Yet there is a significant shortage of corneas available to transplant, with 10 million people worldwide requiring surgery to prevent corneal blindness as a result of diseases such as trachoma, an infectious eye disorder.
In addition, almost 5 million people suffer total blindness due to corneal scarring caused by burns, lacerations, abrasion or disease.
The proof-of-concept research, published today in Experimental Eye Research, reports how stem cells (human corneal stromal cells) from a healthy donor cornea were mixed together with alginate and collagen to create a solution that could be printed, a ‘bio-ink’.
Using a simple low-cost 3D bio-printer, the bio-ink was successfully extruded in concentric circles to form the shape of a human cornea. It took less than 10 minutes to print.
The stem cells were then shown to culture – or grow.
Che Connon, Professor of Tissue Engineering at Newcastle University, who led the work, said: “Many teams across the world have been chasing the ideal bio-ink to make this process feasible. “Our unique gel - a combination of alginate and collagen - keeps the stem cells alive whilst producing a material which is stiff enough to hold its shape but soft enough to be squeezed out the nozzle of a 3D printer.
“This builds upon our previous work in which we kept cells alive for weeks at room temperature within a similar hydrogel. Now we have a ready to use bio-ink containing stem cells allowing users to start printing tissues without having to worry about growing the cells separately.”
The scientists, including first author and PhD student Abigail Isaacson from the Institute of Genetic Medicine, Newcastle University, also demonstrated that they could build a cornea to match a patient’s unique specifications.
The dimensions of the printed tissue were originally taken from an actual cornea. By scanning a patient’s eye, they could use the data to rapidly print a cornea which matched the size and shape. Professor Connon added: “Our 3D printed corneas will now have to undergo further testing and it will be several years before we could be in the position where we are using them for transplants. “However, what we have shown is that it is feasible to print corneas using coordinates taken from a patient eye and that this approach has potential to combat the world-wide shortage.”
Staying true to its goal of making people’s lives simpler while digitizing rural India, iVVO, a pioneering communications brand and the latest entrant in the Indian mobile phone market, has now launched a smartphone-like app store for its 2G handsets. The company’s parent organization, BRITZO, recently came into the spotlight for its unique business model and vision of empowering the rural population through a complete reversal of the prevalent market order with cutting-edge innovations. iVVO is taking this vision forward with the introduction of interactive applications on its feature phone offerings.
The apps on the ‘Smart Store’ encompass a wide range of genres such as entertainment, education, health, spirituality, and so on. At present, the Smart Store has a ‘Game Centre’, an ‘Entertainment Store’, a ‘Friend Finder’ & ‘App Store’ (for miscellaneous applications). iVVO customers will be able to enjoy a huge repository of songs and videos and other content which is refreshed daily.
Pradipto Ganguly, CEO & Co founder, BRITZO, “At BRITZO, we’ve embarked on a journey that demands innovation, service attitude & inclusion at all socio-economic levels to reach our overarching goal. The entire BRTIZO workforce has embraced our vision with complete commitment and is relentlessly turning this dream into a reality. As yet another accomplishment, we’re very delighted to present the ‘Smart Store’ to our customers, something that’ll increase their daily efficiency and convenience. We are confident that this innovation is going to promote digital adoption across rural geographies in India.”
The mobile phone manufacturer has six Smart 2G feature phones segmented across categories, namely BEATZ, PRIMO, SELFEE and TUFF. Its product portfolio also comprises of two upcoming Android Go-based 4G smartphones under ‘Storm’ series and 4G feature phone ‘Skipper’. In order to facilitate more ease and convenience to its customers, the brand has established a strong after-sales service network with more than 900 targeted services centres and has a hassle free service policy on all of its devices. The objective of the brand is to drive state-of-the-art innovations in rural geographies and then make them trickle down to urban regions – contrary to the prevalent market order.
Telecom operator Idea Cellular on Thursday said it has completed the sale of approximately 9,900 mobile towers to American Tower Corporation’s (ATC) Indian arm for Rs 4,000 crore.
“Completion of sale of its (Idea) pan-India standalone tower business, by way of divesting its entire stake in ICISL, 100% subsidiary of Idea, to ATC Telecom Infrastructure. The transaction has been closed with an enterprise value of Rs 40 billion for approximately 9,900 standalone towers,” Idea said in a statement.
