% owned by an ad agency (Proper Media) and they make money by generating millions of views on the 3rd-party advertisements on the website. It makes sense for them to seek out articles that are viral to “debunk”, so that they can piggy-back on that traffic and generate more advertising revenue.

It has a hired team of suspect fact checkers who collaborate to debunk falsehoods that are trending on the internet. These fact checkers reportedly have no editorial oversight and do not follow standard journalistic procedures such as interviewing the authors of articles they are trying to debunk to get all sides of the story.

Snopes is one of the sites that Facebook recently partnered with to fact check news stories on its platform. In the counter-intelligence world, this is what is known as a “wilderness of mirrors” – creating a chaotic information environment that so perfectly blends truth, half-truth, and fiction that even the best can no longer tell what is real and what is not.

Ice Cream Fact

When comparing ice cream for quality, but the ingredient list looks the similar, compare the weight of a serving on the nutrition label. Denser is better. The gums and fillers used in lower quality ice cream are lighter than cream and eggs.

If one says a serving is 1/4 cup (65g) and the other says a serving is 1/4 cup (73g), get the 73g one. They may both have some fillers, but the denser one will have less.

Eight Tips for a Healthier Brain

Studies have shown that regular aerobic exercise boosts daily intellectual performance and significantly lowers risk for dementia. Other studies have suggested that regular exercise can reduce that risk by up to 38 percent. More studies have shown that maintaining a healthy weight with a low ratio of belly fat can significantly lower our risk for a memory disorder, even beginning in middle age.

Managing chronic conditions, such as hypertension or diabetes can significantly reduce risk for stroke and dementia. Also, taking care of medical issues such as hearing or vision loss can make a tremendous difference in our ability to learn new information.

Emotional distress and anxiety can also affect everyday abilities and may even increase risk for memory impairment. Get a good night’s sleep, avoid risky behaviors, and do not ignore emotional upsets. A leading study on successful aging found that folks who aged well were more emotionally resilient than others.

Playing games against the clock activities force us to pay attention, work fast, and think nimbly. Research shows that training in these skills can help us stay more effective at them, regardless of age.

Research shows that staying intellectually engaged can significantly lower risk for memory impairment by as much as 63 percent. Intellectual engagement supports emotional well-being and better brain health. Look for ways to change your routine, such as taking a craft class, brushing your teeth with your non-dominant hand, or taking a new route to work or the store.

Staying social has been shown to potentially cut your risk for memory impairment in half. Social situations offer a challenge to keep up our end of the conversation and helps us stay focused, and think fast. Find ways to get out with friends, and ways to engage through community or other resources.

Working or volunteering can improve daily intellectual performance. You get a good brain workout on the job, which offers you the chance to engage both mentally and socially. Continuing to work or volunteer provides a sense of purpose, which researchers found may protect us from memory impairment.

If you want to remember better, believe that you can. Self-perception can impact performance. If you are convinced your memory is poor, it probably will be. Studies have shown that memory self-belief impacts how well we do on memory tests. Practice the power of positive thinking.

Wordology, Don't Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth

It means to find fault with something that has been received as a gift or favor.

Long ago when buying a horse, people would determine the horse’s age and condition based on its teeth, and then decide whether they want to buy it or not. This is the reason why people use this idiom to say it is rude to look for flaws in a thing that was given to you as a gift.

Flag Shape

Did you know there is only one state in the United States that has a non rectangular shaped flag? The flag starts wider on the left, getting narrower on the right side. Instead of a straight edge on the right, it has two points. It is red, white, and blue, with five red-and-white stripes on the right side.

The left side has a dark blue triangle, in the center of which is a red-and-white circle surrounded by 17 white stars. The 13 stars surrounding the circle pay homage to the original 13 colonies, and the four stars to the right of it bring the number up to 17, representing Ohio’s admission to the Union as the 17th state. The large blue triangle represents Ohio's hills and valleys, and the stripes represent roads and waterways. The circle in the center evokes the “O” for Ohio, in addition to slightly resembling a buckeye seed (since Ohio is “the Buckeye State”). 

Happy Friday

You can smile to be happy and you can be happy to smile.

I practice vice and versa, especially on a Happy Friday.

Amazon Shark Tank

Never one to miss an opportunity, this week Amazon added a special area on its site to sell Shark Tank items. More than 70 products that successfully received funding from Sharks during seasons 1-9 are now available. This collaboration coincides with the premiere of Shark Tank season 10. Reminds me of the “as seen on TV” items in stores.   LINK