ATC has already completed acquisition of Vodafone India’s mobile tower for Rs 3,850 crore, which added nearly 10,200 to its portfolio.
The proceeds will be used by both Idea and Vodafone to lower debt of their merged entity.
“The receipt of both these proceeds prior to completion was anticipated and provided for, in the Vodafone India and Idea merger agreement and hence would not affect the agreed terms of the merger, including the amount of debt, which Vodafone will contribute to the combined entity at the closing of merger transaction,” the statement said.
The deal brings the merger of Vodafone India and Idea, resulting in creation of the country’s largest telecom operator with around 430 million subscribers, closer as change in structure of the organisations would have created complexity in document work for clearing standalone tower deals of Idea and Vodafone with ATC.
Idea said that post completion of the merger, 6,300 co-located tenancies of the two operators on the combined standalone tower portfolio will collapse into single tenancies over a period of two years without the payment of exit penalties.
“Both Vodafone India and Idea as customers, and ATC as a vendor, has agreed to treat each other as long-term preferred partners, subject to existing agreements,” the statement said.
Hazardous chemicals such as lead are finding their way into food-contact items and other everyday products because manufacturers are using recycled electrical equipment as a source of black plastic, a study has found.
The substances are among those applied to devices, such as laptops and music systems, as flame retardants and pigments but remain within the products when they reach the end of their useful lives.
Scientists at the University of Plymouth in the UK have shown that a combination of the growing demand for black plastic and the inefficient sorting of end-of-life electrical equipment is causing contaminated material to be introduced into the recyclate.
This is in part because despite black plastics constituting about 15% of the domestic waste stream, this waste material is not readily recycled owing to the low sensitivity of black pigments to near infrared radiation used in conventional plastic sorting facilities. As well as posing a threat to human health, the study showed that there are potentially harmful effects for the marine and coastal environment either through the spread of the products as litter or as microplastics.
Researchers used XRF spectrometry to assess the levels of a range of elements in more than 600 black plastic products such as food-contact items, storage, clothing, toys, jewellery, office items and new and old electronic and electrical equipment.
Bromine, in the form of brominated compounds, is and has been used in electrical plastic housings as a flame retardant, while lead is often encountered in electronic plastics as a contaminant.
However, both elements were found extensively in non-electrical black consumer products tested, where they are not needed or desirable.
In many products, including cocktail stirrers, coathangers, various items of plastic jewellery, garden hosing, Christmas decorations and tool handles, concentrations of bromine potentially exceeded legal limits that are designed for electrical items. In other products, including various toys, storage containers and office equipment, concentrations of lead exceeded its legal limit for electrical items. “There are environmental and health impacts arising from the production and use of plastics in general, but black plastics pose greater risks and hazards,” said Andrew Turner, a from the University of Plymouth.
“This is due to the technical and economic constraints imposed on the efficient sorting and separation of black waste for recycling, coupled with the presence of harmful additives required for production or applications in the electronic and electrical equipment and food packaging sectors,” said Turner. “Black plastic may be aesthetically pleasing, but this study confirms that the recycling of plastic from electronic waste is introducing harmful chemicals into consumer products,” he said. “That is something the public would obviously not expect, or wish, to see and there has previously been very little research exploring this. In order to address this, further scientific research is needed,” Turner said.
Man has caused a huge imbalance in nature through science and technology and disrupted the organic structure of the earth, noted environmentalist A N Yellappa Reddy said on Wednesday.
Speaking after being honoured by the Rotary Club of Bangalore, Reddy remembered the days when Bengaluru was "green, clean and traffic-less" and expressed concerns about development bulldozing the environment.
"Every creature in forests has a unique responsibility to take care of mother earth. Working in forests has taught me altruism. But man has failed to keep that balance," he said.
The Rotary Club of Bangalore, in association with Deccan Herald, gave away Rotary Bangalore McIver Awards.
While Reddy, a former principal chief conservator of forests and secretary to the government of Karnataka, was honoured for his contribution to Environment Conservation, former ambassador to the US, Nirupama M Rao, was recognised as Citizen Extraordinaire for her role as a diplomat.
Activist Madhu Bhushan was presented with the Women's Empowerment award in recognition of her activism and efforts in empowering women. Javad Poovalappil of Nimhans won the award for Pride of Workmanship while young cricketer Shreyas Gopal got the Youth Icon award.
Bangalore International Airport Limited (Corporate Citizen), Azim Premji Foundation (Making A Difference), UTC Aerospace Systems (T-E-A-C-H) and Rotary Club of Bangalore Orchards (Community Service) were recognised for their contribution to the city.
Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, the scion of Mysuru's royal family, was inducted as an honorary member of the Rotary Club.
As nations world over gear up to celebrate World No Tobacco Day, with WHO’s focus this year being on the impact of tobacco on cardiovascular health, India is fighting its own tobacco-related death and disease battle. Manipal Hospitals Bengaluru, the foremost multi-specialty healthcare provider committed to clinical excellence and patient care, today announced the launch of its ‘Lets Together, Beat Tobacco’ Campaign on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day. This awareness campaign was unveiled by Vanistha Ashok, fitness expert with an aim to create awareness on the ill effects of tobacco consumption in any form.
In a bid to spread the awareness on preventive care, Manipal Hospitals launched quick evaluation package for lungs at just Rs. 799. The package includes chest x – ray, spirometery, GRBS and Pulmonology consultation. The package can be gifted to a smoker in the family to encourage him / her to quit smoking.
Manipal Hospitals Bengaluru launched a bouquet of activities under the campaign such as a poster exhibition, literature and brochures to educate the masses, cyclothon for hospital consultants and employees along with special screening packages for the public. Cyclothon for hospital employees will be flagged off from Manipal Hospital premises to CMH Road, Indiranagar and back. The rally will begin at 6.00 am and culminate at 8.00 am on Saturday, June 2, 2018.
Speaking on the occasion Dr. Sudarshan Ballal, Chairman, Manipal Hospitals said, “Today, global statistics show that use of tobacco causes around 6 million deaths a year which is projected to rise to 8 million by 2030 if we don’t act fast and take preventive measures. In India, heart blockages or coronary heart disease is among the leading causes of death and contrary to popular belief; it is smoking-caused heart disease that results in more deaths per year than smoking-caused lung cancer. However, smoking is also the single largest preventable cause of heart disease and which is why as a group we are committed to take this initiative to the mass population on educating and enhancing awareness in identifying plausible solutions to eradicate tobacco consumption. With this campaign, Manipal Hospitals is committed to fight this evil and create a healthier, happier India.”
Vanistha Ashok, fitness expert said, “ Fitness is something that cannot be attained overnight. It needs lifestyle modification and a strong will to practice healthy habits. Smoking is extremely injurious to our health and can cause irreversible damages to our body. I urge people to stop consuming tobacco is any form before it is too late.”
Speaking on the occasion Dr. Ranjan Shetty, Interventional Cardiologist, Manipal Hospitals said, “Smokers are almost twice at the risk of having a heart attack as compared to people who have never smoked. Quitting smoking has huge benefits and it’s never too late to give up. Even smoking a single cigarette increases the risk of heart attack by almost 50 percent. Relatively smoking has much more adverse effects among women. If you are a smoker stop smoking completely and it is the single most important step you can take to protect the health of your heart”
Speaking on the occasion Dr.Somashekhar. S.P, Chairman & HOD Surgical Oncology, Manipal Hospitals, said, “Seventy percent of Indian cancers are caused by modifiable and preventable risk factors (40% tobacco, 20% infection and 10% others. Approximately 30-60% cancers among males and 10-30% cancers in females are tobacco related. Passive smoking is a major burden in India with 44% occuring at home and 37% at public places. It is well known fact that cigarette smoking increases the risk of lung cancer 10-20 fold. It also causes 14 other types of cancers like oral cavity, stomach, colon, rectum, liver kidney, cervix cancers to name a few. “
Speaking on the occasion Dr. Satyanarayana Mysore, HOD, Pulmonology & Sleep Medicine, Manipal Hospitals said, “Lung diseases caused by smoking include COPD, which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Cigarette smoking causes most cases of lung cancer. If you have asthma, tobacco smoke can trigger an attack or make an attack worse. Smokers are 12 to 13 times more likely to die from COPD than nonsmokers are. Reports reveal that India is the second largest consumer of tobacco with more than one-third of adults (35%) using tobacco in some form or other, of which 21% using smokeless form exclusively.”
World over approximately 1.1 billion people use tobacco and its products.In India the usage is high but there is a decreasing trend in usage from 34.6% in 2010 to 28.6% in 2017(GATS).As per the Global Adult Tobacco Survey 2017 ,the usage in Karnataka has come down by 5% from 28.2% in 2010 to 22.8% in 2017.The usage is more in males (44%) compared to females (37%).
Canon India, leader in imaging solutions, starts distributing Rayo Mini projectors in India. Targeted at both B2B and B2C segments, the two flagship models, Rayo i5 and Rayo R4 are compact, lightweight, and portable and bet big on both style and imaging impressions. The organisation will be responsible for distribution of the two products in the country.
Sharing his thoughts on the launch, Kazutada Kobayashi, President & CEO, Canon India, said, “Customer delight is of prime importance to us at Canon India. We are dedicated to promoting the culture of imaging, and our constant innovation plays an integral role in this endeavour. The new mini projector is another such innovation from our Business Imaging Solutions portfolio. Compact and convenient with easy connectivity, this launch reinforces our commitment to elevate our customer’s professional and personal experiences. We have witnessed a shift in the usage pattern of projectors among Indian consumers which has led us to diversify in this space, launching a product that lets users screen where they want. With this defined and unique expansion to our portfolio, we foresee further development of our customer base in the country.”
“The Rayo Mini Projector is an innovation that complements the Smart Phone Proliferation trend perfectly. The easy setup and versatility of the mini projectors make them a must have travel accessory particularly for the mobile business professionals and for families on vacation or those using them for leisure. The Rayo projectors truly boost the power of information on-the-go by enhancing the way photographs, presentations and videos are shared.” said K Bhaskhar, Vice-President, Business Imaging Solutions, Canon India.
Compact design packs amplified impressions
The compact and light weight design makes the Rayo mini projectors a highly portable and handy travel accessory. For the business professional on the go, the mini projectors are the perfect complement to a broad range of mobile devices, enabling impactful presentation of ideas whenever and wherever.
The compact size makes it extremely convenient to carry around in carry-on bags or even in a shirt pocket, making it well-suited for corporate, retail and educational purposes. The Rayo R4 weighs a meagre 169 grams and the Rayo i5 weighs 260 grams.
Easy plug and play
The wireless feature on the RAYO i5 circumvents the hassle of cables. The convenience of the wireless functionality means users can play movies or share content from their latest Android/iOS devices easily through Mirroring/DLNA technology. Offering stable and continuous brightness at 100 Ansi lm; this high level of brightness facilitates clarity in imaging output with WVGA resolution for home entertainment such as movies or karaoke parties as well as business presentations on the go.
The Rayo R4 projects directly from mobile phones/tablets through connectivity with MHL cable and offers brightness of 50 Ansi lm. It can be easily connected to a laptop with the Mini HDMI cable to deliver a power packed demo.
Both the projectors also come with a mini tripod which is not only easy to install but is also height adjustable to provide you just the right angle for viewing.
Stamina for longer running time
Rayo i5 has a 1,900 mAH battery which has a play time of upto 120 minutes at standard brightness. Whereas the R4 has a 1,700 mAH battery that can play for upto 150 minutes in standard brightness. Which means, power is the least of your concerns with the mini projectors in case you want to catch up the latest movie, project an important presentation or show off your pictures.
The LED light source lasts upto 20,000 hours in the Rayo i5 and 10,000 hours in the Rayo R4. A long lasting light source lets you project as frequently as you want without having to worry about replacing it.
Fit for every need
The applications of the Rayo i5 and R4 could be as limitless as your imagination. Be it projecting a recipe video on your kitchen wall while cooking, watching that important football match on roof of the car, making your balcony your cinema hall or transforming the airport lounge into your demo zone.
Both R4 & i5 come with built in speakers making it a mobile companion for all projection needs as it saves the hassle of carrying additional speakers. User’s can also connect their headphones if required.
Pricing & Availability
The Rayo R4 and i5 will be available for sale in India effective 1st June 2018. The R4 is priced at MRP Rs. 30 000.00 incl. of all taxes and the i5 is priced at MRP Rs. 50 000.00 incl. of all taxes.
